Chapter 40: Move-in Ready

When Roxanne heard Danny fire her, she snarled. Somehow she knew she wasn’t going to go back to work on that project – not with all the drama surrounding it. Plus, she was helping Tom with The Hole in the Wall and his project with Ruby, not to mention the pregnancy.
Still, being fired from a job, despite the circumstances, made Roxanne feel inadequate. She had worked so hard to have a respectable career in construction, and being a woman made that even more difficult. She wasn’t sure she could ever restore her professional reputation.
“Roxanne, you’re a fantastic building site manager. I’m sure I …”
Roxanne cut off Danny with a soft groan. She started to feel a cramping pain in her stomach. “Sorry, I have to…” She bent over with another sudden pain.
“What is it?” Danny said, looking worried.
“Oh, I didn’t tell you the good news,” she said, wincing a little. “I’m pregnant.”
She started to walk toward the entrance where she parked her car, her back hunched in an awkward position.
“Congratulations,” Danny said. “You’re not in labor are you?”
“It’s way too early for that,” she said, still working her way to the car. Roxanne could feel something wet between her legs and saw a red stain of blood seep into her pants, and she worried she might lose the baby.
When she stumbled on the rubble, Danny grabbed her arm.
“You’re coming with me.” They shuffled to his car where he eased Roxanne in. She sat doubled over in pain.
At the hospital, the pains worsened. Danny called Tom while they were waiting, and he arrived just before Roxanne saw the doctor who performed an exam and an ultrasound. Then he gave her a medication that made her a little drowsy, but took care of the pain.
“The baby’s fine,” the doctor said. “It was a kind of hemorrhage.” He pointed to an area on the ultrasound screen.
“What can we do? What happens next?” Tom asked, clearly worried.
“Rest. It will resolve itself. If there’s a lot more blood, come back. But it will probably pass. Less stress is the best medicine in this case.” He nodded at Roxanne. “She didn’t do anything wrong. It just happens in some pregnancies. Nothing to worry about.”
Tom held Roxanne’s hand and looked in her sleepy eyes. “You’re coming home with me.”
Roxanne nodded. She couldn’t think of any other place she’d rather be.
After sleeping for a few hours, Tom brought Roxanne some soup. He propped up the pillows in his king-size bed so she could sit up.
“Yum. Soup from a can,” said Roxanne, as she slurped the hot broth.
“I’m not a good cook, but I try.”
Roxanne smiled at him.
“How do you feel?” he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Fine.” She sipped more soup.
“You can’t go traipsing around town to abandoned building sites anymore, Roxanne. We’re having a baby.”
She nodded. It wasn’t exactly how she wanted the conversation to go. She didn’t want to be told what she could and couldn’t do.
“Why? So you can keep an eye on me? Hire a body guard to track my every move?”
“I only did that for your safety.”
She let out a long sigh. “And I appreciated it after the kidnapping.” She turned to him. “But not now.”
“Roxanne, you’re too independent.” His words hurt, when all she wanted was to rely on him. She could see the frustration on Tom’s face by the way his forehead creased and his mouth squeezed at the corners.
“Please,” he softened his face a little. “I care about you and our baby.”
She tilted her head and patted his hand. “I know you do.”
“You don’t have to have a body guard. It’s – it’s, I – well – the house felt so empty without you.”
“Oh, really?” she asked.
“I miss you, Roxanne. I miss you in my bed, the way your honey-colored hair fans out on the pillow, the way you leave your bowls on the coffee table, and especially, the way your kisses fill me with a buzzing energy.”
Roxanne smiled. “That’s what I want to hear. More of that.” She kissed him and kept her face close to his. “I don’t want to hear what I should or shouldn’t do.” She placed the soup tray to the side and wrapped her arms around Tom.
“I want to hear how you’ll hold me tight.” She started to cry. “Oh Tom. I was so scared. First I thought maybe Danny wanted to hurt me. Then I started having cramps, and I didn’t know what was going on with the baby and…”
“Shhh,” Tom said, trying to soothe Roxanne. “I’m here, and I’m not going to let go.”
Roxanne placed her hands flat on Tom’s back, pushing his body to hers. “I’m sorry I left last night. It’s not that I don’t want to live here. I do. But I wanted you to ask me - not just assume.”
“I’m sorry. I just thought since we put the crib together here and everything that you would…”
“Tom,” she interrupted. Roxanne let go of their embrace and looked him in the eyes. “Do you want to move-in together?”
“Wherever you are is where I want to be,” he said and kissed her hard on the lips.
“I think this place will have to do.” She looked around the room and nodded.
Tom placed his head on her stomach and listened for the baby. “Did you hear that, baby? Mommy and Daddy are moving in together. We can’t wait to meet you. There are so many things we want to show you…”
Tom continued to talk to Roxanne’s stomach as she lay back in his bed. He was much more animated and personable talking to their unborn child than when he had conversations with other people. Roxanne mused that he was like a baby whisperer, awkward around others, yet perfectly comfortable with babies. She hoped he would be just as at ease after the baby was born.
Lying in bed with Tom, Roxanne couldn’t help but be glad about what Danny had done. While it had caused many stressful and dangerous events to occur, it also brought her Tom.
And for the first time, she knew she was in love.