“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be sorry about,” he said. “Gimme a hint?”

“How about you’re sorry you’re so pigheaded?” she suggested.

“That would be a little like the pot calling the kettle black,” he said. “But I could admit to being a little set in my ways. I love you, though. I’d do anything for you, as long as I knew it wasn’t somehow the wrong thing to do. And I think you know that.”

“I know that. Can I have a soda?”

“You bet…”

“And can we now talk about adoption?”

His movements were slowed slightly. He put the soda in front of her. “Why?”

“It was a compromise you said you’d be willing to make.”

“That wasn’t exactly what I said,” he clarified. “I said if there was a child that wouldn’t otherwise have a good, loving family, I’d be willing to consider that. Not quite the same thing.”

“As I see it, adoption is exactly that. We’re good parents, Jack. We have a secure future. We can give a child some things that their own parents might not be quite up to. And, as I’ve said, I’d like one more child. So?”

“What’s involved, exactly?” he asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Not terribly much. I would put together an adoption package for our family, outlining our values, how we could benefit a child. There would be a standard background check, making sure that we aren’t felons, abusers, bankrupt or suffering from illnesses that could make it difficult to parent, cut our lives short. That sort of thing.”

“Money?”

“Of course money. The usual routine is to pay all the medical and legal expenses for the mother, plus our own legal expenses. Sometimes there’s a bonus for the mother…a little something to help her get on with her life.”

“But not like buying a baby?” he asked.

“That would be illegal,” she said. “This is all pretty straightforward. Of course, Brie would be our lawyer as she is in everything—she’s pretty straight and narrow.”

“I hear adoption’s kind of tough—that people wait forever to get a child. Were you thinking older child? Maybe a child of another race?”

“I’m open to that, but really I’m hoping for a newborn. That’s what my heart wants—one more newborn. So? Would you do this with me?”

“On one condition—that we get a little counseling before we officially adopt.”

“Before I start on our adoption package—or just before we sign the final adoption papers?”

“I’d like to do it soon, but I don’t mind if you start the process.”

“Why, exactly, do you want some counseling? This isn’t about my uterus again, is it?”

He shook his head. “No. I’ve decided to stay away from that. I don’t much like being frozen out.”

“I said I was sorry…. So, why counseling?”

“To make sure we’d make good adoptive parents,” he said.

“That’s reasonable….”

“And to explore why my wife would lie to me.”

“What?”

“You’ve never lied to me before. Life has been pretty strange between us lately, but you’ve never lied before. You didn’t just decide to give up your desire to hire a surrogate in favor of adopting a newborn. You have a baby lined up.”

“Now, what in the world makes you think—”

He smirked and lifted a brow. “You’re a midwife. Gimme a break here. Now, why wouldn’t you tell me the truth? What’s going on with you? I thought we could trust each other. Tell each other everything. When did all this change?”

She sighed. “Well, you’ve been very difficult lately,” she said.

He touched her nose. “I believe this is the first time since the day we met that you haven’t had your way with me. You, Mrs. Sheridan, have been very spoiled.”

“All right, I stipulate to being spoiled if you admit to being difficult….”

“Again with the pot and the kettle…”

“I have a new patient,” she relented. “A lovely young woman. She and her boyfriend are good friends with Rick and Liz. Actually, Rick and Liz sent them to me. They asked for my help in setting up an adoption—one where they could give up their parenting rights to see their baby in a good home with loving parents, but adoptive parents who would be willing to share pictures, let them know that their child is doing fine. They understand they can’t be involved—at least not until the child reaches maturity, understands about his adoption and decides whether or not to seek them out.”

“We know it’s a boy already?”

She shook her head. “Just using he/him. It could well be a girl.”

“And they’re doing this because…?”

“For all the right reasons—they’ve been together since high school, but they’ve barely finished their first year of college, and it’s been a financially tough year. They know if they try to have the baby together, it will be a hardship on them and the baby. They want to get married eventually, have children—but they want better for this baby than they can reasonably give him. Or her. It was a very difficult and brave decision for them.”

“And did you tell them you want their baby?”

“I did not. And even though I actually would love that, even I would recommend to them that they interview several potential parents.”

“Uh-huh. But you can think of a hundred reasons why we’re likely to stand out, can’t you?”

“Well, I agree we’re fair candidates, but—”

“But we come personally recommended by their good friends, have small children of our own, are financially stable, healthy, local and guaranteed to remain local, you’re a medical professional who works with a pediatrician, we aren’t felons or abusers, have an entire town to vouch for us…Need I go on?”

“There’s more?” she asked.

“I bet there is,” he answered.

“Are you going to go along with this?” she asked, her eyes taking on that blue flash he knew only too well.

“Yes,” he said. “But we’re going to sit down with a counselor and make sure we’re good potential adoptive parents, good for that baby. I think that’s important. And if the counselor agrees, you can feel free to add it to your package.”

She smiled happily. “Thank you, Jack. I promise, you’ll never regret it.”

Fifteen

Aiden and Erin had a busy couple of days after the departure of Sean and Franci. Not only did Aiden contact his headhunter and tell him he was ready to take appointments for serious interviews in the Chico area, they made a run down to San Francisco to shop for clothes. It was supposed to be a shopping trip for Aiden, who had been in uniform for a very long time and had only one civilian suit, maybe just a bit out of date for interviews. But of course, Erin, a self-confessed clotheshorse, managed to buy a few things for herself, as well.

