Page 41 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

“Young?” Louis wrinkled his nose. “She’s kind of old.”

Lauren chuckled. “Yes, but she’s young for a grandmother.”

“That’s true. Most people’s grandmas don’t play football with them or go on long hikes.”

“Exactly. Now, how about we sit down and make a nice get-well card for her?”

“What’s that?”

“We can draw or make a nice little card telling your grandma that we hope she’ll feel better soon. Sometimes when people are hurt and they get cards like that, it reminds them that many people care about them, and they feel better.”

“Okay! I have an idea for a card.” Louis extricated himself from under Lauren’s arm and ran into the living room. Lauren followed at a more sedate pace, and by the time she arrived, Louis was sitting on the floor with his craft box open on the coffee table. The puzzle was forgotten on the floor for now. “We can fold some paper in half to make a card, then draw some cool pictures on it.”

“Good idea.” Lauren lowered herself to the floor beside Louis. Luckily, her nausea wasn’t bad at the moment and she was able to concentrate all her energy on the sweet boy in front of her. “What pictures do you think your grandmother would like?”

“Dinosaurs?” Louis suggested eagerly.

“Dinosaurs are great. What about some things your grandmother likes, too? She loves her garden, right? So maybe you can draw some flowers.”

They both got to work, Louis carefully sketching outlines onto the front of the paper card while Lauren put on some music and did some origami to keep her hands busy while she chatted with Louis. Soon, Louis had created a card decorated with dinosaurs wearing flower crowns, and airplanes flying among fluffy white clouds.

“I think she’s going to love this,” Lauren said when Louis presented her the final draft. “Do you want to write a message inside?”

They settled on a quick note about getting better soon. Working together, they were fairly certain that they had all the French spellings correct, although it was hard to be a hundred percent sure, and there was a lot of laughter as they argued over a few words.

“When can we give this to Mémé?” Louis asked when they’d finished.

“We can give to your papa and he’ll pass it on.”

“Okay.” Louis looked around. “What do we do now?”

“There’s only one obvious answer to that question. Just a minute.”

A week or two ago, Lauren had spotted the game Mouse Trap in a store and bought it. She and Nico had discussed saving it for a rainy day and had stored it in Nico’s closet. Today was certainly a rainy day, in more ways than one, and Lauren was sure he’d approve of her giving it to Louis.

Lauren retrieved the game and brought it downstairs. As she and Louis set it up on the coffee table, the boy’s eyes widened with excitement.

“Is this a building game?”

“It sure is. In the game, we’re creating a complicated maze for this marble.”

“Wow!” Louis danced a little with excitement, and Lauren’s heart warmed. She’d known that his love of building and inventions would make this game very appealing to him. Sure enough, he bounced with delight throughout the whole first round. Then he wanted to experiment with the pieces to make his own maze, so Lauren made them both a hot chocolate and settled on the couch to check her messages from Nico. He’d already reached the hospital, and Rose was having an x-ray. Lauren texted him her well-wishes, then sat back to sip her hot chocolate and take a moment of rest.

As she watched Louis alternately sip his hot chocolate, which Lauren had placed safely on an end table, and tinker with the plastic game pieces, she felt an odd mix of emotions. She was going to have a baby. Not just any baby, either. Her child would be Louis’s sister or brother. Louis was such a wonderful child, so full of enthusiasm and creativity, and Lauren was excited about having a baby like him.

However, seeing Louis play also brought Lauren’s fears crashing in. If Nico didn’t want her and the baby to be a part of his life, that would mean that she would lose Louis, too. Lauren had come to love the little boy almost as her own, and the thought of not seeing him anymore was heartbreaking. On top of that, Louis could lose the opportunity to be a big brother.

Lauren needed to tell Nico what was happening and how she felt. Soon. It would be cruel to drop this news on him while his mother was in the hospital, though. She would ask him to dinner tomorrow night, just the two of them. She’d hold his hands and tell him the news gently and kindly. She’d emphasize that, although this wasn’t what either of them had planned, another baby could be a wonderful opportunity.

Still, Lauren was almost certain what Nico would say. He’d been more than clear in the kitchen earlier, when he’d talked about the struggles of raising a child and told her that he wasn’t ready to do it all again, not yet at least. Lauren should have just told him then, but her words had failed her in the face of Nico’s assuredness that he didn’t want another child yet.

Lauren’s heart ached. Even if Nico wasn’t going to take the news well, she needed to be honest with him. But telling him about the baby felt so monumental. If he decided he didn’t want to be in a relationship with her anymore, she didn’t know what she would do. Nico and Louis had become such an important part of her life that she couldn’t imagine being without them.

Lauren still had a sliver of hope, though. Despite what Nico had said in the kitchen, perhaps when he was faced with a real baby, as opposed to a hypothetical one, he would feel different. He loved Louis and was a great father. And Lauren was almost certain that he loved her, too. Maybe he would even be happy about the news.

It seemed unlikely, but she had to keep hoping.

Just then, Lauren’s phone rang with an incoming call from Céline. Louis looked startled at the interruption, and Lauren smiled at him.

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