by Rye Hart
“Reed, I’m pregnant.” She opened her eyes and found me smiling. A look of confusion washed over her.
“You are? You’re sure?” My chest swelled with pride, and I felt the relief of knowing my financial stability was intact for at least the rest of my life. I felt like I had everything all of a sudden; a wonderful girlfriend who I adored, my little heir in the oven, and my fortune to take care of us all.
“Yes. Are you really happy? I didn’t know if you would be.” She placed her hand on her tummy, and it hit me.
Fuck. She was carrying my baby. Mine; a life I created.
“I’m happier than I can even explain, right now, Bella. The happiest man alive.” I realized that it wasn’t about the money, either. It was about this amazing woman who was carrying a baby for us to love together for the rest of our lives. I realized I wanted to do that with her too. I wanted to be a father to this baby, and be the man my own father had never been.
I pulled Bella into my arms. “Are you happy, Bella?”
She let out a sigh. “I’m not sure what I am. I know it sounds horrible, but I’m scared to death. I know I wanted this in the past, but now I just wanted time for me...” she trailed off.
I felt a sinking feeling in my gut. “Are you saying you don’t want this baby?” I asked.
“No, Reed, I want it, I do. I just feel so confused. It’s not a good time for me is all I’m trying to say.”
I turned my back to her and walked away a few paces. She followed behind me and continued talking. “Reed, it’s all just happening so fast.”
“I need you to be completely honest with me, Bella. Tell me how you feel.” I was an inch from her face, and I could feel her breath with every heave of her breasts.
“I’m scared you’re going to realize how fast it is and leave me once the novelty of this wears off. Or that you’ll think I’ve done this to trap you. I swear I haven’t. I wouldn’t do that to you.” Her words were like a punch in the gut. I’d trapped her. I’d done all of this on purpose. I realized in that moment that I could never tell her or I’d lose her.
“I know you wouldn’t. I’m not going anywhere. I love you, Bella. I’m going to take care of you.”
She collapsed against me, and I lifted her up and took her into the bedroom where our brand-new mattresses were stacked in a corner ready for use. I stepped around the disassembled headboard. “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
“I’m sorry. I hurried them out when I twisted my ankle.”
I let out a long calming breath. “I’m glad you’re okay. You promise me, no matter what, that you won’t keep something like that from me again.” I hooked my finger into her shorts and tugged them down, and she put her hand on her tummy again and then met my eyes.
“I promise. We both do.” She smiled, and I dropped her shorts and crushed my mouth against hers, kissing her deep before trailing down to her breasts which I cupped over her shirt before I slipped my hand beneath it and found her nipples.
A moan escaped her mouth, and she rolled her hips upward. “Those are so sensitive. I think it’s the pregnancy.”
“I’m going to have fun knowing that.” I brought my mouth to one and suckled and then let my teeth drag along the underside of them and down to her tummy where I kissed the soft skin that would soon stretch for my baby.
“Do you want a son or a daughter?” She tilted her head and glanced down at herself.
“I’d like a healthy heir. That’s all that matters to me. They’ll be amazing like their mother and loved either way.”
“I feel the same, but I’m partial to the idea of a son. I’d like to have a little Reed running around,” she said.
I trailed my mouth down farther, and she squealed out in pleasure.
“Is this more sensitive too?” I pushed a finger into her already dripping slit.
She hissed out a breath and arched her back. “I hope you’ll like my new body. You should enjoy the skinny me while you can.” She made a face, and I wasn’t sure she was happy about the impending changes.
“You’ll always be sexy to me, Bella.” I pushed her shirt up, and she helped me slip it over her head. When I had her good and naked, I stood up, letting my gaze linger on her body as I undressed. “You’ll tell me if that ankle hurts, even if I’m about to come.”
“I promise, but I have a feeling you’re about to make all my pain go away.” She put her arms around me and pulled me close, centering her slit against my cock and stroking it up and down with her juices coating it.
