One Tiny Miracle: Branded with his Baby / The Baby Bump / An Accidental Family

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Oh, God. How was she going to explain this to Quint? How on earth was he going to react to the news that he was going to be a father?

Trembling now, she rose from the wooden chair and began to pace around the small space of Bridget’s office.

“Oh, Brita, this is unbelievable! What am I going to do?”

Bridget’s brows arched with faint surprise. “Why, Maura, there shouldn’t be a question with you. You’re going to have the baby.”

Stopping in her tracks, Maura bit back a yell of frustration. “Of course there’s no question about that! Every cell in my body loves and wants this baby. I was talking about the father! He—he is not going to be pleased. In fact, I figure he’s going to be outraged.”

Frowning with doubt, Bridget asked, “How do you know that? I’ve always thought of Quint as a sensible, responsible person. At least that’s how I always saw him in high school. ‘Course I can’t say much for him hanging on to that gold-digging Holly like he did. But I forgive him because he was young and it takes a man longer to wise up about life. I’ll bet after all this time he can see what a narrow escape he made with that witch.”

Stunned, Maura stared at her. “How did you know the father was Quint? I haven’t told you anything about seeing him and—”

A sly smile spread across Bridget’s face. “I’m not blind. I’m your sister. And I’ve been seeing the change in you since you went to work for old Abe. Then that night at the hospital, when Brady was there with the gunshot wound, I overheard you telling Dr. Weston, in no uncertain terms, to get lost and stay lost. I knew then that you’d finally woken up and come out of your shell. And I figured Quint had to be reason. Abe is certainly too old to bring about that sort of change in you.”

Groaning with embarrassment, Maura covered her face with her hands. “Oh, Lord, you must be thinking I’ve lost my mind. He’s so young and—”

“A hunk to boot,” Bridget finished for her, then let out a suggestive laugh. “I think for the first time ever, my sister has really blossomed into the woman she should be. And Maura, just think, you’re going to have a child! Finally! Oh, how I envy you!”

Completely dismayed, Maura walked back over to Bridget’s desk. “Envy me? Are you crazy? I’m divorced, single and pregnant. With a child whose father doesn’t love me. I’m sure you’d jump at the chance to trade places with me.”

Bridget shook her curly head. “How do you know Quint doesn’t love you? Has he told you that?”

Maura’s troubled gaze dropped to the floor. “No. But he doesn’t have to. What we have—it’s like you said a few moments ago. Just chemistry.”

“So you don’t love him, either? That’s strange because I just can’t imagine my big sister jumping into bed with a man she doesn’t care about. Really care about.”

Did she love Quint? For the past few weeks she’d been telling herself that her heart hadn’t taken that big of leap for the man, but deep down she had to admit she’d only been fooling herself. She was wild about him. Crazy about him. She couldn’t imagine life without him. If that meant she loved him, then she was definitely guilty.

“So maybe I do care about him,” she muttered. “Maybe I do love him. That doesn’t fix anything. He doesn’t love me back. And he sure as heck doesn’t want to get married.”

Sighing, Bridget reached for a prescription pad and began to scribble instructions on it. “Maura, you need to remember you’re not dealing with Gilbert anymore. Quint is a real man. Not a jerk.”

Standing, she moved around the desk and handed the scrap of paper to her sister. “Here’s a script for vitamins and something for your stomach. Take them all faithfully and try to eat right. Right now that little one’s most important parts are developing. We want him to be healthy whenever he gets here. Or maybe it’s a she,” Bridget added with a happy grin. “I can’t wait to see! Are you going to tell the family, or can I break the news?”

Maura’s mouth fell open. She’d not yet thought about her parents’ reaction to this news, or her other siblings. She’d always been the cautious, practical Donovan. Were they now going to see her as disgrace to the family?

“Don’t say anything just yet. I need a few days to come to terms with all of this and gather my wits about me. I’m not sure I can face anyone with the news right now. Especially Quint. And he needs to hear this first.”

