By: Phaedra Phelan

June, 2005

E-mail: PrissyBNY@aol.com

PG Rated

 

Summary: It is 2003 and the Steele’s are dealing with family issues on several fronts as well as solving a mystery that involves their own family.

 

 

The next morning Laura wakened and reached to touch the space beside her but found it empty. She stretched like a cat, remembering the early morning time the two of them had shared. Remington had wakened her with his kisses and without a word they had come together. Afterwards she had fallen again into a deep sleep and had not known when he left their bed. She looked at the clock and realized that it was only nine o’clock.  She showered and slipped on a pair of comfortable khaki pants and an oversized olive green tee shirt over her full bare breasts, and twisted her thick hair into two long fat braids. Then she went into the kitchen to make breakfast for herself before nursing the twins, where she found Joanna sitting at the kitchen counter staring into space.

“Your father?”

“He left a while ago, Mom. He asked me some more questions about that night. And then he left. He said to tell you he’ll be back in a couple of hours, noon at the latest.”

“Did he tell you where he was going?”

“He went to find out where Jack Steuben could be found, as well as Ziad Hassan, the guys . . . two of the guys they said I was with.”

“Joanna, do you know these young men . . . well enough for this sort of thing to happen?”

“Yes  . . . and no.”

Laura waited for her daughter to collect herself and continue.

“Jack is in a couple of my classes. But I never even had a conversation with him till he asked me to come to that party.”

“Did any of them ever try to make a pass at you . . . you know?”

“Maybe . . . but I didn’t pay any attention to them. They were that way with all the girls. I never took them seriously.”

“Joanna, I know that you have not really every brought anyone home as a boyfriend. It’s not wrong to want to have a special friend. After all you’re nearly eighteen years old.”

“I know, but I just haven’t.  I’m not popular like Cassie and Chlöe. It never bothered me. When they invited me to that party, I thought I would finally have a chance to really feel like I was growing up. I didn’t even tell you and Dad about it, because I knew that you would never allow me to stay out all night.”

“So that’s why you said that you were going to spend the weekend on with one of the girls from campus?”

“Yes. And then when it turned out so awful I couldn’t bring myself to tell you and Dad what had happened to me. When there were no lights on in that house that night, I should have called a taxi and come home.  I never was at a party like that, but I was trying to belong. Then when they gave me that drink everything went black . . . I was so ashamed when I woke up without my clothes.”

“Who was with you when you woke up, Joanna?”

“George . . . George Harrelson.  He was naked too . . . in the bed.  When I woke up, he was trying to put my clothes on me. I think I must have passed out again. When I woke up again, he was gone.”

“You don’t remember him doing anything to you?”

“No, I’m such a mess. I can’t continue school like this. I’m embarrassed.  And yet I don’t want anything to happen to this baby inside me.  I’m so confused, Mom.”

Joanna broke down and began to sob in Laura’s arms.

“Shh, love. You don’t have to be embarrassed here with us. We love you and we will love your baby. You are a beautiful young woman and don’t let anyone ever make you think anything different.  When I was your age, I was totally mixed up . . . unhappy.  My father had left us when I was sixteen with no explanation.  My mother was caught up in her own problems and useless to look to for any kind of guidance. At least you have your father and me. We will always be here for you.”

“Thank you, Mom,” Joanna said, wiping her eyes as she tried to pull herself together.

“Now I want to go over all of this with you again. We’re absolutely going to sort this thing out. You were drugged and raped. That is a crime. And we are definitely going to find out who is responsible.”

Joanna nodded and attempted a weak smile as Laura hugged her.

Rhett and Reade came running into the kitchen looking for their mom. Laura took Rhett up onto her lap and held him, letting him take his turn at her breast while Reade amused himself playing on the floor with their German shepherd, Ingrid, who willingly let Reade clamber all over her.

“I’ll make you breakfast, Mom,” Joanna said, understanding well that her mother’s need for food while nursing twins had been intensified since she was pregnant again.

