"Oh, Lilah." Elizabeth burst into tears. Thad rushed to assist her into the nearest chair.
"Don't get upset, Elizabeth. It isn't good for you or the baby."
"How can I keep from getting upset? My totally irresponsible sister has been on a two-week-long sexual spree in San Francisco. What's the matter with her?"
"You've always said she was flighty and weird."
"She should have grown out of that stage by now. She's worse than ever. Why?"
"PMS?" Thad guessed.
"I have an excellent idea," Lilah interrupted with false sweetness. "If the two of you are going to discuss me as if I were an invisible third party, I wish you'd go home to do it. I'm tired. I want to unpack I need to telephone the hospital and tell them I'm ready to go back to work. To be blunt, I want you to leave."
Elizabeth looked wounded, but she stood up. "Gladly. But I need to use your bathroom first."
"Help yourself." Lilah indicated the way with a wide sweep of her arm.
After Elizabeth had left the room, Lilah turned and discovered that Thad was watching her closely. She sat down opposite him, but found his stare disconcerting.
He was first to break the uncomfortably long silence. "You've always been flighty and weird, but I still like you."
His statement echoed words that she'd heard recently. The memory was bittersweet. She felt tears smarting in her eyes, but she forced herself to laugh. "Thanks. I think."
He leaned back in his chair and linked his hands behind his head. "You know, it's strange."
"What is?"
"That you're so touchy tonight, coming off a vacation and all."
"Travel is tiring."
"No, the strangeness is the coincidence of it. I've spoken with Adam numerous times the last couple of weeks, and each time he's been real touchy too. He doesn't sound happy, but he tells me he's happy. In fact, it seemed important to him to convince me of his happiness. Kinda like you've been with Elizabeth and me tonight."
"I'm very happy."
"Uh-huh," Thad said with a guileless smile. "And whatever has made you so happy must be the same thing that made Adam so happy. In any event you two are just about the happiest people I ever saw. What I'm wondering is why you're going to such great lengths to make sure everybody knows it."
Thad looked at her compassionately. Lilah really felt like crying then. But she didn't have a chance. Elizabeth stepped between them and calmly announced, "My water just broke."
They both jumped as though she had opened fire on them with an Uzi. Thad bounded to his feet and gripped her shoulders. "Are you sure? Are you all right? What should we do?"
"We should go to the hospital and have a baby," she told him, laughing. "Lilah, Mrs Alder is with Megan and Matt. Please call and ask if she would mind spending the night."
"Sure, sure. Anything else?"
"Yes, pry Thad's hands off my shoulders. He's cutting off my circulation."
With her typical aplomb Elizabeth gave birth to a baby girl shortly before dawn the following morning.
"You're so tiny," Lilah whispered with hushed reverence. "So soft." She rubbed her cheek against her niece's fuzzy head. Holding the baby in the crook of her arm, Lilah marveled over the miracle of such a small life. "Don't worry. When your mother starts dressing you in pinafores with bears and ducks and stuff appliquéd on them, Aunt Lilah will come to the rescue. I'll buy you something really funky to wear."
The baby's bud of a mouth blew a bubble. Lilah took that as approval of her idea. She was laughing when the hospital room door swished open. Her smile instantly vanished when she saw him. He was supporting himself on a crutch with one hand and holding a bouquet of fresh flowers in the other.
Adam's face registered the same degree of astonishment when he saw Lilah, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, holding the infant against her breasts. But only momentarily. Then his features turned stony and hostile. "I was expecting Elizabeth."
"Well aren't you lucky? You got me instead."
"What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"I asked first."
She surrendered with a shrug that said the standoff wasn't worth the bother. She hoped he didn't notice her shortness of breath. "I'm here because of one of those hospital snafus that invariably happens at checkout time. The baby had already been delivered to the proud parents when the bookkeeping glitch was discovered. So Lizzie and Thad went to get it straightened out and asked me to stay with the baby."
"They must not love her very much."
"What a wretched thing to say!"
He didn't apologize. Instead he hobbled farther into the room and laid the bouquet on the bedside table. "What's her name?"
"Milly."
"Milly, huh? Cute. How much did she weigh?"
"Eight pounds five ounces. Where's your wheelchair?"
"Over eight pounds? Wow. I don't need that damn chair anymore."
"What are you doing on a crutch?"
"I'm walking now."
"On one crutch? Without braces? Has that therapist of yours got grits for brains?"
"He seemed to think I was ready."
"Well, I don't."
"But you aren't my therapist any longer, are you?" His voice was silky, but his eyes were razor-sharp. "How'd they decide on Milly?"
"Huh? Oh, they let Matt name her."
"Matt?"
"He was upset because she wasn't a he. He would have preferred a brother. To pacify him they let him name her. He came up with Milly because it went so well with Matt and Megan. All M's, you see. It's a little too cute to suit my taste, but then they're not… Look, I might not be your therapist any longer, but I know good medical advice from bad, and I don't think you're ready for crutches, much less one crutch."
"How would you know what I'm ready for? You haven't even seen me in two weeks and three days."
Seven hours and fifty-two minutes, Lilah could have added, but didn't. Instead she said, "You haven't had time to strengthen those muscles enough to support you."
"I've been working night and day."
"Another mistake on the part of the therapist. I knew Bo Arno was a quack," she fumed. "If you rush those muscles you could get a sprain or tear them completely. You shouldn't force them to do what they're not ready for."
"You seemed to know instinctively what I was ready for." His dark eyes penetrated hers. "Didn't you?"
Milly flailed her arms, socking her aunt on the chin. Lilah mentally thanked her. She was grateful for the diversion, a reason to look away. While she was at it, she seized the opportunity to change the subject too.
"How did you do on the long flight?"
"I made it okay," he said. "The flight crew took good care of me."
Her head came around with a jerk. His cocky smile made her want to grind her teeth. "I'll bet."
"Great bunch of ladies. They were very good about helping me in and out of my seat. Working cramps out of my legs. Stimulating my blood flow."
"How nice," she said tightly.
"Yes, it was."
"You could have waited, you know. Elizabeth and Thad would have understood. You didn't have to rush across the ocean just to see Milly."
"I'm her godfather. I couldn't wait to see her."
"Even if it causes a relapse and puts you back in a wheelchair?"
"I'll never go back into a wheelchair. That leaves you at the mercy of some very unscrupulous, untrustworthy people."
"Meaning me, I suppose?"
"If the shoe fits."
"Go to hell."
Milly protested the shouting match by setting up a wail. Lilah began to rock her in the cradle of her arms. The baby continued to cry. She glared up at Adam. "Now look what you've done."
He moved to the edge of the bed and eased down, propping his crutch against the mattress. "Don't you have any maternal instincts?"