Waiting for Love Read Free Page A

move on when he heard feet shuffling inside.
    His hugely pregnant younger sister let out a squeal of delight when she saw him on her front porch. “What’re you doing here? Come in!”
    Adam dropped his backpack on the porch and pulled open the screen door. “I’d give you a hug, brat, but I don’t think I could get my arms around you.”
    “Please try,” she said, her eyes filling as she reached for him.
    As he’d already had more than his share of emotional women for one day, he did his best to hug his sister around the enormously pregnant belly. Her menagerie of special-needs dogs and cats circled around their feet, sniffing him thoroughly. Over Janey’s shoulder, he noticed her German shepherd, Riley, who sat apart from the others, eyeing him suspiciously—as usual. “No one told me you were having quadruplets,” he said, glancing at her extremely swollen abdomen.
    “Shut up. It’s not funny.”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “Maybe a little funny,” she conceded. “So what’re you doing home?”
    “I needed to see the boys, and you and Mom and Dad. Is everyone okay?”
    “They will be, but what an awful day that was. I can’t even tell you…”
    He put his arm around her and planted a kiss on the top of her blonde head. “I know what you mean. That was one of the worst phone calls of my entire life.”
    “What would we have done—”
    “Don’t, Janey. Please. Don’t even go there.”
    “You’re right. Nothing good will come of that.” She subtly swept away a tear. “Sorry, I’m an emotional disaster area lately.”
    “Carrying quads will do that to a girl.”
    She play punched him in the belly, putting a little more muscle behind it than usual.
    “Um, ow. That hurt.”
    “Good. It was supposed to. I can’t believe you’re here right now when I was just about to call you.” She took him by the hand and dragged him to her desk where her laptop was open. “I’m trying to register for fall classes, and it’s not working. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Maybe it’s a sign.”
    “Of what?” Adam asked as he let her push him into the desk chair.
    “That I’m not meant to go back to school.”
    “What the heck are you talking about?”
    “Do you promise not to tell anyone? That means anyone .”
    “Yes, I promise.”
    She nibbled on her thumbnail. “I don’t want to go back to school.”
    “Janey—”
    “I want to be a mom. I want to take care of my baby. Joe has the business, so we don’t need the money.”
    Adam took her hand and squeezed it. “Janey, stop. Stop .” He waited until he was sure he had her attention. “Do you remember the conversation we had after 9-11 when I told you I didn’t want to live in the city anymore?”
    “Vaguely.”
    “I remember it like it was yesterday. You told me I’d just been through a traumatic thing, and it wasn’t a good idea to make big decisions after something like that. Do you remember?”
    “It’s starting to come back to me now.”
    “What you said made a lot of sense, and it kept me from making an impulsive move based solely on emotion.”
    “I’m glad I was able to help you, but what’s that got to do with me?”
    He rested a hand on her huge belly and received a kick from his niece or nephew. “From what I’m told, this is a pretty traumatic thing for a woman. It wreaks havoc on you physically and emotionally. This might not be the ideal time to be making big decisions.”
    “Every time I think about leaving the baby for long days at school followed by longer nights of studying, I feel physically ill.”
    “Who will take care of your baby while you’re doing all that?”
    “Joe.”
    “So he or she will have one parent available to him or her all the time, right?”
    “I suppose so.”
    “And what do babies remember about the first year or two of their lives?”
    “Not much.”
    “Don’t do anything rash, Janey. You’ve wanted to be a vet for so long, and you’re so close. Don’t quit now. At least wait