Chapter Forty-Nine

"Zach!" Kendall cried, her face a mask of surprise dissolving into delight quickly edged with worry. But now the ground was solid as granite. It was she who was floating above it when he went to her and kissed her, a kiss for both public and private consumption. After participating in it with appreciation, she protested for form's sake when it was over. "But you're not supposed to be out of bed yet!"

He grinned imperturbably. "Spent enough time there by myself this morning."

"Oh, too much information." J.R. rolled his eyes at no one in particular.

"He healed the sick. For his next trick he'll walk on water," Ryan muttered, also to no one in particular.

Determinedly, Greenlee declared in a rush, "Kendall said she told you our news, Zach, and she passed along what she said were your congratulations, but since it was Kendall there's always the chance she really didn't, you really didn't, and she thought I'd never find out. So just in case she was situationally fibbing about that, I want to make sure you know that Ryan and I are pregnant!"

"Jesus, Greenlee, why don't you just take an ad out in the paper. I did tell Zach!" Kendall protested in an aggrieved undertone.

When Zach's gaze went from her to Greenlee, the impressive smile on his handsome face made Kendall's own knees weak. "That's right, Greenlee," he assured her. "Kendall gave me your wonderful news. May I reiterate my congratulations, also in person?"

"Of course you may," Greenlee beamed. "We're trying to foster a healthy and positive environment for our baby to experience in advance of its arrival. Congratulations are very affirmational for our little one's self-esteem."

Zach went so far as to kiss the proud expectant mother lightly on the cheek, and Kendall had to admit Greenlee was rather lovable, if equal parts annoying, at that moment.

"What a lucky child to be so cared for already," he said to her softly and with sincerity. He then straightened and, to Kendall's surprise, extended his right hand to Ryan, with a hearty, "Congratulations, Lavery."

A few seconds of suspense ensued before Ryan accepted and returned, if grudgingly, the firm handshake, with a slightly louder than muttered, "Thanks, Slater."

Only partially turning again to Kendall, his body language suggesting he was giving the Laverys a say in the outcome, Zach asked her, "Can you take a break? We have a marriage license to pick up this morning."

Marriage license? Kendall stared blankly at Zach, her mind frantically scrolling through the recent discussions they'd had on the subject, recalling not even a hint of any such previous arrangement for the day. "We do?" From the corner of her eye, she caught J.R.'s face contorting into a knowing sneer, and amended hastily, jumping in with both feet on ground that felt reassuringly rock-solid now she shared it with Zach. "Oh, I mean, we do! Sorry—all this talk about Greenlee and Ryan's baby is so exciting I'm getting things jumbled up, but I—I was just about to call you about it, Zach, to, er, remind you. Your timing is perfect." More perfect than he realizes.

Zach shot her a look of approval, but J.R. snorted skeptically. "Perfect timing. Yeah, right. What happened to he was supposed to be in bed?"

"You heard what Kendall said, J.R.," Greenlee said primly. "Our baby is a new little soul, a growing, flourishing life absorbing all the influences around it, and that's far more important than getting a piece of paper at the courthouse. So please don't forget what I said about maintaining a nurturing, positive, beneficial atmosphere around little Ryan Jackson or Bianca Erica."

"You're absolutely right, Greenlee," Kendall agreed. "Of course it is, and when Zach and I are married, the atmosphere around us will be even more positive for your baby. So if you can stand by here for Miranda, just long enough for us to go apply for the license—?"

"Okay with you, Lavery?" Zach asked Ryan, almost deferentially.

But as Kendall watched, the veins in the other man's neck swelled visibly. "Unfortunately I have no control over what you do, Slater. I'd say Kendall is making a big mistake, except what else is new—"

"Mr. Slater! You appear to be making a fine recovery from your surgery! How are you?" The voice of Doctor Joe Martin preceded him from one of the interior doors in the waiting room as he came into view and toward them.

This time Zach was on the receiving end of a handshake, which he returned with equally visible feeling. "Never felt better," he answered modestly. "How's Miranda?"

"Miranda is still holding her own, I'm happy to say, and the transplant your surgery made possible is still scheduled for first thing tomorrow morning. Kendall, Greenlee, Ryan, J.R.," Joe added, courteously greeting each person in the small group.

"Of course Zach is fine, Doctor Martin," Greenlee airily dismissed the matter. "Just look at him; he's a big strong man. The more immediate issue now is my baby and for how long a duration I should subject him or her to the often negative emotional climate of a hospital setting, especially since I myself am suffering from morning sickness which is bad enough, but let's face it, Doctor Martin, the ladies' rooms here aren't exactly temples of luxury. And the vending machines aren't very comprehensively stocked, either."

Replied the doctor long-sufferingly, "Well, Greenlee, it's a good thing for Miranda Mr. Slater is strong. As far as amenities are concerned, we do our best to balance everyone's interests with the resources we have. Assuming you intend to give birth in a hospital, it's only wise to desensitize your little one in advance to any discomfort being here incurs, don't you think?"

