Perfect Partners

move toward a pay phone down the hall. “I’m all right. I swear it. Nothing’s wrong.”
    “Stephanie, something is very wrong. You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
    Stephanie burst into tears. “Oh, God, I think I did.”
    Letty was stunned by the flood of emotion from the normally calm, cool, and intellectual Stephanie. Instinctively she put her arms around her stepmother and held her as great sobs racked her body.
    “Steph, what is it? Tell me. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”
    “I lost him, Letty.”
    “Lost who?”
    “My baby. I lost him at three months. Ten years ago this month. He was dead inside me. All that time I was preparing for him, buying baby clothes, choosing names, all that time, and he was dead.”
    Letty closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Stephanie. “I’m so sorry.”
    “I’m so afraid I’m going to lose Matthew Christopher, too. I get more afraid every day. I’m going crazy with the fear.”
    Letty hugged her gently. “You won’t lose him. He’s alive and well and kicking like mad. He’ll be safe in your arms in another few weeks. You’ve got one of the best doctors in the state. You’ve got the best hospital in the city.”
    “I know, but so many things could go wrong.”
    “He’s strong and healthy. He’s got my father’s terrific genes, remember?”
    “But he’s got some of mine, too. And I lost my first baby. What if there’s something wrong with me? What if I lose Matthew Christopher because there’s a basic genetic flaw in me?”
    “There is nothing wrong with you. It’s going to be all right, Steph.” Letty kept talking, saying the same, soothing things over and over again. “When the time comes, you’ll have the most advanced medical technology available to you. Your doctor will be with you, watching over every detail.”
    Gradually Stephanie’s sobs subsided.
    When she finally lifted her head from Letty’s shoulder, her face was blotched and red from crying. She groped for a tissue in her purse. “I’m sorry you had to witness that. I’ve made a fool of myself. I’m sorry. I’m not behaving very rationally these days, am I? I’ve got to get myself back under control.”
    “Stephanie, you’re pregnant.” Letty smiled. “Everything I’ve read says that being irrational is allowed.”
    “I don’t want Morgan to see me like this.”
    “Like what, for heaven’s sake?”
    “Like this. In such an abnormal state.” Stephanie blotted her eyes and blew into the tissue. “He wouldn’t understand. I’m not myself.”
    “Have you told him about the miscarriage?”
    “No, I haven’t.” Stephanie shoved the tissue back into her purse. “It all happened a long time ago. During the first year of my first marriage. I was never able to get pregnant again. I’d given up all hope until Morgan and I became involved. I was so thrilled when I found out. And Morgan seemed pleased.”
    “He is. He’s looking forward to molding another generation of Thornquist brains. I think he figures he made a few mistakes with me, and he’s anxious to get it right this time.”
    “Letty, I’ve been frightened all along. Right from the start. And it’s been getting worse.”
    “You should have talked about it before now,” Letty said. “I think you ought to tell Dad everything.”
    “He’d be appalled at my irrational behavior.”
    “Nonsense. My father grew up on a farm. He was a regular human being before he got that Ph.D., and he still is, once you get past that intellectual veneer he’s acquired. He’s really very compassionate and understanding. How the heck do you think Mom and I tolerated him?”
    Stephanie shook her head. “He thinks I’m just like him. That’s why he married me. And I
am
very much like him. Usually. It’s only since I started worrying about losing this baby that I’ve gone off the deep end.”
    “You haven’t gone off the deep end. You’re just tense and worried. And I’ll tell you something else. I’ve known my father for twenty-nine years, and he’s not always cool and cerebral. I still remember how he went bonkers when I fell off my bike and had to be rushed to the emergency room with a broken wrist. You’d have thought I was at death’s door. Mom spent more time calming him down than she did patting me on the head.”
    “Oh, Letty…”
    Letty smiled sadly. “And when Mom died, I thought for a while I was going to lose Dad, too. My father is no iceberg, Steph.”
    “Well, I know