by Tiana Cole
“I can’t tell when I have to go into the bathroom again.”
He got the empty ice bucket and handed it to her. “No need to jump up and run to the bathroom if your stomach starts to turn. If you need to throw up do it in here. I’ll empty it and wash it out.”
The doctor arrived and seemed happy to be doing something. He sat in a chair by the bed and took Deja’s pulse, then put a hand on her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” James asked anxiously.
“She’s sick,” the doctor said. “Just a guess, but that’s why you called me, right? Still, even a medico as skilled as myself needs to actually examine the patient before coming up with a diagnosis, much less prescribing a brilliant cure.” He smiled at Deja. “I’ll need to take your medical history and then I’ll take your temperature. Between us we will figure out what’s making your body unhappy,” he said cheerfully. He turned to the men. “You two are in my way. Please go in the other room while I check her out. Go. Go.”
In the living room, James paced in front of Kieran as they tried to get some perspective on things. “Alan flipped. I wonder what that does to your stock with Shen Liang?” Kieran asked.
“It’s hard to say. I was getting the impression that nothing Alan said or did made any difference one way or the other. He said he didn’t care for Alan, and that he was out of the picture. With me, he’s been trying to piece together a puzzle that represents my character.”
“How would he do that?”
“I’m not entirely sure. But I do know he was looking for clues, wondering if I would demonstrate some heretofore hidden strength of character. Shen Liang has been fascinated by what I would do about Deja, and her sister.”
“Well the sister is handily taken care of.”
“Our secret.”
“Yes. But what will you do about Deja?”
He laughed. “I have no idea.” He walked back and forth then stopped. “The thing is, I think I love her.”
“Well, from a legal perspective, staying married would save one hell of a lot of paperwork.”
“I knew I could count on you for a romantic Irish perspective.”
“Glad to be there for you.” Kieran sat for a time. “You know, you and my sister would’ve been a rotten couple.”
“Think so?”
“I do. She thinks so too.”
“So why were you all fired up?”
“Tradition. We lawyers love our traditions.”
“Is there a traditional way to get passed that?”
“Well, if we follow Irish tradition, we’d probably have a knock-down, drag out fight down at the local, then buy each other drinks until we pass out.”
“I can see the wisdom in that, but is there another option?”
“Well, the sterile, watered-down, Americanized, politically correct, FDA-approved version would be for you to just order up another bottle of whiskey.”
“I can do that.”
The door to Deja’s room opened and the doctor came out, smiling.
“Is she all right?”
“She’s my patient. Of course she’ll be fine. She’s sleeping at the moment.”
James sighed with relief. “So she’ll get over this?”
“Absolutely. It won’t happen quickly however.”
“How long will it take?”
“She’ll get over these symptoms fairly quickly. The underlying cause will take longer.”
“Underlying cause?” James asked.
“Well, vomiting is not recognized as an illness, you see.”
“How long until she’s herself again?”
The doctor laughed. “Oh, before she’s only herself? Approximately eight months. But babies are notoriously unreliable about keeping appointments.”
“A baby?”
Kieran roared. “You’re a dad, James.”
The doctor nodded. “I did a quick test, and while there is a possibility of false positives, the test results, along with the nausea and other symptoms suggest that your wife is a healthy pregnant female. I want you to get her to an OB/GYN tomorrow to confirm it and to start her prenatal care.” He handed them a card. “Since you don’t live here, you might want to call my cousin. She is excellent.”
“Of course!”
Kieran went to the bar. “That deserves a toast. Will you join us, doctor?”
“I’d be honored.”
James sighed. “Better make mine an orange juice, Kieran. My wife and I have done enough alcohol to last us for some time.”
The doctor nodded. “And she is off the stuff for the duration.”
After the toast, the doctor left and Kieran sat in a big chair, a smile spreading over his face. “So, James Andrews as a daddy. What does that do for your messy domestic planning?”
