Page 14 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

Nico woke to the warmth of sun on his face. He smiled even before he opened his eyes. It was rare that Louis let him sleep in late enough to wake up to the sun on a Saturday morning.

Nico opened his eyes and realized that he wasn’t in his bedroom at all. He was in a hotel room and Lauren was lying beside him, her blond curls splayed across the pillow in a tangle of golden waves, her eyes closed. Nico’s heart warmed at the sight of her. Even though things had moved very quickly between them, everything had felt so right. It had been a long time since he had felt this deep of a connection with anyone.

Still smiling, he reached for his phone to check the time. With a lurch, his sunny happiness disappeared, replaced by a deep panic. It was after nine o’clock — the time he had agreed to pick Louis up from his grandmother’s house. No, no, no.

Worse, there was a missed call and a few messages from his mother, Rose. The first message asked if Nico would be joining them for breakfast. The second asked what time he would be arriving to pick Louis up. The third, sent just a few minutes ago, was a simple question mark.

Guilt and worry rose in Nico. It wasn’t as though Louis was in any danger — he loved his grandmother and was probably overjoyed at the chance to spend a little more time with her. The problem was that Nico had let his son down — as well as his mother. It was completely irresponsible, and if Louis had been somewhere other than with his grandmother, it could have been a catastrophe.

Nico slid out of bed, got dressed, and splashed some water on his face in the hotel’s small bathroom. Then he sent a quick message to his mother apologizing and letting her know that he would be there as soon as he could. The feeling of guilt and worry was still overpowering. Back in the bedroom, he looked down at Lauren, who was still sleeping soundly. Perhaps he should wake her and let her know that he needed to leave urgently to pick up his son — but since he hadn’t told her about Louis, that would involve a lot of explaining. And he didn’t want to lie to her, either.

Nico had hoped that he could have a relationship with Lauren and be a good father to his son at the same time, but this morning’s events showed that he’d been wrong. Louis needed him, and Nico hadn’t even told Lauren that he was a father. On a second or third date, perhaps he could have told her the truth, but the fact that he hadn’t told her now was a clear indication that Nico’s priorities had been misplaced. Worse, his night with Lauren had affected his ability to be a good father — after all, he was now late to pick up his son.

It wasn’t fair to Lauren either. She spoke with deep affection about her grandfather and had never uttered a word of complaint about taking care of him, but it couldn’t have been easy to put her dreams on hold to care for a sick relative. It wouldn’t be right to put the burden of dating a single father on her now. Lauren probably wouldn’t even want him to.

And, if Nico were being honest with himself, Lauren probably wouldn’t want to date him at all, single father or not. Despite the intense connection that Nico had felt, both physical and emotional, he didn’t have any reason to believe that Lauren’s feelings about him were anywhere near as strong as his were for her. She probably saw this as nothing more than a fling, a nice way to enjoy her first day in Paris.

It was decided. Nico wouldn’t wake her. It was the best decision for everyone involved, even if his heart ached at the thought of not seeing Lauren again. He turned for the door, then hesitated at the last minute. It still felt wrong to leave without any indication of where he was going.

Nico grabbed a pad of hotel stationery and a pen from the room’s small desk and scribbled out a quick note. Then he headed for the door. He needed to be with his son.

The whole bus ride to Rose’s house, Nico was at war with himself. He knew he wouldn’t be able to relax until he laid eyes on Louis and knew that his son was safe and well and not upset about his father not turning up on time. As strong as his guilt was, though, Nico couldn’t help thinking of Lauren. Their night together had been truly spectacular, the stuff of dreams.

As the bus trundled slowly through the streets of Paris, images from last night flashed through Nico’s mind. He knew he needed to forget Lauren, the sooner the better, but it was hard to do when thoughts of her were so fresh. If things were a little different, he could imagine waking up together slowly, taking her out to breakfast, then setting a date for their next meeting. Nico’s life was just too complicated for that to happen, though.

Nico arrived at his mother’s house just before ten. His worries began to dissipate the moment he crossed the small garden and went inside. Louis was sitting on the living room floor and working on a puzzle with a picture of a fighter pilot on it. Rose sat on the couch with a book in her hands and read aloud from a story about an arctic fox. When Nico stepped into the living room, they both looked up.

As soon as Louis caught sight of his father, he jumped up and flung himself into Nico’s arms. At seven, the boy teetered on the brink between affectionate little boy and mature elementary schooler. He still loved hugs and holding hands, but was starting to not want those things all the time.

“Papa!” Louis hugged Nico, then just as quickly wiggled out of his arms and ran back to the puzzle. “Are you going to help me?”

“Hi, Maman,” Nico said to Rose. Then, to both of them, “I’m so sorry I was late.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Rose waved a hand dismissively. “We had a lovely morning. Just try to send me a text next time if you know you’re delayed.”

“I will. Sorry, kiddo.” Nico ruffled his son’s dark curls and Louis squirmed.

“Are you going to help me with the puzzle or not?”

“I’d be happy to.” Nico lowered himself to the ground, a feat that was slowly getting harder to do, and handed an edge piece to Louis. “Try this one.”

“I don’t think so.” Louis shook his head and reached for a different piece. “This one looks better.”

“Your call, man.”

“I’m not a man.”

“Your call, boy.”

Louis chuckled and inserted the piece he’d chosen into an empty spot.

“How was your sleepover with Mémé?” Nico asked.

“It was great. We roasted a chicken and played Uno, and then Mémé took me for a scavenger-hunt walk, and then we ate the chicken and then we watched a movie and then I went to bed. And when I woke up we had pancakes and played Uno again and I watched some cartoons and now I’m doing my puzzle.” The whole recap came out in one long rush and Nico smiled as he listened. Clearly, his being late had not fazed his son one bit.

Nico felt a stab of regret. Perhaps he’d overreacted when he’d decided that there was no chance of a relationship with Lauren. But then he gave himself a little shake. Today he’d been late and everything had been fine, but there was no telling what might happen next time. Maybe he’d be late to pick Louis up at school or would forget one of their little traditions. And that wasn’t even considering the fact that Lauren still wouldn’t want to be involved with a single father on her big Paris adventure.

No. Nico had made the right choice this morning. There was no use dwelling on it now.

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