A Baby for the Boss

by Maureen Child

  “How is this funny?” Sean demanded. “I’m trapped in an empty hotel with a crabby contractor and a mountain of snow outside the door.”

  “Clearly,” Mike said finally, “it’s only funny from California. But have you got food, heat?”

  “Yeah,” Sean said, then spoke to someone in the room with him. “Come here for a minute. Meet my brother.”

  A second or two later, a woman popped onto the screen. Pretty, with a heart-shaped face and a wide mouth, she had black hair and eyes as blue as Sean’s. She was wearing a baseball cap pulled low on her forehead and what looked like a heavy green sweater.

  “Hi, I’m Kate and you’re Mike,” she said, words tumbling over each other. “Nice to meet you, but we don’t have a lot of time to talk. There’s firewood outside, we need to bring it in before the rest of the storm hits. Don’t worry, though. There’s plenty of food since I make sure my crew is fed while they work and we’ve been out here this last week taking measurements and getting ideas about the work.”

  “Okay.” Mike threw that word in fast, thinking he probably wouldn’t have another chance to speak. He was right.

  “The storm’ll blow through in a day or two and the plows will have the pass cleared out pretty quickly, so you can have your brother back by the end of the week.”

  “Okay...”

  Sean grabbed the phone and told Kate, “I’ll be right there to help. Yeah. Okay.” When he looked back at Mike, he was shaking his head. “I was this close—” he held up two fingers just a breath apart “—from getting outta Dodge. Now I don’t know when I’ll get out. Tell Mom not to worry and don’t bother calling me. I’m going to shut off the cell phone, conserve power.”

  “Okay.” In spite of the fact that he’d been amused only a few minutes ago by Sean’s situation, now Mike wondered. “You sure you’ll be all right?”

  Sean laughed now. “I’m the outdoors guy, remember? There may not be any waves to surf out here, but I’ll be fine. I’ve been camping in worse situations than I’ve got here. At least we have a roof and plenty of beds to choose from. I’ll call when I can. Just keep a cappuccino hot for me because I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “I will. And, Sean?” Mike added, “Don’t kill the contractor.”

  Smirking, Sean said, “I make no promises.”

  * * *

  Two weeks later, Jenny was fighting a resilient flu that just refused to go away.

  Every morning her stomach did an oily slide toward rebellion and every morning she fought it back. She was simply too busy to let some determined bug knock her flat. So she went to work, forced herself to eat and by evening was usually feeling if not great, at least better. Until the next day when it would all start again.

  Hunched over her tablet, Jenny made notes on the hotel murals, then shifted files and added a few more finishing touches on the Wise Woman sketches for “The Wild Hunt.” The witch was great and the addition to the script had really given the game that extra punch.

  She’d even played the beta game the day before herself just to see how difficult it really was to find the extra runes that would free the witch. It was a challenge. So she knew the hardcore gamers among their fans were going to love it.

  Yawning, she shut down that program and called up the list of artists and painters she’d developed. She’d need to hire at least three or four people to help her with the murals and would have to check out their qualifications first.

  Sunlight slanted in through the windows of the graphic arts department and all around her conversations and ripples of laughter rang out. Fingers hit keyboards, rock music played softly from one of the cubicles, and here and there in the room people bent their heads together to go over the work.

  None of the distractions bothered her because Jenny was used to working with background noise. She’d never yet met an artist who did their best work in sterile silence. So while her friends and colleagues worked the games, Jenny went to artists’ websites.

  She looked at portfolios, studied techniques, then checked the artists’ bios and read about their backgrounds. Artists were usually solitary people, but she needed those who could work with others and take instruction. That was the hard part and she knew it. Most artists treasured their own vision of whatever they were working on at the time and didn’t much care for someone else coming in and telling them what to do next.

  But in this case, whoever was hired had to be willing to go along with the plans for the murals and portraits. They had to stick to the creative brief that Jenny was still finishing and not waste time arguing over the direction of the project.

  She yawned and scrolled through the bio of a Nevada artist who specialized in fantasy paintings. His work was stellar but the smugness of his bio convinced Jenny he wasn’t a team player.

  “Next,” she muttered and closed the page before moving on to another name on her list. She only needed to find one more artist and then she could get moving on the actual painting on-site.

  “Hey, Jen—”

  She looked up and smiled at Casey Williams. New to the company, Casey was a talented intern. She’d only worked at Celtic Knot for a couple of months, but she’d slid right into the mix as if she’d always been there. About twenty-five, Casey was married with a baby son. She had long dark hair that lay in a single braid across her shoulder. Her T-shirt was bright red, her jeans were a faded gray and her flip-flops revealed the green polish on her toes.

  “What’s up, Casey?” Jenny smothered another yawn behind her hand.

  “Dave wants to know if you’ve finished tweaking the Wise Woman—”

  “Yes, just a few minutes ago. I’ll email the file to him.”

  “Cool. And I just want to say, I love your vision of her.” Casey’s hands were gripped together at her waist. “I saw the prelim sketches and they’re amazing. It was a great idea to include her as a surprise for gamers. But the images are what really grabbed me. She’s powerful and beautiful and— You don’t look so hot.”

