There was a text from Zane. “Already here. Can’t wait to see you.”
I beamed.
Callie glanced over and gave me a knowing look. “A message from Prince Charming, I take it?”
I shook my head. “Just…the quarterly sales projections came in. It’s good news,” I lied. Well, it was a half lie. The projections had come in earlier in the day and they were great news.
Callie nodded. “Patrick never showed up early for anything,” she replied knowingly.
I scowled at her playfully. She’d clearly read the text over my shoulder. “How did you possibly read my phone from all the way over there?”
Callie laughed. “Sisterly ESP. Sisterly ESP.”
Zane was perched nervously on his chair in the waiting room. He popped up like a bullet out of a gun when he saw me, rushing over and lifting me into a hug. Several of the pregnant women in the waiting room were staring jealously at both of us. I knew they recognized him. “How are you? How’s the baby?” he asked me, brushing back my hair.
I looked down, embarrassed but pleased. “Fine, Zane. But I guess we’ll know for sure in a few minutes.”
Callie came back with us into the ultrasound room. The doctor arrived. He never sent a tech to do my scans; he always did them himself. I was certain this was because this baby was Zane Reid’s baby. For once, I didn’t mind the extra, privileged attention.
“Zane, good to see you man,” said Dr. Fuentes. He was a tall, handsome man with tanned skin and salt-and-pepper hair at his temples. He’d been in the business of baby delivery for four decades. I trusted him implicitly. He reached his hand out to shake mine. “You’re looking radiant, Rachel.” I grinned. He turned around to greet Callie, who he’d met half a dozen times. Then he looked back at me. “So, today’s the big day! We find out if you’re having a girl or a boy.”
“Or a nachos bell grande from Taco Bell,” Callie joked from her corner.
Dr. Fuentes squeezed my hand and smiled good-naturedly at me. “Your appetite’s back, I take it?”
I nodded. “I’m like a fifteen-year-old soccer player after a three-day tournament.”
“It’s true,” Callie said. “We had to start ordering groceries so I didn’t have to go to the store every other day.”
Dr. Fuentes lowered the lights and pulled back my hospital gown. Zane sat beside me, cradling my hand in both of his. He kept kissing the back of my hand excitedly as he jiggled his leg, staring at the blank-for-now ultrasound screen. The gel was cold as it hit my stomach. Dr. Fuentes gently rocked the wand across my belly.
The sound of a rapid heartbeat filled the room. I heard Callie burst into tears from the corner. “Calm down,” I said, but I already felt the salty moisture cascading down my face. Zane squeezed my hand.
“It’s a girl!” Dr. Fuentes announced happily. “A beautiful, healthy baby girl.”
Callie squealed and ran over to me, taking my other hand. All three of us were crying, even Zane. I let go of Callie and flicked a tear off his dimpled cheek. “It’s sexy as hell to see a tattooed guy crying over a baby.”
He reached down and kissed my forehead. “A girl. We’re having a little girl.”
I lost myself in his blue eyes that were full of love.
Dr. Fuentes spoke again. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have another thing to tell you.”
All three of us snapped our heads toward him, panicking. “What?” I asked, my heart racing.
“It’s a girl,” he said.
I nodded slowly.
“Yeah, you already fucking said that, doc,” Zane said, as confused as I was.
Dr. Fuentes smiled like he was hiding a present behind his back for us three eager children to tear open. “It’s a girl. And it’s a girl. You’re having twins.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
RACHEL
“You’re looking perky,” I said to Callie, who was singing in the kitchen while she did the dishes. “Did you get fucked by someone finally?” I reached around my six-month-pregnant belly and into the fridge.
She beamed at me. “I quit my job today. For good.”
I dropped my jaw and the orange juice bottle nearly went with it. “Are you serious?”
She nodded. “Absolutely am.”
I squealed and hugged her. My arms comically didn’t reach her shoulders. I gave her a side hug. “I’m so proud of you. So what’s the plan?”
