CHAPTER 5

	“There’s nothing to fit you in here!” Jennifer teased, as she flipped through the
pages of a fashion magazine.  
	Hannah laughed. “Are you calling me fat?”
	“Well — “ Jennifer wrinkled up her nose and tilted her head, looking at Hannah 
as if she were sizing her up.  “I wouldn’t say exactly fat,”  she said, trying to hold back a
smile.  “Maybe more like — protruding.”  The two girls laughed as Hannah attempted to
beat her friend up with a pillow.  Jennifer tossed the magazine aside and lay across
Hannah’s bed on her stomach, resting her chin on her hands. 
	“So, what do you think you’ll call the baby?” she asked.
	“I don’t know,” Hannah said thoughtfully.  “I had wondered about Guinevere for a
girl, and Arthur for a boy.”
	Jennifer tossed a pillow at her.  “Not if I have anything to say about it!” she
assured her.  "No friend of mine is going to have a baby named Arthur!”
	Hannah laughed, and looked at herself in the mirror.  Jennifer was right, she was
protruding.  It seemed like every week she stuck out more and more.  It was getting
harder to get around every day, and she was glad she had caved in and allowed Cole to
drive her to work in the mornings. 
	Of course, he wasn’t always going to the office.  Often he was on job-sites,
supervising construction, going over plans, even working alongside the men.  But every
morning for the past two weeks he had pulled up outside Hannah’s little upstairs
apartment to drive her to work.  On the days he was headed to a construction site he
arrived in the company truck.  
	The truck, a heavy duty three-quarter ton pick-up with a full back seat and
four-wheel drive, was extremely high off the ground.  The first day Cole had picked her
up in it, she had stood on the curb with the door open, eyeing the distance from ground
to floor with a frown.
	“You expect me to climb up into that thing?” she had asked, but as she spoke,
Cole was already rounding the front of the truck.
	“I’ll give you a hand, don’t worry,” he had promised, and with his help she had
managed to make it into the truck with a big sigh of relief.
	“This thing is huge!” she had commented, and Cole had glanced her way with a
grin as he had climbed back into the truck.
	“I wouldn’t talk, if I were you,” he’d teased her.
	“Hey!” she had said, giving him a playful swat.  “You’re not supposed to tell a pregnant
woman she’s fat!  It’s not good for her self-esteem!”
	She had pretended to brood over his comment, but he had just shaken his head
and grinned at her.  “Ahh, but I know you can take it, my Dear.”
	The comment had been made in jest,  attempting to mimic Humphrey Bogart, but
the endearment had made Hannah’s breath catch in her throat, none the less. 
Nervously she had searched for something to say to change the subject, and spotting
his white hard hat on the back seat, had started teasing him about it.  She had been glad
when he had finally dropped her off in front of the McKinley Holdings Building.
	Now, as she pondered her profile reflected in her mirror while Jennifer leafed
through the magazine, Hannah thought about how she was going to miss those morning
drives.  She was nearing her eighth month, and her doctor had advised her to quit
working early.  Her blood pressure was rising, and Dr. Marchand wanted her to stay
home and keep quiet as much as possible, and see her every week until the baby
arrived.  The next day would mark Hannah’s last day of work, and her last morning ride
downtown with Cole.
	“But I kind of like the name Arthur,” she said dreamily, running her hands over
her round belly.
	“You can’t be serious!”  Jennifer groaned.
	“Why not!” Hannah turned an exaggerated look of surprise toward her friend, but
couldn’t keep the laughter at bay when she saw Jennifer’s shocked expression.  “Oh
alright, I’m just kidding you.  “What about Nicholas for a boy?” She turned back to the
mirror.  “Or Morgan for a girl?”
	Jennifer wrinkled her nose again. “Those are much better,” her friend agreed.
“But don’t make any rush choices.”  Her friend sat up and crossed her legs, and looked
up at the ceiling deep in thought.  “Nicholas Banks,” she said, letting the name roll off her
tongue several time, then shrugging.  “I guess it feels OK.”
	Morgan McKinley, Hannah thought, then blinked at the thought and dropped her
hands and walked quickly out of the bedroom.  Ever since Cole had gone to the doctor’s
office with her, she’d had these thoughts poking into her mind out of the blue.  What
name should she give her baby?  For months she had known her baby would be a
Banks, but after Cole found out the baby was his — and after his visit to the doctor’s
office with her — she had begun to wonder if he would want the baby to have his name. 
It was a question she almost didn’t dare ask him!
	“What about Andie?” Jennifer sauntered out of the bedroom with another
magazine in her hand.  “You know, like Andie MacDowell, the actress?”   Jennifer flipped
the magazine around to show Hannah the picture of the pretty actress she had been
looking at.  “There’s all kinds of names you could borrow from the celebrities.”
	Andie McKinley. Hannah frowned at herself.  There she was, at it again!
	“Or a unisex name, like MacKenzie?”  Jennifer beamed. “MacKenzie Banks! 
That has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
	“Absolutely not!” Hannah frowned.  MacKenzie McKinley just wouldn’t do at all, 
she thought. 
