I Married a Billionaire: The Prodigal Son (Contemporary Romance) (9 page)

“My mother had a long gestation period,” I blurted out, suddenly. “Is that - will - does that have any effect on me?”

“Not necessarily,” said Dr. Lambert, with an understanding smile. “A lot of women find that their pregnancy experiences are the polar opposites of what other women in their family go through - and can even vary widely from one pregnancy to the next. The same woman might have a completely different pregnancy with each child.”

“Well, that’s comforting,” I muttered.

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water,” Daniel deadpanned.

Dr. Lambert chuckled. “But, oftentimes, there will be common elements that you can come to expect with each pregnancy. So you will learn something your first time around, if you decide to go back for seconds.”

“Excellent,” said Daniel. “You just don’t know which things are useful until they happen.”

“Essentially, yes,” said Dr. Lambert. “But a lot of women find it’s comforting to simply be able to say ‘oh, I’ve been through this before’ in a situation where they might otherwise be confused or worried.”

“I see,” said Daniel. He sounded mildly skeptical.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” I said, patting his arm. “This is my cross to bear, let’s not forget.”

“But don’t be afraid to let him help you,” said Dr. Lambert. “It’s very important to understand your limitations. Your body’s going to be experiencing a lot of stresses, and a lot of changes. Physically and emotionally. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed and out-of-control at times. But at the same time, if something feels truly wrong, or greatly concerns you, it’s definitely worth making an appointment to come see me. Anything from morning sickness to mood swings - if it’s too intense for you to deal with, and it starts seriously interfering with your life, there are plenty of things that we can do to help you.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate that.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” the doctor went on. “Pregnancy is no walk in the park, no matter what modern conveniences we throw at it. But it can be much, much easier than it used to be. There’s no need for women to suffer in silence anymore, for the most part. We can alleviate a lot of the worst symptoms, if they come up. But at the same time, you need to understand that you’re carrying, feeding, and supporting another human being inside of your body. So a certain amount of disturbance is completely normal and natural.”

She glanced down at my chart again. “So, it doesn’t look like you’re on any prescription drugs except your birth control, which I imagine you stopped taking when you found out you were pregnant.”

I nodded.

“That’s good news,” she said. “You won’t need to transition off of any medication. You don’t smoke?”

“No, and I already packed up all my wine to give away.” Something occurred to me. “What about caffeine?”

“We generally say that a moderate amount is okay.” She flipped open a pamphlet and pointed to a string of numbers. “This is a guideline, but honestly, a lot of women end up forgoing it completely because it makes them feel safer. It’s important to be aware that caffeine is a drug, a stimulant - and it does cross the placenta to the baby. Studies show that reasonable amounts aren’t really harmful, but it’s doubtful that they’re helpful. I say if you can go without it, then go without it. But if you absolutely can’t, it’s not going to hurt you or the baby. A lot of women have trouble sleeping, especially as the pregnancy progresses and they get less comfortable. So if you need to get to work in the morning and a cup of coffee is the only thing that’s going to do the job, absolutely. But otherwise…”

“Got it,” said Daniel. “No caffeine.”

“That’s not what she said,” I grumbled, but he was right. I’d most likely go without.

When we finally left the office, with me clutching a folder full of pamphlets to my chest, I felt strangely…calm. I wasn’t sure why I kept expecting panic to set in, but I supposed there’d be plenty of time for that later.

I sat down in the armchair in the living room after we got home, looking down at the forgotten notepad where I’d begun writing Daniel’s biography.

“We really need to get back to work at some point,” I said, picking it up off the table and turning it over in my hands.

“At some point,” said Daniel, flopping down on the sofa. “What do you think about…Lila, for a girl?”

“Lila?” I repeated. “Wait. No, no, it is
way
too early to start talking about names.”

“Never too early,” he protested. “You’ve got to burn through all the bad ideas first. What about Mabel?”

“That would be great, if we were in
Little House on the Prairie
.” I smiled at the face he made. “Seriously, though, no. Let’s not talk about this right now.”

