Fated Memories Read Online Free PDF Page B

know the one thing I’ve wanted more than anything else in my life is for us to have a child.” Martha’s voice took on a little girl tone. “I never gave up hope of someday realizing that dream. Now that dream is within my reach.”
    “ Does this child really mean that much to you?” John’s gray eyes softened.
    “ Does she mean that much to me?” Martha pulled away from him. “John! I am the one who brought her into this world! I am the one who comforted her after her own mother abandoned her! I will not lose her! Do you hear me? I will not lose her!”
    “ All right, darling.” He pulled her back into his arms. “What do you want me to do?”
    Sure now that she had him on her side, Martha allowed her tense body to relax. “After Jessie’s funeral, I want you to persuade Charlotte to let us adopt Tia.” She drew her head back to stare up at him. “Since you’re the best attorney in Boston, you shouldn’t have any problem.”
    In an instant Martha felt John’s lean body stiffen.
    “ You know a person should never make important decisions right after they’ve suffered a major shock.” John kept his gaze steady, forcing her to look at him. “Are you willing to risk the chance of Charlotte changing her mind later?”
    “ After the papers are signed, it would be too late.” Her voice rose in self-satisfied triumph. “Tia would be ours!”
    “ Not if Charlotte claimed she had been under duress when she signed those papers.” John stepped away from her. “And believe me, if she did, she’d win!”
    In shocked bewilderment, she looked at him. “Why are you doing this?” She stamped her small foot with impatience. “You don’t care if I lose this baby, do you?”
    “ I care about you, Martha.” John’s voice lowered to his usual business tone. “I care about what it could do to you, if I allow you to keep this child, just to lose her later on. You know what happened after we lost our own child.” The pain of that time rushed to the front of his mind, bringing with it all the memories and suffering that they both had endured. Martha had braved the endless hours of hard labor. He had stood by, watching her suffer, unable to help. In the end, they had clung to each other, sharing their grief over the death of their son. The doctors told John the baby’s death was brought on due to the underdevelopment of his lungs.
    “ I can’t take the chance of letting you go through that much pain again.” With determination born of strict discipline, John pushed the memory back deep inside where it usually lived, only to surface in the quiet hours of the night.
    “ But, John, that isn’t going to happen.” Martha tried to make him listen, her green eyes pleading for him to understand. “Charlotte is my sister. She would never try to hurt me.”
    Steeling his heart against her suffering, he tried once more to reason with her. “Martha, I love you with all my heart, but I can’t, in good conscience, stand by, while you take advantage of a woman filled with grief.”
    Martha stepped back, squaring her thin shoulders. “Then you refuse to help me.”
    “ I didn’t say that. I said I won’t take advantage of Charlotte while she is mourning the death of her child. I will, however, talk with her about our keeping the child until she has had a chance to get over her shock.” He watched a glimmer of hope creep back into her eyes. “As for our adopting this baby, I doubt I will even consider it until enough time has passed that I feel safe.”
    “ Oh, John!” she squealed, hugging him close to her. “Thank you!”
    “ It’s against my better judgment to allow you to keep this child, providing, of course, Charlotte agrees, knowing you could still lose her. But, I can already see there is no talking you out of it.”
    “ We won’t lose her, John. God would never be that cruel.”
    Unable to argue further against such strong optimism, John placed a gentle kiss on her pale head before turning