She wasn’t sick… she waspregnant.She was going to have a baby. His baby.Hewas going to have a baby.I’m going to be a father?
Then her last words registered. “Hold on. Why are you apologizing?”
“Well, it’s just… I know this must be a shock…”
“That’s putting it mildly.” He huffed out a laugh and raked a hand through his hair, and then he realized he was still holding her hand. He gave it a squeeze. “I bet it was a shock for you too.”
She looked up at him, her tears spilling over, and he knew that he had said the right thing. “I didn’t know what to do,” she confessed. “I know I should have called you right away.”
“When did you find out?”
“This morning. I woke up feeling sick, and I did the math and I took a test…”
“Hey.” It killed him, seeing her cry. He got to his feet and went over to her. Dropping to his knees, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her forward so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. “This is okay. We’re going to be okay.”
“I probably should have called you right away, I just didn’t know what to say…”
“I don’t want you to worry about that,” he told her firmly. “I’m here now. I know now.” He pushed her back a little so that he could look her in the eye. “How are you feeling? Are you actually sick? Do we need to go to a clinic or something?”
“No, I’m fine,” she said. “I felt sick this morning, but that passed, and I think it was normal. I’m not worried about that.”
“Okay. Well, we should still make an appointment to have you seen by a doctor.” Butterflies exploded in his stomach. “Oh my God, Stephanie—we’re having a baby.” He suddenly found that he couldn’t keep a giddy grin off his face.
“You’re happy?” Her eyes widened.
“Of course I’m happy! I told you that I dreamed of becoming a father one day, didn’t I? Having a real family of my own? I never imagined it would happen this soon, of course, but… everything you and I have done together has been so wonderful, even though it’s all come so much faster than I would have expected.Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something here. Maybe we’re supposed to be doing this together. Don’t you think that’s possible?”
She shook her head, but she was smiling. “I’ve been trying not to imagine this conversation with you,” she confessed. “I thought you were going to be… I don’t know. Not angry, but not happy. Shocked. Stressed. I never expected this from you.”
“No, I’m thrilled,” he said. “I mean, I know it’s going to be complicated. There’s a lot for us to figure out.” He took both of her hands. “But we’re going to figure it out together, and it’s going to be just the most amazing adventure, and I’m so excited to do this with you, Stephanie. Truly.”
She rose to her feet. Elijah did too, and the next thing he knew, she was in his arms.
“Thank you,” she breathed. “Thank you so much. I never could have dreamed of this moment. You’re so wonderful. I’m so glad it’s you.”
He held her, not pulling away, just relishing in the feeling of that moment. Her warmth up against him, the softness of her breathing, and the knowledge that at this very moment their unborn child was cradled between them.This is my family. This is the family I have always dreamed I would create someday. It’s really happening. I’m going to be a father.
He wanted to linger forever in that hug, but there were things to do. “We need to set you up a doctor’s appointment,” he said, stepping back. Her computer was sitting on the table, and he grabbed it and opened it. “Do you have someone you want to see? Or I can do a search and try to find someone with good reviews.” He opened the internet browser. The top tab was heremail inbox, and he meant to click out of it, but something caught his eye and he paused.
His father’s name.
Before he had registered what it might mean, before his thoughts had caught up with him at all, he was aware of a hollow sensation—a feeling of deep wrongness—in the pit of his stomach. “Why do you have an email from my father?”
Stephanie went rigid. “That… it’s not what it looks like.”
“What does it look like?” He skimmed down her inbox. “There are more of them. You’ve been corresponding regularly.”
“No. Not anymore. Not…” She took a deep breath. “I can explain.”
“Okay.” He turned to face her, spreading his palms on top of his thighs, fighting to keep his nerves steady. Whatever this was… maybe she was being honest. Maybe it wasn’t anything to feel weird about. He would let her explain.
“I met your father… the night I met you,” she said. “After you and I danced. He approached me and… well, and he asked me to spend time with you. He said he liked me better than the women you usually dated, and he wanted me to… to keep you out of trouble until the product launch.”
Her face was white as she spoke. She couldn’t look at him.
Elijah felt unsteady, like he might slip off his chair. “You’ve been seeing me—all this time—because my father asked you to?”
Her head jerked up. “Notall this time! Not at all! Once I realized I had feelings for you, real feelings, I reached out to him andtold him that the deal was off, and that I wasn’t going to take his money.”
