look into it.” On that satisfying note he got to his feet. “The crib is finished. What do you think?” He’d placed it against the wall opposite the end of her bed.
“I love it! I’m glad we picked the walnut for Alex.” She rolled off the bed. Together they added the mattress and padding. When she’d fastened the ties, she reached for the baby quilt and spread it along the railing.
Nikos examined the hand stitching. “You do perfect work. Anyone would think you’d bought this. I’m more impressed than I can say.”
“It’s full of mistakes, but thanks. I hope he has your black hair. Against the white material, he’ll be gorgeous. I can’t wait to wrap him in it.”
In the next breath Nikos pulled it off the railing and wrapped it around her neck and shoulders. “If he has your blond hair, the effect with this quilt will be sensational.” Still holding the material, Nikos drew her close. “All his friends will say he has the most beautiful mother in the Oinousses.”
“Nikos, I—”
The rest of her words were smothered as he claimed her mouth and slowly savored her as if she were something fragile and precious. Heat began to course through her body, making her legs tremble. She slid her hands up his chest, where she could feel the solid pounding of his heart beneath his sport shirt. For so long Stephanie had been waiting for a sign that he still wanted her. Her great need caused her to respond with an ardor she didn’t know herself capable of.
He picked her up and laid her on the bed before stretching out next to her. “Today when I saw the doctor spread the gel and use the probe, I wanted to be the one to feel the baby, Stephanie. Let me feel you now.” His voice throbbed.
She responded with a moan as he lifted the hem of her blouse and pulled down the elasticized waist of her skirt. When his hand moved over her belly, sensation after physical sensation swept through her. “Our baby is right there.”
As he lowered his mouth to the spot, the shock of his kiss traveled through her womb. Stephanie was filled with indescribable delight and the hope that everything was going to be all right. She let out a helpless cry and once again their mouths sought each other and clung.
There were so many things she’d been wanting to tell him. Now she could show him, without words getting in the way. She’d thought she’d loved him before, but after living together for a month her feelings for him had deepened in new ways and had taken root.
“Don’t be afraid you’re going to hurt me,” she begged, wanting him to crush her in his arms. Though she sensed his growing desire, he held back, kissing her with tenderness rather than the kind of passion she’d once known with him. She wanted more.
He buried his face in her neck. “I don’t want to do anything that could injure the baby.”
Surely he knew that couldn’t happen. Or was he covering for something else she’d secretly worried about from the moment he’d told her he was sterile? “There’s no fear of that, unless it’s your own injury stopping you.”
Nikos lifted his head and looked down at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about the deep bruising to your spine from the explosion. When you push yourself too hard, I can tell when you’re in pain, but I’m wondering if it’s more than that.”
To her chagrin he rolled off the bed and got to his feet. “Explain what you mean.”
Stephanie sat up, furious with herself for ruining the moment. “I’ve wondered if your PTSD wasn’t the only reason you didn’t want to sleep with me in the cabin with the twin beds. If you can’t make love, then please tell me. Don’t you know it could never matter to me?”
He reared his head in obvious surprise. “There’s nothing wrong with me in that department.”
For a moment she couldn’t breathe, she was so thrilled to hear that news, for his sake. “I—I’m sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion,” she stammered. “Thank heaven you’re all right.”
But another part of her was humiliated to have given herself away. It meant he had another reason for not making love to her. Afraid she knew what it was, she got off the bed and put the fallen quilt back on the crib railing.
“Looking back on the explosion, I suppose you could say the collateral damage didn’t take everything away,” he murmured.
Needing to do something to deflect the pain after that grim assessment, she started cleaning up the mess they’d made. He took the plastic from her hands. “I’ll take care of this.”
Unable to meet his gaze, she reached for a book she’d been reading, and hurried up on deck to put distance between them. Now that she knew the whole truth of their situation from her husband’s lips, she could envision what life had been like after Nikos’s father accused his mother of being unfaithful, all of it based on a vicious rumor. The thought that the baby might not be his had changed the dynamics of their marriage.
Was Nikos following the same pattern? Unsure of her still, would he go only so far and no further while he waited for the result in January?
Stephanie had thought her husband was beginning to believe their baby was his. A few minutes ago she’d felt closer to him than she’d thought possible. Though she could shout it to the heavens that the stamp of a Vassalos would be on their little boy, she would never be able to convince Nikos of it until after the delivery.
“Stephanie?”
She wheeled around just as she’d arranged a lounger to sit in while she read. “Yannis! I didn’t know you were here. We thought you wouldn’t be back until tonight.”
“I’ve got some repair work to do and decided to get at it before dark.”
Put on a good face.
She could tell he was dying to know how her doctor’s visit went, but he was never one to pry into her business. “We got back a while ago. Nikos set up a crib in my room. You’ll be impressed what a good job he did. Our baby boy will be very happy in it.”
A grin broke out on the man’s bronzed face. “You’re going to have a son?”
“That’s what the doctor said. We plan to call him Alex.”
“That’s a fine family name.”
“Yes. Ask Nikos to show you a picture.”
The older seaman’s eyes looked suspiciously bright. “I’m very happy for you.”
“We’re happy, too.” She would keep up the pretense if it killed her. “Thank you for all your kindness to me, Yannis. You do so many things to help me, and I’m grateful.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“Nikos couldn’t get along without you, even if you do put him through torture every day helping him do his exercises. But you already know that, don’t you?”
For once she saw him blush.
“He’s a slave driver, all right.” Nikos had just joined them. “I guess my wife has told you the news.”
Yannis clapped him on the shoulder. “She says you have a photo.”
“Right here.” Nikos pulled it out of his pocket.
The seaman’s eyes squinted against the light to get a good look. “He’s beautiful, like his mother.”
“I was just telling her he’ll have the most beautiful woman on the island for his mana.”
But you can’t take credit for being the father yet, her heart cried.
Stephanie would have to harden herself, because this was going to be the way of it for the next five months.