If the rest of everyone’s indoor situations were like the dark, wood paneled judge’s chamber Lauren now found herself in, she wouldn’t want to be inside either.
The judge gave a discreet cough, and Lauren and Alex moved to take their respective places. Yesterday they’d gotten their marriage license and survived a dinner at what had been their favorite restaurant. They’d talked little, but the food had been great.
She did have to admit he looked handsome, the custom Armani suit perfect for any occasion. The classic cut emphasized his broad shoulders and trim waist, and the black charcoal color accented his eyes and his jet-black hair.
His secretary was witnessing the ceremony, and Clarice had insisted Lauren wear the off-white maternity suit, the one splurge Lauren had made on herself while shopping earlier in the week. The suit was comfortable, as were the new matching cream-colored shoes gracing her pregnancy-enlarged feet.
“Dearly beloved,” the judge began.
“Sorry I’m late.” A tall, yet stocky figure entered the chambers. He ran a hand through his gray-tinged hair. “Traffic.”
As the judge nodded, Lauren struggled to rein in the myriad emotions crossing her face. Theo Pappas’s poker face didn’t smile or reveal anything as he took his place to Alex’s left. “Hello, Lauren,” he said.
“Theo,” she replied. To hide the sudden chill of fear that traveled through her, she tightened her fingers on the small white rose bouquet that Alex had given her upon her arrival at the courthouse. Trust Theo to be best man. She should have known he would be there to witness the less-than-blessed event.
Although as tall as Alex, Theo’s build was much heavier and stockier. His custom suit fit him but to Lauren he appeared more like a pallbearer, or worse, like one of those stereotypical thugs from a bad Hollywood gangster movie.
“Dearly beloved,” the judge began again. “We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Alexander Andreas Pappas to Lauren Gail Andrews. If there is anyone here that has just cause as to why this marriage should not take place, let him speak now or let him forever hold his peace.”
As the judge paused, Lauren almost expected Theo to open his mouth. He would have, Lauren knew, had she not been pregnant. Instead he clasped his hands together and glanced at his feet as if studying a speck that dared to fall on his custom Italian shoes. So focused on Theo’s lack of movement, Lauren had to snap to attention when the judge spoke again.
“Since there are no objections to this marriage, let us begin. Do you Alex take…”
To her left, Alex shifted his weight to his opposite foot, his attention fully on the judge’s words. Lauren, however, hardly listened as an intuitive, instinctive feeling instead grabbed hold of her and took root.
Something was wrong.
Her eyes widened as a muscle tightening cramp shot through her abdomen and traveled to her toes. Her quick intake of breath must have alerted Alex, because he turned his attention to her instead of the judge.
“Lauren, what is it? You’ve paled.” A genuine concern radiated in his black eyes. “Tell me, what’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” she braved as another clutching pain shot through her. And had she just wet her underwear? Surely not, but why did her briefs feel damp?
“Nerves,” she heard Theo mutter disparagingly under his breath. Alex looked over his shoulder and silenced Theo with one cutting look.
But, maybe Theo was right. Maybe it was nerves. She’d always dreamed of marrying Alex Pappas, but not like this. No, this was not her dream. She didn’t want to marry Alex in a judge’s chamber, ready to commit to a loveless union forever and ever more.
Lauren clutched the fresh flowers to her protruding stomach as another possibility occurred to her. Surely these pangs weren’t contractions. The baby, it was too early. She had six weeks left until her due date.
The baby could not be deciding to arrive today.
The judge broke the silence that had fallen. “We’re almost finished. About five minutes. Then you can sign the marriage license and go. I know what a trial a woman’s pregnancy can be. My wife had to be off her feet the last four weeks. Nothing but absolute bed rest until her c-section.”
Lauren nodded. Five minutes until her life sealed itself irrevocably to Alex’s. “Okay.” Her mouth dried on the simple word.
The judge turned to Alex. “Alex, do you take Lauren, for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?”
“I do.” Alex’s confident rumble filled the room and Lauren dared not look at him. Her hands trembled and the flowers she held shook. Some greenery came loose and fell to the floor.
