Lahat ng Kabanata ng Solid Gold (Unseen Enemy 8): Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 78

“What?” he said, alarmed, sure that she’d fled Nova Scotia after his lighting strike visit four months earlier. He was horrified that she’d been uprooted again, her life scattered to the wind again, and all because of him. “Claire, I promise, I haven’t –”“Oh, it wasn’t because of you,” she interrupted him. “I left because of me.”Confused, he peered at her and waited for an explanation, if she wanted to provide one. Thankfully, she did, because he’d have gone crazy trying to figure out what the hell was going on with her.“I thought about what you said,” she told him. “About how I can’t keep running from my life every time something comes in that I don’t like. But it was more than that, actually… it was also about letting other people dictate my life choices, to the point that I was reacting to other people’s actions, instead of setting a course and then sticking to it. First Wilbur made all the decisions for me and my entire life, and I let him, without a murmur. Then I ran to Denve

Three months laterClaire sighed and shut her laptop with a sense of relief. Expanding the business had seemed like such a great idea six months before, but now that it was actually happening, and she had clients coming out of her ears, she was seriously questioning her life choices. She wandered into her small kitchen, put on the kettle to boil water for tea. As always, she stared out of the window, today admiring the first snow on the Rockies. She’d decided to rent this apartment just for this view and even though the living room was small and the bedroom was painted a horrific pink, she hadn’t had a single moment of regret. This view – it was everything.The buzzer went then, and she smiled. She glanced at the clock on the stove, shook her blonde head with affection.Bang on time. As always.She pushed the intercom button, and said, “Hello?”“C’mon, kitten. You know it’s me.”“Of course I do, John,” she said. “I just like hearing your voice right away.”“Aw.” She could hear him sm

“You’re doing it again,” Claire said, bemused. “Staring at me like you’re waiting for something.”“I am,” he said, without thinking. “I am waiting.”“OK.” She sounded a bit worried. “What is it that you’re waiting for?”“I can’t say.”She paused, then cocked her head at him. “You – you can’t say?”“Nope.”“Why not?”“Because it has to be something that you just decide to do all by yourself. No prompting or fishing from me, no pushing you to say it. No pressure, no little nudges.”“Ummm. Ohhh-kay?” Claire stared at him, wondering if he was talking about what she thought that he was talking about, but she decided that she needed more information. “Maybe give me a hint?”“No hints,” he said severely.“Come on. Just a small one.”“No way.”“A tiny one, John.”“No, Claire.”“You want me to guess?”“Nope. I really do not.”“You sure about that?”“Totally,” Griff said with huge emphasis. “No hints, no guesses, no way, no how.”“How about I just say what I think it is?”That stopped him, and

Emma disconnected the call with Beth and met Dean's eye from across their living room. He tickled Frankie's tummy and the little boy giggled wildly. It was a sound that Emma and Dean were both totally and unapologetically addicted to.“And?” Dean said.“And...” Emma paused, teasing him a bit, making him wait. “Pregnant.”“Woohoo!” Dean said and Frankie looked up at his father, a bit startled. “Way to go, Beth and Jim!”“That just leaves Jenny to get final confirmation, huh?” Emma said, stroking her own stomach. It was still pretty flat, but she loved knowing that a little girl was taking shape and form in there. “She says that Chris won't trust the positive home pregnancy test. Says he wants an official doctor's 'yes' before he gets all excited.”“Weird for Chris to be all hung up on that,” Dean commented. “I wonder why he is.”“Well, because they were so worried that Jenny wouldn't be able to get pregnant, after all that trauma that she went through. The internal damage was extensive