His Sugar Baby

by Fiona Murphy

  Drinking the water, I smile weakly at Grant. “Thank you for putting up with me.”

  “Thank you for having my baby.” He picks up my hand, kissing my palm.

  My phone goes off with multiple texts. In surprise, I find a flurry of texts from Robin. “Oh, crap, I forgot to text her to tell her we were here in Rome.” I’m not ready to share my news, and I keep my response short. Since I’m texting from Rome and don’t want to think of the cost per text, I’ll call her from a landline tomorrow. “Did I miss it? Did he say how far along I am?”

  “He believes you’re eight, weeks pregnant.”

  “Wow. The baby, with all the birth control pills will be okay?”

  “Yes, I told him and he says the baby will be fine. When we get back to Chicago we’ll find you the best ob/gyn in the city, I promise. You won’t have any worries about the baby’s health this time around.”

  “Thomas’ heart condition was from Billy’s side of the family. I didn’t find out until Thomas died, but it was the reason his uncle Eli never had children, he didn’t want to pass it on.”

  “I know, sweetheart, I already know.”

  “Of course you do.”

  “Should I be saying sorry?”

  “No, it doesn’t fit you.”

  There’s a knock before a woman rolls in an ultrasound machine. I hadn’t been forced into a gown when I got here and I’m still in a maxi skirt and loose shirt. The woman doesn’t speak English, she tells Grant. I push down my skirt to my panty line and pull up my shirt. She squeezes the jelly on my stomach then rolls the wand over my stomach, she’s a little heavy handed as she tries to find the baby. When the image appears, I see it instantly and tell her.

  Her eyes widen, she says something to Grant then points to the screen. Poor Grant takes a few times of me pointing it out to him before he sees the tiny image. “I thought she would be bigger by now.” He sounds disappointed. “Print them out please.”

  He holds the picture up almost to his nose. “Our baby.” When he looks at me the sheen of tears start my own happy tears all over again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The sight of my baby on the grey screen fills me close to bursting with happiness. After the last week of wondering, this moment of confirmation is beyond my wildest dreams. What makes it even better is knowing Anne is as happy as I am.

  Fuck, it had been a rough hour between her fainting and her hiding in the bathroom before I knew for sure she was happy. I have a feeling I’m not through the weeds yet on my suspecting but not telling her, but I leave it until then.

  Anne refuses to let me take her back to the hotel to relax, reminding me we are leaving the next day. I relent, she was right, we had been all over the city the last week, and today shouldn’t be any different. Only it is, everything feels different. There isn’t just Anne I have to take care of, now I have a baby to think about and prepare for. Fuck, I have to call my lawyer as soon as we get back to the hotel and have a new will drawn up and... “Goddamnit.”

  “What? What’s the matter?” Anne looks worried.

  “Nothing, nothing, never mind.” I try to reassure her. I’m also embarrassed because we’re at the turtle fountain. It’s a popular tourist attraction that has several people around it taking pictures and now looking at us.

  “Grant, please, right now, with me being all emotional and hormonal is not the time to yell goddamnit then say it didn’t mean anything.” Her grey eyes are already shining with unshed tears.

  “It’s just, I just. I’ve had this the whole time, waiting for the right time, but now you’re going to think it’s just because of the baby.” She’s confused, I know I’m not making much sense so I pull out it out of my pocket to show her. It’s the ten carat old European cut diamond solitaire ring I bought to propose with. “I bought it the day after I told you I love you, but it never felt right, anywhere we went in the city, to ask you. I thought somewhere here in Italy...”

  She faints, again. God damn it, I barely catch her and carry her over to the edge of a tree in a large pot, the only place to sit in the whole damned piazza. I’m still trying to figure out if her fainting is good or bad. I would’ve have really liked an ‘oh’ right about now. As it had this morning, it takes her a while to come around, when she does, she’s clinging to me. “Grant?”

  “Yes, sweetheart?”

  “Was that an engagement ring?” Her voice is small, her face tucked in under my chin.

