Page 54 of Knocked Up by Mr. Grump Lawyer

“That was so much fun!” Riley exclaimed.

“You’re right,” I agreed. “We should do it more often.”

“Thanks, Dad!” he said, giving me a hug. I began to feel emotional.

Why didn’t I do these things more often with him? It was so liberating, and I loved seeing him so happy.

That afternoon, I went to a hearing for the Fantasy Flicks case. The defendant wasn’t there. Only his lawyers were present.

The hearing went smoothly and our client Mr. Miller was greatly pleased. When I stood up and shook his hand, something caught my attention. In my peripheral vision, I saw a lovely woman coming forward.

Mr. Miller turned toward her before I even saw her face completely.

“Atty. Brown! It’s good to see you again!” Mr. Miller greeted me with a smile.

Kayla stepped forward and shook his hand. She looked amazing in a stylish dress that actually emphasized her now obvious baby bump.

“Hello, Mr. Miller,” she greeted back. “I’m sorry if I hadn’t been around, but I’m sure Atty. Jefferson has been great, as he demonstrated today.”

“Oh, definitely,” Mr. Miller agreed, glancing at me. “And your condition is certainly a good excuse to be absent. How’s the pregnancy coming along?”

“It was a bit shaky at the start, but everything is well now,” Kayla replied, smiling brightly. “Actually, I’m itching to get back to work. I’ve been asking my doctor to allow me even for just a few months before I give birth.”

I was sort of waiting for our client to ask who the father was, but that wouldn’t be so appropriate. He was polite enough not to do that.

“You two make a great team, so I do hope you’ll be back to work in no time,” Mr. Miller told Kayla. “But of course, the baby should be your priority. I understand completely because I’m a dad myself.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Kayla said.

Mr. Miller excused himself, leaving Kayla and me to walk out of the courtroom together in silence.

“You can’t really be thinking of returning to work now,” I said once we were alone in the hallway.

“And why not?” Kayla answered, sounding irritated.

“It’s not safe,” I said. I was worried she might have a miscarriage.

“That’s not up to you to decide,” she said, her voice rising a bit. “That’s why I’m asking the doctor.”

I did not want to get into an argument there. It wasn’t the appropriate place and I did not want to cause any scandal.

“Fine,” I said. “Do what you want, but please just be careful.”

“You know, I don’t really get you,” she suddenly blurted out, her eyes flashing with a mixture of emotions that I couldn’t quite read.

“What do you mean?” I glanced around, but there was, thankfully, no one but us in the hallway at that moment.

“It seems like you care, but you don’t,” she said. “You keep sending mixed signals, and I’m just so tired of it. If you’re not willing to takeusto the next level, I’m fine with it. But it also means that you don’t get to have a say in what I do with my life.”

I felt my chest constricting. There was so much that I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to escalate the argument. And what’s worse is that I really couldn’t argue well because I wasn’t sure of my stand.

Being a lawyer, I knew how important it was to stick to the facts. But the fact was that I was still confused and couldn’t decide on what end result I wanted to have.

Chapter 23

KAYLA

Theschoolgymlookedvaguely familiar, even though it was decorated with streamers and balloons. There have been a lot of improvements already since the time I went there as a student many years ago, but generally, it still looked the same.

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