Callie sighed happily. “I don’t actually have a plan for once in my life. I’ve got a ton of money saved; the house is paid off. I’m going to take some time for myself.”
“I’m so happy for you, Calls. Really truly.” My phone buzzed.
“That’s loverboy sending you his ‘on the way’ text?” Callie said with a smile. “That boy is stuck hard on you, Rach.”
I smiled at her and answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey. Change of plans for tonight. Liz’s nanny is sick and her two backup babysitters can’t make it. Interested in watching some precious, angelic children for the evening? She pays well. Mostly in champagne and fancy cheeses.”
“Neither of which I can eat right now,” I reminded him.
“Fuck, that’s right. Well…I will make it worth your while, I promise.”
“Not in front of the kids, I hope,” I joked.
“My payment will have to be a raincheck. It’s only for a few hours while Liz goes on some hot date with a venture capitalist who’s in town for one night from Dubai or something,” Zane said.
“You know I’d do anything as long as it’s with you,” I said.
Callie made a gagging noise and mimed vomiting into the sink. I flipped her off with my middle finger.
Zane murmured appreciatively. “I love the sound of that. I’ll pick you up in a bit. Bring something entertaining.”
I laughed. “Like what? Silly string?”
“I already packed that. How about your charming wit?” Zane retorted.
“I never leave home without it.”
Two hours later all five of Liz’s boys had us tied to chairs and were running actual, literal circles around us and howling like wolves.
“Playing cops and robbers was not a good idea,” Zane yelled at me.
I was laughing too hard to care. “I think I can slip my knots.”
“I can’t. I took Ryan sailing last summer and taught him about eighteen different sailor’s knots. I’m not sure MacGyver could break these bonds.”
I rubbed my wrists together and the ropes came off. I stood up. “Okay, boys, I’ve got a new game. It’s called-“ I looked around the room hastily.
“Boiler Room,” Zane announced from his position as hostage.
The oldest, Ryan, laughed. “That’s mom’s show! I don’t want to watch TV.”
Zane shook his head. “You are officially the first ten-year-old in history to ever say that. No, I mean that each one of you needs to come up with a business idea. You have thirty minutes. Then you’ll come into the living room one at a time and present them to both me and Aunt Rachel, alright? The best plan gets ice cream.”
The boys yelled in excitement, the smallest one standing with his diaper around his ankles and a pacifier in his mouth. “Ryan, fix your brother’s diaper and help him come up with an idea,” I said.
The boys ran out of the room and upstairs to assemble their best ideas.
“Great thinking,” I said, impressed with the speed and apparent success of his idea.
“Thanks. Untie me, will you?”
I walked around to Zane’s chair and crossed my arms. “I think I should keep you like that for after the kids are in bed.”
Zane’s eyes flashed. “I love that idea. Except my hands are going numb. I swear Ryan has a career in front of him as Jason Bourne.”
The knot was so complex I actually had to cut it with a kitchen knife. Zane rubbed his wrists gratefully. “My hero,” he said, gently dipping me over his arm and kissing me on the mouth. “Let’s go sit by the fire pit with some cocoa w
hile the kids come up with their ideas,” Zane suggested. “I’ll go make it. Bring blankets.”
Ten minutes later I had the propane fire pit roaring and I was wrapped up in a soft blanket. The sun was just setting as Zane returned with a bag of marshmallows, two mugs of cocoa, and a wire hanger. “I would have never guessed that Liz would have a single wire hanger in her entire house,” I confessed.
Zane handed me my cocoa and bent the hanger until it was in a straight line. He impaled a marshmallow on the end and held it over the flames. “I thought we’d roast some now before the kids come out and eat the rest of the bag.”
“Good thinking. You’re going to make a great dad with that kind of foresight,” I said.
Zane stared into the flame, carefully turning the marshmallow to roast it evenly. “I was wondering when we were going to talk about that.”
“Talk about what?” I asked. But I already knew what he meant.