  “Yes, hopefully followed by a wedding ring very, very soon.” Keeping my voice steady, as if we’re discussing the weather, is a trial I’m willing to endure, if it keeps her from running from me. Which, right now, I’m afraid of even with my baby inside her. She’s a flight risk until she figures it all out.

  “You bought it back in Chicago, and have been trying to find the right time to give it to me for almost a month now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Grant, why do you want to marry me?”

  “It’s kind of the thing you do when you love someone. I know you’re mine and you know you’re mine, now it’s time for everyone else to know. Then there’s the kid thing, I knew I wanted kids, and I want them to have my name, and then we buy the house in the suburbs so the kids and I can play in the backyard. Being married was supposed to kind of get all that rolling. I also kind of liked the idea of calling you my wife.”

  “Even though, there I was on the floor of the closet, only hours after you told me you loved me, trying to leave, and you still wanted to marry me?”

  “Trying to leave, sweetheart, you couldn’t even make it out of our bedroom. The same way I can’t walk away from you, you can’t leave me. I’m prepared to wait until you are ready to love me, too.

  “This trip though, I was hoping it would end with us getting married in Venice. I got us the suite with a rooftop terrace but now, now you’ll...” I trail off, too afraid to put my fear of her finding a reason to say ‘no’ into words.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I hate the way he sounds sad, he thinks I’ll say no. Closing my eyes I know I should, marrying him without being able to say I love him the way he wants me to isn’t fair to him. This love thing, I still can’t believe it. There is no denying he’s changed in the last few weeks, but what about after the new of me wears off?

  The last few months have been some of the most amazing of my life, but it’s only been a few months. What about a year from now, or even five years? The ring that should give me an assurance is nothing more than another pretty thing Grant can buy. Like the way he bought me a place in school, or the very real way he bought me with the offer of fifty thousand dollars a month, an offer no woman in her right mind would turn down. Grant was granting wishes and making dreams come true but that’s what it felt like, a dream. What happens when it’s time to wake up from the dream, it has to end at some point, doesn’t it?

  Even with fear hanging over me, the thought of hurting Grant makes me ache deep down inside. So I won’t tell him no, can’t tell him no. For him and the baby he already touchingly, very clearly loves. “Yes, yes, I’ll marry you, and we’ll buy a house in the suburbs where you and the kids can play.”

  He pulls away to look at me, his expression cautious, “Really?”

  Does he see the fear that won’t leave? I swallow it, remembering, no matter what, I am happy about our baby and for the life Grant promises, for however long it lasts. “Of course, I do! A gorgeous, sexy man, who has made my every dream come true and even the ones I didn’t know I had, I would be crazy to say no.”

  I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him giving him the answer the only way I know how. Grant’s kiss is desperate, demanding I hold nothing back. When he finally pulls away, both of us are breathless. “Yes.”

  His head against mine, he gives me a weak smile as he slips the ring on my finger. I don’t dare say it’s too big, or that I would’ve been happy with a chip of a diamond, as long as he was the one to give it to me. It is stunning in its brightness and the way it spa
rkles.

  “It’s so pretty.” I say instead, as I note it fits me perfectly. “Thank you.”

  Grant isn’t fooled. “You think it’s too much. I don’t think it’s nearly enough at least I didn’t add the halo of diamonds like I wanted to. The jeweler talked me out of it, he said the beauty was in the simplicity of the round and the many facets in the old European cut. That’s why I got this ring, it reminded me of you. You’re beautiful to look at, and then you have all these amazing facets to you that make you even more than beautiful. If you think the ring is too much, wait until you get a look at your wedding dress.”

  He wouldn’t have, yes he would. “You bought my wedding dress already? Your arrogance makes me nuts sometimes, I swear.”

  “Technically, it’s still being made. I did tell them what I wanted and sent them your measurements along with some pictures of you.” His smile is wide.

  “You didn’t send those pictures you took of me naked, did you? Oh, my god, you did. How could you do that? Those were just for you and you promised no one else would see them.”

