Royal Engagement

by Chance Carter

  “Welcome back, Mr. Preston,” Casey said. “Please have a seat. We’ll call you back shortly.” If it wasn’t for the two couples in the waiting room, I would have jumped over the counter and kissed Casey right then and there. But, I retreated to the sitting area and took a seat with a prime view of the hottie behind the desk.

  I scrolled through social media on my phone, doing my best to pass the time. Why was it going by so slowly? I reminded myself that I’d sat here a dozen times as Casey sat right behind that same desk, and I’d never made a move. I could handle waiting until our next date.

  A visibly pregnant woman in a three-sizes-too-small dress walked into the clinic and up to Casey’s desk. For a moment, I imagined Casey six or seven months from now. She’d be waddling in here with her baby bump each day, sitting behind that desk and dealing with the same nasty patients I’d seen her encounter on so many occasions.

  I still hadn’t quite grasped that she was carrying my child. There were probably other women who had been inseminated with my sperm that were carrying a child with my DNA, but it was different, I supposed, because I’d never had any interaction with them. Besides that, I was certain they had nothing on Casey.

  I tried not to think about what would happen to my relationship with Casey as she became more and more pregnant, because I knew there were only two possibilities. We would either keep seeing each other and I would become a father—not only genetically, but emotionally and physically—to this child, or we would drift apart and I would have no part in either of their lives. Both of those possibilities scared me in different ways.

  Get ahold of yourself, Alexander, I told myself. You’ve been on one date with this girl. Sure, it was amazing, but it was one date. See where it goes first. Start with another date.

  “Mr. Preston,” Casey said, jolting me from my thoughts. I had to admit that it was weird to hear Casey calling me by my last name, in a professional tone, after days of calling me Alexander. “Follow me, please.”

  I followed Casey to my usual room, but, instead of closing the door behind me, I pulled her inside. I leaned in for a deep kiss, which she accepted with ease. “Just needed some inspiration,” I said with a grin.

  “Ok, but let’s try to keep it professional here,” Casey said. “I’m not sure what the protocol is for sleeping with the clients. Or, you know, being impregnated by one.”

  Casey had a joking tone in her voice, but something told me she wasn’t kidding in the least. I understood her point. “Yes, ma’am.” I reclaimed her mouth for a final kiss and let her slip out the door.

  Oh, how life had changed since the last time I was in this very room. One thing hadn’t changed, though. My inspiration for the task at hand.

  I think I set a personal best for obtaining my contribution this time, which I could only attribute to my lovely inspiration. With images of Casey, her legs spread apart and nipples erect, still filling my mind, I set the plastic cup down on the counter and tried to cool myself down before leaving the room. I did my best to avoid eye contact with Casey as I walked out the door. I wanted to avoid any possibility of getting revved up again.

  As soon as I stepped onto the sidewalk, I dialed the number of the clinic and watched from the window. “6th Street Clinic, Casey speaking. How may I help you?”

  “Go on another date with me this weekend,” I said. A confused look appeared on Casey’s face as she looked around the room. Finally, she met my gaze through the window. I responded with a subtle nod and wave.

  “Did you really call just to ask me that?”

  I nodded through the window. “I didn’t want to risk getting you in trouble. So, is that a yes or a no?”

  Casey giggled. “I’d love to.”

  “Great,” I said. “It’s a date.”

  Chapter 11

  Casey

  Driving toward Liana’s house, I wasn’t sure whether her last-minute dinner invitation was a blessing or a curse. The drive to Liana’s town home was exactly 2.2 miles, but it was enough to convince me that I should tell her the whole story about Alexander. After all, things were going well, and it might be nice to have someone to go to prenatal appointments with.

  I walked up to the door with store-made white chocolate macadamia cookies—our favorite—and rang the doorbell. “Hey, Casey,” Greg, Liana’s husband, said. They had been married for about a year and a half, having met on a blind date set up by our other friend, Jane. I wasn’t extraordinarily close with Greg, but Liana was like a sister to me, so I made a mental note to get to know her husband better. Maybe there were even some double dates in our future.

