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Diana presented herself in the lobby at 7 p.m. that evening, only to find Richard waiting with one very notable difference about him, one she did not like in the slightest.
"You cut your hair!" she shrieked. "Why did you go and do such a stupid...I don't believe this!" Setting her accessories down on the front desk, she sat him down in a chair, put her hands up over his shoulders and felt the back of his head, where the entire length had been severed and styled close to his head. "Why?"
"Why not? It was getting a little too long to manage... isn't that what all you ladies say? I don't see yours any too long." She was still fondling the back of his head, so he put his hands on her waist.
She shook her head in disbelief. "Your beautiful hair." Then she stepped back and noticed that he was wearing formal evening wear. "Wow!"
"Wow, what?" he asked with a grin. "And I could say the same of yourself. I'm surprised you could even find something to wear amongst that shopping committee of yours." To his surprise, Diana blushed, reluctant to tell him that she had done no shopping anywhere but in the baby store, that Georgie had come to her rescue.
Instead, she twirled about in place on the gray brocade heels Georgie had dug up for her from somewhere, the soft gray satiny folds of the dress floating about her. "Do you like it?"
"I love it. Now where shall we go this evening? Dinner, of course. Dancing? Bowling? Miniature golf? Over to the farm to pick up our child instead of missing her all night? I'm open to suggestions." He rose from the chair, towering over her once more.
"Hmmm...Dinner, of course," she repeated, "and then...bowling!"
Richard's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious?"
"As serious as DEFCON 1."
"That serious, hmmm? Are you going to bring clothes for bowling, then?"
Diana grabbed her purse and shawl off the front desk, started out the front door and told him "Nope!" over her shoulder as she waltzed out onto the front porch. There she stopped dead in her tracks. There was a limousine in the parking lot.
"Uh, oh, someone important is here. Perhaps we should stay..."
"Not a chance, Pipsqueak." Calling her by Shanti's nickname, he took her elbow and escorted her down the front walk. "That is our limo and I plan on having a good time. No talk of work this evening! You may, however, discuss our child as much as you like." Without waiting for a reply, he handed her into the limo, settled her dress about her, gave the driver the go-ahead to leave, and then reached for a bottle of champagne.
"It seems to be turning into a family tradition that limo rides should be accompanied by champagne," he said conversationally. "I find it a pleasurable experience."
"Then I shall, too. Where are we dining tonight?"
"Le Chenille, recommended by our good Dr. Bailey."
Diana only smiled. She had not had much of a chance to get to know Georgie's husband, so she did not have much to say.
The dinner, however, was superb, and Richard entertained her with stories from Alex's courtship of his cousin, including how they met and how Richard caught him daydreaming about her in the supermarket.
"He left as soon as he learned you and Georgie were not involved? Leaving the cart and groceries behind? That is funny!" she crowed as she spooned up the last of her chocolate soufflé.
"I'm so lucky," he told her, reaching out and taking one of her hands in his.
"Why?"
"Because I have you. And Sabrina. And you did not reject my first proposal, not the way Lizzie rejected Will's." He grinned at her shocked reaction.
"What? But they are so happy! What happened?"
"My big, dumb cousin had fallen for Elizabeth practically the first time he laid eyes on her, but he wouldn't let her know." Must be a family trait on the male side, he decided, remembering that first time she had walked into his office at Fort Benning, and recalling that Georgie had not had the same problem. "He wanted to marry her and take care of her - she really needed a little tender loving care at that point in her life - so he proposed a business agreement, a marriage of convenience, if you will."
Diana just sat there and stared. "I don't believe it! She turned him down, didn't she? Of course she did!" she scoffed. How could that beautiful, confident doctor's wife ever have even entertained such an offer?
"Actually, she eventually agreed, they got married and fell in love. Sounds like something from a romance novel, doesn't it?"
"Very much so. And now they're living happily ever after..." She didn't know he was watching as she sighed, but he rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. "Ready to go bowling?" she asked just as their snooty French waiter came over with the bill. The man gave a sniff at her words, and she and Richard burst out laughing. "Last one to the limo has to bowl first," she called, getting her things together and heading toward the ladies room.
Richard was lounging against the door of the limo when she reached the restaurant's portico, and she smiled. "Looks like I bowl first." She was still grinning when he settled her back in the limo. Once they were on their way, she started to tug at his lapels. "That jacket has got to go!"
"Hey! You are not undressing me!"
"OK - take it off yourself, then. You can't bowl in that thing."
He paused in the act of removing his jacket. "You're really serious about bowling, aren't you?" Up until this point, he thought she had been teasing.
"I am serious! Now, off with the jacket." He did so, and she sucked in her breath at the sight of him in a white pleated shirt, black tie and cummerbund. "Now the cummerbund. Richard," she pleaded when he hesitated. "If you do not take it off, I'll do it for you."
"OK." Settling back, his hands behind his neck, he waited. And waited, and waited. "Well?"
"Well, what?" she replied, tickled him under the arm and when he sat up in protest, she reached behind him and whipped it off. "Now the tie. Allow me."
Very slowly, she reached up and tried to unhook it from the strap around his neck when she realized it was a real, genuine bow tie. "Did you tie this?"
"Sure. I know how to tie my own bows. I learned in preschool."
"Tying your shoes is a lot different from tying one of these things. It's easier to untie one of these than it is to tie it..." She suited action to words and sat back with the tie in her hand, caressing it softly. "I'm very impressed."
"With the tie or me?"
"Both. Can I have some more champagne?" She had had two glasses before dinner, wine with dinner, and a cognac after dessert. He wondered how she was going to be able to throw the ball, and said so.
"With my hand. How else do you throw a bowling ball?" she asked a little owlishly.
"Diana Forrester, you're drunk!"
"Am not! I've always been able to hold my likker."
"Ha! What about the night of my retirement party?" Richard stunned even himself. He could not believe he actually said that.
"I was drunk the night of your party?" she whispered after a moment of hesitation. "I was sure I was awake for that. At least I thought I was awake. Was I awake?" She seemed confused.
"I don't know. I saw you were getting tipsy, and then more so, and more so, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up with you the next morning in that room."
"Oh, no!"
"Oh, no, what?"
"I didn't have any clothes on!"
"Why, I do believe you were stark naked, Miss Forrester."
"You saw me naked!" she exclaimed, flushing to her roots.
"Yes," he said slowly, "I did. It was rather unavoidable, if you know what I mean."
"And then you left me."
"Yes. And I have regretted it every day since."
