Page 100 of Wife After Wife

Ana smiled. “Well... I was going to wait until dinner. Yes, believe it or not I’m cooking. But what the heck, I can’t wait that long.” She wound her arms around his neck.

“For what?” He drew her close, feeling himself respond. “Me?”

“Yes, but... Harry. It wasn’t planned, but I’m so happy about it. We’re going to have a baby.” She was searching his eyes, nervous, waiting for a response.

He could feel her words knocking on doors in his brain, forcing a foot in the crack, pushing their way in. Then his brain unscrambling them, working out what to do with them. Send out shock waves? Happy vibes?

He waited for his body to tell him how he felt.

“Harry?”

Joy. Unanticipated, overwhelming joy.

“Ana, you bloody goddess!” He swept her up and spun her around, then put her down gently on the white carpet, like she was made of glass. “Ana, that’s the most incredible news. How—”

“Only five weeks. By my reckoning it’s due in August. Are you pleased? Really?”

Ana rarely showed such vulnerability, and he experienced a rush of some deep, primal, protective instinct. “Come and sit down. I can’t take this in.”

“I need to check on the dinner. But...” She twined her hands behind his neck again, and her robe fell open. “It won’t be ready for an hour or so.”

•••

“I know I shouldn’t say this,” said Harry later, stroking Ana’s hair as she snuggled against his chest, “but I hope it’s a boy.”

“Why?”

“I guess every man wants a son, to play Lego with, take to cricket matches, pass the empire on to and all that.”

“Harry Rose,” she said, punching him lightly in the stomach. “You total dinosaur. Have the Spice Girls taught you nothing of girl power?”

“I like the one in the Union Jack dress.”

“Ginger.”

“Of course. And the posh one. She’s a bit like you.”

“Girls can do anything, Harry. This could be a daughter who grows up to change the world.”

“True. Hey, Ana?”

“Mm?”

“I’m really hungry.”

“Oh my god, the duck!”

Later, as Harry rang for a takeaway, he briefly thought about last night with Janette, and pushed away the guilt. Things were different now. Janette would understand.

CHAPTER 31

Ana

Ana and Harry shared their news first with Megan and Charles, who themselves had had a baby girl, Francesca, two months ago. Already Ana was picturing summers in Italy, their children splashing together in the pool of the sprawling Tuscan villa they would buy.

“You’ll need to move again—this place isn’t child friendly,” said Megan. The former wild child was surprisingly into all things domestic.

She was probably right. There was so much white and so much glass. Having a child would mean relaxing her neat-freak tendencies. Did she mind that she’d need to change? She was mildly astonished to discover that she didn’t.