Safely Fly The Stork.
1.
During the morning of Friday, March 17th, 1988, Lady Harriet Dempsey had paid a visit to her doctor.
When she emerged into the bright, mid morning Spring sunshine from her appointment with him, she was trembling with a mixture of excitement, elation and trepidation.
Following a missed monthly period and now sickness the previous morning, she had been on tenterhooks prior to the meeting, wondering how the news she was fully expecting, would not only impact upon her, but also her husband, James.
They had known each other for four years, having been thrown together as unlikely partners in SI-10, a clandestine Government department of elite undercover detectives and run by their irascible boss, Chief Superintendent Gordon Spikings.
Initially they had clashed.
Lieutenant James Dempsey was a brash, arrogant New Yorker, seconded from the NYPD, while Lady Harriet, known as Harry, scion of a hugely wealthy family of landed gentry, was working as Sergeant Makepeace, having retained her surname from an estranged and disastrous first marriage to Robert.
For anyone looking on with the opinion that opposites attract would witness, over the course of the following three years, proof of just how accurate that statement was.
Slow burning, their love for each other eventually caught up with them and when it burst into acceptance and reality, its course never ran deeper, truer or more eternal, than in the case of these two passionate lovers.
When in peril, as they often were given the nature of their work, a rare and unique sixth sense seemed to kick in, a kind of telepathic connection warning one of impending danger to the other.
Becoming engaged in the summer of 1987 and married six months later in spectacular fashion on the Carribean island of Necker, they had vowed that children, although wanted, would not yet feature in their lives. (see 'The Contract')
But nature had a different agenda, so now, barely three months into their married life together, Harry was expecting and she was worried it had come too soon for James.
They had already endured the initial uncertainty of how their feelings for each other would impact upon their work, fearing their love for one another would hamper their abilities to operate effectively in the dangerous theatre of operations within which they were often immersed.
And now that it had been confirmed to her that very morning, that she was soon to introduce a new life into the world, Harry was naturally concerned that its significance was going to be too profound.
That evening they were due to meet their close friends, Rupert and Lady Arabella, Angela and her beau Ollie, Joyce and Roger, and Hugo and Belinda for dinner at Romano's, a favourite Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge, going on later to Stringfellows nightclub in Covent Garden.
While waiting for their taxi to arrive, Dempsey mixed a Martini for Harry and went to hand it to her when she eventually emerged from their bedroom, as ever, looking stunningly beautiful.
She took it from him, but laid it on the coffee table without taking a single sip, Dempsey watching this, a little puzzled.
"Don' you wan' it?" he said, as she took his face in both hands and kissed him tenderly on the lips.
"Not for the next nine months, no." she said, her eyes searching his for a reaction. "I know we agreed no babies for a while but..."
"You're pregnant!?" exclaimed Dempsey, his soft brown eyes misting up, the joy in them unmistakable as he pulled her to him, his turn to kiss her.
"Yes darling." she said, looking up at him, their lips lightly touching now, her eyes glistening. "I am."
For a moment he stood there, staring at her, Harry beginning to tremble, uncertain as to how he was going to react once the initial realization hit home.
She needn't have worried.
He suddenly whooped, lifted her off her feet, just as he had done, months earlier, when she had said yes to his proposal of marriage, and swung her around, her arms about his neck, both of them laughing with tears filling their eyes, their lips locked again in passionate embrace.
"Well I'll be goddamned! I'm gonna be a daddy!" he shouted, before suddenly letting her gently down onto the ground and looking at her, a worried expression on his face. "Now honey, you sure you're okay for tonight?"
"Of course, you big dope! I'm only six weeks gone!" she replied, laughing. " I'm not a china doll, so don't go treating me as one. I'm still going to be your partner in SI-10."
"Oh princess, I ain't so sure 'bout that." said Dempsey, frowning.
Searching his face and smiling, having suspected in advance that he'd become over-protective towards her, she wanted to nip it in the bud quickly, yet gently.
"James, darling, now listen. I'm not ill, just pregnant. I need you to understand that simple fact." she said, before gesticulating with both hands. "Eventually I'll be out here and waddling about like an overweight penguin. But nothing's going to change for six months at least. Not in our working life nor home life."
No?" he questioned.
"No." she confirmed, passion now entering her eyes. "And as far as our love life is concerned, just be a little careful with me up top. They're a bit, er sensitive."
"Oh what, you mean..." he said, pointing to her breasts.
"Yes." she giggled. "And they are likely to get bigger and more, erm, fragile."
"I'll take good care of em' honey." he grinned, passion in his eyes now. "I just wanna go make another baby with ya right now?"
"We've got that to look forward to later." she whispered, kissing his lips as a car horn sounded outside. "Come on Valentino, take me to dinner, take me dancing, then take me to bed."
