This Time, Baby: BWWM Interracial Romance (A Bundle of Joy Book 5)

by Roxy Wilson

  Whoa! He needed to rein his libido in, and ask himself the more pertinent questions like what was she doing here? How did she find him?

  Heath swallowed the hard ball of anxiety lodged in his throat. Her unexpected arrival at his door didn’t bode well for his peace of mind. “Sure, we can talk,” he said to her and then turned to his stable hand. “Just do as I told you, George, and I’ll be right down to take another look.” He glanced at her again. Heath needed to shake himself out of this uncontrollable need to touch Tasha. Again and again and again. Forever, even. He clenched his hands and then quickly released them. “Come on,” he told her. While he led her from the barn, he debated with himself about whether he should take her to his office just a few feet away, of if they should just have their talk right then and there. “What’s this about?”

  Tasha took deep intake of air and answered, “I’m pregnant.”

  Heath stopped in midstride. An unexpected coldness punched him in the stomach. Turning, he gaped at her, quite aware that his mouth hung open. What did she just say? Did he hear her right? Maybe she was jesting. Was the baby his? Questions gushed through his mind like a tsunami that gripped him in its horrific waves, but no sound emerged from his mouth. Having a conversation in the office was no longer an option. “Let’s go to my house.” He grabbed her arm, not sure if he did so because he didn’t want her to disappear or because he needed the human touch to keep him grounded. He led her to his house situated behind the barn.

  “You live here?”

  Heath didn’t think he was capable of saying anything yet. After unlocking the kitchen door, he swept her inside. “What did you say?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Do you live here? I didn’t realize your house was within the farm house. I got your address from Emily, in case you were wondering. But she didn’t tell me that—”

  “No.” He raised a hand. What the hell was she talking about? “I meant, what did you say before, when we were outside—about being—”

  “I’m pregnant.” She looked him directly in the eye. “And yes, the baby is yours. If you want, we could do a DNA test to verify it after the child is born.” She lifted her chin higher. “But of course, that would depend on whether you want to assume some kind of a role in the child’s life. If not, that’s fine with me...I would understand if you don’t want to do anything with this child.”

  She kept talking, but he couldn’t understand anything. At twenty-eight years of age, he didn’t expect to become a father for at least another five years. In fact, he hadn’t even considered the possibility. Even when he was married, Heath and his wife didn’t talk about children. Some time maybe in his late thirties, he had thought. Not now. Not with someone he didn’t even know. This was a nightmare. “You want to have the baby?”

  Her eyes frosted. She took a careful step back. “I’ve given this a lot of thought, and yes, I do want to have the baby.”

  “You’re—how old are you?”

  “Twenty-five.”

  Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair. “You’re too young to have a child.”

  She curled her upper lip. “At fifteen, you’re too young to have a child. But there are a lot of women who have children in their mid-twenties and do quite a good job of raising them. In any case, that point is irrelevant.” She jammed her hands against her hips. “We’re not debating whether I should have a child or not. I’m having one. Period.”

  He needed some time to process this information. It was…too much, too soon. He should take her contact number and address, tell her he would think about this situation and then discuss it further. How was he expected to react when she thrust this on him without warning? One night...not even a night, for God’s sake, maybe fifteen minutes. Sure, they were probably the best fifteen minutes he’d had in a long, long time; but that didn’t negate the fact he was stuck now for life. What the hell did she want from him? “Abortion is always an option,” he suggested.

  Tasha lifted her eyebrow and shot him a glassy stare. She folded her arms across her chest. Enraged, she looked even more beautiful. That simmering anger made her positively glow. “Not for me.”

  “What do you expect me to say? This is too—”

  “—We didn’t take any precautions, remember?”

  “We were drunk,” he reminded her. “And yes, it was irresponsible of me, but I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “The responsibility is as much mine as yours.” Her face looked impassive, her eyes expressionless.

