“Ray. Ray I’m cumming.” Phoebe whispered.

“Shh not yet baby. I’m not even inside of you yet.”

“I need you.”

“Hold on. Breathe. You’re shaking. Are you cold?” Ray asked seductively kissing a path down Phoebe’s bare back.

“No.”

“Are you happy?”

“Never more.”

“What would you like?” running his hands down her firm brown ass.

“Everything.”

“Everything?”

“I want everything you have to give.” She moaned as he turned her over on her back and positioned himself between her legs. “I want it all.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.” He kissed her down her neck. She quickly brought his face up to meet hers.

“Yes I do. I want you to make love to me. I need to feel you, all of you.” She managed before he took procession of her lips. His mouth enveloped hers causing her to melt under his power. “Oh God Ray.”

“I can’t get enough of you. I love kissing you.” He lightly sucked and bit her lips. Placing his forearms on either side of her head, he stroked her hair back as he continued making love to her mouth. Phoebe went limb, her breathing quickened, she was on the verge of exploding. “Baby are you cumming?” he asked looking into her eyes. She refused to break his eye contact, releasing a trembling moan she came. He hugged her tightly as she shuddered. “Phoebe, you are one in a million. I’ve never had a woman do that before.”

“I needed you. That felt amazing. Oh shit…” she cried as Ray slid his thick cock into her quivering pussy. Instinctively her leg fell open to him; their bodies spoke to one another. He stroked, she heeded, he pushed, she accepted. They rocked and called for each. Their love making was so intense they’d forgotten anyone else was in the house. Neither had been with anyone who’d aroused this sort of passion in them. Ray flipped Phoebe on top of him, driving into her as he kissed and sucked her lips, either able to stop looking at the other.

“Oh God Phoebe.” He moaned wrapping his arms around her waist drawing her closer to him. “You feel so good baby.”

“Ray, I’m cumming.” She whispered against his lips. In one move he flipped her over onto her stomach doggy-style and entered her. Wrapping one of his arms around her waist, lifting her to meet his thrust; the other he used to turn her face to his. Passionately kissing her as his cock worked her pussy into a hot mess. “Sweetie, I don’t know what you’re doing but it’s not making love. Holy shit Ray I’m cumming!” her body surrendered to his demands.

“I’m cumming. Fuck!” he cried shooting his load into her. She screamed at it’s pulsating sensation, leaving her spent.
 


“I asked you what you wanted and your answer was everything. What does that mean?” Ray asked as they lay in bed the next morning.

“What do you want Ray?” Phoebe asked sitting up. “I need to hear from you, what have you always wanted when you thought of your life?”

“I always thought I’d meet a woman and instantly know I was meant to be with her. We’d marry, run a successful business with her at my side, buy a house and a flat in the city and a house in the country, and have a couple of children, take the boat out for long weekends on the lake, and we’d live a normal life.”

“Wow that’s some list.” She exclaimed.

“What about you?”

“I always thought I’d marry before I was 25 years old to a successful man, have a booming career of my own, buy a condo and have a kid or two. I didn’t think beyond that point. Now I’m pregnant with no husband or---”

“Do you think I’m going to leave you alone?”

“No but—“

“Phoebe, I have everything I’ve always wanted except a wife and child. I have the flat and two homes, the boat and the business; what I need…what I want is a stable relationship with you. I’m not leaving you or our child. You had me when we met in Brussels.” Ray said kissing her. Phoebe smiled into his eyes. “I’m guessing by your grin my answer was…a…good…one?”

“Completely.” She cupped his face. “You are the most incredible man I’ve ever met. I love you Mr. O’Connell.”

“Tell me this is going to last. Tell me that when you return to New York you’re not going to disappear again. Tell me that you’re as committed to this relationship as I am.”

“You know that I am.”

“I just like to hear you say it.” said Ray. “I want you to be Mrs. O’Connell.”

“What?”

“I want you to be my wife. I want our child to be raised in our home. But I will wait until you are ready; until we’re ready. We have a lot to work out between us but in the end I see you becoming my wife.”

Taken off guard by his honesty, she was at a loss for words. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. My love for you is…is weird. I can’t put into words exact what it is but…it is. Does that make sense?”

“No it doesn’t. You’re a mad man.” she said mockingly.

