Page 31 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

“When he was a baby, I only spoke English to him, and Léa spoke French. Now we mostly speak in English, since the rest of his life is in French. As he gets older, I sometimes think he prefers English, since so many shows and books are in English. I might need to make more of an effort to introduce him to the wonders of French.”

“The wonders of French.” Lauren chuckled. “You really sound like a professor now.”

“Well, that makes sense, since I am one. Maybe you need to step up your professorial speech a little.”

“Does that mean I should be raving about the wonders of French, too?”

“No, no. Of course not. You should be raving about the wonders of English, specifically grammar and vocabulary and other topics that students don’t tend to enjoy.”

Lauren nodded slowly. “That makes sense. I can get one of those T-shirts that says I love participles.”

Nico nodded back. “You’ll be very popular.”

They lingered until long after they’d finished their hot chocolates, trading stories from Nico’s several years as a professor and Lauren’s first two days as one. It was nice to hear from someone who was so new to teaching, because she had a very different perspective. In some ways, it was like walking along the Seine with her had been. Lauren’s enthusiasm and excitement made Nico enjoy things he’d started to take for granted, like the pride of a student giving a particularly good answer or the thrill of getting a laugh out of one of the less-engaged students, in a new way. Lauren, for her part, thanked Nico for the tips he smattered in alongside his stories of epic professorial fails from his first year.

Finally, Nico glanced at his watch and realized that time had gone by more quickly than he’d thought.

“I need to run and pick up Louis,” he told her.

“Sure. Thanks for the hot chocolate.” She toasted him with her empty mug. “It really was delicious.”

“I’m glad.” Nico got to his feet and gathered his briefcase. He’d already paid, so he just smiled at Lauren and headed for the door. Part of him wanted to go back and invite her to come with him, to watch the last few minutes of soccer practice, and then perhaps to come home with them for dinner. But he forced himself to keep walking, alone. He didn’t want to rush their relationship, not when there were so many factors to consider.

Still, when he got a text from Lauren later that evening asking if he and Louis might be interested in getting ice cream together over the weekend, he couldn’t reply yes quickly enough.

CHAPTER 12

LAUREN

Lauren jogged after the bus. She was running a little late, and while the next bus would probably still have reached Nico’s house on time, she didn’t want to risk it. She reached the stop just as the bus’s lights began flashing to indicate that the doors were closing. She was able to slip between the doors just in time and gave a grateful wave to the driver, as she’d seen Parisians do. Then she made her way to a seat at the window and slumped gratefully into place.

It was hard to believe that it had been almost three weeks since she and Nico had begun dating. Over the last weeks, Lauren had gotten accustomed to taking this bus ride, sometimes multiple times a week, to have dinner with Nico and Louis or to meet them for a weekend adventure. Other days, she and Nico met for lunch while Louis was in school or spent long evenings at one of their apartments while Louis was at his grandmother’s house.

Over the last few weeks, Lauren’s life had changed a lot — in quiet, sweet ways. She’d settled into her new role as a professor. Céline had even let her start leading classes and, from next week, Lauren would be teaching a few classes on her own. At the same time, she and Céline had become friends and had started meeting up for coffee most days. Céline was a vibrant woman who seemed eternally excited for everything in life, which Lauren enjoyed.

What stood out more than her professional development (even though Lauren was finally understanding what it was like to wake each morning excited about work) was her personal life. Over the last weeks, she’d learned a lot about Nico. She’d learned that he could easily get lost in enthusiastic analysis of French texts from hundreds of years ago. She’d learned that he had two pairs of glasses, one for work and one for the rest of his life, and that he hated contacts. She’d learned that there was little he loved more than a warm beverage, whether it was coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or something more exotic (he’d made horchata last week and matcha the week before). She’d learned that he got a little crease in his cheek when he gave a genuine smile and that he could be defensive about his parenting — although not usually with Lauren.

And Lauren had learned about Louis, too. She’d learned that he loved science and history and that he enjoyed making complicated inventions out of household items, like a dinosaur helicopter out of cardboard boxes, a marble maze out of toilet paper rolls and tape, or, once, when Lauren forgot her hair tie, a marginally functional hair clip out of a stapler spring and bottle lids. She’d learned that he enjoyed predictability and routine and that he always did his homework in a specific order. And she’d learned that he could make almost anyone laugh by pretending to trip over his own feet.

More and more, Lauren felt like she was settling into her life here in Paris. It wasn’t quite the freedom she’d imagined, since she spent most of her days at work or with Nico and Louis, but it was even better. Lauren had always felt a little sad that the circle of her family was so small with only her and her grandfather in it. Now, even though she knew it was too soon, she felt almost like a part of this little family.

Today, that feeling was only growing stronger. Lauren was on her way to Nico’s house, where they would pile into his car for a trip out into the countryside. Yesterday, Nico and Lauren had sent a flurry of messages as they planned and purchased picnic supplies, from chips to a baguette and cheese, to apples and lemonade. Nico had also sent a picture of Louis with a bucket hat and a pair of hiking boots and the caption “He’s ready for the wilderness.” Lauren had laughed aloud on the metro, drawing a few strange looks.

The bus pulled up at the stop near Nico’s house, and Lauren disembarked. She’d managed to be early, despite her concerns. When she arrived, Nico and Louis were loading a cooler and a few large reusable shopping bags into the trunk of their car.

“Lauren!” Louis waved fervently as though she might not see the two of them. “Over here!”

“Hey!” Lauren crossed the road to them, where she gave Louis a quick hug, then handed him the plastic bag of picnic provisions she’d purchased the day before. “Could you load this in the car for me?”

“Sure.” Louis slung the bag over his shoulder. “But you really shouldn’t use plastic, you know. It’s bad for the environment. Right, Papa?”

“Lauren can use plastic bags if she wants.” Nico emerged around the side of the car and Lauren’s heart warmed. He was dressed more casually than usual, in a pair of work pants with boots and a T-shirt. He would almost have fit in back home in Nebraska. His dark hair was tousled and he was wearing his casual glasses.

“I should buy some reusable bags, though.” Lauren winked at Louis and he grinned up at her before bounding off to load the bag.

“Hey, you.” Nico stepped close and planted a quick kiss on Lauren’s lips while Louis’s back was turned. Although Louis seemed to enjoy having Lauren around (Nico reported that he asked about her frequently), the boy made loud gagging noises at any kind of PDA.

“Hi.” Lauren smiled at Nico. Even after a few weeks, being this close to him still made her heart flutter, especially when he squeezed her hand in his.

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