Free Treasured Legacies (A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery) by Terri Reid Page A

  She made it to the
toilet just in time.
    “Oh, gross,” Mike said, gliding into the bathroom and gliding quickly
out.   He stood on the outside of the
doorway and cringed. “Hey, are you okay?”
    Mary gagged again.
    “I’ll take that as a no,” he replied. “Do you want me to get Bradley?”
    “No…I’m fine,” she whispered weakly.
    Cautiously, he ventured into the bathroom. “Are you okay?”
    She straightened up and grabbed a bottle of mouthwash, pouring out cap
full and swishing it around in her mouth. Finally, she spit it out, breathed a
sigh, leaned back against the wall and patted her face with a hand towel. “How
do I look?” she asked.
    “Like a woman who just emptied her entire stomach cavity into the
toilet,” he said moving closer and demanding, “What’s wrong with you?”
    “Morning sickness,” she said.
    “What the hell is…,” he paused and the concern on his face slowly
turned into a grin. “Really? Morning
sickness? Like having a crying, screaming, little brat
in nine months kind of sickness?”
    She smiled back and nodded. “Yep, just like that.”
    “Wow,” he replied, a wide smile on his face. “That’s so cool! What are
you having?”
    “A baby,” she said. “I thought we just established that.”
    “No, I mean, yes we did. But which kind, a boy kind
or a girl kind?”
    “Oh. It’s too early to know about that yet,” she said, putting her
hands on her abdomen. “Just a baby kind.”
    “So, should you be up?” he asked, starting to panic. “Can I get you a
chair or a blanket or something?”
    Chuckling, she shook her head and took a deep breath. “Well, if you
could remove the smell of peppers and onions from the house, that would be
amazing,” she said. “I find I’m a little sensitive to odors.”
    “Ah, Bradley was making your favorite breakfast, breakfast burritos
with chorizo,” he replied.
    Mary clapped a hand back over her mouth and took a deep breath,
counting slowly to ten.
    Mike waited. “You okay?”
    After another deep breath, Mary nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
    “Hey, you stay up here for another couple of minutes,” he said. “I’ll
run interference in the kitchen.   How
does herb tea to go sound?”
    “That and a package of soda crackers sounds perfect,” she said.
    “You’ve got it,” he said with a quick smile before he disappeared.   Immediately, he reappeared. “Hey, by the way, congratulations.”
    “ Thanks, Mike.”
    He faded away once more.   And
once more, he reappeared. “Uh, I’m guessing Bradley knows, but how about Clarissa?”
    “Oh, thanks for asking,” she replied. “No, she doesn’t know yet.   We’re waiting for the right time.”
    “Got it!” He faded away and Mary held her breath,
waiting for him to reappear.   After a few
minutes, she figured he was downstairs, delivering her message. Taking a deep
breath, she left the bathroom and hurried down the stairs where Bradley was
standing next to the bottom step with a covered mug in one hand and a paper
sack in the other.
    “Hey,” he smiled at her. “Sorry about the breakfast surprise, I wasn’t
thinking.”
    “It was really sweet of you,” she said. “But, I’m feeling that it’s
more of a crackers and herb tea morning.”
    “Are you sick?” Clarissa asked as she dug into her burrito.
    Mary could barely look at the forkful of thick melted cheese and eggs
in Clarissa’s hand. Taking another deep breath, she shook her head quickly and
smiled. “Just a queasy stomach,” she said. “That’s all.”
    Bradley put his arm around her and walked her to the front door. “I’ll
air out the kitchen before I go to work, so you don’t have green peppers and
onions greeting you when you get home,” he said. “And I’ll make lunch for
Clarissa. I’m thinking any sandwich combination she ’d like
might kick morning sickness into overdrive.”
    “You wouldn’t mind?” she asked.
    He shook his head. “No, Clarissa and I are fine,” he