Baby Mine (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 1)

by Faith Loveright

  “Turns out we both have equal rights to Lillie Rose. Me as her mother… and you as her father. Gregory… my lawyer said that in a case like this, the courts would treat the child in question no different than if we’d been married and separated. You heard me explain to him that the eggs I relieved weren’t my own… he assured me that as wrong as it may seem to you, that with the paperwork I signed and the funds I’ve paid to the clinic, that I am Lillie’s legal mother. They’d look at the situation as if I’d received a donor egg as well as donor sperm. He also said that with the paperwork he’s sure you have; that since you are still alive and plan to pursue your parental rights, that I cannot legally deny you access to my daughter.”

  “I don’t like it… But for the sake of expediency, I am willing to accept you as a part of MY daughter’s life. Pack a bag. I’m taking you back to my home.” When she opened her mouth to argue, he held a big hand up in the air to stop her. “I’d take only my child, but for the moment, the two of you come as a two for one package. I can contact a lawyer in order to force you to comply with my right to protect my unborn child … but I’d much rather keep this between us and try to be civil with one another, since it would seem, we’re going to be stuck with each other as part of our lives for the rest of eternity, thanks to this idiotic mix-up.”

  Madeline paled and wrung her hands in agitation. This man was the legal father of her unborn baby. His dead wife was the woman who’d provided the eggs that had been implanted in her womb. If he called a lawyer and got the right judge, if he really wanted to, he could possibly take Lillie Rose away from her. Knowing she’d never be able to survive handing her child over and walking away, she weakly nodded her head and looked towards her bedroom.

  “Let me get some things together. But you need to understand … this is only until Lillie Rose is born. Once I give birth, I’m coming back here … and I’m bringing my daughter with me. We can work something out for you to see her during the day while I work if you like,” she soothed when he opened his mouth to argue with her. “Like any divorced couple, we’ll figure out a shared visitation schedule, but as her mother, I have the law on my side. Lillie Rose will live with me.”

  Eric watched as she staggered down the hall. It was clear that she was in shock. She was also in denial if she honestly believed he was just going to roll over and say nothing when she took his child out of his house, but that was a brick wall he’d worry about trying to move when the time came. For now, he’d take comfort that he’d won the first battle. She was coming back to the ranch to stay until the baby was born. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. Somehow, between now and then, he’d find a way to get her to see that the best thing for the child, was to remain at the ranch with him. If she insisted on staying on with the tyke, he would begrudgingly accept her presence. But with or without Madeline, his son or daughter would be staying on with him. He or she would grow up surrounded by animals and nature.

  No way was his son or daughter going to grow up in the sterile environment of a hospital day care center. Not if he had anything to say about it.

  Chapter 7

  Madeline’s eyes grew large as Eric pulled the truck up the long driveway. There were open fields full of animals as far as the eye could see. She glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye and blinked. She’d known by his attire that he was a cowboy, but the proof that it was true was overwhelming. So many daydreams had filled her mind and her heart over the years, about a grand romance with a cowboy, and here she was, getting ready to move in with one.

  She had to struggle to remind herself that just because she was going to be living with him didn’t mean that anything was going to happen between them. Eric had made it pretty clear that he may be physically interested in her, but he had absolutely zero intension of giving in to it. The man didn’t like her. He was too upset that she was carrying his child. She wasn’t altogether happy about it herself, but she knew it wasn’t his fault any more than it was hers.

  The house came into view and a tiny gasp of surprise escaped from somewhere deep in her throat. There were four stories and a wrap-around porch. Flower boxes adorned the windows and colorful peddles hung over the edges. It felt like the homey place was beckoning her. She glanced back over at the man at her side. Who was this man? She didn’t figure he’d live in a place like this … Not with his wife dead. Briefly she wondered how long the woman had been gone. Deciding not to ask for fear of pushing the wrong buttons, Madeline looked away from him, out towards the hundreds of cows that dotted the horizon.

  There was a large barn in the distance and she could see horses grazing near it. Excitement filled her against her will. She could hardly wait to see Eric riding one of them. He was already sexy enough as it was. She could only imagine how much better the image he would make would be once he was sitting atop a horse.

  “It’s gorgeous,” she finally said, looking back at the house as he parked the truck.

  “Thanks. I built it to Vic…. my wife’s design. She had a very specific dream for her life and I was happy to give her everything I had in my power to grant.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said, climbing out of the truck and watching helplessly as he dragged her suitcase out of the back and lugged it into the house. “Has she been gone long?”

  The minute the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could suck them back in.

  “She was killed in a car accident five years ago,” he told her grumpily. “I never in a million years would have guessed that I’d share this place with another woman,” he said, shaking his head. “Then again, the day I buried her, I thought I’d buried the chance to see her children grow, right along with her.”

  Madeline gritted her teeth and settled her hand over her belly in a protective gesture. “Let’s get this clear right now,” she said, grinding her molars in agitation. “This is MY baby. Your wife may have been the one to supply the egg that was used, but I’m the one carrying the baby. Its bad enough I have to deal with Lillie Rose having a father I hadn’t intended on being in the picture. I won’t put up with a dead woman stepping in line, trying to cut in front of me with MY daughter for the role of mother.”

