“Not that it was necessary,” Jamie whispered. “Might I remind you that Junior was conceived in the good old-fashioned way?”

Rich leaned forward and reminded her of some other good old-fashioned methods they’d discovered. She was laughing when she felt the first contraction. Her eyes widened and she squeezed Rich’s hand.

“Jamie?”

“I think all my complaining might have done some good. Have you got the stopwatch?”

Rich paled, nodded, then rushed into their bedroom, returning with the stopwatch he’d purchased after attending their childbirth classes.

He knelt in front of her, clasping her hand. “Are you ready, my love?”

Jamie nodded. She’d been ready for this moment for the past nine months.

* * *

With a loud squall, Bethany Marie Manning made her way into the world thirteen hours later. Rich was at Jamie’s side in the delivery room. When Dr. Fullerton announced that they had a daughter, Rich looked at Jamie, his face filled with wonder and surprise.

“She’s a girl?” he asked, as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.

“Do you want to check for yourself?” Dr. Fullerton teased.

Jamie watched her husband, searching for signs of disappointment, but if there were any she didn’t see them. The nurse weighed Bethany, then wrapped the protesting infant in a warm blanket and handed her to Rich.

Rich stared down at the bright pink face and smiled. When he looked over at Jamie his eyes shone with unshed tears. “She’s beautiful.”

“You’re not disappointed we didn’t have a son?”

“Are you crazy? I always wanted a girl. I just said I wanted a boy to keep you off guard.” Very gently, Rich bent down and kissed his daughter’s forehead.

* * *

Hours later, Jamie woke and saw that Rich was asleep, slumped in the chair next to her hospital bed. His head rested against hers. Smiling contentedly, she rubbed her fingers through his tangled hair.

Yawning, Rich raised his head. “Hello, little mother.”

“Hello, proud daddy.”

“She is so beautiful. Oh, Jamie, I can’t believe how much I love her. And you.” He kissed her hand, then held it against his jaw. “I never knew I could feel like this.”

Feeling dreamy and tired, Jamie nodded and let her eyes drift shut.

“Don’t you worry about a thing,” Rich whispered, his face close to hers. “I’ve taken care of everything.”

Jamie’s eyes flew open. “What do you mean by that?”

“Ballet classes.” He pulled open the drawer in the bedside table and withdrew a Seattle phone book. “I’ve called two schools, both of whom are sending us brochures. I also talked to a teacher about piano lessons.”

“Rich!”

“Just kidding.” He lifted her hand and clasped it between his own. “I love you, Jamie.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

They’d come so far, Jamie mused. They’d tried to manipulate fate, create their own destiny, constrain their marriage with limits and conditions.

Instead, love had caught them unawares.