Page 56 of The Playboy's Most Unexpected Baby

He still hadn’t said anything. She couldn’t even pick up on any vibes coming from him. Looking at him might have helped, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. If he wasn’t happy about this, if she read disappointment or anger on his face, it would shatter her. She couldn’t afford to have that happen in front of his family. At the very least, she needed to get away from them before she had whatever reaction to this she would end up having. She needed space.

Cait spoke, and her voice sounded — strangely — thick with emotion. “You’re pregnant?” she repeated.

“Yes,” Olivia said quietly.

“You mean… you and Charlie are going to have a baby?”

In another moment, Olivia might have mocked Cait, might have said something likeyes, that’s what pregnant means!But right now, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She had never seen Cait like this. She had thought of the other woman as barbed wire, incapable of empathy or feeling. But right now, Cait sounded as though she might be about to burst into tears.

“That’s right,” Olivia said. “We’re having a baby.”

“I can’t believe this,” Cait breathed.

“It’s true,” Olivia said, feeling as though she was having an out-of-body experience. Everyone seemed very far away all of a sudden. “I can prove it. I have the medical records, like I told you…

“No, no,” Cait said quickly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean— You don’t have to show me your medical records, Olivia. I didn’t mean that I don’t believe you. I meant… I’m stunned. This is amazing. You’re pregnant. Charlie, you’re going to be a father.”

And she stepped forward and threw her arms around Charlie.

It was the last thing Olivia had expected to see happen, and the first genuine thing she thought she’d ever witnessed from Cait. Had this been in there all along — wholehearted love for Charlie? She had never thought she would see such a thing.

Cait stepped back, and to Olivia’s further shock, there were tears in her eyes. “I know I’ve been awful,” she said. “You have to understand — he’s my little brother, Olivia. I don’t want to see him messed with.”

“You also wanted the house,” John said. “You know you did.”

“Well, of course I did,” Cait said. “I still do. But… oh, you two know. We all talked about it, how many times? We did want the house, but we also wanted to see Charlie happy. I think we wanted that more than anything. And now… well, you’re going to be a family, and we know that that the love between you is real. It’s enough. It’s more than enough. Olivia…”

Olivia swallowed hard. They were going to try to be her friends now? She didn’t know if she wanted that. She didn’t know if she could look beyond everything that had happened to get them to this point.

And Charlie still hadn’t spoken.

“Well, this changes matters,” Rogan said. “I can invoke the final stipulation in Marge’s will.”

“What final stipulation?” Charlie asked. His voice was hoarse, as if some emotion had choked him. Olivia wanted to reach out to him, to yell,talk tome, not just the lawyer!But she couldn’t force him to do that. He would acknowledge her when he was ready — or he wouldn’t. Either way, she was just going to have to deal with it.

“The final stipulation,” Rogan said. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you the details of it unless it was put into effect, because Marge didn’t want you trying to maneuver around it. It left things up to my jurisdiction. If I saw what I determined to be incontrovertible proof of the reality of your marriage, I was to sign the house over to you at once. This supersedes all other requirements. You can do whatever you’d like from this moment on.”

“Meaning that we could just go home and start the divorce process tonight and it wouldn’t impact anything about the house,” Olivia said.

Rogan laughed. “Technically, you could. Of course, I’m fully convinced now that you have no intention of doing that — I trust your motives, and I’m just so sorry that it took so long to see what was right in front of me! But the good news is that we can be done with all this now. You won’t have to come and meet with me again, and you can move on with your lives.” He smiled. “There’s a document for me to file saying that I’ve officially been convinced of the veracity of this relationship, and that doesn’t even require your involvement, so you’re free to go.”

“Can we take the two of you out to celebrate?” John asked.

“I think we should go home,” Olivia said. “I’m really not feeling well.”

“Oh — of course you’re not,” John said, and it was clear that he was filled with regret for having even asked them to come out. “We’ll celebrate another time. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. But congratulations to both of you. You must have been on the edge of your seats to tell us this news.”

They don’t realize that Charlie didn’t know, Olivia thought.They think we decided to tell them together.

And still, Charlie hadn’t spoken.

The others went off to their own vehicles, and a moment later, Olivia and Charlie were left alone in the parking lot.

Olivia looked at him. “Are you all right?” she asked quietly.

“I’m fine.” His voice was slightly higher pitched than it usually was.

“Charlie, I didn’t mean to tell you like that,” she said.

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