	Jennifer shrugged, and tossed down the magazine. “Whatever. You’ve still got a
month to decide.”   Jennifer looked at her watch. “We should be getting ready, you
know.”
	Hannah sighed. A month left, to decide if her baby would be a Banks or a
McKinley.  A decision she would not make without Cole’s input.  But Jennifer was right, it
was time to get ready to go, and she would welcome the diversion to take her mind off
the present train of thought. The rest of the evening would be spent at Clarice’s house,
where her boss was having a going-away get together for her.  She would simply enjoy
the evening and worry about the baby’s name later!
	The “get-together”, as it turned out, was a baby shower in disguise.  Hannah
couldn’t believe her eyes as she was ushered into the room where Clarice had
everything decorated with baby items. She shot an accusing glance towards Jennifer.
	“And you knew about this?” she accused.
	“Of course!”  her friend grinned at her. 
	Hannah looked around the room at the gathering of friends and co-workers, still
struggling to believe her boss had done this for her.  “Oh Clarice! I never expected
anything like this!”  
	The woman smiled at her.  “That makes it even more fun,”  she said, and she led
Hannah towards a chair in the centre of the room.  
	By the end  of the evening, Hannah had unwrapped more baby things than she
ever dreamed she would see all in one place.  There were clothes, blankets, little
hooded towels, mobiles, and toys, a diaper bag filled with all the imaginable supplies a
new mother might need, and a beautiful crib quilt.  Clarice’s gift was a soft woven basket
with handles, apparently called a Moses Basket, to be used instead of a bassinet.  It had
a padded mat in the bottom and  was lined with beautiful fabric, decorated with bows,
and came complete with a quilt and other small linens.  Hannah had never seen
anything like it before.  She enjoyed herself so much, she was almost sad to see the
evening end, but she was also very tired.  She was surprised that everything actually fit
in Jennifer’s car for the trip home, and when they had finished unloading everything her
tiny living room was overflowing with baby things. 
	That was the way Cole found it the next morning when she opened the door to
him. He had taken to coming up to her apartment to get her when he drove her to work
in the morning, because she was rarely  ready when he arrived.  
	“What on earth is all of this?” he asked, as he wandered around the living room
while he waited for her.  “Did you rob a baby supply store or something?”
	Hannah laughed. “Clarice threw a baby shower for me last night,” she said, fixing
an earring as she stepped out of her bedroom.
	Cole picked up a few items, then stood looking down at a tiny white sleeper that
he held in his hands. “This is so tiny!” he exclaimed.
	“Babies are tiny,” Hannah reminded him.
	He looked at her, then looked around the room again. “And they need so much
stuff!”
	“Stuff?  This is just the beginning!  Oh! Cole — “ she glanced at him hopefully.
“Are you doing anything really important tomorrow?  I wondered if you could bring your
truck and help me pick up a crib down at the second hand store over on Chalmers.  I
hate to ask you, but I don’t know anyone else with a truck and they don’t deliver.”
	Cole frowned. “Hannah, you don’t need a second hand crib.  I can buy you a
brand new one!”
	She smiled at him. “But I don’t need a brand new one, Cole. There is a beautiful
one down there at the second hand shop, and I’ve asked them if they could hold it for
me until I could get a way down to pick it up. Please?”
	He sighed. “Well, alright, if you won’t let me buy you a new one,” he said.
	“Thank you!”  Hannah was, by this time, right beside him, and with a big smile
she leaned in and kissed him to punctuate her gratitude.

	Of all the stupid things! Hannah scolded herself, as she sat nervously in the truck
on the way to pick up the crib the next day. You kissed him! You actually kissed him! 
She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Cole as he manoeuvred the truck along the
narrow side street to the corner of Chalmers.  Things had been going so smoothly, and
then she had gone and kissed him!  Lord only knew what he thought of her now!
	He
pulled the truck to a stop outside the little shop and turned off the ignition.  Let’s just get
the crib and get it back home, she thought. Then he can be on his way.  And for
heaven’s sake, don’t kiss him again today!
	Inside, the shopkeeper seemed slightly amused by the hushed argument and
nervous glances, as Cole attempted to pay for the crib while Hannah stood her ground
and refused to take his money.  At last, he gave in and she paid for the crib herself, and
it was loaded into the back of the truck.
	The crib, however, wasn’t the only thing that Cole loaded into the back of the
truck.  By the time they left the shop, he had also purchased a change table, a dresser, 
and, of all things, a large wooden rocking horse!
	“I’m having a baby, for goodness sake, not a toddler!” Hannah exclaimed as he
carried the horse out of the store.  “The baby won’t be able to ride that for at least two or
three years!”
	He smiled and shrugged. “And when it’s ready, you’ll already have the rocking
horse for it,” he rationalized. 
	“Really, Cole, I didn’t need you to buy me all this stuff,” she argued, as he piled
the last item in the back of the truck. 
	He closed the tailgate and looked directly at her. “Too late,” he stated simply.
