The two women had left the offices and moved to Tia's, a waterfront bar, where they had commandeered two high stools and ordered two glasses of champagne. 'Here's to my baby!' Always one to play the audience, Lucinda was sitting directly on the stool, with her skirt hanging down decorously around and over the top, much to the delight of about half the people and most of the men in the bar. 'Let's hope he or she has the beauty of the mother and the brains of the father.'

'Two points, Lucinda!' Chris had raised her glass. 'Is the alcohol good for the baby? And it wouldn't be so bad if they were your brains. As to the looks of the father, I have to ask.'

'Did you drink with your children?'

'Yes! Of course, we all did then!' Chris laughed and raised her glass again. 'It was always reckoned a nice brandy before bed, and the baby would sleep all night!'

'You've not met the father, but you've seen his software!'

'Not Derek?' She had hoped not, as when she had met him in London, he did not seem very well.

'No!' Lucinda laughed. 'Did Derek show you the demonstration of the user-interface we're buying in the deal?'

'Yes! As someone who hates technology, even I thought it was wonderful and so intuitive.' She held Lucinda's hand as a simple means of approval. 'Is the creator of that interface, the father of your child?' Lucinda nodded and smiled. 'I do hope your child is as beautiful as his software.' A thought dawned that was very much against Chris' strong Protestant upbringing. 'As he's in England and you've been here for the last few months...' She paused as the penny dropped. He knows, doesn't he?'

'No!' Lucinda was grinning widely. 'I said earlier that you were the first other than me to know.'

Further thoughts were now arriving. 'What about your doctor?'

'Who!'

'And your mother?'

***

'Tell her, George! She's outrageous!' They had now been joined by Chris' husband, who was standing between them, with an arm on each of them. 'She's pregnant and she's not seen a doctor. Or told the father! Or her mother!'

'Why? She's a grown woman!' Despite it being nearly forty years since he had first come to study at Harvard, he had not lost the strong, singing lilt of the valleys of South Wales. 'My mother never had a doctor for me. Miner's wives in the thirties couldn't afford them!' He put his arm fully round Lucinda. 'It's not as though, you haven't had a baby before.'

'George, but this is the nineties in the United States!'

'Chris! Don't be so paranoid.' He turned towards his wife. 'You had four healthy children at the same time as you were doing a high-profile job. Did you have any problem? No! But if you had, then everything was there! It will be the same for Lucinda. Las Vegas has a very good hospital doesn't it, Lucinda?'

'Yes, it does!' Lucinda turned and kissed George on the cheek. 'Except that the baby will be born in England!'

'Oh! When's that Lucinda?' Chris had resigned herself to accepting that Lucinda was going to do what she always wanted.

'The sixteenth of August.' She smiled at them both. 'It's actually the father's birthday!'

'But that's in the middle of the integration, the signing and the celebrations!'

'Do you think I want to miss a good party?'

'Lucinda, if I calculate correctly.' George was counting on his fingers. 'You were two months gone, when you went with me to that thrash in Vegas.'

'Yes!' Lucinda was grinning wildly. 'Babies have done many things, but how many have flown!'

***

'When are you going to tell the father?' George was being serious. 'Most men would want to know. I certainly did every time Chris was expecting.'

'Can I tell you how it all happened?' Lucinda was responding to George's mood, rather than the question.

'Yes! Go on!'

'Since John died, I really haven't wanted to live with anybody except Cassie. I'm paid very well, so I can have every comfort and all the hired help I want. But for about the last year, I've been looking at my age, my job, at Cassie, my fitness and been thinking that a brother or sister for her, would be a nice idea and a practical proposition.' She put her hands on the noticeable bulge, to emphasise it. 'You know, it's almost that it appeals to my exhibitionist urges, to flaunt myself. Do I turn you on, George?'

George blushed and grinned. 'No comment! But you certainly look absolutely stunning!'

'George, you're an old Welsh smoothie!' It was now her turn to blush. 'But seriously, I feel absolutely super. And I'm still working out for an hour a day and I'm as fit as ever!'

'You certainly look it! But, don't take my word for it.' He indicated behind her. 'There's about twenty men in this bar, who are lusting for you and would do anything you want! Especially as the only ones who usually wear their skirts that short and sit with them over the stool are ladies of easy virtue and not respectable, thirty-something, mothers-to-be. You're an awful tease, Lucinda!'

'Let's say I've been a performer all my working life and find it difficult to give up!'

'Don't we all know it!' Chris was laughing. ''George was very pleased with your performance at the Convention. He talks about it all the time!'

'So he should!' Lucinda laughed at some of the almost disgraceful things she had done, when George had escorted her early in the Year. 'I hope I didn't embarrass you too much!' She raised herself on the stool and kissed him, before throwing her skirt out and sitting down again. George blushed again and one of the men in the bar was moved to whistle.

'No!' George stood as though he was going to make a speech in court. 'There was being sick in the soup, the inspection of stocking tops, kissing all the waiters and Fred's wife, picking her teeth with a fork and all that excessive farting. I think, she's very much guilty as charged!'

'Yes, I'll plead to most of that. But Sharon was a willing accomplice! She's not the dumb blonde everyone thinks she is! She had me sussed immediately and played along.'

'She's not ...'

'No! She's not!' Chris laughed dismissively as she butted in. 'Why are all you Celts so worried about homosexuality? It must be all of that religion!'

George didn't answer but returned to the original subject. 'You were explaining why and how you got pregnant!'

The two women laughed at George's embarrassment, before Lucinda continued. 'As you know, I was asked to look into the aspects of the Medusa take-over and I was also keeping a look at several individuals, who were possible developers of products that might fit well with our software. Then imagine my surprise and certain amount of annoyance, when Derek from Medusa turns up at COMDEX, with our number one target in tow, having already done a deal!'

'So you only met the father last November?'

'Yes! I was only with him for forty-eight hours!' Lucinda was smiling broadly as she remembered all the things they had done in those two days.

'Judging by your face, you enjoyed yourself! Are you sure he's the father?'

'Absolutely! We made love perhaps seven or eight times in every position possible.' She was emphasising and enjoying each word and fast replaying everything in her mind. 'As I haven't done that with anybody else since John died, unless the conception is immaculate, he's the father!'

'You know, Lucinda.' George was trying to play the father Lucinda had never really known. 'If I were you, I'd go straight down to Logan, get on a Jumbo and surprise him.'

'I wouldn't do that! I lied about being safe and used him to father this child.' Lucinda took their hands and placed them on the baby. 'He did enjoy everything and you could argue he should face his responsibilities, but he'd probably run a mile if he saw me now. And we don't want to jeopardise the deal. He's a key man.'

'He's not married is he? Or living with another woman?'

'No! In both cases. He's actually a widower.'

'So then, why don't you go?'

'I must admit, I've thought about it. I even sent him a message, saying I'd see him in January. But I didn't go.' Lucinda looked seriously at both of them. 'But I'm not ready to tell him yet. He's in love with his computers and his work. He's still getting over the loss of his wife. He had a son years ago, and he's not seen him for twenty-five years. I can think of more reasons why I shouldn't go, than why I should. But what if he didn't want me?'

'Go on! Go! No man could resist you as you are now!' He jokingly waved Chris away and put his arm affectionately round Lucinda. 'Why don't we run off for two weeks in the West Indies?'

'Stop it, George!' The laugh on her face disappeared, as she continued. 'There is another reason. For years he's had this mysterious lover and I think he's still in love with her. I'm not going to force myself into another's place, as his wife did this and that brought them both years of unhappiness.'

Copyright 1999 by Ewart Higgins