An Unexpected Baby

by Shadonna Richards

  Emma sighed and shifted herself appearing uncomfortable.

  “Oh, baby, come here.” Evan guided Emma to sit down on his lap once he seated himself back on his chair. He held her like cradling a child. Her soft flowery scent tantalized his nose. He kissed her again tenderly on the chin and then moved his lips to her lips. He felt an electric current travel through his vein. He was falling in love with her all over again, if that was at all possible. But right now, he had to get to the bottom of her not looking so well.

  “Anything I can get you, hon?”

  “No. Evan.” Emma sighed heavily, her brown-eyed gazed dropped to the marble floor of the den. “I have something I need to tell you,” she murmured, sliding his right hand from her belly and pushing it away.

  “What is it, baby?”

  Emma sighed again. Her heart was thrashing about madly inside her chest. Her stomach ached as if someone was throwing her mighty blows. It was empty. She was not carrying his child after all. This was harder for her than she’d thought. Looking into Evan’s sexy, dark eyes and his long beautiful lashes was not going to be easy when she was about to burst his bubble. His five o’clock shadow which he’d been sporting a lot of these days made him look like a bad-boy tycoon. She was turned on by it! But not turned on about what she was about to tell him.

  How was she going to deliver the news of the newfound pregnancy results without crushing the man who had put her up on a new pedestal?

  5.

  Emma drew in another deep breath and turned her face to look Evan in the eyes. “Honey, you’re crying!”

  “No, I’m not!”

  “Yes, you are, baby. I…I’m not used to seeing you cry.”

  She pushed her hand to remove a tear drop that spilled out of the corner of his sexy dark eyes. Her stomach leaped like an Olympic gymnast on the uneven parallel bars.

  “What is it, baby?” she probed.

  Evan drew in a breath and squeezed Emma closer to his body. He rested his head on her breasts and closed his eyes. “I love you and our unborn child, Emma. You have no idea how happy you’ve made me,” he whispered in a low moan as he caressed her back and gently rubbed her tummy.

  Oh, God! This was so not the right time to tell him that her belly was empty. No baby. She must think of something fast! But what?

  He kissed her neck then brushed his soft lips against hers. Emma’s body reacted to his pleasurable touch and she moaned in her throat. His fingers moved to massage her nipple under her blouse. Emma felt electric currents of desire rush through her body. Oh, she was so turned on. Now was definitely not the best time to tell Evan. She couldn’t kill the mood. And for what? Maybe she could get pregnant now.

  After passionate lovemaking on the plush sofa in the den, Emma laid cradled in Evan’s strong, muscular arms. She looked up at him and couldn’t help but melt at the grin on his face. He seemed as if he were in heaven. Oh, why couldn’t she really be pregnant? That darn ODP pregnancy test! They should have made the instructions clear on the box. Then again, she did throw it out right after she pulled the test stick out, didn’t she?

  “What’s on your mind, baby?” Evan’s deep, sexy low voice derailed her line of thought.

  “You’re awake, hon?” His eyes were still closed and he looked dreamy, yet she knew he must have peeked at her as she laid on his muscled chest. A blanket covering the two of them as they rested in the after-glow of love-making. The French double doors to the den were locked just in case anyone tried to come in. That was the only downside to living with extended family and servants.

  “You look like you have a ton on your mind.” His lips were still curved into a salacious grin and his eyes were now penetrating her as he opened them.

  “Oh, it’s nothing.”

  “You’re worried about the baby?” he queried.

  Actually, I’m worried about the lack of baby.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “That’s why I used the condom just in case, baby. I didn’t want to take any chances. But you’re still safe to make love to your husband, unless the doc says otherwise. Speaking of which…” He leaned up a bit in the couch with a quizzical expression on his face. “Which obstetrician are you going to use for our baby? I’m planning to change my schedule to make sure that we can go to your first official appointment together, hon."

  “What?”

  “Your first appointment. You know. The official pregnancy blood test at the doc’s office then the referral to a good obstetrician. I want to make sure you get only the best.”

  Emma’s entire body stiffened. She tried to hide the look of horror on her face by burying her face into Evan’s naked chest.

  She felt a sudden urge to make a bathroom visit, probably guilt. She got up from the sofa hugging the sheets around her. Thank God the den had its own private en suite bathroom.

  “Where are you going, hon?” Evan called out to her as she made her way across the spacious den.

  Where am I going? Probably hell!

  “Oh, just to pee, hon.” She tried to hide the quiver in her voice.

  “Oh, right. I read somewhere you’ll be taking a lot of bathroom breaks, especially during the first three months."

  Oh, God! He wants to go with me to the doctor to do the official blood test for pregnancy. How am I going to get out of this one?

  6.

  “Good morning, Fletcher Advertising,” Lucinda the receptionist answered the phone at the corporation with a reserved tone in her voice. As receptionist, no matter how crappy she felt she had to try to mask it with a smile or fake pleasantry.

  “Hi, I’m trying to reach Emma Fletcher? I keep getting her voice-mail.”