I couldn’t wait to come inside her again and again, and I reached down and centered my cock against her sopping wet snatch and pushed against it. “You’ll tell me if I hurt you.”
“I will.” She rolled her eyes and lifted her hips, taking my cock halfway in one thrust. Then she leaned up to my ear. “I promise, I won’t break.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN - BELLA
I didn’t want him to be gentle, but I knew if I encouraged him to be brutal with me, that he’d lose his shit. He was going to be so protective now that he’d drive me crazy before nine months was up. I’d have to settle with a milder encouragement.
“I swear I won’t break, Reed. You won’t hurt the baby. It’s very safe in there.” I wrapped my ankles around his hips and pulled him deeper, his cock spreading me nice and wide around it, my tender channel gripping him, milking him with my motions. I couldn’t be still.
His cock worked in me nice and slow, and at this pace, I wasn’t going to come anytime soon. “Please, Reed. Fuck me harder.” He growled and sped up, lifting my leg with the boot up over his shoulder.
“I’m trying to be gentle with my little mama.” He gave me a smoldering smile and then thrust harder and picked up his pace. “You want it like that?”
“Yes, please. Fuck me. Please, Daddy.”
His eyes flashed as a smile spread his lips. “That’s so much dirtier than you think, and I want you to call me that from now on.” He rubbed a hand against my bare mound grinding his thumb against my clit as he worked me. He picked up the pace until he was pounding into me nice and steady and sure enough, my orgasm consumed me, taking away all my other senses as I soaked him.
Usually, he’d edge his release for me, but with me in my delicate condition in his mind, and with the clumsy boot on my foot, he didn’t hold back. His release followed shortly after mine and he ground himself hard against me, and I felt the tingle, and his pulsing cock as his load shot into me.
“I love coming inside you, Bella and filling that hot little hole.”
I loved it too; it made things so much more intense knowing we didn’t have to stop. He gave me a kiss and pulled me into his lap.
“Want to shower with me?” I kissed him nice and slow, and he met my eyes shaking his head.
“I just remembered I need to make a call. So you get cleaned up, and Daddy will take you out for dinner.”
“It’s a deal. But I’m not calling you Daddy.” I giggled thinking how ridiculous that would be in front of our friends.
“When we are alone, and you’re naked you will. Deal?” He spanked my ass so hard that a trickle of his cum threatened to drip. I clenched tight to hold it in place.
“Yes, Daddy. I better get to the shower before we both need one.”
He chuckled, and I got up and hurried into the bathroom.
After removing my boot and balancing against the wall, I decided to fill my tub. While the water ran, I dressed in my robe and strapped on the stupid boot to go out to let him know I was going to soak a minute. I didn’t want to take too long if he was starving, but he wasn’t in my room. I walked out, and the living room was empty too, and it wasn’t until I went toward the kitchen that I found him facing away from me against the counter, on the phone. I tip-toed up and stopped in my tracks when I heard his next words.
“No, she can never know about that. I don’t want her to know I knocked her up on purpose. Things are going too good—”
He must have caugh
t a glimpse of me because his face paled and he turned to face me. “I’ll call you back.”
“What did you mean? You knocked me up on purpose?” My hand went to my stomach and tears pooled in my eyes until they spilled down my cheeks. I thought of all those times we’d had sex, the times in the shower when I wasn’t certain he’d been safe. He had deceived me in the worst way. My stomach rolled, and I turned to run for the bathroom, forgetting all about the sprain in my ankle and the bulky boot on my foot.
I hit the floor, and Reed rushed around the counter. When he tried to help me, I freaked out.
“Don’t touch me!” I cradled my tummy and crawled out of his reach. He knelt there, wide-eyed and his hand out like he was approaching a wild animal.
“Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”
“Why did you say that you did this on purpose?”
“I can explain, Bella. If you’ll listen and let me help you up, I’ll take you to the couch.”
He approached me slowly, and I hissed, pushing at his arms as he tried to touch me.