“You’re an angel, Joanna. Eating for three is quite a challenge, even when I’m only feeding the twins twice a day.  They know I want to wean them, but they just don’t want to stop nursing. So I’m just being what they need.  When you have what they need, you are not going to deny it to them. This is a part of mothering that you will learn when you have that baby you are carrying.”

Joanna looked down and put her hands upon her abdomen as if realizing for the first time the weight of responsibility motherhood would bring upon her, and accepting it.

“Mom, hold me close, please.” Joanna moved her chair close to Laura and drew her mother’s free arm around her.  “I am so scared.”

“Don’t be afraid. We will all get through this together,” Laura said as she stroked her hair.

Esperanza came in, and, upon surveying the situation, proceeded to busy herself with keeping the Steele household on even keel, while Laura finished nursing her little boys and comforting Joanna.

It was nearly eleven when Laura went to get dressed for the day. She wanted to be pulled together when Remington came back for her.  As she stood in her bathroom and stared at herself naked in the mirrored walls, she took stock of herself. In spite of her belly that was now starting to distend with pregnancy she knew that she was in excellent shape for a woman on the brink of forty-eight. Her hips and thighs were firm in spite of the extra pounds she had begun to put on after morning sickness had abated.  Her breasts were soft and slack after the twins’ morning feeding and fitted easily into the lacy specially designed nursing bra she put on. Pregnancy had not slowed her milk production and she knew that by evening they would be swollen tight with milk again, their nipples standing straight and ready for her little boys. Laura thoroughly enjoyed nursing her twins and did not mind that they were reluctant to be weaned.  The ebb and flow of fullness in her breasts along with being pregnant at the same time was a new sensation for her, a constant reminder of her womanliness that satisfied her immensely.  She was at the stage in her pregnancy when she felt truly good and had finally come to terms with the fact that she would have three little ones to attend to in the foreseeable future.

Laura put on taupe-colored slacks that stretched easily over the evident fullness in her belly, topped it with a matching sweater and accented it with a chunky amber necklace.  She brushed her thick hair out and left it down on her shoulders.  (She knew that Remington preferred it that way and she loved seeing his reaction when she wore it like that.)

When Laura went back out to the family room, Remington was just walking into the house.

“My, my, I do approve, Mrs. Steele,” he said, taking her in with his twinkling blue eyes, and tossing his briefcase onto the sofa as he  approached to embrace her warmly while his little boys ran to him.

Remington picked up a toddler in each arm and leaned forward to kiss Laura on her lips, before he sat down on the sofa and kissed and hugged each of his sons.

“Well, did you have a profitable morning?”

“I would say so. Hector and I went back over to the college and talked to a few other people . . . some of Joanna’s teachers.  I wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere there . . . how they have dealt with rape on the campus.”

“And?”

“Turns out they’ve had a real problem with that sort of behavior in the last couple of years. In fact recently there was that case you heard of, those blokes that broke into a sorority house and raped several young women.  No one has yet been charged in that case.”

“Is it because they really have no idea who did it?”

“No. Apparently the victims have had such a promiscuous lifestyle that they don’t want to go to court and face exposure of all of that.”

“Well, that certainly is not the case with our Joanna.”

“And thereby hangs the weight of our case. They thought Joanna was like those other girls, not realizing that she had yet to be deflowered. We are going to follow up on that Jack Steuben.  I am sure that Professor Lowery knew what was going on in his house.”

“What about that Ziad Hassan? Joanna said that he is here on student visa from Jordan.”

“He could be an Al Qaeda operative for all we know. He is older than the general run of students there, and it is known that he is a contact for drugs. Hector found that out when he browsed about the campus. If he is found guilty of a felony, he could find himself on a plane back to papa in Jordan given our present-day state of war in that part of the world.  And I, for one, will see to it that it happens.”

“You would have dealings with INS again, no less?”

