Читать книгу Baby, Our Baby! - Patricia Thayer - Страница 8

It was Ali. Ali’s voice. Ali’s lips on his. Jake felt as if he were drowning in the softness of her voice, her sweet scent. He was on the edge of heaven, and it was costing him all his strength just to return the kiss.

Suddenly she was gone. He tried to move, to call her back, but it was useless. Loneliness pressed in all around him.

For now, he’d be patient and work to wake up. Patience was something he’d never been good at, but never had there been so much at stake before.

If only he could remember what had happened to him. Whatever it was had put him in the hospital. He struggled to sort out Ali’s words. He had a child? A baby daughter.

A different kind of pain tore through his heart. Why didn’t you tell me, Ali? Why in God’s name didn’t anyone tell me?

Ali stood at the window in Jake’s room the next day, rubbing her tired eyes. She had spent almost three hours talking to Jake, touching him, hoping for another reaction. But nothing happened.

The doctor had told her not to give up. Coming completely out of a coma could be a slow process.

Well, she wasn’t giving up, but she had to go home. She’d already worked the morning shift at the sheriff’s office. Her grandmother was expecting her, and Ali knew there would be questions. It was impossible to keep spending so much time at the hospital without telling Gran June the whole story. They lived in the same house, after all.

Ali glanced at the subject of her thoughts. “I’m tired, Jake. You’d solve a lot of problems if you’d just wake up.” She walked from the window to his bedside. She had to tell him about Joanie again, whether he could understand or not.

“There’s a little girl waiting to meet you. She’s just nine months old, but I’ve told her all about you.” Ali eased next to Jake, careful not to disturb his elevated leg.

“I told her you were a quarterback on the football team and how you went to the state championship. I remember the newspaper headlines, The Hawk Leads Webster Tigers To Victory.” She smiled. “When you wake up, you can have the pleasure of telling her about your football days.”

Ali studied his freshly shaved face, then laced her fingers through his and gently squeezed his hand. There was no reaction, but she’d noticed subtle changes in him over the past few days. His color was better. The doctor said Jake’s vital signs had improved, and his tests showed more brain activity. That afternoon, when she’d come by, she had noticed frown creases along his forehead, but when she sang to him, he seemed to relax and they faded away.

“Oh, Jake.” She sighed. “I know you’re going to be upset because I didn’t tell you about Joanie, but I can take it. Just come back to us.”

She reached out her other hand and stroked his arm, wondering if the kiss they’d shared had been some kind of muscle reaction. Deep inside, she knew it wasn’t. Just as she knew that somehow Jake sensed her presence.

So she had to go with what worked. Ali leaned toward his mouth and whispered, “Okay, Jake, show me your stuff, fella.” She placed a soft kiss on his jaw in the hope of stimulating something. Anything.

She trembled as she braced her hands on either side of his head as her mouth met his. The kiss started slow and easy. She wasn’t expecting much, but she wanted everything. Suddenly but subtly, the kiss began to change. Jake’s lips became firmer, and…yes, they were moving against hers. Frozen, Ali opened her eyes, but she didn’t pull away. She wanted Jake to continue the kiss. He did, so sweetly it brought tears to her eyes.

Ali choked back a sob and sat back. A minute later, she laughed. “If I didn’t know better, Jake Hawkins, I’d say you were faking it. Most men can’t bring a woman to tears with a kiss when they’re awake, and you’re supposed to be out of it. No wonder I fell so hard for you.”

The hospital-room door swung open, and Cliff Hawkins walked in. “How’s it going?”

Startled, Ali jumped off the bed and wiped the tears from her face. “Ah…I was about to leave, and I…kissed Jake goodbye.” Her cheeks heated up. “He kissed me back again.”

“He did? That’s great.” Cliff took off his coat and tossed it on the vinyl chair in the corner. “Was it like before?”

Ali looked at him in confusion. “You mean…like yesterday?”

“No. Like…the last time he was home.”

Ali’s pulse raced. Oh, Lord! He couldn’t know, could he? No. There was no way. She met his gaze, waiting for his next move.

“Does he know about the baby?” Cliff asked. “Is she the reason he came home?”

Ali gasped and took a step backward, then she quickly regained her calm. “How did you…?”