  He couldn’t tell how she felt. So, without getting a glimpse into her feelings, how could he decide what she wanted him to say? She appeared intent on keeping the baby but wasn’t expecting much from him. Or was she? And what did he want to give? Did he want to be a father to this unborn child?

  Heath needed time. He wanted an opportunity to think through the mess in his head and come to the right decision. “When did you find out?”

  “About a month ago. I’m fourteen weeks pregnant now.”

  “Are you sure—it was conceived that night?” Yes, she did say it was his, but what if there was an error. What if she hooked up with another guy before or after that night?

  If looks could kill, he would be dead on the floor now. “It’s yours. As I said, if you don’t believe me, we could do a paternity test. I don’t have an issue with that.”

  “How are you so…sure?”

  Her lips pressed into a thin, angry line. “Before that Christmas night, I hadn’t been with anyone in a long, long time. If this baby isn’t yours, then he’s Jesus, and his father is Joseph.” She laughed, but it held no humor in it. “Maybe, I’m Mary and don’t even know it.”

  “But—”

  “Here’s the thing, Heath,” she said, interrupting him. “This isn’t some kind of miracle baby.” She rubbed her belly, which seemed like an unconscious gesture.

  He tried to make sense of her words. More than that, he tried to understand the floating anxiety inside his body. Damn it! A man needed time to grapple with such a decision. What did she expect him to say? He had a nasty feeling whatever he said now, would come out the wrong way. “Would you like some coffee?”

  She raised an eyebrow, staring at him with those flashing black eyes. “No, thank you.”

  He needed a jolt of caffeine to wake him up. Heath turned to the coffee machine, and then as an afterthought, opened the cabinet and took out a bottle of brandy that he kept mostly for medicinal purposes. “Brandy?”

  She shook her head at him as if he just might be the dumbest thing she’d ever met. “I. Am. Pregnant.” She frowned. “Alcoholic drinks should be avoided during these nine months.”

  “Oh, right, of course.” Get a grip, Heath, before you make a fool of yourself. He admonished himself in the privacy of his mind as he poured some brandy in a glass and then drank it down in one gulp. Heath shuddered as the alcohol hit his gut. “Shit! All right.” He shook his head. “You’re pregnant.”

  “Oh, dear God!” Exasperated, she rolled her eyes. “Looks like I’m going to be here for a while. You know what? I don’t have time for this,” she said as she spun around.

  After what she was putting him through, the least she could do was be patient. He could feel his temperature rise. “Lady, I barely know you. And yet you come barging in here and tell me that I’m about to become a father. Give me a break. I need some time to assimilate this situation.”

  “Fine.” She huffed. Digging into her bag, she took out her visiting card and slapped it on the counter. “Why don’t you take as long as you want to figure this out? In the meantime, I’ll continue being pregnant. And if you feel that you have questions, call me.”

  Heath eyed the white card. The lady did have an attitude. He could recall her sexy, hot body, her smooth, silky skin, and the way her hair felt when he ran his fingers through them, but this snappy attitude came as a complete surprise. But then again, a pretty girl like her probably expected men to drop at her feet. And the fact that he did so once, probably made
her think he would acquiesce to any strange demand she set in front of him. Well, she would soon learn he was a tough nut to crack. “It doesn’t really matter what I want though. You’ve already made the decision to have the child.”

  She shrugged. “The decision you have to make is whether you want to be a part of the child’s life or not.”

  “And what if I don’t want it?”

  “Then you’re as free as a bird.”

  He swallowed. A father he wasn’t ready to be. Not yet, at least. “I don’t feel as if I could shoulder the responsibility,” he mused. It was more a thought than a decision but it made her spine stiffen. “I’m just saying—”

  “Never mind!” She turned on her heels. “I can see that I made a mistake by coming here. Good day, Mr. Dawson.” With that, she marched off towards her car.

  Heath stared at her retreating back, his mouth agape like a fish. Patience certainly wasn’t one of her virtues. What did she expect him to say after she gave him the shock of his life? He wanted to run after her, stop her and try to explain his feelings, but with the mood she was in, he didn’t think she would listen.

