Page 83 of Baby For The Billionaire Silver Fox

I laughed and fell off him onto my back, beside him.

His hand trailed down my hair, over my chest, and stopped at my belly. He stroked it ever so gently, looking at it with wonder and love.

He leaned over and whispered, “Hi, baby. I’m going to be your dad.”

I choked up and had a hard time speaking. “Did you hear that, Esmeralda? You are going to have a wonderful daddy,” I said, putting my hand over his on my stomach.

“Esmeralda?” his eyebrows shot up.

“That’s her temporary name until I’ve had the chance to work-shop it.”

Dan threw his head back and laughed loudly. “Do I get a say?”

“Absolutely.”

He grew serious as his fingers twined with mine. “We’re in this together, I promise. I love you, and there is no place I’d rather be than with you.”

Emotions overwhelmed me, each fighting to speak first. “You are my light,” I said simply from my heart.

Epilogue

Nicole

5 1/2 months later…

“Really?Youchosetodo that here?” I asked as I watched the water dribble down my legs. I was in the grocery store, getting a few things for a special dinner I had planned for Dan.

I called him. “Dan, my water broke. We’re going to need a cleanup in aisle 12.”

“Oh no. Stay right there. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes,” he said. I could hear him panting as he ran down the back stairs to the car. “Are you okay? Are you having contractions?”

“Relax. No real contractions yet.” I’d been having false labor for a few days and was ready to get this show on the road. I couldn’t wait to meet this baby in person. I motioned to an employee and asked her to get a mop. “I’m heading to the ladies’ room to dry myself off a little. Meet me there,” I said to Dan.

“I’m here. It’s okay,” he said, sprinting down the aisle toward me as I waited for him by the restroom. He’d thoughtfully brought me some dry clothes to change into.

I was excited and scared and nervous. But my emotions seemed mild compared to Dan’s. His driving was a little too fast, and he kept darting looks at me.

“Whoa,” I breathed. “I think that was a real contraction. Quite a zinger.”

“Hold on, hon. We’ll be there soon,” he said, giving me a worried glance.

“I’d prefer it if you slowed down and got us there in one piece,” I said dryly. “First babies take forever, so there’s not much danger of popping her out in the car.”

“I’d prefer it if we got you checked in and under the staff’s care,” he answered.

“Why are you so gosh darn nervous?” I asked, clutching the armrest as we went around a corner. I really was trying to minimize the number of f-bombs I dropped.

“Because I don’t want anything to happen to you or Baby Girl,” Dan said and clutched my hand hard.

We called her Baby Girl now because we had decided to give her the name that best suited herafterwe met her. “That’s so sweet. But I need you to pull it together, coach.”

He took a deep breath. “Got it,”

And he did get it. He was the best coach a gal could ever want—feeding me ice chips, helping me change positions, and trying to distract me. Even when I dug my fingernails into his hand and cursed him, he was there, trying to soothe me with words that eventually turned into nonsensical cooing sounds. At least, that’s what it sounded like to my ears.

Finally, I was pushing, and the baby was crowning. I focused solely on Dan’s face and felt his love radiate from every inch of him.

Baby Girl came into the world at 1:03 am, and I held her little naked body on my chest, skin to skin. I was in awe of this little being.

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