She picked the bottle up off the coffee table and took it into the kitchen. As she rinsed it out she found herself thinking it was possible the two of them might be able to co-parent. The voice in the back of her head told her it could be more than co-parenting, if she wanted it to be, but she ignored it. Vanessa grabbed one of the blankets she had as she made her way back to the bedroom and put it over Marco, so he wouldn’t get cold in the night, smiling once more when Beth made a happy sound.
With that image in her mind Vanessa went back to bed. When she woke up to the sound of someone singing in the kitchen she realised she’d been dreaming of Marco laying on a different sofa, with a different baby on his chest. She wasn’t sure that was a good thing. If she was truly beginning to think of him as someone who could be a good father… slowly, she sat up, trying to work out what she was going to do. Could she have the baby? Could she be a mom? As long as she cared about the child it wouldn’t be impossible for her to be a better mom than hers was, and it seemed like they would have a good father in Marco.
***
“How about we go shopping, for our baby?”
“We haven’t decided if there’s going to be a baby yet.”
Marco looked up from where he was playing peek-a-boo with Beth. “No, we haven’t, but we can at least see what we might buy, if this was going to be a reality. It would be good to get Beth out into the fresh air too.”
“I know.” Sighing, Vanessa brushed a hand through her hair, telling herself she was making a terrible decision. “If I go through with having a baby I’m probably going to have to give up my job. I work really weird hours and I couldn’t do that with a child.”
“Then maybe we could look into starting up our own business.”
“Our own business?”
“Have you thought about there being an us, maybe?” He looked back at Beth. “I know this isn’t something either of us planned, but I really like spending time with you, Vanessa, and as we might be having a baby…”
“No, I haven’t. It’s been hard enough thinking about the possibility of a baby.” She nibbled her lip. “How about we go out with Beth and then we can talk about this when she isn’t around?” It was too hard for her to be logical when she was watching Marco by so cute with Beth. “Right now I want to be focusing on her.”
“If that’s what you want.” He stood, with Beth in his arms, and went over to where her bag was. “Marie did put in some cold weather clothing, didn’t she?”
“This is Marie we’re talking about. I’m certain there are clothes in that bag for all types of weather, including ones that don’t happen in this state.” Vanessa smiled. “I text her this morning to say Beth slept fine, thanks to you, and she’s pleased we didn’t have any issues.”
“We were never going to have any issues.” He kissed the top of Beth’s head. “She’s one of the most lovely babies I’ve ever come across.”
“Yeah, she is.”
Vanessa made her way into the bedroom to grab her own cold weather clothing, because she wasn’t going out without making sure she could stay warm. When she went back into the living room Beth was wrapped up tight, with gloves and a little hat on, and Marco was pretty much ready to go. “Until today I never realised how enjoyable it was to have a baby. She’s so good.”
“Not all babies are the same, Marco. Beth’s wonderful, but that doesn’t mean our baby will be, because they might spend every night screaming the house down. Do you think you’d be able to deal with that?”
“Yeah, I do.” He looked at Vanessa, and their eyes met. “If you choose to keep our baby I’m certain we will be able to do this, but in the end it’s going to be up to you to make the decision. Do you want to have a baby, and do you want to have a baby with me?”
***
They walked up the street, away from one of the most expensive shops Vanessa had ever been in. “Why is baby stuff so expensive?”
“Most of it’s necessary, so it’s what they do to make a lot of money off things that don’t make anywhere near that much to make, but there are plenty of places we can look.”
Nodding, Vanessa looked down at her stomach. “Whoever’s in there will be very expensive to raise.”
“I have the money.” Marco surprised her by taking her hand. “No matter what I’m going to do everything I can to help you. If you only want my money that’s fine. It would hurt to not be a part of their life, but I’m not going to force you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”
A flash surprised both of them. When Vanessa looked up she realised someone was taking photographs of the two of them. Feeling more than a little uncomfortable she tugged her hand free, and tried to work out how she was going to explain to everyone she knew that she was in a gossip mag with Marco Patterson, of all people. “Great.” She glanced down at Beth. “What do you think they’re going to say about her?”
“Nothing.” Marco smiled at her. “Give me a moment to sort this.”
Before Vanessa could say anything he was walking down the street, towards a very worried looking photographer. It seemed possible the guy had been hurt before by the celebrities he’d photographed, and she wasn’t certain how Marco was going to to sort the issue, only hoping he wasn’t going to do something stupid. Fortunately the two of them just seemed to be talking, until the photographer lifted his camera and seemed to be deleting the picture. Marco smiled and started walking back towards the two of them.
“What did you do?”
“I had a conversation with him, because that’s the sensible thing to do. I said the two of us were looking after the baby of a friend, and we didn’t want her in any of the magazines, but there is a chance, if he was willing to delete the photograph, he might get some exclusives in the future. People like that will do anything for exclusives.”
