The Baby Plan

by Valentine, Layla

  “I told her you were still in Cancun, by the way,” Sophia went on. “She didn’t take it all that well, which got me to thinking…”

  “Damn it,” Sean muttered under his breath. “I needed time. She has to understand—”

  “I don’t know what’s going on here, Sean, but it’s not looking good for you.”

  He looked up into the storming skies. Man, when Sophia was reading him the riot act, he knew he was screwed.

  Moving before he could second-guess himself, he slid into the cab and gave the driver Emma’s address.

  “I think I can change her mind,” he told Sophia. “Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck.”

  Without saying another word, he took his phone away from his ear and ended the call, images of Emma walking out of their villa with all her luggage packed filling his mind.

  His jaw tightened as he gazed out the window into the thick sheets of rain. He should have gone after her then, that was obvious, but he hadn’t wanted to confront her until he knew exactly what he could do to resolve everything.

  After twenty-four hours, he had thrown that stupidity out of the window and gone after her anyway. Now here he was pulling up in front of her apartment building without a plan or any real idea how to move forward. Only with the desire that they had to move forward into a future together, because he didn’t feel whole without her in his life.

  A lead weight in his chest, Sean paid the fare and stepped out of the taxi, running to the awning that covered Emma’s apartment building before pressing the buzzer to be let in the door.

  No answer.

  A crack of lightening lit up the sky and the rain increased, falling down in thick, thundering sheets around him. Sean cracked his neck and rang the buzzer again.

  This time there was a crackle over the channel and her voice came through with a bit of static.

  “Hello? Who is it?”

  Emma sounded…off. Not quite herself.

  This didn’t bode well for him.

  “Emma, it’s Sean. Can I please come up and see you? I need to talk to y—”

  The buzzer sounded again and he heard the front door’s lock unclick. Hot damn, that was easier than he anticipated.

  He grabbed the door, swinging it open, then hesitated, looking into the lobby as if something was going to ambush him. But she had let him inside. It was odd, but it seemed like a good sign, and he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  He made quick work of the stairs, climbing the three flights and sprinting down the long hallway to her door. One deep breath, and he knocked, silently praying this wasn’t some kind of screwed-up head trip.

  The door flung open and he frowned, confused.

  “Hi there.”

  A woman he had never seen before was standing in the doorway of Emma’s apartment with her hand out, ushering him inside.

  “She’s in the bathroom, but she should be out in two or three minutes.”

  The woman pinned on an odd, nervous smile.

  “Come on, get in here. Chop, chop.”

  “Uh, okay…” He went into the apartment, not left with a whole lot of options. “Who are you? How do you know Emma?”

  “I’m her best friend, Makenzie. Nice to meet you, Sean.” She put out her hand and he shook it awkwardly, wincing at her grip. “You are not screwing around with that handshake.”

  “You should know what you’re dealing with if you hurt my girl again, understood?” Makenzie lifted one eyebrow and cocked her head to the side, all business. “I’m watching you. Don’t screw up again.”

  Sean adjusted his shirt and sat down on the couch in the living room, surrounded by paperwork, manila files, and junk-food containers. Emma must have been busy in the days they had been away from each other. He swallowed, unable to ignore the tension threading through the air between them.

  “You got it. I won’t do it again. This is the hitting me with a shovel and burying me out back speech, right?” He folded his hands between his outstretched legs and smiled in her direction.

  “Oh don’t try that with me, Dr. Pretty Boy. Do you think perfect nails like this stay perfect by getting my hands dirty? Hell no, I got guys. Big, large, hulking guys.”

  “Whoa, wait a—”

  “Kenzie…oh my…Kenzie, it’s…the strip is pink…there are two lines. Oh my God,” Emma’s voice came out from the bathroom. “Kenzie, did you hear? I’m pregnant!”

  She came out of the bathroom holding something and came to an abrupt stop looking at them both, her eyes wide and her mouth open.

  “Did you…?” Emma looked at him with an expression of sheer horror on her face.

  Sean couldn’t move, glued to the couch. His mouth went dry as his brain blanked out.

  “He did,” Makenzie supplied as she got up off the couch and rushed to her friend, throwing her arms around her in a giant hug. “So did I. Emma, that’s amazing!”

  Emma stood there, staring at him as Sean met her eyes from across the room. He watched as her eyes filled with tears and spilled over her cheeks, and only then did she break eye contact and cling onto Makenzie, closing her eyes and burying her face into her best friend’s shoulder.

  When she looked up at him again, he had somehow gotten up and walked over toward her without even realizing it. He stood there like a statue, his pulse pounding in his ears.

  “I’m going to be a father…?”

  Chapter 27

  Emma

  “Is that what you want, Sean?” Emma asked once Makenzie had shot into the kitchen, making herself scarce. “Because you don’t have to be a part of either of our lives. You can walk away quite easily…unless you think this is a result of your trials? And it wasn’t…”

  “No, I know it’s mine, Emma. There were a few times we were less than cautious when the mood struck, you remember?”

  He took several cautious steps toward her until he got close enough and she held out her hand to keep him back. She didn’t want to touch him right now. If he touched her, she might fall apart again.