The judge turned to Lauren but she couldn’t see him through the clouded certainty that something was truly wrong, and that it wasn’t just nerves. “Lauren do you take…”
“Alex!” Lauren’s anguished cry cut off the judge. “Alex, I…”
But words were useless, as Lauren indeed knew she was wetting her undergarments, meaning that at this moment her water had chosen to break at the worst possible time. The flowers fell from her hand and petals frayed and crumpled as the bouquet tumbled on the floor.
“Dear God,” Theo hissed.
“Call an ambulance,” Clarice directed someone.
Tears streamed down Lauren’s face, matching the liquid trickling down her legs. The pain sharpened, nearly doubling her over. She clutched Alex’s arm. “Alex. No. It can’t be now.”
He seemed not to understand for he reached forward and tucked a loose blond ringlet behind her ear. “Shh, Lauren, we’ve called for an ambulance. You’ll be fine.”
“Alex, the baby. It’s too soon.”
His face paled and he searched her face. “Too soon?”
She dug her fingers into the fine fabric of his sleeve. “I’m only at 34 weeks! The baby’s premature. He can’t come now.”
A million emotions flitted across Alex’s face in an instant. For such a powerful man, her words had stripped him of all control. She’d rendered him vulnerable. “Lauren, I…”
“You’ll be fine,” Clarice reassured as she came to Lauren’s side. “Doctors often get these due dates wrong. They were four weeks off with my daughter. If she’d delivered on her due date the baby would have been over ten pounds. As it was, my darling grandbaby Bruce was eight something and as perfect as can be. You’ll be fine, dear, the paramedics are on their way.”
“Do we need to finish the ceremony?” Theo faced the judge as he asked the all-important question. “Or can we simply have them sign the papers?”
“This is highly irregular,” the judge said. He stared at his soaked carpet and took a step back, unwilling to make that decision.
Another pain overtook Lauren and she cried out. Her fingers dug deeper into Alex’s arm. Beside her, Alex tensed. “Theo, we’re not going to worry about finisheing the ceremony right now,” he said.
“You know what this means,” Theo argued. “You do understand the consequences and what the family will think…”
“I know,” Alex gritted out through clenched teeth, effectively ending Theo’s argument. “I will deal with it later, Theo. Later,” he repeated. “Right now you would serve me best by phoning my mother and telling her that her first grandchild is on his way.”
Theo’s olive skin darkened. “Alex.”
Even Lauren recognized the finality in Alex’s tone when he said, “My mother, Theo.”
“As you wish,” Theo said.
As Theo left the room, Alex shifted so that he supported more of Lauren’s weight. The fact that her lower half was damp was irrelevant and he gathered her into his arms.
“How are you holding up, glikia mou? You are going to be just fine. You’re strong, Lauren. Strong. You can do this.”
“I—” Lauren paused as paramedics arrived and rolled a stretcher into the judge’s chamber. After asking her a fast flurry of questions, the paramedics had her lie on the stretcher. Soon they had her hooked to several mobile
monitors and had inserted an IV into her hand just below her left wrist. The vital symptom readings that they called out to each other meant nothing to Lauren.
Another pain stabbed through her and she shrieked.
“Intensifying and two minutes apart.” The female paramedic smiled and Lauren heard a click. The stretcher gave a shudder as it began to move.
“Away we go,” the paramedic said. “Now don’t you worry. I’ve delivered quite a few babies, so I could do yours, but I think we’ll get you to the hospital in plenty of time for a doctor to do it. Why don’t you just close your eyes and rest?”
“Rest,” Lauren repeated. The pain was so unbearable.
“That’s right. Close your eyes. Breath into your contractions. They always intensify after a woman’s water breaks. No, don’t open your eyes. I’m nothing that you need to see. All we’re doing right now is just lifting you into the ambulance. No need to see that.”
In the darkness Lauren heard a different voice say, “Blood pressure still elevated, but steady.”
