by Tia Siren
“You have to tell him, Mia. Don’t expect him to read your mind.”
Shrugging, I said, “I don’t even know if I’ll ever see him again. I could have the baby and he wouldn’t even know.”
My mom glared at me. “You cannot do that. It isn’t fair to your child or to Brad. He isn’t just some guy or a random one-night stand. You know he wants children. If you didn’t want to have a child with him, you should have been more careful,” she said.
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Just the same. You’re pregnant and he has a right to know. I’m not saying you have to marry him. I think it may be wise to wait a few weeks, though. Maybe he’ll realize he loves you and then you can tell him about the baby.”
I laughed. “I don’t know how he is going to realize it when we don’t see each other.”
She shrugged. “Mia, you don’t have to see one another to fall in love. Love is about sharing your life with someone. You do that over the phone already. In fact, this distance might be a good thing. It gives you the chance to really get to know each other without other things getting in the way,” she said with a knowing smile.
She was spot on. When Brad and I were together, it was difficult to think about anything other than sex. It was like our bodies were drawn to each other. It was magnetic. When I was around him, I wanted to be on him or under him, and I knew he felt the same way.
“You’re probably right.”
Our waiter appeared, and we placed our food order. Suddenly, I was crying again.
“Mia?” my mom asked softly. “What is it now?”
“I’m so happy,” I gurgled.
She burst into laughter. “Oh my, you definitely have the pregnancy hormones racing through your body. Be happy. I’m happy. This is a beautiful thing no matter how much stuff is going on between you and Brad.”
Nodding, I went on. “I was beginning to think I would never have a baby, so I can’t believe it’s actually happening.”
My mom’s eyes were bright with tears as well. “I’m going to be a grandma.”
I laughed. “Yes, you are.”
“I’m going to spoil that child more than any other grandma in the history of all time.”
I groaned. “Not too badly.”
She waved a hand in the air. “No, no. It’s written clearly in the grandma code. It is my job to spoil the child and then hand him or her back to you to deal with. I can’t wait.”
We ate our meal and spent an hour talking about it all and everything I would need before the baby arrived. It truly was overwhelming to think I could be doing it all on my own. I knew my mom would be there to help out, but ultimately, it was my responsibility.
That night, Brad called right on time. He called at the same time every night, like clockwork. I smiled when I saw his number on the screen.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey, beautiful.” He greeted me the same way every night, too.
It was sweet and heartfelt. I loved that he thought I was beautiful. Would he think I was beautiful when I was nine months pregnant and had swollen ankles? Did he only want the marriage because I was attractive? What if he didn’t find me attractive during and after the pregnancy? The pact allowed us to step outside our marriage vows if the sex wasn’t satisfying, but I could never have a marriage like that.
We talked for a few minutes. Something felt off. Was it me or him? I didn’t know. Maybe it was because I knew I was keeping something big from him.
“You know what, I’m really tired tonight. I think I’m going to go to sleep,” I said, cutting our typical hour-long conversation short.
“You okay?” he asked with concern.
“I’m fine. It’s just been a long week.”
“Okay,” he said, disappointment evident in his voice.
I quickly hung up the phone, fighting the urge to tell him I loved him. For me, it felt like we had been together forever, and telling him I loved him felt natural. Unfortunately, he didn’t feel the same way. I would have to figure out how to tell him about the baby. I certainly didn’t want a pity proposal.
All else aside, I was truly happy to be pregnant, and that was what I would focus on. The marriage pact and everything else didn’t matter. I could deal with all of that later.
Chapter Thirty-One
Brad
I wasn’t sure I could wait another day to hear back from the station manager and owner. I was dying to know what they would decide. I had made up my mind to move, and the only thing holding me back was whether or not I would get to keep my show. I missed Mia and could feel her pulling away from me. I had to get out to New York before I lost her for good. Despite the cliché to the contrary, absence did not make the heart grow fonder. It only made me horny and desperate.
“Good morning. I emailed you earlier,” I said when the realtor answered my call. “I’m Brad Jones, and I’m looking for houses in the area.”
“Oh, Mr. Jones. I’m glad you called. I have a few listings you might be interested in. You didn’t want an apartment in the city?”
“No, definitely not. I need a house, preferably one with a backyard.”
“How about a three-story brownstone?” he asked.
I hesitated. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. “You can send me that one, but I’m thinking more suburbs. I don’t think I want to live in the city. I’d rather commute and have a yard with some peace and quiet.”
I was thinking of my future family. I wanted the kids to be able to play outside in their own yard and make friends with the neighborhood kids. It was a different vibe. I had grown up in the city, and while I had liked it, that experience was not what I envisioned for my own kids.
Once I gave the New York realtor specifics, I called my realtor in LA. My condo apartment was in demand. The building was in a desirable area of the city, and I knew it would sell fast. I’d been hesitant to list it, though, in case Mia and New York fell through, because I would never be able to find the same luxuries I had in my current home for the price I had paid. I’d gotten lucky a few years back and gotten into the place when things were far more affordable. I had some serious equity in the place, which I was going to need to afford a home in New York. So, I told my realtor to at least get the listing ready.
