“But…you hardly even knew me.”
Sloane looked down at their clasped hands as his mind wandered back to that day. It was true. He hadn’t really known Melanie at all. “It’s weird,” he said, his speech slow even as he tried to process things himself, “but from the day I saw you back in high school I never forgot you. When you took over your father’s business I saw you in the press from time to time but, even then, you were a distant dream. But when you walked into my office that day, I felt it.” His hands tightened around hers and he looked at her, searching her eyes, trying to make her understand. “I didn’t understand it myself but I knew it was fate. Our destiny. It was the sign I’d been waiting for all my life.”
“So…you didn’t marry me because of the baby?”
He laughed. “Please. I didn’t need to marry you to get a child. Trust me.”
“And…you still want to be with me even though I can’t give you a child?”
“I want to be with you as long as I’m on this earth,” he declared. “And who says we can’t have a family? If you have your heart set on a child, I would be more than willing to adopt.”
That brought a smile to her tear-streaked face. “You would do that? For me?”
“For both of us.” He reached out and drew her close, and sighed in contentment as she laid her cheek against his chest.
“Then I’ll stay with you,” she whispered. “I thought if I loved you I had to let you go but now I’m so glad I don’t have to.”
Sloane chuckled. “Don’t you worry,” he said as he stroked her hair. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily. You're stuck with me for life.”
And he was looking forward to spending every minute of the rest of his life with his beautiful wife.
EPILOGUE
“You did this to me.” Melanie gritted her teeth and gripped Sloane’s hand as the pain ripped through her body.
“Eergh,” she groaned through clenched teeth.
“It’s okay, honey,” he soothed as he dabbed at her brow with a cool cloth. “Just push.”
“Looking good, Mrs. Quest. Now bear down. We’re almost there.”
The doctor’s voice was reassuring in its coolness and Melanie drew strength from his calm. Although the massive pressure on her lower half was a hair's breadth away from unbearable, she fought to stay calm. She was swimming in pain but it was normal. It had to be. The doctor didn’t look the least bit perturbed.
And then she looked over at her husband, so strong and supportive, his furrowed brow and perspiring upper lip telling how much he was sharing her pain. But he was fighting hard not to show it. And he was there with her one hundred percent.
“I see the head,” the nurse said with a hint of excitement in her voice. “Keep pushing, Mrs. Q. Help us out here.”
So Melanie pushed and even as the pain tore through her, her heart soared. She was having her baby.
It had been a long time coming. Good grief, she was all of thirty-seven years old. She’d totally given up hope that this day would ever come. She’d accepted her fate and in her mind, she’d moved on.
And now this.
“One last push. Come on now. Give it all you’ve got.”
At the doctor’s order, Melanie gave Sloane’s hand a bone-crushing squeeze and pushed with all her might.
“Your baby’s here,” the doctor announced.
“And it’s a boy,” the nurse said, laughing.
And then Melanie heard the most beautiful sound in the world. Her baby’s very first cry. And it was a lusty howl.
“My baby,” she sobbed. “My baby.” When she looked up at Sloane she could hardly see him through her tears. But one thing she did make out was the wide grin on his face.
“We have a boy,” he said. “I have a son.” And his voice was so full of wonder that Melanie blinked to clear her eyes, the better to see his face.
And what she saw made her heart melt. Big, bold and powerful Sloane Quest – now overcome with emotion – actually had tears in his eyes.
At that moment the nurse handed her a very pink baby swaddled in a white blanket adorned with pink and green stripes, and as she looked into the face of her own special miracle baby her eyes welled up again.
“Welcome to the world, Sloane Parker Quest,” she whispered as she gazed down at the tiny dark-haired bundle in her arms. “This is your mommy.” She could hardly believe she was saying the word. She was finally a mom.
Smiling, Sloane reached out a hand to touch the top of the baby’s head, then he turned and gave Melanie a gentle kiss on the forehead. “You have your baby at last,” he said, “and as soon as the adoption papers come through we’ll have our daughter, too. We are so blessed.”
At his words Melanie choked up, so much that she couldn’t speak. Finally, she managed a trembling whisper. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said softly. “And thank you.”
“For our son?” She looked up at him, trying to understand.
“For our family,” he said, his voice vibrating with emotion.
And her heart filled with love because she knew exactly what he meant.
THE END