Page 53 of Billion Dollar Baby Deal

If Noah’s parents had shown half the affection to him that he knew Sophie would show their child, Noah might have actually turned out okay. He might have actually been able to marry her, to be their child’s father—

A noise caused Noah’s head to shoot up.

“Is that…?”

“Mhmm.” Pam smiled. “That’s your baby’s heartbeat.”

Noah stood from his seat, walking over to the table as Pam turned the monitor towards them.

Sophie sucked in a breath, tears streaming down her face. Noah reached for her hand unconsciously, and she squeezed it.

Her face was the picture of joy as she stared at the monitor. Some sort of pride welled inside Noah. Maybe because he felt responsible for her happiness? He supposed in a way he was; it was his child’s heartbeat sounding on the machine. Nothis, he reminded himself, Sophie’s. He was happy for her, truly. She was getting everything she wanted.

Not everything. Not a husband,his mind yelled. He ignored those thoughts, trying not to be selfish. He wanted to be present in this moment with her.

Noah looked at the screen again, at the tiny baby curled inside her stomach.

Hello, baby.

* * *

Noah’s next day back at work was a nightmare. He spent half the day just trying to get up to speed with everything that had been happening around the office. When it was finally over, he left feeling drained. Usually the office was his safe space. He just needed to get through this pregnancy and then he would be able to return to the office full-time.

The closer Noah got to home, the more he began to perk up. A part of him was excited to know that Sophie would be there when he returned. He wanted to tell her about his day and the awkward thing that Colin had said in their meeting.

When he entered the apartment, he didn’t see Sophie in the living room and went straight to the kitchen. She wasn’t in there either, but he’d seen her car in the garage, so he assumed she must be in her room.

It was six thirty, and he wondered if she’d eaten yet. Since Noah had to cook for himself anyway, he decided to make extra in case she hadn’t.

He kept it simple — some pork chops, potatoes, and carrots. By the time it was all done, Noah was starving, but he made his way to Sophie’s room first anyway.

When he entered the hall, he noticed that her bedroom light was turned off and the nursery light was on. Noah heard what sounded like flopping paper coming from the door.

The door was open but he knocked gently as he entered. Sophie was sitting on the floor surrounded by huge sheets of paper. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and she wore a white shirt and denim overalls. She looked up as if she didn’t realize he’d been home.

“What’s going on in here?” he asked, though the answer was pretty obvious.

“Well,” she laughed. “I was at the store today and I fell in love with this wallpaper. I got a little excited to put it up and now I think I made a bit of a mess,” she answered sheepishly.

Noah looked at the wall closest to him. Half of it was already finished. “Looks fine to me,” he told her.

“Yeah, the process itself isn’t so bad, it’s the design that’s messing me up. I mixed up the sheets and now I can’t find the next one.”

“I can help you after dinner,” he offered. “Have you eaten yet? I made you some.”

Sophie observed him for a moment and smiled. “No, I haven’t. Thank you, I’m starving actually.”

“How about I just bring dinner in here? I can help you sort through these while we eat.”

“Yeah, that would be great.”

Noah returned a few minutes later and set a plate down in front of her.

Sophie groaned in pleasure. “This looks amazing.” She dug in immediately. “What time is it?” she asked through mouthfuls of food.

“A little after seven. How long have you been doing this?” he asked.

“Since about three?” She laughed.

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