Page 11 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

When the waiter came a few minutes later to take their orders, Nico ordered a steak, while Lauren opted for a fish dish. They both sat back to wait for their food.

“You know, I realized that you never told me the full story of why you came back to Paris now. Did you plan it for a long time?”

“Not really.” Lauren hesitated, then sighed. “Honestly, it’s not the most cheerful story.”

“That’s all right.” The wine Nico had ordered arrived, and he raised his glass to her. “I’d still like to hear it.”

“Well, I mentioned earlier that I was raised by a single mother, like you. But the rest of the story is that my mother passed away when I was very young. My father was already out of the picture, so my grandfather stepped in to raise me. He’d been on the verge of retirement, but he kept working so that he could give me everything he said I deserved.”

Nico saw a sparkle of what looked like tears in Lauren’s eyes and instinctively reached to cover her small hand with his own. She flashed him a tentative smile before continuing.

“When he got sick a few years ago, I didn’t hesitate to move back, even though he practically ordered me not to. When I was young, he gave up everything to be there for me, and there was no way I wasn’t going to do the same thing for him. I took care of him until he passed away a few months ago.” With her free hand, Lauren wiped her eyes. “He left me everything he owned, along with a letter urging me to take my inheritance and follow my dreams. I thought that coming to Paris, like I’ve always wanted to, was the best way to honor his memory.”

“Is that his?” Nico asked, nodding to Lauren’s necklace. He’d spotted the ring on a chain around her neck and wondered about it, and now things were starting to click into place.

“It is.” Lauren wrapped her free hand around the ring. “I like to think he’d be proud of me. But as happy as I am to be here, it isn’t easy.”

Once again, Nico struggled with himself. If there was one thing he understood, it was loss. Even though he and Léa hadn’t been a couple when she passed away, she had been his best friend and confidant, as well as the mother of his child. It had been heartbreaking for both him and Louis — and then heartbreaking in a new way as Louis grew up and began to lose his memories of Léa. Nico wanted to share the story with Lauren so that she’d know she wasn’t alone, but he hadn’t told her about his son, and this didn’t feel like the way to do so.

Instead, he squeezed her hand and gave her a gentle smile. “I’m sure he would be very proud of you. I’m impressed by how you took a terrible loss and turned it into something beautiful, and he would be, too. And I think he’d understand that you can miss him and be happy and excited about your future at the same time.”

Lauren looked up from the table and smiled, although it looked a little wobbly. “Thanks. And I’m really sorry. This wasn’t exactly a light topic to chat about on our first, um, date.”

Nico’s internal battle reared its head again as he warred between pleasure that Lauren had identified this dinner as a first date and worry about the enormous secret he was keeping from her. But if Lauren was talking about a first date, maybe Nico could use their second or third date to divulge the information about his son to her. It wouldn’t really be hiding anything; it would just be saving a difficult conversation for a time when they both knew each other better.

Relief flooded Nico at the solution. It was perfect.

“Don’t worry.” He squeezed her hand again. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I think talking about the people we miss helps them stay present in our memories.”

“I think so, too.”

“So, tell me a little more about your grandfather.”

A more confident smile broke over Lauren’s face. “Well, his name was Henry. Henry Chapman. That’s my last name, too, if I didn’t mention it.”

She hadn’t, so Nico filed away the knowledge that the beautiful woman across from him was Lauren Chapman.

“Henry is a good name.”

“He liked it. Anyway, he was quite a character all his life, right up until the end. He flirted with all his nurses and charmed them so much that a lot of them started bringing him home-cooked meals and little trinkets during his hospital stays. He was a practical man who worked hard at the post office for most of his life, but he had a whimsical side, too. When I was young, he and I built a dollhouse together out of wood scraps, and then he spent hours playing with me, even though all I wanted to play was unicorns and fairies.”

“He sounds like a good guy.”

“Oh, he really was.” Lauren grinned. “And he would have liked you. He was all about helping people when they were in trouble, like you did with me today when I was lost.”

“I really didn’t do much.”

“You did a lot. Not only did you help me get turned in the right direction, but you gave me a great first day back in Paris that I’m always going to remember.”

Nico opened his mouth to say something back about how it had been a day he’d always remember too, but at that moment their food arrived and they were both momentarily distracted from the conversation. Nico took his hand away from Lauren’s to accept the plate of food. Once the waiter had gone, Nico felt awkward about returning to the tender subject matter they’d been discussing.

“Shall we dig in?”

“Of course.” A hint of a shadow flickered across Lauren’s face as she agreed, but she also reached for her fork and speared a stalk of asparagus. For the next few minutes, the sound of cutlery and a few exclamations over the quality of the food was all there was to be heard at their table.

“Did your grandfather ever come to visit you while you were in Paris?” Nico asked once they’d both cleared their plates. They’d chatted a little while they ate, but had mostly been quiet until the plates were taken away. Now they sat beside each other, a little unsure, dessert menus in front of them. Lauren shook her head.

“We talked about it, but he said he was going to let me have my adventure and that he might tag along next time. And like I said before, I kind of feel like he did.”

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