Forever Lovers (19 page)

Quinn's leg was hurting again. He needed some
medication. His comment about not wanting kids wasn't exactly true,
but since the doctor had said he'd probably never would have any
with Lily or anyone else, he lashed out. He was oblivious that his
comment had just torn Lily's heart apart. He added a couple of
sleeping pills to his mix of medications and laid down in his own
bed.

When Quinn woke up, he was surprised to feel
a cold nose nudging his hand. “Hello, ol' boy, why don't you go
bother your mistress, suddenly realizing that he probably would
have if she were around. He knew before he walked into Lily's room
that she was gone. It was probably just as well. It made him sad
that the “Lily part” of his life was gone, leaving just her
charming memories.

It was supposed to be in all SEALS DNA and
code that they were to have exceptional character. That, did not
include lusting after another man's wife. Quinn looked out to sea
one last time before he let Lily go as he whispered quietly, “I
will always love you.”

CHAPTER 42

Lily was on the plane back to Kansas. She
barely remembered lying in bed for some time hugging her feather
pillow as tears streamed down her face. Quinn could not have made
it more crystal clear that he didn't want her or children. After
the sad tears stopped flowing, she became angry.
Well, that's
just too damn bad, Mr. Quinn! s
he thought, as she jumped up and
began throwing her belonging into her bags like the house was on
fire. After that, she called a cab. She left just as the sun’s rays
were peeking over the Mediterranean even though her plane didn't
leave until late morning. She'd made the decision to send Mr. Quinn
an email when she got home and let him know he was a father. He
could just deal with it, like it or not!

Lily hugged and kissed Gunner mournfully,
saying, “I'm so sorry I have to leave you with such a turd.” With
that, she shut the door and tried to tune out Gunner whining and
whimpering on the other side.

It would have brought some satisfaction to
Lily had she known that Quinn didn't sleep very well the next night
after she left or the night after that. Finally, after tossing and
turning for the third night in a row, Quinn padded into Lily's room
with Gunner on his heels. He grabbed two pillows. Going back to his
own bed, he said to Gunner, “You can have one pillow, but I get the
other.” Gunner slept better after that – Quinn, still not so
much.

CHAPTER 43

Lily arrived home in Manhattan, Kansas in the
middle of the night. She had slept very little on her flight across
the Atlantic. She was exhausted from the trip and emotional
upheaval that came from seeing Quinn again as they tried to
unsuccessfully reunite.

Because Lily was a grownup, unlike someone
else she knew, she checked on her responsibilities – the twins as
well as the babysitter as soon as she arrived home. Everything
appeared to be normal in the household except that they were
missing Gunner. Fortunately, the boys were too young to remember
him or know that he was gone. Satisfied that all was well, she
finally went back to her own bedroom and crawled into bed.
Exhausted, she was asleep the minute her head hit the pillow in
spite of the emotions that continued to circle her head like a
buzzing fly that never wants to give up.

The next day, Lily played with her babies and
tried not to think of Quinn. The twins were especially good at
making her forget him as they seemed to love the attention and
frolicking every bit of as much as she did. It was comforting and
therapeutic to be near them again. It was a little difficult to see
how everyday they looked more and more like Quinn. It was so
obvious to her, she was a little surprised that her family hadn't
ask her about it.

It wasn't until the next day that Lily began
to unpack her things from the trip. The first thing she pulled out
was her K-State t-shirt. She noticed drops of smeared blood
scattered about the shirt. It was obviously Quinn's blood from his
mishap with the razor. It made her smile when she remembered his
comment,
The razor just seemed to have a life of its own.
For some reason, she threw the shirt in the back of her closet
rather than the wash and forgot about it until several few weeks
later.

CHAPTER 44

Lily tried to reject Quinn from her mind like
she would a DVD. She got into a routine and for the most part was
able to dismiss him from her mind. If the DVD would just quit
rewinding and playing over again. It had been five weeks since she
left the villa in Italy. She was counting the weeks since she had
left because the twins would be a year old next month. She knew it
would be better to call him rather than to email him. She owed him
that.