"Then why didn't you do something about it?" she cried.
"Why didn't you? I've never known you to back down from anything else you wanted."
"Who said I wanted you!" she retorted.
"Didn't you?" His voice was soft. Pulling her closer, he put both arms around her. "Don't you now?" he whispered in her ear before trailing a series of little kisses down the side of her neck.
"Yes..."
The limousine stopped in front of the bowling alley and Diana pulled away. "But not until after we bowl!" she announced.
Ignoring the stares as they strolled hand-in-hand into the Meryton Lanes, Richard paid for a game for each of them and for shoe rentals.
"If I had known I was going to be bowling, I would have brought my own stuff from Jersey," Diana admitted to herself, hefting a series of the balls provided to find one that fit her tiny fingers. Richard was away at another rack, trying out bowling balls with bigger holes. "All the ones with small holes are too light," she complained. "Ah, this will do for tonight." Taking her choice back to the lane, she took off her heels and tied on a pair of green and cream-colored shoes.
"Isn't that going to be awkward?" he wanted to know when he joined her, looking at her dress with some concern.
"Nope. I've been known to bowl in costume a time or two. This should be no different. Me first," she said after setting up the electronic scoreboard with their names. Richard glanced up and sighed. Tonight's game would be bowled between Colonel Studmuffin and Diane Perish. It hardly seemed a fair match. After her first frame, which was a strike, he knew it was going to be a bad night for his male ego.
"Where did you learn to bowl like that?" he asked, all admiration for her oversetting the blow to his pride.
"I bowl every Tuesday night in a league..."
"Ahhh, that explains a lot. Didn't they miss you last week, though?"
"We're off for the summer. Your turn."
He barely pulled off a spare, but if he thought she would stand there gloating over her superior bowling skills, he was surprised. She jumped up and down with excitement as the last two pins went down, and then gave him a high five as she went to retrieve her ball.
For Richard, that first turn was a fluke, and he was barely knocking down the pins for the next few frames. Watching Diana bowl in that dress contributed to his inattendance, he feared, and he vowed next time not to bring her unless she was dressed in a shapeless tent.
The game continued in that vein until the seventh frame. Then Richard's bowling skills, dormant since college, kicked in and they were more evenly matched. Diana won the game, but again she did not gloat, only gave him a big hug for taking her out, and the two were in complete charity with one another as they returned their shoes and strolled out to the limo.
"That was fun. Let's do it again sometime," she told him without thinking as the car took them home.
"Yes, let's," he agreed. "You are an excellent bowler, Miss Perish."
"You aren't so bad yourself, Studmuffin Man, when you get into your groove." She had snuggled up against him and was getting sleepy. He put an arm around her and relaxed as well, reveling in the feel of her.
There would be time tomorrow to discuss their past, he thought as he heard her lightly snore. And then they could start to work on their future.
"Rise and shine, sleepy little love," Richard cooed, and Diana rolled over and covered her head. Let Richard get the - "Richard! What are you doing? The baby is at -" She heard him chuckle as he pulled the covers completely off her body.
"We've work to do, and I heard from Georgie and Shanti this morning that you have a present for me."
"I do?"
"Don't you?"
"No! Go away! Let me sleep!" she groused. Then she smelled coffee. She went perfectly still and inhaled loudly through her nose.
"Yes, dear, that's exactly what you think it is. Now get up!"
"But it's Sunday!"
"Well, welcome to the Twin Oaks Inn, sweetheart. Here, it's a day just like every other day, except that the big meal is served at lunch. Now, what should we serve today? We have to get going...Elizabeth is bringing the baby home after church."
That did it. "She is?" Diana jumped out of bed and started pulling on her robe and slippers. "Why didn't you say so? And I do have a present for you," she added, bringing out a bag from the baby boutique. "Georgie is a tattletale..."
She handed him the bag, sat back and watched with delight as he pulled out the carrier.
"Diana! It's perfect! I can put Sabrina up against my chest and still have my hands free to - to what?"
"Well, you can't cook like that... too dangerous. Load the washing machine? Sweep floors? Wipe tables? Fold towels?"
"I'll manage, I'm sure." Sweeping her into his arms, he gave her a swift kiss. "Thank you. Now get dressed, Pipsqueak. We have work to do."
Richard's entire extended family congregated at the inn after church, intent on eating their Sunday dinner together. To everyone's surprise, Will had the baby in his own carrier; he handed her over to Richard without any fuss. Then he gave Diana a hug and kiss, whispering his thanks for the privilege of baby-sitting the evening before. Elizabeth, too, gave her thanks for the opportunity, saying the twins were very eager to become aunt and uncle.
Heading out to the kitchen, Dr. Bennet announced his intention to help wait on the family; Georgie came out and said Gary had made roast chicken, mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus for lunch. She flagged down Richard, coming in from the bedroom, where he had set the sleeping baby, and said Candy had showed up for work.
"And?" he asked.
"And she shouldn't be here. She has a hefty shiner, and I think her boyfriend gave it to her. Will you go talk to her, please? She has already gone out to wait on tables..."
Richard sighed and headed to the dining room. "Candy?" he asked, and the waitress turned around. He whistled at the sight of her eye, still purple, and knew why she had called in sick the day before. "Whew! Are you OK? Want to talk about it?" The dining room was not full, and he saw Shanti coming out to take orders. Pulling Candy aside, he set her down at an empty table and suggested she tell him all about it.
"Dwayne... He hit me. Said I was encouraging Gary, and he wasn't having no two-timing..." She started to cry, and Richard did what he had always done for the females in his family. He put an arm about her shoulders and let her cry.
Diana, in the meantime, had taken in the situation at a glance and, like Georgie, let Richard handle it. She had no patience with a woman who let a man hit her, and she had no patience with tears.
She had no patience with the people from the Connecticut Suite, either, as they shoveled their food in too fast, the son especially uncouth in his eating habits. It was while she was watching them that disaster struck.
The kid, gnawing grossly on a chicken leg, suddenly began to choke. At first she thought he might swallow it, but then he turned purple, and then blue, and she jumped into action.
"He's choking!" she yelled at William and Dr. Bingley, and Will ran over and began to perform the Heimlich on the kid. Diana did not have much time to do more than glance at them, confident that the kid was being taken care of, when she heard Dr. Bennet and Gary hollering in the kitchen, and saw black smoke pouring into the dining room.
