To Make a Marriage(24)

'Not in the least,' she said. 'I'm just a beginner-remember?'

Oh, yes, he remembered. Every creamy, untouched inch of her. It kept him awake at night remembering!

Adam released her arms to hold her gently against him. 'So am I when it  comes to you,' he whispered huskily. 'I ache with wanting you, Andie!'

She gave him a startled look. 'You do?'

His answer was to pull her even closer, knowing the physical evidence of his desire must be obvious-even to a beginner!

Andie looked confused before turning away. 'I'll make the coffee while you take a shower.'

He laughed at the blush in her cheeks, slowly releasing her. 'That's  probably the safest plan-although not the one I would personally have  opted for!'

'Audrey told Rome that anticipation of their wedding night is good for him,' Andie observed.

'Good for her,' he replied approvingly. 'I-' He broke off as the  telephone began to ring, frowning darkly. Who the hell could be  telephoning him at this time on a Sunday?

Very few people actually had his private telephone number, which limited  the identity of the caller to a handful of people. And at least one of  them was someone he did not want to talk to in front of Andie …

'Shouldn't you answer that?' She eyed the ringing telephone.

'Officially I'm not here,' he denied, his expression grim. His  relationship with Andie was still too tenuous to risk answering that  call.

'But-'

'There, it's stopped now,' he said with relief as the telephone suddenly  went silent. 'I'll take that shower, and then we can decide where we  would like to go for dinner.'

'And if the phone rings again?' Andie prompted softly.

He drew in a ragged breath. 'Don't answer it.'

She looked at him searchingly for several long seconds before going to the room he had told her was the kitchen.

Damn, Adam muttered to himself as he stripped off in his bedroom in preparation of taking his shower in the adjoining bathroom.

Andie, he knew, had drawn her own conclusions about his refusal to  answer the telephone call. While he might not like having her believe it  was another woman, someone he was-or, now that the two of them were to  be married, had been!-involved with, he knew that the truth was even  less acceptable.

Three weeks, until the wedding, that was all he asked. Then he would have to tell Andie everything …





CHAPTER TEN




'SOMEHOW I was expecting that to be cold,' Andie said with some surprise.

Jonas smiled at her as he continued to smooth the clear-warm-gel over  her bare abdomen. 'I like to make this as pleasant an experience as  possible for you mothers-to-be!'

Andie knew she was talking for the sake of it. But it hadn't occurred to  her, when they had made this appointment to see Jonas, that he would  suggest doing an ultra-sound scan for them, so that they could actually  see the baby inside her on what was the equivalent of a television  screen.

She was talking because she felt embarrassed at being naked from sternum to thighs in front of the watching Adam!

It had been different the night they had made love, emotions and passion  high. Just as it hadn't seemed the same thing at all when he'd come  upon her sunbathing in her bikini in Majorca. Actually lying here on the  medical bed, baring the slight swell of her tummy, somehow felt very  intimate. Even with Jonas present!                       
       
           



       

Jonas hadn't seemed in the least surprised that it was Adam, a man he  had met only briefly before, who had accompanied Andie on this visit as  the baby's father. Danie and Jonas had arrived back from their honeymoon  yesterday, and Andie could only assume that they had seen Rome and he  had told them of the wedding in three weeks' time. No doubt Danie would  have something to say-to both of them!-when they next saw her!

Jonas sat back, smiling at Andie before looking across her to where Adam  sat on her other side. 'Are you ready for this?' he prompted gently.

Andie suddenly felt extremely nervous. What if she were mistaken? If  Jonas were mistaken? If there wasn't a baby at all? Adam wouldn't want  to marry her then, and-

'We're ready.' Adam was the one to answer the other man gruffly,  reaching out to tightly grasp one of Andie's hands as they lay at her  sides.

'Right.' Jonas's voice was businesslike now. 'Your abdomen is  ultra-sensitive at the moment, so the scanner may feel a little strange  as I move it around to give you the full picture,' he warned. 'But I'm  sure the end result will be worth it,' he added warmly.

