How to Knock Up Your Nurse: A Billionaire Secret Baby Romantic Comedy

by Melinda Minx

  20

  Emily

  “Mommy! Mommy!” Elijah ran up to me.

  We were at our wedding reception. Silas was officially my husband as of a few hours ago, and Silas and I were eating at our own special table.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Naomi and Ava ran up behind him. Elijah pouted. “Naomi said the flower girl is more important than the ring bear.”

  Ava smiled at me with big, innocent eyes.

  “They’re both super important,” Silas said. “You can’t have the wedding without the ring bear or the flower girl.”

  We’d both just started calling it “ring bear” to match with how Elijah said it.

  “But, but, but, but,” Elijah stammered, “but the ring!”

  Ava was holding a flower she’d likely nicked from one of the tables, and she smiled and stuck it in Elijah’s face. “It smell so goood!”

  Naomi pursed her lips. “I was just telling little cousin Elijah that even if there was no ring bearer, the rings would still be there. If there were no flower girl, then there wouldn’t be flowers all over the ground.”

  Elijah looked like he was on the brink of crying, and thankfully Naomi picked up on that. “I think your daddy is right though, little Elijah. Both jobs are so so important, right Dr. Emily?”

  Naomi had seen me in my white coat one too many times—and heard Silas call me that one too many times—and “Dr. Emily” had stuck just as “ring bear” had.

  I nodded. “Yes, both jobs are very important. And both you and Ava did so amazingly well at them. You were the most handsome ring bear ever, Elijah.”

  “I was pretty too!” Ava shouted.

  “Very, very pretty,” I said, nodding.

  “Okay,” Naomi said, suddenly sounding much older than she was. “Let’s stop bothering them now and go back to the kids’ table.”

  Silas leaned in and put a hand on the small of my back. “I hope you don’t mind that they call him ‘Cousin Elijah.’”

  I shook my head. “It’s sweet. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, and I don’t think Wilder or Wyatt are going to be giving us cousins anytime soon. So it’s nice that Elijah can have some cousins.”

  Wilder was sitting with a woman who looked like a young Dolly Parton impersonator. Twice already they’d argued loud enough that Silas had to glare at him and make him go outside.

  Wyatt had come alone, though plenty of women had picked up on that and tried to make passes on him. To no effect.

  Silas snorted through his nose and nodded.

  There was a gentle ringing sound, and I looked over and saw Noah standing with a mostly empty champagne glass in his hand. Everyone quieted down and looked up at Noah.

  “As the best man, I’m supposed to do this,” he said, “I’ve known Silas ever since he came back to New York. We were two broke guys with a dream. When you achieve your dream at the age of 22, it’s hard to know where to go from there. I know that both of us were restless. For me, my new dream fell right into my lap when I found out I had a daughter, Naomi. I suddenly went from—what I can see now—as an aloof billionaire who had no idea what would really make him happy, to a single father who thought he had everything he needed. Then came Lacey.”

  He put a hand on Lacey’s shoulder and smiled down at her. She blushed and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

  “Dream number two or three, depending on how you count,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you all. I felt guilty. I’d had two beautiful things come right into my life and solve all of my problems. Then came Ava, and it was suddenly three things. All the while Silas was still restless. I won’t say at his own wedding what I mean by restless, but I’m sure all of you can get the idea.”

  Everyone laughed, and I hit his arm playfully with the back of my hand.

  Wilders held a drink up toward Silas and smirked at us.

  “Anyway,” Silas said, “I saw the change. When Silas met Nurse Emily—she was a nurse back then, and that’s what we ended up calling her—things were different. You could tell that just by looking at him. One night, and he’d become a changed man. I’m sure most of you know the story, so I won’t re-tell it here, but Silas was gutted that she was gone. He wouldn’t tell me as much, but between Naomi and me prodding, we got the whole picture soon enough. Silas wasn’t just restless after he met Emily. He was like a man with a part of himself missing. So when we ran into her again in Prospect Park, I knew that fate was throwing Silas a bone. I knew I could finally stop worrying about him being happy.”

