Page 7 of Baby Makes 3

She wants so much to have a child—we both do. We’ve been letting nature take its course, so to speak, and in a year, we’ve had no luck. Based on how irregular her periods are, I suspect she might be going into menopause early.

I’m glad she’s going to see her doctor. The sooner we get a diagnosis, the sooner we can determine our next steps. There’s more than one way to build a family.

After I clean up the breakfast dishes, I grab Gus’s halter off the hook near the door to our apartment. He jumps to his feet and sits in front of me, eagerly thumping the floor with his tail.

“Ready to go outside?”

He barks once.

“All right. A walk for you, then I’ll do some work, and then we’ll go pick up lunch for Molly. What do you say?”

Gus is my unofficial service dog. When he was still a puppy, his trainers discovered he was afraid of water. That put an end to his career as a service dog, but I’d already met him and had fallen in love with him. The agency let me adopt him as a pet. He performs well enough as a service dog, that is unless it’s raining. Then all bets are off. When it’s wet outside, he stays in, safe and dry.

This morning, Gus and I head downstairs.

“Jamie, hi!”

I stop at the sound of Chloe’s voice coming from the mail room. “Hey, Chloe. How’s it going?”

She steps out into the foyer. “I’m good. I saw Molly this morning as she was leaving for work.”

I can hear the hesitation in her voice. “Oh?”

“Is everything okay? She looked a bit stressed.”

I sigh, unsure how much to say. This is Molly’s private business. If she wants to share it with others, she will. “She’s fine. She was just in a hurry to get to the studio.” Of course I can’t gauge Chloe’s reaction to what I said by her expression, but she does go quiet on me, which tells me a lot.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

As Chloe lets herself into her apartment, Gus and I head outside. Instead of turning right, which would take us right past Molly’s studio, we go left. I don’t want her to think I’m hovering. I have a tendency to be overprotective, especially where she’s concerned. She’s entitled to her space. Besides, I’ll see her at lunch. That’s soon enough.

Gus and I cross the street to the park, where we can walk a trail that takes us through the trees. With my electronic cane in one hand, and Gus’s halter in the other, I can navigate just about anywhere, as long as it’s not raining, of course. Then I’m on my own. There will likely be rain later, but this morning the coast is clear.

After a forty-minute walk, we return to the apartment. Gus follows me into my office and curls up on his dog bed, while I get to work. I play back the audio on the last chapter I wrote, and then I dictate the next chapter. I manage to get an entire chapter done before it’s time to think about lunch.

I text Molly to let her know I’m just about to phone in our lunch order. She asks me to order lunch for her assistant, too.

An hour later, I show up at the studio with food for three.

“Jamie, hi!” Christy says when I walk into the shop.

She meets me halfway and takes the food. It was quite a juggling act carrying two sacks of food while holding my electronic sightseeing cane.

“Aw, no Gus today?” She sounds disappointed. Christy is quite fond of Gus.

“No.” I chuckle. “It might rain this afternoon, so I didn’t want to risk it.”

Christy laughs. “I’m sorry, Jamie, but your service dog is broken.” She carries the food to the back room. “Lunch is here!” she calls to Molly. “Your handsome fiancé brought us some delicious Chinese food.”

“Perfect timing,” Molly says. “Just let me wash up.”

I zero in on Molly’s location by the sound of her voice and walk in her direction. I prop my cane against the kitchen counter and pull her into my arms for a kiss. “Miss me?”

“Yes. Always. Sit down, and I’ll get us drinks. What would you like?”

“Water’s fine,” I say.

“Sparkling water for me,” Christy says as she unpacks the bags.

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