  “I do,” she said. She took a deep breath that burned through her lungs. “You still haven’t answered my first question. Do you want to be a part of this child’s life?”

  “Yes.”

  His answer was solid, his voice gruff and hollow. But his eyes, it was his eyes that convinced Emma he was telling the truth. They were brimming with unshed tears. Dark and drowning in vulnerability, his gaze searching hers with an almost begging quality.

  “Please, Emma. Allow me to be there for you and our baby. Let me be by your side every step of the way.”

  “How do I know your work won’t suddenly take priority? How do I know you won’t bail on us? You can’t make me any promises…”

  Emma squashed down a fresh wave of tears that was building tight in her chest and she crossed her arms. He couldn’t have them, either of them, until she knew he was serious about what that entailed. She wanted stability, a home, a forever family. And what she knew of him ten years later wasn’t enough to guarantee any of that, unless they had this conversation.

  “Emma…” His voice was low, pained.

  She cradled her stomach, wanting nothing more than to believe what she saw working all across his face. He looked like he was in agony. Then he bent down on one knee and the world spun as her head started buzzing with disbelief.

  “What the—”

  Sean was rooting around in his pocket, and Emma’s heart rate doubled. This could only mean one thing…

  “Emma, I know we’ve hardly had time to discuss anything like this, that we’ve only known each other for so long, but for me? This was ten years in the making. I was planning to do this before I got here, and the news you’ve just given me has only made me more sure that it’s the right decision. I’ve had this in my pocket since the day you left, since the day I knew I could never lose you again.”

  Sean cleared his throat and looked up into her eyes. “If this doesn’t say permanence, promise, and that
I’m in this with you, I don’t know what else will. Emma, I might have saved you once, but you’re the one who saved me, and I want you in my life. I need you. Both of you. Marry me. Be my wife.”

  “It’s all happening at once…” Emma clapped her hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, suddenly overwhelmed. “Just this morning, I was convinced I was going to be alone forever, and now here I am with a baby and a fiancé…how is this possible?”

  “Is that a yes?” Sean asked from on his knee.

  Emma went down to her knees next to him, cradling the nape of his neck. “Yes, Sean. A thousand times yes.”

  She put out her shaking hand and he slipped the beautiful diamond ring on her finger.

  “We can get it customized,” he said quickly. “I know we never talked about it…”

  “It’s perfect. Don’t you dare touch it, Sean. I love it.”

  She bent forward and kissed him, feeling as if her soul was finally at peace. He wrapped her arms around her waist and she squeezed her arms around his neck.

  “I’m having a baby and we’re getting married…wow…busy day,” she whispered against his lips before he captured her mouth in another searing kiss.

  “And I got it all on camera!” Makenzie chimed in from the kitchen doorway, from where she had evidently been spying this entire time. “I would offer up a bottle of champagne, but that’s pretty pointless given the circumstances, huh?”

  “Yeah, the thought’s appreciated, but it really wouldn’t help much, Kenzie.” Emma laughed, more tears streaming down her cheeks as she sniffled, holding her fiancé’s hand. “What you can do is call Allison and see if she can host us for dinner at her place. We’ll bring the food.”

  “I’m on it. Your wish is my command.”

  “Call me when you get everything figured out, will you?”

  “Of course.” Makenzie kissed her on the top of the head and walked toward the front door. “Work it out, you two, and have fun doing it.”

  Emma blushed as Makenzie made her exit. When she looked back at Sean, his face was unreadable, his eyes tracing the plains of her face.

  “Do you think we’re crazy?” He caressed her cheek with his thumb, his voice so soft she had to concentrate to hear him.

  “If we are, it’s the best kind of crazy.”

  No sooner had she spoken, a fresh wave of anxiety rose up in her chest. She was pregnant—it was the good news of a lifetime—but what did that mean for Sean’s work?

  “But what about the trial deadline? I was the last patient you needed, right? But it didn’t work on me…”

  “It doesn’t matter, Emma. If I don’t get approval this time, I can start again next year.”

  “What?” She scoffed and took his hand off her cheek, trying to gauge him. “You can’t be serious, Sean. All of your work will be dead in the water. You’ll have to restart everything and you would give anything to not have to do that—”

  “My priorities shifted, Emma. Haven’t I made that clear enough to you yet? You saved me from myself, from my ambition, from missing out on the rest of my life because I became too absorbed with righting the wrongs of the past. What I’m doing is important…but you and this child, you are my whole world. Nothing else matters the way it used to.”

  “Wow, you’ve certainly done a lot of thinking in forty-eight hours.” She laughed and blinked, a weird uncertainty shifting through her body, hope for the future she hadn’t felt in a long time.

  “You have a tendency to bring it out in me. It’s one of the things I love most about you. You reshape and make me rethink absolutely everything, Emma. It’s amazing.”

  “So, that’s it? We just leave all your research in the dust? I don’t know that I can let you do that, Sean.”

  “Maybe I’ll find another candidate, maybe I won’t. We’ll worry about it later. All I want to think about right now is the happiness and surprise I’m feeling in every inch of my body. This was a long shot, a Hail Mary pass, and frankly, I anticipated you would turn me down flat after what happened in Cancun.”