He was silent for a moment. “Catherine?” he said, finally.

I threw the pen at him.

“Hey,” he protested, dodging. “Do you know how much that cost?”

“No,” I said. “And for the love of God, don’t tell me.”

He was very quiet for a moment, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. I could tell he was getting lost in thought, as he was prone to do more than occasionally.

“This is really happening, isn’t it,” he said, finally, the tone of his voice indicating it wasn’t a question.

“It’s really happening.” I set the notebook down. “I even pinched myself to make sure.”

“I have to talk to my father, don’t I?” He said it so softly that I almost wondered if he was talking to himself rather than to me.

I swallowed. “Do you want to?”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. I knew the answer, and had known it all along. It was written across his face.

No, but I’m going to anyway.

Seven

When I called Genevieve saying I wanted to meet, I didn’t tell her I was bringing company. When she looked up from her table at the coffee shop and saw Daniel, he looked surprised. “So she brought you around, huh?”

“I suppose so.” Daniel looked intensely uncomfortable. “Is there any way you can…arrange a meeting? If he is who we think he is, I don’t want our first conversation to be on the phone.”

“Sure,” said Gen. “Of course. I’ll contact him and let you know what he says. And I guess if he backs out, then we’ll know it was all some kind of hoax.”

“And if he tries to assassinate me, I’ll sue you into oblivion.” Daniel smiled beatifically, and Gen just laughed.

“No offense, but I don’t think you’re quite at the ‘assassination’ level,” she said. “I think you still just get ‘murdered.’”

“Well it’s all the same in the end, isn’t it?” said Daniel.

I felt an irrational pang of jealousy.

“Well, Genevieve,” I said, cutting into their banter, “thank you so much for your help. And thanks for bringing this to my attention. We really owe you one.”

“Well, that remains to be seen,” said Daniel.

“I’ll make sure you meet in a public place,” said Gen, sensibly. “And I’ll know where you are. Safety first.”

“Sure,” said Daniel. “That’s easy for you to say.”

I cleared my throat. “Okay, I think we’d better be going now. Daniel?”

“What?” he looked down at me. “I don’t think we’re in any particular rush.”

“I’d like to get dinner started,” I fibbed. I had absolutely no idea what I was making for dinner. In fact, I was pretty sure all we had around were a few potatoes that were starting to grow tentacles. I turned to Genevieve. “Again - thank you.”

“Anytime,” she replied. “Which is…on reflection, an absurd thing to say in this particular scenario.”

“I’ll forgive the lapse,” said Daniel, smiling.

By the time we got to the car, I thought I might actually be turning green.

“Dinner?” Daniel turned to me and queried, as I hit the driver partition button that would separate us from John. He looked like he might be on the verge of saying something else, before I clambered over his lap and covered his mouth with mine.

He made a small noise of surprise, but his hands clasped my waist and pulled me down closer, almost by instinct.

I was all over him - kissing my way down his jaw, his neck, while my fingers clumsily picked at his shirt buttons. I had undone them a thousand times, but suddenly, they seemed impossible.

He chuckled, his breath hot against my skin.

“Every time,” he said. “You know she’s no threat to you.”

I gave him a sharp look. “You’d better not be complaining.”

“I think you know very well that I’m not.” He shifted his hips, pressing himself against me to punctuate the point. I sighed, my lips parting and eyes closing of their own accord.

“We don’t have much time, you know,” he said quietly, his hands gripping my ass.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” I said, grinning. I shifted slightly so that I could reach down and unzip his pants. He bit his lip as I reached in and grabbed him.

“I don’t know,” he exhaled, “if that was meant to be an insult or not. But just for good measure, when we get home, you’re in for a spanking.”

“Oh, no,” I said, frowning as I lowered myself onto him. “Maybe I can make it up to you somehow.” I smiled as he slid all the way home, and I was nestled snugly on his lap, my thighs spread over him. “Change your mind.”