  “I only sent them one of you naked, it’s a woman and it was when you were being very demure, none of the fun ones. I also sent a few of you clothed. We can go see the dress tomorrow. If you want to change anything you can tell them then, and they’ll deliver it to us in Venice.”

  “You have everything worked out. A wedding and honeymoon in Venice. I’m so lucky to have you.” That ache deep down is back as I plaster a smile on my face.

  He blinks fast and I go cold. No, stop it. Think of the baby and the simple fact if I say no, I have to walk away from him. And he’s right, I can’t walk away from him. Walking away from him isn’t an option, even before the baby it would mean leaving a part of me behind. My hand covers his on my stomach. “We’re both lucky to have you.”

  “I’m the lucky one. And our honeymoon isn’t in Venice. It’ll take almost a week to get through all the paperwork. We’ll get married there and have a few days more to enjoy, but our honeymoon wouldn’t be anywhere but Paris.”

  “Paris?”

  “Of course, isn’t that where everyone goes on their honeymoon? We’re booked into a suite with an Eiffel view, I think you’ll like it.”

  Desperate to stop all the talking of the future, I smile in invitation. “I’m sure I will. Why don’t we go back to the hotel and celebrate on the terrace again?”

  “I love the way you think.”

  The wedding dress is stunning. It’s a pure white sheath dress with an ornate ivory lace overlay with a small train. When I see it I know where he got the idea, and promise myself to wear the dress from our first meeting, for him, once we get back to Chicago. Grant is waiting outside the room, saying he didn’t want to see it until the day of our wedding.

  Wedding, hearing him say it sends the ache into full drive, until I put the dress on. The woman in the mirror is so beautiful I can hardly believe it’s me. This dress, the woman in the mirror, is Grant proving all over again he believes in this, in all of it. Even if I don’t. If I didn’t go all in it would hurt him. I’m also tired of the aching. There will be plenty of time for it later, now is what really mattered.

  The dressmaker, an elegantly beautiful woman somewhere between thirty and fifty is looking concerned at my reaction. “You don’t like?”

  Shaking my head, I try to smile. “It’s beautiful really. The fit is a little tight, if you could give me another inch or so, especially for the baby.”

  She laughs, “Ah, yes. I will do that.”

  Once I’m dressed again I go out to find Grant pacing. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s beautiful. Thank you. Now, take me back to the hotel so I can thank you properly.” We spend the day in bed, when he asks me if I’m sure I don’t want to see anything else before we leave. I tell him I’m sure, because right here is where I want to be. I mean it, wrapped in his arms is the only place I want to be.

  Florence is a much slower pace of sightseeing. We spend only a few hours out before lunch, then go back to the hotel to while away our day in bed. Sometimes we make love, sometimes we simply hold each other as we talk about the future.

  “I still get to go to school?”

  “Of course you do. If you still want to or you could go straight to working with another well-established photographer to teach you the ropes, instead of spending time in school. Whatever you want. Or, if you want to stay home with the baby it’s completely up to you.”

  “I would really like to learn all there is in school. I still get to work and take pictures and do the website like I wanted?”

  “Okay, I feel like you’re insulting me. What’s the point of you going to school if not to work and build your website? I get you don’t stop having dreams because you got pregnant.

  “This is my baby, too, and I’m going to be there to take care of her once Alice has to leave for the day and lets me hold her. We can do the nanny thing, we can still travel. It was the whole reason I got the jet, because we aren’t taking a crying baby on a crowded plane, not even first class. We’ll make it work, all of it. It won’t always be easy, that doesn’t mean we won’t keep trying.”

  Reassured by his plans for our future happiness prompts me to tease him. “Her, are you hoping for a girl or do you already know the sex too?”

  Grant throws back his head. “I love you. I give you this long supportive speech, you focus on me wanting a girl. Yes, I hope we are having a girl. Marshall mentioned something about having a mini of his woman and I kind of like the idea of having a mini-Anne running around the house.