“Well, Deja being pregnant changes a lot of things.”
“Because, due to my excellent legal advice, you are still married to the lady, that takes care of one important detail. Assuming she’s willing to stay married to such a bum.”
“She’ll be a great mom too.”
“And so?”
“So, I suppose I’d better go ask the lady, see if she wants to be Mrs. Andrews permanently. I couldn’t blame her entirely if she said no. It’s been a rocky road to the altar.”
“At least you were both at the altar on time.” As James headed for the bedroom, Kieran coughed. “I suggest that after she gives you her decision you ask her to call Shen Liang with the news.”
“More legal advice?”
“No, that’s a friend talking at you.”
“Well, friend, I’ll do it, but it will likely be a formality.”
“Why?”
“Because Shen Liang knows everything before the rest of us.”
And when she called, Shen Liang was pleased, but certainly didn’t sound surprised.
CHAPTER TWELVE
James and Deja went to see Barbara together, walking into her room, holding hands and bringing a weak smile to her face. “Not only am I glad to see you two, but I have to say I’ve never seen anyone look happier than you two.”
“It’s good to see you awake and smiling. I know it wasn’t easy. You’ve had a rough time,” James said, bending over the bed to kiss her cheek. “You have a fever.”
“Who cares? I’ve been in the hospital forever. Right now, I’m inclined to believe that being anything better than a cadaver is damn good, James Andrews. And guess what, you kept your promise about the pain. I hurt like hell, but that’s so much different.
I’m still feeling some of the ‘they cut me to pieces and sewed me up’ kind of pain. But it’s only been a few weeks since the last procedure and that will go away. That other pain, the one that says you are dying, is gone. I have to thank you for that.”
“Thank these great doctors.”
“I will, I do, I have. But without you, I wouldn’t have them.” She winked at Deja. “I bet you don’t even know.”
James suddenly realized what she was going to say. He had no idea how she could know, but she did. “Barbara, no.”
Deja looked at James, then at Barbara. “What? Tell me.”
“During the last couple of months, recovering from surgery, then having a new one, I’ve had a fair amount of time on my hands. So I did some research. I found out that the grant that paid for the surgery was a very special one—so special that it had my name on it before the ink was wet. And it was funded by a dog food company in Los Angeles.”
“Dog food?” Deja laughed.
“I wormed bits of the truth out of the staff and the doctor from UCLA. She wanted me to know, so that wasn’t hard. Then when that Irish lawyer representing the company came by, well he was a piece of cake. He thought he’d flatter me, but I had him spilling his guts in no time.”
“About what?”
“About a handsome guy you know, who owns the holding company that owns the dog food company that, incidentally, has never made so much as one can of dog food. I was tickled to find out that it inv
ests in virtual reality companies, because about then the entire world seems rather virtually real.” She held out her hand. “Thank you, James.”
Deja felt her head spin. “You paid for it? Why didn’t you tell me? Why the secrecy?”
“It’s a corollary of the saying that no good deed goes unpunished. We were trying to sort out our feelings for each other. It was before we knew…anyway, I’d pretty much made up my mind to ask you to marry me, well, to stay married to me, but I wanted to wait a bit longer. The problem was that Barbara didn’t have the time for me to get off my lazy ass.”
“But you could’ve told me.”
“And then I’d feel like I was buying you, or maybe you’d feel like I was trying to force your hand. It just felt like it should be secret until our relationship was resolved. After all the creepy things between us over money, I needed to feel that when you gave me your decision, it would be about us, and not Barbara.” He took Barbara’s hand. “Not that I don’t like you, Barbara.”
Barbara giggled. “So you helped me secretly to make my illness a non-issue in your romance.”
“Something like that. I’d say it in a way that made me look better than that sounded.”
“Well, I was the beneficiary.”
“I was glad to use my money for something truly good.”
She squeezed his hand. “Me too, James. But that happens now?”
“You get better.”
“I do?”
