Page 8 of Her Baby Daddy Mix-up

Chapter 4

“Carter, your mom’s on line two,” Brianna stated poking her head around the office door, giving him a light smile seeing the head of HR, Audrey, and the head of Financial, Jarred, in his office with him. They must have snuck in while she was out in the bathroom ten minutes ago having felt her stomach roll from her breakfast, their breakfast. She rested her left hand on the doorframe and Audrey’s eyes widened spying her ring.

“Well, don’t tell me some lucky guy finally snagged you,” she said moving over quickly to stare down at the sparkling three-carat round cut diamond with a French halo design on her finger. She noticed the matching band and lifted a brow at her, her eyes seeking answers. “This is stunning Brianna.”

“It is,” she agreed of the ring Carter had chosen for her. The diamond was on a solid platinum band and her wedding band matched, showcasing the amazing clarity and cut of the diamond to perfection.

“Well obviously congratulations are in order, but I don’t recall you taking off any, unless Carter here kept your week away as secret for you to slip off and get married,” Audrey questioned looking from her to him in curiosity.

“Your mom’s on line two still Carter,” Brianna stated not sure if they should announce everything quite yet.

“She’ll be fine with waiting a few more seconds Brianna, especially when she hears our news,” Carter replied heading around the desk towards her.

“Wait…did you just sayournews?” Jarred questioned watching them with wide-eyed wonder. “No way…you seriously finally wised up and convinced her to marry you and didn’t bother inviting the rest of your executive board?”

“It was very private, our parents don’t even know yet,” Carter said sliding his arm around her waist, dropping a kiss onto her temple.

“Oh my god,” Audrey gasped giving them a wide smile. “I always knew you had a thing for her. So, how’d you convince her to look at you as anything other than our boss?”

“I told her I was in love with her and that it wasn’t going to go away,” he stated with such ease that it rooted her to her spot. “She tried to laugh it off but then I kissed her, and she finally believed me.”

“Really? Just like that?” Jarred asked in surprise. “Come on Carter, we all know there’s more to it than that and when exactly did this come about?”

“Four almost five months ago,” he said sticking with their timeline of her last breakup. He hadn’t dated anyone the last six months as he tried to focus on the new product line they’d debuted in New York. “Brianna was in a mood over her latest no-good paramour, and I was tired of listening her to soft sighs of annoyance each time he’d text her another apology. I told her the guy wasn’t good enough for her that none of the guys she’d dated would be good enough for her, not in my estimation because they didn’t know her.”

“Then shocked me with his declaration but when he kissed me…everything that’d never been there before was suddenly there,” Brianna added relaxing into his hold as her body woke swiftly.

“So then when exactly did you get married and why didn’t you tell anyone here about it?” Audrey asked unable to stop smiling at them.

“I proposed in New York, and we were married Friday night at my house, just my friend John, Brianna’s friend Emily and our housekeeper Nora there,” Carter answered. “We’re waiting for the certified copy of the marriage license to get Brianna’s name changed officially but there’ll be a mass email informing every one of the change by the end of the week.”

“Well congratulations, I’m sure you’re anxious to tell your mother,” Audrey stated as she and Jarred moved to the door.

“We are but we actually need to talk to you for another minute,” Carter told her waiting until Jarred was gone before letting Brianna tell her.

“Boss man here is insisting I follow normal procedures when it comes to things, so no one calls favoritism, but we also want to keep things quiet for a few more weeks so…I need to change my recent sick leave over to FMLA.”

“What for…oh?!” Audrey said, as she smiled even brighter at them before her eyes widened in understanding. “You’re pregnant?”

“Yes, ten weeks as of today,” she admitted while Carter rubbed her stomach lovingly.

“Which also means we need to schedule her maternity leave and coverage for her after the baby gets here,” Carter added. “I’ll likely be out of the office the first two weeks at least, but since the baby’s due at the end of May I’ll be reachable at home.”

“I’ll get everything worked up for you, do you have an estimate of how long you want to take off after the baby gets here?” Audrey asked her.

“Not yet, I have plenty of sick leave to cover it since someone thankfully lets us accrue it,” she said giving Carter a teasing smile.

“Probably at least through mid-August if not all of it,” Carter stated returning her smile. “I know the instant our little addition arrives she’ll be anxious to spend every moment possible with him or her. Right now, she claims she’s coming back but I’ll hazard a guess after a week back she’ll being saying bye-bye to the office and hello to munchkin life.”

“See why I’ve avoided being with him? I mean really, he thinks he knows me or something,” she mused earning a kiss from Carter and a happy sigh from Audrey.

“I’ll make sure we get someone who can backup Brianna in case she needs to be out, cover her maternity leave, and potentially anything else necessary. Actually, Marsha downstairs in HR would be a great person to back her up as it is. She’s discreet and knows when to keep her mouth shut,” Audrey suggested making Brianna shoot Carter a grin.

“Plus, she’s forty-five and happily married, she’ll keep an eye on you for me,” she said with a wink.

“If you’re comfortable with her shadowing you that’s fine with me, but you could put a Victoria’s Secret supermodel at your desk and the only thing I’d care about would be if they can type and answer a phone,” Carter said against her ear, loud enough for Audrey to hear and send her out of the room with a full laugh.

“Mmm…” Brianna sighed as he kissed her earlobe. “Your mom’s still on the phone Carter.”

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