“See, already you’re doing much better,” the female paramedic told Lauren. “Now think happy thoughts my dear. In just a short while you’re going to have a beautiful baby and…”
Lauren tuned her out as a firm hand gripped hers. Heat fused their flesh, joining their fingers together. Alex. “I’m here, agapi mou,” he said.
Her words came out a mere whisper. “Please don’t leave me.”
“I won’t.”
There was a jolt, and the trip to the hospital began.
Lauren thought she must have dozed through parts of the journey, for the next thing she knew she was in a room with too many bright lights.
Had they given her something in her IV to cut the pain and make her woozy? The pang shooting through her body didn’t feel as sharp. And why wasn’t she pushing? Wasn’t she supposed to be pushing or something?
“Is she going to be all right?” Alex’s voice again. Lauren tried to open her eyes, but found she couldn’t focus.
“She and the baby are going to be just fine. But the baby is premature and in breech position. We’re also worried that the baby may have RDS.”
Lauren heard Alex’s sharp inhale. “What does that mean?”
“Respiratory distress syndrome. Once out, the baby could have difficulty breathing because his lungs aren’t fully developed. RDS can also happen if fluid gets into his lungs. In short, there are complications and the potential for more, Mr. Pappas. We’re not going to take any chances. We’re prepping her for a Cesarean section right now.”
A c-section. I don’t want a c-section, Lauren tried, but she found she couldn’t get her mouth to move.
The doctor continued. “We don’t even have time to do an epidural—she’s going under general. Sorry, we can’t have anyone but medical personnel in the operating room during emergency surgery. You’ll need to remain in the waiting area just down the hall. I promise someone will get you immediately.”
A different voice. “This way, Mr. Pappas. I also have some papers for you to sign. If you could follow me.”
Lauren felt a quick kiss on her forehead.
“I’m not leaving, Lauren. I’ll be right outside, agapi mou. Right outside. You’re going to be just fine. You won’t feel anything. You and the baby are going to be just fine, just fine.”
He said the words again, almost as if more to convince himself of the certainty of the fact. For a moment, sound seemed to amplify in Lauren’s ears and she heard his footsteps walking away.
“I’m ready with the general.”
“Go ahead.”
Panic clawed at Lauren. Oh, I’m so sorry. For everything. Don’t leave me, Alex! Don’t leave your son and me. But as her world faded fully into black, no words left her silent lips.
*****
Chapter Six
Ever since his birth, Alex Pappas had been the responsible and dependable one in his family. His father had told Alex that he had exhibited his destiny early. As a child, Alex had stacked cans of tuna instead of blocks. He’d learned numbers before letters. The family legend said he’d discussed and solved adult business problems as young as age three.
Alex had fully embraced all that his Greek heritage and his first-born role meant in his family. His name, Alex, which meant defender of man, fit him perfectly. Alex was a vrahas; he was one to be depended on to always be there.
His father labeled him a vrahas early. A vrahas was a rock at the edge of the ocean, the rock where the waves crashed against it. But this rock, this rock remained unmoved. It was imperturbable, never fazed by the constant battering of the endless sea. It withstood all battlement, all of the furies unleashed upon it.
Not only could he withstand, but Alex Pappas was also a mover and a shaker who could get everything that needed to be done, done. He righted wrongs. He dispensed justice when warranted and oversaw retribution. He defended the weak, cared for the needy. He protected the unfortunate.
But today he could defend nothing, protect nothing, and withstand nothing. And even worse, he cared too much about the outcome, and not just because he feared failure. For the second time in his entire world, the first being the death of his brother, there was nothing Alex could do. He was totally helpless, completely at the mercy of the men and women in green hospital scrubs who tended his…
Alex paused as a tight fist clenched his thoughts and paralyzed them midstream. Just what was Lauren? She was no longer his girlfriend or mistress. She was no longer his brother’s. And as Theo had pointed out before the ambulance had pulled away from the courthouse curb, Lauren wasn’t Alex’s wife.
