A Pregnant Proposal. Elizabeth Harbison

knows mere mortals like the rest of us can’t live up to her standard.”

      The wind rose again and Matt looked at Jen with concern. Her cheeks and nose were already pink from the cold. “Are you warm enough? You want my scarf?”

      “I’m fine, Matt, I’ve already got a scarf on.” She gave a laugh. “Really, I never knew you were such a worrier.”

      “You bring it out in me,” he said, only half joking. Something about Jen did bring out a protective side of him he’d never experienced before. “I just want to help you however I can.”

      “I hope you still feel like that after we’ve talked,” Jen said ominously.

      They stopped before the door of Slate’s. He opened it for her. “I’ll always feel that way, Jen. That’s what friends are for.”

      She stepped through and waited for him to follow. “Every once in a while friends have to ask for favors that go above and beyond the call of duty.” She took her scarf off. Matt took it and helped her off with her coat.

      He put his hand on her arm and looked her straight in the eye. “Anything I can do, Jen. Just tell me what it is.”

      She hesitated, then looked down. “Let’s at least sit down first,” she said. “Get a glass of wine in you.”

      Matt frowned and handed her coat and his to the coat checker. “You’re not going to ask me to bump someone off, are you?”

      Jen smiled. “No, nothing that drastic. But almost.”

      He couldn’t imagine what she wanted him to do that would cause so much consternation. Maybe she was planning to move and needed help with that, he thought. People always hated asking for help moving.

      The maître d’ led them to a private, dark table in the back—the table Matt usually asked for when he had a date—and seated them. When he’d gone, Matt leaned across the table and asked, “OK, what’s all this about?”

      She put up a finger. “First things first. I gave some thought to the day care this afternoon and made a list of things I’d look for, or be grateful for, in care for my child. I know this is what you wanted to talk about tonight, so I think that should be our priority.” She dug two neatly typed sheets of paper out of her purse and handed them to him. “I called a few professional day-care centers too, just to make sure my demands were realistic. Most of them were. Except the doctor on staff. None of them had that.”

      Matt looked up from the list at her. “Just one doctor?”

      “I pared it down. Actually, you should have seen the first five lists I came up with.”

      “The first five?” Matt shook his head and looked back at the papers. “I shudder to think how long they were.”

      “Well, the first few were short. I showed them to Maggie and, believe it or not, she had some good ideas to add.” Jen leaned forward and pointed to the first sheet. “Numbers five through sixteen were all her ideas.”

      Five through sixteen included ideas for infant-feeding scheduling as well as sanitary changing stations. There was also a telephone number for Red Cross training in infant CPR. “Is there no end to what Maggie knows?”

      “She’s amazing,” Jen agreed.

      Matt looked at the remaining ideas on the second page, then took a notepad from his valise and asked Jen some questions. Her input was, just as he’d expected, invaluable. She had thought of several things he never would have dreamed of. She also had some ideas for doing things both better and less expensively. Kane would love that.