  Noah cleared this throat. “And then he almost screwed it all up.”

  Everyone laughed, and a few people shot glances at us.

  “Luckily for him ,he had me to give him advice,” Noah said, “and lucky for you too, Emily! I believe it was mostly delivered through golf analogies, which Silas hates, but—”

  Silas shook his head and cut Noah off. “Most of that advice was from Dave Grussler! If you all really want to thank the man who kept us together, go by the newest Blackwinters Publishing release: Sniper Team Six.”

  Noah shrugged. “I won’t object if it means everyone here is buying our books. Anyway, I’ve talked long enough. I just want to end by saying that I am absolutely happy for both of you, and my girls call Elijah their cousin. Elijah—and any more kids you two have, and you can start working on that tonight—should call me Uncle Noah.”

  Lacey raised her hand. “And Aunt Lacey!”

  21

  Happily Ever After

  Noah, Lacey, Naomi, and Ava all came over for Christmas.

  Silas had decided to skip Christmas in Denver this year. Wilders was on business in Europe, and Silas had mentioned that his father was “difficult” during holidays.

  Ava had her newest toy, a sparkly pink and purple pony with a realistic looking tail and mane. She had a comb in her hand, and she was “grooming” her pony, which she had named Pinky.

  Naomi had a light-up tracing pad, and she immediately shoved the pad into my face when she arrived.

  “Look! Doctor Emily! I’m drawing fashion designs!”

  The pad looked to have come with a lot of different things to trace. The surface of the pad was brightly lit, and Naomi traced over various designer dresses being modeled by girls with pouty lips and big sunglasses.

  “That looks so beautiful,” I said, making a big show of checking out the drawings.

  “Woah!” Elijah said, sticking his head between me and the pad. “You drawed that, Naomi?”

  “I traced it,” she said, “which is a lot like drawing. Also, I colored it all without even tracing.”

  “Can I trace too?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Naomi said, “you can be my fashion designer assistant, little Cousin Elijah.”

  “You wanna see my slime?” Elijah asked. “Or my poopy cat? It has a orange leash!”

  We’d gotten him way too many toys. It was the first Christmas we’d spent together, and between me, my mom, Noah, and everyone else, he’d made out like a bandit.

  My Mom and Silas were making smalltalk with all of the other adults as they came in and got settled. Once the kids were all settled and playing together. The grownups sat down in the living room by the fire.

  “I heard you did well in your first tournament,” Lacey said.

  I nodded. “I got this lady in what was basically a choke hold.”

  “Which was illegal,” Silas said, pulling me up tight against him. “And extremely badass.”

  “Badass, but it almost got me disqualified. Still, I ended up making it to the semi-finals. I was the only white belt to make it that far.”

  Noah smiled and nodded in approval.

  “You two never wanted to try Jiu Jitsu?” My Mom asked.

  Noah and Lacey shook their heads. Lacey smiled. “We just like watching Naomi do it.”

  Silas got up, and he came back with two bottles of wine. As soon as he uncorked the first bottle, I started pouring glasses for everyone as he worked o
n the second one.

  I skipped myself, hoping no one would notice.

  Lacey raised an eyebrow at me. I shot her a warning look.

  Silas, of course, started a toast.

  I held up an empty glass, hoping no one would really notice.

  “Hold on,” Silas said, putting up a hand and looking over to me. “You didn’t pour yourself one?”

  “I had a bit of a headache. I’m just going to get some water.”

  I got up to get some water, but immediately I felt nauseous. I steeled myself against the couch, willing my stomach to not empty itself. By the time the wave passed, Silas was all over me, but Lacey and my mom were looking at me. They’d already figured it out.

  Noah and Silas, by contrast, were clueless.

  “Should we take you to the ER?” Noah asked, standing up and getting out his phone. “Silas, lay her down. I’ll get an ice pack.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, feeling the nausea fully subside. I’d already thrown up once this morning.

