by Mia Carson
Her OB laughed as she moved the transducer probe around Belle’s pregnant belly. “It’s alright. I’ve heard far worse things come out of expectant parents,” Dr. Higgins said.
“I’m sure you have,” Greyson agreed. “A baby… We made a baby.” The awe in his voice made Belle sigh and Dr. Higgins laugh again. “I’m sorry, never thought I’d be doing this—ever—with anyone.”
“Me neither,” Belle whispered, her eyes glued to the monitor.
Greyson’s fingers intertwined with hers as they watched their baby on the screen. It was so tiny, but Dr. Higgins assured them that Belle was healthy and that the baby looked perfect. Belle sucked in her bottom lip, worrying on it as her dreams from the last few nights played over and over in her mind… about her having this baby and abandoning it, just as she had been abandoned when she was barely a year old. Greyson had told her plenty of times she would be a great mom, but Belle didn’t know how to be a mom, act like one, or what one even did. She floated in a world of unknowns and what ifs, and every day that loomed closer to her due date only increased her fear.
“Belle?” Greyson asked and squeezed her hand.
“Hmm?” She glanced his way and saw his brow severely furrowed as he watched her closely. “Sorry, thinking about something.”
“Right, so you’re not worrying about the ten million things I told you not to,” he growled.
“I would never do that,” she said brightly and grinned.
Dr. Higgins smiled and shook her head. “Don’t let your fiancée overdo herself, now. She’s healthy and so is the baby, but too much stress can change that in an instant.”
“Don’t tell him that,” Belle groaned, sitting up. “He won’t let me do anything!”
“Not true,” he uttered and shrugged when she shot him a glare. “You can do some things. I'm not sure what doesn’t stress you out too much, though.” Her nostrils flared in irritation, and Dr. Higgins laughed. “What? The game launch is getting closer, and you and Tim were close to a yelling match the other day.”
She crossed her arms tightly and glanced away. “He started it,” she hissed.
“Well, how about no more arguments for the next six months at least?” Dr. Higgins told her sternly and put up the probe. She handed Belle a cloth to wipe the jelly from her stomach and printed out the image of their little blob, as Belle thought of it.
Belle cleaned her stomach, and Greyson leaned against the nearby wall, his eyes never leaving her as she sat up and pulled down her shirt, buttoned her jeans, and stood. “I can feel that look.”
“What look? I’m not giving a look,” he insisted innocently.
“The look that says this conversation is far from over,” she replied.
Dr. Higgins handed her two printouts of the ultrasound with a smile. “You two will be great parents,” she said encouragingly. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, make sure you’re exercising a little bit each week, and try not to overdo it on the Chinese food.”
Belle turned to Greyson with an accusing stare. “You told her?”
“It was three times in four days,” he said. “She asked, and I answered honestly.”
As Dr. Higgins held open the door to the room, she told Belle if she had any concerns to call her and that she’d see her in a few weeks for her next appointment. Once they were outside the medical building, Greyson slipped his arm around her waist and she rested her head against his arm, studying the black and white picture in her hand.
“I still can’t believe it,” she whispered. “I went from being an intern to a CEO, a fiancée, and a mom.” She came to an abrupt stop on the sidewalk. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized in six short months, she’d be a mother to a baby. Her hand drifted to her stomach and she shook her head. “I’m not ready for this.”
Greyson moved around so he faced her, running his hands down her arms gently. “Look at me,” he said gently. “Belle, look at me, please.”
Slowly, she raised her gaze to his, and the amount of love shining in his eyes overwhelmed her. He smiled and pulled her close, wrapping her securely against his big bear of a body and kissed the top of her head. She sank into him as she always did, never wanting to leave the safety he offered her, the security of a future with Greyson and his company. She had no doubt in her mind he would be a great dad, but she’d never had a real family. Never had someone to call mom in all her twenty-two years of life.