Adam's hand tightened around hers, but Andie couldn't look at him,  concentrating her attention on the television screen that stood beside  them.

Her breath caught and held in her throat as she saw the shape of a tiny  skull and body on the right-hand side of the screen. A baby. It really  was there. Their baby. Hers and Adam's!

There was a definite tiny face there too; eyes, a little snub nose, and a slightly open mouth.

'My God … !' She heard Adam breath emotionally at her side.

She did turn to look at him then, her own emotions getting the better of  her as she saw the tears falling unashamedly down his cheeks.

She reached out to smooth them away, her fingertips gentle against his skin.

It wasn't until Adam reached out and touched her own cheeks that she  became aware of her own tears. But seeing the baby like that, so small  and helpless, but so safe and secure inside her, suddenly made it all  real. And so incredibly beautiful.

'Er-I hope you two are concentrating on this,' Jonas broke in lightly.

Andie and Adam shared a smile of complete intimacy before turning back towards the screen.

Just in time to see the shape of a second head and body on the left-hand side of the screen!

'What-?'

'Twins,' Jonas answered Adam calmly. 'I had my suspicions, but-well,  this confirms it. There they both are.' He looked at the screen with  satisfaction.

'Twins?' Andie broke out of her stupor long enough to gasp disbelievingly. 'You mean there are two of them?'

'Twins usually implies two, Andie,' Jonas teased her, freezing the  picture onto the screen before removing the scanner. 'And everything  present and correct, as far as I can tell.'

'But-I don't-how-are you-sure?' she finally gasped weakly; it had never  occurred to her that she could be carrying more than one baby, her  earlier embarrassment completely forgotten in the face of this  revelation.

'Very sure,' Jonas answered confidently. 'As long as there isn't another  one hiding behind these two. In which case, it's triplets.'

Andie's eyes widened 'You don't think-'

'No, I don't.' Jonas laughed softly at Andie's disbelieving gasp. 'But  it briefly diverted you both from your obvious surprise that you're  expecting twins!'

'I'm sure Danie appreciates your humour, Jonas,' Andie said irritably. 'But I'm not sure that we do.'

She glanced nervously at Adam. He hadn't said a word since Jonas had  first shown them those two tiny human beings on the screen, that picture  frozen there now, totally indisputable.

'I'm going to leave the two of you alone with your children for a few  minutes,' Jonas told them, obviously aware of how emotional all this was  for them both. 'Let you become acquainted with each other. I still need  to do some more scanning before you leave, but I can come back and do  that in a few minutes.' When you've both got over your shock, his tone  implied. 'And you'll be able to take some photographs away with you when  you leave,' he added warmly.

Neither of them noticed, Andie was sure, when Jonas stood up to leave, they just heard the closing of the door behind him.

Andie and Adam stared at the screen. Two babies, one on either side, facing each other.

Would they be identical? Two boys or two girls? Or could it be that they  were two entirely separate entities, a boy and a girl? No doubt Jonas  would be able to tell them that, too, if she were willing to have a  test. But did Andie really want to know? More to the point, did Adam?                       
       
           



       

She turned slowly to look at him, to find his own eyes still fixed on  the screen. The tears had stopped falling now, but his eyes had taken on  a silver sheen where moisture still gathered there.

'I can't-it's-they're ours, Andie!' Adam suddenly ground out  possessively, his hand tightly gripping hers now. 'I never imagined I  would ever have one child, let alone two!'

'Do you mind?' Andie voiced her uncertainty. After all, he had never  envisaged being married, let alone being presented with a ready-made  family several months later.

He looked at her steadily. 'Do you?'

She glanced back at those two tiny creatures on the screen, a flow of  maternal love already reaching out to them both. 'No, of course I  don't,' she denied fiercely.

'Neither do I,' he assured her with emotion. 'It's like Christmas and Easter all rolled into one!'

But not those barren Christmases, Easters, and birthdays he had known as  a child. Perhaps, only perhaps, their children would help to alleviate  some of that awful loneliness he had known then. She hoped so!