Bargaining for Baby(27)

       
           



       

On the brighter side there was every likelihood she'd see Beau again.   When things settled between her and Jack, she'd contact him, ask when he   was coming down to Sydney next. And if he stuck to his agoraphobic   routine and refused to leave this place …

Well, she'd simply have to set pride aside and knock on his door. But   the dust needed to settle first. Her mission had been to deliver Beau   and make certain he was happy. She had and he was. As much as it tore   her in two, it was time to move on. The text she received last night   from her father confirmed it.

See you tomorrow. First thing.

After tugging the blanket up around sleeping Beau's back, she moved to   her room next door to pack. She started to toss her ruined Keds in the   wastebasket. She didn't want them dirtying up her suitcase. Instead she   slipped them on. She'd get rid of them when she got home.

Dressed in jeans and a simple T-shirt, she'd finished swooping her hair   up in a high ponytail when she heard something in the next room. Beau.   At least an hour before he usually woke. Did he sense something   off-kilter this morning?

He was crying softly by the time she collected his warm little body in   her arms. Patting his back, she crooned close to his ear. "Hey, little   guy. You hungry already?"

Beau's brow lowered, he tried to smile but he rubbed his eye with a tiny fist and grumbled again.

Jack appeared in the doorway. His alert gaze shot from the baby to her. He held up a bottle.

"I was up. It's warm."

She smiled and a part of her knew in the end everything would be all   right. It had to be, for Beau's sake. She couldn't afford to blubber or   be sullen or even cringe at the performance she'd made last night. Beau   would sense the vibes and his welfare counted way and beyond anything   else.

Maddy's insides clenched as she held him tighter still.

Ten minutes from now the cab would be here. But this wasn't like saying   goodbye to Dahlia that black morning. Not like her mother telling her  to  be good before the bedroom door closed and she heard her father cry.

Maddy nuzzled into Beau's softness and baby scent and swallowed the tears.

I'm going to see you again. I promise, it won't be forever.

Jack's deep voice broke into her thoughts. "Sure I can't drive you in?"

"I'd rather-" Her words choked off and she cleared her throat. "It'll be easier."

He exhaled. Nodded. "Want a coffee? Pot's brewed."

"I'll get one at the airport."

He nodded again. Slid a foot back. "I'll get your bags."

She siphoned in a calming breath. A few minutes and then she'd be gone.   From Beau. From Jack. From this place she hadn't liked yet over time  had  grown, in some way, attached to.

When Beau whimpered, Maddy sucked it up and put a carefree note into her voice.

"It's okay, baby." She pressed her lips to his brow. "Everything'll be okay. I promise, I promise."

She stopped. Frowned. Her head slowly drew away before she kissed his brow again. It was warm. Warmer than warm.

Jack had moved off down the hall. Striding out, she called him. "Jack!"

He spun around and must have seen the worry on her face and shot straight back.

She ran a hand over the baby's brow. "He's hot. Feel." He cupped Beau's   face and his eyes darkened. "Maybe he's teething early. I have baby   Tylenol in his bag."

At the same time Jack's gaze shot to the changing table, to the bag,   Nell materialized out of nowhere. When the dog leaped up on the table,   Maddy's stretched nerves snapped clean through. But before she could act   and chase the dog out, Nell gripped the bag handles between her teeth,   jumped down and trotted over.

Maddy's jaw dropped. "How did … ?" She gaped at Jack. "She knows what we said?"

"Sometimes I think she has a better vocabulary than I do."

Beau began to grizzle and cry, his dear face crumpling and turning   beet-red. A bizarre thought struck but Maddy couldn't shake it. Had Nell   sensed Beau wasn't well last night? Was that why she'd poked her nose   in? To check? Maybe she was trying to tell them something now.

Maddy reached to grip Jack's arm. "We should get him to a doctor."

But he was already halfway down the hall. To get the keys to his truck?   She examined Beau, checking his face, his neck for rashes or spots.   There were so many deadly viruses around.

Hearing Jack's muffled voice, she edged down the hall. He paced the kitchen, cell phone to his ear.

"Dr. Le Monde?" He drove a hand through his hair and, frowning deeply, nodded at the floor. "Yes, it's urgent."                       
       
           



       





Eleven




Help arrived within the hour.

Dr. Le Monde took Beau's temperature, checked for rashes and other signs   of bacterial infection. He concluded Beau's fever was due to a viral   infection. A common cold.

From a separate bag, the doctor revealed a piece of equipment-a vaporizer.

Standing beside the crib, Maddy watched over Beau, who was drifting off to sleep after a dose of medicine.

"I had one of those when I was young," she said. "It moistens the air. Helps your nose and lungs keep clear."

Le Monde's kind brown eyes glowed with approval. "Correct. It'll make   things a little easier for him these next few days." The doctor put his   hand on her shoulder. "Keep up his fluids. Cool boiled water in between   feedings. Acetaminophen every four hours. He'll be irritable but fine   soon enough." He spoke to Jack. "Call if you have any concerns-" he   lifted his bike helmet off the floor by the door "-and I'll race   straight back out."

Jack saw the doctor off. The bike roared away while Maddy patted Beau's   head with a cool cloth. Her fingers brushed his flushed cheek and a   fountain of love drew a soft smile across her face.

She would do anything to take his pain. He could never know how much she cared. How much he was loved.

Jack returned and set up the vaporizer. Beau was almost asleep by the   time he switched the device on and stood beside her, gazing down on the   baby in his crib as did she.

After a comfortable moment, he said in a hushed voice, "He seems better."

Beau's heavy eyes had drooped closed a final time and Maddy exhaled. "Thank heaven. But we're in for a sleepless night or two."

His hand shifted on the crib rail, brushed hers, and a frisson of   awareness set light to her nerve endings, reminding her of everything   she was so desperate to forget. She demanded that her feet move a little   to the left. They didn't listen. If she weren't so stern, they might   have moved to the right, closer to Jack's natural heat.

The whir of the vaporizer filtered through the room and she drew the   sheet over Beau's shoulder at the same time Jack brushed a curl from his   forehead. Their hands touched, lingered, before they each drew away.

"You've missed your flight," he said.

"Guess I have."

But she wouldn't think about Pompadour Shoes or her father's   disappointment. She only wanted to soak up the vision of Beau slipping   into a peaceful sleep and the knowledge that his illness wasn't serious.   She hated to think of the time they might've spent in a city triage   unit in similar circumstances. Not that Jack might not resort to putting   his fist through a wall if he thought it'd get someone's attention.

Now, however, he was almost meek, although she sensed that intense inherent power rippling beneath the calm.

His thumb tapped the crib rail. "You want to call your father?"

"Soon."

"What'll you tell him?"

"That I couldn't get away." She tried to dredge up an appropriate   emotion but in the end she shrugged. "He'll need to hand over the   account to someone else."

Jack rolled back his shoulders. "I can get you there in-"

"I'm staying." But she tempered her determined tone with a smile. "No   arguments." And before he could insist, she added, "I'm sure."



After three days and nights with little sleep for the adults, Beau's   temperature was back to normal, his chest was clear, and his cooing and   laughter once again filled the house. Maddy glowed inside when she  heard  it. Again she was reminded how very precious it was to know that  those  you loved were well.

Thursday, as Maddy gave Beau his evening bath, she pondered over the Tyler Advertising presentation scheduled for the next day.

Was she sad she wouldn't be there? Mad? Disappointed in herself?

Ultimately she was proud she'd made the right choice. The only choice.   These past few days her place had been here with this child. His health   and happiness were the only things that truly mattered.