A few minutes later as she left Bridget’s office, Maura began to doubt the wisdom of holding her secret for a few more days. The longer she held this sort of news from Quint, the worse it would make things. Especially if Bridget accidentally let it slip to her family and the information got back to him before Maura had a chance to speak with him.

The thought of confronting Quint with this sort of life-changing news was twisting her nerves into knots and yet in spite of that, she was euphoric, thrilled to her very toes at the idea of a tiny life growing inside of her.

For years now she’d had to push aside her desire for a child. And after the humiliating divorce with Gilbert, she’d practically crossed out the idea that she’d ever be a mother. But now a baby was actually growing inside of her. Quint’s baby! As far as she was concerned, it was a miraculous turn of events.

Nearly an hour later, when she parked in front of Abe’s house, her mind was still spinning as she tried to decide how to approach Quint.

This past Sunday, she’d had a brief phone call from him, explaining that he and Jake were leaving for Clovis on Monday morning and weren’t planning to be back until Wednesday, which was today. The trip was to purchase a special herd of cattle and haul them back to the Golden Spur. Calling him tonight wouldn’t be the wise thing to do, she decided, as she let herself into the house.

No doubt he’d be tired and could possibly still be out on the range, moving the cattle to their new location. When she talked to him about the baby, she wanted his undivided attention. Early in the morning, before he became too deeply involved in work, she’d call and suggest they meet somewhere private. He’d probably get the idea that she was calling to make a date for them to make love. And he’d be partly right, she thought wryly.

“Maura, is that you, honey?”

Maura turned from putting her purse away to see Abe entering the living room. The look of concern on his face troubled her even more than she was already. She was here to see after Abe’s health. Not the other way around. But several times this past week he’d caught her taking stomach medication instead of eating her breakfast and he’d pestered her until she’d promised to drive to town and visit the doctor.

Smoothing a hand over her hair, she wondered if she looked as unsettled as she felt. “I’m sorry I’m so late getting back, Abe. My sister was very busy and had to work me in as her last patient.”

“Hmmph,” he said with a snort. “You’d think being a relative you’d get special treatment.”

“Bridget always plays fair,” she said, then looked at him more closely. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Hell, yeah! Just worried about you.” He took her by the arm and led through the small hallway toward the kitchen. “I’ve fixed you a nice little supper and I want you to sit and eat.”

“Abe—”

“It’s soup and crackers and iced tea. It’ll soothe your stomach,” he insisted.

Her heart melted. Abe wasn’t a kitchen person. For him to take this much trouble for her was more than touching.

“Okay, I’ll try to eat a little,” she told him. “Let me go wash up and I’ll be right back.”

After a quick trip to the bathroom, Maura headed to the kitchen and found Abe at the cookstove. As she sidled up to him, he winked at her and she suddenly realized that no matter what happened with Quint, she would always have this man’s love. It was a comforting thought.

Stirring the broth and noodles, he explained, “Just giving the soup a little heat. Did that sister of yours give you something to fix your stomach?”

Maura let out a heavy breath. “Sort of.”

Scowling, he practically shouted, “What the hell does that mean? Can’t she fix an upset stomach? You need to eat. You’re lookin’ gaunt.”

Emotions clogged her throat and stung her eyes. She tried to push it all away, but it was like fighting a tidal wave. Joy and fear were carrying on a giant war inside of her and she didn’t know how to make the two emotions call a truce.

“I’ll be fine,” she said hoarsely. “It’s just going to take a while for me to get over this.”

Lying the spoon to one side, he thoughtfully ran his fingers down his drooping mustache, then cut his sharp gaze directly to her face.

“Why is that? You gonna have a baby?”

Maura gasped as warm color flooded her cheeks. “How did you guess?”

He grinned as though she’d just handed him a box of prized treasure. “My missus was pregnant twice. The first one she lost. The next one was Lewis. Both times she couldn’t eat and she had that look about her. The same one you have now.”