  Jenny laughed shortly. And here she thought she’d been so good about covering up how miserable she felt. “Thanks.”

  “No.” Casey backtracked fast. “No, I mean, you look like you still don’t feel well.”

  “Actually, I really don’t,” Jenny said, shaking her head, then regretting the abrupt motion because it wobbled her already unsteady stomach a little. For days, she’d been dragging around the office, trying to concentrate on the work even while her body continually reminded her she should be home in bed.

  “Um...” Casey glanced around her, as if checking to make sure no one could overhear them. Then she sat down on the edge of a chair and leaned in closer. “I know we don’t know each other very well yet, so this is probably out of line. But you’ve been feeling sick for a week or more now, right?”

  “Yes...” Jenny said, wondering where this was going.

  “I know this is none of my business.” Casey took a breath and then let it go. “But I know the signs because I lived them myself a year ago.”

  Confused, Jenny asked, “What’re you talking about? What signs?”

  “Is it possible,” Casey asked gently, “that this isn’t the flu? That maybe you’re pregnant?”

  Shock held Jenny in place for a slow count of ten. Her mind, however, was racing. Thinking. Counting.

  “Oh, my God.” Panic rose up and choked off the nausea in the pit of her stomach. She did some fast calculating again, running through the numbers, the weeks, the possibilities. And ended up wheezing for air.

  “Yeah,” Casey whispered, nodding in understanding, “that’s what I thought.”

  Oh, God, how far out of it was she that another woman was the one who had to tell her she was pregnant? How had she missed this? But even as she asked herself that, she knew the answer. She hadn’t figured it out because she hadn’t
wanted to. Her relationship with Mike was so...tricky, a pregnancy was going to change everything.

  Casey was still talking; excited, comforting, worried, Jenny couldn’t be sure. All she really heard was a buzz of sound from the other woman. It was as if Jenny’s head were filled with cotton, muffling everything but the pounding of her own heart.

  Pregnant? By her boss?

  It was more than possible, she knew. Instantly, her mind dragged up images from over the past few weeks. Incredible sex, sharing moments with Mike that she wouldn’t trade for anything. They’d used protection of course, but no contraception worked 100 percent guaranteed. Would Mike believe that, though? No, he wouldn’t.

  Oh, God.

  She blinked and the office came back into focus. She looked at Casey, and saw the woman’s encouraging smile. All around her, life went on as usual, with no one but Casey aware that Jenny’s world had just taken a major shift. She took a breath, tried to calm down, but that wasn’t going to happen. Not until she knew, for sure. She could suspect she was pregnant, but until she knew without a doubt, she wouldn’t be able to think clearly. Wouldn’t be able to face Mike, with this suspicion simmering in her bloodstream. She had to know. Now. Suddenly, she couldn’t sit there a moment longer.

  Jenny grabbed her purse out of her desk drawer, then lunged to her feet. “You know, I really think I should just go home early.”

  “Are you worried?” Casey asked gently. “About how your boyfriend’s going to take the news? I was nervous before I told my husband.” She smiled to herself. “There was no reason to be. He was excited. Happy.”

  Mike wouldn’t be. But Jenny couldn’t say that because no one in the office knew she and Mike were together. Oh, this just got more and more complex.

  Still, she forced a smile she didn’t feel and lied to the nice woman still watching her. “I’m sure you’re right and he will be. But right now, I think I just need to lie down for a while.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Casey said and stood up, too. “Take care of yourself and if you need anything—” She shrugged. “Call me, okay?”

  “Sure. I will. Um, thanks, Casey.”

  “No problem. Drive safe.”

  Drive, Jenny told herself as she left the office and headed for the parking lot. Straight to a drugstore where she’d buy a few pregnancy tests and take them all. For the first time in her life, she was actually hoping she had the flu.

  * * *

  She didn’t.

  An hour later, Jenny looked at the five test strips lined up on her bathroom counter. Every last one of them was positive. She hadn’t trusted one kind of test, either. She’d bought different ones, tried them all. And they all proved her suspicions right.

  “I guess that’s it, then,” she murmured, lifting her gaze to her own reflection in the bathroom mirror. “I’m going to have a baby. Mike’s baby.”

  Both hands covered her flat belly as if cradling the child within. She waited, meeting her own eyes in the mirror, trying to decipher the myriad emotions racing through her. Sure, panic was in there, but it wasn’t uppermost in her mind. First and most important, there was excitement.

  This wouldn’t be easy, she admitted silently, but nothing great ever was. There was a lot to think about, to plan for. First, of course, she had to tell Mike. She wouldn’t even try to keep this from him, even knowing how he was going to react.

  Her heart hurt as she thought about the confrontation that would come soon. He’d never trusted her and this news was going to convince him that he had been right about her all along. She still had to tell him that she was carrying his child. Even if he wanted nothing to do with her afterward. Even if he walked out and never looked back.