“You are going to be a great mom,” Greyson said sweetly. “You’re a spitfire, just like my mom. If you can handle me, you can handle a baby.”
“You’re a little different,” she mumbled against his chest, enjoying how his whole body vibrated with his deep laughter.
“Maybe, maybe not. It could be a boy.”
“And if it’s a girl?”
“Then she’ll be just like you and will drive me equally insane, I’m sure,” he said and leaned back, a crooked grin on his face behind his beard. “You know, if you’re that worried, we can always talk to Mom. She’d love to give you advice.”
Belle raised a brow as they continued to the Mustang. “You’re done being mad at her?”
“I wasn’t mad at her,” he grumbled, and Belle barked a laugh. “She just shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, but she’s a mom who cares about her son finding happiness and making something of his life,” she chimed in. “Not to say she didn’t throw me for a loop, but I get it now. Besides, it was over a month ago, so suck it up and stop being a brat.”
He frowned without replying until they were in the Mustang. He revved the engine before pulling out of the lot. His fingers tapped on the steering wheel, and he muttered under his breath every few seconds, but Belle was used to it. Since Sally dropped the bomb of Belle being pregnant in front of his family, he’d been more on edge than usual. Add that to his overprotectiveness, and there were days Belle wanted to throttle him. Dr. Higgins hadn’t given her any restrictions so far on what she could do, but Greyson didn’t listen.
She opened her mouth to tell him to swing by and get food on their way home when her cell rang. She dug around in her purse until she found it and answered. “Hey, Sally, speak of the devil.”
Greyson’s eyes slid to her quickly before flashing back to the road, and his lips thinned.
“Belle! How was your appointment today?”
“It went really well. Doc says I’m in perfect health and so is the baby,” she told Sally.
“Wonderful. So what are your plans for this weekend?” Sally asked excitedly.
Belle sensed she was up to something and couldn’t help but grin. “I have a feeling I’m about to be kidnapped.”
Sally laughed, and Greyson rolled his eyes. “Molly and Mel are in town and want to take you shopping for the baby. Do you know what the nursery is going to look like yet?”
“Nursery?” she muttered and sank in her seat. “Uh… no, not yet. We haven’t decided.”
“Well, decide by this weekend so we can get a good head-start,” she said with a laugh. “Finally, a grandbaby. Can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for this! Let Greyson know you’re all ours on Saturday. We’ll pick you up around ten?”
“Sounds perfect. See you then,” she said and hung up. She puffed out her cheeks, blowing out a breath as she rested her head back and stared out the window. She still had the rest of the day to work before she could head home with Greyson and figure out what the hell to do about a nursery. Neither of them had even thought of it yet, and she rested her hands on her belly, wondering what else she would forget to do.
Greyson reached over, and she placed his hand on her small baby bump. “You look tired,” he said as he pulled into the parking garage. “Not sleeping again? I can always take you home.”
“And let the office fall apart? No thank you. I like to know that your office won’t be exploding anytime this week,” she teased. “It's just hard to get comfortable some nights.”
“You’re lying, but for the sake of not stres
sing you out,” he went on when she opened her mouth to argue, “I’ll let it go. For now.”
“At least the construction is finished,” she muttered.
The contractors cleared out two weeks ago, and Belle had settled nicely into her office with the same glass walls as Greyson’s and located right next door to his. She enjoyed having more room to move around and was able to get all the necessary papers and files organized the way they should’ve been from the beginning. And when the noise of the office was too much, she had a door to shut it all out, and she could blast her music.
Greyson kissed the back of her hand, and his beard tickled her skin, reminding her of other places it had touched the night before. Warmth pooled low in her belly, and when he turned her hand over, kissing her palm, she sighed, squirming in her seat.
“We’re going to be late,” she whispered, nibbling her lip as his kisses moved up her arm.
“And? You forget, we are the bosses,” he growled.
“And you forget Tim’s been on edge all week with the launch date sneaking closer,” she reminded him. “If you leave that man hanging again, he’s going to self-combust and I am not cleaning that mess up.”
