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Baby Makes Six
Shelley Galloway
Shawn and Eddie Wagner were the picture of a perfect couple, living a charmed life with three adorable little girls.But that all came to an end when Shawn suffered a miscarriage and the tragedy tore them apart. Now divorced, the couple remains connected–by their children and by a chemistry that, one fateful night, proves too powerful to resist. When Shawn discovers she's pregnant again, it seems like a disaster. After all, she's already a single mother of three, and Eddie has moved on with someone new.Still, as Shawn's belly grows, so do the glimmers of the love she and Eddie once shared. But can one new baby really add up to one big happy family?
Wanting to be closer to Eddie, Shawn got up, crossed the room and finally stopped to lean against the white tiled countertop
Eddie looked at her. Really looked at her.
Shawn’s chin was tilted up, her mouth curved in a forced smile. And her eyes—those eyes he could read, always.
Before he could think about what he was doing, he gave in to instinct. To what his heart wanted. To what he needed. Stepping back, he curved his arms around Shawn and pulled her close.
Automatically she wrapped her arms around him, tucked her chin against his chest and leaned close. Her clean scent filled his senses. Her soft skin felt incredibly familiar.
Right then, out of the blue, Eddie realized that all those feelings that he used to have for Shawn were still alive and well.
Dear Reader,
Though it seems not all that long ago, I remember the exact moment I met my husband. It was the second week of summer school before our freshman year in college. He was sitting at a lunch table in an old T-shirt and gym shorts and had a cast on his right arm. I had on a black sundress. Someone—I forget who—introduced us, and right then and there I knew he was the guy for me.
This past July we celebrated our twentieth anniversary.
I wish I could say that we’ve never had a single disagreement, but that wouldn’t be the truth. We’ve definitely had our ups and downs! But it’s because of them—not in spite of them—that we’re still happily married.
When I got the opportunity to write about a couple having some trouble but still very much in love, I jumped at the chance. It was fun and challenging to write a romance about two people who’ve been through so much but still have a lot to learn—about themselves and each other.
I hope you enjoy the book.
I love to hear from readers. Please visit my Web site at www.shelleygalloway.com and let me know how you liked the book.
All my best,
Shelley Galloway
Baby Makes Six
Shelley Galloway
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shelley Galloway loves to get up early, drink too much coffee and write books. These pastimes come in handy during her day-to-day life in southern Ohio. Most days she can be found driving her teenagers to their various activities, writing romances in her basement or trying to get ahead of her pile of laundry. She’s also been known to talk to her miniature dachshund, Suzy, as if she actually has opinions about books.
Shelley is the proud recipient of an RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for her 2006 release, Simple Gifts. Shelley attends several conferences every year and loves to meet readers. She also spends a lot of time online. Please visit her at eHarlequin.com or at www.shelleygalloway.com.
This book is for Tom, of course.
The past twenty-five years
sure wouldn’t have been as wonderful without you.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Chapter One
Shawn Wagner shifted an overstuffed beach bag from one shoulder to the other and tried to concentrate on how good the cool, damp sand felt underneath her toes. The Florida surf crashed gently against the shore, the waves foaming along the coastline, rhythmically calming her nerves and reminding her how much was inevitable.
Just like the tide rolling in, she, too, would go on. Being pregnant again wasn’t the worst thing that could happen.
But still…this pregnancy had caught her by surprise.
She strolled along, frustrated that she couldn’t find the spot where they’d set up camp yesterday. It was so perfect, too. Quiet, near three big rocks. A wide patch of sand for the girls to build sand castles in.
But…none of the rocks they were walking by looked familiar. As the girls giggled and marched in front of her, Shawn paused again. Had they gone left after the third green garbage can or right?
“Mommy, what are you doing?” Mary called.
“Trying to remember where we set all our stuff yesterday.”
“Oh.” Ever eager to please, Mary stood by her side like a little sentry, looking this way and that.
But really, every spot on the beach looked pretty much the same.
“Kit, do you remember where we were yesterday?”
Her five-year-old looked around. “Uh-huh.”
“You sure?”
“Uh-huh!” Grabbing three-year-old Elsie’s hand, Kit started walking again. “Come on. It’s this way.”
Slipping her hand into Mary’s outstretched one, Shawn grinned. “Let’s follow our leader.”
“How come Kit always knows where to go?”
“I don’t know. I guess she’s got a lot of your daddy in her.”
“I never remember.” Worriedly, Mary chewed on her lip. “Does that mean I’m like you?”
It was humbling to realize that her middle child was actually worried about that possibility. “Maybe.” When they finally reached their destination and stopped in front of Kit, who was holding Elsie’s hand with more patience than usual, Shawn said, “Good job, honey. This is the exact place where we were yesterday.”