My phone rang almost immediately after I set it down. It was Jaxon.
“Where you at?” he barked into the phone.
“I’m at home.”
“I thought we were going surfing?”
I slapped my palm to my forehead. I’d forgotten all about our standing date for Saturday surfing.
“I’m sorry. I got caught up.”
“Doing what?” he asked testily.
“House hunting,” I mumbled, knowing he would not appreciate my effort to get out of California.
“I thought you were waiting until we got an answer about the satellite thing?”
“I can’t wait. I need a house. If I have the job and no house, I’m screwed.”
He laughed. “You’re going to marry this woman, right?”
“That’s the plan,” I said with a smile.
“Are you not planning to live together?” he asked dryly.
“Well, yes, but I want to have our own place together, a place where we can raise a family. She has a nice condo, but it’s small. I mean, it’s big enough, but she cut the second room in half to make room for a closet. We’ll need room for the kids we’re going to have,” I said with full confidence in the matter.
That really had him laughing. “You have it all figured it out, don’t you? You can’t get the woman to marry you or even wear a damn ring with the promise she’ll marry you, but you’re already picking out the wallpaper for your house. You’ve lost your damn mind.”
“I’m not the kind of guy that’ll wait around to see what happens. I’m not going to be patient. I’m going to make this happen. If I don’t steamroll right through this, it’s never gonna happen. We’ll be eighty before we’re ready to retire and live so
mewhere together if I don’t make her see she wants me.”
“You’re nuts. Come on, let’s go surfing. You need to get out of the house.”
“I can’t. The realtor is sending me some listings, and I want to do some homework. I need to know what the best neighborhoods are and look at commute times and that sort of thing.”
“You suck.”
I chuckled. “I know. Silly me for being a grown-up. One day, you’re going to be doing the same thing.”
“No, I won’t. I have a great condo on the beach. I’m never giving that up for a bunch of little brats. I like what I have.”
“Well I don’t, and I am willing to give it all up for a wife and kids.”
“Fine. I’ll see you Monday,” he groused.
I hung up on got started on my research, making notes as I read various reviews and looked at what felt like a million houses. When the realtor sent me the email with the links to homes he thought I would be interested in, I nearly shouted with glee.
Mia had texted, and I quickly replied, but I was focused on my house hunting. As much as I wanted to tell her about my plans, I didn’t. It was all in the preliminary stages and nothing was settled. I would have loved to tell her I was coming, but it would have been wrong to get her hopes up—assuming it would have raised her hopes.
That night, when I called her after my show, I could feel something wasn’t quite right. She didn’t seem angry or even standoffish. It was just different than she had been earlier in the week.
“Everything okay?” I asked, not wanting to keep beating around the bush.
“Yes, fine. I’m just a little tired.”
That was what she’d almost every night. We chatted a bit more about our upcoming work schedules and silly, mundane stuff. I enjoyed hearing her voice. She could have read me the newspaper and I would have been perfectly content.
“I should let you go,” I told her when she yawned again. “These late-night calls are cutting into your sleep. I hate the time difference,” I said.
“Me too. I don’t mind the lack of sleep though.”
I smiled, happy to know she was willing to sacrifice sleep to talk to me. That had to mean something.
“I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon. Sleep in tomorrow. Sleep until noon,” I said with a laugh, knowing she would do no such thing.
“I have breakfast with my mom in the morning.”
“Tell her I said hello,” I said before saying my good-bye and letting her get off the phone.
I ended up spending most of Sunday at the beach with Jaxon. I figured I’d better get in as much surfing as I could. It was hard to say when I would get the chance to spend an entire day at the beach under the warm California sun again. I couldn’t let myself dwell on what I’d be leaving behind, though. I had to focus on the future and what I had to look forward to.
“I’m going to miss this,” Jaxon said as we sat and drank our smoothies on the beach.
I nodded. “Me too.”
“I know I bitch about it a lot, but I really do like hanging out down here.”
“You can say it, Jaxon. You’re going to miss me,” I said with a grin.
He shrugged. “Eh, maybe a little.”
“You can visit me in New York. Just think, a whole new city of women you don’t yet know.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know if they’re my type. I like my California women.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Try something new.”
“We’ll see.”
That night, I called Mia early, making sure I let her get to bed at a decent hour. I had found a house I was really interested in, and the realtor was looking into it further for me. It was a little outside the city, but it was a nice place. The house had a big fenced-in front yard and there were four bedrooms. That would give our family plenty of room to grow. I loved the tree in the backyard and imagined building a little treehouse for my son in it.
I was jumping the gun, I knew. I had to take a step back and remember I wasn’t the only one in the equation. But I just knew Mia would love it, and I couldn’t wait for her to see it. If the bosses didn’t get back to me tomorrow, I was going to give them an ultimatum. I couldn’t wait around forever.