"It's not necessary to patronize my wife, Joe," Ryan said coolly. "After seeing what Miranda is going through, naturally she's concerned about the immediate welfare of our unborn child. We both are."

Joe sounded a little irritable. "I'm certainly not patronizing Greenlee, Ryan, simply attempting to reassure her she won't come to any more harm here than she would anyplace else she might go. In fact, your child is currently in the safest surroundings it could possibly be in."

Greenlee's eccentric—even for her, lately—behavior had suddenly become clearer to Kendall. Perhaps it should have been clearer all along that the ostentatious, all-consuming overprotectveness were associated with the guilt Greenlee harbored over Miranda's illness. Meanwhile, apparently, despite Greenlee's inability or noninclination to handle more than one child at a time, despite the word they'd already gotten from Livia, Miranda's permanent custody remained in the balance, if Ryan still had anything to say about it. And Zach and I aren't any closer to the courthouse then we were five minutes ago. "Will you just look at Greenlee?" Kendall suggested frantically to the group at large. "She's just glowing!"

"Am I? Am I really?" Greenlee asked eagerly.

Joe smiled kindly. "I would say you're on the high end of the scale."

Greenlee's tone was exultant. "See, Ryan! I told you I was already showing!"

"Greenlee, I don't think Joe meant—," Kendall began.

Raising his hands, Joe said, "Excuse me, folks, but some other time. I must be on my way. Do keep doing whatever you are doing so far, Greenlee, and you'll be fine. And Mr. Slater, I trust you'll keep following Doctor Rowan's orders relative to your surgery. Now I'll see you all back here in the morning."

Kendall plunged back in. "Greenlee, you'll be all right for a little while, won't you? You made it here, Ryan's with you, and I'll bring you back some peanut butter cheese crackers."

Greenlee looked stricken. "No way, Kendall! I can't look at another package of those revolting things—please, are you deliberately trying to make me retch?"

"Slater probably put her up to it," J.R. said with a conspiratorial glance at Ryan.

To Kendall's relief, Ryan didn't appear particularly receptive to egging on by the younger man. "I'd appreciate your not making inappropriate jokes about my wife's condition, J.R.," he said stonily. "It's offensive."

"J.R. can't seem to help being offensive today," Kendall glared. Next to her Zach was keeping his mouth shut but she sensed his attentiveness.

As if in her own oblivious little world, Greenlee went on. "Well—now that you mention it—somebody did, right?—I am hungry, just not for those—those disgusting glued-together fake orange squares. I am so done with those. What I could really, really use are some licorice twists—"

"You want offensive, Kendall? Putting one over on"—J.R. nodded toward the Laverys—"them by pretending to marry"—he nodded toward Zach—"him is offensive. Offensive times two."

Zach smiled dangerously. "Is that so, Junior?"

"—and I didn't notice licorice twists in any of the vending machines we passed on our way here, did you, Ryan? Oh, I wish Joe didn't leave yet, I needed to tell him he shouldn't let them waste one of their valuable slots—"

"I didn't notice either, honeybunch, but I wasn't looking for them in particular since I didn't know that's what you wanted," Ryan said fondly. "Do you want me to go back and double-check for you?"

J.R. shrugged. "Yeah, that's so, Slater. Talk about twisted, huh?"

"—on a snack like microwave popcorn—or Poptarts! In a minute, Ryan, let me finish—I mean, really, what is the point, it's not like we can cook in the waiting room—"

Under her breath Kendall said, "Maybe not, but I'm almost at the boiling point." Feeling a reassuring touch at the small of her back, she looked up to see Zach almost boring holes into J.R. with the laser-like force of his contemptuous stare.

"No need for you to desert your wife, Lavery." Zach's commanding voice rose above everyone else's just loudly enough to silence them all. "Kendall and I will be happy to return with whatever you would like, Greenlee."

The reassuring touch turned into a more determined pressure. Kendall realized Zach was beginning to subtly guide her toward the door. "What kind of licorice do you want, Greenlee? Black or red?" she asked, capitalizing on Zach's exit strategy.

Greenlee's big brown eyes lit up. "Get me the black kind, please, Kendall! It helps settle my stomach better."

"Are you feeling nauseous again, sweetheart?" Ryan asked solicitously.

"Her? I'm the one who's about to puke," J.R. said before Greenlee could respond. "Come on, Ryan—don't tell me you're letting these two scammers pull the wool over your eyes?"

"What are you even doing here, J.R.?" Greenlee asked peevishly. "You are seriously interfering with my serenity and it's already at risk just by being here, but I won't let myself shirk my duty to Miranda. The only thing I can afford to focus on now is my baby—and Miranda, of course, so I want to do my share, but if I don't get some licorice—"

"We're on our way, Greenlee," Kendall said hastily, but anxiously watching Ryan. She knew Zach was waiting for Ryan to react to J.R.'s question too; he had halted their progress from the room, and the pressure at her back assumed a tenser quality.