“Why not start on the trousseau,” he suggested. “Let’s pick up some perverted and extremely fun nightwear.”

What they started on instead was a ring. Aiden had it in his mind to have something original made for her, but on a pass through Tiffany’s she saw a ring that just brought her to her knees. That was good enough for him.

She couldn’t wait to tell her sister, whom she talked to at least once a day. She called her from San Francisco. Marcie shrieked with delight and demanded, “When am I going to see it?”

“I’ll take a picture with my phone—stand by. I’ll send it and call you back!”

A few minutes later, Erin got Marcie back on the line. “Oh my GOD!” Marcie said. “I want to see it in person! Does it weigh five pounds? Do I have to wait till you come home?” Marcie wanted to know. “Because the doctor says I’m done with long car trips.”

“Aiden’s hoping to interview in the Chico area. If anything comes up down there for him, I’ll ride along with him. But, honey, do you realize how soon I’ll be back for the baby? I’m coming before you have him, and you’re having him in just a few weeks! How do you feel?”

“Enormous, but good. I’m ready, let me tell you.”

“Soon, Marcie. Just be patient,” Erin said. “Be sure to cook him long enough.”

After spending a couple of nights in San Francisco, they sped back to Virgin River. They checked in with Luke to find everyone there was status quo and that Sean and family had arrived safely in Montgomery. Aiden and Erin spent the night in the cabin where more and more of Aiden’s things, including his laptop, were appearing. He’d nearly moved in.

“I really didn’t think life could ever get this perfect,” she said. “If we have a home and good jobs in Chico, an ideal getaway on this mountain, what more could we want?”

“Besides my divorce? How about a kid or two?” he asked.

“What if I can’t?” she asked him.

“What if I can’t?” he parroted. “The fact is, we probably both can. You game?”

“Are you sure I’m not too old?” she asked.

“At thirty-six? I delivered a forty-two-year-old right before exiting the navy. It was her first. You’re definitely not too old to have a baby. Do you feel like it’s a little late in the game to commit twenty years plus to raising one?”

“I just thought it was one of those things that had passed me by, that would never happen. I know you have your heart set on it….”

“I’d like that, true. But parenting is definitely a team sport. We both have to be on that team, Erin. If you don’t want it, I’m not going to push it.”

“And that wouldn’t change your mind about settling down with me?”

“At this point, nothing would change my mind about that. But how about we make an agreement right now—issues that really require two people to be of like minds, we either agree we both want it or we don’t go there.”

“What things besides having children?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Moving,” he said. “Major purchases. Expensive vacations. Sterilization.” He shrugged and added, “Adoption?”

She went to him and sat on his lap. “I’d like to have a child of my own with a husband, but I’m worried about my eggs being too old or something. And I have some strong feelings about that.”

“Which are?”

“You get what you get. If you decide to give it a go, you get what you get. I wouldn’t terminate because a baby isn’t perfect.”

“I go along with that. See how easy it is to act on things you agree on? Is your period late, by the way?”

She laughed. “It’s not time yet. That was something we acted on without agreeing first. Whoops.”

“Really, I meant to have you check in with the local doctor or midwife about some emergency birth control, but we got distracted by all the insanity. We’ll be okay, honey. No matter which way that flows, we’ll be fine.” He smiled. “Pun intended.”

She fell asleep that night in Aiden’s arms, thinking that she had never expected her life could ever be so calm, so sane, so reasonable.

But she woke up to someone hammering at the door.

Aiden rolled over with a groan and sat up on the edge of the bed, grabbing his boxers off the floor. “Find a robe, babe. I’ll see who’s lost their mind at—” he glanced at the clock “—five in the morning?”

She scurried to the bathroom where her robe hung on a hook, but before she could get it completely around her and securely tied, she heard the crash of the door as it banged open, Aiden’s grunt and another loud thud. Then came the angry male voice that shouted, “Aiden Riordan, you’re under arrest for battery and I’m going to read you your rights….”

By the time Erin got to the great room, still tying her robe, three sheriff’s deputies stood just inside the door and the biggest one had Aiden slammed up against the wall, cuffing his hands behind his back. “Good God!” she shouted. “Hey! Where’s your warrant?”

One of the deputies handed her a folded piece of paper and she flipped it open to read it.

“Battery? Who is it I battered?” Aiden asked as his hands were being secured behind his back.

“Your wife, Annalee Riordan, just like the warrant says,” the deputy informed him. “You have the right to remain silent,” he said, reciting Aiden’s Miranda rights.

“When did this happen?” Aiden asked while the deputy continued.

“Last night,” Erin read from the warrant. “But he was here, with me, all night. No one else was here. She wasn’t here…we didn’t go out…”

“Erin, call Ron Preston,” Aiden said. “I’m probably going to need some local lawyer. Officer, ease up—I haven’t even seen her in well over a week. She said I beat her?”

“That’s the story.”

“Pants, Officer. Shoes,” he said. “Come on. I’m in my underwear!”

“That’s how we know you’re not armed,” the deputy said.

“I don’t even own a weapon!” he said hotly, turning around, straining against the arms that pushed him up against the wall.

“Settle down!”

Erin stepped forward, warrant in hand, her cheeks inflamed with fury. “Slow down here—let me get him some clothes, and take it real easy on him—he’s not resisting and will go with you willingly, so bear that in mind when you manhandle him. I’m an officer of the court and I’ve been with him the last seventy-two hours—most of it in San Francisco.”