Choking herself now, on the smoke, she picked the dining room fire extinguisher off the wall and headed for the kitchen, where there was a fire on the gas stove. Telling someone to call 911, she pointed the extinguisher at the stove and sprayed out white foam.
Then there was a cry from the dining room - it was Candy and she was screaming "Dwayne, no! Dwayne, no!" Canister still in hand, Diana raced back to the other room, saw Lizzie and Jane evacuating the children, and realized Candy's boyfriend had tackled Richard and they were both on the dining room floor, punching each other.
"Stop it!" Diana hollered. "Stop it! You leave Richard alone!" she yelled. "You!" she said to Candy, who was staring at the two in fascinated horror, "Get out! Go on!" Without waiting to see if she was obeyed, she jumped into the fray, swinging the extinguisher and catching Dwayne in the head, knocking him out cold.
Candy, who had not left the room, cried out her boyfriend's name and tried to wake him up, but he was down for the count.
"Thanks, Pipsqueak," Richard said breathlessly.
"He must have caught you off guard," Diana said.
"What did you do to him?" Candy cried. "You've hurt him. Oh, Dwayne, honey, can you hear me? Look what you did!" She turned on Diana. "I thought you were my friend! How could you..."
Diana and Richard exchanged shrugs and went outside, where they could hear sirens. The police and fire departments had arrived, followed closely by an ambulance.
The kitchen and dining room, black with smoke, were declared closed, and Richard had the unenviable (or enviable, in his case) task of helping his guests find other accommodations. The Connecticut Suite guests threatened to sue him for their child choking on food, as if it had been his fault, until he reminded them that he had documented proof of the damages they had inflicted on their suite. They packed their bags quietly, under the supervision of a scowling Shanti, and left.
Dwyane was hauled away in a police car after several people came forward and said he had attacked the colonel with no cause, and Richard was of a mind to just let him stew in his own juices for awhile before dropping the charges. He called later and discussed the incident with his friend, the chief, and Dwayne never came near the inn again.
Gary was treated for a burned hand and sent home for the duration, and Candy was let go. Diana said she would have liked to have been the one doing the sacking, but Georgie insisted it was her job, and that Diana would probably end up choking the girl instead. Candy still insisted all the damage had been caused by Diana and her extinguisher.
Up in the front of the house, Sabrina slept through the entire ordeal.
"Well, here we are," Richard said that evening, curled up on the couch in the carriage house apartment, Diana in his arms. The baby was in her cradle in Georgie's old room and Shanti had been invited to stay at Pemberley Farms with the Darcys.
"Yes, here we are..."
"Diana, would you believe me if I told you that I want this engagement to be real?"
"Maybe..." she prevaricated, remembering the story Shanti had told her the day before.
"Just maybe?"
"Perhaps I should have said 'sort of'?" She sat up and looked him in the eye. "Tell me something. Did you engage yourself to me for the baby's sake? Do you only want me so that you can have this baby and a mother for it, too?" She was getting worked up, now, so she took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She wasn't being fair to Richard, not giving him a chance to explain himself.
"I'm impressed, Diana."
"Why?"
"A few years ago, you would have already blown your stack, not giving me a chance for rebuttal at all."
"I haven't let you speak yet..."
"Yes, but you did calm down. I call that progress."
"Oh, yeah?" A dangerous glint sparkled in her green-gray eyes.
"Now, in answer to your questions," he continued, as if she hadn't spoken. "No, I did not get engaged to you for the baby's sake. I engaged you for mine, because if I just flat out tell you that I love you and want to marry you and live with and love you the rest of my life, you won't believe me. I do not consider you 'just a mother' for that child, either, although I think that the three of us have gotten off on the right foot as far as being a family is concerned." He would not look at Diana as he spoke, but if he had, he would have seen a suspicion of tears in her eyes. He got up from the sofa and paced what little living area there was in the room.
"You don't know this, but I am physically unable to father children. Is it too much to ask, then, that the three of us belong to each other? We need each other, damn it - you need me, and if you deny that, you're lying. I need you, too, and not just to mother a child I did not think I was ever going to be able to have. We both need that baby, and she definitely needs us. I don't care what we did or didn't do the night of my retirement party, or before that on the airstrip, or several days ago when we argued. I want to start now - right now!" he insisted, "and if it means a long engagement until you feel comfortable enough to get married, then so be it!"
He stomped off into his room and slammed the door, heedless of the sleeping baby, or the woman sitting on the sofa with tears of joy streaming down her face.
A few moments later, Diana wiped her face, blew her nose and went to check on the baby. Sabrina was sleeping peacefully. Reassured, Diana opened her suitcase and dug through her belongings for the perfect outfit. Sweat pants and a T-shirt? Hardly the stuff a seduction was made of, she thought miserably. Her granny nightgown was an equal bust. She was looking through her lingerie, disgusted with the pile of white cotton panties and bras she found there, and then discovered a plastic bag on the bottom. She had never seen it before.
Reaching inside, she drew in breath as she pulled out a mint green silk nightgown. It had a v-neck and no sleeves, and it fell in one graceful fold past the knees. A little white card dropped to the floor, and Diana almost began crying all over again when she read the note:
Pipsqueak:
There will come a time in the near future when I know you are gonna wish you had one of these. I hope now is that time. Use it with joy. With much love,
Shanti
Ahhh, was there ever a sister as wonderful as she? Flying into the bathroom, the gown streaming behind her like a banner, she took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. Once she was sure she was completely dry, she threw the gown over her head and slithered into it with a sigh.
The top part of it fit like a glove, the skirt of it loose and flowing, and it was, thoughtfully, a petite. No need to worry about tripping over the hem. When in the world had Shanti bought this? Before she sent her on this wild treasure hunt to Connecticut? While she was in New York? The day before at the boutique? Trying not to think about it too hard, she fluffed out her curls, walked solemnly to Richard's bedroom door and knocked.
"What?" he said crossly.
"Can I come in?"
"No."
"Will you come out?"
"No."
"Not even for Sabrina?" She said that little white lie with her fingers crossed, knowing, technically, that she was doing this for Sabrina as well as herself.
"What? What's wrong?" He flung open the door and almost ran her over in his worry about the baby. But he was brought up short by the sight of her in the green nightgown.
"Actually, she doesn't need you right now. But she will later," she said impishly. "Her first word...her first steps...her first day of preschool..." As she talked, she backed him into his room. "The day we adopt her a baby brother or sister..."
Richard eyed her suspiciously. "What brought all this on?"
