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Adam didn’t know what the right response was. Known as a gossip throughout their parish, Sister Gertrude seemed rather gleeful for delivering shocking news.
“I’m so happy for her, Sister. A baby is always a happy time, especially for the Catholics. Give her my highest regard, when you see her.”
“Oh, I won’t tell her, you know. She needs to tell you herself, out of respect for you.” She looked at him sidelong. “You were still seeing each other in April, weren’t you?”
“Sister.”
“I know, but still. It could be yours.”
Adam shook his head, a case of the chills coursing over his body. “Sister, please.”
“Stay frosty, Adam! If it’s your baby, you need to make her own up to it. You don’t want that little homunculus raising your son.”
It was all he could do not to laugh in her face. Terry Marco was a small man, and the Latin word fit him to a T, but it sounded so insulting.
“Sister, you have more important things to worry about,” he said, wishing she’d shut up. “When I see Ashlie, I’ll congratulate her and if there’s anything to tell, I’m sure she’ll let me know.”
“If that happens, call me,” she said, winking.
Adam walked her to the door, hoping she’d leave, but she remembered she hadn’t told him about her trip to the Vatican, which took another ten minutes of his prep time.
“Let me walk you back to your office,” he finally said to get her moving. “I’ll stop by the cafeteria for a cup of coffee.”
Once she was safely in her office, Adam took a chance and ventured into the cafeteria, running head-on into Ashlie.
“Hey! Welcome back,” he said idiotically.
Stunned, her mouth open, Ashlie didn’t expect to see Adam in the cafeteria after he had successfully avoided her after their breakup. And following the conversation she’d had with Terry that morning, he was the last person she wanted to see.
“Um, hi,” she said.
“Sister made a point of telling me aboutthis,” he said, pointing. “Congratulations.”
Her lip trembled. She pushed past him and fled the cafeteria.
Chapter 2
For Adam, it was love at first sight. Of course, Terry Marco wasn’t about to allow Adam in the delivery room, but the arrangement made in a court of law, before a judge, determined that the moment the pediatrician said the baby was healthy and stable, she would immediately meet her father for the first time. And he’d have unlimited access to baby Adelaide while she was in the hospital newborn nursery. On the day of her discharge, she’d go right to the waiting arms of her father.
Although it wasn’t public knowledge, Terry didn’t want Ashlie to nurse the baby, or to even see her right away.
“You can see her later,” he said. “It won’t do you any good to hold her or see her right after the birth.”
“You’re being a jerk,” Paul Clark said. “She’s the mother regardless of who the father is.”
“Buddy, don’t tell me how to manage this. It’s a huge fuckup and I’m going to do it my way. This is what Ashlie and I agreed to.”
The way it happened—the day after Ashlie admitted the baby could be Adam’s baby, Terry planned for Ashlie to get a blood DNA test. They compared it to Terry’s DNA. In one week, they had the result. Terry wasn’t the father.
It was a crushing blow. Holding each other, weeping, it meant that her first baby wasn’t Terry’s. The following week, they confided in Paul. He did an ultrasound and moved her due date up. December twenty-third. A Christmas baby.
After the birth, Terry and Ashlie had their next confrontation in front of Paul.
“You can try again in a year. You should wait eighteen months, but a year is acceptable. I’d prefer you wait, though.”
“I want to get her pregnant right away,” Terry said.
“Well, don’t!” Paul yelled. “You’re such a jackass. I can’t believe we’re friends. It’s not healthy to get pregnant too soon. You risk premature birth among other awful outcomes.”