  Eric stopped mid-step and spun around to face her. He towered over her and he was breathing so hard, his chest was heaving with every labored gasp of air. “I’m trying to have patience with you… I don’t want to think about the fact that the child my wife was so excited to carry is in YOUR belly instead of hers any more than you want to think about the fact that she was the one to supply the egg that made your pregnancy possible. I loved my wife very much and you need to learn to deal with the fact that where this child is concerned, for me, the two go hand in hand. All you are is a vessel needed for the child’s growth and survival.”

  “And you need to understand that when I decided to do this, no one else but me was ever supposed to be a parent to Lillie Rose. I’m reluctantly trying to find a way to come to terms with the fact that YOU are going to be part of her life. Do you think that I want to have to compete with a dead woman for the affection of my own child?”

  “No … I guess you probably don’t,” he answered, shrugging his shoulders. “Forgive me. I’m doing the best I can to get through this. Having one of those eggs suddenly ready to become more has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I had just decided to permanently have them all destroyed, because I didn’t have it in me to deal with the idea of having any other woman carry the children Victoria wanted so badly. Don’t get me wrong; now that the baby is a reality, I’m excited to be part of his or her life.”

  “Her life. The baby is a girl. We’ve talked about this…”

  “We talked about your gut instinct. I would feel guilty if I started referring to the baby as a girl only to find out later on that it’s a boy. This is my son or daughter we’re talking about here.”

  “Not just yours … this is MY daughter too. Our daughter,” she admitted shyly, ducking her head as he let her into the house. The lights were
dim and it was all she could do to see where she was going as she followed him in to the dark living room.

  Eric visibly began to relax and he looked up the long winding staircase. “The room you can have is on the second floor. Last door on the left. There’s a bathroom attached to your room on one side and another doorway that leads to a room that we will later turn into a nursery.”

  When she opened her mouth to argue, he held his hand up to stop her. “You may not like it very much, Madeline; but I’m just as determined as you are for my… our … daughter to grow up here in this house, where she was meant to grow up in the first place. That baby you’re carrying was meant to be a little cowgirl,” he said, smiling at the thought.

  Madeline couldn’t stop the grin from overtaking her face as the picture popped into her head of a tiny little mini-version of herself sat atop a horse in front of Eric with his big strong arms wrapped protectively around her. Combined with all the daydreams she’d had over the years of being romantically involved with a cowboy, the image of her daughter being fathered by one made her happy to the point of being blissful.

  “I think the idea of Lillie Rose learning to ride is wonderful,” she said happily.

  “I’m not just talking about teaching her to ride a horse, Madeline. My daughter is not going to be spending her days at a sterile boring hospital in the care of a complete stranger.”

  “Our daughter,” Madeline corrected, ignoring the dig about the hospital.

  “I wasn’t trying to shut you out. I was simply trying to get it through your thick skull that the right thing for that baby you claim to want so much, is to allow her to grow up here where she’ll be loved and taught a good solid way of living instead of in the care of someone who is already distracted by other children who has nothing to gain or lose if a child in her care gets little to no attention.”

  “You are a very pushy man, you know that, Eric?” she asked, starting to get angry.

  “I refuse to say I’m sorry for being me,” he told her, his dander riled. “There’s a reason I told them to destroy the eggs. But now that one of them is growing inside you, I’m doing my best to come to grips with the fact that I’m going to be a father after all. I am determined to be a huge part of this child’s life, Madeline. I need you to know that I mean it when I say that.”

  “Oh, I get that you mean it,” Madeline said through gritted teeth. “That doesn’t mean that I like it though. I am more than a little excited to hear that you intend to teach Lillie Rose everything she needs to know about being a true blue cowgirl. I really am. But I refuse to allow you to ride rough shot over me, refusing to allow me to teach her a little about my history as well.”

  “I don’t give a rip if you want to teach her about being a doctor. There is no such thing as too high when it comes to goals and standards. One needs to be well rounded. I want that for my daughter. I just don’t want her spending all her time being ignored in a group of other children who may very well make her sick, being watched by a complete stranger who can’t possibly love her the way I can and will.”

  “Fine,” Madeline agreed, stepping away from him. “When I’m at work, I don’t see why Lillie Rose can’t spend her time with you here on the ranch, learning from you and growing to love you. I already agreed to that, Eric.”

  “I don’t want her only when you’re at work,” he said, leaning towards her, settling his big hand over her belly. “I want to be a full time dad. No other option is an alternative for me.”

  His voice was full of grit and it had come out so husky, there was no doubt to the truth of his words or the fact that they’d come straight from his heart. “I’m not giving up my daughter,” Madeline informed him nervously, not sure she was strong enough to battle him, but praying she would survive the war he was declaring.

  He stumbled backwards as if she’d slapped him and his eyes lowered to her belly. “I didn’t mean for it to sound as if I expected you to just hand her over to me and walk away, Madeline. I’m sorry if it seems like it’s taking too much time to come to terms with the fact that we’re going to share in this adventure into parenthood. I mean for us to do this together. As a team.”