“Us being together-together. Not just dating. As a real, honest couple. As…parents to our two girls.”
I pulled my feet underneath the blanket. “I’m still not sure I trust you, Zane. We still haven’t even talked about that last appointment or what’s going on with your health.”
Zane nodded and lit the marshmallow on fire for two spectacular seconds before blowing it out quickly. He handed it to me. It was the perfect roast: golden brown everywhere with a charred hat. The inside was heated all the way through to gooey perfection; the outer shell crinkled and pulled away from the soft, unblemished insides.
He took a deep breath before speaking. “My dad had an aneurysm in his late twenties. I barely even remember him. My older brother died my last year in the NFL. Same thing. Same age as my dad. The doctors didn’t realize that it was hereditary, otherwise they might have been able to prevent it with my brother. So with me, I’ve been going for brain scans five times a year. The appointment you heard about, the one that made you break up with me? They found some shadows that were suspicious. Nothing big enough to do anything about yet or anything. But they’re keeping an eye on them.”
I nodded, licking my sticky fingers. “So they can do something about them?”
“Yeah. Once they’re a bit bigger; they go in and put a clip next to each of them. It takes care of it. The clips rarely fail, but there’s still a chance.”
I stared at him over the fire. “You know it wasn’t exactly the health problem in and of itself, right? It was the dishonesty. It was you withholding that from me. These are things I have a right to know about.”
Zane set down the wire coat hanger and took my hand in his. “I want you to be there for everything. I want you to know about everything from here on out. No secrets. No lies. But you should know there is a real risk that I won’t make it another couple of years. This will always be something I have to live with. I want your eyes open to the possibility that I won’t always be here the way you three need me.”
I put my hand on my stomach instinctively at the word ‘three.’ “It’s a lot for me to think about, honestly. I’m still not ready. I want to keep dating you like we’ve been doing. No pressure. Just being together. That’s all I want.”
Zane squeezed my hand and kissed my marshmallow-covered lips. “I love you, Rachel.”
We were interrupted by the arrival of all five boys. “We have ideas!” Three of them yelled. Then they all started talking at once and over each other. The tiniest boy, his diaper fixed and his coat on, walked over to the marshmallow bag to help himself.
We declared all five boys the winners. It was ice cream for everyone.
An hour later, after making the boys race each other in backyard sprints, they were miraculously exhausted and ready to fall into bed. Zane shut the final bedroom door with a sigh of relief.
I was leaning against the hallway wall with my arms crossed. “Exhausted yet?”
Zane smiled and took me into his arms. I looked up into his blue eyes. “Never,” he said. “Let’s have ten children. We can totally handle this.”
I rolled my eyes. We walked back downstairs, holding hands as Liz fell through the front doors of the house, dropping her keys and purse onto the floor and stepping out of her heels. “Rough night?” Zane asked.
“I need more wine,” Liz said. She wandered past us into the kitchen. “All the boys asleep?”
“Yup,” Zane replied.
“You two aren’t allowed to leave until I’ve had adult conversation with two people who aren’t complete ego maniacs.”
I collapsed onto the sofa and Zane sat next to me. Liz appeared with two wine glasses and a full bottle. “I hate venture capitalists. Why did I just put myself through all of that? What possible motivation could I have had to do that?” She sat back with her full glass of wine and looked around the spotless living room. “This place isn’t a pigsty. How is that possible? Did you hire a cleaning service? Not even my nanny manages to leave the place spotless after he’s been alone with the kids for an entire evening.”
“We made them clean up their mess,” I explained. “And we cheated by spending the second half of the night outside by the fire pit. Kind of kept the mess contained.”
Liz smiled. “You two will be great at this. You should have as many children as humanly possible.”
I laughed.
She didn’t. “I’m serious. It’ll be the best decision of your life.”
I could feel Zane’s eyes on me. “Yeah, I’m not really interested in being a stay-at-home mom,” I said. “I’d miss the lab and office too much.”
Liz motioned to Zane. “Make him do it. He hates being at the office.”