  “Besides, everything for girls is way cuter than it is for boys. By the way, we might already have enough clothes and toys to fill a nursery. At least that’s what Alice is saying, when she told me to stop one clicking on Amazon.”

  “I wondered what you were doing with your phone, I thought it was work.”

  “Yeah, well, you can’t be too prepared. When we go home we’ll shop for houses. The only thing I’m worried about is making sure we live in a nice roomy house for the kids, while still being close enough to the city so it isn’t a long drive for you back and forth every day.”

  “Kids, how many are we going to have?”

  Grant rolls me under him. “How many do you want?”

  “Mmm... at least two, maybe three.” I wrap my legs around him, we both moan at the way his hardening cock nudges against my pussy. “A nanny makes me feel like I’m a bad mom.”

  Eyes wide, Grant shakes his head, “Yeah, no way. You are going to be a great mom, we need the nanny for me. I’m the one who’s going to be home with the baby full time. I also want to make sure we still get plenty of ‘we’ time so I can spank your ass and fuck you over the island in the closet.”

  I’m touched to hear Grant talk about being the one to stay home with the baby, then when he talks spanking me and fucking me I laugh. “I love the way you think. How about spanking and fucking me now?”

  “Anything you want, sweetheart.”

  Once we reach Venice there is a flurry of paperwork and meetings at the townhall, that makes me grateful Grant speaks Italian. I also call Robin and ask her if she can come to Venice for the wedding. I’m stunned to find out she already planned to be here, on Grant’s invitation.

  “When did he call you?”

  “Last week, he says I get to fly in his jet with his best friend and his housekeeper, and his housekeeper’s husband. They’ll stop in Boston to pick me up. He’s got a room for me in your hotel and everything. You are so lucky. He sounds like he’s nuts about you.”

  “I can’t believe he called you without telling me.”

  “Well, he was right to, thanks for the last minute invitation. You know, not everyone can drop work at a week’s notice and run off to Italy for a week. He told me I had to make plans to stay at least week to have a real vacation. My boss was actually a little bit of an asshole about having only two weeks’ notice to be gone a week. I think I need a new job. Anyway, I’m g
ood to go. I’ll be there with bells on.”

  “Great, I’ll see you when you get here.” I’m enjoying a bath one of my last for the next few months Grant had warned me. Grant was firm, no more of two of my favorite things long baths or sushi.

  The week before the wedding is spent much like we did in Florence, sightseeing in the morning then back to the hotel for rest. Two days before the wedding, everyone is flown in. After everyone is settled, they come up to our suite for a private dinner. Meeting Grant’s best friend is intimidating, he’s light to Grant’s dark, blond with blue eyes and a build broader than Grant’s. From the minute I see them together it’s clear how close the two men are. Marshall smiles and gives me a hug, but there’s suspicion in his eyes I can’t hide from.

  “I don’t think Marshall likes me.” I whisper to Grant, as everyone mingles with champagne, except me with sparkling water.

  “Ignore him. He’s cranky because his fiancée is stuck in the States. She couldn’t get a passport quickly enough to join him.” Grant’s arm around me settles my nerves.

  Dinner goes well but ends quicker than I would have wanted because I can’t stop yawning. I’m embarrassed, while everyone is reassuring me they understand. It’s only a little after nine when the door closes on the last person. I’m so tired I’m resting on the couch as Grant says his goodbye to Robin.

  “Sweetheart, don’t fall asleep on the couch.” He picks me up and takes me to the bedroom, setting me down carefully. I’m already falling asleep as he begins undressing me.

  When I wake up the next morning I’m alone in bed. There’s an eerie feeling that I’m alone in the suite. My stomach dips to find Grant’s side of the bed unslept in, there isn’t even a dent in the pillow. I search the suite and I can’t find Grant.

  I consider getting dressed and going down to Marshall’s suite, then remember the rooftop. Still naked from sleep, with fear nipping at my heels, I run up the stairs to the rooftop terrace. Grant’s sitting at the edge and looks like hell. I know he hasn’t slept and I know my world is about to come crashing down.