“Absolutely, no question about it. By the way, where is Joanna now?”

“She was so upset that she went to lie down. She is beating herself up over this.”

Ingrid put her huge head on Laura’s lap and Laura rubbed her affectionately.  She had always been Laura’s dog first of all and was especially sensitive to any change in Laura’s mood.

“Ingrid, I know.  I’m all right,” she cooed, reassuring her dog that she was not in any trouble.

“Your dog probably has morning sickness,” Remington quipped.  “Personally I think she’s rather old to be with another litter.”

“Well, I understand her situation . . . for obvious reasons. She was just doing what came naturally. We’ll take good care of her and then have her spayed.”

“Breeding with that big Lab, she will be carrying quite a load of pups.”

“I’ll keep one this time; perhaps a male would be less trouble.”

Ingrid had become an important part of the security of the household but at twelve years of age Remington and Laura had to begin to think of the prospect of losing her eventually and having to replace her.

“It’s your call, darling.  House pets are your department.”

“Even after this dog saved your life, it did not endear her to you, did it?”

“I am truly grateful for Ingrid’s service to this family.  I just don’t get ‘attached’ to animals the way you do.”

“Well, she loves you,” Laura said defensively.

“And if it will make matters better, I love her too, darling. But not exactly in the same manner that I love you.”

At that moment the doorbell rang and Esperanza went to answer it with Ingrid trotting behind her.

“There is someone called ‘George’ here to see Joanna, Señora Laura.”

“George. Who can that be?”

“Joanna mentioned that the boy she woke up with after her encounter was a ‘George.’ I wonder . . .”

“Well, I’ll take care of this,” Remington said his disgust evident in his voice, as he strode to the front foyer to handle the visitor.

He saw a tall, slightly built young man with brown hair and gray eyes shifting uneasily from one foot to the other. He perfectly fit the description of what his teen-age children characterized as a ‘geek.’ Remington became immediately angry at the very sight of the hapless young fellow.

“I’m George Harrelson, sir. You must be Joanna’s father.”

“That I am. I am shocked that you have the temerity to come here in view of what happened to her.”

“I . . . I’m sorry, sir. I . . .”

“I don’t want to hear anything from you!” Remington stepped forward and cuffed the young man, knocking his horn-rimmed glasses to the floor.

Ingrid jumped immediately to confront the visitor, growling menacingly.

Hearing the words between them, Laura ran to the foyer and caught Remington’s hand.

“Leave me, Laura. This is between this George and me.”

“Don’t hurt the boy, Remington! It’s not worth hurting him. He’s probably not even twenty years old.” Laura took Ingrid by her collar and led her back into the house.

At the sound of arguing Joanna ran from her room. She took one look at George Harrelson, crawling about the floor looking for his glasses, and ran crying back to her room and slammed the door shut behind her.

“Get up! Get up, you insolent prick!” Remington shouted at the boy.

George scrambled to his feet and put his glasses back on and lifted his arm to shield himself from any further blows from a very angry Remington Steele.

“Sir, please, please let me  . . . let me apologize. I . . . I am really sorry.  I . . . I had no idea what they were doing. I was drugged as well.”

“You, you were drugged?” Remington stopped short.

“I should have known. I take responsibility. I knew they were passing ruffies around, but I didn’t think someone would slip one in my drink.”

“Step outside my house,” Remington said and held the front door open. “I have to get to the bottom of this sordid mess. My daughter was raped and impregnated by a gang of thugs and I am going to find out what happened.”

George rubbed his jaw nervously. “I deserved to be hit, sir. I should never have been there, and I should have protected Joanna when I saw what was going on.”

“And just why were you so concerned with protecting Joanna?”

“I kinda’ liked her, you know. The guys on campus knew it. They knew I’d never had sex before. I think that’s why they put me onto her. I don’t know why they did it to her. I guess they’re just bad news.”

“So you were drugged when you had sex with my daughter?”