“Damn that man and his tantrums,” Greyson said and his kisses stopped. “Fine, but we’re finishing this later.”
“Before or after you lecture me?”
His eyes narrowed, and he tugged his beard as he shrugged his massive shoulders. “How about at the same time? Might be kinky,” he added and waggled his eyebrows until she laughed. “Works every time.”
Belle shook her head and climbed out of the Mustang, scowling at him when he rushed around to help her to her feet. “I’m not waddling yet. I don’t need your help.”
He kept his hand on her arm anyway until he closed the door behind her and tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow. “You know you enjoy the pampering.”
She didn’t answer, just smiled and let him think he wasn’t pushing her closer to the edge of losing it. One day, he’d figure it out when she chucked a keyboard at his head for insisting he carry a stack of damn files across the office for her, or get her a better chair for her back, or double-check she took her vitamins that morning, or any of the other ungodly annoying habits he’d created. Her bear of a man had turned into a mother hen, and Belle worried in the back of her mind that this baby was going to change him for good.
***
Tim walked into Belle’s office, and Greyson glanced away from his monitor, attempting to watch without looking too irritated that it was the fourth time he’d walked in there that afternoon. The doctor might say that Belle was healthy and the baby, too, that he didn’t need to worry as much as he did, but the protectiveness sprouting to life in him couldn’t be stopped. He loved her, and now that they were having a baby together, nothing else mattered except keeping her safe. Keeping their future legacy together safe. He knew there were days he pushed too far, but there were also days she tried to do too much, even for a non-pregnant person. And the fact she hadn’t slept well in at least a week—and tried to lie about it—made Greyson anxious to find a way to keep her home and away from the upcoming chaos of the game launch.
He glanced at the messages on his phone and frowned. Brent Hall, the man who claimed to be Belle’s older brother. The night he’d called, Greyson wanted to tell Belle all about it, but seeing that she was really pregnant made him hesitate. A month later, he was still holding onto that secret. If he didn’t tell her soon, she’d kill him.
To be fair, he was still researching the guy to be sure he was actually who he said he was, and so far, Brent’s background checked out. Greyson’s worry was what this would do to Belle and the baby if for some reason it didn’t work out and the guy was a fraud. His hands curled into fists on his desk as he glared at his computer, imagining this man hurting his Belle. He’d never make it back to California, that was for certain.
“Whoa there, boss man, should I come back later?” Tim asked as he came through the door Belle and Greyson shared between their offices.
“No, why?” he grumbled.
“You have a murderous glint in your eye… Just don’t punch your monitor again.”
“That happened one time,” he muttered and leaned back in his chair. “You’re not stressing her out, are you?”
Tim shook his head, his lips curling in a smirk. “Nah, not this time. Running over some last-minute numbers since we moved the launch up.”
“No glitches cropping up?”
“Nope, we are good so far,” Tim told him.
“Good,” he said and pushed back from his desk. “Then I think I’m going to take the future missus home for the day. Call me if there’s a problem.”
Tim nodded and backed towards the door. “You’re enjoying these half-days a bit too much.”
“You come talk to me when you have a pregnant workaholic to deal with,” he growled and stalked into Belle’s office. Tim laughed and said something else, but Greyson didn’t catch it. He was too focused on the woman hunched over her desk, staring intently at her monitor, her fingers tapping away in a blur across the keyboard. “I think we’ll head home early today,” he announced.
Belle didn’t even glance up, but her face scrunched. “And why is that? Did I wear you out last night?”
His gut clenched along with something else in his pants, and he leaned over her desk, covering her with his shadow. “Don’t tease me, not here.”
She grinned wickedly as she whispered, “Why not? You know you love thinking of your hands on my swollen breasts and holding my hips as you grind against me.”
