Sweet Temptation

by Angel Steel

  “Have you always been like that?”

  “No, the last two years I’ve been under a lot of stress.”

  The doctor sat down in front of Skylar. “Well, I’ve found out why you haven’t been yourself.”

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Congratulations, you’re pregnant.”

  “Really? Are you sure?” She couldn’t believe it.

  “That’s what the test says. The blood work will confirm it, and I’ll print out a form for a scan, so we’ll know how far along you are.”

  Nodding was all she could do. Skylar waited as Marian printed out the test form and scan test.

  “After you have had the blood and scan done, come back in a month, and we’ll go from there.”

  “Thank you.” Skylar stood and walked out of the room, heading to the reception desk to pay. Once she was finished, she met Alex at his truck.

  “So, did the doctor figure out what was wrong?”

  Leaning against his truck, she handed him the test papers. “Jesus, darling.”

  “How am I going to tell him, Alex?” Skylar sobbed.

  “I’ll come with you to tell him.”

  “I just can’t believe it.”

  “You’re not alone with this. Both Craig and I will be with you every step of the way.”

  “What would I do without you two in my life?”

  Alex wrapped both arms around her and kissed her lightly on her head. “Let’s go and do these tests.” He helped her up into his truck, and then slid in beside her and started the engine. “It will all work out.”

  “I hope so,” she whispered.

  After the blood test, they went and got the scan done. She needed someone with her for support. After it was done, they returned home. Her first scan showed she was seven weeks pregnant. She placed her hand over her belly; she couldn’t believe she was carrying Nate’s child. She had always wanted children, but didn’t know how Nate would feel about it. Skylar was both scared and excited; she didn’t know how he would react to the news.

  “So, when are you going to tell him, darling?” Alex asked.

  Skylar looked over at him, “Tonight, when I go over there. I don’t want to wait too long.”

  “Okay, baby girl,” he said.

  As they pulled up in their driveway she could see Nate working on a car out back. God, he was gorgeous, she thought. As if he could feel her looking at him, he turned around and smiled at her. Skylar smiled back at him. She went inside and placed the scans in her office, then went to grab a drink. Closing the fridge and turning around, she was caught by surprise, “Jesus Christ, Nate! You scared me.”

  Nate was leaning against the door and looking sexy as hell. Skylar held a hand over her heart and tried to control her heavy breathing.

  “Sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He walked up and gave her a kiss.

  “You look better than you did this morning; everything okay now?” he asked.

  Skylar looked up in to his eyes. “Much better now.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “I just wanted to stop by quick to see if you were all right,” Nate said.

  “Okay, I’ll see you later on.”

  He walked out the back door, towards his place. She had no idea how she was going to tell him she was carrying his child. Maybe if she waited a week or two to tell him she might know exactly how she was going to do it. Placing her glass in the sink, she made her way to her room. Finding the book she was reading last week, she opened it at the last page she was at. She went over several ways she could tell him, but none of them sounded very good. She didn’t want to just say, “I’m pregnant, and it’s yours.” How lame would that be? She settled on finding out how he felt about kids and if he actually wanted any; that would be a good place to start.

  * * *

  Nate finished up on the car he was working on two hours later. He closed up his shop, and went inside to clean up. When he seen Skylar pulling up in the driveway, he wanted to know if she was all right. The last couple of days she wasn’t acting herself, and really didn’t look that well either. It was a relief seeing her earlier and noticing that the colour was back in her face and she didn’t look sick anymore.

  Nate decided to prepare his famous beef stroganoff for tonight. The meat was already thawed, and all he had to do was place the rice in the rice cooker and get the vegetables ready. Dessert was a different story. I don’t have to do much there, he thought with a smile. Walking from his room, he heard a knock at his door. Who would that be? Reaching for a towel, he stomped towards his door and swung it open.

  “Hello,” Natalie said.

  “You’re early,” he growled.

  “I didn’t want to come too late,” she whispered.

  He moved aside to let her in.

  “You look good,” Natalie said, moving past him.

  “Start explaining, Natalie,” he said, folding his arms over his chest.

  Taking a seat on the sofa, she turned to him. “Your son’s name is William. I named him after your grandfather. His birthday is the seventeenth of January and he’ll be turning six next year,” she whispered.

  “How can I be so sure he is mine, Natalie?” His anger was escalating.

  “You’re the only one who hasn’t done a DNA test. Plus, do the math, Nate. We were only together for a year when I got pregnant.”

  “You were also sleeping with someone else at that time too, remember?” He sat down opposite her. Was it possible that it was his son?

