Page 3 of The Professor's Surprise Baby

But it was a perfect night and a perfect day. I’ll treasure the memory of it and, I know, I’ll treasure the book with Vance’s art. I imagine that book will help me relive our time together and will be a great reminder of the man who captivated me for a long time and the incredible one-night stand I got to have with him.

A nice reminder.

A fantastic reminder.

Ultimately, a completely unnecessary reminder since on the other side of the country, I get a permanent reminder of my time with him. My baby Savanna is born nine months after the plane lands. Well, Vance French’s baby, too. Not just mine.

The thing is, though, that I never tell him I’m pregnant and never tell him he has a daughter.

Chapter Three

Okay, I’m not stupid.

I’m not immoral, either.

I say that because I want you to know that I understand what a screwed-up thing it is for me to have a baby I’m keeping a secret from the father. I can’t pretend that it’s not a horrible thing. I know that it’s immoral of me to hide Savanna’s existence from Dr. French. But in all other ways, I’m a moral person. I need you to know that it’s not in any way something I’m doing out of spite, anger, or hatred.

No.

Let me give you the timeline.

Two years ago, I had the absolute perfect night with not only the most astounding sexual experience possible but also an emotional experience I can’t even describe without feeling a sense of joy and happiness. I get on the plane feeling very wonderful about the experience and happy as can be. I moved back into my parents’ house since they live just twenty miles from the university where I’m getting my master’s degree.

And I cried for three weeks because I miss Vance French.

I know it’s foolish. I know it’s stupid. I also know that the only thing that allowed us to have a relationship in the first place was that I was leaving. I know that. So, I cry for the relationship I’ll never have. After three weeks, school starts, and I get lost in the work.

And I find out I’m pregnant.

And I don’t say anything for a month because I don’t know what I’m going to do. That’s a blatant lie I tell myself. I know I’m going to keep the baby. I just don’t want to face Dr. French so I pretend I’m trying to decide if I’ll keep the baby.

But after that month, I have to tell my parents. I lie to them and say I slept with a guy on the East Coast at a graduation party where we all got drunk. It’s another blatant lie. I say I only know his first name, Vance, and nothing else about him. I cry and beg them not to be ashamed of me but they’re not ashamed at all. They’re overjoyed. My older sister is married but they’re not sure if they’ll have kids. My older brothers aren’t in any relationships. They’re overjoyed that I’m going to have a baby.

So now I have a lie I told my parents and if I tell Vance, that lie will be revealed to them. So, I’m kind of paralyzed. I know the right thing to do but I don’t do it.

And I don’t do it for good reasons. The reasons are stupid! I mean, I’m already an unwed pregnant girl my parents think doesn’t really know the father. How much worse will they think of me for a lie? I mean, really, I’m already in the bad daughter department pretty solidly, right? My parents don’t treat me that way. I guess what I’m trying to say is if they still love me and treat me nicely and sweetly and all that. They do that thinking I got drunk and slutty and ended up pregnant, I think they’ll get over the lie, right? I still don’t tell the truth.

And the second reason, the one that’s easily the most important one? Well, I’m worried about what Dr. French will think about the baby and me. I know being afraid of his reaction is a bullshit reason but that’s how I feel. And then, after about six months, I have to add the whole craziness of having not told him before. When Savanna is born, how can I tell him when I totally hid the pregnancy?

Yeah, I’m a horrible bitch. I know that.

But the months pass and I still don’t tell him.

Because of my parents and their help with babysitting and just being all-around perfect people, I keep up with my schoolwork. I get my master’s degree, and my master’s thesis wins several prizes. It’s pretty amazing but also somewhat understandable. My fields of study are organic chemistry and microbiology. That’s Dr. French’s area of expertise. Everything I do is done in a way that I think might impress him. That makes it good work.

So good that I get offered a fellowship. It’s a research fellowship. Not only does it pay more than I expect even four or five years from now but it’s sponsored by a university, one of the best. In conjunction with my research fellowship, I’ll be getting my PhD.

In a city I’m familiar with.

The city where my best friend Kayla lives.

The city where my daughter’s father lives.

I’d love to tell you that I accept the fellowship. I want to deal with the situation because I want to be the kind of person I ought to be and I want to let Dr. French know about his daughter. I want to tell you that but I can’t. It would be a lie. I accept the fellowship because turning it down is professionally insane and I can’t come up with a good enough lie to disguise why I do it.

So, I fly back to my alma mater.

And I move in with Kayla. She loves Savanna. I go to the research facility and find out that Vance French, the world-renowned scientist is my research partner. Twenty minutes after we see each other in the lab, Vance and I are having sex.

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