That core mistake had Alex physically shaking his head to clear his wayward thoughts. A strand of his dark hair dared to fall into his face and, with a firm left hand, Alex impatiently pushed it back. He didn’t know how to classify Lauren.
He cared for her. Her collapse today had proved that much. His heart had raced and panic had rooted itself deep in his soul, and it wasn’t just fear for the baby’s survival. He cared about Lauren too. She remained deeply rooted under his skin.
He could not let her become his weakness. Too much depended on him remaining strong. He had to stop the Favazzas from stealing market share. Someone was still scooping up Pappas Foods stock. The uncles were grumbling.
Lauren couldn’t become a distraction. He had to keep her delegated to the box in his life he’d created for her. He would marry her, desire her physically, and have her body.
But he could not let himself love her. Never again. His heart couldn’t take another betrayal. She would stay confined to her role, for no matter what, she was the mother of a Pappas baby, a baby that had chosen to enter the harsh real world far too soon and without being legitimized first.
And Alex remained powerless to do anything about it.
He paced the empty waiting room, his long stride taking him to the end and back in only five movements. What was taking so long? Had the complications been worse than the doctor thought?
A cold sweat broke out on Alex’s forehead as raw and unbridled dread consumed him. The vending machine against the far wall hummed, creating a neurotic buzz that seemed to grow louder until the noise filled the stark, utilitarian waiting room. A shadow flickered in the corner; the water fountain chose that moment to gurgle.
Alex brushed of his temporary irrationalism. He trusted medical science. He trusted reason, especially his own. He had to trust that the doctors and nurses were the best and wouldn’t fail. He had to have faith that Christopher’s baby would be strong and healthy. Lauren was a survivor. She’d come through this.
He vowed that he would not fail Christopher in taking care of either of them.
Alex calmed his breathing. He glanced at his Rolex, and frowned. The watch inched towards six.
“Mr. Pappas?”
A doctor in green scrubs entered the waiting room. “Congratulations. It’s a boy. Both the mother and child are doing fine although…”
The doctor paused an
d Alex tried to read the man’s guarded expression.
At times like these, Alex was not a patient man. “Tell it to me straight,” he said.
The doctor hesitated only a second before beginning. “Miss Andrews is doing fine. The baby, however, is premature and has respiratory distress syndrome. It’s called RDS for short. What it means is that his lungs haven’t fully developed, at least not enough to work normally on their own. We have him hooked up to a ventilator. It’s just a precaution. We believe that within a few days he’ll be able to breathe just fine on his own.”
Alex tried to understand. “He can’t breathe?”
The doctor shook his head. “Not the way a fully developed baby can, no. At this time, without the ventilator, he’d have trouble breathing. His lungs will work too hard. But there are positives. We’re encouraged by his weight. He’s six pounds and that’s a good sign. You’re in an excellent facility. He’ll be well looked after in our Neonatal ICU. There’s no need for us to send him to a separate children’s hospital. He’ll get only the best medical care. We have a world-class staff.”
Eleimosini! Alex swore the Greek curse word under his breath as guilt plagued him. He wasn’t comforted by the fact that, although the doctor hadn’t said the words, Alex knew the situation could have been much worse. But none of that mattered.
He’d waited too long.
He should have gone and retrieved Lauren from Central Mexico much earlier. He should have insisted she take better care of herself after Christopher’s death. He should not have allowed her to stay in that equatorial hell for as long as he had. Only his pride had gotten in the way.
She’d even been arrested, a jarring lesson that Lauren had enemies. Lauren had insinuated Theo was at fault—but Alex could not believe that. He’d had his cousin checked out and Theo had passed. Alex sighed. He just hadn’t wanted to force Lauren. He’d learned, no one forced Lauren. He would not make the same mistakes again.
The doctor cleared his throat. “I know that you’re probably having a hard time taking this all in, Mr. Pappas. I’m happy to answer any further questions. Right now, Lauren is in recovery. We’ve woken her up enough to know she’s fine and we’re letting her sleep again. Would you like to see her?”
The Greek Billionaire's Secret Baby (Contemporary Romance) Page 6