“Find out?” he finished. “Wasn’t too hard to put together. My son called out your name instead of Darcie’s. And yesterday, when I went to my doctor’s appointment, I saw you carrying your baby into the clinic. I called to you, but I guess you didn’t hear me. I did get close enough to catch a good look at your daughter.” He smiled. “The resemblance between her and Jake is remarkable. She looks just like he did as a child.”

He reached into his suit-coat pocket. “If you need pictures to prove—”

Ali raised a hand to stop him. She couldn’t look at baby pictures, not now. “Okay, yes, Joanie is Jake’s daughter.” Your granddaughter, she silently added.

Cliff seemed relieved at her answer. “Does my son know he’s a father?”

Ali’s heart raced a hundred miles per hour at the thought of answering the questions she had known would come some day. But not now. She wasn’t ready. Jake should be told first.

“No, he doesn’t know.” She spoke barely above a whisper. “He left town before I could tell him.”

“Why didn’t you call me, Ali?” he asked. “I was here. I would do anything to bring Jake back.”

“But I wouldn’t.” Ali squared her shoulders. “If Jake cared, he would have stayed around.”

She looked up to examine Cliff Hawkins’s unreadable face.

“I take it this happened between you two…after Darcie left him?”

“Of course. I would never…” Ali couldn’t finish. She didn’t want to go into any details. “Jake loved Darcie. That’s the reason I didn’t try to contact him. I couldn’t trap him.” She shuddered as she took a long look at Jake. “But what if he doesn’t come out of this? He’ll never know….”

Cliff was the one to comfort her this time. “Hey, who’s been telling me everything is going to be okay? You’ve been the one who has been here every day getting him to respond. So don’t give up now.”

“I’ve been telling him all about Joanie, but I’m not sure he hears me, or…if he’ll ever hear anything. What if he never wakes up?”

“I think he does hear you, Ali,” Cliff offered as he looked over at his son lying in the bed. “I think his kiss was a way of communicating with you. But maybe we should try something else.”

Ali went to Jake’s side and picked up his hand. “Like what?”

“Maybe you should bring Joanie in.”

Ali gasped. “I can’t. She’s just a baby.”

“But she’s Jake’s daughter. Her being here could be just the thing to bring him around.”

Ali drew a long breath. “I don’t know….”

“What if it helps Jake?”

Ali studied Jake’s lifeless hand. “But the hospital has rules. How could I get them to let her in?”

Cliff began to smile, reminding her so much of his son. “Let me worry about that.”

She nodded. And somehow she knew that her and Joanie’s lives were about to change…forever. “I want you to know, Cliff, that I’m a good mother. I’m doing my best to provide a secure, loving home for my daughter. I’d do anything for her.”

“I know, Ali. And I can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing for my son. After he comes out of the coma, he’ll still be facing surgery on his leg. So as his father, it’s Jake’s welfare I’m thinking about now, and he needs his daughter.”

Ali tensed. Ever since she found out she was pregnant, this child had been hers…alone. Now Joanie would belong to her father, too. She glanced at the hospital bed where Jake lay half-alive. She had no choice. Her daughter might be the one to help him. She drew a long breath and released it. “When do you want to do this?”

“As soon as possible.”

It was worse when Ali was gone. He missed her touch. Without her encouraging words, the darkness surrounded him, drawing away the warmth, the hint of light. He needed her.

Don’t leave me, Ali.

His heart started to race as he fought to speak, to bring her back to him. He didn’t want to be alone. He tried to cry out, but all he managed was a garbled sound, then the darkness pulled him back in.

The next evening, Ali returned to the hospital with Joanie held protectively against her chest.

Once the elevator reached the fourth floor, she stepped out and started down the hallway toward Jake’s room, her heart pounding in her chest. Luckily her friend was waiting for her.

“Margo,” Ali whispered.

The nurse quickly glanced around, then hurried toward Ali. “Hurry, the head nurse, Brenda, is on her dinner break,” she said as they ducked into Jake’s room. “I figure you have about thirty minutes before she returns.”

Ali opened her coat to reveal her sleeping daughter. Margo smiled at her goddaughter as she caressed Joanie’s head, which was covered in a red knit hat. The baby’s heart-shaped face was fringed with strands of silky black hair. Her little mouth puckered as she made sucking sounds.

“If this precious cargo doesn’t bring Jake out of his coma, nothing will,” Margo said. “Go get ’em, kid.” She kissed the baby’s head and left.

