Riley nodded, barely hearing her. His attention was caught by the stack of tiny clothes and blankets Hannah had put inside the bassinet. He held up one impossibly small T-shirt, amazed that any human could ever be so tiny.
"I've been picking up a few things for the baby every paycheck," Hannah explained, running her palm across the top of the freshly folded cotton diapers.
Riley couldn't understand the hesitation in her voice, as though she feared he'd disapprove of her spending his money. He lifted his gaze to connect with hers.
"I…took a part-time job as a legal assistant. I work fewer than twenty hours a week," she ventured haltingly. "I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not. I shouldn't have been so dictatorial before. You know far better than I how much you can and can't do."
She seemed relieved at that, as though she'd been dreading telling him about her part-time employment.
"We'll buy a new crib," Riley stated decisively and, unable to resist, he threaded his fingers through the hair at her temple and gently kissed her there.
She smiled, her eyes as warm as fresh honey. "I was thinking we should… since we'll probably be using it again a few years down the road."
For Riley, the implication was like a silken caress. In time there would be other children.
"Oh," she said excitedly, rushing toward her dresser drawer, "I nearly forgot." She opened the top drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Riley, enchanting him with her smile. He had trouble dragging his gaze away from her. He swore he'd never seen anyone so beautiful.
When he could, he looked at the slip of paper for several moments, puzzled by the series of dark circular lines that followed no pattern that he could discern. To him it resembled a sonar reading. "What is it?"
Hannah's sweet, delicate laugh filled the room. "Not what! He… or she. That's Junior."
"Junior?" Riley was amazed.
"It's an ultrasound. The doctor took it on my last visit. See," she told him, pointing out the vague outline of the baby's head and spine. "Oftentimes they can determine the sex of the baby by these pictures."
"And?" He didn't bother to disguise his curiosity.
"Junior was sleeping with his back to us so we can't be sure. Dr. Underwood will probably do another one in a few months."
"We might well be having a daughter, you know," he said, returning to the bassinet and holding up a pale blue sleeper. Nearly everything Hannah had purchased was geared for a boy. For some odd reason, the realization pleased him immensely. Repeatedly he'd told himself the sex of their child didn't matter; but deep down, he longed for a son, although he hadn't admitted it even to himself.
"I'm prepared for that." Her face lit up with pleasure as she dug through the small pile of clothes until she found a frilly pink dress with lace trim. "I couldn't resist this. Isn't it adorable?"