Angel's Messiah by Melanie Tomlin Read Free Book Online Page A

Whichever he decided didn’t matter, it would be a good warm up for the other dancing still to come.
    “Tango, I think,” Danny said.
    “How did you know what I was thinking?”
    “If you thought it any louder our nearest neighbours a couple of hundred kilometres away would have heard it,” he chuckled.
    “Oh,” I said.
    It must be another pregnancy thing, along with vagueness. It was a good thing I could summon things. I kept putting stuff down and forgetting where I’d put it, and forever had to summon it back to me.
    I stepped out of the pool, naked and dripping, and returned to the cottage. Danny met me in the ballroom and suitably attired us. My costume was a bit tight — I was putting on weight — and I adjusted it accordingly.
    An hour into the dance Danny switched to a slow dance. He was trying to wind me down. I didn’t mind. The more energy I saved now, the more I could expend later. As we slowly made our way around the dance floor I was conscious of my stomach pressing up against Danny.
    “Danny, I’ve been thinking.”
    “About what?” he asked dreamily, contentedly.
    “About the baby,” I said. “It’s going to need a room of its own and lots of things. Babies are a lot of work.”
    “Don’t worry too much, we can cater for her every need.”
    Danny had his heart set on having a girl. I hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed if it were a boy.
    “I know we can, but I’d really like to do this the way it would be done if I were still mortal. I want the whole shopping experience.”
    “Shopping,” Danny groaned.
    “Yes, shopping, and I want us to do it as a couple. I think it’ll be great fun buying all the stuff the baby will need.” I pushed my belly hard against Danny to remind him what we were talking about. “I’ve still got my credit cards.”
    He laughed and hugged me tight, in a warm, safe cocoon. “What is it about spending money that you like so much?”
    “Finding a bargain or that special little thing is very much like the thrill of the hunt. I get a real adrenaline rush out of it. Shopping helped me through some hard times years ago.”
    Danny nodded his head. He still felt guilty about what had happened to me after he’d died — how I’d suffered, and the things I’d done as a direct result of his death. If there was one thing that would guarantee me getting my way, it was playing the guilt card, intentionally or not.
    “When do mortals usually do their baby shopping?” he asked.
    “It depends if they’re superstitious or not. Most miscarriages happen in the first three months, so a lot of people don’t shop before then. There are lots of women who think having any baby clothes in the house before the baby is born is bad luck.”
    “What’s your opinion on it?”
    “I say you get started on that room today. I want to go shopping, and we’ll need somewhere to put everything.”
    “Did you want me to create the room now?”
    I thought about it, for all of two seconds, and nibbled his ear.
    “After,” I said. “It can wait until after.”
     
    Danny created the baby’s room off our bedroom. Like when he’d added the ballroom, from the outside the cottage looked no different, though on the inside it was bigger. He made everything pink. I hated it. It looked like some sort of fantasy room for dirty old men to get their rocks off with girls dressed in school uniforms. It reminded me that the baby’s education was another thing we’d need to discuss.
    “I don’t mind a mix of pale pink and pale blue, but not this,” I snorted. “It’s disgusting.”
    “I’ve never dealt with babies before. I don’t know what’s right and wrong. You’ll need to provide me with some guidance,” he said.
    “Oh,” I replied, not that I’d had much to do with babies either. “Well how about I take care of decorating and you can be in charge of assembling all the furniture we’re going to buy.”
    Danny shook his head. I wondered if he wondered what he’d gotten