Chapter 16

Based upon Carrick’s directions it was pretty easy for Lisa to find the right room.   She walked into a space that was a baby’s fairyland.  It took her breath away.  In each carefully placed item, she felt the love and  anticipation that was behind it.  Her heart broke for them.

Across the room she saw Storm sitting in a rocker that was placed next to a window.  He was looking toward her, but she was not sure if he was actually seeing her.   Lisa closed the door and stood against it.  She just watched him.

Storm did not look like himself.  He looked horrible and wonderful at the same time.  As the moonlight struck his face, she saw that his eyes were hallowed out.  Gone was the arrogant, self assured man that she knew.  Instead he was replaced by this imposter, and it was beginning to make her angry.  She decided to piss him off into the land of the living.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this pity party.  I know that hearing one is going to become father can be unsettling, but this is ridiculous.”  She threw at him smartly.

“You know, I have always hated this room.   I always thought it was a shrine to nothing.  All these years I have been itching to take it down.  I came in here to rip it all apart and somehow I can’t bring myself to do it.  Isn’t that odd?  Storm talked as if he was discussing the weather, casually, like he was just making conversation.

Lisa started to get scared. “Storm, baby, I’m am gong to be fine.  Nothing is going to happen to me.  My doctor said that my body was made to have children.  I am going to be ok.”

“You know, it took Julia three months to finally make a decision regarding what paint to put up on the walls.  We had about twenty colors on these walls before she was satisfied with this one.  It works pretty well don’t you think?”

Lisa zoomed right past scared and went straight to terrified.  Not considering what she was about to do very closely she began to take off her clothes.  In some part of her mind she knew it had to be some type of sacrilege to even consider making love to him in his dead babies’ nursery. But surely to love is divine.  When the man you love is disintegrating right before your eyes, whatever you have to do to put the pieces together surely cannot be held against you?

Once she was completely nude, she stepped into the moonlight.  She saw the spark of recognition in his eyes as he travelled the long road from the tips of her toes to her eyes.  She did not miss that he spent an usually long time at the growing swelling that housed their baby.  She stood still waiting for him; waiting to see if he would give any indication of what was on his mind.

Storm did not move.  He just continued to stare at a spot somewhere between her chin and her breasts.  She decided to be more aggressive.  She moved closer to him and stood in between his legs.  When he still did not move she placed her knees on either side of his hips, as he sat in the rocker, and rested her bottom on his thighs.  Suddenly the rocker began to move madly and Storm automatically steadied her, and it, by grabbing her hips in each of his hands.

At his touch Lisa head fell back.  He clutched at her like he was trying desperately to make a decision.  Slowly he leaned in to bury his face in between her breasts.  Hesitantly, he began to kiss her swollen globes.  He brought her closer to him as if he was a child cuddling his most treasured teddy bear. 

After a while Lisa realized that he had stalled.  So she leaned down to place a kiss on his lips.  She kissed as if she was trying to breathe life into him, she kissed him so that he could see the hope in their blessing and not the tragedy of the past. Storm began to return her kisses with desperation of his own.  His hands traveled all over her body, kneading her like he could mold her more perfectly than she already was.  They were both heady with the feel of each other’s touch. 

Lisa need to get him out of his clothes, she needed to feel him naked against her.  She climbed out of the chair and dropped to her knees.  The whole time she made an effort to  maintain the connection of their lips.  Violently she tore at his belt and his clothes.  They just did not seem to come off of him quickly enough.  Eventually she realized that Storm was trying to offer his assistance, but Lisa was angry she need to touch him everywhere and his clothes were unwanted distractions. 

Finally they were both facing each other with nothing between them.  She watched as Strom slowly brought his hand between them and cupped the bump on her stomach.  She exhaled in triumph, he would be ok.  He was touching her.  He was touching their baby.

Tenderly he looked into her eyes.  With gratitude, Lisa looked at him.  In his eyes she saw that he was all there.  Storm; her friend, her lover, her baby’s daddy.  “I don’t know how to do this again.  I am going to need your help.

“

“Baby, take anything you need from me.  We are going to help each other through this.  But you are going to have to find some hope.  Try to believe in us and believe that our baby will be ok, that I will be ok.”

“I am going to be a little nuts about taking care of you and the baby for awhile.  I might never be completely sane about that.”

“Well that will make us equal.  I may never be quite sane about other women, and them thinking inventive ways to get into your pants.  You do know that I will never tolerate an open relationship?”

“I can barely handle just you, every time I touch you; you reduce me to a quivering piece of Jell-O.  You don’t have to worry about any other women, because I am not going to allow you to even look at other men.”

“Lisa, I love you with all of my heart and I am going to trust you with what little I’ve got.  I am scared shitless, but I need you in my life.  I need to believe in our baby.

“Storm?”

“Yes.”

“Make love to me.”

“Always.”

Slowly, tenderly Storm made love to her.  With every touch he paid homage to her beauty.  As the joined together, time was suspended and they created their own little world.  Finally, Storm was able to find some salve to his old wounds and he was able to trust someone else to shoulder some of the hurt. 

Some time later they were laying on the floor in each others arms.

“Lisa?”

“Mmmm”

“When you were taking off your clothes earlier tonight, did I see you wearing white, cotton drawers?”

“Yes.”

“Burn them.”

“What! They are comfortable with my expanding tummy.”

“Lisa, if I ever see you in Grandma panties again, I can promise you some dangerous consequences.  We will go shopping tomorrow for something sexy and comfortable. “

Lisa took an aggravated breath, but she did not disagree.

“You know we have to leave really soon?”  Lisa questioned.

“Hummm.”  Storm answered.

“Julia may have wanted me to “fix” you, but even I think this is pushing it.  She was actually pretty civil to me earlier tonight.”

“She wants me happy, she was just pissed before that I was keeping it from her.”

“So let me get this straight, in this relationship I get a baby, boyfriend, and a wife? Wow, lucky me.”

“No, its better that that.  You get a baby, husband and an EX wife.

“Oh, this just gets better and better.”

“Well, the situation could get worse. Julia could walk in here and catch us naked lying on her floor.”

“I’ll race you in putting our clothes on.”   

“Fine, but just throw away the Grandma’s”

Epilogue

Five months later, Lisa and Storm welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world.  The blessed event was attended by her Uncles, and Godfathers,  Carrick and Malcolm and her Aunt Julia, who bought out every baby store in town for her godchild.  Julia and Lisa came to an understanding, if not friendship, each knowing that they were an essential part of Storm’s life.

Even Reggie came by to see the baby.  The baby’s father looked daggers at him the entire time he visited Lisa and the baby.  But they all had to engage in a heavy dose of forgiveness and sometimes it’s a bitter pill that you have to take everyday.

“Well Mrs. Weston, it looks like you were true to your word, everything turned out perfectly.” Strom smiled with pride at his little girl, whom he was holding in his arms.

“Storm I hope I am not the only woman to go into to labor right after she says ‘I do’?” Lisa asked in exasperation.

“Well you did add a certain ‘Je ne sais quoi’ to the services.”

“And you really showed out when we got to the hospital.  I think the doctor was seriously considering whether he was going to have to administer a sedative to YOU!”

“Ok, the process of childbirth is not one of my finest moments, but the results are pretty fantastic.”  Storm walked to his wife, while holding their sleeping baby, and kissed her soundly on the lips.