J.R. guffawed, "So, Ryan, we all know Kendall is marrying Slater to con you out of custody of Miranda. Are you really going to stand by while they just go skating on down to the courthouse before even bothering to pick up your wife's little care package—"

"I understand you're upset because we didn't send you an invitation, Junior," Zach said calmly, "but it's to be a very small wedding."

Kendall wouldn't have thought it was possible for Ryan's expression to grow any more thunderous, but his brow was knitted together so tightly his eyes threatened to pop out from under it. "I've already said if Kendall is foolish enough to marry Slater, there's nothing I can do about it. My own wife comes first."

"But Miranda." The note of incredulity in J.R. voice matched the expression on his features. "Am I the only one who still has her best welfare at heart?"

"Oh, right, J.R., just like you have little Adam's best welfare at heart? So much so you traded him off to the nanny just now so you could come in here and taunt me?" Kendall challenged, unable to keep her temper from rising.

"Impeccable point," she alone heard Zach comment very softly.

"If it were up to me—," Ryan began ominously.

"But our baby comes first now and it just has to be that way, and Ryan knows it," Greenlee interrupted, "I know now my experience with Miranda was meant to be the perfect learning experience for having my own child and it taught me some important things about motherhood, such as humility, which of course my own mother hasn't got a single atom of so I certainly couldn't learn anything useful from her, but fortunately my own innate ability to process and utilize information is all I needed to know that one baby at a time is the maximum number for me."

"Greenlee," Kendall— unable to bear the suspense any longer—interjected as soon as Greenlee paused for breath, "I know that's what you told me the other day. And I know that's what your lawyer told our lawyer. But what I don't know is if Ryan is on the same page as the rest of you."

Greenlee smiled adoringly up at her husband, who appeared at a sudden loss for words, returning his wife's gaze rather than looking in Kendall's direction. "Ryan and I, and our baby, too, of course, will always be joined as one, Kendall," Greenlee spoke almost as exaltedly as a television preacher, "which means even though we might accidentally start reading the book in different places, we will always end up on the same page, won't we, Ryan?"

Swallowing with perceptible discomfort, Ryan managed, "Yes."

"Okay," Kendall breathed. "I just needed to clarify that with both of you before Zach and I take off for awhile" Against the base of her spine, Kendall felt Zach's rigidly held hand relax, his fingers reflexively sending the discreet message along her sensitized spinal column: Let's get out of here. "We won't be gone for long. A day's supply of licorice twists, coming up, okay, Greenlee? As soon as we're through at the courthouse, that is."

"Black licorice," the other girl emphasized. "Not red."

But J.R. had stepped before the door, either deliberately or inadvertently blocking their immediate egress, Kendall wasn't quite sure, until the folded arms across his chest made it clear the blockade was deliberate. Somehow projecting both plaintiveness and belligerence, he said, "You can drop the rushing-to-the-courthouse act, Kendall. You don't need to fool the family court judge by making it legal with Slater any longer. You've as good as got custody no matter what you do."

Ryan stared daggers straight ahead. "Unfortunately."

"Well, I'm forever grateful, Ryan. This is not an act, J.R.," Kendall replied in mounting frustration. "What do I have to do, tattoo it on my forehead in big block letters? I'm marrying Zach. Because I want to."

Zach moved to Kendall's side. "Just as I'm marrying Kendall because I want to."

Despite the mostly unappreciative audience, it was hard not to emulate Greenlee gazing worshipfully up at her man at that moment, and Kendall allowed herself a brief glimpse at Zach before she returned to J.R. "See? I'll spell it out even more for you. We're getting married and we're going to raise Miranda together. And in case anyone's forgotten what Joe said just now, Zach has been through a lot for her already. Hopefully, if we're all lucky, that's what'll save Miranda's lifetomorrow. Now will you please stop getting in my way?"

Zach nodded politely at J.R. "And mine too, Junior."

Glaring fiercely at the bigger man, J.R. rose up to his full height, the high crown of his spiky, brushed-up hair enhancing the impression he gave one of a fighting bantam cock with a bristling comb. The sheer desperation he exuded might have engaged Kendall's sympathy if his pugnacity hadn't become so aggravating.

"One last time, Kendall," J.R. pleaded. "Please. You listened to them. Now listen to me. Don't get hitched for life to this—this swindling piece of scum. He saved Miranda's life? Big freaking whoop. Give him a medal for it and move on. Don't marry hi—ooph!"

J.R. went suddenly sprawling away from the door, shoving against Ryan, who staggered backward from the blow as Greenlee gasped in alarm. Protesting, "Hey, man! Watch it," Ryan pushed J.R. upright, where he stood looking most discomfited.

"You!" J.R. sputtered.

"My humble apologies for not minding where I was going, young man!"

Steeped in the lilting cadences reminiscent a green and magical foreign shore, a genial, familiar voice unexpectedly filled Kendall's ears. "Father Clarence!" she exclaimed.