The Boss's Baby (Interracial with Baby) (BWWM)

by Cristina Grenier

  She went ahead and changed into her nightgown, avoiding the pajama pants that suddenly felt three sizes too small around her waist, and after she washed her face clean of the makeup, she pulled a short novella from the shelf, something she hadn’t read yet by a new author that had been recommended to her by a woman at the bookstore, and made herself comfortable on the couch.

  CHAPTER 31

  Two days in Washington, DC, followed by a quick stop in Philadelphia, had Adrianna dragging when she got home. Both hotels were in good shape, considering they were in a transitional period, the hotel in Philadelphia being renovated and the one in DC in the midst of training two new assistant managers. But the travel was wearing on her, and she’d had some morning sickness the whole time.

  She flopped onto her couch as soon as she entered her apartment, just trying to catch her breath. Even lugging the carry-on that was the only thing she’d taken with her had left her panting today. She needed a shower and a nap, and she still had paperwork to fill out. The shower could be quick, but the nap would have to wait.

  Pushing herself off the couch, she started toward the bathroom and made an irritated sound when her phone rang, turning around and stomping back to where she’d left it on the coffee table. She frowned at the caller ID, not quite ready to talk to John. She’d put it off till after this trip, and she had intended to call him this evening, if for no other reason than to touch base regarding the progress at the hotels. But apparently, he’d beat her to the punch.

  She considered letting him go to voicemail and calling back after her shower but thought better of it. She would be professional about this. “Hello?”

  “Hi.” His greeting was awkward, and Adrianna found it somewhat satisfying that he wasn’t just going to pretend nothing was wrong.

  “Hi yourself,” she replied, sitting on the couch as her legs began to ache and she feared they would buckle under her. “Where are you today?”

  “I’m stuck at the airport in Charleston. There’s a tropical storm blowing, and the flight’s been cancelled, so I have to wait until the weather clears or try to rent a car and drive home. I’m thinking about taking my chances, since they say it could be two days before anything flies out of here.”

  “If you’re driving, be safe.” She’d hate to be in that position, and it made her think twice about eventually vying for the eastern division management position.

  “I will.” There was dead air for a minute, and then he asked, “Can I see you when I get back in town? I miss you, Addy, and I want to try to make things right.”

  She got a little choked up. She’d kept herself busy for the last few days and avoided thinking about it, but now that she heard his voice, the empty feeling inside came barreling back at her. “Believe it or not, I miss you, too, John. If we’re both in town, I think it would be good to try to talk again.”

  “Thank you.” It was an odd reply, almost formal, and it only made Adrianna’s heart ache even more. “I should be home day after tomorrow. Would you be able to get up to Albany tomorrow? The manager’s having some issues with a couple of employees and wants to take disciplinary measures, but he’s not sure if he wants to fire them or what. He called me because he misplaced your number, and he only left a brief message, no real details.”

  Back to business, Adrianna thought. Tomorrow was short notice, but she could call if she was too tired to make the day trip. “I’ll take care of it.” She was about to hang up but added wistfully, “It’ll be good to see you.”

  She thought she heard a smile in his voice as he responded, “Ditto,” and hung up.

  Feeling a little refreshed that, maybe, there was some hope between them, Adrianna hurried to the shower as she’d planned to do before. When she was done, she would call the Albany hotel and see if she could get the manager – Richard? – on the phone to talk, or if she needed to drive up. Then, she’d finish up the mountain of paperwork she’d put off for a week or so and eat something fabulous for a late lunch. She was already feeling the hunger pangs, and she shook her head. This child apparently had a rabid appetite!

  ***

  Luckily, Adrianna resolved the issues with Albany over the phone. Theft was a no-tolerance offense, so she insisted the two employees caught stealing be terminated. After that was settled, she found herself turning on the national news and watching the progress of what was now Hurricane Daniel as it aimed for the coast of the Carolinas. She would have worried about anyone driving in those conditions, but she was especially concerned about John. She called and went straight to voicemail; the storm had likely already blown out several cell towers. She told him to call her when he was safely out of the area.

  Being so distracted made paperwork a slow process, and after two hours, she’d barely made a dent in the stack. Knowing she could breeze through it when she could concentrate, she set it aside and called to check on Terra.

  Now that she was alone, her friend was a little more open about her concerns. “I’m so scared he won’t come home, or that when he does, he’ll be such a different person we won’t know each other anymore. I’ve heard all the horror stories about how war changes people and how many people get divorced after a deployment. I can’t lose him.”

  “Just remember this isn’t his first rodeo,” Adrianna reminded her. “And with Skype, there’s technology that allows you to stay in touch more often now. The two of you are strong people, and together, you’re invincible. Keep that in mind. And if it helps you deal with things, you should throw a huge going away party for him, invite everyone you know out to a restaurant or club or something.”

  That got Terra’s attention. “I bet Sebastian would let me use the art gallery without charging me. It’s big enough to fit at least a hundred people. That’s the best idea I’ve heard all week.” She started chattering about who to invite and what food to serve, and Adrianna smiled to herself, glad she’d found a happy thought in all of Terra’s worries.