So, that night, after she had gotten out of
the shower and was drying off, she was getting herself psyched up
for the conversation in the full length mirror in her bathroom when
she looked over her body. She looked like she had gained a little
weight. She was fuller in her tummy. Then, she frowned and started
counting back to when she had last had a period. She gasped. It
couldn't be, she thought as she shook her head in denial.

Since the babysitter was still there, Lily
threw on her jeans and jumped in the car to pick up a pregnancy
test at the drugstore that was fortunately still open. Shaking, she
immediately drove home and went directly into the bathroom to test
for that possibility. Ten minutes later, she threw up in the
toilet.

Lily had stewed and called Quinn every name
she'd ever heard on the rodeo circuit for the next three days. Now,
she had just crawled up in her bed with her cell phone. She sat
there staring at it for at least fifteen minutes before she finally
dialed Quinn. He answered on the first ring. By this time, Lily had
herself worked up and was as mad as a hornet. If he didn't want
children, maybe he should try using a condom!

Quinn saw on caller ID that it was Lily, he
assumed she was calling about Gunner to see how he was adjusting.
The bomb she dumped in his lap, he didn't see coming.

“Hi.”

Lily cut right to the chase. She was in no
mood for niceties. “Damn you, Quinn. I'm pregnant!”

He said nothing for a moment trying to absorb
the news. According to the doctor, he'd probably always be shooting
blanks. For that reason, he couldn't get too excited about the
announcement even though a part of him wished that it could be
true. “So, what does your husband think of that, assuming it isn't
his?”

“You turd! I don't have a husband!”

“Well, I'll assure you it isn't mine, “he
replied calmly.

An emotional Lily snapped back, “Is that so!
Well, let me give you a flow chart that you can follow – Guy screws
girl, girl gets pregnant, girl has babies, guy screws girl A-GAIN,
girl gets pregnant A-GAIN, SCREW the guy!!!!” Lily
disconnected.

Quinn didn't know how long he sat there
holding his silent phone, trying to process the information that
she had just given to him. Did he hear right? Did he have a baby?
(With Lily's emotional words flying like arrows, he missed the
“ies” on baby.) Lily was pregnant again? She didn't have a
husband?!

Quinn hit redial to confirm the conversation
that was still echoing in his ears. It went directly to her
mailbox. “Damn it, Lily, Pick up!!” He waited for an hour with his
phone still in the palm of his hand, when he finally realized,
idiot that he was, that he probably wouldn't hear from Lily again
by phone. He immediately started making arrangements to fly to
Kansas. He couldn't get a flight out of Rome until two days later.
He might have gotten out sooner, except, he was bringing Gunner
with him. He couldn't leave him behind. If he had a family waiting
for him in the Little Apple, he didn't know when he'd return to the
condo, if ever.

CHAPTER 45

The next day, Lily stood on her head and dug
her K-State t-shirt out of the back of her closet. Shaking out the
wrinkles, she looked to see if she could get a blood sample from
any of Quinn's drops of blood. As it turned out, there was a
suspicious stain on the edge that looked like it was probably
semen. Like Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress, there was no denying the
consequences of Bill or Quinn's sexual activity. She jumped in the
car and took them to her lab to test them for “daddy hood” since he
seemed to think he needed proof – the jerk! Having confirmed
Quinn's fatherhood on official paper, she immediately sent the
results to him by Air Federal Express overnight to Europe.

Three days later after his conversation with
Lily, Quinn was just getting ready to go out the door of Uncle
Dawg's chateau. He was packed with Gunner's leash in one hand and
his traveling bag in the other headed for Kansas, when a special
delivery guy arrived at his front door asking for his signature. He
handed him a manila envelope, which Quinn promptly stuck under his
arm as he and Gunner climbed in the back seat of the patiently
waiting limo that stood at his front door. It wasn't until they
were well on their way did he take the time to look inside it. It
was genetic testing confirming that he was the father of the
babies. He knew Lily wouldn't deliberately lie to him. The only
note she wrote at the bottom was:
Feel free to tattoo this on
your forehead!!