He pulled her close. “I told you that I wasn’t in love with you but if that’s true then what are these feelings I’m having? What’s wrong with me Phoebe? You can leave the room for a moment and I can’t wait to see you come back through the door and the fact that you are carrying my child leaves me breathless. Does that sound bazaar or what?”

“That doesn’t sound bazaar at all. It sounds like how I’ve been feeling. It’s hard to determine exactly what it is we’re feeling; we’re just feeling. Should we get counseling?”

“Nah, let’s see where this goes before we engage anyone in the medical profession. We have plenty of time for that.”
 
“I do want to get an ultrasound preformed before I leave so you’ll have a picture of the baby.” She said kissing his lips. He knew where this was going.

“My Mom has a friend who can do one for us. I’ll have her contact his office and we’ll drop by later today.”
 


“Hello Ray. This must be Phoebe.” Dr. McCarthy said joining Ray and Phoebe in the examination room.

“It’s nice to meet you.” They both said.

“Miranda said you’re having a little one. How far along are you?”

“I’m a little over two months. I know there may not be much to see be I’m returning to America in a few days and I wanted to leave Ray with a picture of our blob.” Phoebe answered.

“Well let’s see what we find. Lift your shirt, lower your pants just a bit and lay back.” He said turning off the room lights and preparing the ultrasound machine. “The gel is going to be cold but it’ll warm up in a second.” smearing a clear gel over Phoebe’s lower stomach and turned his attention to the machine’s monitor. Slowly he rolled the wand over her lower abdomen. Ray and Phoebe watched the monitor but couldn’t make out anything. I few clicks of the machine later, Dr. McCarthy stopped and excused himself.

Ray’s stomach dropped. He did his best to comfort Phoebe.

The Dr. returned with a nurse and they began the ultrasound again. The nurse exhaled, nodding to the Dr. she left the room. The Dr. turned on the lights. “How long have you been trying to conceive?” he asked.

“We weren’t trying it simply happened. Why?” Ray replied.

“I’m sorry but this pregnancy has resulted in a blighted ovum.”

“What is that?” Phoebe asked nervously. “What wrong with our baby?”

“A blighted ovum happens when a fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, but the embryo does not develop. Cells develop to form the pregnancy sac, but not the embryo itself. A blighted ovum usually occurs within the first trimester before a woman knows she is pregnant. A high level of chromosome abnormalities usually causes a woman’s body to naturally miscarry. You may experience signs of pregnancy such as a missed or late menstrual period and even a positive pregnancy test. It is possible that you may have minor abdominal cramps, minor vaginal spotting or bleeding."

Ray covered his mouth and Doctor McCarthy continued. “As with a normal period, your body may flush the uterine lining, but your period may be a little heavier than usual. Many women assume their pregnancies are on track because their HCG levels are increasing. The placenta can continue to grow and support itself without a baby for a short time, and pregnancy hormones can continue to rise, which would lead a woman to believe she is still pregnant. The diagnoses aren’t usually made until an ultrasound test shows either an empty womb or an empty birth sac. This is what’s happened to you. You are not pregnant.” the Dr. said carefully. “I will give you sometime and we can talk about your options afterwards.” He left the room.

Phoebe lay completely still. Ray’s world crumbled before him. Neither knew what to say or do to comfort the other. All their hopes had been dashed in a matter of minutes. He turned to her; she’d gone stone cold, no tears, no emotion at all. “I’m so sorry Phoebe. We’ll be alright.” He hugged her stiff body. She was no longer in the present. She was nothing.
 

Dr. McCarthy returned to the room shortly thereafter. “I wanted to ensure you understood exactly what has happened. There was nothing either of you could have done to prevent this from happening. The baby never formed, only the cells. There was no baby. I’d like to talk to you about your options. You can allow the miscarriage to happen naturally or I can perform a DNC which will remove the tissue and you can carry on. If today doesn’t work for you then—"

“No. I want it done immediately.” These were the first words Phoebe uttered since the announcement. Her eyes lay unfocused. The Dr. looked to Ray. Ray nodded in approval.

“I will have the nurse prep the room. I’ll leave you here.”
 


