When The Lights Went Out.... Judy Christenberry
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excited. “Really? Any details?”
“Can’t tell you yet. But keep up the good work.”
She retreated to her desk. She and Andy had talked about her heading up her first project. Without her degree, he couldn’t let her take that responsibility, but he’d promised she’d get the chance now.
Yesterday, she would’ve been thrilled.
Now she wasn’t sure she could handle it.
The temptation to call Jen was hard to resist. One of her friends, Jennifer Martin, was the Health Benefits Manager. It was Jen who had inspired her to buy a home pregnancy kit. When Sharon had complained over lunch about fatigue and occasional nausea, Jen had commented that it sounded like pregnancy to her.
Sharon had laughed, along with Jen, because Jen would know. She’d discovered her own pregnancy a month after her fiancé had died in a car wreck.
Jen didn’t know she was the inspiration, because she didn’t know about the elevator incident. No one did except her and Jack.
If only she knew who Jack was.
“Yes, the test was correct, Miss Davies. You are approximately eight weeks pregnant. Your baby is developing nicely. I foresee no difficulties. I’ll write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins and set you up for an examination schedule of every six weeks until you’re six months pregnant. It will be every two weeks then, until we’re down to the last month. I might change to every week then.”
The older woman in the white coat beamed at her as she made notes on the new chart. “Now, who shall I list as the father?”
Sharon stared at her. She’d been coming to Dr. Norman since she’d started working at Kane Haley, Inc., eight years ago. The doctor was on their company plan and was in the same building, convenient.
“Uh, I’m not listing a father’s name,” she said calmly, folding her hands in her lap.
“You don’t know who the father is?” Dr. Norman asked sharply.
“I know who he is, but I don’t want his name on the records. It’s my baby and I’ll provide for it.”
“Ah, a married man,” the doctor muttered, her lips flattening out as she pressed them tightly together.
Was he? Sharon didn’t think so, but she couldn’t say for sure. When he’d held her in his arms, caressing her as they talked, sharing the most intimate parts of their lives, he’d told her about his wife and unborn son dying in a car accident. But the accident had been eight years ago.
Maybe he hadn’t brought her up to date on his life because—because they were touching each other in an inappropriate way. But she’d been so frightened, so terrified of dying, she had wanted to crawl inside him and hide.
“Miss Davies? Sharon? Are you all right?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, why?”
“You didn’t answer my question. I wondered if your family would—Probably you’re okay financially, since you have insurance, but birth is an emotional thing, as well. Will your family help you?”
“Yes, my family will be there for me.”
“I can’t help but recommend you notify the father, even if you aren’t together anymore. He has the right to know about his impending fatherhood.”
Sharon stared straight ahead. Even if she wanted to tell Jack the results of their strange odyssey, Jack was all she knew. No last name. She wasn’t even sure she could identify him. Until the elevator got stuck, she hadn’t looked at him. Then, after half an hour, the lights went out.
She knew his scent. A wonderfully male essence that made her think of a fall day and a sexy man, crisp yet tantalizing. She knew his voice, that sexy burr that comforted and excited her and made her forget the danger.
Just not his name.
“I’d like you to take birthing classes. You’ll need a partner.” When Sharon said nothing, she added, “You can go without a partner, but you’ll be more comfortable if you can enlist a friend. Everyone else will be in a couple.”
“Yes. How soon will I start them?”
“Not until you’re five months pregnant. Here is some literature for you to study, to get you started. If you have any questions, any at all, call the nurse. Okay?”
The doctor stood, handing her the literature and a prescription.
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Sharon left, hiding the papers in her purse before she ran into someone from her office. She didn’t want the information to get out until it had to. Until her body changed so much she couldn’t hide it.
The doctor’s office was on the twelfth floor. She took the stairway back to her company’s floors, fourteen through sixteen. The small cafeteria was on the fifteenth floor and served as the break room also.
She stopped there instead of going straight back to work. Several of her friends waved to her and she hurried over.
“Hi, Sharon, join us,” Maggie offered. She was the assistant to Mr. Haley himself, the owner of the company. But she didn’t act any differently than Sharon’s other friends.
“Let me get some juice before I sit down,” Sharon said.
When she returned to the table, Lauren Conner asked, “What happened to your usual diet soda?”
“Oh, I’m fighting a cold and the doctor suggested less soda and more fruit juice.”
“Good for you,” Maggie said. “I’m getting older and discovering everything you eat affects you. It’s gross!”
Both Lauren and Sharon laughed. They were mid-twenties, but Maggie was thirty-three. Still not what most people would consider as over the hill.
“I think you’ve got a few years, Maggie,” Sharon assured her.
“I certainly hope so, but I need all my energy to keep up with Kane.”
Jennifer Martin entered the cafeteria and immediately joined them. “Hi. Sorry I’m late. The big boss had some questions for me.” She looked at Maggie. “Did you know about this?”
Maggie calmly continued eating a cluster of grapes. “You mean the child-care possibilities?”
“Yes,” Jen said.
Sharon immediately sat straighter in her chair.
“On site? Child-care on site?” she asked.
Both Jen and Maggie nodded.
Lauren clapped her hands. “Jen, how wonderful for you! That will help a lot, won’t it?”
“It would be wonderful,” Jen agreed. “When he asked me about it, I thought I must be dreaming.” Jen was more than seven months pregnant and had successfully hidden her pregnancy until recently. “Not that it will be ready right away even if he decides to go ahead with it, but it’s something great to look forward to.”
“Kane certainly hadn’t considered the idea until the last day or so. He said he read an article,” Maggie told her. “I gave him a list of pregnant women this morning, but I didn’t put anyone on the list who hadn’t already announced her pregnancy.”
“I didn’t let my emotions show, but I almost passed out with surprise,” Jen said with a chuckle. “He’s decided to form a committee to study the idea. Matt Holder and I are on it. A woman due in a couple of months and a confirmed bachelor! I hope whoever the other members of the committee are, they have some experience with babies!”
“Well, I hope Kane won’t be on it. After all, he’s divorced and has no children, so he won’t have any experience either,” Maggie pointed out.
“It’s pretty impressive that he thought of the idea,