  Natalie stood and walked towards him, “He looks like you, Nate. He has the same green eyes and dimples. No one I have ever met has eyes like yours. It runs in your family.”

  “What do you want from me, Natalie, if he is my son?” This was too much for him.

  “I want us to be a real family, Nate. I want to start over.” Natalie placed her hand over his.

  Nate was happy with Skylar. How in the world could he have a family with Natalie and be with her? It wouldn’t work out. “How can you say that after what you put me through? It’s not just us anymore, there would be a child involved,” he said. Nate stood, “I need to go and dress. I’ll be back out in a minute.”

  He left Natalie and stomped towards his room. He pulled on a pair of jeans, leaving the button undone. He didn’t bother with a shirt; there was no point as Skylar would be over later. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer, popping the cap off and taking a swig. He couldn’t believe Natalie wanted to start over. Shaking his head, he walked back out into the lounge.

  * * *

  Skylar pulled on the summer dress she bought when she was shopping with Chantal. It was a white dress with black flowers that had a nice halter- top and finished at her knees. Throwing her hair up in a ponytail, she walked out into the kitchen.

  “You look hot, darling,” Alex said.

  “Thanks.”

  “You sure you’ll be all right by yourself?” Alex stood and walked over to her.

  “I will be.” Skylar smiled.

  Giving Alex a hug, she left through the back door and made her way across the lawn. Opening his back door slowly, she walked in and could hear Nate talking to another person. “Nate,” she called. She closed the door behind her and walked further into his house. She walked in the direction of the voices.

  “I can do the whole family thing, but I can’t be with you, Natalie,” she heard Nate say. She paused near the door, wondering who Natalie was.

  “Please, Nate. I want to start over again. I’ve missed you, and I never stopped loving you, either.” Looking around the corner she noticed a girl with her hand on his face rubbing her thumb over his cheek.

  “Natalie, after what you did, how the hell am I going to be able to trust you again?”

  She stood up and sat on his lap, facing him. “I know you won’t believe me, but I’m sorry for what I did to you. Can’t you do it for your son and be a proper family with us?” she whispered.

  Skylar sucked in a breath and
threw her hand over her mouth. Oh, God. He had a son.

  “Why didn’t you tell me at the beginning? I told you I didn’t want any kids; we were careful,” he said.

  “I know we were careful, Nate. But it happened.” She leaned up and lightly kissed him on the lips.

  Skylar couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He didn’t want any children and he had a son already. Now she was pregnant with his child. How could she go through with telling him now? He just found out about a son he never knew he had, and now she was going to drop a bombshell on him as well? She tried really hard not to sob, but couldn’t contain it.

  “I’ll do the DNA test. If it comes back saying I’m the father, then I’ll do it; if not, I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  “Okay. When do you want to do it?”

  “As soon as possible.” he replied. How the hell was he going to explain this situation to Skylar?

  Skylar slid down against the wall in his kitchen. She had a feeling he was going to break it off with her. How was she going to deal with that?

  “I’ll arrange to have the test done with my doctor, and then we’ll talk when the results are in.” He stood and walked to his door.

  “I’m sorry I brought this on you, but I just thought you would want to know you have a son.” Natalie walked out the door, and he closed it behind her.

  “Fuck.” Nate said. Leaning against the door, he heard a noise coming from his kitchen. Frowning, he stomped over towards it. Walking around the corner, he saw Skylar sitting on the ground.

  “Baby, what are you doing on the floor?” he asked, kneeling down beside her. He noticed she was crying. “What’s wrong?”

  As he lifted her chin up to look at her, she sobbed, “You have a son.”

  He sighed. “I might, I have to do the test to confirm it, baby.”

  Skylar lifted herself up from the floor. Nate tried to help her, but she pushed his hand away.

  “Baby,” he groaned.

  She moved away from him, “You don’t want kids.”

  God, she had to stop crying. “I never wanted any with Natalie. I was never ready for it.”

  “What about now, Nate?” she whispered.

  “I don’t know.”

  She sobbed harder. “I need to go.” Wiping her face with her hands, she pushed his door open and took off running towards her house.

  “Skylar,” Nate yelled. Nate threw open his door and took off after her. What the hell was going on here? Pushing her door open, he quickly came to a halt.

  “What’s going on, Nate?” Alex asked him.

  Getting his breathing under control, he said, “I don’t know. I found her sitting on the floor in my kitchen.”

  “Well, something happened,” Alex yelled.

  “My ex came over and told me I might have a son. I’m having a DNA test done to confirm it.”

  “What else did Skylar say to you?” Craig asked him, joining the conversation.