“I don’t remember anything about it. The last thing I recall is being given a Coke with rum in it. The next thing I remember is waking up in bed with her the next morning.  They were passing out, uh, condoms, at the party, but I didn’t take one. If Joanna is pregnant, I realize that I could be the one responsible.”

“And what do you propose to do about that?”

“I’m going to leave school and take care of my responsibilities. I have a full scholarship, but that means nothing if I had a part in something like this.”

“And your parents?”

“I have only my mom. My dad left us when I was a baby. She’s a secretary, works for the city of San Francisco. I’m the only child she has. I told her that I am going to have to drop out of school . . . and why.”

The set of Remington’s jaw relaxed as he contemplated the young man and realized the courage it must have taken to come and admit his culpability in the situation.

“Your mother must be incredibly disappointed in you.”

“Yes, sir, she is.  I had to tell her this week.”

“You have been quite stupid, George. And I am sure that you realize that.”

“Yes, sir, I should never have been there in the first place.”

“Part of being a man involves knowing how to manage your own reproductive equipment.  Obviously you were not in control of the situation. And now you must pay the price for that.”

“I’m terminating school. I’ll find a job and pay for Joanna’s medical expenses and I will support that child.  I came here to tell you that, to assure you that I am not the kind of guy that would do something like that to anyone and just walk away from it.”

Remington was silent, his back turned to George for a long moment.  Finally he sighed and shook his head.

“George, I see my shy lovely daughter traumatized by her situation, and find myself helpless to change that. I feel that somehow I left her unprotected. Being a parent is rapidly becoming the most difficult part of my life.  I . . . I’m sorry that I struck you.”

“You sure do pack a punch, sir. I understand that you must be upset.  I just wonder if I might speak to Joanna. I want to tell her personally what I plan to do.”

“I’ll see if she wants to talk to you. Come inside.”

Remington held the door open allowed George to go inside the house, as Laura looked from one to the other trying to assess the situation.

“This is George Harrelson. George here wanted to apologize for his part in what happened to Joanna.  It seems that he was drugged as well.  However he intends to take full responsibility for . . . for what happened to her.”

Laura recoiled at the mere thought that this was the young man who had violated Joanna.

“I . . . I don’t know that Joanna wishes to see you.”

“I’d understand if she didn’t, ma’am,” George said humbly, “but I’d sure appreciate it if you’d ask her for me.”

Laura’s eyes met Remington’s and it was clear that this was a decision that she would have to allow Joanna to make.  She turned and went to find her and came back in a few minutes with a very red-eyed Joanna.

“You might want to talk to George in here. Your mother and I will be out by the pool.”

George and Joanna sat down on a sofa in the living room. At first they were unable to look at each other.

Finally George spoke. His most outstanding feature was his grey eyes, but they were mostly obscured by heavy black horn-rimmed glasses.

“I am really sorry about what happened, Joanna. I just wanted to tell you myself.”

“You don’t have to say anything.  Nothing is gained by talking about it,” Joanna said bitterly.

“No, I’m going to say this.  I don’t want you to think that I’m one of those guys that just goes around doin’ this to girls. Joanna, I’d never been with a girl before that night . . . not sexually.  I was a virgin too. Sure, I’ve thought about it but you know I’m not exactly the type the girls are running after. I know they call me a nerd behind my back.”

“No, you’re really an interesting person, George. You’re so intelligent.  I always . . . admired . . . you.”

“Really, you do . . . did?”

“Yes,” Joanna said, blushing suddenly and casting her eyes downward again.

 “Oh, Joanna, I am so sorry for all of this.  I should have been able to protect you from those creeps, and I can’t even remember any of what happened. They drugged me. I woke up and it was nearly dawn. You were there . . . with me. You were still mostly out of it.  I . . . I tried to put your things back on you and you fell asleep again, so I left. I was so ashamed I didn’t want you to ever know that I was with you like that.”

Joanna looked at him directly for the first time.