Ali glanced around the quiet room, and a shiver of panic sliced through her. She looked down at her daughter and stroked the baby’s back. “It’s time to meet your daddy, sweetheart.”

After taking Joanie from the sling carrier she’d outgrown months ago, Ali gently removed her daughter’s coat and hat. Joanie usually woke up cheerful. Ali hoped this was one of those times.

A little dazed, Joanie blinked her big brown eyes, then gave her mother a sleepy grin and cooed softly.

Ali’s heart tightened. “That’s my girl.” She hugged her baby as she carried her toward the bed.

“Hello, Jake. It’s me again. Ali. I guess you know my voice by now without me telling you.” Why was she rambling? She drew a deep breath, reached down and touched his arm.

“I stopped by tonight to introduce someone to you.” She studied Jake’s face as she balanced Joanie in her arms. “I brought your daughter. Your dad and I thought that her visiting you might help.”

Ali sat on the edge of the bed and placed her daughter on her lap. Joanie raised her arm and pointed, chatting something unrecognizable.

“Yes, sweetheart. This is Daddy.” She looked at Jake. “This is your daughter, Jake. Johanna June Pierce. She was born February 16, at 3:06 a.m., weighing in at seven pounds eleven ounces. I know I’m a little prejudiced, but when she was born she was the most beautiful baby in the nursery. She still is, for that matter. When you wake up, I know you’ll feel the same way.” She kept her gaze glued to Jake’s expressionless face. There was no change.

Tears formed in Ali’s eyes. “Joanie has your dark hair and beautiful brown eyes. She’s smart, too. She learned to crawl at five months, can play pat-a-cake and loves to sing along with Sesame Street. She even talks. We don’t know what she’s saying, but she tries.” Ali kissed her daughter’s head. “Gran June and I have tried to give her a secure home and lots of love. Joanie has a lot going for her, but there is a big void in her life.”

Ali wiped the tears from her eyes. “She needs a father, Jake. She needs you. Please come back to her.”

Ali took hold of Jake’s hand and scooted closer so Joanie could touch him. Her daughter immediately grasped on to her daddy’s fingers and tugged. Ali listened to her daughter’s gentle chatter and watched as she patted Jake’s large callused hand. Anguished, Ali prayed Joanie’s touch might trigger some reaction.

“Daddy’s hurt, baby,” Ali whispered. “He can’t talk yet, but I’m sure he knows you’re here.” The words choked off in her throat.

To Ali’s surprise, Joanie climbed off her lap and crawled up beside Jake, still cooing her sweet nonsense syllables.

“Daddy’s taking a nap, sweetie.” Ali rubbed the baby’s back as guilt and sadness swept through her. How could she have kept father and daughter apart?

Joanie looked at her mother, then cuddled next to Jake, her tiny fists rubbing her eyes in an obvious display of sleepiness. Ali swallowed back the emotions. “You want to take a nap with Daddy?”

The small child’s chubby arm stretched over Jake’s bandaged chest. She smiled, showing off four tiny teeth. Then her daughter puckered her mouth and made a smacking sound against Jake’s chest.

Ali tucked Joanie’s favorite blanket over them, unable to ignore the resemblance between father and daughter. The whole town would know now who had fathered her child. But for once, Ali didn’t care. Her only concern was giving Joanie a father.

And giving Jake the will to live.

Jake could hear her voice again. He tried so hard to wake up, but something seemed to be holding him down. If he could only open his eyes. But it was so hard…to move. Then he felt Ali’s hand on him, soothing him, telling him he would be okay. But he knew he wouldn’t be okay until he was awake.

Suddenly there was someone else. A baby! His baby. He could smell her powdery fragrance, hear the soft sound of her voice. When he felt the tiny weight against him, it was pure heaven….

Please, God. Let me live. Let me see my daughter.

Ali closed the door to her compact car and started toward the house, careful not to wake Joanie. Her boots made a crunching sound in the three inches of snow piled on either side of the cleared walkway. She stopped on the top porch step of the big brick home with the gabled roof. The house had been in the Pierce family for three generations.

The streetlights glowed overhead, illuminating the quiet residential area. It was nearly nine o’clock, and everyone had been home and eaten supper hours ago. She’d always loved living on Mulberry Street. As a child, she’d felt safe in the small community where everyone knew everyone else. Never had she been afraid to go out and play in the park with her childhood friends.

