Baby Business(8)

Chapter Four

"I don't like the way he's come back into your life," Adam said.



It was the same argument she'd heard many times since she'd called her  brothers to tell them she and Donovan were getting married. At least her  mother was thrilled for her. Her father had been out of town on  business at the time and had sent her a text note to say that he hoped  the house would be repainted by the wedding day. She tried to pretend it  didn't matter that her father was more concerned about business than  her, but deep inside it did.



"You promised you wouldn't start anything today."



"I'm not starting anything, Cassie," Adam said, sitting down next to her  on the settee and putting his arm around her. "I just don't want to see  you hurt again."



"I'm not going to be hurt again. Raising my baby with his father is what I've wanted since I found out I was pregnant."



"I don't understand why he left in the first place," her other brother, Lucas, said as he joined them. "And now he's back."



Eight months ago, she hadn't told her family that Donovan didn't want  kids. She'd kept that to herself because it had been such a deep blow.  Now she realized that they must have guessed anyway from the way the  relationship had ended.



"It wasn't about the baby," she said.



"Of course not," Lucas said. "It was about him not being ready to be a father."



Lucas was married and had three sons. He had been a father since he was  twenty-one and at thirty he felt that he was an expert on what men  should do in family situations. Adam was three years older than Lucas  and married to his job.



Her brothers had a lot in common with Donovan in that they seemed to  exemplify the fact that men could be either family oriented or  workaholics. Especially if their work involved a family business.



"Could be. Not every man is like you. Just because he needed time to consider everything doesn't mean anything."



"Having a wife and kids isn't an easy thing for some men," Adam said. "I  couldn't do it. The job comes first for me the way it does with Dad."



Lucas nodded. Cassidy remembered every event their father had attended  for them when they were growing up. Because there had only been two  events-Adam's graduation from prep school and Lucas's college  graduation. Their father had always put business first.                       
       
           



       



She put her head in her hands. The things that Donovan had said since  coming back into her life made her believe that he was truly a changed  man. That he was really going to be in her life and their child's.



Could she do what her own mother had? Could she watch her children's  disappointed faces as their father once again missed out on an important  school function?



"I need to talk to Donovan."



"Now? Why? Are you having second thoughts? We'll go and tell him the  ceremony is off," Adam said, standing up and heading for the door.



"Adam, no. I just want to talk to him."



"Beth had the jitters on our wedding day," Lucas said. "Of course, our situation wasn't that different from yours."



Lucas's wife had been pregnant at their wedding-not as far along as  Cassidy was, but pregnant all the same. "Are you happy, Lucas?"



"You know I am. But it was a struggle at first."



Lucas came over and hugged her close. "He wouldn't have asked you to  marry him if he didn't want to make the relationship with you and your  baby work."



She nodded. Lucas was always the sensible one. He'd made family his  number-one priority, working a low-stress job so he could coach his  kids' Little League team and be at every school event.



"Can you guys leave me alone for a few minutes?"



Lucas gave her another hug and then nodded. "Let's go."



Both her brothers left the room. Cassidy went to the French doors that  led out to the garden, which had a beautiful white gazebo in the middle  that overlooked the ocean. Chairs were set up for the few guests, and  flowers decorated the white lattice around the sides of the gazebo.



The backyard looked fairy-tale perfect. Like something out of Bride's  magazine-if you ignored the fact that the house in the background was  bright pink. And Cassidy wanted to believe in the picture-perfect image.  But she was a realist. Picture-perfect was just an image, not reality.



Not knowing exactly where Donovan was at this moment, she went to the  house phone and dialed his cell number. While the phone rang, she tried  to think of what she'd say, how she'd word her questions. The words  eluded her.



"This is Donovan."



"Hey, it's me."



"Hello, baby. Is everything okay?"



There was caring and concern in his voice, bringing up her usual  dichotomy of feelings toward Donovan. He was like this sometimes, and  then she remembered the way he'd kissed her with all that passion and  left her on her own doorstep.



Did he have a switch inside that he turned on and off when it came to  her? How would having a father who did that affect their child?



"Cassidy?"



"I have to ask you something. I'm not even sure what I want you to say, but it's important, okay?"



"Sure. Go ahead."



"What kind of a father are you going to be? I mean, are you going to  always be at work when our son has a school event, or will you take time  off for him?"



"Just a second." She heard the scrape of a chair and then the ringing of  his footsteps on a hardwood floor. He must be in her father's study. A  second later she heard a door close, and then he said, "I don't know."



"Oh."



"Cassidy, less than a week ago I found out I was going to be a father. I  came to your house that night planning to ask you to be my wife, but  beyond that I haven't had time to think about our son."



"But just thinking about it now, what's your gut reaction?"



She heard him take a deep breath. "My gut is to tell you what I know you  want to hear. But lying to you, Cassidy, isn't something I want to do. I  have no idea what kind of father I'll be. I do know that I want to know  our son and be a part of his life, but work has always been my focus … I  can't promise to change that, but I can promise I will try."



She held the handset loosely and thought about what he'd said. "I'm not  going to let you fail at this, Donovan. My dad … he wasn't there for us  growing up. Now he's trying, but it feels like guilt. I'm going to  insist you be a part of your son's life."



"Good," he said. "We'll make this life of ours work … together."





Donovan glanced over the small crowd of people gathered in back of the  Franzones' gaudy pink mansion to celebrate his marriage to Cassidy. Tony  Franzone was standing off to one side talking on his cell phone. The  man was a better father than Cassidy realized-he'd come over to Donovan  earlier and told him in no uncertain terms that if Donovan made his  daughter cry again he'd put a hurt on him. The man had actually said  that.                       
       
           



       



Donovan understood the sentiment that went behind it. He searched the  crowd for his own parents and found them sitting alone, not talking to  each other but each staring at the people around them. He saw his mother  shudder when she took in the Franzone mansion.



His extended family had never been close-knit, and he didn't think they  ever would be. He told himself it didn't matter that family had no place  in his life and they'd never been particularly close, but a part of him  was disappointed that more of his relatives weren't here.



Of course, he hadn't invited that many of them. He'd needed to keep the marriage quiet until he was ready to talk to the board.



Marcus had resolved the West Coast matter on Thursday and was back in  the office Friday. Donovan had gotten a late-night call from his uncle  Brandt congratulating him on taking care of the mess. Brandt had hinted  that marriage was the only thing keeping Donovan from the CEO position.  Donovan had almost told his uncle about the wedding, but had decided  discretion was still wise at this point.



Donovan steeled himself as Adam Franzone approached.



"You sure about marrying my sister?" Adam asked as he came to stand in place next to Donovan at the stairs of the gazebo.



"As sure as any man can be," Donovan said.



"Hurt her again and I'll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life."



"I didn't hurt her on purpose eight months ago. I proposed to her, and she turned me down."



"She turned you down?" Adam asked.