Quinn was not surprised with the results.
What did surprise him, however, was the Babe Ruth candy bar in the
bottom of the envelope. Since, she had called him a turd, it wasn't
terribly difficult to understand its symbolization. As he unwrapped
the candy bar of chocolate and peanuts, he began to devour it with
the hot coffee latte waiting for him in the back of the limo. He
chuckled all the way to the airport.
Lily, my little nutcracker,
you light up my heart.

CHAPTER 46

The next day, Lily's doorbell rang. When she
opened it, a man was standing there with balloons

and a huge bouquet of lilies in a multitude
of spring colors – purple, orange, yellow, pink, and white.

“Flowers for Miss McCain.”

Recognizing the voice behind the arrangement
of flowers, Lily almost shut the door in Quinn’s face, but she was
too excited to see Gunner who jumped all over her and then began
running through the house in circles until he found the twins
playing in their toy room.

Quinn's head popped out among the flowers.
“May I come in?” he asked sheepishly.

He was wearing a piece of masking tape across
his forehead on which was written in black magic marker,
I'm a
daddy.

Lily tried to bite her lips to keep from
smiling, thinking it was a rather creative last minute tattoo, but
she couldn't help herself as she relented and opened the door wide
enough for him to enter. It instantly broke the tension.

Quinn immediately set down the flowers.
Before Lily could protest, he grabbed her around the waist and gave
her a really mushy kiss. She tried to pretend that she was
unaffected, but she couldn't help but respond at least a little,
even though she had sworn that she'd never swoon over him ever
again in this lifetime. But, here she was like a true idiot
savoring his feel, his smell, his touch like she was sixteen again.
An inferno began to rage on its own accord, but before things
really got out of control Quinn shakily pulled away, but by only a
half an inch. Still holding her and putting his forehead next to
hers, Quinn said, “We need to talk.”

Just then, a little squeal suddenly commanded
Quinn's attention as his head jerked up and he zeroed in on a
miniature size of himself that came crawling around the corner
followed by a second look alike. Quinn couldn’t help but suck in
his breath, followed by delightful surprise. He looked at Lily,
“Twin boys?!” He was amazed and dazed all at the same time. He
could hardly believe it!

Lily watched the mirage of emotions that
fleeted across Quinn's face at seeing his children for the first
time, which seemed to reflect nothing but pure joy and happiness.
It was reassuring to know that Quinn was pleased and excited about
fatherhood; especially, after his last words to her before she left
were, “I never want any kids!” She needed him to explain that
remark before she let him into their little family circle for the
twin’s emotional protection. But, somehow, she knew everything was
going to be all right. He looked at her and grinned, “They look
just like me,” he boosted. “I did good, didn't I?” Which made Lily
laugh as it was supposed to do.

Quinn immediately sat down on the floor and
picked up Dominic and then Tyrone. That was when Lily notice what
it said on the front of his t-shirt, I’m
a proud daddy of?!
It made Lily laugh some more as it reminded her of Hester Payne who
was forced to wear the letter “A” for adulteress on her chest in
the
Scarlet Letter.
As far as she was concerned, this fit
the situation perfectly; especially, when she saw the back that
said,
I'm sorry.
That was the kicker. She melted into a
puddle right there and all was forgiven.

Quinn began throwing the twins up in the air
and playing as though it were a routine ritual that he had done
ever since the day they were born. The twins immediately fell under
his hypnotic spell and got into the act as they started climbing
all over him, each jostling for attention making Gunner jump right
in there with the rest of them.

Later that evening, after Lily and Quinn had
gone to bed and made love, they had that pillow talk. Lily
explained what had happened as he lay in a coma not wanting to tell
his family until she talked to him. She talked how difficult it was
to have that awful feeling of rejection and how very much she
needed him at the time of the birthing. Quinn held her while she
cried trying not to mix a few of his tears with her own.