  Now, she just had to cling to the same thing for herself.

  She tried John’s cell again after she hung up but still got no answer. Restless, she left the apartment with no real destination and started walking. Without even thinking about it, she ended up at Angela’s salon. It was bustling with activity, and the noise level was deafening. But she found Angela at her workstation, putting together a perfect ‘design’ atop a young lady’s head, the girl holding a veil in her lap.

  “I really appreciate you taking the appointment at the last minute,” the girl was saying. “My friend, Molly, came here for her wedding, and she told me you did her hair. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life, and I couldn’t let her look better than me.”

  Adrianna smiled as she listened. The girl couldn’t be more than twenty, and she was obviously a wealthy, spoiled girl and likely marrying a young, rich man. But she had a bright, innocent face and a pleasant demeanor, and she seemed truly happy to be getting married.

  “Well,, weddings are my favorite occasions, you know,” Angela told her. “I would rather dress up a bride’s hair than just about any other task I have, except maybe dying a model’s hair some strange shade of blue or orange for a new age runway show.” She laughed, and so did the girl.

  “Maybe we could dye mine lime green,” Adrianna joked, stepping forward.

  Angela gave her a surprised smile and stopped to give her an air kiss on the cheek. “Adrianna, meet Chelsea.” Of course, the girl had one of those heiress names. “Chelsea, this is one of my very best friends from college, Adrianna. What’s going on? This is a surprise!”

  Adrianna shrugged after greeting Chelsea. “I was out and about and thought I’d come say hello and see what sort of art you had going on today. I absolutely love it. This is going to make for some incredible photos.” She gestured to the girl’s hair.

  Chelsea beamed. “You think so? That’s perfect. I want Molly to be so jealous! You know, she’s only one of my bridesmaids because I was one of hers, and it’s only fair. Otherwise, I would have probably
left her off the guest list entirely after the way she gloated about how she was such a princess and even my fiancé couldn’t keep his eyes off her.” She rolled her eyes. “He was looking at me. Duh, I was right there beside her the whole time, and I think, except for her hair, I looked better than her even then.”

  Angela gave Adrianna a conspiratorial wink. “Well, there’s no doubt you’ll be the brightest star at your wedding. Take a look at this.” She took the veil from the girl and settled the clip deep into her coif, turning the chair to face the mirror. The girl started fanning herself to stop the tears.

  “Oh, my God, it’s perfect,” she wailed. She jumped out of the chair and threw her arms around Angela. “Thank you so much!”

  Angela patted her and pushed her back with a warning look. “Let me spray it down so not a single hair falls out of place before you start hugging all over people. We don’t want it to fall.”

  Adrianna bit her lip to keep from laughing at the girl’s exuberance, and when Chelsea was finally gone, Angela collapsed into the chair herself. “That child is exhausting. She doesn’t even turn twenty till next month. What’s she doing getting married anyway?”

  Adrianna shrugged. “Apparently, her parents are barbarians from the sixteenth century who still believe in selling their daughter with a dowry at a young age and hoping for six kids before she hits thirty.” She smiled at her friend. “Other than that, how are you?”

  There was a mischievous curl to the edges of her mouth and a glint in her eye. She stood and reached into her pocket, pulling out something that shone brilliantly. Adrianna snatched it from her hand and gawked. “No way.”

  “Yes!” Angela squealed. “We’re going to have a long engagement, but Sean proposed two days ago. I haven’t told anyone else yet, not even my family. We’re planning a dinner tomorrow night to share the news, and then I’ll tell the girls. I just couldn’t hold it back anymore. I had to tell someone. Don’t spread the word.”

  “My lips are sealed,” Adrianna promised. “That is a beautiful ring!”

  Angela nodded. “Yes, it is. You know, I would be honored if you would be my maid of honor. I promise not to get married until after you have that baby and feel like standing up in a beautiful dress.”

  Adrianna was touched. “I would love to.” She hugged her friend. “Are you free long enough to grab some coffee, my treat?”

  Angela looked like she might faint. “I think you just read my mind! Let’s get out of here before someone snatches me and hands me another little debutante who wants to be a queen and barely qualifies as a princess.”

  CHAPTER 32

  Adrianna wrung her hands as she stared at the food she’d prepared. John was late, and she wondered if he’d changed his mind after all. They’d spoken early that morning, making the arrangements to meet, and he’d sounded nervous but enthusiastic. Now, though, she was losing confidence in the agreement. She checked her phone for a message she may have missed while she was cooking, but he hadn’t called or texted to tell her he was running late.

  With a sigh, she sat down hard in the nearest chair, picking up the butter knife at the place setting and flipping it up and down, tapping each end on the table over and over. She rested her chin on her other hand, disappointed, and after a moment, she stood to clear the table.