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps it was the thought that you didn't remember anything about that night of your retirement party..." Here she faltered, unable to continue along those lines. "Actually, I don't remember anything either. I made up anything I said the other night because I was angry with you. I was downstairs in the ballroom that evening, and Shanti kept plying me with..." She thought about that one for a moment and then she saw red. "I'm gonna kill her!"
Stalking out, she went to her room and began rummaging around her bag for a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. "If I was her size, I'd beat her into the ground. I'm still gonna kick her...where the hell are my car keys?"
"With the car at the mechanic's," Richard drawled from the doorway. "But we can take the van."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because I'm gonna help you kick Shanti to the curb, that's why!"
Diana started laughing. The thought of the two of them against Shanti was too funny. Chuckling, Richard strolled in and took her in his arms. "So that's not a good idea, huh?"
"No, I don't think so. I don't think we would get too far... Richard?" She just realized he was holding her, and she looked up into his darkened eyes. "I...we...I..."
"Shhhh!" He looked down at her nightgown and grinned. "I can't believe you put this on just for me. Nice..." She tossed her curls in righteous indignation.
"You know it's better than 'nice'! But now that we've gotten this far, what are you gonna do about it?"
Richard's grin was wicked. "Do about it? Not a thing. Someone has to protect your reputation. Good night," he called, leaving the room. "Don't worry about the baby. Leave your door open so I can listen for her, please." He went to his room, left his door open, too, and crawled into his bed. It was only then she realized he was wearing pajama bottoms and was ready to go to sleep. "See you in the morning," he called, and turned out his light.
Disgruntled, but amused just the same, Diana left the slinky gown on, climbed into her bed and turned off the light. "Good night," she whispered. She lay there for about two seconds, threw off the covers and then got up and went into Richard's room.
"Yes?" he drawled in the dark.
"I don't want to be alone," she whined almost convincingly. "Can I sleep with you?"
"OK, but don't make a habit of this. Come on." She heard the whisper of his sheets as he pulled them back for her, and then she was down under them, nestled up next to his warm body. "Now go to sleep," he told her. "And if you behave yourself, I'll try not to wake you when Sabrina gets up."
"OK," she said drowsily, and went right off to dreamland. For Richard, though, sleep was a long time coming.
"Good morning..." Richard whispered just above Diana's ear. At first she thought he was talking to her, but he wasn't. "Be vewy, vewy qwiet," he said in his best Elmer Fudd voice. "I'm hunting wabbits..."
Diana giggled to herself. What in the world was he doing? She heard a distinct gurgle and realized he was talking to the baby. No, she corrected herself, now he was singing to the baby, still in the Elmer Fudd voice.
Rolling over, she found Richard sitting up on the bed, his legs bent and the baby being propped up against them, watching him with her mouth open as he played the fool for her benefit.
"I'll bet Uncle Will was nowhere near this funny, was he? Was he?" he asked the little girl. She just stared at him in wonder, and Diana noticed Richard was doing the same in return.
"Is this a private game, or can three play?"
"Look! Mommy wants to play!" Richard cooed at the baby. "And here I thought Mommy wanted to go over to the farm this morning and kick Aunt Shanti's, er, um, backside..."
Diana groaned. "Funny how that does not seem like such a good idea in broad daylight. What am I going to do with her?"
"I think we need to go over there so the two of you can talk. I know. We'll pack an early supper, take the baby down by the creek and invite her along. Then, if we have to dispose of her body, there will be fewer witnesses."
"In the meantime..."
"In the meantime, we have a kitchen to put back in order."
Diana groaned again. "Do we have to?"
Richard rolled toward her, baby in his arms. "No, we could stay here and indulge in family snuggle time..." Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled Diana closer.
"I'd like that. Did you really mean what you said last night?"
"What did I say last night?" he asked innocently.
"Richard! I have an excellent memory..."
"Except when you don't," he teased, remembering her admission the evening before. "I don't advise you to drink and think."
"...and you said, 'I love you and want to marry you and live with and love you the rest of my life,'" she continued, ignoring him.
She was gratified when Richard loomed over her, baby between them, and kissed her. "I meant every word. Now," he said briskly, "shall we put on some old clothes and get to work? That kitchen wall has to be scrubbed, and the stove checked, and..."
"I get it. OK," she agreed. "What time is it? Ten o'clock! Oh, no!"
"What? What's your hurry?"
"I've never slept this late in my life!"
"There is always a first time for everything," he told her, staring intently with glowing blue eyes, and she got the impression he was not just talking about sleeping in. A little shiver ran down her spine at the thought.
"I have to make a few phone calls this afternoon, clients and such. It's not going to be easy moving everything up to Connecticut, no matter how easy it sounds on paper." She was amazed, however, at how easy it was to say. No lingering doubts, no worries about the past...and she would not worry about the future, either. Not yet. For now, it was enough that she was there, and he was there, and they had the baby.
Richard, without a word, kissed her till she was breathless. "That was easy, too," he told her, and then set about getting ready for the day.
Richard, Diana and Georgie spent several hours scrubbing down the kitchen, fielding phone calls from concerned customers and family members, and discussing plans for the future. Mrs. Hill also had called and scheduled a meeting with them for 2 o'clock.
"If it's OK with you two," Richard said at one point, "I'd like to buy out Georgie's share of the business."
"Really?" Georgie asked. "I mean, we talked about this a bit before the wedding, and I really would like to stay on and help, but one of these days I'm going to be a stay-at-home mom to my own brood and not want to rush over here for more than a cup of sugar. Alex and I have discussed this, of course, and he says I may do whatever I wish, which is very sweet of him. Maybe I will just stay home and sell my baked goods to the restaurant. Will said he had advised you not to reopen the lodgings, but to concentrate instead on the restaurant. I like it."
"So do I," Richard agreed. "I plan on us living upstairs and turning the downstairs room into a larger office. We can rent out the apartment, or we can keep it empty, whichever we choose. What do you think, Diana?"
"Wha? Oh, you're actually consulting me?" She thought he had been including her in the conversation out of politeness. "I say it's your money, Richard, and you may do whatever you wish with it. If Georgie wants to sell out her share, it should not be sold to a stranger."
"I had hoped you would say that. I'll call my attorney this afternoon and get the paperwork started. We'll put a desk in the office for you, too, Diana, for your own business, and leave the little office behind the desk for restaurant employees to use."
When Mrs. Hill came to the inn that afternoon, she was horrified to see it was closed, and immediately questioned allowing two unemployed people to adopt a child.