  “I can’t just live here with you, Eric…” she said, nervously fidgeting. “Can’t you see what a bad idea that would be? … when we’re not … well, a couple?”

  “We’re both adults, Madeline. There’s no reason why we can’t be co-parents, living in the same household without being… involved with each other.”

  The look she shot him was incredulous and full of doubt and disbelief. “You can’t really mean that,” she snorted, confirming his observation. A smile teased the corners of his lips and he nodded at her in understanding. There was no doubting what she was getting at, and even he had to admit, at least to himself that she was right.

  “I’ll admit that there will be a certain amount of … sexual tension involved in such an arrangement, but as I said before, we’re both adults here. I see no reason why we can’t act the part. I’m a strong man. I can give you my word, that I won’t act on the insane desire that I can do nothing about. To do otherwise would be wrong. I haven’t ever been with anyone other than my Vic… I owe her my loyalty. I never thought about cheating on her when she was alive and just because she’s been gone for a few years doesn’t mean that I’d entertain the idea … not seriously anyway; of doing it now.”

  “I’m not so sure that I have it in me to live in the same house with a man that looks like you do. You may be strong enough, but I don’t know that I am,” she admitted shakily. “I’ve had too many dreams of being with a cowboy,” she whispered hoarsely. “That’s why I chose one as the father of my unborn child.”

  Her words hung in the air and Eric’s jaw ticked in response to her announcement. “Well, it would seem you got your wish,” he said testily.

  Before Madeline had a chance to say anything in response, he turned around and went out the front door. She flinched when the door slammed behind him. She followed him to the door and watched as he climbed atop a horse and rode off at a full gallop.

  A sigh of satisfaction and longing escaped as she watched his firm butt bounce as the horse took him away from the house. She knew that telling him about her dream of being with a cowboy had been a mistake, but she’d needed to tell him. He’d needed to hear the truth if he seriously thought they could live in the same house together. As it was, she wasn’t sure how she’d survive being this close to him until Lillie Rose was born. Not knowing that she didn’t have the right to touch him.

  Feeling flustered, she stood up and grabbed her suitcase. There was no time like the present to head to her room and get settled. If Eric was determined to spend time by himself, she would take the same time to herself. To get used to the idea of sharing her space as well as her daughter with a tall, gorgeous, stubborn cowboy who was too damn sexy for his own good.

  Chapter 8

  Several months had gone by and for the most part, Eric had managed to stay out of the house during the hours that Madeline wasn’t working. He was always close enough to see her car in the driveway. Even as he got to know her well enough to know that when she gave her word, she would keep it; he worried that she would run off when he wasn’t paying attention.

  Sadly, he wasn’t strong enough to be there in the house when she was there and wide awake. Especially near bedtime when she was wearing her skimpy nightgown. Those hours were the most important for him to stay as far away from her as he could possibly get. If he didn’t, he knew they’d both be in danger. If there was only one thing he was absolutely sure of, it was that if he lost his will power, she wouldn’t be strong enough to douse the insanely intense flames of desire that would surely ignite.

  The craziest thing was, the more the pregnancy showed, the more he found he wanted her. Riding the range, knowing she was just there, in his house; looking desirable and feminine, he was at the end of his rope and he knew it. It was nearing midnight and he was exhausted. If he was sure she was
sleeping, he’d risk going into the house and grab some dinner before collapsing in his bed. Sadly, with her having the day off the following morning, he knew that she would still be up and about. Ever since he managed to convince her that he had every intention of having their daughter grow up in his house, she’d been Hell bent on preparing the nursery.

  He’d proudly built a crib with his own two hands, with his little brother laughing his ass off the whole time. They’d figured out that Jeff was the donor that Madeline had chosen as her unborn child’s father. They’d had a laugh about it, but as of yet, he still hadn’t found a way to tell Madeline that the man she’d chosen to procreate with was his own brother. He wasn’t sure why it meant so much to him, to keep that from her; but it meant everything to him to keep Jeff out of the equation.

  It drove him around the bend that his little brother went out of his way to rub it in that the woman now living with him, getting ready to give birth to his child had not chosen him to be her baby’s daddy. Jeff took great pride in rubbing in the fact that he’d been the one that Madeline had chosen. Eric had tried to reason with his brother… pointing out the fact that the only reason she hadn’t chosen him instead, was because he wasn’t an option. Jeff had enjoyed a great laugh over that statement and then he’d rudely made a comment that the mighty had fallen as they always do... hard.

  Eric had spent a great deal of time arguing that accusation but Jeff had only laughed and declared that he was protesting entirely too much for there to not be some truth to the statement. After that, Eric had gone out of his way to avoid the subject altogether. He didn’t need his little brother pointing out the very things he was struggling to ignore.

  He didn’t want to admit how much more time he spent thinking about being with Madeline… and it wasn’t just in the dark of night, when his defenses were down because of the sleep that he’d succumbed to, any more. The more time they’d spent together, the more he thought about the woman who was pregnant with his daughter.