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Laura felt joy and guilt all at once. Had she robbed him of the opportunity to care for her? She’d just never imagined…that he would. She realized in that moment she’d made the same assumptions about him as he’d made about her. She’d assumed he was just like Dean. That he’d run at the first real test. Mark had assumed she’d also fail the first real test of their relationship. In that way, they’d both been blinded by their past experiences.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you. I was just afraid you’d leave.” Like Dean.
Mark gripped her hand a little harder. “I’ll never leave you,” he said. “I promise.”
“But you wanted to sail around the world…and there’s no way we can do that with a baby.”
“No. But what I wanted was to be with you. I don’t care if it’s on a sailboat or in the suburbs. Laura, I love you.” Mark shrugged. “We can sail around the world when our daughter is in college.”
“That’s a long way away.”
He flashed a grin. “I’m a patient man.”
“Mark…” It all seemed so overwhelming. He was here, declaring his love. “But how can I know that you’re not just here for the baby?”
“Laura, it’s you I want. It’s always been you. And I’ll prove it.” Mark rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. He got down on one knee at the side of her bed.
Laura felt shock and, more than that, a happiness bubble up inside her. Could this be real?
“Laura, I promise never to doubt your loyalty again. I promise to love and honor you, if you just give me a chance. Would you make me just about the happiest man alive and be my wife?”
Tears streamed down Laura’s face and her heart filled with unimaginable joy. “Yes,” she cried. Absolutely yes.
Several weeks later
LAURA WOKE IN the middle of the night and instantly knew something was wrong. A sharp pain traveled around the small of her back, squeezing all the muscles of her large belly. She tried to go back to sleep, thinking it might be another Braxton Hicks contraction. But when she was roused a half hour later by another, she knew these contractions weren’t fake. Unfortunately she was still three weeks from her due date.
“What’s wrong?” Mark was by her side. He’d also moved into Maddie’s house temporarily until the pregnancy was over. Maddie had insisted, fearing that moving Laura might prove dangerous. Mark had been scouting out jobs and places to live, but he thought he had at least three more weeks before he really had to have a nursery ready. He realized he was wrong about that.
“I feel a contraction,” she said.
“It’s too early.” Mark frowned, worried.
“I know.” Laura grabbed his hand, feeling nerves shoot up and down her spine.
Mark called her doctor’s on-call service and in a few minutes received a call back. He told her all the symptoms. Calmly, but deliberately, her doctor let them know it was serious.
“Stay calm, but I’d like to see you in the ER. Just to make sure everything’s okay.”
Inside, Laura knew everything was definitely not okay. I’ve made it this far, but what if I can’t make it across the finish line? It had been such a joy to feel the baby inside her these last few months. The baby kicked hard against her spleen and Laura welcomed the poke. Hang on, little one. Hang on.
Mark drove her to the hospital in the dead of night as Laura squeezed her hand.
“It’s going to be okay,” Mark said.
“How do you know?”
“I don’t,” Mark said, anxious. “But I can’t think about the alternative.”
Neither could Laura. She glanced at the diamond engagement ring on her finger and felt a swell of love. Surely their story would end well. Surely God wouldn’t see fit to take another baby from her, and yet she felt anxious all the same. What if she lost this baby? Would her relationship with Mark survive?
“Mark…if somehow we lose this baby…” She clutched his free hand.
“We won’t,” he declared.
“But if we do—”
“Then I’ll be here for you. You understand? Then we’ll sail around the world together and figure it out.”
Laura sent Mark a weak smile. “That’s one hell of a plan B.”
“I know. Let’s hope we never have to use it. This time next week, I want to be elbow deep in dirty diapers.”
Laura couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s so romantic.”
“Actually, it is.” He grinned. “Hallmark should make a Valentine’s card with just that on it.”
