Page 38 of The Nicolaides Baby

Leo’s child.

A slight wave of nausea hit her, but she swallowed it back. So ithadbeen morning sickness. She grimaced. And noon and night. She supposed passing it off in her own mind as her stomach not agreeing with the high altitude had been a stretch. She swallowed again.

“So, I guess not,” she murmured.

She’d not had one day of sickness with Mara. So it must be true every pregnancy was different. An image of a little boy filled her mind—one who would have dark hair and blue eyes like his father.

His father. Her smile faded.

She wasn’t making the same mistake again. Leo had the right to know about this child, just like he’d had the right—and still did—to know about Mara.

She clenched her fists at her own stupidity in letting Gia play into her own fears and doubt. Little had the other woman known, but she had timed it just right—when Rowan’s guilt was at its height.

“I’ll see you at dawn,” Gia had said before she’d stepped into her limo and driven off. Rowan had watched the progress of the limo from the steps of the villa until it had disappeared around the bend leading to the main road. She’d then had the breakdown she’d been holding back before beginning the process of packing all their things. She’d only had a few hours to get it all done before Gia had said herpeoplewould be there to pick everything up.

Just past two o’clock, all of hers and Mara’s possessions were on their way to a private airfield. She’d spent the next few moments wandering through the house to make sure she hadn’t missed anything before leaving it and walking up to the main villa to get Mara. But the closer she had gotten to the Nicolaides home, the more she had realized she should just give Leo the truth and live with the fallout.

That was why she’d gone to him—to tell him everything.

But when she’d looked down at him as he’d slept, she couldn’t. She loved him and had hoped love would someday grow on his side once they married and started their lives together. But all she could see for her future at that moment was him hating her once he knew what she’d done.

So, she’d said goodbye to him with each kiss and slide of her body over his. She’d wanted that to be her last memory of him. Not him turning away from her forever.

She swiped at her cheeks and the few tears running down them and then checked her watch. It was a little after 1:30 here, so that would make it after 10:30 at home.

And yes, Santoriniwasher home. And one she missed terribly. So, she would just have to wait several hours before calling Leo.

She leaned back against the toilet tank and stared at the ceiling. God, she dreaded the hate she was sure to hear in his voice. But at least she would finally be doing the right thing.

At times like these she wished she had Sierra to talk to. She huffed. She should have told her sister the truth from the start. Things would have been so much different.

She had no doubt Sierra would be giving her all kinds of grief right now, but she wouldn’t have stopped loving her. She let out a light chuckle. She could just hear her well-deserved, “I hope you’re sick the whole time and have cankles from hell!” She rubbed the center of her aching chest.

“I miss you, baby sister.”

Whatever else, Sierra would have supported her while encouraging her to come clean with Leo. And while the thought of going back to Santorini gave her the first sense of doing the right thing in weeks, knowing she wouldn’t be welcome by Leo or his family sat like a stone in her already rumbling belly.

But she couldn’t let that keep her from returning. She was tired of running and tired of hiding from the truth.

They might not want her, but they would want to be involved with Mara, who they already loved, and this baby who would also be made a part of their family. She would just need to find a place to live on the island close by. There had to be some sort of teaching position she could find. She’d need to look into that.

With her decisions made, she stood just as the front doorbell went off.

“That can’t be the Morrisons yet with Mara,” she muttered as she sat the pregnancy test on the sink basin before leaving the bathroom and making her way down the hall to the front of the house. They weren’t due to bring her back from a play date for at least a couple of hours.

She swung open door, laughingly saying, “Was Mara too… Leo.” Her humor fled as her eyes widened and she stared into his haggard but beautiful blue gaze. “What...” Her stomach lurched. “Oh, God.”

She slapped her hand over her mouth and whirled around before racing back down the hall. The front door slammed shut, with Leo’s footfalls pounding on the hardwood behind her as she prayed she’d make it in time.

She lifted the lid right before the few things she’d eaten that day came up as she held tight to the porcelain bowl. But she wasn’t alone. Leo stood beside her and held her hair that had grown so much longer away from her face with one hand and rubbed her back with the other, saying what she was certain were soothing words. She couldn’t tell due to the ringing in her ears and her own gagging.

This was not how she’d envisioned seeing him again for the first time after—

She heaved again. Her eyes watered and nose ran as another wave hit her, and then another. It seemed to go on and on, but her belly finally settled and she was able to breathe through the last bit of nausea to lean her head against her folded arms on the tip of the popped-up lid.

“Are you okay now?” Leo asked, his tone gentle as he reached over and flushed the toilet.

All she could do was nod.

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