Now what would the townspeople think of her when they discovered that her child had been fathered by Webster’s favorite son? That Ali had lain with Jake the very night her sister—Jake’s bride-to-be—had left him standing at the altar?

That was the reason Ali had chosen to live in St. Cloud during her pregnancy, letting everyone think Joanie’s father was someone she had gone to college with. The town was only sixty miles away, but even that short distance had kept so many questions at bay—questions that her grandmother had had to face without having answers. Now it was time to tell the truth.

Clutching the railing, Ali climbed the steps to the big house she’d lived in since her mother abandoned Darcie and her. Their mother had decided that seven-year-old twins were just too much to handle, and didn’t fit in to her “free-spirit” life-style. Their father didn’t want to handle them, either, so Grandma and Grandpa Pierce got custody.

Upon learning she was pregnant, one of the things Ali had vowed was that no matter what, Joanie was going to have a stable home. No moving around the country looking for a better life or another man to latch on to. Webster, Minnesota, was going to be a permanent home for these two Pierce women. Which meant that Jake Hawkins probably wouldn’t be around for long. Ali had known that for as long as she had known Jake. He had always wanted out of this town.

He had a wanderlust that drove him to other places—more exciting places. For as long as she’d known Jake, he wanted to go somewhere else. Somewhere that had more to offer than a small town in Minnesota. Ali doubted that even his child would keep Jake in Webster.

Ali unlocked the front door, went inside the large entry and was greeted by her grandmother.

Smiling, the tall, graceful woman pulled her sweater together and folded her arms across her chest when the icy breeze hit her. “Gracious, child. What are you doing with the baby out in this weather? It’s nearly zero out there.”

“It’s not that cold.” Ali opened the closet door and hung up her coat.

“Not if you’re an Eskimo or a polar bear.” Gran June looked at her great-granddaughter. “I can see this little one is unaffected by the cold, too.”

Ali unhooked the baby carrier, careful not to wake her daughter. “What can I say—she’s a winter baby.”

Ali studied her grandmother. At sixty-eight, June Pierce was still a handsome woman. Her fair skin was flawless, except for a spattering of freckles across her nose. Her hair, once rust colored, was now completely white. The mild stroke she’d suffered last year hadn’t seemed to leave any lasting effects. But that didn’t keep Ali from worrying about her. Every day Joanie was getting bigger and more active. How soon before Gran June wouldn’t be able to care for her anymore? How could Ali keep working? She couldn’t afford child care.

Her grandmother smiled. “I worry about you driving in the snow.”

“I’m a big girl, Gran,” she said.

“I guess I’ll always think of you and Darcie as my little girls.” There was sadness in her voice. “Now I have this precious one.”

Ali’s throat felt raw. She went to her grandmother and placed a kiss on her cheek, careful not to disturb the baby. “Oh, Gran, you have been so good to me and Joanie. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” her grandmother answered with her arm across Ali’s shoulder. “And as long as I live, you can count on my being here for you two.”

I hope you’ll always feel that way, Ali prayed silently. She pulled back. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Gran June frowned. “Sure, honey. Is there a problem?”

Ali hesitated. “No, just something I should have told you long ago. Come with me while I put Joanie to bed.”

Ali climbed the winding dark oak staircase to the second floor. The hardwood floors of the old house creaked as they made their way down the hall toward Joanie’s room.

Ali opened the door and went inside the pink-colored nursery. An animal lamp on the dresser cast a soft glow in the room. Ali went to the dressing table and removed her daughter’s jacket and hat. Already the little one was in her pj’s, and she’d just had a diaper change before leaving the hospital. Ali placed Joanie in the crib and gently patted her back until the baby reached for her favorite blanket and quickly dozed off.

“It’s amazing how she manages to fall asleep without so much as a fuss,” Gran June said. “You were like that. Now, Darcie would let you know how she hated bedtime.”

For a long time, they both stood by the crib and watched Joanie sleep until finally Ali spoke. “I took Joanie to the hospital tonight to see Jake.”

Gran June took Ali by the arm, and they walked out of the nursery. She didn’t say another word until they were downstairs in the kitchen.

“I had a feeling that’s where you went,” Gran said. “A baby should know her father.”

Ali stared in shock. “You knew Jake was…Joanie’s father?”

Seeing her grandmother’s nod, Ali collapsed into a chair at the table.