Kit’s smile could have outshone the sun. “Hooray!”
“Hooray is right. Let’s get settled, ladies.” With little fanfare, Shawn set down the beach bag, dug around for the king-size quilt, then shook it out over the soft-as-powder surface. Grains of sand flew up in its wake.
Once the wrinkles were smoothed out, Mary and Kit set up their towels, toys and floats. Elsie occupied herself by scooping up sand and watching it run through her fingers.
Shawn wondered just how in the world she was going to manage four girls. Because really, some days, she wasn’t so sure she managed all that well with three.
Well, that was an understatement if she ever heard one. No matter what she did, things just seemed to naturally go awry. She forgot where she parked because she was thinking about grocery-store coupons. She was late for almost everything because three girls didn’t always follow directions right away.
Being late, a little scattered and sometimes absentminded didn’t bother her. She figured it was a temporary thing, and probably not uncommon. After all, hadn’t she just read about other moms contracting “momnesia,” too? It had to be fairly prevalent for someone to have made up a new term to describe moms who forgot things.
And, well, with three kids under six, Shawn figured she was entitled to have a bit of momnesia every now and then.
Unfortunately, her faults had long stopped being endearing to Eddie. In fact, he’d only seemed amused by her antics when they were dating. Soon after they’d taken vows, it became apparent that he wished she was a little more on the ball.
But they’d been in love and they’d had three beautiful girls together. Then she’d lost the baby. Though the doctor had promised that there was no reason for the miscarriage, both she and Eddie had tried to find a cause.
She’d started blaming Eddie for not helping enough. And he, well, Eddie had mentioned the way she’d carried Elsie around nonstop. Even though he knew Elsie had pretty much clung like a koala from the moment she was born.
After that big fight, they’d both apologized. Eddie had been particularly remorseful, saying he’d had no right to ever say such things. That of course the miscarriage had been nobody’s fault.
But some things couldn’t be forgotten.
So after Elsie turned two, neither could take the arguing anymore. They’d separated. Six months later they’d divorced.
Funny how that divorce hadn’t made things between them any easier. One night four months ago they went a little too far back down memory lane. And now she was pregnant again.
“Mom, where’s the sunscreen?” Kit fumbled through the mesh beach bag, tossing toys out carelessly. As two bright red shovels landed at Elsie’s feet, she looked Shawn’s way again. “I can’t find it.”
“I know I packed it today. Let’s see what’s under these toys.”
“Daddy doesn’t like it when we empty toy bags and bins like that,” Mary said. “He said it makes a big mess that’s hard to clean up.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing he’s not here, hmm?”
Though she’d already doused them in sunscreen, she dutifully helped them apply another layer. Then, after a warning to mind the surf, she watched her two oldest grab pails and shovels and run to the water.
And when she finally sat down, it was next to Elsie, who was now looking very grown-up in one of Mary’s old suits.
This was supposed to be a new year, a new beginning. The divorce was final, the girls were finally adjusting to seeing one parent at a time, and Elsie was out of diapers.
Funny how things weren’t going as planned. Now, instead of taking the changing table and crib over to Goodwill, she was going to have to pull it out of the attic again—this time by herself. No way was she going to get Eddie involved—at least not for a while. The difficulties a new pregnancy would bring were just too harmful.
Tugging on the hem of her tank top, Elsie claimed her attention again. “Momma, I’m thirsty.”
Shawn handed her a juice box, followed by the requisite Goldfish crackers. When her baby was happily sipping and munching, Shawn watched Kit and Mary do their favorite beach activity—building a giant sand castle.
Oh, they loved coming to the beach—thank goodness for Bill and Sharon Wagner. Just months after she and Eddie had separated, his parents had stopped over out of the blue.
After catching up for a few minutes, they’d given her a key to their condo. “Eddie may be breaking up with you, but we’re certainly not,” Sharon had said. “Promise us you’ll come to Bishop’s Gate with the girls at least once a month.”
Shawn had been thrilled, but reluctant to make things uncomfortable for Eddie. “You sure about that?”
Bill had placed the key in her hand and curved her fingers around it. “Very sure.”
The girls loved the weekends in the tiny beach community just thirty minutes outside Destin so much that Shawn agreed to the arrangement, even thought it meant that they saw Eddie a little bit more than she’d like. Eddie had bought a condo at Bishop’s Gate almost as soon as they separated.
When snack time was over, Shawn walked Elsie to the castle construction zone and dropped onto the damp sand next to the other girls.
They sat for a few minutes, Elsie content to watch her sisters, Shawn happy to sit in silence and watch the waves crash along the shore.