"In that order?"
"In that order!" she laughed, her blue eyes shining and never looking so bright. "The taxi's outside for goodness sake!"
They both wanted Harry's father, Lord 'Freddy' Winfield, to be the first to hear their news, but found it impossible to keep quiet that night at dinner.
"You've got something to tell us." sang Angela, her eyes wide with expectation after Harry had immediately declined the glass of champagne offered to her, instead asking for a Perrier with ice and lemon.
Dempsey let Harry do the honours, all eight friends clapping and cheering them, before the girls hugged her and the guys shook Dempsey's hand, other diners looking round and staring appreciatively at this group of tall, handsome men and beautiful, striking women, all oozing wealth and sophistication in bucket loads.
Alfonso Romano, the restaurant's proprietor approached them, knowing them all well enough to enquire as to the reason for their gaiety. Upon hearing Harry and Dempsey's news, he immediately told them their two meals would be on the house, their friend's meals would be at half price and all drinks, the latter's menu at their mercy, would be free also.
"I shan't be costing him much in the drinks department." laughed Harry, after he'd left them. "Unless he makes fortunes out of Perrier water!"
"Do you know what you want, Harry?" asked Belinda, a successful photographic model and sipping her glass of Krug champagne.
"Want? er Belinda?" asked Harry, still not altogether fond of her since discovering she'd been cheating on Hugo, a dear friend, with a brutal Russian spy who had ended up raping her and, in addition, somewhat loose with her affections towards other men.
Nevertheless, she had mended her ways since, had professed her deep love for Hugo and was now living happily and monogamously with him.
"Yes, a boy or a girl?" asked Belinda, aware of Harry's frostiness toward her but bearing no grudge. She had disgraced herself at Harry and Dempsey's wedding reception in Winfield Hall, Freddy Winfield's stately home, and knew, despite professing her profound apologies, that she had much more repair work to do before being fully accepted into Harry's inner circle.
"We ain't bothered, Belinda." said Dempsey, aware that Harry considered it a ridiculous question and was poised to utter one of her scathing put-downs. "Just so long as Harry and our baby are fit an' well. That's all we care 'bout, ain't that right, honey?"
"Of course." replied Harry, laying her hand over his and staring at Belinda.
"Well, whatever you have, he or she will be gorgeous." said Angela, raising her glass. "Oh Harry, James, I'm so happy for you. Here's to you both. Congratulations!"
"To Harry and James." they all said, laughing and lifting their glasses high.
Later, after they'd finished their meal, the girls had gone to the ladies restroom to refresh their make-up prior to leaving for Stringfellows.
"Were you shocked Harry?" asked Angela, as they stood in front of a mirror each, touching up their mascara and lipstick. " I mean, I presume it wasn't planned."
"No it wasn't planned, Ange." replied Harry, looking at Angela's reflection in her mirror. "We'd agreed we wanted babies, but were going to leave it and deliberately try when we felt we were both ready."
"But you are at it like rabbits though, aren't you." chuckled Angela. "I mean, it's always been plain to me you just can't keep you hands off each other. It was only a matter of time before you caught."
"Yes we are, no we can't and I suppose you're right." giggled Harry. "But nothing's going to change if I have anything to do with it."
"Hugo and I are like that." cut in Belinda. " I just hope when I marry him, nothing will change either."
"Has he proposed then?" asked a surprised Arabella, pretty sure he hadn't, but wondering if she'd missed something.
"No, but I'm hoping." replied Belinda.
"I know how you feel." murmured Angela, who'd been dreaming of marrying Ollie for months.
"When do you plan to take maternity leave?" asked Joyce, as, like Harry, her job was kept secret from their friends, since she worked for MI6 and would probably be parachuted in to replace Harry as Dempsey's partner when the time came.
"I'm leaving an open mind on that right now Joyce." replied Harry. "But after the baby's born I'll take as much time as I need. He or she will be top priority."
"Oh, please don't cut James out!" said Angela, suddenly. "I've seen and read too much of how marriages flounder because the husband is forced into a back seat."
"I won't cut him out!" snapped Harry angrily, annoyed that Angela, of all people, would think she'd sideline the love of her life.
"No, of course you won't." said Angela, a little alarmed at Harry's sudden anger. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid thing to say."
"Yes it was!" replied Harry, conscious that she'd overreacted a bit, but unable to stop herself, her hormones already playing games with her. "There will be three in our marriage, Angela, not two!"
"Come on girls." said Arabella, aware of the sudden tension in the air. "Stringfellows awaits us."
On their way back to the boys, Angela slipped her arm through Harry's, anxious to placate her. "Forgive me, darling. My mouth sometimes overtakes my brain before it's in gear."
