Free SWEET ANTICIPATION by Kathy Clark

longer an object to be bargained for. His large hand settled hesitantly on the cotton material of her dress and he waited.
     
    “Oh, my God,” he exclaimed as he felt the tiny rhythmic jumps beneath his fingers. “He really does have the hiccups. Isn’t that fantastic?”
     
    “It’s not so fantastic when he gets them in the middle of the night while I’m trying to sleep,” Lauren replied, but actually, she shared his enthusiasm. Every time little Johnny or Joanna did this, she took it as a reassurance that the baby was still alive and well. Even though she had had no problems during her pregnancy and there was no reason to suspect the worst, she couldn’t help worrying that something might go wrong. Dr. Reese had told her that most expectant mothers felt this way, especially with their first babies. And in Lauren’s case, her feelings were doubly strong, because this would be not just her first, but her
only
baby.
     
    “Just feel him kick! I’ll bet he’s going to be a soccer player or a field-goal kicker for the Texans. I can’t wait until—” Jordan bit off the rest of that thought as soon as he felt her grip tighten on his hand. Reluctantly, he stepped away, breaking whatever tentative contact he had had with his child—and its mother. “Thanks, Lauren. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.” He felt strangely close to tears, something that startled him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cried, certainly not since he was a grown man. But there was something so incredible, so stirring about creating a new life that he was shaken to the depth of his soul.
     
    Huskily clearing his throat, he managed to change the subject. “How about all of us going out for dinner? I’m sure that neither of you women had time to eat today and that you are as hungry as I am.”
     
    “I’m starved,” Rita agreed, “but I’ve got to get home to my husband. He’s probably wondering what has happened to me. I’m hoping he will have dinner ready when I get there, but he’s a real bear if he goes to all that trouble and it’s cold when we eat it.” She stood up and headed toward the workroom. “Do you want me to stay while you lock up?”
     
    “No, you go on. The only thing left for me to do is clean out the cash register and turn off the lights,” Lauren replied. She watched Rita leave, then turned to Jordan. Stifling a yawn, she said, “Thanks for the offer, but I’m really tired and I’m just going to heat up a can of soup and go to bed early.”
     
    “But it wouldn’t take that much more time to go out to eat, and you’d probably get a much better meal.”
     
    “I don’t think it would be a very good idea.” Lauren glanced at her watch. “We’ve made it almost five hours with only one tiny argument. For us that’s a new record. Let’s not press our luck.” She walked over to the locker and looked inside. “Hey, look what I found. This was a special order, but apparently someone forgot to pick it up.” She carefully took out an elaborate display of tulips, daffodils, gladioli and several other spring flowers that were artistically arranged in a large milk-glass vase. Brightly colored foam Easter eggs were placed among the flowers and a yellow bow was tied around the vase’s neck. “Here, give this to your grandmother.”
     
    “It’s beautiful,” he replied, taking the vase from her. “How much do I owe you?”
     
    “It’s compliments of the house,” Lauren answered and dismissed his further protests with a wave of her hand and a soft chuckle. “If I had had to pay you for the work you did today, it would have cost me much more than that.”
     
    “I wish you would reconsider my dinner offer.”
     
    “And I wish we could end this evening without a fight.”
     
    “Okay, you win.” Jordan knew he wasn’t going to be able to convince her to change her mind right now, so he wisely decided not to pursue it any more. Instead he said, “Then I guess I’ll be