Page 10 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

If nothing else, maybe Lauren would get that kiss that had seemed so possible on the banks of the Seine. She felt her cheeks heat at the thought of Nico pulling her close and tilting her head back to capture her lips with his own.

No matter what happened next, this was turning into a good day indeed.

CHAPTER 4

NICO

Nico scrolled through a series of messages from his mother, Rose, detailing the evening she’d spent with Louis. From the pictures, he saw that his son had spent a good amount of time painting, followed by a bath in which the water had turned blue and orange from the paint he’d gotten on his hands and face. Nico typed out a quick reply, then slid his phone back into his pocket.

He and Lauren were standing in different spots on the crowded metro, so he took the opportunity to steal a glance at her, hopefully without her seeing. Lauren looked lovely, from the way her hair fell in waves around her shoulders to her small smile, to the way that yellow dress fit her so well. Nico bit his lip.

It felt wrong not to tell her about Louis, especially since he’d had so many opportunities to bring his son up casually in conversation. Louis was a big part of Nico’s life — in fact, he was the biggest. Nothing else mattered to Nico as much as his son did. If there was any chance of more dates with Lauren, he needed to tell her about Louis right away. Otherwise she might feel like he’d hidden something from her.

At the same time, though, Nico didn’t think he could bear it if he told Lauren about Louis and she reacted badly. He wasn’t ashamed of his son, not at all; he loved Louis more than anything. But Nico also knew that some people were surprised or judgmental about the way Nico had become a father.

It had been the end of college. Nico had dated a woman from his economics class, Léa, for about two months, and it had been fun for both of them. Yet as graduation loomed and they both began to think about their lives after college, they’d agreed that they were better off as friends than as a couple. They’d parted on good terms, and Nico had begun his first job as a French teacher in a local language school, which he’d hoped would eventually lead him into higher-level teaching.

Then, about two months after graduation, Léa had contacted him. It turned out that their brief relationship had left her pregnant, despite the precautions they’d taken. The pair had met in a café and spent hours agreeing on the best way forward. They’d decided, together, that they’d stay friends and keep their own apartments and lives, but that they’d be co-parents to the baby — Louis.

It had all worked much more smoothly than Nico had expected. At least until Léa had gotten sick.

Even though Nico was proud of how he and Léa had handled a situation that they had neither expected nor planned for, he knew that his having become a father at twenty-two with a woman he wasn’t even dating at the time wasn’t a huge turn-on for women. Plus, Lauren probably wasn’t looking to become involved with a single father who spent most of his time helping his son with homework or playing with Louis’s prized train set.

Anyway, Nico shouldn’t be planning a second date in any case. Lauren might not be interested. He didn’t even know how long she was planning to stay in Paris. Maybe it was better to enjoy this evening for what it was instead of worrying about a future that might not even come to pass.

“This is our stop, right?” Nico was startled out of his reverie by Lauren, who had woven through the crowd to get his attention.

“Yes — sorry.” They got off, and Nico led the way to the restaurant. It was one of his favorite places in Paris, although he rarely had the occasion to come to such an elegant place in his day-to-day life. Inside, small round tables were decorated with flickering tapered candles, while uniformed waiters wove in between to deliver steaming delicacies to diners. As Nico had hoped, Lauren’s face lit up at the sight of the restaurant.

“I know it’s silly,” she confided as they sat down, “but this is the kind of restaurant I imagined eating in when I came to Paris.”

“That’s not silly.” Nico reached for the menu. “How do you feel about escargots?” Lauren wrinkled her nose and Nico laughed. “Okay, that’s a clear answer. Don’t worry, there are plenty of other options.”

“Like…” Lauren ran her finger down the menu. “Tomato salad with stracciatella? Isn’t that ice cream with little chocolate chips?”

Nico laughed a little too loudly, causing a few other diners to turn and give him annoyed looks. “It is, but it’s also a kind of cheese.”

“Thank goodness. I was worried that the French enjoyed eating tomatoes with chocolate-chip ice cream on it. Or what about… zebra? Do you really eat zebras?”

It took Nico a moment to find the word Lauren was referring to, but then he laughed again.

“That’s just ribs, not anything from a zebra.”

“I hoped it wasn’t, but I also wasn’t sure.” Lauren shrugged. “I guess this is an area in which my French is really lacking.”

Nico waved her off. “I can see how those words would sound weird to an English speaker. Can you imagine having a dinner of zebra with an ice-cream-and-tomato salad?”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it past the French. You guys eat snails.” Lauren gave an exaggerated shudder, and Nico rolled his eyes jokingly.

“You should really try the escargots. I know it sounds weird, but it’s a unique culinary experience.”

“I have to point out that you said unique, not delicious. I like my food to be more delicious than unique.”

“Oh, my apologies. I should have taken you to a McDonald’s this evening, it sounds like.”

Lauren whacked him playfully with her menu. “How dare you! I’ll have you know that I’m more sophisticated than that.”

“So you say…” They grinned at each other, then turned back to their menus to continue perusing. Nico half-hoped that Lauren would have more amusing insights into French cuisine, but she seemed to understand the rest of the menu without issue.

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