  What’s more, he needed time to figure out his feelings. Being a father was a big deal. “Congratulations,” he said in a soft voice as she slammed the car door shut and drove off.

  Whether he wanted it or not, his life was suddenly far more complicated than it was a few minutes ago.

  Chapter Three

  Pulse racing, heartbeat thumping, Tasha slammed the glass on the table. A little juice spilled on the wood, a dash of orange against the white board.

  Heather Lovey plucked a tissue out the box and wiped the spot clean. “Give the guy a break, Tasha. He was probably shell-shocked.”

  She was in no mood for forgiveness. Her memory of Heath Dawson from that one, fateful night had been pleasant and dreamy. Probably just the alcohol that made him look so romantic. The reality was crushingly disappointing. “Shell-shocked? Trust me if anyone was that, it was me. The man is an imbecile, a jerk, an insensitive...cad.”

  Heather grinned at her choice of words. Although the girls only met a few weeks ago, they gelled well together. Pregnancy wise, they were barely a couple of weeks apart. Both of them were having babies under strange circumstances. It seemed to be enough to bind them together. Tasha found it easy to talk to Heather who was easy-going and sweet. “But before you met him at his farm, you told me that he was sensitive, witty, and handsome,” Heather urged.

  Tasha seethed. Picking up the glass, she gulped down the rest of the juice. The baby needed nourishment and even though it had the misfortune to have an irresponsible father, she was determined to be the best mother she could possibly be. “I must’ve been blind that night.”

  “Or maybe you were too hard on him when you delivered the news. Any man would’ve reacted like he did.”

  No one could be as insensitive as that jerk. He had the nerve to question her regarding the child’s paternity. Did he think she contacted him because she wanted money or child support? Tasha was more than capable of raising the baby. What she wanted—or rather dreamt of—was a partner who loved the child as much as she did. Obviously, that wasn’t a possibility now. Still, she wasn’t disheartened and had no intention of changing her decision. The baby was hers, and she would take care of it on her own terms.

  Tasha wasn’t dependent on any man.

  “Let’s just forget about him.” Painfully aware that it’d been a week since she talked to him, Tasha gave up all hope of seeing that buffoon of a man again. He made himself perfectly clear, and it was fine with her. She couldn’t care less. “I can do this on my own.”

  Heather looked doubtful. “Raising a child alone isn’t that easy. You’ll need a nanny if you plan to go back to work.”

  “I could take three months off, but yeah, I’ll need a nanny later on.” She didn’t have a lot of money sitting in the bank. She would have to work. A working, single mother wasn’t what she had in mind whenever she thought about motherhood. Her mother did it. Now, since she was older, Tasha could appreciate the stress her mom was always under. Putting bread on the table, paying for school, the luxuries she could barely afford, and taking care of a child must have been tough. Tasha always thought that whenever she had a child it would be when she was in a stable and committed relationship. This was so not the way she planned it.

  This was real though. It was happening. Plus, the father of the child didn’t want anything to do with the baby, so her options were limited.

  If she hadn’t slept with that thoughtless, heartless loser, she wouldn’t be in this mess now. But she’d been the one who got drunk and now it was time to deal with the consequences. The mere thought of that man made her grind her teeth. Didn’t he have any shame, a sense of propriety, or responsibility? Didn’t he feel any connection with his unborn child?

  Apparently not. He still hadn’t made an attempt to contact her. For all she knew, he dropped off the face of the earth. Well, he made his decision and she remained just as determined about hers. Tasha wasn’t the sort to beg or plead with a man. Heath had his chance and he blew it. Now, she was on her own—and it was fine with her.

  Heather sighed as she patted her own stomach which wasn’t showing as yet. “The good news is we can both support each other during these months.”

  She felt so lucky to have found Heather. No one could be more kind or sympathetic. “How are things with Sean?”