"For your information, Mrs. Hill," Diana exclaimed, drawing herself up as far as five feet and three inches will allow, "I have my own consulting firm, and remain firmly employed!"
"Self-employment!" the social worker said with a sniff, running one finger along the dining room table where she had been seated. "Colonel? Besides what is probably a meager military pension, you have..."
"I have this in the bank," he said calmly, and showed her the balance in his checkbook. She whistled softly. "And that is the balance on this checkbook, Mrs. Hill. I like to think I manage my inheritance and my investments wisely."
"OK," she said slowly, having been put firmly in her place. "And here are the papers that must be signed by George Wickham, as father of this child. You are going to have to make your own arrangements as far as visiting and signing are concerned." She seemed to think this beyond them once more, which Diana thought rather foolish of the woman. Didn't she see she was dealing with Richard here? The man accomplished anything he set his mind to.
Richard took the papers and set them aside. Looking Mrs. Hill squarely in the eye, he said, "This child will be ours. We will be in touch. Good day, Mrs. Hill."
The two women watched as he got up from the table and regally walked back into the kitchen. A wail from the front bedroom, however, spoiled the effect somewhat as he went dashing back through the other way to tend to the baby. Diana smiled. The man had his priorities straight.
It was late afternoon, and the summer sun was still high when Richard, Diana and Sabrina arrived at the farm with a picnic lunch and the multitude of baby equipment needed to take an infant on an outing. Shanti waited on the front porch with even more food packed by a generous Mrs. Reynolds. Diana watched as Richard strolled into the barn and she wondered if he was going to appropriate a horse to play pack mule for what she understood to be a pleasant stroll down to the creek.
To her amazement, he came back in a golf cart, the twins riding on the back as far as the house before they clambered off and with shouted greetings, ran into the house.
"I told them it was a private matter," Richard explained softly to Diana when Shanti wondered why they weren't coming along. "And that they could come down and play with the baby in about an hour."
She nodded, decided against the stroller and began to put the folded travel crib and a beach umbrella on the back of the cart.
Shanti, of course, insisted on driving, and Diana was relegated to holding on to equipment on the back of the cart while Richard and the baby sat up front.
"It is not far from here," Richard told her as she clutched the back of the cart.
"It's beautiful," she had to agree when they arrived. The clearing was surrounded by a ring of old oaks, the far end giving off to a little beachy area next to a busy, bubbling creek.
She and Shanti followed Richard to the edge of the creek, where it was shady, and he set up the umbrella just in case, and set the baby on a blanket underneath. The girls having brought over the food and other baby accessories, they all settled down on a larger blanket and lolled about, in no hurry to eat.
"So," Diana began, "Richard and I talked last night," she said nonchalantly to Shanti.
"Uh huh... About time," came Shanti's drowsy reply.
"Yeah. Funny thing about the night of Richard's retirement party..."
She had some of Shanti's attention now. One eye was half open.
"Funny thing about it was how neither he nor I could ever recall what happened..." Diana finished that line off with a little chuckle designed to sound amused.
"You don't say," Shanti drawled.
"Well, actually, I did say. Several nights before - only I was wrong. Nothing happened, did it?"
"Are you sure about that?"
Richard, with the wisdom of his years, kept his mouth shut through all of this.
"Yes, upon reflection, I am."
"Good!" Shanti replied, sitting up. She began rummaging through the hampers. "That's settled then, let's eat!"
"Whoa, hold on there, Amazon Lady! I wasn't finished," Diana told her. "You let me believe all these years, that he, that I, that we... How could you?"
"Why not?" Shanti shrugged. She refused to feel guilty. "It brought you back together again."
Diana looked at Richard, who looked back at her and gave a shrug of her own. If Shanti wasn't going to rise to the argument, and it looked like she wasn't, there was no sense beating a dead horse. Diana, however, had one trump card.
"Thanks for the fancy nightgown, Shanti - I put it to good use last night!"
Shanti had the good grace to blush as red as her dark skin would allow, and Richard and Diana laughed out loud as they began helping set the food out on the blanket.
The twins showed up later, and helped polish off the food, and then asked them all to come up to the house and visit with Elizabeth, who was feeling fat and cranky, the children said. They insisted that they were repeating Will's words, but somehow Richard could not see him saying that about Elizabeth. Ever. Not and live to see his child born, anyway.
Shanti, though, took one look at the dark BMW parked in the driveway upon their return, and began making excuses for not going into the main part of the house. She kept insisting Mrs. Reynolds would be fussing about the hampers, but then Mrs. R. came out for them herself, and Shanti was roped into accompanying them inside.
Richard seemed to have sensed the reason for Shanti's unease even before they entered the house, and Diana took one look at the tall, dark-skinned gentleman seated with Will and Lizzie and knew why.
"Mark Robinson," he introduced himself to Diana. "Richard's attorney. He called and said you would be here this afternoon, and as I have been advising William on something else, I thought I could kill to birds with one stone. Miss Williams," he said and nodded at Shanti, and Diana watched as her friend blushed for the second time that day. "Here are those papers, Richard, I suggest you and Miss Forrester review them before I make arrangements for the biological father to sign the baby over to you. Those other papers will be ready by Friday afternoon." He handed an envelope to Richard, and then excused himself to meet with Will in another room.
"What are those?" Lizzie wanted to know.
"The papers I need Wickham to sign to release Sabrina to us. If they are in order, I will be paying a call to our favorite embezzler and attacker of women on Wednesday."
Lizzie sighed. "Good luck."
Georgie had planned a month ago what she was going to do for Lizzie's baby shower. However, she gladly altered those arrangements slightly to allow for the closing of the inn and for the addition of Sabrina and Diana to the family. Actually, the fire had done her a huge favor. Now, with no guests to annoy, and vice versa, she didn't have to scrimp on the activities she had planned.
The cleaning downstairs continued, and then Georgie found time in the afternoon, after Diana and Sabrina had gone to the apartment to take a nap, to set up for the event.
The evening started innocently enough. Georgie had roped Richard into helping her prepare an elegant meal for Jane, Lizzie, Maria, Diana, Shanti and herself, and she was very generous with the bruschetta, chicken Marsala, Caesar salad and triple chocolate brownies, as well as the wine. Then everyone sat around and watched as first Lizzie, and then a very surprised Diana, opened baby gifts.
Diana was pleased to note that a good portion of her gifts had come from that exclusive baby boutique, and that among them were items the ladies had initially said were presents for Elizabeth. She should have known Lizzie was not going to require multiple pink outfits when she did not even know if her baby was a boy or a girl.
