50 Harbor Street - Debbie Macomber [118]
“Well, I guess you could say so.”
She laughed and slipped her arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder. “It’s late, isn’t it? We should’ve been in bed hours ago.”
“Yes—extremely late. So we’d better get a move on.”
Grace smiled to herself. After all, she wanted the same thing her husband did.
Forty-Seven
Cecilia woke from a sound sleep at Aaron’s first cry. She groaned inwardly and glanced at the clock-radio on the nightstand—4:10 a.m. It’d been four hours since she’d last nursed. Aaron was hungry again and he wouldn’t return to sleep until he’d been fed.
Ian rolled over when she climbed out of bed. “Need any help?” he asked sleepily.
“No thanks, sweetheart.” It wasn’t as if her husband could give Aaron his breakfast. Breast-feeding was a new experience; she’d never had the opportunity to nurse Allison. She’d pumped her breasts, wanting to believe that her milk would somehow provide the sustenance to pull Allison through her medical crisis. Sadly, it hadn’t.
Carefully lifting Aaron from his crib, she shushed the newborn, who was crying hard enough to wake the neighbors. Cecilia soothed him with gentle whispers as she changed his diaper and settled in the living room rocker. Singing softly to him, she unbuttoned the front of her nightgown and gave a slight gasp when her hungry son latched onto her nipple.
Ian’s barely discernible laugh caught her attention. “I have a strong son,” he said, walking into the room. He was barefoot and wore only the bottom half of his pajamas.
While Cecilia rocked and nursed the baby, Ian sat across from her.
“You don’t need to get out of bed for this,” she felt obliged to tell him.
“I know. I wanted to. It’s been two weeks now, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching you nurse our son.”
She brushed the tiny wisps of hair away from Aaron’s sweet face and gazed down at him in utter amazement as tiny milk bubbles formed at his mouth.
“From the first moment I saw you, I thought you were beautiful,” Ian whispered.
“Oh, honey, stop.” His compliments embarrassed her.
“You were,” he said with a sigh. “But you’ve never looked more beautiful than you do right this minute.”
His words filled her heart. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He seemed about to say something else, but paused, as if caught up in the emotion of the moment. After a while he said, “I’ve been thinking about us finding a house to rent. Maybe with an option to buy.”
She smiled at him quickly. “I’d like that. Where?”
Ian shrugged. “Cedar Cove. I want our son to have a real yard to play in and a neighborhood with other families, other kids. Living in a duplex is fine for you and me, but we have a baby now who’ll need room to grow. What do you think?”
“Let’s start looking today!”
“I’ll check with a rental agent to see what we can find.”
Cecilia nodded, excited by the idea.
As soon as Aaron was satisfied, he fell asleep. Holding him over her shoulder, Cecilia rocked for several minutes until she felt she could place him in his crib again without fear of waking him.
Ian crawled into bed and pulled aside the covers so she could join him. Cecilia curled up against her husband, but after a few minutes, she shifted away in an effort to get comfortable. Ten minutes later she was back.
“Want to tell me what’s on your mind?” Ian suggested when her restlessness didn’t end.
“I don’t want to keep you awake,” she protested.
“It’s either you talk or you wake me every time you roll from one side to the other. I might be on leave, but I still need my sleep.”
“Sorry.”
“Talk,” he insisted.
“It’s Allison Cox,” Cecilia said reluctantly. She hadn’t intended to mention this to Ian, but the girl had been in her thoughts ever since yesterday afternoon, when she’d stopped by the house to visit Aaron. Allison had confided in her and spent the better part of the afternoon unburdening her woes.
“I know you’re not too keen on this new boyfriend of hers.”
“No,” Cecilia murmured. “I’m not.”
“She isn’t planning to run away and marry him, is she?” Ian asked