The Baby Surprise by Brenda Harlen

“I’m just…surprised.”
    â€œSurprised that I could be reasonable?”
    Her cousin’s lips twitched, as if she was fighting against a smile. “Well, you haven’t exactly been reasonable since Zach showed up.”
    â€œCan you blame me?”
    â€œNo,” Ashley admitted, her hand moving instinctively, protectively, to cover her rounded belly. “Because I know you wouldn’t love that little girl any more if you’d given birth to her, and because I know I would fight to my last breath against anyone who threatened to take my baby.”
    â€œSpeaking of babies,” Paige said, eager to change the subject. “Have you seen Marcus today?”
    â€œI just came from the hospital,” Ashley said. “And though I wouldn’t have thought it possible, he’s even more beautiful than he was yesterday.”
    â€œAnd the new mommy?”
    â€œRadiant but exhausted. Apparently the baby woke up every two hours in the night to nurse.”
    Paige winced. “I can’t imagine.”
    â€œGage offered to give him a bottle so she could sleep, but Meg is determined to ensure that Marcus has the best start and she believes breastfeeding is crucial to that and giving him a bottle at this stage could create nipple confusion and—as you can imagine—after a few more minutes of listening to her exceptionally detailed reasoning, Gage’s eyes started to glaze over.”
    But Ashley only looked wistful, and Paige knew her cousin was now even more anxious to hold her own baby in her arms.
    â€œOnly a couple more months and you can debate the benefits of cloth diapers versus disposables until Cam’s eyes glaze over.”
    â€œWe’ve already done that one.” Ashley said and helped herself to a brownie. “Now getting back to Zach.”
    â€œWhy?” Paige asked warily.
    â€œBecause I guess what I’m really surprised about is that you invited this guy—this stranger—to live with you.”
    â€œFirst of all, he’s not exactly a stranger—he’s the man that Olivia believed was Emma’s father. Second, we’re not living together—he’s only staying with me until the question of Emma’s paternity has been answered. Third, you were the one who told me I should cooperate with him.”
    â€œIt seemed like a good idea at the time,” Ashley mumbled.
    â€œAnd why doesn’t it seem like a good idea now?”
    â€œBecause there’s a…vibe…whenever you and Zach are in the same room together.”
    â€œA vibe?”
    Her cousin nodded. “Like I said, you look at him like he’s a chocolate brownie, and he looks at you like…like you’re a woman he really wants to get naked with.”
    â€œI’m sure you’re misinterpreting something.”
    â€œI don’t think so.”
    â€œEven if that’s true—and Zach hasn’t said or done anything to suggest that it is—you have to know that I would never fall for a guy just because he looks good in uniform.” And she figured her cousin, who was all too aware of the tumultuous relationship Paige had with her own father, would understand that better than most.
    â€œI’m not worried that you’d fall for Zach because of his uniform but in spite of it,” Ashley clarified.
    â€œThere’s no need to worry at all,” Paige assured her.
    She only hoped she sounded more confident than she felt because the truth was, the more time she spent with Zach, the more she forgot about the uniform and focused on the man. And she knew that could undermine all of her plans.

Chapter Six
    P aige had seen enough in her family law practice to know that there were good parents and bad parents and some who were simply indifferent. She also knew that some mothers and fathers emulated the parenting practices they’d grown up with, and others consciously chose to distance themselves