“You lied to him.”
“No, I didn’t, because if we do happen to have a baby he’s the photographer I’m going to call. If we don’t I’ll find some other way to thank him for what he did, as not all of them are as understanding as he was.”
“Maybe we should go home. We can do the baby shopping on the Internet, and compare prices.” She bit her lip. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to afford to have the baby. I’m going to have hospital costs, and buying things for it, and food, and…”
“Stop it. We can deal with that. You have me. I’m not going anywhere.”
***
Beth sat on Vanessa’s lap, hand tangled into her hair, as Vanessa and Marco searched through pages and pages of stuff they might need to for the baby, if they were going to have it. “What happens if I have twins?”
“Do you have a history of twins?”
“Fortunately not, but it can happen to anyone.”
“Vanessa, do you always worry about things that might not happen?”
“Yes. It’s part of the reason I’m so good at my job. Planning for every possibility is one of the most important parts of planning a good party. I use the skills I have now in all areas of my life.”
“Okay.” Marco smiled. “In that case we’ll do some pricing up for the possibility of twins, although I do think it’s very unlikely that will happen.”
“It was very unlikely I was going to get pregnant from a one night stand when I was on the pill, but that still happened.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologise for. I was just as up for it as you were.”
“We still should have been more careful.”
“Probably, but that’s in the past now. All we can do is focus on the future.”
“Good point.” He glanced at her stomach, and then looked up at her face. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want out of this, Vanessa, and I don’t want to be a part time dad. I want to be a full time part of their life.”
“Marco, we don’t have to do anything for any reason.” Could he really be willing to marry her purely because she was pregnant? After what her parents had been through she was never goi
ng to do something that stupid. “Let’s just take this one step at a time.”
“I meant it when I said I wanted there to be an us.”
“Why?”
“Honestly, I don’t think there’s ever going to be a right answer to that question, but I can tell you how I’m feeling. The more time I spend with you the more certain I am that you’re someone I really want to be a part of my life. I realise the whole reason we’re doing this is because you are pregnant, and we wouldn’t have done it if you weren’t, but that doesn’t mean I’m feeling the way I am because of the pregnancy. Seeing you with Beth… it softens you, the same way the champagne did. Getting to know you can be difficult, because there have been times when you’ve been very spiky, but right now I believe we could really have something. I’m not saying to get married. I just… I think we can make a go of things in more ways than one.”
Vanessa nibbled her lip as she stared at the screen in front of her. Was he telling her the truth? Was he simply saying all the right things? “I don’t know, Marco. It’s going to be a hard decision for me to make.”
***
“Jenna, I think I’m an idiot.”
“What have you done?”
“You know you suggested that I see what sort of father the man I slept with would be?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought it would be a good idea, so I offered to look after Beth for Marie, and now he’s here, with me, being the sort of father I always wished I could have.” A tear trickled down Vanessa’s cheek. “He’s playing with her, and making her laugh, and he keeps talking to me about making a go of things, because he likes me, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Calm down.” Jenna’s voice was soothing. “One thing at a time, Ness. How about we take the most difficult part of this first? He says he likes you?”
“He’s said it more than once, and I don’t know if he’s just saying it because I’m pregnant.”
“Take that out of the equation for now. Would you date him if you weren’t pregnant?”
“No.”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
Vanessa opened her mouth and then shut it again. “For some really bad reasons. I haven’t mentioned who it is, because I knew you’d know that, but it’s Marco Patterson.”
“Ending up in bed with him isn’t exactly unheard of for many beautiful women.”
“I know, but he said that wasn’t the only part of him and I’m beginning to see it. He’s a good man. He might not be able to keep it in his pants, and that could end up being an issue in the future, because I don’t know if he’d be able to be faithful to me.”
“What you need to do is ask him the difficult questions. Could he be faithful? Does he want to get married? Does he want to have more children? Until you know the answers to all of them, and more, you’re not going to be able to make a decision about him, or about what you want to do about the baby.”
“I think I might want to keep it. Being with Beth has shown me how nice it can be.”
“Not all babies are as good as Beth.”
“That’s what I said to Marco.” Vanessa sighed. “I just… I’m being an idiot. I know I am. I can’t believe I’m seriously thinking about having a baby, because Marco happens to be wonderful with Beth.”
“Where is he right now?”
“Bathing her. I did it last night, so he told me it’s his turn tonight.” She shook her head. “He did the middle of the night feeding last night and when I went out to check on him he’d fallen asleep with Beth on his chest. It was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.”
“Then you need to work out whether or not you can co-parent with him, and how things are going to be if you don’t end up getting together. Will he resent you? Will he resent the baby for not being you? Don’t let your emotions get the better of you, Ness. Think things through as logically as you can.”