He made a soft growling noise that he knew drove me absolutely wild - and then, there was no more talking for quite a while. It was fast and hot, with me undulating on top of him while he whispered encouragements and slipped his fingers into my mouth. I swirled my tongue around them the way I knew he liked, a hot implicit promise of some future encounter, yet to be determined.

I tossed my hair as I rode him, smiling, reveling in the way he looked at me. Like there was absolutely no one else in the entire world. His fingers dug into my soft flesh and I let myself moan his name. Normally I would stifle myself - it felt like such artifice that it actually embarrassed me. And even if I forgot about doing it, he’d always tease me afterwards. But every once in a while, I would just let it slip.

Daniel. Daniel. Daniel.

It was what echoed in my head with every breath, every heartbeat, when we were together like this. I was beginning to grow lightheaded, like there wasn’t enough air to breathe in this little space, but all I wanted to breathe was him. My fingers clutched at his shoulders, leaving little wrinkled marks on the perfectly starched material.

Maybe it was strange, but I always wish I could muss his hair the way he did mine. But no matter what I did, his loose dark curls would just fall back exactly where they wanted to be. Me, on the other hand - all he had to do was run his fingers through my hair and it would never set in the same way again. Like he was leaving a semi-permanent mark on me, every time we touched. It certainly felt like it.

I tilted my head back, and I felt him run his fingers down my throat, like he was tracing it to remember the exact shape. The specific way it curved, whenever he was made me feel like this. Like I was going to explode at any moment. Like I was on the verge of dying the most glorious death imaginable.

We finished remarkably quietly, together, in such a well-synchronized series of jerky movements and short, panting breaths that I almost wanted to laugh afterwards.

I noticed, all of a sudden, that the car had stopped moving. I heard a single light tap on the window, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps on the sidewalk.

“What a gentleman,” I said, referring to John.

“He’s quite the consummate professional,” said Daniel, with a smile that lit up his whole face.

***

It was an unseasonably warm day. John let us out at the first available spot, then went to circle the block while he waited for us. I wondered how short Daniel intended for this meeting to be, exactly.

We approached the seating area slowly. It was crawling with people, some talking, sharing coffee, or playing chess. My eyes swept the crowd, even though I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for.

As soon as I saw him, I knew.

It was eerie, how alike they were. And not just in their appearance - Mr. Thorne had a subtly different face, and he was taller - but their bearing, the way they held their heads. The color of their eyes. I followed Daniel as he walked, standing beside him when he stopped. My hands were clasped in front of me and I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do.

“Hello,” said Mr. Thorne, at last.

Daniel just nodded, tightly. He rested his hand on my shoulder.

“This is my wife,” he said. “Maddy. But you already know that, I suppose.”

Mr. Thorne smiled, extending his hand to me. I shook it firmly. I didn’t really know what was expected of me, but I figured I might as well be courteous to the man.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, which sounded absurd under the circumstances.

“Likewise,” said my father-in-law.

He made a move to go sit down at one of the tables, and I followed, Daniel tailing behind me somewhat reluctantly. I didn’t know what he’d expected to happen. Did he think his father would be content with just a quick “hello” after all these years?

Of course, he hadn’t expected to see his father at all. As we sat down, I searched his face for some sign of shock or even mild surprise. But he seemed resigned to it, which solidified my idea that he hadn’t really cared, one way or the other. Whether his father was alive or dead, he really never wanted to see the man again.

But here we were. There was no turning back from it.

This will be good for him. For both of them. For us.
I had to keep reassuring myself of that, no matter how unsure I was.

I rested my hand on my stomach, unthinkingly. I couldn’t feel a difference yet, but I’d been assured I would - and soon.

“So,” said Daniel. “Why did you want to meet?”

He was being cold and disingenuous, just the same as with journalists that he didn’t like. I thought it was a bit much, but then again, I couldn’t really blame him.

“I just wanted to see you again,” said Mr. Thorne. He tilted his head vaguely in my direction. “I wanted to meet your wife. I wanted to find out if it was true, what I read in the paper.”

“Regardless,” said Daniel, “I think you’re the one who owes me some answers.”