The Boss Baby Daddy (A Secret Baby Romance)

by Claire Adams

  I sighed, getting up, finally feeling human after the past three days from hell. I was still a little tired and achy, but Jason was completely out, I had to do something. Drugged to the eyeballs, I cleaned up the mess of glasses and empty water bottles that had accumulated from both my and Jason's illnesses. The trash can by Jason's side of the bed was almost full to the brim with used tissues. What a mess. I took it and emptied it out, bringing it back to the bedside. Back in the living room, I cleaned up a similar mess, day old dishes and glasses of half-drunk liquid and empty pillboxes and used up blister packs. On a normal day, at a hundred percent health I would have accomplished the task in half the time but went slow, taking breaks for my achy joints. I flopped onto the couch after arranging the dirty dishes into a neat pile on one of the end tables.

  Now everything needed to get washed, I thought, getting up off the couch and making the pilgrimage to the kitchen. I sighed at the number of dishes that had accumulated after a couple days of no one being well enough to do them. You think this is bad, Shel, brace yourself. I put a hand on my stomach and smiled to myself.

  When I had gotten pregnant with Damien, either denial or inexperience had had me dismissing all my early pregnancy symptoms as something else. I felt tired now, but that was because I was sick. A couple weeks ago, I had started feeling weird. Fatigued even though I was getting enough sleep every night, and then there had been the spotting. I hadn't been getting my period because of breastfeeding, but I knew that that hadn't meant that I hadn't been ovulating. Jason had been pulling out when we had been having sex, but the past couple times, I hadn't even bothered to ask him to do it.

  By my estimation, I was only a couple weeks, but I was going to leave that to the doctor to tell me. With no period to help me time when I should have taken the test, I had taken two this past week. The second line on the first test had shown up too light to convince me, so I had taken a second, and it had shown up positive too. I was going to wait till this bug had passed to get confirmation from my doctor, but I knew. Four months after Damien, I was pregnant again.

  We hadn't planned it that way, but that was how it was happening now. I had wanted to say something after the first test. Jason had given me the ring and had promised that whatever happened with us, we'd figure it out together. I had stalled under the pretense of wanting to take that second test and now that I had and knew for sure that I was pregnant, what was I still waiting for?

  I didn't want to think about it, but what if he wasn't excited? What if he wasn't ready? He had just gotten used to parenting one infant. How would he handle two under two? The thought even scared me a little. By the time this baby came, Damien would have just turned one. Another baby this soon? What were we thinking?

  I mean, I knew what I was thinking, what I wanted. This baby would be our chance to do it right, do it together. None of the negativity we had had between us affected how much Jason loved Damien, but looking back, especially because we were so happy now, I wondered how our life could have looked if I hadn't moved, if he had been involved from the start and if we had had a chance at a family back then.

  My worst fear was Jason being angry. If he was mad instead of happy and insisted that we couldn't keep the baby... that would probably be what split us up this time if it ever came to that. Terminating the pregnancy or giving up the baby just wasn't in the cards for me. If Jason made me choose... I didn't want him to make me. I just hoped he meant it when he said that we'd face whatever happened together.

  I washed the dishes, thinking about babies and pregnancy. I hadn't had morning sickness at all with this pregnancy, but there was still plenty of time for it to develop. During my pregnancy with Damien, my ruling emotion had been fear. I had lost hours reading books and pregnancy forums online, trying to prepare for having a baby alone. My mom had been a big help, and even Davis had been there to the extent that he could have been, but I had never welcomed a baby with a supportive partner before. Because I had been so anxious, trying to adjust to a new city, new job and had been totally alone, I hadn't really gotten to enjoy being pregnant. Some people did apparently, and I was jealous. Those magic moments like feeling the baby move were probably even more special when you were excited and in love. Maybe that would be us, I thought.

