Chapter 13
That first night had been the beginning of something magical, or so Lorna had thought. The sex between them was amazing. She had never been with an older man before and Buck was skilled, his stamina that of a much younger guy. Lorna was like putty in his hands each time they were together, which had gotten to be pretty much daily, though they still maintained separate rooms. Of course, she still spent most nights in his at present.
Today, they were working. The screenplay had taken on a new life of its own in the past month. It was as if their passions had spread from the bedroom into it, breathing a life into the pages that had been somewhat lacking before. It had already been good, but now it was turning into something spectacular, something that any studio would be excited about. She knew that sounded a bit self-involved, like tooting their own horn, but she really felt like what they were creating was fresh, new. It was truly exciting to be a part of it.
“You’re getting a little bump,” he told her as he put his hand on her belly. It was still mostly flat, but now there was just an ever so slight curve to it, the beginnings of a baby bubble.
“I’ve noticed. I’ll be having to switch to maternity clothes by the end of summer. Right now, my loose pants and summer dresses are still comfortable, but I’ve noticed they are tighter these days.”
“It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful. Watching the baby grow inside you is going to be so wonderful. I’ve second guessed myself a time or two about doing things this way, but not now. I couldn’t have found a more perfect woman to have my child.”
Lorna smiled at him. She loved that he was so excited about the baby, but she couldn’t help think there was something missing. The sex between them was not enough to make up for that portion he kept to himself. She knew it wasn’t about her, but that only made it worse. It mean it was out of her control. All she could do was hope that he came around soon. If not, there was a good chance he never would.
As the summer came to an end, it was time to retrieve C.J. from her grandparents. Though Lorna was excited to see her again, she didn’t accompany him to Los Angeles this time. It had just been too awkward last time for her. Plus, he was planning to have lunch with them while he was there, so even less reason for her to go, in her book. She was more than happy to stay here and greet them when they arrived.
She called Sharon while she waited, careful not to reveal her situation. If all of this worked out, then she could maybe tell her everything, but it was part of the agreement not to for now. Instead, she told her that she was enjoying her sabbatical. Most of what she revealed was the truth, that she was at a lake, there was a pool and she was getting some work done on an unexpected project. Soon after she ended the call, she heard the front door open and a loud squeal from the foyer.
“Lornaaaaaaa!” C.J. called out loudly as she ran up the stairs.
Lorna met her on the landing and hauled her up into her arms. C.J. was jabbering away about everything she had done over the summer and where all she had gone. It was amazing how much the small child could cram into a single breath.
“C.J.” her father said as he made his way up the steps. “Give Lorna a break. You just got here and you don’t have to tell her everything at once. You can tell her a little bit at a time.”
“But I’ve missed her. I didn’t get to tell her any good stuff while I was gone.”
“Come on. It’s been a long, hot trip. Don’t you want to get your bathing suit on and take a swim to cool off? That’s all I heard on the way home and now, you can’t be pried off of Lorna,” he told her.
“Can Lorna come too then?”
“If Lorna wants to come, but she might have something else to do.”
“Lorna?” C.J. asked.
“Sure. I’ll go swim with you. Just let me change.”
C.J. took off running to her room to change, while Buck stayed behind to talk to Lorna.
“I think they fed her pure sugar before I got there,” he laughed.
“Seems that way,” she replied.
He kissed her softly, running a single finger down her neck. It sent a chill down her spine and caused the hair to stand on end along her arm.
“We better change so we can get her into the pool. It’ll help wind her back down for a nap.”
“Good idea,” she replied, pulling away from him and going to her room to change.
When she came out, she didn’t see either of them, so she assumed they were both down at the pool. She walked down the stairs and out to the pool, still seeing neither of them. They must still be upstairs. Instead, she sat down in a nearby lounge chair and lay back. It was only then that she spotted C.J.
“Oh, my God!” she screamed, jumping up from the chair and diving into the pool. She pulled a limp, unconscious C.J. from the deep end and lay her on the side of the pool, immediately starting CPR in an effort to revive her. At first, nothing was happening, but finally, she began to sputter and cough, purging the massive amount of water she had swallowed.
“Jesus Christ! What happened?” Buck shouted as he came running toward them, scooping C.J. up as she continued to cough and cry in his arms.
“I . . . I don’t know. I came down because I thought the two of you had already come out and when I got down here, I found her floating in the water. She must have changed and come down without us.”
“C.J., are you okay?” he said, pulling her away and looking at her.
She nodded and smiled weakly at him. Lorna’s heart was still hammering inside her chest
“I’m going to get Melanie,” she said, running toward the house to find the nurse.
Lorna made a beeline for Melanie’s quarters and beat on the door, quickly telling her what had happened. Melanie barreled past her and went running downstairs to the pool. After a quick assessment, she deemed C.J. to be okay, just shaken up.
“Are you sure? We should take her to the hospital to get checked out,” Lorna protested.
“No. C.J. can’t be taken to a normal hospital. She may look normal to you on the outside, but she isn’t on the inside. We have some differences in organ structure, bone structure, that sort of thing. She’ll end up in an experimental lab. Melanie knows what she is doing, and we do have doctors if anything is deemed more serious.”
Lorna looked at him and down at C.J. She was still terrified, as she sat there shivering in the towel Melanie had wrapped her in.
“Let’s get her inside and warm her up,” Melanie replied.
Buck carried her inside and upstairs to her room, putting her in some warm clothes and slipping her between the covers while Lorna and Melanie looked on. Melanie gave her another once over and asked her a few questions before declaring she was definitely fine.
“Another few minutes and it might have been a different story. I’m going back to my quarters, but I’ll stop in and check on her again in a bit. Call me if you need me in the meantime.”
“Thanks, Melanie.”
Buck and Lorna sat with her until she fell asleep and then stepped out of the room. It took Lorna a moment to realize that Buck was almost in tears, burying his face in his hands.
“Oh, thank God you found her. I don’t know what I would have done if . . .,” his voice trailed off into sobs.
“Okay. Okay. Come on. Let’s get you settled down,” she said, walking him just down the hall to his own room and sitting him down on the edge of his bed.
“She’s never done that before. I don’t know why she would have gone down there alone. I should have had a safeguard in place to prevent that. I can’t believe I was so stupid.”
“Okay. There is no sense beating yourself up about it. What’s done is done. Let’s just make sure she is okay from it and you can take measures to secure the pool tomorrow.”
“Yeah, like filling it in.”
“If that’s what helps you feel safer. It’s your pool, but remember, you live on a lake. Are you going to fill it in too? You can’t protect her from everything.”
“Maybe not, but I can keep her from drowning in my own pool.”
“Yes, you can,” Lorna replied.
Slowly, Buck began to collect himself. They checked on C.J. repeatedly, as did Melanie, long after she had gone to sleep for the night. Finally, Buck pulled her toward his room to sleep, curling up with her in a relieved, peaceful sleep.