  Greg led me into the kitchen, where a very pregnant Liana turned to greet me. It had only been a month since I’d last seen her, but, apparently, a lot can happen in a month when you are pregnant with twins. “Look at you!” I squealed. “You have a bump and everything!”

  Liana scurried over to give me a hug as Greg disappeared down the hall into his office. “Isn’t it crazy that it’s actually happening?”

  “So crazy,” I said. “Doesn’t it feel like just yesterday we were little college sophomores, thrown together in a random room assignment?” I knew Liana didn’t like to talk about college unless I brought it up, because my dropping out hurt her almost as badly as it hurt me. She was devastated to finish senior year without me, and I knew she avoided bringing up Georgia State so I wouldn’t have to relive the awful ending.

  Liana nodded. “It’s crazy how time flies.” With oven mitts on her hands, Liana reached into the oven and pulled a disposable metal pan from the oven. “I didn’t really feel like making homemade lasagna, so I bought a frozen one from the store. Hope that’s ok!”

  “Sounds perfect!” I said. Lasagna was the one food that Liana—a super picky eater—and I could both agree on, so it was our go-to dinner when we got together.

  As Liana cut pieces of lasagna and put them on each of our plates, I drew in a breath. I knew I couldn’t hold in my news any longer. More than that, I knew Liana would give me a mouthful if I did. “So, how’s it going with the new guy you’re dating?” she asked.

  “I’m pregnant,” I blurted. The words were out there, and there was no taking them back. Liana nearly dropped the plate of lasagna she was holding as she looked up to see if I was joking.

  “You’re…what?”

  “Sit down,” I said. “It’s a long story.”

  “Are you serious?” Liana asked.

  I nodded. “It’s still early, so it’d be great if you wouldn’t tell anyone.” I’m not sure why I even bothered adding that last part. Liana and I had maybe half a dozen mutual friends, so she couldn’t do all that much damage.

  “Of course,” she said. “Now start with the long story.”

  I didn’t know where to start, so I told Liana about how I’d been majorly crushing on Alexander for months. Then, I gave every detail I could remember about the day that changed everything. My story was interrupted with intermittent gasps of “Oh my gosh” and “No way”, but I finally finished up with the lowdown on the second half of our overnight date.

  “I don’t know how this happened, Li,” I said. “I’m confused and anxious and unsure of what I want, but I’m also happy.”

  “You’re pregnant!” Liana exclaimed. “We get to raise our babies together!”

  In all the chaos of the past few weeks, I had forgotten that this baby growing inside me would be just a few months younger than Liana’s boys. “That’s right,” I said. “Kind of crazy how that happened.”

  “So, what are you going to do about Alexander?”

  “That’s the problem,” I said, shoveling a bite of lasagna in my mouth. “He complicates everything. As unconventional as it sounds, I sort of thought he would, you know, give me his sperm, and that would be that. I didn’t expect to fall for him.”

  Liana nodded sympathetically. “He sounds great, Case.”

  “He really is. And so far out of my league it’s crazy. He’s just charming and sexy and kind. B
ut is it wrong of me to date him?”

  “The heart wants what it wants,” Liana said. “But I’m still trying to soak in the fact that you had a guy you barely knew have sex with you just to impregnate you.”

  I buried my face in my hands. It sounded pretty bad when she put it that way. “You know how badly I want a baby, a family.”

  “I know, sweetie. But, as harsh as this may sound, having a baby, especially as a single mother, isn’t going to heal old wounds. Obviously, you’ve made your choice, but just make sure you’re having this baby for the right reasons.”

  For the first time since the pregnancy test came back positive, I was not only doubting my relationship with Alexander, but also my ability to be a mother. “You don’t think I’ll be a good mom,” I said.

