(Complete) New Year's Day is a time for resolutions. Jack Harris, still mourning the tragic death of his wife, vows to start living again. Maddie Evans dumps her boyfriend and vows no more meaningless sex.
Jack moves to The Point to live in his pa...
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When Rory babysat, she and Jack had time alone. Maddie thought she should bake cookies for Megan as a thank you. They made exquisite love. Jack was a maestro who could make her body hum. She reluctantly left his loving arms and went home when Megan texted.
In the morning her mother asked, "Is Jack Harris going to make an honest woman out of you?"
"Mom, you never bugged me about Steve!"
"Because I realize now, you never loved him, but you do Jack."
"You're right I do."
"Hurry up! I want a grandchild."
"I already told you, Jack doesn't want the anxiety of another pregnant wife. I'm getting too old, anyway."
"That's baloney! If Jack really loves you, he'll give you a child."
"Mom, he's already willingly giving me two children. He shares Rory and Emma with me and I don't just mean when he needs help. He shares his worries and respects my opinion and..."
"I know his children love you, but you need your own baby!"
"I need Jack, even though he's still a little broken, he's what I need. I could never be happy with another man and a baby. I'm practically too old. I was angry I wasted three good years with Steve, but now I'm glad because of Jack."
"I'm glad he makes you happy. I'm just being selfish."
"No, you want what your friends have. Especially since Alice is on the verge of becoming a grandmother."
The day of Maddie's doctor's appointment, she panicked. She knew they'd ask the date of her last period and it had been too long. How could that be? She was certain they'd used a condom every time. Oh no, Jack! She couldn't do this to Jack. She sent him a text she couldn't run and went to the pharmacy. Luckily no one was there at seven-thirty in the morning.
Never in the last twenty years had she ever needed a test. Her hands were shaking as she opened the packaging. Oh God, what was she going to do? Poor Jack!
The result didn't surprise her, because she was always twenty-eight days even when she wasn't on the pill. The fear that gripped her did. Still, she dressed and went to work, only because the alternative was to stay home and cry. If it was the middle of winter and she lived alone, she'd do just that.
She canceled her appointment telling the receptionist that she changed her mind about the pill. She went back and forth between freaking out over being pregnant and having drunk wine.
Jack texted her because she didn't give a good excuse for not running. She responded, she was just tired, and she would stay home that evening. She rarely had a day when she didn't see Jack.
Somehow she made it through her workday. She went home to her room. Her mother asked if she was alright and she replied that it was belly trouble. Belly trouble alright!