  “I’m taking you to the doctor anyway,” Silas said.

  “I’m the doctor. Trust me, I’m fine.”

  He looked at me with serious concern on his face. I hadn’t wanted to tell him yet, because I was afraid of jinxing it. I was afraid that the moment I told him, something might go wrong. It was Christmas though, and I was surrounded by family.

  This was my chance to tell Silas, and to make up for not telling him the last time. It wasn’t right for me to keep it from him even if it was just me being superstitious.

  “I have one more gift to give you, Silas,” I said.

  “What? Forget the gifts, Emily, if you’re not feeling well we’ve got to get you looked at. It could be a serious condition. I’m sure your mom would watch Elijah, or Lacey and Noah, or—”

  “Silas,” my mom said, “shut up and be receptive to what your wife is telling you.”

  “What?” I asked. “What is it?”

  “I’m not sick, Noah. I’m pregnant. That’s the last gift. Elijah.”

  Elijah was playing slime with Ava and Naomi. They had found a way to cover Poopy Cat’s poop with it. He looked up at me.

  “You’re going to have a little brother or sister. You’ll be a big brother.”

  Naomi’s eyes widened. “Another little cousin?”

  Silas was still just staring at me with his mouth hanging open. He mouthed a word that he couldn’t say in front of the kids, then he smiled wide at me. “Another kid? Really?”

  I nodded, tears forming in my eyes.

  He grabbed hold of my waist and lifted me up. I giggled as he pulled me against him and spun me around. “We’re going to have another kid! You hear that? I’m catching up to you, Noah.”

  Once Silas finally put me down, he poured me some filtered water into my wine glass, and we all got ready to toast again. He even filled up little glasses for the kids, full of apple cider. Everyone clinked their glasses together, and we drank to the new member of the family.

  THE END. Want more like this? Check out How to Wife Your Nanny. I’m Lacey Larsen, and my life is a trainwreck. The train’s name is Noah Black. The billionaire who ruined my life five years ago is trying to make things right. I have a million reasons not to forgive him, but when he offers me a dollar for each one, my three dead-end jobs make it hard to say no. Click here to read more.

  Join my VIP club to read a free bonus scene, Elijah’s first day of school. Click here to get the bonus scene.

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  1

  Lacey

  I sat in the library with a nice hot cup of coffee. Frankie, one of the full-time librarians, pushed a cart of books up to me and smiled. He was wearing goofy suspenders with bright-red pops of color, which matched his bright-red socks.

  “Happy Tuesday, Lacey,” he said.

  I held my cup of coffee up to him and smiled. “Any word on a full-time position?”

  “I heard Sandra matched with someone on Tinder.” He looked down at his watch and furrowed his brows. “So if things go really well, she might go on maternity leave in...nine months. Give or take a few days?”

  I worked as a librarian on Tuesday and Thursday only. These were my favorite days of the week. I worked two other jobs to fill the rest of the week and to make ends meet. I didn’t like those other jobs.

  I faked a sobbing sound, but Franke just put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Just hang in there.”

  “How long did you have to hang in there?”

  “Three years,” he said, wincing.

  I looked at the full-time librarians like some kind of mythical figures. These were the men and women who got to come in here every single morning. To touch and talk about books all day and get paid for it. Their customers weren’t self-entitled assholes who set out to make their lives miserable, they were people who liked the library. People who wanted to read, or people who wanted their kids to learn.

  And speaking of kids, I saw the first of the Reading Hour kids trickling in, so I drained my coffee with a big gulp and threw away the cup.

  I smiled wide and waved to the kids with both hands.

  “Miss Lacey!” they shouted.

  I loved kids, not that I was ever going to have any at this rate. I spent every day working three jobs to barely be able to pay my bills. It’s not like I had time to do things like date, and even if I did have time, it’s not like I was any good at getting men to ever so much as look at me.

  Logan, Toya, and Dmitri were the three kids already here. They ran up and hugged me. These three were here every single Tuesday.