  Liana shook her head so fast I thought it was going to fall off. “Don’t be silly,” she said. “You’re going to be an amazing mom. I see how great you are with Jane’s girls, and I know how badly you want to be a mom. I’m just surprised by all this. That’s all.”

  “I get it. It certainly took me by surprise.”

  “Casey, I’m just happy you’re happy,” Liana said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you light up like you do when you talk about Alexander.”

  That was exactly what I needed to hear. All I needed was some reassurance that I wasn’t crazy for wanting to see where things went with Alexander. We finished our lasagna, scooping the last bits of melted cheese from our plates, as Liana updated me on her job.

  As a social worker in a more urban area of town, she always had an interesting—and sometimes scary—story to share. She took my mind off the baby and Alexander with a story about a nasty custody battle that had resulted in the shooting of a local police officer. I had heard about it in the news, but I had no idea Liana was the social worker on the case. I wasn’t a spiritual person by any stretch of the imagination, but I told myself that I would start praying for Liana’s safety each day.

  Seeing Liana get up to go to the bathroom half a dozen times over the two hours I spent with her made me nervous about what was to come in my pregnancy. Oh well. I would face it when the time came. Over our cookie dessert, after a quick bathroom break, Liana asked me a question I wasn’t prepared for. “If things work out with Alexander, are you going to raise the baby together?”

  “I…uh…” I said. “I mean, we’ve never really talked about it.”

  Liana wasn’t one to take deflected answers. “But would you like that?”

  “I guess so,” I said with a shrug. “What parent doesn’t dream about raising their child as part of a complete family? But I don’t want to get my hopes up. I wanted this baby without any expectation of having the father involved.” I knew that, deep down, I was probably lying both to Liana and to myself. Even though Alexander was still new in my life, he seemed like he’d make an amazing father, with his kind, understanding nature.

  Loading me up with half the lasagna and the few remaining cookies, Liana sent me on my way with a promise to let her know when my first prenatal appointment was, and to update her on any new happenings on the Alexander front. I walked back to my car, relieved to finally have someone to talk to about all of this.

  I checked my phone for the first time since I’d gotten to Liana’s house and saw two text messages from Alexander. The first one said, Hope your night is as lovely as you are. The second message sent my heart fluttering. Clear your schedule this weekend. I’m taking you camping.

  Chapter 12

  Alexander

  As I waited for Casey to arrive at my house, I reread the text message she sent me when I mentioned the camping plans.

  Camping? Not sure if that sounds like a romantic outing or a horror movie. I’m in!

  She had the perfect sense of humor. I hadn’t thought about it until after she said it, but I supposed most people wouldn’t want to go on a camping trip with someone they’d known for only a month. But then again, we weren’t most people.

  I walked out the front door as Casey’s sedan pulled into my driveway. She rolled down the window. “Is this really where you live?”

  “It is, indeed,” I said.

  “Damn,” she said. “Nice digs.”

  I smiled. I knew Casey was self-conscious about her studio apartment, so I didn’t want it to seem like I was shoving my house in her face. “I’d give you a tour, but I want to get on the road so we don’t hit traffic.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll just have to come back another time.”

  I helped Casey move her bags from her trunk to mine and I asked if she’d ever been camping before. Apparently, this question warranted a laugh, which I took in stride. Casey told me that the closest she’d ever come to camping was sleeping in a tent in her dorm room with some friends in college. “Don’t worry,” I assured her. “You’re with a camping pro.”

  “Is that so?” Casey replied.

  “Ten years of Boy Scouts right here.”

  Casey chuckled until she realized I wasn’t joking. “Seriously?”

  “Yup,” I said with a nod.

  “Damn. I bet more people would appreciate Boy Scouts if they put pictures of guys like you on the cover of their brochure.” I blushed as I took my place in the driver’s seat. It wasn’t a secret that Casey found me attractive, but it was nice to be reminded.

  I told Casey all about the campground we were going to. I’d been there four or five times with my college buddies, and I thought it might be a nice way for the two of us to get to know each other. “You can text your friends the name of the campground,” I said. “You know, just in case this turns into a horror movie.”