I looked at Zane, expecting him to demur. But he didn’t. “I would be open to that.”
My jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
“Absolutely.”
I let his words fall over me, trying to absorb them. I hadn’t expected that. We honestly hadn’t had many conversations about what the mechanics of all of this would be.
Liz waved her hands. “Okay, enough parenting talk. I need adult speak.”
We spent several more hours laughing and talking as friends. But in the back of my mind were the words that Zane had said. I would be open to that.
It was a bit like the entire world had just opened itself up to me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ZANE
My penthouse had been taken over by Babies R’Us. Colorful boxes filled with plastic toys, play places, bottles, diapers, and onesies littered the furniture and tables. We were getting new packages each day filled with gifts upon gifts.
Rachel was sexier than ever with her glowing curves. She was seven months along and I couldn’t keep my hands off of her. It was embarrassing for her but I also knew that she loved it. She sat on my lap, my arms wrapped around her, as she opened yet another gift. “What is a baby supposed to do with a solid-silver rattle?” she asked.
Michael scribbled furiously onto a yellow legal pad. “And who is that from again?”
“Oprah,” I answered.
Rachel shook her head. “I just don’t get it. Like, we have everything we need a thousand times over and this stuff just keeps pouring in. We can hardly move for stepping on baby stuff in here.”
A squeaking sound came from the kitchen. “Sorry, stepped on one of those French rubber giraffes,” Roger quipped. He poured hot chocolate for all of us, bringing the tray back over. “I think you could float the Titanic across the ocean with the number of those that you have hanging around this place.”
Rachel buried her head in her hands. I could tell she was getting overwhelmed. “I think we have ten cribs. Literally. Ten. Who sends a crib? And the strollers? We have literally twenty of them. And we said ‘no gifts’ when we sent the announcements out. Didn’t we, Michael?” She looked over at him.
“You did indeed, ma’am. I specified it at the engravers.”
Rachel sighed again. “And that! We had engraved pregnancy announcements. The decadence…it’s sick. There are so many women who have n
othing, not even baby formula.”
I stroked her back to calm her down. “You want to donate some more money to the women’s shelter?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
I looked at Michael. “Get it done, please,” I said. “Another hundred grand.”
Michael nodded and scribbled a reminder.
Roger opened up a package of cookies, the crinkling sound echoing around the room. “You could donate all this stuff. But like, set it up as a free store. Contact the women’s shelter and make it a private event. You could rent a space downtown, somewhere discreet. We could haul all this down there and set it up like a store but have it all be free.” He bit into an Oreo, crumbs cascading down his suit.
Rachel climbed off my lap and waddled adorably over to Roger. She bent down, took his head in her hands, and kissed him on the mouth. “You’re a genius.”
Roger had a smirk on his face. “If I come up with more great ideas do I get more kisses from the pregnant goddess?”
“Hey now,” I said, laughing. “Hands off my woman.” I stood up and grabbed Rachel to tickle her. She shrieked in delight. Her warm back pressed against my chest and suddenly I had a need for something else. “We’ll be back in a little while,” I said, scooping Rachel up off of her feet and carrying her into the bedroom. I slammed the door behind me and put her on the bed.
“Right now? With Michael and Roger out there?” But she was already squirming with anticipation. I could tell.
I pulled off her wool sweater and gazed at her tits and round, perfect stomach. She was glowing from the inside out. It was like her skin was filled with a thousand lights that radiated outward. I shimmied her panties down her ample, curvy ass. “Stand up,” I whispered in her ear. She shuddered and did as she was told. I bent her over the bed and ran my hands down her back, spanking her. She screamed.
I leaned down and whispered, grinning. “What happened to being self-conscious about Roger and Michael hearing us?”
She turned around, her eyes feverish, her lip trembling. “Just fuck me, Zane.”
I did as I was told, her enormous breasts in my hands as I took her from behind, feeling every groan and crashing wave of pleasure overtake my body.
Baby Love: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 17
