Chapter 21
"Well, JAG has a wonderful day care. Harriett always swore by them and I have it on good authority that the director is looking to move to a warmer climate, but has agreed to stay until Harriett is ready to return to work after the twins are born. She is going to take over there!" Mac told him.
"She's due at Christmas, isn't she?" AJ asked.
"Yes, so that should be just right for her to be there when this one is born."
"What if you didn't have to leave the baby in day care Sarah?"
"I'm perfectly capable of managing a career and motherhood. I'm not leaving the Corps to stay at home with the baby!"
"That's not what I meant Sarah."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I meant that I could care for the baby during the day while you're at work. Since I'm retired, I have a lot of free time on my hands and could convert the guest room here into a nursery."
"How can you do that AJ? You have the house up for sale! I was going to ask you about that, but I got a bit distracted."
"I can take it off the market today. So what do you think of that plan?"
"You must have had a reason for putting this house up for sale? You've been here for years and must love the place. Why were you going to sell it?"
"It was just time for a change," he hedged.
"Fine, if you don't want to tell me you don't have to. As I said before you can see the baby any time you like, I would never keep you out of his or her life."
"Sarah you weren't even going to tell me about the baby except that you were transferred back here!" he protested.
Looking shamefaced, she admitted, "You have me there, but it was only because you would have been too far away to have been a part of the baby's life."
"I would have moved to Hawaii Sarah."
"You would have?" she gasped.
"Yes, as you can see I'm not as bound here as you might have thought."
"Yes, but you won't say why you were going to sell. Where were you going to live?
"I was going to spend some time with Francesca and then travel a bit. I had no solid plans."
"That doesn't sound like you."
"There's a lot you don't know about me," he told her.
"I'm sure there is, you've always been a very private person. I would have liked to know you better."
"Why Sarah?"
"I told you that I admired you, I wish that we could have been closer."
"I guess there's quite a lot that I didn't know about you too. I had no idea you admired me so, or that you'd had those fantasies about me."
"I was good at keeping my feelings hidden."
"Yes you were. It makes me wonder if there were other things you kept hidden."
She muttered almost under her breath, "If only you knew!" but he heard her.
"Why don't you tell me Sarah?"
"I can't, and I really should be going. We can talk about arrangements for you to see the baby some time before it's born. Right now, I need to find a place to live and with it being the holiday weekend that might be hard to do, but since I start work on Monday I was hoping to get that done."
"Why don't you live here Sarah?"
"What?!"
"Why don't you move in here? As I said I can take the house off the market with just one phone call and it really isn't that far of a drive, I used to make it everyday. It would make it convenient for you to leave the baby here during the day once it's born."
"How can I do that? How would it look? Don't you think someone might guess that you could be the baby's father?"
"I would gladly openly claim that, if you have no objections. And if you're worried about appearances we could get married…"
"Married!?"
To be continued…..