Baby Comes First by Beverly Farr

to.”
    She looked at him sharply. “Is that your
solution to everything?”
    “Everything so far.” He smiled. “You must
admit, if you marry me, the gossipers will have a great time,
trying to figure everything out.”
    He had a point. Hannah didn’t know what was
worse, having her co-workers wonder who the father of her baby was,
or having them think she’d been sleeping with her boss. She
groaned. “They’re going to think you’ve been chasing me around the
desk for months.”
    “I should have thought of that myself,” Luke
said seriously, then laughed, throwing his head back. “It certainly
would have livened up the work day.”
    His laugh made up her mind. She’d been
agonizing for days, unable to decide whether she should marry him.
But when he laughed, he seemed so open, so real, Hannah realized
that she genuinely liked him. She enjoyed his company and she
didn’t mind their occasional verbal spats. They might not agree on
every issue, but she felt as if she could trust him, and they could
build a life together.
    It wasn’t going to be the romantic dream of
her girlhood, but they could be happy.
    He noticed her silence and misunderstanding
the cause of it, said, “If you’re concerned about what people will
say, I’ll see what I can do to limit the rumors.”
    “No, it doesn’t matter,” she said calmly.
“Because I’m going to marry you.”
    Luke’s eyes widened. “You’re sure?”
    “Absolutely.”
    He smiled. “Good,” he said, then started
outlining his plans. He had gathered information about applying for
a wedding license and arranging for a judge to marry them within
the next week. “I think it would be best to get married at your
house, so you can still lie down as much as possible. We can move
into my house after the baby’s born.”
    Hannah listened in amazement as he spoke,
feeling as if she were being swept along by a tidal wave.
    If theirs were a normal engagement, he would
have kissed her, and they would probably have gone out to dinner to
celebrate. But this wasn’t a normal engagement, she reminded
herself. Their marriage was more a matter of convenience than
anything else. She shouldn’t be upset by his plans. He was an
attorney, used to getting all the details right – what else did she
expect?
    He continued, “A large crowd is impractical.
I’d like to keep it under twenty people, if possible.” He glanced
at her. “What do you think?”
    She was glad that he was at least going
through the motions of getting her input. She said quietly, “I
always thought I’d get married in a church, with a big white dress
and -”
    “Eight months pregnant?”
    Hannah frowned. She knew some women who would
have the guts to carry that off, but she didn’t. He was right, a
smaller ceremony would be more appropriate. And, as he said, she
was supposed to lie down. “Maybe we should get married after the
baby’s born,” she suggested.
    “No.”
    She was startled by his vehemence. “Why not?
If we wait until then, I’ll be able to walk around and enjoy the
day.”
    “It’s simpler if we’re married before the
baby’s born. Then there aren’t any problems with my having to
adopt. If we’re married, the child will be presumed to be mine.
Besides, it will look better.”
    Hannah wondered, did people still
discriminate against illegitimate children? “Whatever you want is
fine with me,” she said finally. Now that she’d made her decision,
she wasn’t going to quibble over the details.
     

 
    CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    Hannah had spoken to Luke’s sister Margaret
several times on the phone when she worked as his secretary, but
she had never met her face to face until Margaret invited herself
over for a ‘chat.’ She called the day after Hannah had agreed to
marry Luke. “You must be going crazy trying to plan a wedding while
you’re bedridden,” Margaret had commiserated.
    “It’s not that difficult. We’re not having a
large wedding,” Hannah explained. “Since