Georgie topped that portion of the evening off with more sweets and champagne, and by the time all the ladies except Lizzie had gotten a good buzz, she was herding a giggling crew up to the top floor, where the two suites were opened up into each other and more delights were planned.
"It's slumber party time!" Georgie announced, throwing open the door to the Connecticut Suite to reveal a karaoke machine, more champagne and a pile of lingerie boxes.
"I can't spend the night!" Jane wailed. "What about my children?"
"Taken care of," Georgie promptly replied. "The guys are babysitting overnight next door. OK - any other questions?"
"But I don't have anything to wear!" Jane protested. Georgie sighed. Who knew Jane whined when she had too much to drink?
"I gotcha covered, girlfriend," she told her. "Here." She walked over to the lingerie boxes and opened the one on top. "My gift to you, ladies. Baby doll pajamas!"
"Oooh!" Maria squealed. "I love lingerie!"
"This yellow one goes to Diana," Georgie began, and threw the box at her. "And emerald green for Shanti. Hey, this pink one is a tent! Must be for Lizzie," she joked, and tossed that box to her scowling sister-in-law. "This one is mine..." She held up a white set. "And the black one is for Maria. Janie, you get baby blue. Did I leave anyone out? OK, next I want everyone to take their cell phone and throw it in this box." She held up a box for inspection and tossed her own phone in. "If one rings, we will spin the bottle to see who answers. When you answer, you have to use a sexy voice and say something naughty."
After everyone quit groaning, Georgie left them to change into their nighties and went into the adjoining suite, where she had bedding of every sort arranged, harem-style, all over the place. "We'll sleep in here," she called. "After we sing!"
"I get the bed," Lizzie insisted, rubbing her lower back. "At least part of it."
"Or most of it," Georgie quipped. "Whatever you need. I have another bottle of that sparking apple cider in the cooler over there for you, too."
"You think of everything," Lizzie told her. "But don't you dare go to sleep, Georgiana Bailey... bad things happen to sleepover organizers who try to snooze at their own parties..."
Just then, a phone rang in the other room, and the ladies all squealed.
"I got the first one," Shanti insisted. "You can spin the bottle next time, Legs." Picking up the phone, which was Diana's, she looked at the caller ID and started to laugh. "This is gonna be good. Hello," she said in a rich, throaty voice that sounded very similar to her friend's. "Welcome to Diana's Hot Tubs. I let my hands roam under the foam, baybee."
"I'll be right over!" everyone heard Richard shout, and they howled. "Diana? Diana?" he said when all he heard was laughter.
"Give me that!" Diana said with a sigh. "What!" she demanded into the phone. "No, that wasn't me! Didn't you recognize Shanti's voice? In the diaper bag," she told him. "Bye." There was more laughter when she hung up and blithely tossed her phone back into the box.
"How long do you think it will take them to catch on to our little game?" Lizzie wanted to know.
"Who cares? Now, it's time to sing. Maria, you go first."
"OK." She flipped through the selection list while Georgie cranked up the machine.
"Oh, one more thing!" Georgie cried. "I want to make a souvenir of this for everyone!" Reaching in the closet, she pulled out a camcorder, already mounted on a tripod and ready to go.
"Oh, no!" Lizzie moaned. "I look...big!"
"You look pregnant, honey," Jane told her. "I look big."
"Nonsense!" Georgie replied. "You both look terrific. Janie, no one could ever tell you've had three kids."
Jane blushed. "Yes, and possibly one more this year..."
"What?" Everyone was all over Jane in a heartbeat, demanding details.
"I'm not telling you everything," she said with a grin. "Let a girl have a few secrets. However, I can say there might be a chance we are going to have another one. I've been this maybe route before, though, and..."
"...and now you have three kids!" Georgie finished for her. "Come on, everyone. What are you going to sing, Maria?"
An hour and three champagne bottles later, after Diana sang "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" and Lizzie had belted out "Like a Virgin," a phone rang once more.
Georgie quickly grabbed one of the empties and gave it a good spin, watching with her own satisfaction as it landed on Jane.
"Oh, dear." Jane bit her lip as she answered Lizzie's phone.
"Hello, Dr. Darcy," she purred. "I'm in need of emergency care, and only you can resuscitate me..."
"Hi, Jane. How's my wife?"
"Who needs just a plain old wife, Will, when you could have Jane Bingley, domestic goddess?" she asked in a breathless voice.
"What have you been drinking? Hey, Bingley! You're wife is plastered again! Sounds like you would get a very warm reception if you slipped on over to the inn right about now... Come on, Jane, let me talk to Elizabeth."
"There's no Elizabeth here right now, but if you'll leave your name, number and current location, we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Beeeep!" She hung up the phone and tossed it back into the box, ignoring Lizzie's pout.
"But I wanted to talk to Will!"
"Where therez a Will, therez a way," slurred Shanti. Everyone giggled.
"What do you want to do next?" Georgie asked. "I'm not out of party ideas by a long shot, and we can always go next door and toilet paper the porch..."
"Let's play truth or dare," Maria suggested. Georgie agreed, and said she would go first. Looking around the room, she thought Diana could wait until they got warmed up, but she was going to have to answer a few questions...
"Lizzie - truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Is it true that the first time you met Will, you thought he was so arrogant you stuck your tongue out at him?"
Everyone laughed, and Lizzie admitted that yes, Dr. Darcy had been absolutely horrid that night, and deserved everything he got. It was her turn, so she looked at Jane.
"Jane, truth or dare?"
"Dare!"
"Aw, nuts! What am I going to dare her? I know - I dare her to go next door in her new outfit and show it to Charles on the front porch."
Shanti dug through the cell phones until she came to one that had Dr. Bingley listed in its directory, and dialed the number.
"Hey, Chuck!" she called into the phone. "Janie has a surprise for ya. Go out on the porch and wait for her."
Everyone trooped out of the inn, flitting across the already damp lawn like a bunch of scantily-clad fairies, Lizzie waddling in the rear. But she had a secret weapon. Revenge was so sweet, she thought with an evil chuckle, whipping out her cell phone and giving William a quick call so that when Jane got to the porch, someone would turn on the light and show all the women in their jammies.
Not going any further than the edge of the inn itself, she got her desired effect and was rewarded with a bunch of screaming women running back to the safety of the inn. Hiding the phone in her baby-doll bottoms, she waddled back in with the rest of them and then announced she was going to bed.
