He just shook his head.
“Christopher, I love you. It was a mistake. I was hurting and went back to where we met. I walked around my old neighborhood. I ate at a restaurant I used to go to, and now some guy named Dane owns it. I got drunk, and angrier, and sadder, and made a mistake,” I said, half yelling, half crying.
He didn’t say a word. He went upstairs to our room. I followed him, but he moved too fast. He was in the room with the door locked as I was just reaching the top of the stairs.
I knocked and beat on it, apologizing and telling him I loved him, but I didn’t hear him say anything back. After a few minutes of me just being pressed to the door, apologizing, it opened and I stumbled into him making his way out.
He had on a fresh suit and shades.
He made his way down the stairs without even acknowledging me. I followed him, but he steadily increased the distance between us.
“Where are you going?” I asked, still crying.
He kept walking.
“When will you be back?” I said.
Silence.
“Christopher, I love you,” I said as he reached the front door.
He stopped for a moment. Then, without looking back, he stepped through the door.
I didn’t follow. I knew he didn’t want me to.
Chapter 8
Weeks went by without a word from Chris. My messages to his office went unreturned. Eventually, I was asked to stop calling.
He still seemed to be paying for our place and utilities, because nothing was turned off. He also seemed to be paying for the personal chef, because she came every day and cooked as much as the morning I first met her.
I hoped these things meant that he still loved me, but more and more I felt like they were a parting gift. At least he wasn’t a man who would just leave me stranded.
One morning the phone rang, but knowing it wouldn’t be him I had started letting all the calls go to the machine. This one was another doctor’s appointment. I was roughly nine weeks at the first visit. Christopher had not seen me since then. I had started to show. My butt, boobs, and a small bump undeniably announced to the world I was having a baby.
I’m sure to Christopher it was all more reminders that I was not having his baby. It also probably reminded him that I had gotten pregnant by another man while I was his girl.
I’m not his girl anymore. A heartbreaking thought.
He was not at the twelve- or sixteen-week appointments. I doubted he would be with me now for the twentieth.
I tried to build a little excitement for myself. I was still going to be a mother. This visit I would find out if I was welcoming a sweet baby boy or girl. I didn’t have a preference. I knew life for the baby and me would be a challenge either way.
I looked down at my hand. My fingers were getting more and more plump and the engagement ring Christopher had given me just seemed out of place on my hand.
“I think it may be time to take you off,” I said to the ring.
It gleamed at me, but said nothing.
“What do you think, little one?” I said giving my tummy a little pat.
I felt a few small kicks and some other movement.
“I’m sorry I messed things up with your father. Not the one I made you with, but your father. The one who would have really loved us both. Mommy is an idiot, but I promise, where you are concerned I will always make the best decision.”
I gave my tummy a good rub and felt a firm kick. For the first time, the little thumps and bumps were strong enough that I could see the movement. That was all the reassurance I needed to try one more time.
I called Christopher’s office.
“You know you aren’t supposed to call here anymore,” his assistant said.
She was a nice, middle-aged black woman. She liked Chris and me together, but she was pretty open minded. One of her daughters was a lesbian, the other had a stereotypical hetero same-race marriage, and her son had married a white woman he’d met in college. Before becoming Christopher’s secretary, she had been a family friend whose husband had died. She was good at her job, but it also kept her busy since her kids were grown and moved away, and Chris was like a fourth child to her.
She had been upset with me about what happened between us, but also understood a mistake was a mistake. She hoped we’d get back together.
“Can you just tell him that the ultrasound is at the end of the month?” I asked.
There was a moment of silence on the phone.
“I’ll make sure he is aware,” she said.
Then she hung up. I sat back and continued to talk to the baby about the man who should have been his or her father.
Before bed that night, I took the ring off. The following morning, I had it messengered to Christopher’s office.
Chapter 9
Two more weeks had passed and it was the day of the appointment. I ate a lighter breakfast that morning and got dressed. It was my first time venturing out in maternity clothes.
I had fixed my hair and makeup and painted my toes as best as I could. I had called a taxi the day before, so when I left the building it was already waiting for me. The ride to the doctor was short, but everything except the furniture at home and a nightgown or pajamas felt uncomfortable and hot.
As I looked around the waiting room there were a few women like me, who were there alone, but most of them had engagement or wedding rings. There were others who were there with their husbands. None of them were alone, really. Not like I was.