  But as she stood, her doorbell rang, and a wave of relief crashed through her. Of course, it could always be one of her friends dropping by, but she opened the door and smiled, glad to see it was John. “Come in,” she offered right away, remembering her former behavior and not wanting to give the same kind of vibe this time, even for a moment.

  He stepped inside and handed her a bouquet of white roses, a hopeful expression on his face. She grinned and took them, holding them to her nose as she sniffed and took in the wonderful aroma. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. “I have a vase. Give me a minute so I can put these in water.” She gestured toward the table. “Have a seat.”

  She reached under the counter and grabbed the vase, as well as the trimmers she used to cut the stems, holding them under water and then filling the vase and adding some club soda before dropping the flowers in and arranging them.

  “What’s the club soda for?” John asked, making her jump. She hadn’t realized he was in the doorway to the kitchen, watching her.

  Adrianna fussed with the blooms, wanting them to fall perfectly. “Well, you can use any kind of soda. Something in it – I don’t know if it’s the carbonation or what – makes them last longer and stay fresher.”

  He nodded. “I never knew that.”

  “My mother taught me.” She finished and brought them to the table, placing them in the center. She again motioned for him to sit down, and he took the chair at the head of the table. She sat next to him and began serving the chicken and rice she’d made.

  As he filled his plate, he asked, “So, how did things go in Albany?”

  She’d forgotten that he hadn’t seen the report yet. “It was theft. I advised termination, and the paperwork came through yesterday.” She served herself and set the rest aside, stopping and staring at her food. “I don’t want to talk about work tonight, John.”

  He let out a long breath. “I don’t, either, Addy. I’m sorry, I just don’t know where to start.”

  She hesitated. She didn’t want anymore apologies. The past needed to remain in the past. “Let’s start with what you imagine the future to be like, if we work this out.”

  He gave her a strange look that she couldn’t quite read, then seemed to think it over. “Well, we talked about moving in together. That’s what I see first, and we’ll live here, set up the nursery in the spare bedroom. I’d like to get married, when you’re ready, but I don’t want to push you into anything. We’ll both travel, so we’ll need help for our child, but we can discuss how that will work later. And eventually, I’d like to have more children, one or two maybe.”

  She nodded, considering his vision. “Let’s imagine that someone levels an accusation of sexual harassment against you. How should I react?”

  He clenched his jaw. “I would hope you would give me the benefit of the doubt, since that’s not the sort of person I am. I’m also a faithful man and don’t hurt the people I love, if I can help it. I would like to think you’d do better in that situation than I did.”

  She agreed. “I would. Even though I’ve been lied to and cheated on, I would trust you implicitly and take you at your word, no matter what anyone else said about you. Could you do the same for me, if it came to that kind of choice again?”

  He nodded, looking her square in the eye. “I know my mistake now, and I wouldn’t repeat it.” He tilted his head, looking at her in assessment. “How would you picture a future together?”

  She’d been thinking about that for days now and had her answer ready. “I think we could move in together, try to build on what we have. I may be selfish, but I don’t want to have to get a maternity wedding dress, and I have a friend planning to get married right after I have the baby, so I’d probably want to wait until our child was about a year old and have a nice wedding then.

  “In the meantime, I’m planning on moving my mother closer to here and having her quit her job. She could help with the baby part time, and we could also have a nanny part time. I’m a little paranoid about someone else helping to raise my child, so I foresee a very stringent interview process. I think that, after we got married, we could stay here for a while, and maybe start to look for a house outside the city, with a yard and trees.

  “Maybe, when our child is two, we could consider having another child. Beyond that, I haven’t considered, simply because that’s far down the road, and for all I know, we’ll both get promotions or lose our jobs altogether by then. So, we can work a year at a time to figure out the plan.”

  He smiled. “I like the way you think. That’s a very well laid out plan.” He shook his head. “Of course, there’s no way it could ever be that perfectly put together. Something will throw it off somew
here along the way, but it’s a good guiding path.”

  She shrugged. “The question is, are we both willing to put our demons behind us and work this out?”

  “I am,” he declared without hesitating. “I’ve done nothing but beat myself up for even letting those demons out in the first place. I said goodbye to them when you walked out on me at the deli, hoping I’d get one last chance.”

  Adrianna stared at him, seeing nothing but sincerity in his expression. She felt tears prickling her eyes as she thought about all the pain, all the shame, all the sorrow. And they spilled over as she realized none of it mattered because she loved the man sitting in front of her right now. “I put mine away long ago, and I don’t ever want to see them again. I told you I trusted you implicitly, and I meant it.” She reached out and took his hand, neither of them having touched their food at all. “I love you, John. I never thought I’d say that to anyone again, but I do.”

  “I love you, too, and I always hoped I’d say that again.” He stood, drawing her to her feet, and hugged her tightly against him. She curled into him, burying her face in his chest, taking solace in the nearness of him, the familiarity of his smell and his arms.

  She knew now that everything was going to be okay. She was prepared for anything now, and it was time to start moving forward.

  SIX MONTHS LATER