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And at last, when both of them were driven beyond any limit they'd ever experienced together, she heard him sob her name as he spilled himself into her and felt the glorious pulsations of her own release answering him.
Afterwards, she cradled him in her arms, his head pillowed on her breasts, his hand softly stroking her abdomen. And they murmured together—words of love, words of forgiveness and absolution.
There was a sudden note of laughter in her voice. 'I wonder what the baby made of that?'
'Probably thought it was being rocked to sleep,' Nick returned with a sigh of utter contentment.
'Mmm.' She was silent for a moment. 'Is it a relief to know you won't have to pretend any more—about Vanessa?'
'It has to be,' he admitted. 'There are some rough times ahead for her, and I want to be able to support her openly— although it will just be as a friend when her father's around.
My mother’s right. He‘s one of the good guys. We shouldn’t hurt him.'
'No.' She was quiet for a moment. 'Nick—why were you with her today? You never said.'
He said ruefully, 'She was altering her will, because the previous one left everything to Tony, and she asked me to be one of the witnesses. It wasn't an easy thing for her to do.'
'No,' she said, slowly. 'Poor Vanessa.' She hesitated. 'Do you think that she and I will become friends? I can't say she seemed to like me when we met.'
Nick propped himself up on an elbow, his face serious. 'Vanessa had to pick up the pieces after you left,' he said quietly. 'For a while there I was pretty much in self-destruct mode. So she sobered me up when I got drunk, and listened patiently when I tore myself in pieces over waking up next to some girl whose name I couldn't even remember.' He looked at her remorsefully. 'I'm not proud of that period in my life, darling. My only defence is that I was trying to blot you out for ever. But, however hard I tried, the pain of losing you just got worse.
'Vanessa was completely non-judgmental about it all—except once, when she told me frankly that it was unfair to take from women when I had nothing to offer in return. When I was simply using them because I couldn't have the girl I loved. She said if I was fool enough to want you that badly, then I should go and find you. Move heaven and earth to get you back, in spite of what you'd done.
'So it may take some time for her to come round. But she'll be mortified when she finds out what Adele really told you,' he added thoughtfully. 'And it will explain a lot, so that might help.'
'I'll just have to convince her that I'm here to stay.' Cally coaxed his head back to its former resting place, smoothing his dark hair from his forehead, then paused as she remembered something else. 'Nick—why do you want the Dower House back, if it's not for me? Was it just to get rid of Adele in case she made more trouble?'
‘That was certainly an incentive,’ he agreed. ‘But I have another reason—one that I intended to discuss with you. My mother feels that life in a tent in some rainforest is fast losing its charm as she gets older. Becoming a grandmother has developed far more appeal for her, so she's considering a part-time post as a lecturer here in the UK. And she'd like to live in the Dower House—but only if you agree. She doesn't want to crowd us.'
She was smiling. 'I think it's a great idea. Our own built-in babysitter, no less. And perfectly used to dealing with a wilful small boy as well,' she added dreamily. 'How very useful.'
'Which is unfortunate,' Nick told her lazily, 'because we're having a sweet but stroppy girl.'
She shook her head. 'Boy first. Your son and heir.'
'A girl,' he said firmly. 'Or it's going back.'
'Ah, well,' she said. 'We won't argue the point. After all, you never know,' she added thoughtfully, 'it might be twins.'
And, one snowy January morning, that was exactly what it was...