“I didn’t at first,” Gran June verified. She went to the stove, picked up the kettle and filled two mugs with hot water, then dropped tea bags into the cups and returned to the table.

“You didn’t come home the night Darcie left Jake at the church. When Joanie was born with all that dark hair, I figured out what must have happened.” Gran sat down. “I knew you were never promiscuous. I also knew how much you loved Jake Hawkins.”

Ali gasped. “Was it that obvious?”

“No, honey.” The older woman reached across the table and took Ali’s hand. “But as much as Jake hung out at this house, I could see how you looked at him, and how you’d hang on his every word.” She smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with having a crush on a boy.”

“Yeah, sure, especially when he’s your twin sister’s boyfriend.”

“I’m not condoning what you did, Ali. But Darcie did leave Jake on their wedding day. Jake wasn’t anyone’s boyfriend that night. I was just worried that he talked you into something—”

“No! Jake was never out of line. I was naive, but I knew what I was doing that night. I wanted to love him, and I can’t regret what happened, Gran June. Because of Jake, I have a beautiful baby daughter.”

“Have you given any thought as to what will happen when everyone finds out about you and Jake?”

“I haven’t thought of much else. And what about Darcie? I was going to tell her, but she hasn’t been home since that day. I can’t tell her over the phone. She’ll hate me. She’ll claim that I stole Jake.”

“The only claim anyone can make now is that Jake Hawkins is Joanie’s father. Darcie made her choice. She’ll have to live with that. The only two people you have to worry about are Jake and your daughter.”

Ali went to the hospital before work the next morning. She liked the peaceful time she shared with Jake. As much as she wanted him to wake up, she knew there was a possibility that he would hate her. Would he understand that she hadn’t known what to do when she’d found out about her pregnancy? That she’d been terrified over facing the community’s censure, when everyone in town learned she’d slept with her sister’s man?

A garbled sound made her whirl around and stare at the man in the bed.

Jake groaned, his breathing harsh.

She rushed to the bed. “Oh, God, Jake. You’re waking up.” Reaching for his arm, she shook it. “C’mon, Jake, wake up. It’s Ali.”

She began to pray silently. Please, Jake, open your eyes. Even if it means you take one look at me and tell me to get lost. I don’t care. Just please wake up. Her throat tight, she leaned closer and managed to whisper, “Jake. It’s me. Ali. You can do it. Wake up.”

Jake groaned again and moved his head, as if trying to hear her voice better.

Ali’s heart drummed in her chest as she sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up Jake’s hand. She rubbed the back, then the palm, before lacing her trembling fingers through his.

“C’mon, Jake. You can do it. So many people need you. Your father has been camped out here for days. But the most important of all is your daughter. Don’t make her wait any longer. She needs her daddy,” Ali whispered, staring at his face, hoping for a reaction. None.

Tears crowded Ali’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had to concentrate on Jake. She had to bring him back. Leaning closer to the man she’d never stopped thinking about during the past eighteen months, she spoke softly. “I need you, Jake. I need you so much.” She pressed his hand against her mouth and kissed his fingertips. “You’ve got to wake up.”

Suddenly she felt a slight movement where her lips touched Jake’s fingers. She gasped, then covered his hand with hers. “Jake?”

His long slender fingers twitched again. A jerk of his jaw had her holding her breath. “C’mon, Jake. You can do it. Come back to us.”

Another groan, and her gaze shot up to discover a pair of dazed midnight eyes staring back at her. Her tears pooled, then dashed down her cheeks. “Oh, thank God!”

Jake blinked several times and silently looked around the room, as if to orientate himself to the strange surroundings. “Jake, you’re in the hospital.” Her voice cracked with emotion. “There was an accident. We’ve been so worried about you. Oh, Jake. You’re back. You came back to us.”

Jake opened his mouth, as if to speak, but he only managed a hoarse gasp.

“Here, let me get you some water.” Shaking like crazy, Ali managed to pour water into a glass, then helped him take a drink.

Jake rested his head back on the pillow and stared at Ali. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Although he hurt like hell, the pain seemed to dissipate as her hands stroked him. So many times he’d thought about Ali, and wondered what happened after that night….

Now he knew.

His gaze fixed on her face, her beautiful face. Gentleness shone in her green eyes, and he wondered how she could have kept his child from him.

“Ali?” The words came haltingly past his parched lips. “Where…where’s my…daughter?”

Then the darkness claimed him once again.