“The doctors say so. They insist. I paid them all that money after all. If you don’t, they’ll look foolish.”
She spread her hands out. “If I must. And what do you do? You two?”
James grinned at Deja. “Well, I have a lot of business to attend to, thanks to my lady. By the way, she probably has more influence with my new partner than I do. Other than that, I suppose we’ll just sit around, make moony eyes at each other, and watch you to get healthy enough to be at the birth of our baby.”
Barbara shrieked. “A baby.”
Deja smiled at her. “And, at some point, to dance at our wedding.”
Barbara’s eyes sparkled. “At your wedding?”
He nodded. “Technically it isn’t necessary. As my Irish dog food lawyer is fond of pointing out, we are well married now. We just thought it would be nice to have an Elvis-free ceremony with our friends and family. It seems everybody missed the first one—even me.”
“It turned out that Alan confessed to spiking James’s drink,” Deja explained. “He was more drugged than drunk, and that was why he didn’t pass out. The drug impaired his judgment, but not much else.” She poked his side.
“I’d also like to have a video of our wedding that we won’t mind the kid seeing when she’s bigger.” He squeezed both their hands. “And, in case the public at large cares at all, I want to convert my accidental bride into an extremely deliberate choice.”
Barbara laughed. “That’s all well and good, but getting married without Elvis? I do like Elvis.”
“I’ll buy you all his CDs for a get well present.”
She rubbed her hands together gleefully. “That’s a lot of CDs.”
Deja beamed. Seeing the joy on her sister’s face, a happiness that almost matched her own, was the greatest wedding present a person could have. Suddenly, she put her hand on her belly. “She kicked me.” Then she grinned. “At least I felt something.”
Barbara reached out and Deja put her hand on her belly, holding it there. “It’s still a little early for that, isn’t it. You’re only about three months along. She giggled. “But maybe she’s found a way to send us a coded message.”
“Really?”
“The little dear is telling us she wants the band to play Elvis tunes at the wedding.”
Deja smiled at James. “As an only child, you have yet to learn the harsh lessons of the baggage of family. It’s one of the hazards of marriage. Just in case you hadn’t noticed already.”
He laughed. “I wasn’t going to mention that. Besides, in this case, there are a couple of compensations.”
“Any plans for where you’ll go on your honeymoon?”
Deja laughed and clapped her hands. “Shen Liang offered us the use of a beach house he owns in Tahiti.”
James snorted. “He’s taken a shine to Deja. He overruled what he considered my more pedestrian choices. I was thinking Mexico, and you would’ve thought I suggested Detroit or Beirut.”
Barb laughed. “I like this partner of yours already. I assume he’ll be at the wedding?”
“Of course. He said he’ll come only because he wants to dance with his favorite sisters.”
Deja sighed happily. It had been a rough road.
The choices she’d made in the beginning had started them down the wrong path, but now they were starting to recover. Not that it would be easy. Life with James would always be challenging. Challenging but exciting, and she knew she’d lucked onto a good man, the right man for her. He loved her too…how he loved her and made love to her.
She’d found him by accident. But she was through with accidents. Now she’d have his baby, and be his deliberate bride.
THE END
Also from Tiana Cole:
The Billionaire's Carnival Baby
Marrying Her Greek Billionaire
The Billionaire's Super Nanny
Coded Love
The Accidental Bride
Billionaire by Design
The Doctor's Fake Nanny
Love Games
About the Author
Tiana's a young writer who only recently began having her stories published. At only 30-years-old, Tiana plans to continue her writing for many years to come and seems to have a never ending stream of unique story ideas.
Tiana was raised in New York City and currently resides in a small apartment house in Philadelphia with her two adorable cats. She's yet to meet Mr. Right, but in the meantime enjoys depicting him in her various interracial stories!
Join BWWM United newsletter to be informed on Tiana Cole and other BWWM writers discounts, new releases, and more!
http://bwwmunited.com/newsletter