  “You thought that, yet you did it anyway? Why?” Emma kissed him lightly and pulled back so he could answer, a small smile on his lips.

  “Because it was worth it.”

  “I probably should have made it harder on you, but when I saw you after I saw the test, all I wanted was for you to hold me,” she admitted. “Everything else could be damned to hell in that moment, I wanted you with every part of me and I knew that no matter what had happened, I could trust you. My body, heart, and mind would never betray me when they all agree on the same thing. Still, I should have made you grovel a little bit more before I said yes, shouldn’t I?”

  “Keep it in mind for the next proposal, okay?” He chuckled looking down at her finger and then at her stomach. “I can’t be the doctor, but I’ll be at every appointment. I’ll sign up for courses…I’ll be the best damn midwife on the planet.”

  Emma giggled and ran her hand through his hair. “You’re going to be a helicopter parent before this kid is even born, aren’t you?”

  “Guilty.” Sean shrugged and grinned. “We should probably get up off the floor now, right? My knees are starting to hurt, so I can only imagine what yours are feeling like right now.”

  “Agreed, it’s not great.”

  “On three?”

  Emma counted as they helped each other and both collapsed on the couch on top of her mess.

  “God, I’ve been such a pig since I got back.”

  “It’s my fault, I should have got here sooner.”

  “You should have, but it’s okay, I forgive you.”

  He looked thoughtful for a moment. “How long do you think it’ll take before Allison has us over? She has a baby, so I imagine that quells a lot of spontaneity.”

  “Why? What were you thinking?”

  “That we have some making up to do.”

  Emma suppressed a small smile before he tipped up her lips and she gave him a seductive look that held absolutely everything in it.

  “I think we might just have time,” she breathed.

  “Then let’s not waste another minute.”

  Chapter 28

  Emma

  Three hours later and Emma, Sean and Makenzie were stood outside Allison’s front door, bundled up and ready to party. Sean slipped his arm around Emma’s waist beneath her coat and she snuggled back into him with a sigh of unexpected happiness. Sure, things were still a little complicated. They didn’t have any idea where they would move, or how they would handle the coming months as she got bigger and they readied their lives for a baby. But they were in it together, and that was all that mattered.

  “I can’t believe Allison agreed to have us over so quickly with the baby,” Sean mused. “Clearly she’s making all her choices based on being sleep deprived.”

  “She said we would have to be quiet, but she doesn’t anticipate throwing on the stereo either. We’ll probably just order food and watch a movie.” Makenzie knocked on the door again, peering through the front window. “Come on, it’s like 85 degrees out here!”

  A moment later the door was flung open and Allison stood in the doorway wearing a baggy dress with spit-up on one shoulder.

  “You’re here!” she said, sounding relieved as she wiped her forehead. “Come on in.”

  They all followed her inside and Emma caught Makenzie’s arm on the way in, giving her a look.

  “Did you tell her why we’re here?” she hissed.

  “And ruin the surprise? Are you nuts? I thought you would want the honor.”

  Before Emma could say another word the door closed behind them and Allison turned to them all, putting her messy hair up in a bun.

  “So why was it so important to have this little get-together tonight? I don’t have much in the way of food—we’ve mostly been living off of frozen casseroles the neighbors brought us after Ty was born—but we can order in if that sounds good? I don’t know what you have planned…”

  Allison
led them further inside, and it quickly became clear that her normally gorgeous, impeccably decorated house, was a royal mess. Bottles and baby paraphernalia were littered across every spare surface.

  In the kitchen, Allison looked up at the ceiling.

  “Stewart’s sleeping with the baby. It’s his turn for a nap tonight,” she explained. “So who’s going to start talking, huh?”

  “Well, uh,” Sean spoke up.

  Allison looked at him, rubbing her eyes, before they went wide in recognition.

  “Wait a second. You’re not one of Makenzie’s usuals, you’re Sean! Emma’s Sean. What are you doing here? In my house?”

  She patted her hair self-consciously and smiled, shooting Makenzie an obvious glare. Emma grinned and took a seat at the expansive kitchen table. After the all the antics of the day, her bones were heavy, as if they were made of steel.

  “We actually have some news we wanted to run by you…” Sean spoke slowly, shooting Emma a secret grin. “Emma should probably tell you. I’m kind of an interloper here, aren’t I?”

  “He’s smart. I like him.” Allison looked at Emma with a nod and a wink. “So, what’s the scoop?”

  Allison should probably have gotten on board with what they were laying down, but Emma couldn’t blame her friend when she had new-mommy brain. Emma was more than willing to walk her through the steps, and she regaled the story of her and Sean’s vacation, their falling-out, and up until Makenzie came over to her house.

  “Oh, oh!” Makenzie waved her hands around in the air. “I know how this ends!”

  “Yes, you do,” Sean humored her with a grin. “Now would probably be a good time to break out your phone for the memories.”

  Allison collapsed onto a chair next to Emma and put her head in her hands. “Will someone please spell out what the heck is going on? So we can party and I can go to sleep?”