Mistletoe Baby

Christmas parties we attended. But I officially picked it up yesterday and it was just as perfect as ever. I’m incredibly grateful that, in three more days, I will become Mrs. Lilah Waide.”

“I’m grateful I got that waiter’s number at the club we took Lilah to,” Arianne said smugly. “Well, we don’t all have to go for the sap, do we? I figure everyone else has got the cheesy covered.”

David’s voice was so soft that Rachel wondered if anyone else heard him when he said, “I’m grateful for fresh starts.”

Her heart squeezed.

He cleared his throat, setting his hand atop hers on the table. “Rachel, do you want to…?”

Now? She hadn’t really thought about when they’d make their announcement, but David was smiling at her eagerly, obviously ready. Why not? Everyone was together, and it did seem like a perfect moment.

She took a deep breath, lacing her fingers with his. “Well, there is one new blessing that I-we-wanted to share with you. David and I are, um…” The tears fell then as if the happiness inside her body was too big to contain and it was seeking any physical outlet. She swiped at the dampness on her cheeks, nearly laughing aloud with sheer joy. She probably looked as if she’d come unhinged. “I’m pregnant! Dr. McDermott says everything looks good so far, and we’re expecting a baby this summer.”

Squeals and exclamations erupted around the table, and Rachel thought Arianne did a credible job of looking surprised. Chairs creaked as everyone got up to hug everyone else. Zachariah’s eyes were misty with emotion when he embraced her. Susan was sobbing hard enough to rival Rachel herself.

After getting her hug, Lilah bounced around the room declaring, “I knew it. I knew it! Oh, this is the best news ever. Just think, Ari, by the time you get married, your niece or nephew will probably be old enough to serve as an adorable ring bearer or flower girl.”

Arianne snorted. “If I get married, we’re eloping to Vegas, but thanks for thinking of me.”

RACHEL SNUGGLED against David’s side, closing her eyes and listening to the classic movie everyone else was watching. It had been such a wonderful day she didn’t want it to end, but she was bone-tired. For as delicious as Susan’s roast turkey and white cheddar mashed potatoes had been, they weren’t exactly energizing foods. If her body felt this heavy and languid now, Rachel couldn’t begin to fathom what the third trimester would be like.

“I should get you home.” David kissed the top of her head. “You look ready to drop, and I’ll bet Winnie’s animals would appreciate getting dinner.”

Rachel nodded her consent, then exchanged goodbyes with everyone. They’d all be together again the day after tomorrow for the wedding rehearsal and dinner. Tanner had two friends driving up together from Atlanta for the ceremony, but most of the bride’s and groom’s relatives were local.

Outside, Rachel paused long enough to appreciate the clear night sky and hundreds of stars winking at her as if they were all in on a private joke. “It’s beautiful.”

David smiled. “You’re just stalling because you don’t have the energy to walk the rest of the way to the car.”

“That obvious?”

He shifted the packages he carried for both of them and put his free arm around her. “Thank you for one of the best Christmases of my life.”

She laughed. “Even with the lame presents I got you?” At a desperate loss shopping this year, she’d landed on a boxed set of CDs from a band he liked and a bottle of his favorite cologne, which was practically a gift to her since she loved leaning close and inhaling the scent.

“I had everything I wanted today,” he told her as he stashed boxes and gift bags in the trunk.

“Well, thank you for my present.” She’d been delighted by the digital camera. It was a truly thoughtful gift, with a much higher megapixel count than her last one, a sophisticated zoom function and the ability to take black-and-white or sepia-toned shots. They’d taken a few test shots today, but she was looking forward to reading through the instructions when she was more alert, and really giving it a workout at the rehearsal, wedding and reception. She already had an idea for a set of nostalgic pictures she could do for the chamber of commerce using the sepia option.

David started the car. “Actually, I have one other thing to give you. At the house.”

Her lips twitched. “Is that your idea of a come-on line?”

“No.” He laughed at her. “I really do have another present waiting for you at the house. Tanner and I set it up last night while you were at Mom and Dad’s.”

“Oh.” That sounded big. She wondered what it could be, but her curiosity wasn’t enough to keep her awake.

The motion of the car, the white noise of the engine and the road beneath them lulled her to sleep, but it was only a short ride and she woke a few minutes later, more groggy than refreshed. Would David’s feelings be hurt if she asked to postpone unwrapping her second present until tomorrow?

Oh, don’t be a killjoy, she chided herself. Christmas came only once a year, and he was obviously excited. She could prop herself up long enough to appreciate whatever it was he’d done for her.

Inside the house, he flipped on the hallway light and turned to her with a huge smile. “This way.”

After a second, she realized he was leading her toward the guest room. Intrigued, she hid a yawn behind her hand and followed. What was he up to? He walked through the doorway first, but spun to face her so quickly she almost bumped into him.

“Ta-da!” David spread his arms proudly.

She was so stunned at what she was seeing that it took a moment for reality to register. They were standing in a baby nursery. If it wasn’t fully furnished, it was darn close. A white wooden crib, changing table and bookshelf were all assembled and set in place. Brightly colored curtains matched the rainbow comforter and mobile of primary-colored fuzzy shapes.

The world slipped out from under her. Rachel felt as though she were standing on the deck of a ship that was about to capsize; she even reached out for something to anchor herself, but the only thing within grasp was David himself. All those wonderful possibilities, gone in one fell swoop. She let her arms fall back to her sides. A familiar feeling was welling in her.

After everything the two of them had been through during the past few months, he still didn’t get it.

“Speechless, huh?” He beamed. He moved to the side so she could get a better view of everything. “And here Tanner was worried you might find out, that it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Tanner,” she repeated.

David trailed his hand over the crib railing, looking impossibly pleased with himself. “I couldn’t have done it without him. At least not under these time constraints.”

You shouldn’t have done it without me. But she bit her tongue, not wanting to lash out, not when they’d been so close…

“So?” He stood there expectantly, waiting for gushing praise. While she struggled to find words, choking on despair, he prompted her as clearly as a drama teacher cuing a nervous student onstage. “It looks great, doesn’t it? Works for either a boy or a girl, with all the cheery red, blue, yellow and green. You see we put up a switch plate and that wallpaper border halfway down the wall. If you want, we can paint the trim, too. That might be pretty. Really dresses up the room without painting it all some pastel color we’d have to cover later.”

The trim. Her mind was working furiously, one part of her brain pointing out that he’d put a lot of effort into this. He thought he’d done a nice thing. But the rest of her was enraged. She was carrying a baby she’d wanted for the past three years. She’d read parenting magazines cover to cover, thumbed through consumer rating reports and cut out pictures of baby paraphernalia-and David didn’t think she’d want any more input on the nursery than what color to paint the trim? An aborted scream caught in her throat.

“There’s a rocker on back order,” he continued, oblivious. “It doesn’t match exactly, it’s a blond wood, but the cushion will work with what we used in here-”

“By we, I assume you mean you and Tanner?”

He started, seeming perplexed that she wasn’t turning cartwheels of joy. “Well…yeah. You’re not mad because I told him about the baby a couple of days early, are you? Because I did this for you.”

For her, not with her. Crucial difference. “I know, David. Th-thank you.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she struggled to pull the sentences from her tired brain that would finally make him hear her. She rubbed her temples. “But I had thought that, once we were living together again, if we