Page 52 of Texas Tycoon's Christmas Fiancée
“So what is this bad news?” he asked quietly, a premonition of disaster nagging at him for the first time.
“I didn’t say it was bad. It’s not to me.”
“Then it won’t be to me,” he said, inhaling her scent. “So let’s cut to the chase.”
Placing her hands on either side of his face, she looked directly into his eyes. Her palms were cold and felt damp. “Hey,” he said, reaching up to take her hands and study her intently. “You’re cold. What is it, Grace?”
"Nick, I'm pregnant," she said.
Ten
Shocked, Nick inhaled as if all the breath had been knocked out of him. “You can’t be. You told me you’re on the Pill.”
“Yes, I am. This must have happened before I got on it,” she said.
“Before that, we just made love one night and I used protection,” he stated, releasing her hands without thinking about what he was doing as his mind went back over their times together.
“The doctor explained to me condoms aren’t foolproof, which I already knew. The statistics of failure are low, but it happens, Nick.”
“You’ve been to the doctor already.” He recalled their first night together. It seemed eons ago now. “It was Christmas Eve. You’re going into the second month,” he said, feeling as if a trap were closing over him. A pregnancy. His baby in their lives. He would be tied in this union that had become real, the vows binding with this pregnancy.
“That’s right.”
“This isn’t exactly in my plans,” he said, thinking aloud, almost forgetting Grace as he thought about his new status. He would be a father. His own baby. For a few moments, he forgot about being tied into this contract marriage of convenience. Instead, he considered becoming a father—the baby was his. Grace was carrying his baby. Momentarily, amazement was predominant. Then he thought of all the responsibility the baby would bring. Most of all—the permanency now of the union of the mother and father of the baby.
“It wasn’t in my expectations either, but it’s happened. We’ll have a baby around mid-September.” She slipped off his lap and walked away, pulling the neck of the robe closed beneath her chin.
She plunged her hands into the pockets and walked to the window to look outside. “We have a deal, but you’ve got what you wanted. In a few months we can separate. From what you’ve told me about your father, he’ll accept it. He won’t know whether we see each other or not.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to end our marriage, Grace. It’s a shock and I’m adjusting, but you’re jumping out on a limb,” he said, surprised by her reaction. He crossed the room to turn her to face him. “This pregnancy isn’t what either of us expected and I need to give it thought. I’m going to be a father when I thought I was getting into a marriage of convenience that would eventually end.”
“Nick, we’ll part ways. You’re not in love and you didn’t expect to become a father any more than I expected to have a baby besides Michael. It doesn’t change our long-term plans. We each got what we wanted out of this marriage. You’re not tied into it any more than you were yesterday before you knew about the baby.”
“I think I’m definitely tied into it,” he argued. “If you wanted me to jump for joy, I can’t because this is a shock and not in the plans. Let me get accustomed to the idea and think about the future. We don’t need to talk about ending a marriage that is good.”
“Very well,” she said.
He focused on her and realized she sounded subdued and she looked unhappy. He pulled her into his arms to hold her close. “Stop worrying and give me a chance to consider this. You’ve been thinking about it and adjusting. Give me time to do the same.”
Nodding, she stood stiffly in silence and he guessed he had disappointed her. She would get over it and her natural exuberance would return. He needed some time to think about their future and this explosive news.
He was going to become a father. Amazed, he realized there was no use in looking back or wishing they had done something differently. The baby was on its way and that was that.
He thought about Michael, who would now have a sibling. That was a plus. Then he thought about his dad. Another plus because his dad would be overjoyed. “Grace, we should call Dad and go see him to tell him the news. He will be excited and joyous over another grandchild.”
“Of course,” she said, looking up at him and stepping out of his embrace. “I’ll get dressed. You go to the office. You can call your dad and make arrangements for us to see him. He will be delighted over the news and I don’t think it will upset him greatly when we part.”
Nick faced her. “Grace, stop talking about ending our marriage. I haven’t said one word about doing that.”
“Are you ready for another baby in your life?”
“Ready or not, I’ll have one early next fall.”
“I doubt if you are. I think you want it all. You want a physical relationship. You want the marriage because it gives you your inheritance. You want the money, not because you need it, but because it satisfies you to win the battle. Yet you don’t invest anything of yourself. You make no commitments in the relationship. The wealth itself is meaningless. You’re not ready for a baby of your own. You can adopt Michael and play with him, but it’s superficial. You’re not really investing yourself in a deep, meaningful way,” she said. “I may want out of this before you do,” she added, and left.
Surprised by her accusations, he let her go. Her anger had come out of the blue and he wondered if it was caused by the discovery that she was pregnant. Or if she was furious that he hadn’t been ecstatic to discover he would become a father.
Was she giving vent to tears? He was tempted to go after her. Had she expected him to act thrilled? Theirs was a marriage agreed to for business reasons, convenience, never out of love. Surely she hadn’t expected him to turn cartwheels and be overjoyed at becoming a father of another baby. His baby, but a surprise.