Greyson sucked in a harsh breath, his hands gripping the edge of her desk so tightly it creaked. “Belle,” he warned. “Keep it up and we won’t make it to the house before I have you screaming my name.”
She finally glanced his way and sighed. “Fine, I’ll stop. Why are we leaving, though, seriously?”
“You need rest,” he said simply. “Get your bag.”
“I have too much work to finish. You moved up the deadline of the game launch, remember? That means contract work, marketing work, legal papers, the works. I need to stay to get it done. Do you want this not to happen because of me?”
He walked around her desk and dragged her chair away from her desk, spun her around, and leaned down on the arms so his face was level with hers. “I have all the faith in the world that you’ll get it done, but not right now.”
“You really need to stop doing this crap,” she snapped, her eyes narrowed.
“Doing what?” he mumbled innocently. “I just want you to be well-rested, and those bags under your eyes say you’re not.”
“I'm not sleeping well,” she admitted, looking away.
“I know. You’ve woken up gasping for breath three times this week. You think I don’t notice?”
She tugged at her earring in her right ear and shrugged. “I hoped you wouldn’t, but I still can’t leave, alright? How about we just take Friday off instead? Let me get some more work done today, and Friday, we can play hooky… Wait, no we can’t,” she muttered and shoved him aside to tap her finger on the desk calendar. “Damn, I have a call with Bigsby, Inc. that day.”
“What do they want now?”
“Updates, as usual, and we’re running over the marketing that day,” she said absently, puffing out her cheeks. “We can leave early Friday, how does that sound?”
Greyson straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. “No, we’re leaving right now.” His eyes searched her office for her purse, snatched it up, and moved towards the door, but Belle didn’t get up to follow. She sat in her chair, firmly planted, and eyed him. “You coming or not?”
“Not,” she said. “You go on, though. I’ll take the bus.”
Heat shot through him as he dropped her purse to the floor. “The bus?”
“Yeah. It’s what I did before I met you, remember? Before I had some big bear bossing me around day and night,” she added with a bite to her words, rolling her ch
air back to her desk and going back to work. “I took care of myself just fine.”
“Sure you did, running yourself ragged working too many hours, taking on too many tasks—”
“And who’s fault was that?” she retorted. “You had me running around this office fetching your damn coffee!”
“Only for a week,” he growled.
“Yeah, a week until I yelled at you, and then what happened? I took over more responsibility, saved your ass at least three times—and your company’s,” she said angrily, pushing to her feet. “I’m the one who takes care of everything, and you still persist in bossing me around because I’m pregnant!”
Greyson scratched his beard, ready to correct her when her face paled, and she pushed hurriedly past him out the door. “Where are you going? We’re not finished here!”
Half the floor turned to watch him and Belle as she walked quickly towards the bathroom and disappeared inside a moment later. Kelly walked out a few seconds after, shaking her head with a wry smile on her face as she walked towards Greyson.
“Morning sickness. Wonderful thing,” she mused. “Oh, and Belle also said she’s not leaving early, so you can kiss her ass.”
“I thought she was busy being sick,” he said with a raised brow.
“Yes, but mad enough to relay said message in between heaves.” Kelly patted him on the back. “Nice to see you two still so much in love.”
“Love? Are we supposed to be at each other’s throats all the time?” he asked, his mind flooding with doubts over what he was getting into here. He loved Belle and knew she loved him back, but sometimes, he worried their fiery personalities would be too much for each other and they’d blow themselves apart, pushing too hard one too many times.
Kelly nodded. “Love is funny, but I see it in the way she looks at you. I see it in the way she works her ass off here for you,” she emphasized, poking him in the shoulder. “You really think she sits in that office all day for the joy of it?”
He sighed. “No, she’d rather be getting her hands dirty,” he murmured. He promised Belle after this game launch, she’d be one of the first designers to start working on the next one, but she was so damn good at keeping him on track, he feared losing her. She was gone a few days, and he fell apart. What would happen if she disappeared to the designing team for a year or several?
