Authors: Collette Scott
“Stay there, I’ll get it.”
“On the desk,” Devlan remarked. His gaze returned to the airport, several stories up. He had never been to Phoenix before. What had captured his attention?
Before he could figure it out they were pulling away, leaving the airport and the fleeting feeling of happiness. It was something he had not experienced in a long time. They were trapped for a little while in the traffic around the terminals, and again Devlan turned his gaze outside the vehicle. He allowed the other occupants to discuss that afternoon’s meeting. It gave him a chance to relax.
Through the concrete pillars to his right, walking in the shadow of the parking garage were two women. His gaze locked on the fair one, a heavily pregnant woman, with long blond hair so similar to Diana’s that it took his breath away. It was tied back in a loose braid, with strands falling in her face, also like Diana’s unruly locks. She was chatting excitedly with the other woman, who carried two carry-on bags, but he could not see her face as she was turned away from him.
As Devlan passed them in the limo, he saw the child appear from the other side of the darker woman. His breath caught at the sight of the small blond girl skipping alongside them.
“It can’t be,” he whispered against the hot glass of the window.
“Pardon me, sir?”
Devlan shook his head. “Nothing. Just remarking on the heat.”
No, it could not be her. Hannah more than likely would not be skipping alongside them yet. Besides, Diana could not have gotten pregnant that quickly.
With a heavy sigh, Devlan dragged his hand over his face and around to massage the back of his neck. He had heard of things like this happening in such extreme heat. He knew he had better slow down. Hallucinations were common, and here he was putting other people’s faces on complete strangers. People that he just could not get out of his mind.
Yes, he would have to take it easy.
~
“Exciting!” Diana gasped. “Do you remember saying that? How exciting do you think it is now, Brad?”
“I feel sick.” Brad’s face was chalky, and it had taken on a slightly greenish hue.
The grip he held on Hannah’s hand was so tight that the child frowned. “Lemme go, Brad.”
Hannah jerked her hand away and hurried over to Brad’s friend, Jimmy. The young man smiled and took Hannah’s hand. “Come on kiddo, I’ll take you to the gift shop.”
Diana watched them go before turning her attention back to Brad. “This isn’t exactly fun, is it?”
They were in the hospital now, in a birthing room awaiting the arrival of Diana and Devlan’s son. She had been in labor for the better part of the day, and as the sun sank lower in the late summer sky Diana grew more impatient.
“I had no idea, Di. I wish you’d told me sooner.”
“Told you what, Brad?” Mindy asked, smoothing Diana’s hair away from her face. “This is natural. Transition is a part of a woman’s labor. It means that the birth is imminent, usually within an hour or so she’ll start to push.”
“Will you shut up? You sound like a damn book!” Diana ground out through clenched teeth.
Mindy met Brad’s eyes over her head. Brad swallowed hard. “So this is the part when the husbands get their ego shredded?”
Mindy grinned as she nodded.
“Cool,” Brad said.
“What’s so cool?” Diana snapped, a grunt escaping her moist lips. Suddenly another grunt escaped.
“Is it time?” Mindy asked, smoothing her brow with another cool rag.
“I think so. Will you call a nurse?”
Stumbling over his feet, Brad rushed to the door and began shouting for a nurse. Two came in quickly, frowns of irritation across their faces. Their strides were purposeful as they approached the bed, although they glared at Brad. “Please don’t cause such a commotion. The other patients are frightened.”
“I’m sorry,” Mindy said smoothly. “We think she’s ready.”
Diana was aware of Brad pacing next to the bed, and she reached for his hand to grasp firmly. Her face glistened with sweat, and her blond hair was plastered to her face.
“How are you?” he asked in concern.
“I’ve been better,” she muttered, squeezing his hand tight.
“Relax now, Mrs. Somerset,” the nurse advised. She watched the monitor as the contraction came on, and then reached over to adjust the band around Diana’s rounded belly.
“That’s a big one,” the other nurse remarked.
Diana groaned in answer, and her eyes remained glued to the monitor. The baby’s heartbeat dropped slightly in response to the contraction, but the nurses did not seem concerned.
Diana tried to focus on her breathing technique, but it was so hard. The pain was so intense. She could do nothing to manipulate her body except to breathe through the contractions, but it was getting increasingly difficult. She wished it were all over. She also wished she had taken that epidural when it was offered.
“Please, can I push now?”
“We have to wait for your doctor, dear,” said the older nurse.
Diana let out a loud sigh. “Where is he?”
“Coming. We paged him a few minutes ago.”
Diana envisioned him downing a cup of coffee at his leisure while she suffered in the birthing room. She gritted her teeth in frustration. Suddenly cool hands were on her forehead again, and Diana smiled her thanks at Mindy. Her loyal friend smiled back and pressed some cool ice chips to her lips. Diana closed her eyes and lay back, sucking on the cold ice while she had a reprieve. It was almost over. Soon her baby would be born.
“Ah, and here’s my lovely patient now.”
Diana opened her eyes and saw her elderly obstetrician enter the room. He donned gloves and glanced at her record before sitting down at the foot of her bed.
“How are you Diana?”
“I want this finished.”
“I know.”
She longed to scream out that he did not know, after all he was only a man. How could he know anything about birthing a baby? But she held her tongue and closed her eyes again as he did his exam.
“Ten centimeters, completely effaced.” He straightened and smiled at her. “Are you ready to push, Diana?”
With a sigh of relief, Diana nodded her head. She felt weak already, and the hard part was not over yet. Then a vision of Devlan entered her mind. It was a sight she had struggled to bury far in the recesses of her brain. But there he was, and he was smiling with pride and joy, urging her to keep trying and not give up.