With everyone gone the house was dead quiet with only the faint sound of the evening rain cutting the silence. Phoebe lay curled in bed motionless; she’d not spoken a word since giving her consent to have the DNC performed. There was nothing to say, their ‘baby’ was gone. The one living thing that connected them to one another was gone. Ray sat in his father’s darkened study listening to the rain trying to get his head around the fact that his ‘child’ was no more, replaying the precious time they’d spent together repeatedly. What had all their promises really meant? Would there be a relationship between them with the loss of their child? Did he really want to marry her and move her to London or was this based solely on the fact that she was having his child? Did she really want to live with him? Neither could answer those questions. The pain was too great.
 

“Phoebe, are you sleeping?” Ray asked approaching her in bed. She didn’t reply. He sat rubbing her arm in silence for a few minutes. He could feel her pain. “We have to talk about this. Don’t shut me out.”

She sat up resting her head against the headboard. He moved closer to her rubbing her cheek and searching her eyes. She kissed his hand and dissolved into tears. This was the first sign of emotion she’d shown. He hugged her tightly as she wept against his shoulder. Tasha and his mother walked in. Ray raised his hand sending them out of the room. This was a matter they needed to be deal with alone, between themselves, not their families.

This was a quality Phoebe admired in Ray. He was man not a hen-pecked little boy playing house. In Bruges when he found the condom had broken he didn’t run nor did he run when he received news of the pregnancy and upon coming to London he hadn’t demanded she get an abortion as she’d expected. And when faced with the question of whether his parent’s would approve of their relationship his reply was that it didn’t matter what anyone thought because they were adults and lived their own lives and wouldn’t be influenced by anyone. And now the baby was gone and he was still by her side. She felt safe and secure in his care.

“Ray I have to go home. I can’t stay here.” She said softly. He put space between them examining her eyes. “Our baby is gone Ray.”

“Phoebe, there was no baby. You do understand that right?” she nodded, he continued, “You’re leaving because you think the only reason I wanted to be with you was because you were pregnant? It’s not true. I knew you were The One in Bruges. The baby would have been a bonus. I’m willing to wait until you’re sure that I’m The One for you but my feelings for you haven’t changed. I still want to be with you. Can you honestly say the same?”

Phoebe began to cry again. “Yes. I love you so much. I was afraid that you’d changed your mind about us, about our relationship. And I didn't want to be hurt. I was so scared, Ray.”

He held her face gently. “Baby whoever hurt you in the past, please understand that I’m not him. Let me fill those empty canyons in your soul. Trust in me Phoebe. I’ll never disappoint you.” She kissed him deeply. “So are we still together or what Mrs. O’Connell?” he asked.

“Absolutely Mr. O’Connell.”
 


4 Years later……

“Reo, where’s your daddy? Point to your daddy.” Phoebe asked the chubby bright-eyed dimpled 2 year old smiling back at her.

“Daddy go bye-bye.” He pointed at Ray hiding behind Phoebe’s shoulder slowly peeking over just enough to catch his son’s eye. “Daddy!” Reo climbed over his mom’s head on his way to his father.

“Carefully, don’t hurt your mom.” Ray grabbed him before he could fall or take Phoebe’s head off and bounced him while he kissed Phoebe. “Hey Mrs. O’Connell. How was your day?”

“Busy but now it’s perfect. Good to have you home. You look good.” she said.

“Daddy! Down!” Reo wiggled his way from Ray’s arms running to his room returning with one of his many toys. Forgetting about his dad, he began playing on his own.

Sitting on the sofa next to Phoebe, Ray reflected on the way his life had turned out. Four years ago he was stuck in Brussels airport and now he sat with his beautiful wife at his side watching his adorable son play.

“I didn’t think it was possible for me to love anyone as much as I love you but this beautiful creature has taken my love to unimaginable heights; it’s almost too much to bear.” Ray said with soft compassion admiring his son. “I would move heaven and earth for him. I don’t how what I’d do if either of you came into harms way.”

“I completely understand how you feel, he is marvelous isn’t he?” she whispered leaning over to kiss her husband.

“You know, besides the slightly Asian eyes, he kind of looks Puerto Rican what with the wavy hair and all.” he tilted his head to one side.

“No he doesn’t. He looks exactly like you. He even has the same dimples. The only trait he received from me is the tint to his skin.”

“So when can we have another one? I mean, he’s perfect, he even smells good. I’m sure we can make another one just like him. Maybe one for me and one for you. We can start now if you’re up to it. Where’s nanny?” Ray said kissing her neck softly.

“Oh I’m up to it. Nanny!” she called.