“Dammit, Bella. I’m going to pick you up and take you to the couch!” He came at me with such force that I had no time to react, and I had a feeling if I had fought him, he’d have won anyway. I went limp in his arms to make his task harder.
He lifted me up and placed me gently on the couch, and I curled into a ball, inching myself away as he sat next to me.
“Before I tell you what I have to say, I want you to know I love you, and it changes nothing.”
“It changes everything.”
“Hear me out, for heaven’s sake, Bella. Right before I met you, I was hit with a bit of a shocker. I had assumed that when I turned thirty, I’d inherit the bulk of my father’s multi-billion-dollar estate. I’ve been living off of the trust, which will end at thirty when the billions kicked in.”
“Lucky you, so why knock me up. One last conquest? A celebratory challenge?”
“Would you let me finish? I found out that if I didn’t produce an heir by my thirtieth birthday, then I wouldn’t get the inheritance and the money would go to charities and I’d be left with nothing.” His tone had softened, but I couldn’t sympathize. He’d not given me any choice, and it was all for money.
“I don’t care about your fucking money. I wasn’t ready for this. I wanted to have time for myself, and now I’ve got to raise a child and all so you can have your precious money! And you were never going to tell me!”
“I love you. I didn’t want you to think I did this for any other reason. I never wanted to hurt you, Bella.”
“Get out!”
“This is my house, Bella. I’m not leaving you. I love you. This is about so much more than the money now. In the beginning, yes, that was my motivation, but along the way I fell in love with you. I don’t even care about the money for me anymore, Bella. I want something real and lasting with you—with us. We’ve created a life, and I want us to be a family.”
“Is that part of it? We have to pretend to be a family for you to get your money too?” I snapped at him.
He shook his head. “It’s not my money.”
I stopped and looked at him, confused. “I don’t understand.”
“The part of the conversation you didn’t hear in there was me ordering my lawyer to draw up papers giving you full control of my estate once the baby is born. It’s your money now, Bella. Yours and our child’s.”
I nearly passed out when he said those words. I would be in full control of $2 billion. Still, I was so hurt that he had deceived me. All the money in the world wouldn’t fix that.
“I don’t want your goddamn money, Reed. And I don’t want you.”
The hurt that flashed across his face was visceral. I knew I’d cut him, but in my mind, he’d had it coming. I expected an argument, a show of his power, but instead he bowed his head and a tear slipped down his cheek.
Without another word, he got up and walked out.
*
It would be some time before I’d see him again. He didn’t push himself on me, but he did take care of me financially, and I let him. After all, it was his child I was carrying.
Kayla had been my biggest supporter otherwise, and finally, at four months, she’d gone with me to see the first ultrasound that would determine the sex of our baby.
“You’re glowing, Bella. Just think, when we leave this appointment, you’ll know if you’re having a son or a daughter, and Auntie Kayla will be able to buy gender-specific presents and plan your baby shower.”
“Don’t go spending a ton of money. This little one will have more than enough of what he or she needs.”
“Speaking of Daddy Babybucks, don’t be mad, but-”
My head snapped around to see her wince. “You didn’t.”
“You’ve been miserable without him, admit it!” She held a hand up defensively.
“So what? He lied to me. ”
“Yeah, I get that, but tell me something, if he’d asked you, what would you have said?”
She knew I’d have been all for it. That I’d always wanted a baby and that I had had enough faith in Reed to try.
“I’d have said yes. But he didn’t ask.”
“And since you sent him packing, he’s miserable, Bella. Rick said he’s not eating, he’s not sleeping. He’s afraid you’re not going to let him see the baby too.”
The thought of strong Reed having a tough time was enough to tug my heartstrings, and I’d been very careful not to let myself feel sorry for him or miss him too badly. But it was hard not to have him there with me through it. When I’d learned I was pregnant, I’d been so relieved that he’d been excited and that he’d wanted the baby. I had wanted someone to go through it with me, someone to share the experience with, and Kayla hadn’t been my first pick.
