Page 47 of Oops, My Professor Got Me Pregnant!

Lauren spent the rest of the day alternately checking her phone in hopes of hearing from Nico and staring into space, considering what to do next. That evening in her apartment, she thought about writing to Nico and asking him to talk to her, but it didn’t feel right. If Nico wanted to be part of her life and the baby’s life, he needed to make that decision on his own. She wouldn’t help things by pushing. She got so far as to draft a text message, but deleted it instead of sending.

Even though she didn’t want to force Nico into anything, the feeling of helplessness as she waited for him to decide her future was too much. And it got even worse the next day, when Lauren saw Nico walking across campus between classes. She raised her hand in a wave, but he didn’t seem to see her — even though they weren’t far apart. It made Lauren’s heart feel brittle, seeing him walk away from her like that. Last week, she would have called out to him and they would have spent a few minutes chatting or perhaps grabbed a coffee. This week, she let him go.

It was a sign that Lauren needed to take charge of this situation, though. She was no damsel in distress waiting for her prince to come rescue her and make everything all right. She needed to make a plan. So, after her last class of the day, Lauren headed back to her apartment with a purpose. She made a cup of hot tea with milk and sugar, grilled some toast, and settled onto her couch with her laptop. Tea and toast were the only things that sounded good to her at the moment, with her not-just-in-the-morning morning sickness.

With a heavy heart, Lauren began to search for flights. The hard truth was that Nico might never come around and, if he didn’t, she wanted to be home. She took her time considering how long to give him. If she waited too long, she worried her heart might break — and eventually, she’d become too pregnant to fly. After some thought, she settled on a time period of a week. She found an inexpensive flight for the following Tuesday and booked it.

Despite her roller coaster of emotions over the last few days, Lauren felt very calm as she clicked purchase. If Nico came around, she could still cancel her flight and decide to stay. If he didn’t, she would be back in Nebraska a week from today to start a new life on her own. Again. Although it hurt, she was confident it was the right decision for her and for her baby.

Just like that, the countdown began.

Wednesday, Lauren sat down with Céline and explained her plans. Céline encouraged her to consider staying in Paris — after all, she had friends and a job here. But when Lauren insisted that this was the only way, Céline gave her a tight hug and told her that she’d support her no matter what.

“Although I don’t relish the thought of finding a new assistant professor as good as you,” she added. Lauren had gotten a little teary at that, but she still felt confident she was making the right decision — the only decision.

Thursday, Lauren bumped into Nico as she was hurrying between classes. He caught her with both hands and set her back on her feet, then looked down at her with a strange expression. His dark brown eyes bored into her.

“Hi,” Lauren said softly. “Do you?—”

“I have to go. I’m late for class.” Nico let go of her and set off toward another building without looking back. Lauren turned away to stop herself from watching him go. She knew Nico’s teaching schedule and he didn’t have a class until much later today. He just didn’t want to talk to her.

Friday, Lauren walked by herself along the Seine, got ice cream from the same stand she’d visited with Nico, and began saying her quiet goodbyes to the city she loved.

Saturday, Lauren checked her phone every ten seconds and had to give herself a stern talking-to so that she wouldn’t walk over to Nico’s house, pound on the door, and demand that he speak to her. It wasn’t fair at all that he would refuse to talk to her. But she also didn’t want to be with the kind of man who would let a fight, albeit a big one, stop him from being with someone he loved. So, she held back.

Sunday, Lauren met Céline for lunch and they talked for hours. Céline tried again to convince her to stay in Paris, but Lauren was more and more certain she’d be taking that flight on Tuesday. There had been no word from Nico since their fight last week. Lauren was going to have to make this decision herself.

Monday, after class, Lauren got out her suitcase and, with a heavy heart, began packing. Some small part of her had hoped that Nico would come to his senses and write to her. Yet she knew that once she got on the plane home, it would be too late. It was almost too late.

And then Tuesday came.

CHAPTER 19

NICO

It had been a strange week.

As Nico sat at his desk, trying to grade a stack of papers, his mind kept drifting back to Lauren and everything that had happened. The expression on her face as she’d left stayed with him. She’d looked so lost and so hurt. And then, seeing her last week on campus had almost torn his heart in two.

Nico was still stuck on the same concerns he’d faced right when Lauren had told him about the pregnancy. He was upset that she’d lied to him. He was unsure about raising another child. He worried that he and Lauren might choose to stay together for the baby and wouldn’t have the opportunity for the romance they’d just begun.

But there was more to it now. This week, without Lauren, had been very painful. Louis had asked about her every day, and Nico had been forced to give an increasingly improbable series of excuses for why she wasn’t around. He just wasn’t ready to talk to Lauren, not yet. He needed more time to come to terms with everything. He needed time to plan.

And Nico was slowly coming to the realization that he needed time to plan an apology. Lauren had lied, which he was struggling to forgive, but more and more he thought it might have been because she did love him, not because she didn’t. Lying to his son all week about Lauren had only made that more apparent. He loved his son, so he’d lied to protect him and buy himself time. Maybe Lauren had done the same thing. And if Lauren did love him, if she really wanted the best for all of them, Nico had made a huge mistake asking her to leave instead of talking to her and then ignoring her all week.

Nico drummed his pen against his desk. He wasn’t used to all this. He had never felt this way about a woman before, nor had he ever had a relationship like this one. He’d reacted as he always had, by withdrawing and trying to decide alone how to move forward. It hadn’t occurred to him to do anything else.

Nico glanced down at the essay he was grading, in which one of his French learners from Lauren’s class had described his family in slightly halting language.

Family is most important, the student had written. I love my family. Without my family, I do not need life.

Nico tossed his pen onto the stack of papers. He couldn’t concentrate anymore. All week he’d been worrying about what he should do and how to do it. Well, that time was over. Nico wanted to be with Lauren. And despite everything, he wanted to be a father to the new baby. Raising Louis was hard, but it was also the best thing he had ever done.

Nico still didn’t know the specifics. He didn’t know where Lauren would live or how they would parent their child. He didn’t know what to tell Louis or how to tackle the sleepless nights that were to come. He’d wanted to figure all this out before speaking with Lauren, but now he realized that it didn’t matter what the answers to those questions were, not yet. He and Lauren could plan together.

The only thing that mattered was what Nico knew in his heart: he loved Lauren. He needed to get her back.

But a simple text would never do. He needed her to know that he loved her, that he was sorry for his silence, and that he’d try to do better in the future for her and for their whole family. He needed a grand gesture.

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