"Awww, Lizzie, we're just getting started," Georgie protested.
"You are just getting started. I'm finished!"
"Remember what you said about going to sleep at a sleepover," Georgie reminded her.
"I said you had to be worried, not me." Yawning, she made her way into the other bedroom and got comfortable on the bed, Georgie watching her carefully to make sure she was OK. "If I'm this awkward at the end of six months," she admitted to her sister-in-law, "imagine me toddling around in November!"
Georgie reached down and kissed her cheek. "Maybe it's twins. They run in your family." At the horror-stricken look on Lizzie's face, Georgie relented. "Anyway, you look beautiful. But that's why I didn't buy you the yellow outfit. I didn't want Will to think he had married a duck."
"Georgiana Bailey!" Lizzie cried, and before Georgie knew it a pillow hit her squarely in the face.
"Yikes!" Georgie yelled. "Didya have to go and-" Lizzie hit her again.
The next thing they knew, all the ladies were in there, throwing pillows at each other and whacking each other on the legs, the arms, heads, rears or wherever they could reach.
Lizzie finally shouted at them to quit, and let her sleep, and once they had calmed down and had shut the connecting doors so that Lizzie might rest, Georgie brought the game back to Truth or Dare.
"Truth or dare, Maria?" Diana asked.
"Truth."
"Is it true that Georgie had you come to the inn for dinner last Monday night so she could find out what I was like?"
Georgie had the grace to blush, and Maria nodded, which sent everyone into a fit of the giggles.
"Truth or dare, Shanti?" Maria wanted to know.
"Truth?" Everyone threw pillows at Shanti, but Diana leaned over and whispered something in Maria's ear and she grinned.
"OK - is it true that you have the hots for Richard's attorney?"
They all squealed. "Mark Robinson is one hot lawyer," Jane said with a burp. Shanti did not blush, like she had the day before, but she nodded and would not look anyone in the face, which had Diana cackling like mad.
A phone in the box began to ring, and Georgie grabbed the bottle, which landed on Shanti. Shanti picked up Diana's phone again, this time without looking, and answered it with a sexy drawl. "This is Diana Forrester, Twin Oaks Inn, how may I serve you? What?" Shanti yelped and dropped the phone like a hot potato. "It's Mark Robinson!" she hissed, sending everyone off into gales of laughter. Diana answered it correctly, had a short, polite conversation without laughing, although it was a major struggle, and then pitched the phone back into the box.
"Truth or dare, Shanti?" Diana asked.
"Truth."
"Ok - tell the truth about the first time you met Mark Robinson."
"Unh uh!"
"Come on, that's the rule, girlfriend. Gotta tell the truth or take the dare. And before you even answer that, I dare you to tell the truth," Diana taunted.
Shanti, who could never resist a dare, nodded.
"OK, Pipsqueak. Listen up, though, 'cause I'm never telling this again!" Everyone moved in a little closer. "Last year, when I came for a visit, I was helping Legs and Studmuffin with the housekeeping and such, because they give me a room free when I do. Anyway, there was some party the night before and some of the guys stayed here overnight because they had had too much to drink. I didn't know that, and there was no 'do not disturb' sign on the door, so I just walked in without knocking and found the most gorgeous black man in existence sleeping in the buff. I must have made some sound..."
"Probably cursed out loud," Diana interjected. She got a frown from Shanti and chuckles from everyone else.
"Anyway, he sat up and told me I was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen and would I marry him." There was a collective sigh from everyone else.
"Of course, I said no, that he musta been still drunk, turned around and left. He asked me three more times that day, before he left. I said no all three times. He came back that night and asked me out to dinner. I went, and had to turn down another proposal from that man! He asked me at least once a day for the next four days, and then I went home."
"Has he asked you yet on this visit?" Maria wanted to know.
"No," Shanti admitted, "although I fully expect him to before I leave. I need to be able to turn him down again, just because I can!" No one knew what else to say and there was a moment of silence.
"Truth or dare, Diana," Georgie suddenly called.
"Dare."
"Oh, nuts," Georgie admitted to Shanti. "I was hoping she'd say truth."
"You don't know Miss Daredevil very well, then, do you?"
"What should we dare her to do?"
Shanti leaned over and whispered something in her ear, and Georgie's grin split her face from ear to ear. "Good one! OK," she told Diana. "I dare you to get married to Richard this coming Saturday afternoon."
Diana paled, but she thrust her stubborn little chin in the air and tried not to grin.
"I accept that dare and offer a challenge to you and Shanti in return. I double dog dare ya to pull off a wedding for me by Saturday!"
Shanti and Georgie grinned at each other with unholy glee. "We accept!" Georgie cried.
Richard and Sabrina came back over to the inn the next morning to find the kitchen empty and the sound of giggles coming from the dining room. He peeked in and there were Diana and Elizabeth, sharing a pot of herbal tea, a plate of toast and early morning confidences. His heart turned over at the sight, but he was glad they had not come downstairs in those little skimpy things they had been wearing while cavorting on the lawn the night before.
"And then Richard said 'Forrester, could you at least wait until the general is out of the can?'" Diana was saying.
Elizabeth went off into peals of laughter at the punch line, and Richard chose that moment to enter. He thought he might be interrupting, but Diana saw him and actually ran over to him and gave him and the baby a big hug.
"Guess what?" she said, pulling his face down for a kiss and not giving him a chance to answer. "We're getting married Saturday!" She dropped a kiss on the baby's head for good measure.
"We are? What brought all this on?" he couldn't help but ask, and Elizabeth started laughing again. He looked to her for corroboration.
"I can't actually tell you," she admitted. "I had already gone to bed."
Richard unstrapped the baby from his chest and gave her to a willing Diana, and then went into the kitchen for his coffee. Bringing it back into the dining room, he set one chair in front of another, swung his long legs up into the facing chair and then looked at the ladies.
"I want to hear all about last night. I've only heard snatches, although I was looking out the window when Jane was on the porch."
Lizzie snickered. "That was a good one!"
"And whose idea was it to play games with the cell phones?"
Lizzie and Diana grinned. "Georgie!" they said together.
"I should have known. Speaking of which, where are the others? Still sleeping it off?"
"We suppose..." Diana said, the baby on her shoulder. "Well?" she asked.
"Well, what?"
"Aren't you going to say anything about us getting married Saturday?"
"Nope. Sounds like a good idea and a done deal, to me. What time, and how formally should I dress? Do you want me to whip up a family dinner the night before?"