  I heard Jason from the bedroom, calling out to me. I turned the water off and filled a glass with ice water for him, in case he was thirsty. He was on his back when I walked into the room, groaning. I put the water on the nightstand and hurried to the bathroom. I wet a facial towel and came back into the room. I dabbed it on his forehead which was already wet with sweat. His eyes opened, and he looked at me, but I wasn't sure he could see me at all.

  "Shel?" he whispered hoarsely.

  "Shh," I said gently, "go back to sleep." His eyes closed but his brow was drawn like he was in pain. I dabbed the wet towel on his temples and neck before taking it back to the bathroom. I sighed, sitting on the bed next to him again. Damien was still fast asleep, but his dad wasn't faring as well. I kissed Jason's forehead, smoothing back the damp hair that stuck to his skin.

  "I'm sorry for making you sick, baby," I whispered. "This is the worst part; you'll feel better after this." He groaned, turning his head towards me. I kissed him again, softly on the lips. It was so weird seeing him weak and ill. He was so fit and healthy otherwise; it just didn't make sense that he would be cut down to size by a flu bug. In another couple hours he'd be able to take some more medication, but until then, he had to tough it out.

  "I need you to get better because you're going to be a dad again," I said. His jaw was stubbled from the past couple days, his hair was a mess, and he was groaning in agony on my bed in his underwear. Was now really the best time to tell him about the pregnancy? A dry run before I told him for real, when he was conscious and actually knew what I was saying to him. He probably hadn’t even heard me. I'd tell him again when he was better. I hoped he'd be happy. I left the room when I was certain he had fallen asleep again.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Jason

  My body felt like I had been buried alive and was still underground. I groaned, trying to get up. Fuck. Nope, wasn't working. I opened my eyes, squinting. The curtains were open, and I was in our bed, but I was alone. I could have sworn that I had fallen asleep with Damien. I remembered hearing him crying, and it had been way too loud to have come from his nursery. I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face. It might have been morning, but I couldn't be sure. I had been asleep longer than I had been awake this weekend. Was it still the weekend? I didn't even know.

  I swallowed; my throat was parched. I looked over at the nightstand and saw a half-full glass of water, next to a box of tissues and another of Tylenol. I heaved myself up into a sitting position so I could have some of the water. My throat was raw, still sore, my body ached like all hell, and I was exhausted even though I had just woken up. At least I wasn't throwing up anymore. At least my fever had broken.

  I was definitely awake this time; I knew that much. I had gone in and out a lot, but I was awake now. Some of my dreams, I felt like I had been watching them play out in front of me like a movie. I had heard Shel's voice in some of them, talking to me. I wasn't sure if she had been there or if I had just conjured her up in my head, running a hundred degree fever. There was a reason why I had gotten up; right, I needed to piss.

  I got up; it was slow, and it hurt, but I got up. The room spun a little, and I had to pause before starting to walk. My legs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each. You know what? A day ago I would have been making this trip to the bathroom on my hands and knees; it could have been worse, and it had been. There might have been ten feet between where I was and where I was trying to get to, maybe twelve, thirteen if I was being generous. It felt like an entire mile, shuffling to the bathroom with my legs feeling like they were cemented stiff.

  Getting to the toilet, I did my business and flushed. I leaned against the wall, exhausted. I thought I was in better shape than this, I thought,
absently. Didn't that count for anything when you got sick? Apparently not. I washed my hands and ripped some more toilet paper off the roll to blow my nose. I was still congested; I needed to ask Shel if she had anything for that. I threw the wadded up tissue towards the trash but missed.

  "Shit," I muttered. Bending over gave me vertigo. I held onto the sink and lowered myself to the ground. I grabbed the wad of paper and tossed it into the trashcan. Trying to get up off my knees, I kicked it, spilling the trash all over the floor. I sat down again. Could I get a nap before I dealt with this shit? I felt like I was about to pass out. I sighed, gathering the empty pill boxes, blister packs and the rest of the trash off the floor. Was that everything?