"This baby will strengthen our marriage even further, Angela, not weaken it!" replied Harry, her smile marginal. "I did wonder how James would take the news, because it's come as such a surprise, but he's over the moon."
"Yes, I can see he is." replied Angela, realizing Harry's emotions were all over the place. "He'll make a fabulous Dad."
As soon as Harry was beside Dempsey again, his arm automatically circling her waist, she relaxed, his natural ability in calming her working its magic, she feeling safe, secure and loved beyond question.
She reached up and kissed him.
"I love you so." she whispered, her body shivering deliciously as he caressed her, the wafer thin fabric of her shirt offering no resistance, feeling as though his fingers were actually touching her skin.
"You okay honey?" he asked quietly, instinctively sensing her initial tenseness.
"Yes darling." she whispered, nestling closer into him.
"You sure?" he asked, glancing down into her eyes. "Only ya didn't look it jus' now when ya came out the washroom."
"Yes I'm sure. Angela said something I took issue with, that's all." she replied. "It's fine now."
"Why, what did she say?" he asked, the look on his face leaving her under no illusion that he wasn't going to let it go until he'd got an answer out of her.
"She was just concerned our baby would take all my attention and you'd feel left out. But she's very wrong and I told her so." she said, kissing him again.
"Ha! That can work two ways, honey." he replied, laughing, taking her jacket from the back of her chair and helping her on with it. "But doncha worry, you'll get ta hold our baby jus' as much as me!"
She threw back her head and laughed with him, loving him more for having, so naturally, turned Angela's concern on its head!
When they arrived at Stringfellows, it was alive with music, conversation and dancing, the heady atmosphere infectious. Having booked their seats, they took their places in a specially reserved area and settled in for the evening.
The DJ had announced that every other disc played would be a request and Harry was intrigued when Dempsey left her and wandered over to him, knowing what he was up to, but wondering what he was asking for.
Her answer came half an hour later.
"This is for Harriet and James." said the DJ, Nat King Cole's 'When I Fall In Love' drifting out from the speakers, Dempsey taking Harry's hand and walking onto the floor, closely followed by the rest of the group.
"I guess this is how I feel, princess." said Dempsey as the words of the classic love song filled their ears.
"Not just you, darling, me too." she replied, snuggling into him, her arms around his waist, lost in the lyrics as they entered their hearts, both quietly singing them to each other.
"When I fall in love, it will be forever,
Or I'll never fall in love,
In a restless world like this is,
Love is ended before it's begun,
And too many moonlight kisses,
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun,
When I give my heart, it will be completely,
Or I'll never give my heart,
And the moment I can feel that, you feel that way too,
Is when I fall in love with you."
"You never fail to amaze me, James." she said as the song finished. "I never, in my wildest dreams, ever imagined you as such a hopeless romantic!"
"You complainin'?" he asked, eyebrows raised at her.
"Of course not, silly! I love you so much more for it." she replied, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. "And I can't wait to show you how much!"
It was a wonderful night, Dempsey arriving home tipsy with drink, Harry tipsy with happiness and, lying in bed together later, both intoxicated by a passion fulfilled, she, resting her head on his chest, their legs interlinked, whispered.
"Are you really happy we're having a baby?"
"Hey honey, sure I am." he replied, turning her face to look at him. "Why the question?"
"Because it wasn't planned, was it." she said. "We wanted to enjoy just being married and then try for babies when we were both fully ready."
"Ain't you ready?" he asked, wondering why these sudden doubts had surfaced.
"I could have waited." she replied. "I knew when I married you, I wanted childen with you. That's something I knew I never wanted with Robert."
"Honey, listen." he said, raising himself onto an elbow and looking into her eyes. "I could've waited too, but now its happened I wouldn't wanna change it for the world. Don' ya feel like that?"
"Yes, yes, of course I feel the same." she said, alarmed she'd sent out the wrong signals. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean you to think I didn't want this baby."
"So what's with the question?" he asked again, then suddenly realizing this had everything to do with her failed previous marriage and the pain she was put through. "Harry, sure this baby's come earlier than we planned. But I ain't gonna run for the hills, not like that first creep who walked ya into marriage. An' now we've started, I'm gonna wan' a little sister or brudder for that 'bump' in there."
"'Bump'?" she giggled.
"Yeah, 'bump'. What else we gonna call it?" he grinned.
"Until we've decided on some names, why don't we call it Scrumpy." she chuckled, her worries cleared away and silently kicking herself for being so silly earlier.
"Scrumpy?" he asked.
"Yes, short for scrumptious." she giggled again. "Our baby will be scrumptious won't he - or she?"
"Yeah, scrumptious jus' like you!" he said, sliding down her body, kissing her as he went, her gentle sighs giving way to moans of exquisite pleasure.