“Well good for you Mr. Nick.”
Enjoying the easy flowing bantering, Nick started to say something else witty but was silenced after she placed the baby in his arms. His heart began to accelerate as the tiny bundled squirmed. The emotion of fear seized him.
“Summer, you better take him back.”
Summer furrowed her perfectly arched brows. “Why?”
“Because he’s moving, I don’t want to drop him.” Anxiety laced the new father’s voice.
Summer giggled. “Nick, you won’t drop him. He’s probably just trying to wake up again, that’s all.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
Nick relaxed as he peered into the slumbering face identical to his. A son. I have a son. Nick’s chest swelled with pride. This was the most incredible feeling in the world. Suddenly the hollow space in his heart began to fill. A smile tugged at his mouth as he took his attention away from his son to Summer. She had quietly drifted off to sleep. She never looked more beautiful. Nick figured she had to be exhausted. Giving birth had been excruciatingly painful for her as she repeatedly refused medication so their baby wouldn’t be exposed to any unnecessary risks.
A sickening feeling washed over him at the realization that if Summer had tracked him down, telling him she was pregnant, he would not be holding this precious gift in his arms so close to his heart, loving him with everything he was worth. If it were up to him, nine months ago she would have had that abortion. He would have seen to it, even if it meant him dragging her kicking and screaming to the nearest clinic.
Nick hadn’t been to church since his mother’s funeral. He refused to go every time Summer invited him to go with her. He wasn’t much of a praying man either. But he hoped and prayed Summer would find it in her heart to forgive him for the hell he’d put her through, starting with the day he turned his back on her.
Chapter 23
Later that morning, Nick arrived at the hospital with two dozen long stem white roses trimmed in baby blue. Knocking on the door he heard Summer say, “Come in.”
Immediately, he sensed the strain in her voice.
Opening the door, he found her lying on her side staring at the baby as he slept in the clear bassinet.
“How you feeling?” he asked as he laid the roses and his coat on a bedside table before washing his hands at the sink.
Summer’s tone was flat when she responded. “Fine.”
Lifting the sleeping baby from the bassinet, Nick further inquired. “You all right, Summer?”
“The lab technician from BioMed just left.” Enough had been said; he needed no further explanation for her reserved mood.
“I see.” Nick was tested last week, all the lab needed were Summer’s and the baby’s buccal samples. Knowing this was the reason for her mood, he mumbled a curse under his breath. He wasn’t thinking when he innocently told his attorney he was on his way to the hospital because Summer had gone into labor. The business he’d been discussing with the attorney had nothing to do with her or the baby. Nick had no idea the lawyer would contact the independent lab before he had a chance to tell him he’d changed his mind about the paternity test and filing for custody.
“Summer, we need to talk.”
He wanted to tell her he didn’t need a test to prove the baby he held in his arms was indeed, unquestionably his. He wanted her to know she didn’t have to worry about the threats he slung her way in anger.“Nick, I’m tired. I don’t feel like talking.”
Not now or ever, she wanted to say. Summer was devastated when the lab tech showed up eight that morning. Well, dag-gone it! Couldn’t he at least wait until I could see straight? It had been barely six hours since she had given birth.
Sitting down in a chair, Nick carefully adjusted the sleeping infant in his arms.
“Then when?” he asked as he struggled to keep the tightness from his voice.
“Not now. I can’t handle anymore conversations with you right now.” She wanted him to leave but didn’t dare tell him to do so. He was there to see his son and not her as far as she was concerned.
Agitation crept in his voice as he demanded, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nick, I’m tired of you treating me like I’m the enemy…your enemy. I’m exhausted; I don’t have the energy to sit here and have you yelling at me.”
Placing the infant back in the bassinet, Nick turned to Summer. “When you feel like you have the energy, we will have this conversation.”
Snatching his coat off the table taking long strides to the door, Nick stopped without turning to look back at her. “Trust me, if you were my enemy you would’ve known it by now.”