***
Vanessa and Marco lay in her bed. She was reading a book, while he seemed to be playing something on his tablet. “Can I talk to you?”
“Of course you can.” He looked at her. “What did you want to talk about?”
“What’s going to happen.” She brushed a hand through her hair. “You’ve been really good with Beth, and I really do appreciate all your help with her, but she isn’t our baby. She’s not a newborn. We don’t know what sort of baby ours will be, and I need to know you’re going to be capable of dealing with that.”
“I won’t know for certain until it happens, but I believe I will be.” He smiled. “We can’t plan for every possibility when it comes to the baby. We’re just going to have to take the rough with the smooth. If it helps Mom always said I was a very calm baby, so if it takes after me we’ll be fine, and if it doesn’t then we can deal with it.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that, but I just… words are all well and good. Actions are what’s important.”
“True.” For a long time he studied her. “Can I do exactly what’s going through my head right now?”
If she was right about what was going through his head she knew it was just going to make her more confused, but that didn’t stop her from nodding. “Go ahead.”
His smile growing, he kissed her, their lips pressing hard together. She knew she should have stopped things there. She didn’t. Vanessa kissed him back, her book falling to the floor, and it wasn’t long before she found herself laying underneath him, his erection impossible to ignore. “I want to be with you, Vanessa. I would want to be with you even if there wasn’t a baby growing inside of you. I’m not going to lie to you and say this is going to be easy, but I think we can make it, if we both give it a real chance.”
“Maybe.” She nibbled her lip, wondering if she could. “I just… you’re Marco Patterson. You’re going to be having a mixed race baby.”
“I am.” He stroked a hand down her face. “Hopefully it will be a girl, with your beautiful eyes.” He shook his head. “I don’t have an issues with that. Neither will my parents. They just want me to be happy, and you make me happy. Our baby, whoever they are, will be the same.”
“Even if we end up splitting up.”
“That won’t be their fault. I will never blame the baby for what’s happened. I’m not your parents. We can do this, together, but it will take time for the two of us to get to know each other properly.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Okay, I don’t know it, but I believe it. You’re going to be a wonderful mother. The two of us are going to have a relationship that works, for as long as our child lives, no matter how that happens. For now I want to give us a chance, to see if it can work, which means you giving us a chance, instead of letting your fears get the better of you.”
Admitting to herself he was right was one of the hardest things Vanessa had ever done. “I’ll try.”
“That’s all I can ask of you.” He kissed her again, pulling down her pyjama bottoms at the same time, and gently stroked her. “Tell me if you want me to stop.”
“I don’t.”
Nodding, he slipped himself inside of her, and she realised she’d been waiting for it to happen ever since he said he wanted them to be a couple. As she wrapped her legs around him Vanessa let go of her fears, her worries, her uncertainties, and made the decision she was going to give him a chance. When she felt his fingers on her nipple, gently stroking, she stared up at him. He stared back down at her, his blue eyes wide. She knew then he’d been waiting for her to be ready. A part of her still wasn’t, but she wasn’t going to let that get in the way of what could be a wonderful relationship. He kissed her again, fingers still stroking her nipple, his other hand stroking her clit, and all she could do was feel him. He was just as good in bed sober as he was drunk, which was nice to know.
Being able to feel him everywhere was one of the most wonderful things. Vanessa kissed him back hard, running her hands down his back, to his ass, and grabbed hold of it. Marco thrust deeper into her, making little sound of enjoyment. When he lifted
his head up again, to stare down at her, he smiled. “I love you.”
Had it been anyone else she was certain that would have ended things entirely, but it wasn’t. It was Marco. It was the father of her child, and the man who’d done everything he can to help her ever since then. She felt herself clenching around him, her body doing what it wanted and her mind unfocused, before she released, cumming hard around him while he did the same deep within her. When he slumped down onto her she stroked his back again, feeling the aftershocks of what had happened within her.
“I love you too.” She hadn’t know it was true until she said it. “You’re sure you want this.”
“I’ve never wanted anything more, Ness.” He kissed her cheek. “We can take it as slow as you need to, but I’m not going anywhere, because this is going to work for both of us.”
“You hope.”
“I hope.” He smiled. “I’m certain. All I have to do now is introduce you to my parents. They’ve been waiting for years for me to settle down. Knowing I am will make their month.”
***
The house Marco parents’ lived in was very different to his. Vanessa looked at him. “I offered to buy them a place, and this was what they chose.” He shrugged. “They like different things to me.”
“Okay.” He knocked on the door and she tried not to panic. “Why are we doing this?”
“You’re going to be fine. They’re going to love you.”
“How can you be so sure?”
The Alpha Billionaire's Unexpected Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Pregnancy Romance Page 15