Monday, on my way into work, I finally got the call. I was going to change to a satellite show. That meant I could work from anywhere. The station was working out the details and would get back to me as soon as they had something more concrete.
I called Jaxon right away.
“Got it!” I yelled into the phone.
“You’ve got what? The big G or the big C?” he quipped.
I rolled my eyes. As if anyone would ever be excited about catching an STD. “No, you asshole. The station is going to give me a satellite show. I get to keep Dinner with Brad and I’ll be able to work from New York.”
“No shit?” he asked, sounding amazed.
“No shit. I’m moving to New York!” I screamed into the phone, feeling as if a load had been lifted off my shoulders.
He chuckled, but I knew he didn’t share my enthusiasm. I wouldn’t let him rain on my parade.
“I’m happy for you, man. I really am.”
“Thanks. I’ve got to go. I need to call my realtor and tell her to list my place,” I said, feeling scared and excited at the same time.
He promised to see me at work and hung up. I immediately called my realtor and let her know I was ready to pull the trigger. She was clearly excited about the listing, knowing the commission would be good. Plus, because the building was in high demand, it was likely to sell fast.
I asked Google to find me a moving company and made the call to have my stuff packed up for me sometime in the next month. I didn’t have a lot, but there were some things I would be taking with me. I had already talked with the realtor about leaving behind some of the larger pieces of furniture. I would miss my TV, but I could buy another one in New York. It would be dumb to pay to haul it across the country.
My mind whirred as I thought about everything I had to do. I needed to call the New York realtor and figure out how to do a virtual walk-through and hire a home inspector.
“I hate you,” Tina said from the doorway of my office.
I grinned. “You could never hate me.”
She sighed. “True. I’m happy for you. I really am, but I do still hate you.”
I gave her a quick hug. “I’m going to miss you the most,” I said and gave her a wink.
“Liar. And you won’t miss me all that much. I’m still going to be the one coordinating everything. So, while I hate that you’re moving, I’m glad you’re moving because I just got a promotion!” she said, grinning from ear to ear.
“No way! That is awesome. And thank God by the way. I couldn’t imagine trying to do the show without you. Don’t think I don’t know that it’s always been you who made the whole thing run.”
We high fived before she rushed off to her office to start working on the transition. It had been made clear that the listeners wouldn’t know about the changes until we had all the details ironed out. We couldn’t afford to jeopardize the success of the show by abandoning the people who had made it a success.
When I went on the air that night, I was buoyant. My upbeat attitude did not go unnoticed by my listeners. I told them I had good news but couldn’t share it just yet. Most of them assumed I had gotten the girl. In a way, I had. At least, I hoped I had.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mia
I was dying to talk to Helga. I had made it through another week of pregnancy and was feeling good. There was a bit of morning sickness, but it was manageable with a little ginger ale and crackers. I prayed it stayed that way.
“Is she in yet?” I asked Helga’s assistant.
“Not yet. She called and said she would be a few minutes late.”
I nodded and headed back to my own office. I couldn’t wait to tell Helga. The woman was like a second mother to me. I knew she would be happy for me, and I was hoping that hap
piness would make her amenable to my proposal.
Sitting at my desk, I took some time and thought about what I wanted to say. It was a big risk, but it was a risk I was willing to take.
“Mia?” said a voice through the intercom on my phone.
“Yes?”
“She’s in and ready to see you,” Helga’s assistant announced.
I fought back the butterflies in my stomach and headed for the huge corner office. I had once thought I wanted Helga’s job, to be the woman in charge of a successful, popular magazine, not to mention an icon in the fashion world. It wasn’t until Brad walked back into my life that I realized that wasn’t my dream. Not anymore.
“Good morning,” I said, breezing into Helga’s office as if it were any other day.
“Good morning to you. You’ve been waiting for me?”
I nodded. “How was your trip?”
She rolled her eyes. “Boring.”
I laughed. “Only you could find a trip to Paris boring.”
“I have been there so many times now that it is no longer all that exciting for me. Plus, I was in meeting after meeting and stuck doing a lot of schmoozing. I hate the schmoozing that comes with this job,” she said.
Smiling, I pretended to understand her plight. “Well, I’m glad you’re back.”
She gestured for me to take a seat. I did and then waited. “What’s the matter with you? You look like you have something big. Show me your hand,” she ordered.
I held up both hands and smiled. “No ring.”
She nodded her head slowly. “Something else then. Are you leaving me? Moving to Los Angeles?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think so. My home is in New York and I don’t think I can leave.”
Narrowing her eyes, the older woman prodded me. “What then? There is definitely something afoot.”
“Helga, I’m pregnant.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Congratulations! That was unexpected! You don’t like to do anything the easy way, do you?”
I laughed. “Apparently not.”
“Is your man happy? Does this mean you accepted his proposal?”
