A Baby For Christmas

As the water pummeled his skin, Luke’s mind drifted, as it often did, to Sophia. She had surprised him. Honestly, he had expected to find a sniffling, hormonal, wretched woman who spent her waking moments blaming him for Dan’s death. He blamed himself, after all, so why shouldn’t she? If he hadn’t chosen a military life, perhaps Dan wouldn’t have joined the army out of the blue. And if he hadn’t joined, he’d still be alive today.

He’d thought for sure that Sophia would blame him. He had counted on it. Planned for it. But she didn’t seem to. And she certainly wasn’t wallowing and weeping. That was a major relief. There were a lot of things that Luke knew how to do. If he had to jump out of a plane to get the job done, he could do it. If something needed to be blown up, not a problem. But comfort a hysterical female? Not his area of expertise.

Luckily for him, Sophia had her act together. He should have known she would. He had no idea what possessed him to doubt her in the first place. Sophia had always been headstrong, determined and upbeat. In the ten years he had known her, he’d never once seen her let life get her down. It was one of the things he had always loved about her. So had Dan, for that matter. Dan and he had disagreed since they were kids, about everything, all of the time. But they had always agreed about the merits of Sophia.

Out of the shower now, Luke dressed the wound, pulled on jeans and a white undershirt. He was starved. He headed downstairs to raid the fridge and see how Sophia and Ranger were getting on.

Sophia was sitting at the table, writing. Ranger was sitting on the table next to her pad of paper, legs tucked up beneath him, eyes closed. He opened his eyes when he heard the kitchen door open, stood up, stretched into a back arch and then sat down on his haunches.

“Mom would have a fit about that,” Luke said. Sophia knew he meant Ranger sitting on the table.

Sophia wrinkled up her nose. “I know.” She sighed, heavily. “I know. But to tell you the truth, I was so impressed with his determination to get up here, I didn’t have the heart to tell him no.”

Luke remembered Ranger’s valiant escape from the box. He had felt the same way. “He has that effect.” Luke moved to the table and reached out to stroke Ranger’s fur. The minute he touched the little guy, he started to purr.

“How’s your finger?”

Sophia held up her bandaged finger. “Still attached. How’s your leg?”

Luke shot her a wry expression. “Still attached.”

Sophia smiled at him, which made the dimple on her left cheek appear.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked. He picked Ranger up and held him next to his heart.

“Making a list of things to do tomorrow. I swear, these lists are the only thing that’s kept me sane while your family is at your uncle’s for Thanksgiving. He’s in pretty bad shape after that surgery he just had. Did you know about that?”

Luke took a seat at the table. He nodded yes.

Sophia clicked the pen so the tip came in and out. “You know, you should really call your folks and let them know you’re here.”

“I’ll let it be a surprise.”

“Okay,” Sophia replied, skeptically. “If you say so. But you know how your mom is....”

“She’ll be fine.”

Sophia made a noise and went back to her list. After a minute, she slapped the pen down on the paper. “Wow. My brain is really fried. You haven’t eaten.” She pushed herself up. “You’ve gotta be famished.”

“I am.”

Sophia opened the refrigerator. She twisted to the side and looked at him. “Chicken and stuffing okay? I made myself a little impromptu Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Happy belated Thanksgiving, by the way. It’s a bummer you had to spend your holiday traveling.” She paused to take a breath and then continued. “So? Chicken and stuffing okay?”

“That’s fine,” Luke said. You always had to wait for Sophia to come up for air before you spoke. “I can fend for myself, you know. I don’t want you overdoing it on my account. You’re...you know.”

She pulled out some Tupperware. “Pregnant? I know. Kind of obvious. But it’s not like I’m disabled or an invalid.”

Luke’s shoulders stiffened. “Neither am I.”

Ah yes. The infamous Brand family pride. She knew it well. She found it as equally annoying in Luke as she had in Daniel. “You’d think you wouldn’t be so cranky after such a long nap.” Of course, the Brand men were well-known for being impossible to get along with if they were hungry. Sophia stopped what she was doing and leaned back on the counter. “I wasn’t calling you an invalid, but the truth is the truth. Your leg is screwed up. Mine isn’t. So, do you want me to help you out or not?”