  Some white thing had somehow slid across the floor and gotten behind the toilet. I groaned and reached over for it. I tossed it in the trash before my brain caught up with what I was doing. I reached back in and pulled it out, looking down at it. Smooth white plastic stick with a little window display and two vertical lines down the middle. Two and two came together, and I dropped it.

  "Shelby... Shel?" I stared at the test, picking it up again. One line meant not pregnant. Two meant pregnant. My heart pounded and my throat dried out looking at the test. Shelby was... she couldn’t be... I mean, she could but... fuck. I heard her coming.

  "Jason, what are you doing out of bed?" she asked, coming into the bathroom.

  "What the fuck is this?" I demanded, holding the test up. She came over to me, kneeling on the ground and taking the test.

  "I took a pregnancy test," she said, way too calmly. Had she? Shit, and here I was thinking I was hallucinating.

  "You're pregnant, Shel; when were you going to tell me."

  "When you felt better. I said something yesterday, but you were half dead, groaning in your sleep. I wasn't sure whether you heard me."

  "That was you?" I asked. There was a strong possibility that I had dreamt most of the last forty-eight hours. In fact, I had. I vaguely remembered hearing her voice at times but fuck if I knew whether I had been awake or dreaming it.

  "Were you awake? Your eyes were closed. You had called out to me for something; you had been burning up."

  "I heard something," I said, "I thought it had been a fever dream. I was hearing your voice, but I couldn't move. I saw you, but you were tiny, like a speck miles and miles away."

  "No, Jason. It was real. And this is real too," she said, motioning to the test.

  "Really?" She nodded.

  "It's the second one I've taken, and they both came up positive. I haven't gone to the doctor yet, but I know. I can feel it."

  "How long have you known?"

  "Just a week. I... are you upset?"

  "Upset?" I grabbed her, kissing her.

  "Jason, gross," she laughed, pushing me away. "You haven't brushed your teeth." I kissed her again. She laughed, trying to get away from me.

  "Did you think I would be mad?"

  "Well," she started, sheepishly, "it's just that we didn't plan this. We only just moved in together. I thought maybe you would..." She trailed off, but I had a feeling I knew what she thought I might have done when she told me the news. She was happy, clearly, but I had given her reasons in the past to be scared of how I would have reacted.

  "I'm not upset, Shel. I'm happy." She smiled, wrapping her arms around me and laying her head on my chest.

  "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, before you were practically knocked out with the flu." I told her it was okay. Everything was great, suddenly. I was sick as a dog, on the bathroom floor with my fiancée, but she was pregnant. I had thought that I would have had to wait longer for a chance to experience that with her.

  The monitor in the bedroom sounded. Damien was crying. Shel had taken care of him since I had been knocked out. It hit me then; somehow I had totally forgotten since getting the news of the new baby. Damien was just four months old. When the baby came, he'd only be at about a year. Two babies? That was practically twins. I had been so caught up in the excitement of welcoming a baby with Shel as a family that I hadn't realized what that would mean. Twice the kids would mean twice the effort. It would be stressful for both of us. Would we still be living here? It wouldn't be enough space. I hadn't felt this out of my depth since the first time I had met Damien. Everything was about to change and who was I kidding. I wasn't ready.

  "Poor baby, he slept through most of the night, but he gets irritable as the medication wears off," Shelby said, getting up. She looked down at me, and my face must have given it away. "I know," she said, holding a hand out to me, "I'm scared too." I took her hand, letting her help me up.

  "Shel, I don't know if I can do it."

  "Neither do I," she admitted, putting her hands on my chest. "I felt the same way when I had gotten pregnant with Damien."

  "How did you do it?" I asked. She had been alone that time too. I wouldn't have had a clue.

  "You're a lot more capable than you think, even if you have to learn that the hard way."

  "What does that mean?"

