An Act of Persuasion - By Stephanie Doyle Page 0,94
so in all the books. It hears us calling it it, too. Yeah, we’re probably well on our way to screwing the kid up.”
“It will be fine. After all, there was Cousin It in the Addams family and he always seemed very chipper.”
“Excellent. Gertrude if it’s a girl and Cousin It if it’s a boy. Settled.”
“Hardeehar. Hey, here’s shocking news. I need to pee.”
Ben chuckled and watched as Anna rolled off the bed and onto her feet. She reminded him of the girl in the Willy Wonka movie that the Umpa Lumpas had to roll away. He heard her puttering about in the bathroom and he thought this was it. Domestic bliss.
They had really settled into coupledom. He rubbed her back. She made jokes about how often she needed to pee. Their baby was only a few weeks away.
“Anna,” he called out to her.
“Yeah?”
“Why won’t you let me move in with you?”
There was no response and he knew it had been stupid to ask her while she was in the bathroom and he couldn’t see her face. At this very moment she was thinking and retrenching. He should tell her what an amazing operative she would have been—Anna was never without a plan.
She returned and he thought how sweet she looked in the white nightgown that covered her from her neck to her toes. Sweet, but conniving.
And her face looked a little pale. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she said too quickly. “I noticed there was a little spotting...you know...down there. Is there supposed to be spotting? Now?”
“Should we call the doctor?” Ben instantly reached for his cell phone on the nightstand.
“No, it wasn’t like, ah, there’s a lot of blood. It was just a little. I’m sure it’s related to my cervix stretching or whatever. My appointment is tomorrow. I’ll check with her then.”
“I can’t be with you tomorrow. I have that meeting in D.C. We talked about that.”
“I know. It’s fine. Geez, Ben, you’ve been to almost every single doctor’s appointment. You see what they are. I hand over my sample, I get poked and prodded then we’re done. When they start doing the internal stuff I’m not even letting you in the room.”
“Anna, I know what’s down there. I spent the past three months becoming quite familiar with it.”
She had become quite familiar with what he did, too. Was, in fact, eager to have him there. He believed he made her happy in bed. Happy in bed. Happy in life. So what was her problem? It didn’t escape him she still hadn’t answered his question about him moving in.
“It’s not the same,” she said. “Keep your appointment tomorrow. I’ll call if the doctor says there is anything to worry about.”
Ben had already canceled the appointment mentally. It was a communications company looking to use Greg as their human lie detector for an upcoming hostile takeover. Given the antagonism between the two companies Ben had wanted to be in attendance. But, in truth, Greg could handle any squabble that might occur.
“Are you going to answer my question?”
“Huh?”
“Anna.” He felt like growling. “Do not attempt to play dumb with me. Why won’t you let me move in here?”
She smiled and climbed into bed, this time plumping the pillows behind her back. “You know I’ve been thinking about this...”
“Excellent. Although, honestly, I don’t see why it required a lot of thought.”
“I told you, this is a big decision for me. For us.”
Irritation bubbled immediately. “What’s to decide? I’ve been living in this house and sleeping in this bed now for months. We’re talking about moving the rest of my things and putting my house up for sale.”
“Your house up for sale? No, I don’t think you should do that. You might—”
“What?” His temper was slipping away in a manner it never had before. He didn’t lose his temper. Ever. He controlled it. But she was making him crazier every day with her need to keep any sort of distance between them. He shot out of bed and paced in front of her.
“What are you thinking? That when this doesn’t work out, I’ll need some place to go back to?”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to.
“What haven’t I done, Anna?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean, what are you waiting for to prove that this is actually happening? We are becoming a family. Don’t I make you happy?”
If it was possible for a woman of her size to curl in on herself, it’s what she did. “You make me very happy.”