A Pregnant Proposal

“Just Jen Martin, eh?” Andy laughed heartily.

Matt smiled. “I’ve noticed Lillian Turk hanging around your office quite a bit, my friend. You want to talk about that?”

Andy blushed and Matt laughed.

As the doors shooshed open, Andy said, “Saved by the 14th floor.”

Matt gave him a thump on the shoulder. “We’ll talk about it later, bud. I’m not letting you off the hook that easily.”

Andy made a face at him as the doors closed. Matt was still smiling when he turned around to see Jen standing there in her coat.

Guilt assailed him. “I’m so sorry I’m late, Jen, I got tied up and didn’t even think to look at the time until—”

“It’s no big deal, Matt,” she said, holding up her hand. “I figured you lost track of time so I was just on my way up to find you.”

“You were?”

She nodded. “Wow, someone’s used to high-maintenance women.” She pressed the Down button.

Matt leaned against the wall. “No kidding,” he said. “And you and Susan ask me why I’m so gunshy about relationships. I’m even afraid my friends are going to let me have it if I’m late.”

“Well, I’m in no position to be letting you have it for anything, believe me.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed and looked at the numbers over the elevator door to see where it was. “I’ll explain over dinner.”

The elevator arrived and they stepped in, joining Maggie Steward, Kane’s assistant.

“Hi, Mag,” Jen said.

“Hi Jen, Matt.” Maggie nodded.

Matt knew Maggie had been there since before eight that morning. She often was. Now, even though it was the end of a long day, not one blond hair was out of place. She even had color in her cheeks, instead of the usual “end of workday pallor” most people got. He didn’t know how she managed it.

“You two are leaving late, aren’t you?” Maggie asked.

“See?” Matt said to Jen.

“See what?” Maggie asked.

“Nothing,” Jen said with a smile and a quick shake of the head. “Matt’s taking me to dinner and he was two minutes late. I think he’s trying to assuage his guilt by convincing me he’s a bad person.”

Maggie laughed lightly. “Now, Matt, did I say you were a bad person? You know darn well there are far worse things I could say about you than that you’re late. Remember the Christmas party the first year you worked here?”

Matt mocked a scowl. “Drop it.”

“Oooh, what did he do?” Jen wanted to know. “Did it involve a lampshade on his head?”

“It involved,” Matt said pointedly, “a woman I was going out with for the first and—as it turned out—last time, and Marvin Fisher’s wife who looked very similar.” The elevator doors opened and the three of them walked into the gleaming lobby. “Maggie, I’ll pay you a thousand dollars never to mention it again.”

“I’ll put it on your tab,” she said, turning left, away from the front door.

“Where are you going, Maggie?” Jen asked. “Door’s this way.”

“I have a little more work to do before I go.”

Matt and Jen exchanged looks.

“You work too hard,” Matt said. “I hope Kane appreciates you.”

Maggie’s face colored, but she flashed a brief smile. “Just doing my job. Bye, kids, have fun!”

“You know, she does the work of two people here,” Matt commented as he held the front door open for Jen. “She really makes the rest of us look bad.”

“Kane knows there’s only one Maggie,” Jen said, pulling her coat tighter against her as a chill wind wound the corner of Chicago Avenue toward them. “He 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.”