*~*Chapter Seven~*~
Rick just stood there, waiting for Melinda to answer his brazen question. When she didn't respond after a few seconds, he asked again, "Melinda, do you want to make a baby with me?"
Melinda had no idea what to say. It was as though no words would come out of her mouth. All she could think was, *Ohhh God. Ohhh God.* At that moment, she couldn't even THINK coherently.
She opened her mouth and then quickly she uttered, "Okay."
Melinda turned suddenly. She started to clean, dusting the shelves behind the counter. She lifted every object and dusted beneath each one. With her back to Rick, she didn't have to look at him. She was finding it hard to stare into his bright blue eyes when he had asked her to have his baby.
"Melinda," said Rick, trying to get her attention.
Rick cleared his throat, but still she didn't turn to face him. She continued dusting the items on the shelves. "'Okay'... is that all you can say?" Rick asked in a gasp.
"I'll do it, Rick. We can make the baby the old- fashioned way. Now will you please leave? You- looking at me... like THAT... it's causing me to..."
"Causing you to what?" asked Rick. She turned and glanced at him again, just for a split second. In that instant, his eyes penetrated deeply into hers. It was as if he were trying to read and interpret every single one of her innermost thoughts. What she saw in his gaze made Melinda want to bolt.
The way he was looking at her, with that deep, powerful gaze, Melinda found herself breathless. "Just GO!" she quickly insisted. "We can iron out the details later. I need to... I need to..."
Rick shook his head as if he, too, were trying to clear it. He was trying to think more clearly. "Okay, I will go then. Come by my office when you get off work. We can talk about it then," he offered.
She shot him a 'do we have to?' look, but he just grinned and turned away. After Rick walked out of the antique shoppe, Melinda thought to herself, *Ohhh my God, what have I just agreed to do?*
As she finished dusting the shelves, Melinda was feeling incredibly nervous and excited all at once. She just knew that doing this for Rick was what she HAD to do. There was no other choice... and she knew it. She was aware that this might be her only chance to be with Rick considering she was married to Jim. She was hoping that Kate and Jim never found out the particulars of how the baby was conceived. She did not want to hurt Jim, but she could not lose this chance to be with Rick. She tried to tell herself she was only doing this so Rick and Kate could have a baby to love, but she knew in her heart that that wasn't the exact reason. She knew she was doing this because she had feelings for Rick; feelings that went above and beyond friendship. Silently she prayed that she wasn't making a big mistake, because in her heart, it felt so right.