  "It means I know you're going to be a great dad," she said confidently. The couple days with Damien when she had been sick had made me feel like that wasn't true. She believed in me though, and when the baby came, I'd have no choice but to believe in myself.

  "I hope you're right."

  "You have at least nine months to get ready," she said lightly. "You didn't get that last time and look at you." Yeah, but was that long enough? She took my hand, tugging me as she walked out of the bathroom. "Come on," she urged. We walked out of the bathroom, through the bedroom to Damien's nursery. She picked him out of his crib and cuddled him, kissing his cheek. He was still feeling sick, which was making him restless and fussy.

  "Here, let me change him," I said, offering to take him from her. I held him, pressing his forehead against my cheek. He wasn't warm anymore. I put him down on the changing table. "What do you think, little guy; ready to become a big brother?" I asked him. He sneezed, getting snot all over his mouth and chin. I laughed, pulling out a wipe to clean him up. He was about as ready as I was. Hopefully, Shel would be right about both of us.

  Epilogue

  Shelby

  Nine Months Later

  I looked down at her little face as she fell asleep. I didn't want to put her down because I was afraid she'd start crying again. Emory was asleep in the bassinet by the bed, and if Addie started, they would both be off. Adelaide's eyes drooped shut, then fluttered open again as she dozed. We were waiting; Jason was bringing the car around. They had been born four days ago; we hadn't gotten the okay to leave since the pregnancy towards the end had become complicated. The girls had been fine, but after the C-section, I was the one who had needed the few extra days.

  Twins. Emory Rose and Adelaide Grace, our identical baby girls. Rose after his mother and Grace after mine. I smiled, remembering the look on Jason's face when we had found out. We had walked in for our first ultrasound about a month after I had told Jason that I was pregnant, eight weeks, just to make sure everything was progressing the way it needed to be. Routine. Everyone did that. It had been Jason's first time seeing an ultrasound so he had been excited, but I had known what to expect, or I had thought that I had known what to expect.

  The ultrasound tech hadn't been able to make much of anything that had come up but we had been able to rule out an ectopic pregnancy. Anticlimactic but she had told us to come back at ten weeks. Waiting had been more stressful for Jason than it had been for me. I had been through the whole song and dance before; he hadn't. Whether it showed up on the monitor or not, the fatigue, cravings, and morning sickness that I thought I had missed told me I was pregnant. Besides thinking there might have been something wrong, even though the tech had been sure that there hadn't been, it was the wait that had really gotten to him. Seeing two babies on the monitor instead of just one had to have been some sort of reward for making us wait. Maybe a little something for Jason who hadn't gotten to be there for his first child's birth; now he could expe
rience it twice.

  He had completely freaked out, laughing, then crying, then both, totally overwhelmed. I hadn't seen it coming either; neither of us had a high occurrence of twins in our families but who the fuck was complaining? We hadn't had time for that; we had had to get our asses in gear for the two, not just one baby that we were expecting.

  Pregnancy is never easy, nor particularly fun with the sickness, discomfort, and weight gain, but thinking about my babies, it had all been worth it, even the scary parts. Those especially. Carrying Damien, I had had to go in early to have the IUD that hadn't worked removed. Besides that snafu, the rest of the pregnancy had gone pretty well. With the girls, it had felt like at every turn, there had been something else to worry about. It was more common these days for women and children to survive childbirth, but there were always risks.

  Jason walked into the room, opening it up just a crack quietly and peeking inside before coming in.

  "All ready?" he asked. I nodded. He had installed the infant car seats; we were finally ready to go home. It was already late in the morning; I was sick and tired of this place. Earlier, Frank had been a huge help, taking my stuff back to the house so we wouldn't have had to try deal with luggage as well as the two babies when we had been ready to leave. He and my mother were babysitting Damien while at the house. They had both been present at the birth, even though the turn that things had taken had kept them in L.A. a lot longer than anyone had anticipated. I told Jason I was ready.