“I’m sorry.  I just wish I’d never gone there. I was just trying to show that I was ‘regular,’ you know.  I was so tired of being . . . like invisible.”

“You were never invisible to me, Joanna.”

It was George’s turn to blush at this point.

“I want you to know that I will take care of all your expenses and I will support the . . . our baby.” George’s voice broke slightly.

“How do you know this is your baby? Those girls said that there were  . . . a  . . . a lot.” Joanna started to sob and turned away, falling over the arm of the sofa.

George did not know what to do. He risked moving closer.

“I’m so sorry.  I know because all those guys were using condoms. They offered one to me before they gave me that drink that put me out. I didn’t take it. I wasn’t planning on having sex with anybody.”

George reached out and touched Joanna’s shoulder and Joanna turned to look at him again.

“I always liked you, but I just didn’t know how to approach you. I would never have hurt you like that. Please believe me, Joanna.”

“You liked me?” Joanna said incredulously.

George just nodded. “You are the prettiest girl that I have ever met.  I know I’ve messed everything up and you would never have me now. But I’m not going to leave you in the lurch. I just wish . . .”

“How will you take care of this?”

“I’ll get a job. I was working as a computer hardware serviceman last summer. They will take me back on a permanent basis.  I already checked it out and it’s settled. I just wanted to tell you myself. I guess I’d better go.”

 George stood somewhat awkwardly to leave and Joanna stood up as well.

“Thank you for explaining things.”

“Gee, you do look pregnant.” He stared at Joanna’s gently rounding midsection.

“Do you want to feel  . . . the baby?” Joanna asked softly.

“Yes, I would like to.”

Joanna took both George’s hands and placed them on the barely perceptible swell of her belly for a long moment. They were both transfixed as the fact of the life they had created seemed to come full force upon both of them and, almost involuntarily, they moved toward each other, before catching themselves, and moving apart again.

Remington and Laura sat at a table beside the pool while Joanna was with George.

“I don’t know what’s best in situations like this,” Remington said. “I fear that I am at a loss. I didn’t think she would want to see the bloke. Neither even remembers bein’ together for God’s sake!”

“He seemed very contrite.  I think he is as much a victim as Joanna. I think that we should let Joanna follow her own mind and heart as far as George is concerned.”

“I hit him before I knew it, Laura.  I just saw red.  He’s twenty years old and doesn’t know how to manage his own prick. I know that I shouldn’t have lost control like that, but she is truly ours, just as much as Cassie and Chlöe.  Coming face to face with the blighter who did that to her was just too much.” Remington’s blue eyes filled suddenly and spilled over.  “God, when something happens to your child, it simply rips your heart apart.”

Laura moved her chair closer so that she could rub her husband’s shoulders as tears slipped down her cheeks as well.  “I think that all the things you experienced as a child made this even more painful to you.  I wish I could help you.”

“You do help, by simply being you, Laura.  I guess that the idea of forcing oneself on a woman is just so repugnant to me.”

“Is that why you never pressed your advantage with me when we were going through those four long years?  Sometimes I wondered how we didn’t ‘do it’ when we got all tangled up together.”

“You always held me up, and I had to respect that, no matter how tortuous the consequences.  I didn’t want you to be terrified of me.”

“I wasn’t terrified of you, Rem.  I was terrified of myself.  You could have had me anytime you wanted me if you had forced yourself on me.”

“Did Wilson force himself on you?” Remington took a long look at Laura.

“No, I forced myself on him,” Laura said with a wry smile.

“I believe you.”

“See, you were just too much of a gentleman to get what you wanted.”

“And why didn’t you force yourself on me, my dear Miss Holt?”

“After what happened with Wilson, I was afraid to let you see just how much I wanted you. I frightened myself when I was with you . . . how I felt, how intense it was.”

“So would you have wanted me to force myself upon you in one of our more heated encounters, Laura?”