“Come on, Diana, give us a big push.”
She raised herself and pushed with all her might. In the background, she heard one of her nurses counting to ten, and then she fell back against the pillows once more. More ice was pressed against her dry lips. And so it went for almost a half an hour she pushed before finally
he
was born. The room fell silent as the final push produced her son. The doctor and nurses worked quickly and wordlessly, doing automatically what they did on a daily basis. Diana lay back against the pillows and took a deep breath. It was done.
“Mrs. Somerset, it’s a boy,” the younger nurse said.
All around her they bustled with activity, drying and suctioning the baby. Then the room burst with the sound of the infant’s angry cries. Diana nodded her head and glanced at Brad. Her roommate, boss, and now friend had tears streaming down his face. He approached the foot of the bed and glanced over the doctor’s shoulder as he worked to suction the baby’s airway clean. His digital camera dangled from his wrist, completely forgotten.
“He’s just beautiful!”
Diana smiled at Brad and nodded again. She had known he would be. He was probably the very image of his father. Then she would be cursed with a daily reminder of him every day of her life.
“May I see?” Mindy asked.
The look on Mindy’s face confirmed Diana’s suspicions. “He is beautiful, Di,” she whispered.
They brought the baby over to the heating lamps and continued drying him off. He howled angrily, his arms and legs waving wildly. Diana allowed a fleeting smile as she watched him. He was so round and red.
“What’s his name?” the older nurse asked.
All eyes turned to her expectantly. She glanced at all the faces, waiting patiently for her answer. “Bryce,” she said matter-of-factly. “Bryce Devlan Somerset.”
The baby was weighed in and quickly swaddled. Diana held out her arms as the nurse approached and wrapped them around her new son possessively.
“Bryce,” she whispered.
Tears filled her eyes as she stared down at the infant. He was beautiful already, with a head full of black hair and a strong chin like his father’s. How proud Devlan would have been had he known.
Yes, she thought sadly, he would be proud and so very happy – if she were to tell him. But she selfishly had not, and that filled her with so much guilt that she was ashamed of herself. She still could, she thought. There was nothing to stop her. Unless one considered that he was probably already married to Roxanne and could sue her for custody.
She hugged little Bryce to her and stared down into his voluminous gray-blue eyes. No, she would not allow that. Bryce was hers and hers alone. She would never share him willingly with another woman, especially Roxanne Lemieux.
But could she live with that selfish decision?
~
Diana picked up the receiver and pressed it to her ear. With one hand she held Bryce, howling loudly for his mid-afternoon meal, and with the other she quickly dialed the California number. Once done, she pressed her newborn infant against her breast and helped him get a grasp on her nipple. On the other line she heard the steady sound of the ringer before a distinctly foreign voice answered.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Holmes, please.”
“May I ask who is calling?”
Diana sighed. “Diana Somerset.”
“One moment.”
After a decidedly long pause she heard the click of another phone, and then suddenly there was the sound of Esther’s excited voice.
“Diana, dear, how are you?”
Diana smiled. “I’m fine, Esther. How are you?”
“Well, we’ve been waiting for ages to hear from you. I saw Devlan last week, and he told me that you weren’t staying with him anymore. Goodness, it was as if you just dropped off the face of the planet. Are you okay? Where are you, honey?”
She paused for a moment, considering whether she could trust her parent’s friend or not. But if Devlan really cared she was sure he would have found her already.
“I’m fine. We’re fine. I’m in Phoenix, Esther, working with an artist. I run his shop in Scottsdale. It’s been such fun.”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear it. And your daughter? How’s she now? Devlan said he hoped her leg was healing okay, but that he didn’t know.”
“Hannah’s fine. It’s been a long road, but she’s running and playing again.” Diana gripped the handle of the phone tightly. “Listen Esther, part of the reason I called was to see if Thomas still practiced.”
“Law?”
“Yes, law.”
“Of course, he’s got an office downtown. Why are you in trouble?”
“No, no. I’m calling for my friend. You know, the one that I told you about? He may need some advice. That’s all. Would you mind giving me Thomas’ number at work?”
“Oh, sure, honey. Hold on and I’ll ask Marta to get it for you.”
As Diana waited, she removed Bryce from her breast and began to burp him. He fussed a little after the first burp, nuzzling her shoulder to indicate that he was still hungry.
“Okay, Diana, do you have a pen?”
Diana scrambled for the pen, roughly jostling Bryce. The hungry infant began to cry harder, and Diana hurriedly put him to her other breast.
“Was that a baby?” Esther asked.
“It’s okay,” she muttered. “I have a pen now, Esther.”
“Okay, dear.”
Diana scribbled the number down and chatted some more with Esther while Bryce finished nursing. However, her main concern was Thomas and what he could do for her and Hannah, as well as Bryce. Though sleep deprived and completely hormonal, she knew she had to do the right thing and tell Devlan. Hiding his son from him was just not an option. He deserved to know after everything he had done for her and Hannah. But she needed a lawyer desperately, and a good one if she was to go against Devlan. She needed to be fully prepared in case he did try to take Bryce away. If Devlan wanted a battle when the time came, she would give it to him. And she would do everything she could to make sure her children came out the victors.
Chapter 20
Devlan watched the sun set over Los Angeles from his office window. His desk was piled high with urgent paperwork, and he knew it would be another long night before he could head home. With a wry smile, he glanced at the luxurious leather sofa in his adjacent sitting room. Perhaps he should just sell the Brentwood house and live right here in his office.