  She took a breath to steady herself, but the twinges of pain still squeezed her heart. Mike wasn’t going to be happy. But Jenny was. There had never been a future for her and the man she loved, but now when he walked away, she would have something of him, forever. A baby. Her own child. Her own family. Someone to love. Someone who would love her.

  She hadn’t planned this, but now that the baby was here, she wouldn’t change it, either.

  “I promise, I want you,” she whispered, voice soft with wonder as her palms stroked her belly. “You’ll be loved and you’ll never have to worry about me walking away. About being left alone. You’ll be safe, I swear it.”

  She lifted her chin, stiffened her spine and resolved then and there that no matter what Mike said, what he tried to make her feel, she wouldn’t lose this excitement. This sense of pure joy that was already whipping through her like lightning strikes. She hadn’t expected this pregnancy, but she would never regret it.

  She would give this child the life she had always wanted. It would grow up loved and secure and it would never, ever doubt its mother’s love.

  Jenny took a steadying breath and tried to steer her celebratory thoughts back down into more immediate concerns. Like facing Mike—and the possibility that she would have to change jobs. Even if he didn’t fire her and who knew, he very well might, working at Celtic Knot over the next few months could be very uncomfortable.

  But before she made any decisions, she had to tell Mike.

  Jenny watched her reflection wince. That conversation wasn’t going to be pretty. He would never believe she hadn’t planned this pregnancy. And any semblance of warmth that had sprung up between them over the past few weeks was going to dissipate.

  She hated knowing that. Hated understanding that her time with Mike was going to end. But not only did she love the man, she knew him. So she had to prepare herself for the fact that once he knew the truth, all of her fantasies would be over.

  When her cell phone rang she went out to answer it. Seeing Mike’s name on the screen didn’t even surprise her. Of course he would call when she was thinking about him. Of course she wouldn’t have time to get used to this staggering news before having to tell him and weather the inevitable fallout. But maybe it was better this way. Worrying over the coming confrontation would only tie her up in knots anyway.

  Steeling herself, she answered. “Hi, Mike.”

  “Jenny, are you all right?” She closed her eyes at the sound of his voice. At the concern ringing in his tone. “Casey says you went home sick.”

  Sick. Well, technically, her stomach was still feeling a little iffy, but it was so much more.

  “I’m okay, but, Mike,” she said, mentally preparing herself for what was to come, “we have to talk.”

  * * *

  An hour later, Mike stood in her living room staring down at the five test sticks she’d laid out on the coffee table. Brain burning, heart pounding, Mike stared at the evidence in front of him and still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it. He took a few deep breaths, willing himself to calm down, to beat back the sense of betrayal and suspicion that slapped at him.

  “Pregnant?” He shifted his gaze to the woman across the room from him. Her blond hair curled around her head. Her blue eyes were wide and shone with an innocence he couldn’t trust. She wore those silly flannel pants and a yellow tank top that bared her shoulders and hugged her generous breasts. His gaze dropped to her belly briefly as he tried to imagine a child—his child—nestled inside.

  He couldn’t do it.

  “How the hell did that happen?”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “Really?”

  He pushed both hands through his hair and scrambled for patience. “I know how, so don’t get cute. But we used a condom. Every time.”

  “I know,” Jenny said, wrapping her arms around her middle almost defensively, “but nothing’s a hundred percent.”

  “Well, they damn well should be,” he argued. What the hell as the point of using a damn condom if they didn’t do their job? “Unless...” Mind clicking along, racing down dark, twisted, tangled roads, he said, “You had those
condoms in your drawer.”

  “So?”

  He didn’t answer that question. Instead, he turned and stalked into her bedroom, tore open the drawer and grabbed one of the condoms still there. Had they been damaged somehow? Had she found a way to sabotage them so... He saw the date stamped on the bottom of the foil.

  “What’re you doing?” Jenny asked as she came into the room behind him.

  “I thought maybe you’d done something to these,” he muttered, turning to look at her, still holding the damn condom. “I don’t know, poked holes in them with a needle or something.”

  She gaped at him. “Are you serious?”

  He ignored that, just as he paid no attention to the look of astonishment on her face. She wasn’t an innocent and he should have remembered that before allowing himself to slide into an affair that could only end badly. “Turns out you didn’t have to. How the hell long have you had these things?”

  She blinked in confusion, then said, “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Just answer the question.”

  Frowning at him, she said, “They were party favors at a bachelorette party I went to five years ago.”

  “Five years.” Nodding, he curled his fingers around the condom package and squeezed.

  “Does that matter?”

  A short, sharp laugh shot from his throat. “Yeah. It matters. Especially since they expired five years ago.” He couldn’t believe this.

  “What do you mean?” She practically pried his fingers apart to snatch the packet from him. “Condoms can expire?”

  “You thought they lasted forever?”

  “No,” she said, “I never thought about it. Why would I? It’s not like they have to be refrigerated or anything. Who would expect they could go bad? They’re in their own little foil packs for heaven’s sake.”

  “That’s just perfect,” he muttered and thought back to the first night with her here, at her house, and how damned grateful he’d been that she had condoms on hand. He’d never checked them out. Never thought to make sure they were good.