“I don’t know.  That is what confuses me even now.  I would have capitulated. I’m sure of that.  But what would it have done to us in the long run?  I can’t imagine our life being better together than it has been, can you?”

“No, I can’t.” Remington’s eyes were pensive as he stared at Laura, trying to understand the enigma she still was at times.

“Well, I’m sorry Joanna is in this situation, Laura,” Remington said after a long moment of reflection on the revealing conversation they had just had.

“She wants her baby. And she has a right to have her child.” 

“We both know that with the trust fund she has, money is not the issue.” Remington added.

“But her self-esteem is at risk.  When I was her age and my dad had left us, I just felt worthless.  That’s when I went on binges having sex with one boy after another.  The fact that I was getting a four point average at Stanford did not validate my own sense of self-worth.”

“But you were a brilliant beautiful young woman, Laura.”

“It means nothing if the people you view as important don’t see you that way, Rem.  Dad had left, and mother . . . she stayed mostly in her room with the blinds drawn.  The rest of the time she just criticized everything I did.”

“And so you gave your beautiful arse to whomever wanted it.”

“Yes, I did.  I kept trying to find the right one and it just wasn’t working. It was fine on a physical level till I would get to the point where I had to . . . surrender emotionally.  I was like the diver standing on the diving board, too petrified to take that jump.”

“And then . . .”

“Then one day you walked into my life,” Laura said, smiling through tears.

“If these kids find half the happiness I found in you, we shan’t have to worry, love,” Remington said simply, taking Laura’s hand and kissing it.

That is how Joanna found her parents when she came out to the pool area and sat down with them after George Harrelson left. She looked very much like a child this day, wearing a soft cotton pink cotton dress with sunflowers embroidered on it, her curly brown hair down on her slender shoulders.

“Be careful of the sun, Joanna. You know how easily you burn,” Laura said.

“He’s gone home.  He told me what happened . . . to both of us. Now he wants to take care of me, my baby. His plans are ruined; my life is ruined.”

“Joanna . . .” Laura tried to interrupt.

“Mom, I have to say this now.  This baby inside me, I’d rather it be George Harrelson’s than any of those other creeps that . . . that did this to me.  Do you understand me?”

“Well, when the wee one comes, we’ll have blood tests done and you will know for sure,” Remington said gently.

“Wait a minute! Are you saying that you harbor feelings for George?” Laura asked her daughter.

“I think that I’m confused, really.  But I liked George from our first day at Briarcroft. And today he told me that he had liked me as well. I didn’t tell him that I have a trust fund coming to me when I turn twenty-one.”

“Actually if you marry or have a child, the trust is activated, just as in Jonathan’s case, even though he was just nineteen when he married Ileana.”

“They’re really happy. It’s been more than a year. Ileana wants to have a baby, too,” Joanna said wistfully.

“Yes, she does.”

“I want to marry George Harrelson.”

“Take it easy, Joanna.  You don’t have to marry anyone. You have a family that will support you through whatever comes.  How do you know that it would be a good idea to marry George?  You don’t know anything about him really. Sure, he was a straight-up chap to come here and face the music, but that doesn’t mean he’s husband material,” Remington stated matter-of-factly.

“No, I want to get married, right out here on our back lawn with just our family present. I want to wear a cream tea-length lace dress and put flowers in my hair.  That’s what I want.”

Remington was stunned into silence.

“It’s June 6th.  I would like to be married on Saturday, August 2nd, at three in the afternoon,” Joanna continued.

Remington and Laura looked at each other.   Suddenly their shyest child was transformed into a determined young woman making specific plans for her life.

 “Joanna, you must face the possibility that George will not prove to be the father.  What then?”

“It won’t make any difference to me and I don’t think it will make any difference to George.  I’m not your biological child, but I am your child.  I belong to you and to Mom and I know that it couldn’t be stronger if I was yours like Cassie and Chlöe are yours.  You have taught me that.  And I love you so much because of that.”