The expression on Luke’s face undoubtedly sent his military underlings running for cover. She knew him well enough not to be impressed. “Yes? No? What shall it be, Captain?”

“Do you always have to be so dramatic over every little thing?” Luke answered a question with a question; another Brand family trait.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She popped the lids off the containers and piled food high on a plate.

While Sophia prepared his meal, Luke couldn’t take his eyes off her. Thoughts of her had been his constant companion, but this was the first time he’d ever been alone with her. This was the first time he’d ever had her all to himself. The circumstances weren’t ideal, but having Sophia with him now felt as if the planets had aligned for him. And he was enjoying just sitting back and watching her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her.

Sophia’s ponytail swung to the side as she spun her head around to look at him over her shoulder. “Honestly, I’ve had a great pregnancy...all things considered. I’ve been exercising, of course, staying active. I have a friend who’s a personal trainer and she helps me choose the right foods, pick safe exercises. I haven’t even been all that tired, until recently.” She shrugged one shoulder. “The worst of it is missing Daniel, wanting him to be here with me. He always used to say that he couldn’t wait to see me pregnant.” Sophia paused for a minute to compose herself. At times, the emotions would well up without warning and she would have to push back the tears. “I suppose we shouldn’t have waited so long to have a family. We were waiting until he finished school and my practice was more stable.” Lower, almost under her breath, she added, “Stupid.”

“You couldn’t have seen this coming, Soph. None of us plan for this sort of thing. No one would get out of bed, if we did,” Luke said in a low, even tone. “But you’re right about one thing, though. He always wanted to see you pregnant. He always thought you’d make a great-looking pregnant woman.” His eyes swept her body unbeknownst to her. “He was right.”

“Thanks,” Sophia said with a small smile. The timer dinged and Sophia pulled the plate out of the microwave. “Of course, my face is puffy, my ankles are swollen and I have to urinate constantly.” She put the plate down in front of him and smiled. “TMI, right?”

Luke shook his head; as she set the plate down, he noticed the simple gold wedding band that still encircled her left ring finger. He wasn’t surprised that she still wore her wedding band; she had always been loyal to Dan. In life, and now in death.

The minute she moved her hand away, he hunched over his plate and started to dig in.

“Something to drink?”

Luke chewed fast, and then swallowed hard before he spoke. “Water’s good.”

She brought a glass of water back to the table with her and then sat down beside him. Ranger had found his way back to the food Sophia had scrounged up for him. The Brand family had taken in so many strays over the years that it was standard operating procedure to have emergency pet supplies on hand.

“The moral of this story is, I feel pretty good and I have to stay active in order to maintain a modicum of sanity out here in the boonies. So, I don’t mind helping you out while you rest your leg a bit...if you can put your male pride aside for a second or two.”

Luke wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying; he was shoveling in his food as if he hadn’t eaten for days. He ate like a man who was used to being surrounded by other men vying for the same food. He protected his food with one arm, leaned forward and got the food to his mouth as quickly as possible.

“Luke,” she asked with surprise, “what happened to your table manners?”

Luke paused from his shoveling for a second, sat up and moved his arms off the table. He glanced up at her. “Better?”

“Much.” She shook her head at him. “I take it you like the food? Or, were you just that hungry?”

Luke gulped the water down before he said, “It was pretty damn good.”

Sophia picked up the plate and rinsed it in the sink. “Glad you liked it.” When she returned to her spot at the table, Luke had Ranger in his lap.

“Find any clippers when you found the cat food?” Luke was examining the kitten’s claws.

“Yes. Finally. I wish your mom would find a different outlet when she’s upset. None of us can ever find anything when she’s done.” Sophia chuckled and shook her head. “I put them over there on the counter.” She made to get up again. Luke’s warm hand on her arm stopped her.

“You sit. I’ll get them.”

She decided to let him win this one and didn’t protest. He returned with the clippers and the kitten. Once seated, he flipped Ranger over on his back and put him down gently on his lap.