Page 3 of Her Baby Daddy Mix-up

“No, just about trying it right now, when I looked to see when I’d be due I realized it’d be about the end of May…we’re always busy with year-end stuff and didn’t want to create an issue with being out, but I guess someone had other plans,” she stated, and he shook his head slightly.

“It’s possible if you hadn’t sent the vials back they never would have realized, not until or if I ever requested them…and by then…”

“It would have been impossible to regain the lost time. I’ve been avoiding telling my family and friends because I knew they’d ask who the father was, and they’d think I was crazy wanting to do this on my own. I didn’t know how to explain it to them so when I realized I was late I panicked a bit.”

“Brianna, I’m sure it’s nowhere near how you were expecting this to go but under the circumstances…if you marry me then it makes both of our lives easier. We work well together, can share the same space easily, I don’t doubt that we can do just as well under the same roof all the time. You won’t have to figure out what to tell your parents and friends. No one other than my doctor knows about the vials being at the clinic. We’ll ensure the clinic doesn’t say a word and no one will have to know this didn’t come about in the normal way.”

“My parents will want to come visit, be here for when the baby’s born…”

“As my mother will likely want also, she’s desperate for a grandchild. So, we’ll have to put on a slight front for them…no one at the office will find anything strangely amiss between us. Plus, I guarantee I’ll never forget your birthday,” he added making her grin.

“You haven’t in five years of working together so I know I can believe you on that front,” she said knowing there wasn’t another choice. “I suppose if I have to share a baby with anyone, at least it’s you.”

“I feel the same way Brianna,” he stated squeezing her hand. “Now, you should get some rest, and I’m serious about taking it easy the rest of the week. You don’t need to overdo it and stress.”

“I’m fine Carter, please stop worrying,” she said lifting a brow at him.

“Impossible, it was before I knew you were carrying my child and now…well it’ll be easier if you just indulge me Brianna. Take care of yourself first. I can manage me perfectly well for the next several months.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” she joked giving him a full grin before heading to bed, thinking over what she’d just agreed to do. Her parents would likely still flip, but at least she wouldn’t have to admit the rest to them.

Chapter 2

“Where are we going?” Brianna asked as he turned opposite of her apartment from the highway.

“The sooner we get a marriage license the sooner we can get married. We’ll let the clinic know we came to a private agreement and that’ll be it,” Carter stated as they stopped at a light. “Unless you want a big wedding or your parents will be upset if we don’t have it, I figured we’d just do something private at the house and then announce it later.”

“After my older sisters’ wedding fiascos, I told my parents if or when I ever got married I’d likely elope. My father simply smiled at the idea knowing it’d save him twenty grand. My mother might grumble but the idea of a grandbaby will quickly tide her over,” Brianna admitted, and Carter breathed a bit easier glad for that answer. He despised large functions, and his wedding would require a massive guest list, but if it were kept private then no one would feel left out of it.

“Twenty grand? That’s budget conscious anymore, isn’t it?” he asked making her laugh.

“Twenty grand over what’s already set aside. My parents had a hole-in-the-wall ceremony and my mother insisted that when each of us was born she wasn’t going to let her daughters regret not having their ‘dream’ wedding. Both of my sisters had about thirty grand in the accounts and spent another twenty on theirs. Grace is thirty-eight and Ashley is thirty-four. They were both twenty-seven when they got married and neither wanted kids, their husbands don’t want kids, so the possibility of going into early menopause didn’t bother them.”

“But you as the youngest wanted something different I take it?” he asked watching her as he pulled into a parking spot.

“My dad really wanted a son, I was a bit of a letdown and then when Mom went into menopause, ceasing that possibility for them, I told myself I’d give him a grandson, make it up to him a bit.”

“Ah, yet having a baby, even that possible grandson without a father for him might not do quite what you anticipated?” he guessed.

“I was trying to come up with some possible, plausible story that they’d buy but I then wondered what they’d do or say if it turned out to be a girl. Would my father be even more disappointed in me for failing?”

“Brianna, you’re not a failure. I’m sure your dad doesn’t look at you that way.”

“Sometimes compared to what my sisters have done I wonder though; my father loves my brothers-in-law. He takes them to football, baseball, basketball games…they go fishing, and hunting, and practically anything else with an ‘-ing’ in it. Holidays are tiresome, my mother asking if I’ve met anyone nice like Tyler and Jacob. My father simply sits there looking between me and my sisters silently evaluating us it seems, and I always come out on the short side.”

“Families can drive you crazy, can’t they?” Carter asked and she nodded letting him come around and get the door for her.

“Oh, do they,” she agreed. “Grace is a bank manager. Ashley is an ADA. Then there’s me, and they scoff when they say I’m an Executive Assistant. I’d like to see them handle my workload for one day.”

“Then they must leave out the fact that you’re my executive assistant,” Carter said giving her a smile. “I’d be lost without you. You’re my right hand, my left brain…”

“I know; you barely function while I’m out on vacation. I’d hate to see what the company looked like without me around.”

“In the red,” he assured her before going inside to arrange their license. On the way out he suggested, “We could pick up the license on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. I have a friend who can perform the wedding ceremony Friday night. All we need is two witnesses.”

“Sounds fine to me, I’ll see if my friend Emily wants to come, she’ll likely kill me if I don’t invite at least her.”

“I’ll have John be the second witness and we’ll announce the marriage later.”

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