Soon To Be Brides. Joan Elliott Pickart

      “I see. Well, I’ll certainly respect your wishes on the above-mentioned subjects. But, Caitlin? That doesn’t mean I won’t be thinking about what just happened here. Thinking about what it would be like to kiss those very kissable lips of yours and—”

      “Soda refill,” the waitress said, plunking the pitcher onto the table.

      “Oh, I am so glad to see you,” Caitlin said to the young girl. “I’m just delighted that you’re here… right now.”

      “Got it,” the girl said slowly. “I don’t mean to be, like, rude or anything, but you folks are borderline weird. Bye.” She hurried away.

      Matt laughed. “Borderline weird, is it?”

      “At least she was more articulate than me saying stuff,” Caitlin said, smiling. “Oh, this is silly. Let’s just finish up so we can get ready for Miss M.’ s arrival. I am one hundred percent into my mommy stuff and I intend to stay there, Mr. MacAllister.”

      Chapter Four

      The crib and changing table were white to match the other nursery furniture Caitlin had purchased. Matt insisted on buying Miss M. a crib mobile with brightly colored, puffy felt clowns that pranced around in a circle to the tune of “Rock-a-Bye, Baby.”

      They loaded the large boxes into Matt’s SUV, then trekked back into the mall to select blankets, crib sheets, sleepers, several two-piece outfits and a pretty, red dress.

      Carolyn had said that it was traditional for all the children being adopted to wear red on their last night in China, as it was the Chinese color for health, happiness and prosperity. Matt refused to leave the clothing department until he found a pair of white socks with red bows to go with the dress.

      The next stop was for diapers, bibs, bottles, formula and a pacifier that Carolyn had said the babies would need on the airplane because of the cabin pressure.

      In each department Caitlin showed the saleswoman the pictures of Miss M. for advice as to what size to buy.

      “It’s a bit difficult to tell how big she is,” one saleswoman said, “because no one is holding her for reference. She looks small for six months, I think, but better to have the clothes and diapers a little big than too small. Oh, she is so cute. What proud new parents you must be.”

      “Well, we’re not…” Carolyn started.

      “Not coming down off our cloud number nine for a very long time,” Matt finished for her.

      “Good for you,” the woman said. “Now, let’s get you what you need.”

      “Why did you allow her to believe that we’re married and the parents of this baby?” Caitlin whispered to Matt as they followed the woman.

      Matt shrugged. “That’s what she assumed and it was easier just to go with it.”

      “Oh,” she said, nodding.

      That made sense, Caitlin thought as she placed packages of diapers in the cart. Why get into a lengthy explanation about how Matt was helping because her friend got hurt and couldn’t make the trip and…yes, it was simpler to let it go. She and Matt looked the same as Marsha and Bud must as they were doing the same type of shopping, as well as the other people in their group.

      The new mommies and daddies. Daddies and mommies. Daddies. Parents-to-be who were soon going to complete their family with a wonderful little daughter. Mommy, Daddy and Baby and…

      Stop it, Caitlin, she ordered herself. She was getting caught up in the charade that Matt had put in place. Her daughter was getting a loving mother.

      “Baby wipes,” Matt said, dropping a box into the cart. “Great invention.”

      “You sound like an expert on the subject,” Caitlin observed, pulling her thoughts back to attention.

      “Hey, I’m a MacAllister. I’ve changed my share of diapers over the years. The MacAllister clan is very big on babies.”

      Caitlin laughed. “I’ve never changed a diaper in my life. I’m assuming it’s not all that difficult. It isn’t, is it?”

      “I wouldn’t say that. There’s a definite technique to it. If you get a wiggly kid you can be in big trouble if you don’t get that diaper on really fast. There’s a lot of dexterity involved, wrist action, too.”

      “Oh, cut it out.” Caitlin laughed. “You’re making it sound like a person needs an engineering degree to do this.”

      “That would help, yes,” Matt said solemnly, then burst into laughter in the next instant. “I had you going there for a while, didn’t I? You should have seen your face. No, Caitlin Cunningham, changing diapers is not tough. Now then, do you want to discuss methods of burping a baby?”

      “Just hand me another package of those wipes.”

      Oh, this was a fun outing, she thought, and Matt was fun and funny. She felt so happy, carefree, so incredibly glad she was who she was. Well, that stood to reason. She was the one who was about to become a mother. But the extra gift of laughter that was accompanying this shopping trip was thanks to Matt MacAllister. She’d remember this evening because it was very, very special.

      Back at the house, Caitlin insisted on washing all the baby clothes while Matt was assembling the crib and changing table.

      “Don’t forget to wash the diapers, too,” he said, peering in his toolbox.

      “Wash the…Matt, those are disposable paper diapers.”

      “See?” He grinned at her. “You know more about diapers than you thought you did. If you were a complete dunce about those nifty things you would have dumped them all in the washing machine.I’m just trying to boost your confidence, my dear.”

      “You’re cuckoo,” Caitlin said, pointing one finger in the air.

      “I know.” Matt chuckled. “But I’m loveable. Ah, here’s the screwdriver I want.”

      Lovable, Caitlin thought as she left the room with an armload of clothes and blankets. Lovable? As in, Matt was a man who would be easy to love, fall in love with? No, that last mental babble needed to be split in two.

      Yes, Matt probably would be a man who would be easy to fall in love with because he had it all at first glimpse—looks, charm, intelligence, a marvelous sense of humor, and on the list went.

      But easy to love? To be a partner with, the other half of the whole? No. Matt the workaholic, the man so dedicated to his career that he had put his own health at risk, so focused on his position at Mercy Hospital to the exclusion of everything and everyone, would not be an easy man to be in love with.

      It would, in fact, be impossible to be in a serious relationship with Matt because he wouldn’t do his share, wouldn’t help nurture the love. And like a flame of a candle struggling to stay warm and bright, that love would eventually be snuffed out, leaving the place where it had been in chilling darkness.

      Caitlin frowned as she put the baby clothes in the washing machine, then held up the sweet little red dress before adding it to the load.

      Where on earth, she thought, was all this heavy, nonsensical rambling coming from? She hardly knew Matt MacAllister. Yet she had jumped all the way from “How do you do, it’s nice to meet you” to passing negative judgment on the man as a life partner. Ridiculous. Really dumb.

      Caitlin added detergent to the wash, closed the lid on the machine, turned it on, then headed back to the nursery to see how the mechanic was coming along with the assembling of the crib for precious Miss M.

      Matt finished his projects just as Caitlin was putting the last of the freshly washed purchases in the dresser.

      “Done,” he said.

      “Me, too,” she said, turning to smile at him. “Oh, this room looks perfect, Matt. Thank you so much.”