  “She asked if I wanted any kids,” he whispered.

  “And?” Craig raised an eyebrow.

  “I told her I don’t know. I never planned on having any before, Craig.”

  Craig stormed off towards Skylar’s room, and slammed the door.

  “Have I missed something here? I would’ve sat down with her, but she took off running.”

  “You need to sort this out with your ex first, then if Skylar talks to you, sort it out with her,” Alex suggested.

  “What the fuck is going on? Where is she?” Nate moved to go after her, but Alex stopped him from going anywhere.

  “Like I said, sort it out with your ex, but I suggest you do it quick or you’re going to lose Skylar altogether, Nate.” Alex told him.

  Something was going on here, but he couldn’t figure out what. “Okay, but can you do something for me?”

  Alex nodded.

  “Can you tell her I’m sorry for all of this?”

  “I will,” Alex answered.

  Nate turned around and walked back to his house. Pushing his door open, he went straight into his bedroom and slid onto his bed. Jesus, this day was going so well until everything hit the fan. First thing he had to do tomorrow morning was get this DNA test and then decide what he really wanted with Skylar. He knew he didn’t want to be with anyone but her.

  Chapter 21

  Skylar couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed for the past three days. She laid her hand gently over her belly. She and Nate had made a child together, but he didn’t want kids at all. How could she go through with this pregnancy if he wasn’t going to be with her? There was no point in telling him now. It was obvious that he wasn’t ready and hadn’t planned on having any.

  “Craig,” she called out. She really didn’t want to do what she was thinking, but felt she had no choice.

  “What’s up, darling?” he said, appearing at the door.

  Sitting up slowly, she whispered, “I need to go away for a couple of days; I can’t stay here with all this going on.”

  Craig sat at the end of the bed. “Where you going to go?” he asked.

  “I know what I have to do.”

  “Skylar, I hope you’re not doing what I think you’re going to do.”

  “I don’t see any other way to deal with this, Craig. It’s obvious he’s not ready for kids.”

  “Tell him, Sky. Maybe he just meant he didn’t want any with his ex.”

  “If I tell him, it will just make things harder for me,” she whispered.

  “You don’t have to do it. Chantal, Alex and I are here for you to help you through this.”

  “I know you all are, but it’s different. Nate should be the one going through this with me, not all of you guys.”

  “I don’t want you to do this and regret it later. I know you will Skylar.”

  “I need to do this Craig. He has a family now. He’s moved on with that,” she said, the words sticking in her throat.

  “Just think more before you do this, will you? There’s no rush.” Craig pulled her over to him and hugged her.

  Maybe it was a good idea to just think the whole situation through a little more. The doctor said she had a week to decide whether she wanted to keep it or not, so that must be her deadline. She got up from the bed and walked to her kitchen to make a sandwich. She reached for the knife, ready to cut some cheese, when she heard a noise coming from outside. Looking up and out the window, she saw Nate laughing and rolling on the ground with a young boy.

  At that moment, her heart broke in two. He would really be a great father. If they had a boy, he could teach him how to play footy, and fix things just like him, and treat women better than his father did. And if they had a girl, he would lock her up until she was thirty years old and no boy would be able to touch her. She laughed. Jesus, he looked so happy with his son. Skylar started slicing the cheese, not paying attention to what she was doing, and accidentally sliced her hand.

  “Shit!” she yelled. Reaching over and turning the tap on, she placed her hand under the water.

  “What the hell happened, Skylar?” Craig was standing beside her, holding her up. The sight of blood was making her feel dizzy.

  “I was cutting up some cheese and the knife slipped,” she said with a shaky voice.

  “I’m just going to have a look.”

  Craig supported her with one arm, and lifted her hand with the other. “It’s pretty deep, Sky. I think you need stitches.”

  Skylar looked down at her hand; there was so much blood that she couldn’t actually see where it was coming from. “Craig. I don’t feel so good.” She leaned against his chest, breathing in and out slowly.

  “Hang on, Sky. Alex!” he yelled.

  Alex came barrelling in, “What’s wrong?”

  “Skylar cut her hand pretty bad. We need to take her to the hospital to get stitches,” Craig told him.

  “I’ll get the car and meet you out front.” Alex darted out of the room.

  “Craig, there’s a lot of blood,” she said.<
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  “Everything will be fine. We’re going to take you to the hospital to get fixed up.” Craig turned and helped her walk towards the front door. Skylar leaned against him and started to feel lightheaded. The tea towel that was wrapped around her hand was completely covered in blood now. She lost her footing when they were close to the door.