  We both laughed. “Got any good music in here?” Casey asked.

  “Define good,” I said. “Please tell me you’re not a country music fan!”

  Casey shook her head. “I’m not. But here’s a little secret for you. I’m a big fan of ‘80s music.”

  I reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a small CD binder. “There’s probably something for you in here,” I said.

  The hour-and-a-half-long car ride seemed to fly by. I suppose it was the great company. Casey was a horrible singer, but it was a blast hearing her attempt to sing along to Blondie and Bon Jovi. We had similar taste in music, shared equally awful singing voices, and neither of us was afraid to play a little air guitar. It felt as if we’d made this drive a hundred times before.

  “Here we are,” I said. With peak season having recently ended, the campgrounds were far more desolate than I’d ever seen them, but that just meant more privacy for me and Casey. I watched Casey’s face as she soaked everything in. The tall, mossy trees enveloped us, and the rough dirt greeted our shoes below us.

  “This is…uh…rustic,” Casey replied.

  There was something in her voice I couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t exactly frustration, or disdain, or confusion, or excitement. It was a weird blend of the four. “Look, if you don’t like it here, we can head back to Atlanta. I just thought it might be fun.”

  “I’m sure it will be,” Casey said. “This is just new territory for me. That’s all.” She shot me a smile that sent my heart beating a bit faster.

  “Come on. Let’s get set up,” I said. We unloaded our bags and camping equipment from the back of my Lexus and put them on the ground beside my car. “Well someone packed for a solid week or two.”

  Casey blushed. “Sorry. I didn’t know what a camping trip required. We can leave the blue backpack in the car.”

  “No worries!”

  “Is there a…umm…I have to go to the bathroom.”

  I spread my arms open wide for dramatic effect. “You’re looking at it,” I said. “Nature at its finest!”

  “Seriously?!” Casey exclaimed.

  “Nah,” I said with a chuckle. Pointing to a pathway that started a few feet behind the car, I added, “It’s just down that trail.”

  Rolling her eyes, Casey retreated down the trail. I liked that I could joke around with h
er. I walked over to where Casey had dropped her bags and picked up the blue one, as per her request. As I threw it into the trunk, a plastic bottle fell out of the mesh water bottle compartment on the side. I stretched my arm out and grabbed the bottle, completely unprepared to learn what was inside. Prenatal Vitamin. For use during, before, and after pregnancy.

  It wasn’t like Casey’s pregnancy was a secret she’d kept from me. I was well aware that she was pregnant, and even more aware that the baby was mine. It was just that, with all of our dates and fun and sex, any thoughts about the baby had been sent to the back of my mind. It was the elephant in the room, the topic we avoided at the risk of ruining whatever romance was blossoming between us. After all, Casey’s baby bump was nonexistent for now—which meant the issue seemed to be, too.

  I shoved the vitamins back into the side compartment and slammed my trunk shut. I had been calm and collected the whole car ride to the campgrounds, and, in a matter of thirty seconds, I’d developed knots in my stomach. What the hell was I doing? Was it even safe to take a pregnant woman camping? How did Casey feel about this whole situation? I decided to see how the camping trip went before worrying any further. There was no use in discussing the baby—or even our future—if this relationship turned out to be a dud.

  In an effort to keep my mind from wandering, I picked up the package containing the tent and began to assemble it. As I hammered the third tent peg into the ground, I heard footsteps behind me. “You know, I thought going out with a big shot CEO meant I’d be spending my nights in somewhere other than a tent in the middle of nowhere,” Casey said with a grin.

  “Very funny,” I smirked. “This CEO still likes to rough it every now and again.”

  One of the most genuine looks of contentment I’d ever seen appeared upon Casey’s face. “Sounds good to me.”

  Matching her smile, I gently pulled Casey’s hand as she knelt on the ground beside me. “Care to help?”