  Toya smiled up at me. “Can we do the animal song?”

  “Of course we can.”

  I didn’t just read books for these kids. I had entire song and dance routines, complete with costumes and cheesy jokes. The good thing about kids is that the only thing they love more than cheesy jokes are the same cheesy jokes over and over, week after week.

  After about ten minutes, I had a full group of kids. The youngest was a toddler who could barely walk without falling down on her butt every few steps. The oldest was a seven- or eight-year old girl who was there with her younger sister.

  Some of the parents hung back and drank coffee, some sat right behind the group of kids and participated with us, while others just completely wandered off and used the Reading Hour to get some much-needed relaxation time.

  “Good morning, everyone!”

  “Good morning, Miss Lacey!” about half of them said back. Some of the younger toddlers weren’t even looking at me.

  I put a hand to my ear in an exaggerated motion. “You sound sooo tired. You can be louder than that!”

  “GOOD MORNING, MISS LACEY!” They shouted.

  “Shh!” I hissed, grinning at them so that they knew I was just joking. “This is a library!”

  They laughed. Logan pointed a finger at me. “You tricked us, Miss Lacey!”

  I winked at him. “What do we want to start with—”

  “Animal song! Animal song!” Logan and Toya said together.

  I opened my backpack up and pulled out the big bag full of the costumes. To call them “costumes” was a bit of a stretch. They were cheap little masks with elastic bands that I bought for a few cents each at one of those party supply stores, but the kids’ imaginations made them work.

  “Who wants to be the…” I reached into the bag and made a big dramatic pause. I pulled out the first mask, “the chicken!”

  “Me! Me!” Logan shouted.

  “You got to be the chicken last time!” Dmitri said. “It’s my turn!”

  It took me a good two or three minutes to calm everyone down and get everyone more or less satisfied with their animal mask.

  “Hmm,” I said, “now I need a costume—”

  “Pig! Pig!” Dmitri said, laughing.

  “Hmmm,” I reached into the bag. There were several masks left, but the kids didn’t know that. “Oh no! It looks like there’s only one mask left. I’m
going to have to be…”

  “The pig! The pig!” Toya said.

  I smiled and pulled out the pig mask.

  I held my mask up. “Okay, everyone, it’s time to put on your mask!”

  I put my mask on. It had little eye holes and a big pig nose. I knew I looked ridiculous with it, but the kids loved it.

  I walked around the group, helping the younger ones put the masks on.

  “Does everyone know what sound your animal makes?” I asked. “Let’s go one at a time.”

  I gave each kid a chance to do their animal sound. Some of the kids got really into it, others were shy and just quietly made the noise while looking straight at the floor. When it was my turn, I really hammed it up.

  “Oink!” I said. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled around like a pig. I really started snorting in through my nose. Not just saying “oink,” but imitating a pig as best as I possibly could.

  The kids were all laughing, and some started crawling around on the carpet with me, making their own sounds with me.

  “Are you hungry, Miss Piggy?” Toya asked. She mimicked throwing food to me. I pretended to snarf it up, snorting and making big exaggerated chewing sounds.

  When I finally looked up, my blood froze in my veins. A man was towering over me. His face looked like it was carved from marble, but when his cool blue eyes met mine, that statuesque face cracked into a smirk. His hair was medium-length and slicked back, but just the right amount of strands fell forward haphazardly, just above his high cheekbones.

  He was wearing a full suit. His tie was a light blue with black patterns and gold trim. I did most of my shopping at thrift stores and Target, so I didn’t know for sure, but the suit looked expensive. It smelled expensive. He smelled expensive.

  It wasn’t uncommon to see strikingly attractive people of either gender in New York City. This man was far beyond that though. If I saw him on the other side of the street in Manhattan, even in a crowd of people, I’d stop walking and stare. And then when he passed by me, I’d probably turn around just to gawk as he walked away. I’d probably hold my breath the whole time too, only able to breathe again once he had walked fully out of sight.