Page 2 of Her Baby Daddy Mix-up

He kept a close eye on her as the week started, seeing that her tension increased almost daily, as did her nausea. Wednesday evening, he called the clinic to see if they’d heard from the woman carrying his child, getting into a near shouting match with the clinic’s attorney when they refused to tell him anything.

“Should she call…tell her how to get in touch directly with me,” Carter stated before hanging up, his hand tightening on the glass of whiskey he’d poured from the mini-bar. He wasn’t about to lose this opportunity.

He hadn’t lived through cancer at twenty-one, froze his sperm in hopes of having a family someday in case the chemo left him impotent to have three of the twenty vials he had given out in error. He hadn’t met a woman who he could see living with, let alone one who he would be comfortable sharing his past with, explain things to. No, the only person he’d ever had as a constant was Brianna and now she’d thrown him entirely.

He would figure this out as well as figuring out why Brianna was so hesitant to talk about her pregnancy. He always knew when she was seeing someone. There was a look that settled about her, a frustration the man in her life created, but he hadn’t seen it in the last few months. It made him wonder about the truth…and if the hesitation didn’t come from something painful that’d happened to her. If it had, he wanted to know. She had a special place in his life, and he wouldn’t allow someone to hurt her without doing something about it. No, he would figure out what was going on and see how he could help.

He downed the rest of his drink then headed to change for dinner, he didn’t want to eat with the rest of the attendees, but it was a special session, by invitation only and he’d gotten two, one for him and one for Brianna. He hoped the meal wouldn’t make her ill. Then again if it did, he’d have an excuse to leave early with her.

∞∞∞

Brianna felt her heart pound with worry, her head rolling far more than her stomach at the argument she’d just overheard Carter have with someone. At first, it hadn’t surprised her too much, Carter had a quick temper but when he’d thrown out the clinic’s name, her entire body seized with panic.

Her hand shook as she dialed the number of the clinic, speaking with the attorney to learn, whether or not, her fears were warranted. The man’s answers did little to settle her stomach and she changed for dinner trying to decide what to do, how to tell Carter that the mystery woman having his baby—was her. She didn’t want to deal with attorneys in her business. It was one thing for the clinic’s attorney to know, he was sworn to secrecy about the event after all. It would be another to deal with someone who didn’t have the clinic’s reputation to deal with and simply was in it for money.

She was quiet during dinner, quieter than normal and when they returned to the suite, she saw the questions in Carter’s eyes as he watched her. She slipped her heels off and sat down in the overstuffed recliner, pulling her legs up underneath her as she fingered the embroidery on the pillow that went with it.

“Brianna, is everything alright?” Carter asked sitting down on the edge of the couch closest to her. “You’ve been quiet all night…far more than normal. If you’re not feeling well enough to continue attending the conference, I’ll manage on my own.”

“I’m fine…mostly at least,” she stated opening her bag, taking out the letter. She looked it over again before handing it to him, watching his face pale as he read it. “I…”

“You’re the woman having my child?” Carter asked after sitting there gaping like a fish for a good minute.

“I heard you yelling in here earlier when I came up to get dressed. I called the clinic, and the attorney confirmed it…”

“Thisis why you’ve been so stressed this week?” he asked, and she nodded. “You…you were going to have a baby alone? Why?”

“I’m tired of playing games with men,” she admitted rubbing her temples as the headache pounded inside them. “If the only thing I was interested in was sex it’d be fine, but I wanted more than that. I want kids…whether there’s a man in my life or not, and nothing’s changed in the last five years.”

“Brianna, you’re only twenty-nine. You have plenty of time still.”

“Not really…my grandmother went into early menopause at thirty-six, my mother at thirty-three…my doctor said my levels were getting elevated so it’s likely I’ll follow suit too.”

“So, you decided to have a baby on your own, but the clinic messed up and instead of there not being a father…” Carter said breaking off as he tried to figure out what to do now, where to go with this.

“There’s not only one but it’s you…I just…don’t know what to do now,” she admitted closing her eyes as she leaned her head back against the chair.

“I do,” Carter said seeing the stress he’d caused her with his demand to have answers quickly. “We’ll get married.”

“What?” Brianna gasped her eyes flashing open to stare at him in shock.

“I won’t have everyone whispering about us, Brianna. You wouldn’t have told me that you’re having my child if you weren’t well aware that I’d insist on being part of its life. We get married and then the gossip will die down after the initial peak.”

“I…answer me one question before I even begin to contemplate this,” Brianna said resting her hand over her stomach as it rolled again.

“Shoot,” he said giving her a nod.

“Why did you have sperm frozen at the clinic? It just doesn’t fit with what I know of you Carter.”

“I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at twenty-one. The doctors said there was a chance of not being able to have children due to chemo afterwards, so I decided to give myself a better chance of making it happen. You know my father was never in my life…”

“And you wanted to do and be better than that,” she said understanding his desire to know who was carrying his child.

“Yes, I only had my mother and I know how much a child needs a father. I was cleared about eighteen months after starting treatment, but it did reduce my sperm count significantly. So, when I heard that the clinic made a mistake, and three vials were gone…”

“It’s actually only one,” she admitted making his brow lift in confusion. “I ordered and had three arrive but after the first time I changed my mind—at least about the timing. I contacted the clinic and asked them to store the other two for later use. I guess that’s how they discovered the error occurred but by then…”

“You were already pregnant. So, you changed your mind about having a baby on your own?”

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