Then with a serious expression, he glanced down at her belly. “Hannah, this is my baby
too.  I can’t stand back and not do anything for it, not buy things for it. I want to be a part
of things.”
	Hannah frowned. I don’t need you, she told herself. I don’t need your things, and
I don’t need you in my baby’s life!
	That’s pretty selfish of you, don’t you think? she scolded herself in return, and
that side of her seemed to be more convincing, for she silently nodded and went to climb
into the truck.
	Back at her apartment, Cole hauled the furniture up the back stairs and into her
tiny living room.  He allowed her, after much pleading on her part, to carry some dresser
drawers, but flatly refused to let her do anything else.  Once everything was inside, he
insisted on moving her bedroom furniture for her to make room for the new additions,
and when he was finished, and he stood in the doorway looking around the crowded
room, he frowned.
	“This place is much too small,” he announced. 
	“It’s fine.  There’s plenty of room for me and the baby,” Hannah insisted defiantly. 
	Cole grunted. “You hardly have any room to walk in here, Hannah!”
	She shrugged.  “It’s a bedroom, who needs to walk?”
	He shook his head. “Hannah, this is ridiculous!  Why should you be living in a tiny
little place like this? It’s totally unnecessary!”
	“It happens to be what I can afford, Cole,” she said, her voice ready to snap. 
She hadn’t wanted to bring up the financial side of it, but that was a very big reason why
she was in this little apartment, and why she was going to have to stay there after the
baby was born.  “And I’m not exactly going to be raking in the money while I’m off work
for the next few months either!”
	“Well, it’s not all I can afford!” he countered.  “You don’t have to live like this,
Hannah. Let me help!”
	“I don’t need help, Cole!”
	He glared at her.  “You may not want it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need it.”
	Hannah swung around to leave the room, and he caught her by the arm to stop
her.  “Why don’t you move into the penthouse? It doesn’t cost me a thing, and I hardly
ever use it.”
	“No!”  she exclaimed.  Not the penthouse! Not the bedroom where she woke up
with Cole’s arm draped casually across her.  “I — I would feel strange living in that
building, all alone there at night when everyone goes home.”
	He let go of her arm and looked back at the crowded bedroom. “Alright. But we
can come up with something else.  Hannah, there is no reason at all why you and the
baby have to be crammed in here like sardines.  If you won’t let me help you, at least let
me do it for the baby?  My baby.”
	Hannah crossed her arms and hugged herself tight, walking away from him
across the living room.  This was not going at all as she had planned it!  This was her
dilemma! Her misfortune! She was supposed to be the single mother, picking herself up
after a major mistake and forging ahead against all odds, just her and her baby with no
need for help from any outsider.  Cole McKinley wasn’t supposed to be in this picture! 
He wasn’t supposed to know this was his baby, and if it hadn’t been for Ty, he wouldn’t
ever have found out.  He wasn’t supposed to be driving her to doctor’s appointments
and sitting in the waiting room waiting for her; he wasn’t supposed to be buying baby
furniture, and he wasn’t supposed to be offering to help her get a bigger place to live!
	She sat down on the couch and stared off into space.  The fact of the matter
was, he did know about the baby, and he was in the picture, and quite frankly, over the
past few weeks she had been able to find no real reason why he shouldn’t be. He wasn’t
mean, or rude, he wasn’t a unlikable person at all.  In fact, he was sweet, and gentle,
and kind — all the things a woman could want in a friend.  
	All the things a woman could want in a man! She grumbled to herself, as she
made that mental correction. Since they had started spending time together, getting to
know each other better, she had gradually become more and more comfortable around
him, to the point that she welcomed his visits and missed having him around when he
wasn’t there.  Dangerous ground, she told herself, reminding herself that the only reason
he was having anything to do with her at all was because of the baby.  If not for that, she
was hardly the type of woman he would have given a second glance to, she was certain
of that.  Letting herself fall for him would be a big mistake.  
	But it is his baby, she reminded herself, and he does deserve to be involved if he
wants to be.
	With a sigh, she glanced across the room to where Cole was leaning in the
bedroom doorway.  Behind him, inside the room, she could see the crib, with the
new linens and crib quilt already in place.  Cole had even mounted the colourful mobile
that she had got at the shower as well. He did want to be involved. He kept telling her
that. Maybe it was time for her to let him?  And, if she were going to do it, she might as
well jump in with both feet!
	“Cole,” she said, a little shakily. “There is something I need to know.”
	He looked at her across the small room. “What?” he asked cautiously.
	She took a deep breath. “Do you want the baby to have your name?”
	“My name?” he asked, as he crossed the room towards her. 
	She nodded. “Do you want this baby to have the McKinley name? Or would it be
less — less uncomfortable for you publicly if it was a Banks?”
	He knelt in front of her and took her face in his hands, looking deep into her eyes. 
On his face, she saw an expression that looked like she had just given him the world.  
	“Yes, Hannah!” he said softly.  “Yes! I want very much for this baby to have the
McKinley name!”
	And this time it was he who kissed her.