Page 40 of Nanny for My Billionaire

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The month of September burns up fast, and before we know it the date set for the mediation hearing is fast approaching. So far, we have not mentioned anything about my pregnancy to anyone other than close family. Uncle Ben says that bringing in another issue is only going to cloud the main one, and I’m certainly not showing, so it’s an easy enough omission. It’s none of their business anyway in my opinion. I have no trouble just keeping it to myself.

Megan has continued to date Vitto. Kevin has continued to protect the boys. Fortunately, if there is somebody coming after them, they haven’t shown themselves, and we’ve become so used to having Kevin around that the boys simply consider him their uncle. Having him around has made it much easier for me to pick up two new clients who are fully on board with the business model I offer.

Life has settled into a sort of routine, but Adam and I haven’t really set any real plans for when we want to get married. I would like to do it sooner than later so Adam won’t have to be faced with extra paperwork or effort to claim our baby. He says he isn’t worried about that since even if we marry after the birth, we can easily add his name to the birth certificate. In today’s day and age, there are plenty of fathers who are not married to the women who birth their children, and since we both know he’s the father we won’t even need to get a blood test.

Adam and I go with Ben to the little courthouse in Concord where the meeting is being held. Gena is there with her lawyer too, who totally looks like he’s connected with the Italian Mafia. He actually reminds me of Scarface, but without a scar. The point is he looks scary. Fortunately, though, being a scary-looking dude isn’t going to gain him any leverage in a legal discussion. If he wants to get a win for his client, he isn’t going to do it by trying to strong-arm anyone.

Unlike actual court proceedings, the mediator simply enters the room just the same as the parents and those they’d brought along with them. There are three ‘judges’ who will listen and give input to the main decision-maker, and then that person will take their counsel into consideration, but the final decision will rest with them.

I don’t know if that’s what they do at all mediation sessions, I just know that this is the setup they’ve chosen for this one.

“Good morning, everyone,” says Mrs. Lawrence as she settles into a chair at the head of the table. “I’m pleased to see that everyone has made it to the meeting on time. If you’ll each please introduce yourselves and explain your function here, we can make sure everyone in the room is up to speed.”

Once that’s been done, a woman named Suzette reads out the summations that were submitted by each of the lawyers, and it becomes immediately obvious that Gena’s concept of what happened nearly a year ago does not match with the reality as it is presented by Adam.

Ben calls upon me, as the nanny and the current mother figure of the two boys, to impart my own observations. I explain to those present that the boys are still worried about me abandoning them the same way their mother had done.

“I believe that introducing their mother back into the situation at this time will only upset and confuse the boys further,” I conclude. “In the future? I have no idea. But I know that these children are far too young to understand the way their mother dropped them off and left without even telling them she loved them, and without ever intending to return. I may not have witnessed the event myself, but Ethan and Evan have both told me about it, and about how they felt. It’s so sad that they’re still not sure if I’m going to dump them and disappear someday too.”

In the end, the judges and the mediator are all in agreement. What Gena did to her sons all those months ago had done some real damage. The mediator recommends that perhaps the boys might benefit from some counseling sessions to help them get past the incident, and Adam readily agrees to set up sessions with a therapist in Boston.

They also say they are very pleased to have a qualified caregiver in the home, and they even wish us happiness in our upcoming marriage. It’s such a relief to watch Gena stalk angrily from the room, even as the rest of us are shaking hands and talking together.

I have a worry, though.

“You don’t think she’s going to do anything stupid, do you?” I ask Adam.

“Knowing Gena, I’m sure of it,” he scoffs. “But I’m not too worried. Not with Kevin around to make sure she won’t get away with it.”

Chapter twenty-five

Adam

Ifeelaprofoundsense of relief knowing that Gena can’t swoop in and take the boys like she’d hoped. Not legally, anyway. But I’m troubled by the same idea as Miss—that Gena might not play by the rules now that attempting a legal avenue hadn’t worked.

A whole week has passed since the hearing, and we haven’t heard a peep. Not out of Gena. Not out of Vitto. I was beginning to think he was nothing but an actor who Gena had hired to mess with me, but Megan insisted there was a lot more to him than that. And out of all of us, I suppose since she’s been dating the guy, Megan ought to know.

But today, though? Today Sara asked Miss and me if Megan can bring Vitto to visit on my day off tomorrow. I have plenty of misgivings about the idea, but at the same time I know I can’t learn more about this guy and what he really wants if we don’t come together somehow.

Miss suggests we meet them at Pearson Park, locally famous for a fantastic display of Christmas lights put on by the Jaycees. She says the worst that can happen is that we’ll have to cap his ass, but that she’s hoping it won’t come to that. I laugh, assuming she’s kidding.

I arrange to take the next night off from Rudolpho’s so we can follow through with that plan.

When I get home, Miss is already in bed, but she isn’t asleep. Things have been so hectic over the last week that the two of us have hardly had any time to do anything but sleep and worry, but tonight I want to make things up to her if she’s willing to snuggle a little before we drift off.

I’m hoping for a whole lot more than just snuggles, but I want to test the waters before I try to dive in headfirst. My girl’s been feeling a bit of morning sickness, but it has rudely decided to attack throughout the day instead of just in the morning.

“Were you waiting for me to get back, sweetheart?” I ask her hopefully.

“Eagerly,” she admits, batting her eyes at me. It’s music to my ears. “Hurry up and lose the clothes, Barlow. I can’t take much more of this damned abstinence when all I want is you.”

“You have me, beautiful,” I tell her, grinning as I tug my t-shirt over my head and toss it at her head. She’s giggling as she pulls it off, and her eyes light up like Christmas when she realizes I’m already unbuttoning my fly at the same time I’m trying to kick off my shoes. I end up hopping on one foot, making her laugh.

“Wow, Adam, you better not fall on me,” she scolds. “I don’t want quite that much!”

“Only the best parts?” I ask as I get my legs free and saunter over to join her.

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