It took a minute or two for her to get the crying jag under control so that he could ask what the hell was going on.
Easing her away from him, he studied the swollen eyes and the tear-streaked cheeks.
"All right." His hands were gentle on her arms. "Is it over?"
She nodded.
"Ready to tell me what's going on?"
"We're having a baby."
He hid a smile and squashed down the pithy comment. At the state she was in, he was not certain she would appreciate him making jokes.
"It appears so."
She glowered at him. "You're patronizing me."
Biting off a sigh, he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "Are you going to bite my head off if I say something about hormones?"
To his surprise, she started smiling through the tears. "Hormones." She savored the word as if it was honey. And just like that, her mood changed. "Dean, it definitely is hormones. I'm pregnant and this makes it official. All the way pregnant." She threw up her hands and laughed, the sound free and infectious.
"Darling."
"I'm fine." She eased back to wrap her hands around his neck. "I'm carrying your baby inside me. Isn't that wonderful?"
He was about to tell her that it was not a baby yet and they were not out of the woods, but he didn't have the heart to burst her bubble. She looked so damned happy that it was making him happy.
"It is wonderful." He grinned, totally charmed by her.
"We should think of names." A tiny frown touched her brow. "I was looking up books online and it's staggering the number they have available. We should go shopping." She hopped off his lap before he could stop her.
"The nursery."
"Catherine." He rose and caught her as she headed towards the doorway. "Slow down please. You're six weeks."
She rounded on him. "You're thinking I'm jinxing things."
"No." Clamping his hands on her shoulders, he held her in place. "I'm thinking we have time. And I don't want you running around and getting dizzy. I thought you were feeling nauseous."
"You're right." Standing on her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. "We have time. And besides, we have a lot to think about, read about between now and then." She leaned into him, inhaling his scent. "We created something wonderful and I will be praying that this baby is healthy." She lifted her head to gaze at him. "I want him to be smart and clever, so to aid that process, we will be listening to mostly classical music. I happen to love Beethoven. And ofcourse, we will visit museums and go to the various galleries. And of course, the opera."
"You don't like the opera," he pointed out, amused at this new side of her.
"I could learn to like it."
"All right," he capitulated, willing to give her anything she wanted. He was still cautious and terrified even though Eric had given his reassurances. He knew that a lot of things could go wrong.
"We're going to have to tell your parents," she said quietly after a few minutes of companionable silence.
He was afraid of that. "Can we wait?" he asked flatly. The very thought of sharing their good news with them was making him queasy. His kid was going to be their grandchild and that could not be helped. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that his father would immediately see an heir, and as for his mother, he wondered if she would really care.
Seeing the bleak look on his face, she tugged his head down and kissed his lips. "We will wait. I doubt I'll start showing until I reach the second trimester. So we'll keep it to ourselves."
"Great." Swinging her into his arms, he headed towards the bed. "Let's celebrate in our own special way."
Chapter 14
"I'm so happy we could meet for lunch." Her sister-in-law looked so much different from the drawn and unhappy woman Catherine had met the first time. She had changed her hair, cut it short in a style that suited her narrow face and added auburn highlights to the lustrous brown. And her makeup flattered her gray eyes, giving them a luminous look that was highly appealing. She was also more confident. She had found her niche and was working with her brother in setting up the credit unions that were starting to take hold.