Baby Comes First by Beverly Farr Page B

been a nightmare – trying to please Gloria
and her parents. They married right after he graduated from law
school, and although he had a good job, he hadn’t received his
first paycheck. He’d taken Gloria on the honeymoon, hoping his
credit card wouldn’t be denied.
    This time around, he didn’t have to worry
about money.
    And Hannah was nothing like Gloria. She was a
calmer, more even-tempered woman, with a wry sense of humor. She
would be much easier to live with.
    Part of him found it difficult to believe
that Hannah had finally accepted him and agreed on the date. She’d
wanted to wait until after the baby was born, and he recognized the
logic of her reasoning, but he’d been afraid that if they waited,
she’d change her mind.
    He hadn’t wanted to lose her, so he’d
insisted.
    He stepped back to hit the ball again.
    “Point,” Brad Moshier said. He was one of the
other partners in the firm. He reached down to pick up the small
rubber ball. “Your game’s off today. Are you okay?”
    “Fine.” Luke shifted his weight back and
forth between his feet, ready for the next play. He leaned forward,
determined to focus on the game. They played for twenty more
intense, heart-pounding, sweaty minutes. Finally he won, fifteen to
three. Luke opened his gym bag to put his racquet away.
    Brad watched him. “About Hannah Hansen,” he
began carefully.
    “What about her?”
    “People are talking.”
    Luke wiped his face with a towel. “They
shouldn’t talk so much.”
    ‘Your personal life is your own business, of
course, unless it affects the firm.”
    Luke should have known there was a reason
Brad had wanted to play racquetball on a Wednesday. He tossed the
towel into the gym’s laundry basket. He said, “What exactly are you
saying?”
    Visibly embarrassed, Brad said, “Does she
have grounds for a sexual harassment case? Is she going to sue you
for paternity?”
    No doubt this had been discussed in
committee, and Brad had been given the unpleasant job of finding
out.
    Luke smiled and wished Hannah could hear this
conversation. “I don’t think so. We’re getting married in three
days.”
    #
    There were only three days before the
wedding, and Hannah still hadn’t found the right time to tell Luke
he was the father of her baby.
    She asked him to stay for dinner, and they
ate in her den, while he watched a sports show on a cable channel
and she lay on the couch, working on a counted cross-stitch
project. We look like an old married couple, already, she thought,
amused. She glanced at Luke, noticing a few strands of gray above
his temples. He was a handsome man, and had the kind of looks that
would improve with age.
    “This game is going nowhere,” Luke said
finally, and turned off the television. He glanced at the project
she was making. “You’re just about finished, aren’t you?”
    Hannah completed a stitch and held up the
needlework for his inspection. The fabric contained a pastel border
of teddy bears and blocks, with a blank space for the baby’s name
and date of birth. “Once the baby’s born, I’ll fill in the
details.”
    “Knowing you, you’ll finish it before you
leave the hospital.”
    “Maybe.” She was a little nervous about
having a c-section and wondered how the recovery would be. She
might not have the energy or desire to be sewing.
    Luke was silent for a moment, looking down at
her, as if he wanted to say something.
    Hannah felt herself blush at his scrutiny.
“What is it?” she asked, self-consciously reaching up to touch her
hair. She hadn’t pulled it back tonight. Did she look terrible?
    Luke didn’t seem to mind. He sat on the edge
of the couch, and she scooted over, giving him room. He rested his
arm on the back of the couch and said seriously, “I’m thinking
about the wedding.”
    Was he having second thoughts?
    “And I’ve come to the conclusion that we are
inadequately prepared.”
    “In what way?”
    He kept his face expressionless, but there
was a glint