Page 25 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

“This bedroom is his,” Nico advised when they reached the landing. Lauren turned into the room Nico had pointed to and found herself in a fairly tidy room populated by several more plastic dinosaurs, a train set, a shelf of books, and a little boy in a racing-car bed.

“Come on,” Louis instructed again. “You sit here.” Lauren obediently sat on the edge of the bed.

“What story would you like?”

“I’m not a baby,” Louis began. “I’m reading this book, see?” He held up what looked like a French early reader book featuring a helicopter-like contraption on the cover. “But I have a special bedtime book.” He leaned forward. “Mostly for my dad. He loves it.”

“Well, no one would call you a baby, that’s for sure. I’d love to see the book. We wouldn’t want to disappoint your dad.”

Louis seemed to determine that Lauren did, indeed, acknowledge that he was not a baby, because he took a book from the nightstand and presented it to her. The title was in French, but Lauren was able to understand a few words about family and love.

“My French isn’t very good, but I’ll give it a try.”

“Okay.”

Louis snuggled beneath his blankets and looked up at her expectantly. Lauren glanced at Nico, who was leaning against the doorframe with a strange expression. He gave her a little go-ahead nod, and Lauren began reading.

Despite it being a children’s book, the words were difficult, and Louis had to help Lauren when she stumbled over a few pronunciations. The boy was very supportive, though, and often chimed in with a “Good job!” when Lauren was able to read a sentence without any errors.

From the pictures and the words she understood, Lauren figured out that the story had to do with family and love and the stars in the sky. She was sure she was missing a lot of nuance, though. When she read the last page, Louis yawned.

“Thanks for reading my story.”

“No problem.”

“Good night, Lauren.” He smiled adorably up at her.

“Good night, Louis.”

“Good night, Dad!”

At that, Nico left his place beside the door and came to give Louis a kiss on his small, round cheek. The little boy grinned at his father, then snuggled deeper into bed.

Nico nodded for Lauren to follow him and they tiptoed out of the room, Nico shutting off the light as he went and closing the door.

They walked back down the stairs in relative silence. Once they reached the landing, Nico turned to Lauren.

“I’ll need a few minutes to heat dinner up. Would you like to wait in the living room?”

“I’d be happy to help if you need anything.”

“It’s all done, but you can come with me to the kitchen if you prefer.”

“Sure.” Lauren followed Nico down the hallway, past the living room where they’d briefly played with Louis’s dinosaurs, and through a door into a kitchen and dining room. The kitchen was gorgeous, all marble countertops and exposed brick walls, and the dining room was furnished with an old mahogany table that had already been set. At Nico’s suggestion, Lauren took a seat at one end of the table.

“So,” she said, searching for a casual topic of conversation while Nico put together the last bits of dinner, “what’s Louis’s bedtime book about?”

Nico hesitated, his hands stilling over the salad he’d just been mixing, and turned slowly to Lauren.

“It’s about Louis’s mother, actually.”

CHAPTER 10

NICO

Honesty is the best policy.

Nico repeated the sentence to himself as he watched Lauren sit at the table, her head slightly tilted, not answering. He’d decided when he’d invited Lauren over that he would be honest with her from now on. Not telling her about his son was what had started the two weeks they hadn’t spoken, and Nico was more and more certain that those two weeks had been a waste. He didn’t want Lauren to walk away.

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