  “It’s going quite well. Much better than I expected.”

  Tasha lifted an eyebrow. “And how do you feel about the marriage he railroaded you into?”

  Heather laughed. “It’s hard to believe I’m married and knocked up. But you know what...” Her eyes took on a dreamy quality. “…I’m happy.”

  Tasha hugged her friend. “Then I’m happy for you. You both look great together.”

  Heather waved her hand. “Don’t get so excited. It’s only for the baby. But Sean—you know, sometimes he makes my heart flutter.” She sighed and then plucked her cell phone from her purse. “Enough about me. I’m going to call Selene. She said her friend at her former workplace always used to boast about the most amazing nanny, and I’m going to get the contact number of the agency for you.”

  “Thanks.” Tasha brushed a hand across her face. “First, I have to get through the pregnancy and the birth and then other things before doing this.”

  “Good nannies are hard to come by. And trust me, I know all about it.” Heather swiped through her phone. “A friend of mine has hired and fired five of them in three years, and I hear the terrible tales, and I can tell you with authority that—”

  Whatever she was going to tell with authority got cut off, because the doorbell rang, not once, but four times in a row.

  “Who could that be?” Tasha marched over to the door, hoping it wasn’t a prank by one of the neighbourhood kids. Last week, they drove Mrs. Truman, who lived upstairs, crazy by ringing her bell all day long. Tasha suspected a particular someone but couldn’t do anything without proof. She yanked the door open, hoping to catch the culprit in the act. “You!” The word tore out of her mouth with the ferocity of a cannon ball.

  “Is this a bad time? I should’ve called ahead but—I wasn’t sure if you would pick up my call.”

  Seeing Heath, her simmering temper shot straight up into a furious volcano. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have.”

  “That’s brutally honest.”

  “Goodbye, Mr. Dawson.” She slammed the door shut in his face and strode back to the table.

  Heather cocked her head to the side. Her finger still poised over the phone. “Who was that?”

  Tasha took a seat. “The father of my baby.”

  “He’s yummy.” Heather stood. “You didn’t tell me he was so dreamy.”

  Seeing Heather stand, Tasha narrowed her eyes. “Where are you going?”

  “To stop you from making the worst mistake of your life,” Heather grumbled. “He’s here, he wants to talk. Are yo
u insane?” She marched over to the door and opened it.

  Much to Tasha’s disgust, Heath was still standing there.

  “Mr. Dawson, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Tasha’s friend, Heather. Please come in.”

  He cast a glance at Tasha’s and stepped in. “Thank you. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.”

  “Oh! Nothing. We were just talking about...nannies.” Heather walked back to the table, picked up her purse, and slung it on her shoulder. “Bye, Tasha. I’ll talk to you later.” She strolled out and closed the door behind her.

  Heath folded his arms over his chest. “Nannies? You were talking about hiring a nanny?”

  Once again, she was reminded of how attractive he was. The glasses slipped down his nose a little and he pushed them back up. She rolled her eyes. What the hell was wrong with her? She was pissed off at the man. Why did he come here? Didn’t he make himself perfectly clear that he didn’t want anything to do with the baby? “It—we were just talking. There’s a lot of time left to hire a nanny.” She waved a dismissive hand. “What do you want?”

  “Ah! Right to the point.” He walked over, grabbed a chair, and pulled it back. “Mind if I sit down?”

  She sighed. Yes, she did mind. “No, go ahead.”

  He put his hands on the table. “We got off to a wrong start the other day.”

  She tilted an eyebrow. “Which day?”

  He grinned. “The second time we met. I was taken aback by the news and didn’t exactly put my best foot forward. I apologize for the way I reacted.”

  “It wasn’t a modelling contest, so whichever foot you used was fine.” Even though her heart thawed a little at hearing the heartfelt apology, she wasn’t about to forgive him so easily. When he simply stared at her, she huffed. “Fine. Apology accepted. Let’s move on.”