Joanna ran to her father and he took her onto his lap just as he did when she was a little thing and hugged her and patted her, seeking to console her while Laura stroked her hair and wiped the tears from Joanna’s eyes.

“Yes, you do belong to us, Joanna,” Remington said. “I’ve never told you about the day we brought you home with us, have I?”

“No, not really.”

“Well, I dare say it’s time.” Remington paused for a moment and cleared his throat before continuing.  “Your mother and I had just rescued you and Jonathan from the house where you had nearly been kidnapped by the man who murdered your father and mother.  The police were going to take the two of you to some sort of child welfare shelter, but Laura looked at me and I knew that she didn’t want to see that happen. Cassie and Chlöe were just two months old and we really had our hands full.  When we got into the car to leave, Jonathan settled down straightaway, but you were cryin’ your eyes out. That’s when Laura took you to her breast.  You latched on and suckled to your little heart’s content. It was . . . beautiful.”

“When you began to cry, my milk came down for you. From that moment I loved you like my own little one.  And I will always love you,” Laura whispered.

“Mom, Dad . . . I love you both so much,” Joanna cried as she sat on her father’s lap being embraced by both her parents.

* * * * * *

After Laura and Remington had gone through meeting George Harrelson and then coming to terms with the fact that Joanna now wanted to marry him, they were both drained emotionally.

“I think that I will call it quits for today. I don’t think we would profit from going into the office at this point.  It’s nearly three o’clock on a Friday afternoon,” Remington said as he loosened his tie, walked into their living room and sat down on the large sofa upholstered with slate-colored tapestry that dominated the furnishings of the room.

“I hope that Joanna is lying down for a rest. She’s been through a lot today.”

“You’ve been through a lot, darling.  When they give out ‘Mother of the Year’ awards, you should surely get one.  You saw what was happening to her right away, didn’t you?”

“I guess being a woman helps in a situation like this,” Laura smiled down at Remington as she got up to leave the sofa.

“Where’re you goin,’ woman?” Remington said softly.

“Just to the kitchen.  I’m ravenous.  Between the nursing and being pregnant, you know I have to eat constantly.  And with all the excitement I forgot to eat lunch.  I need to take advantage of the fact that Rhett and Reade are taking their nap.”

“Stay here with me . . . please.” Remington held his hand out to Laura and pulled her down onto the sofa with him. “I’ll make you lunch . . . I just need you close to me for a few minutes.”

Remington’s cobalt gaze captured Laura’s soft brown eyes. The faint creases that had begun to show on his forehead and at the corners of his eyes as he turned fifty only enhanced his striking masculine appearance.  His body was still hard and fit even though he had no set exercise regimen and as he drew her onto his lap, the sensation of his frame against hers took her breath away.

“You’re an amazing woman, Laura.  I know that you don’t need this kind of stress right now.  Joanna is not just another case.  Here you are carrying . . .” Remington rubbed her belly.  “. . . and still nursing twins mornings and evenings.”

“Well, the twins are at the age where they come and get what they want,” Laura said.

“And they know how to find Mum’s lovely udders, eh?” Remington winked.  “Even with all the drama in our lives today, I find myself quite distracted by your beauty at the moment, Laura. Thank you for loving me early this morning.  I’d be hard pressed if you had not attended to me.”

“You are very welcome. I don’t remember when you got up. I must be getting old.”

“You become more and more sensual the longer that we are together,” Remington said, brushing her lips with his. “Are you sure you don’t remember what you said to me this morning . . . before you passed out?”

“Umm, Remy,” Laura sighed and smiled, running her fingers through his thick hair, and then yielding completely to the strength of his arms around her. “I think that you will just have to tell me what you remember.”

“Darling,” Remington whispered the graphic words into her ear, his hand brushing her thighs, then circling around her hips.

“Yes, love, that’s what I said.” Laura flushing deeply as she traced the outline of his lips with her fingertip. “You have this . . . amazing effect upon me.”