“I’d never keep the baby from him. I’d like to see him, but I’m still angry. I don’t know if I can forgive him, Kayla. I want to, but I’ll always know he lied.” I wondered if that was why he’d never wanted me to know.
“Yes, he lied, and it was a total asshole move, but he loves you. And don’t forget that he signed all of that money over to you. In my opinion, he’s more than proven that he’s in this for the right reasons, regardless of how it all started out.”
I knew she was right and that my own stubbornness was making me as miserable as it was apparently making him.
“He’s inside waiting. You can be mad if you want, but I think you two should try and fix this. You love each other and this baby, boy or girl, is going to need both parents.”
I knew she was right, but it was hard to face Reed and not fall apart.
“I just felt it was only fair he be here for this.”
“You’re right,” I finally admitted.
I got out of the car and headed for the office, and sure enough, Reed was sitting in the waiting room, surrounded by other expectant mothers and staring at his shoes. He looked up and saw me from across the room and stood up, his hands wringing together.
“Bella. You look beautiful.”
My heart ached, and I wanted to hug him, but I couldn’t.
“Thanks.” I sat with him and kept quiet, and he and Kayla spoke a little back and forth as I signed in. They brought us right back, and I was confused why I hadn’t had to wait.
“You paid them to get me in sooner?” I let out a breath and held back a smile. Of course, he wouldn’t want to sit and wait any longer than he had to.
“It’s one of the perks of being wealthy, so get used to it.” He flashed an awkward smile as he followed me back.
“I’ve had to get used to a lot of things that were done without my asking.” I felt his hand in the small of my back and glared at him as if to warn him to get his hands off of me, while inside I wanted his hands everywhere. A slow ache throbbed in my core, as I’d been sex-starved for months since that last time together.
“I’m going to stay out here until you both know what you’re having, and then you can come and get me,” K
ayla said, giving me a hug.
I went in and was laid back in the chair as the ultrasound tech pulled my shirt up over my belly and tucked it up under my breasts. Then he prepared the wand and got the jelly ready as Reed watched with a protective glare and he brought up images that we couldn’t make out. But Reed’s eyes really lit up when the baby’s heartbeat came through the machine. I realized he hadn’t heard it yet.
“Is that Bella’s heart?” he asked the tech.
“No, that’s your baby’s heartbeat, and this,” he pointed at the screen, “is your baby.” He snapped some images and typed something on the screen as Reed’s eyes ringed red.
He seemed so alone, as alone as I’d felt over the past four months. I reached over and took his hand. His eyes met mine as he squeezed my hand.
“Would you like to know the sex of the baby?”
We both answered with a blurted, yes, and then he laughed and told us the information we’d longed months to hear.
“It’s a boy.”
Tears fell from Reed’s eyes, and he leaned down and hugged me. “I love you, Bella. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” I knew at that moment that I’d forgiven him.
EPILOGUE - REED
Bella was sexier than ever while pregnant, and I was so glad that we had gotten back together where I could keep a protective eye on her. She’d gotten so round and off balance that I was afraid of her falling again and hurting herself or the baby.
We only had about two months to go until Reed Patrick Harrington Jr. was due to be born. Along with all the joy of experiencing this journey with her, the sex was better than ever.
I’d move to Phoenix, and as soon as the baby was born, we’d sell the house and buy a new one, but I didn’t want to uproot them too soon.
“Reed?” Bella’s voice had me on my feet, and I walked into the bathroom to find her sitting in the tub, her big baby bump now the size of a basketball.“I’m ready for you to help me out.”
I’d not let her in and out of the tub alone for months now, and while it irritated her to no end, she was a good sport about it. I grabbed the towel and readied it on the counter and then I took her hand as she stood. Her skin was supple and pink and her nipples pebbled from the cold air. She’d pinned her hair up, and the few tendrils that had managed to escape were wet and dripped onto my hand as I wrapped her in the towel.