"Two, semi-formal and yes, please," Diana promptly replied. "And you get to plan the honeymoon. Oh, and Mark Robinson must definitely be invited!"
"Our attorney?" Lizzie asked. "He's a nice guy, but why?"
"You had gone to bed last night before we got around to Shanti's Truth or Dare question," Diana said, beginning to tell the tale.
"Truth or Dare?" Richard started choking. "You played Truth or Dare?"
"Isn't that what you're supposed to play at slumber parties?" Georgie wanted to know, coming in the dining room in shorts and a T-shirt, her blond hair unruly. She was rubbing her eyes. "Wait. Don't tell this until I get some coffee." She headed for the kitchen and returned a few moments later with a steaming cup, and, surprisingly, Alex, who had chosen that moment to appear at the back door. The two walked over to the table with their arms about each other's waists. "OK, now whom were we talking about?"
"Shanti," Diana said with an evil grin. "I wonder if you know about her and Mr. Robinson," she asked Richard. "After all, it happened here last year."
"What happened?" He was bewildered.
"I didn't know, either," Georgie added. "Until last night."
"Seems Shanti saw Mr. Robinson when she was here last year. And I mean she really saw him... And evidently it was love at first sight on his part, and he has proposed a zillion times since then!" Diana told him, delight evident in her voice.
"No!" Richard's jaw had dropped to his chest. Alex started to chuckle.
"Yes!" Georgie crowed. "And she won't accept him, although I've never seen Shanti blush like she did last night."
"I have," Richard and Diana said in unison. "The other night at the farm, when Mark was there," Richard added.
"Hmmm," Lizzie said. "This could be interesting. Do you think he will propose again?"
"Now that he knows she is in town, who knows?" said Georgie.
"Who knows who is in town?" Will asked, coming in from the kitchen with a cup of coffee of his own. Sitting down next to his wife, he gave her a kiss.
"We're talking about Shanti," Georgie told her brother. "Seems she and Mark have quite the history. He proposes and she refuses."
"Indeed? Mark has never even mentioned Shanti to me." He looked at Richard, who shrugged.
"Me, neither, cuz."
"Did you tell Richard the good news?" Georgie demanded of Diana. She nodded.
"Yup, and Saturday is OK with him. Oh, Richard, I forgot to tell you. Georgie and Shanti are the wedding planners."
"Wedding?" Alex asked. Georgie looked at her husband and smiled.
"I dared Diana to get married to Richard this Saturday, and then she dared Shanti and I to pull it all together. Sounds like I have my work cut out for me! Good thing I stayed awake all night making lists." She shot a glance at Elizabeth, who could not help but smirk.
"I told you, Georgie, that the slumber party hostess was not allowed to sleep at her own party!"
"I didn't know it was going to be such hard work!"
"I got a call last night from Mark Robinson," Diana told Richard later, after everyone but Shanti had gone home. They were all back in the dining room, discussing how best to redecorate.
"I know," he said, his lips pursed together. "This is not going to be pretty."
"What isn't?" Shanti wanted to know.
"Getting Wickham to sign the adoption papers. Especially if he thinks any one of my family wants the baby." He explained about Wickham's past misdeeds, especially pertaining to Georgie, and Diana and Shanti looked stricken until Richard told them of his cousin's physical defeat of that man.
"Georgie was mortified at having kicked him right in the- she was at a party at Alex's parents' house, and had just met them for the first time. But now that you have met Mrs. Bailey, Diana - she thought it just the right touch." Diana nodded. Alex's mom would have been delighted, she was certain.
"Are you sure he will listen to me, Richard?"
"He won't even know who you are. How can he not sign the papers for you?"
Easier said than done, she thought several hours later as she stood in a chamber at the state penitentiary in Wethersford, staring with interest at a dark-haired man in an orange prison jumpsuit being led in by his own lawyer and a prison guard. Mark Robinson sat in an adjacent room watching through a two-way mirror, Richard at his side. The man seemed to have sized her up the minute he saw her, and refused to talk, let alone sign papers.
Every time Diana tried to open her mouth, he would make a funny noise, and then laugh as if she were the biggest idiot in the world. Maybe she was, she thought. Wickham's lawyer rolled her eyes and refused to comment. She had, of course, informed her client of this lady's intent, and he had smoothly agreed to meet her. This, however, was not going as planned.
Finally, Diana had had enough, rose from the table and told the lawyer she was much too busy to play these games, completely ignoring the inmate. Turning to leave, she heard the man whisper something to his lawyer.
"He wants to know how much you are willing to pay?"
"How much does he want?" she asked, looking at the lawyer and avoiding Mr. Wickham's smarmy gaze.
"Ten thousand dollars," the lawyer whispered.
"Done." In her mind, she could just see Richard jumping out of his chair in the other room, sure she was off her rocker. She wasn't, but never even having had a discussion with the man about money, she thought he was probably upset. Actually, she had half that amount in the bank, but if she could sell her home in New Jersey, there would be plenty of money for the adoption and to relocate to Connecticut.
"Done?" The lawyer seemed taken aback, but said nothing, only watched as Diana insisted the paperwork be drawn up as soon as possible so she could finalize the adoption.
Outside, she waited for the two men in the hall, and she realized she was trembling.
Richard, spying her first, ran up to her and gave her a hug. "You were magnificent!" he exclaimed, and gave her a kiss. "Go find your own woman," he told Mark over his shoulder. Then he blushed, remembering that Mark had found his own woman - Shanti. Diana laughed.
"I think he already has. Richard," she began as they headed down the hall, "I did not mean to offer so much money. I have about half of that, and I can raise the other...what's so funny?"
Richard was laughing, even as he propelled her down the hall, an arm about her shoulder. "Remind me to show you my portfolio sometime, Pipsqueak."
"Oh. Are you laughing because I'm worth more than you because you make bad investments? Or because my net worth is a drop in the bucket compared to yours?"
"Mine, yours, it's all ours, sweetheart. Let's just say we are getting ourselves a baby."
Diana let out a whoop and gave Richard a fierce hug.
Down the hall, a grinning Wickham's smile got even wider as he saw the little lady give Richard Fitzwilliam a hug. Then they led him away.
Mark, however, stopped an ecstatic Richard and Diana cold. "I wouldn't celebrate just yet, nor would I fork over any money before we know all the facts. Unless that money is going to pay some expenses related to the baby or its birth, you cannot buy a baby - that's illegal. However, if we can show proof Wickham wants to sell the baby, that's even more illegal, and we could put him away for a very long time..."