One by one they were called into their appointments. Without Chris I didn’t receive special treatment from the staff, not that I needed it. I really didn’t care about that, I just wished he was there.
“Alicia Meadows?” a nurse called.
“Yes, ma’am. Coming,” I said, gathering the large purse I’d brought. It really only held my wallet and some snacks. Well, and a comb and some lotion, but strictly essentials.
The nurse showed me to one of the ultrasound rooms. I had made an appointment for the longer session so I could get video of the baby.
After showing me to the room and helping me get in the correct position on the raised bed, she assured me the doctor would be in soon and left. All I could do was wait.
I had gotten into the habit of talking to the baby, so I did.
“When we are done here, would you like to have a burger? Mommy has a taste for a loaded burger, some fries, and a lemonade. You didn’t let me eat much this morning. Thanks for dialing down the morning sickness, though. I appreciate that. We have had a few rough weeks lately,” I said, patting my tummy.
“You have,” said a man’s voice entering the room.
I knew without looking that it was Christopher. I would know his voice anywhere. I didn’t look around, and I didn’t hear his voice or footsteps come any closer. I sat up slightly, then lay back as the nurse had left me again.
“I have. We have. My morning sickness got pretty bad, so I lost weight instead of gaining it until recently. They put me on two nausea medications and an iron pill. The said my hemoglobin count was too low,” I said.
I heard him step slightly closer.
“Are you doing better?” he asked.
“Mostly. I eat. It doesn’t always stay down, but that’s pregnancy, right?”
I tried to laugh at my own bad joke, but it almost turned to crying, so I just focused on the wall ahead of me. I went back to rubbing my tummy, and it moved a little.
When he saw that, Christopher came around beside me. He stared at my stomach.
“I’m surprised you came,” I said.
“I’m surprised I came, too,” he said.
The doctor walked in and Christopher stepped back to give him room for the ultrasound. The baby wiggled and squirmed and put on quite a show, but never gave a good view of its genitals. I left the office with a good video of a healthy active baby, but no more idea of whether I was preparing for a boy or girl. In the photos the doctor provided there were two frames tha
t really stood out. One was a clear shot of the baby’s face, which looked mostly like mine as a child. The other image was the baby’s hand. During the ultrasound the baby had seemed to wave at us.
Chapter 10
We walked down the stairs of the medical practice together. He didn’t say anything, and I didn’t either.
Just as I put my hand out to flag a taxi, he offered to give me a ride.
“I changed my lunch today so I could come to you appointment, so I have a company car with a driver,” he said.
I thought for a moment, then nodded in acceptance.
“You can just drop me off at the old place. I could use a nap,” I said, trying to help keep things short and avoid being any more awkward.
“Are you sure? You and the baby were discussing getting a burger when I first came into the examination room,” he teased.
I gave a small laugh.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I can eat at home. There is plenty there and I can be more relaxed. I know where the bathroom is if I have to pee or the baby decides we didn’t really want a burger,” I joked back.
“Well, I was thinking I might join you for lunch. If you don’t mind. We can order something and have it brought to the house. Send the cook away for the rest of the afternoon,” he said.
“Absolutely. I mean, that’s fine. If you want,” I stammered.
“I do,” he said.
“You do?” I asked.
“Yes, I do,” he repeated.
This time he shifted in his seat to face me.
“May I?” he asked reaching a hand toward my bump.
“Yes, of course. Please,” I said.
He put a hand to my tummy and didn’t say anything for a long moment. In fact, we were almost at our destination before he spoke or moved his hand.
He lifted it and then placed both hands gently and said, “Hello, I’m Chris. Your father.”
At that moment my stomach began to move and bulge in all different directions. My heart beat just as wildly.
Once we reached the building Christopher was out of the car quickly. As I shifted to open the door, it opened for me. As the driver helped me out of my seat, I turned to see Chris kneeling down again. He presented the ring I had returned.
“We don’t share blood, but if you will have me, we will all share a name and a life. I just want to wake up and go to bed with you, and your child is my child is our child. Marry me,” he said.
I couldn’t speak, but he knew. He put the ring on my finger. He kissed me. He knew.
THE END
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AFRICAN AMERICAN URBAN FICTION: BWWM ROMANCE: Billionaire Baby Daddy (Billionaire Secret Baby Pregnancy Romance) (Multicultural & Interracial Romance Short Stories) Page 151