  Lucinda felt acid rise to her chest and tasted bitterness in her mouth at the sound of Emma’s name. Emma, her former co-receptionist who got promoted to account executive and then later lover to the CEO, or was it wife now? All this by weaving a little lie about a real marriage to spare her dying grandfather’s feelings while tricking him into believing it was fake. And now, she’s pregnant? Supposedly. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was faking that too to get Evan’s interest again. He’d been spending more time at the office staying late again and less time with her but now that’s all changed because she said she was pregnant. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair. She got the job first at Fletcher’s. Then before Emma even showed up on the scene, she’d been Evan’s secret lover. Well, sort of. At the Annual Office Christmas party. They both had too much to drink. But she remembered his erotic touch and his soft lips on her body. The feel of his muscular chest. God, she missed him. Lucinda could have had him, if stupid, clumsy Emma hadn’t showed up on the scene. What on earth did he see in her anyway? Ugh.

  “Hello?” The voice on the other end of the phone jolted Lucinda back to reality.

  “Her name is Wiggins and she won’t be working in the office for a while. She’ll be working from home.” Lucinda’s voice was curt.

  “Oh? Well, I’m an old friend of hers. Is there a number where she could be reached?”

  Lucinda looked at the memo posted on her reception desk from Emma and read it again: Please feel free to give out my cell phone number to all who call for me. I’m available and working from home.

  “No.”

  “Excuse me,” the voice queried again with surprise in his tone.

  “No. There’s no number where she can be reached. She’s not available. Thank you for calling.” Lucinda didn’t wait for the other person to probe further and put down the receiver on the phone. If confronted about this, she’d simply say the opposite of what just happened. Why surely Evan would believe her version. A smug grin crossed her face. The thought of taking out her frustration behind Emma’s back delighted her. She was always the passive aggressive type according to an office survey from a private company. But who cared? That was who she was and any chance she could get to screw that nitwit cow, she would snap it up right away!

  7.

  The following week, Emma
kept pulling different dresses out of her closet and placing them against her body looking in the full length mirror of her walk in closet. She didn’t know how she was supposed to dress for her first appointment. The truth was, she was just plain terrified of Evan finding out that she was not really pregnant. At all. She could not blow it now and take a real pregnancy test.

  “Hey, you look beautiful, baby.” Evan’s voice startled Emma as he stood in the doorway with a cup of coffee in his hand, a warm smile on his handsome face.

  “Oh, honey. I didn’t see you there.” She tried to hide the terror in her voice as it cracked. Guilt 101. Or was that fear? Fear of getting caught.

  “Just admiring you from afar.” He smiled. His voice was seductively deep and salacious. Evan had been treating Emma like a prized queen ever since he’d found out that her home pregnancy test result was positive. Only it wasn’t.

  Emma almost choked on her own saliva in her throat.

  “You okay, baby?” Evan asked as he placed the cup of coffee on the table outside the door and walked over to his wife.

  “Yes, I just…” know that I’m going to go straight to hell when you find out I’m faking it and trying to get pregnant. “I’m just a little-”

  “I know. No need to explain. Baby, I’ve been reading up a lot about pregnant women recently.”

  “You have?”

  “Of course! I want to make sure I’m there for you in every way I can. Even when you go through your mood swings and your hormones are all over the place.” He held her close and gently massaged her belly. His aftershave seemed extra sweet this morning. Emma craved his touch. She really did. It was just that guilt was a bitter acid to taste in her throat.

  That freaking false pregnancy test. Ugh.

  Emma had been trying to think of ways for Evan to forgo the condom and make passionate love to her every night. At first he questioned it and then he told her he realized that because of her changing hormones he understood her need for more sex and cuddling than ever. He just didn’t want anything to happen to the baby.

  So far they’ve had great sex and read that it was a wonderful way for partners to remain intimate during pregnancy. As long as she was on the top position, which Evan seemed to have no trouble with or the side-lying position whatever made Emma comfortable. He tried to avoid deep penetration but Emma would tell him that really it was safe as long as she was comfortable. How else would she really get pregnant while she was faking it?

  They’d both had fun searching online for medical sites that advised ten things a person should know about sex during pregnancy and what Emma should expect while expecting. She was already on the hunt, privately, for a book on how to get knocked up fast. The title was something to the effect of Instant Conception: 100 Proven Techniques that really work! She didn’t want to order through Amazon and risk Evan getting the package and opening it. And unfortunately, it was probably the only book in the world not available on Kindle. Who didn’t have a Kindle version of their book online? Ugh. So she had planned to go to the bookstore today instead of the doctor’s appointment to stock up on other techniques on the best positions for conception and so on.

  “Honey, you look gorgeous in your new dress shirt and tie. Are you going in to the office today?”

  “You kidding me? I’m going with you to your first appointment with the doctor when you take your blood test.”

  Emma’s blood ran cold.

  ***

  “Yes, yes,” Grandpa Wiggins spoke loudly on the phone to the producer of the documentary on cancer survivors.

  “My granddaughter is going to have a baby and I may live to see my great-grandchild being born. Doc says that I could have a year depending on how stable I remain. Isn’t that great news?”

  “That’s wonderful news,” Kyle responded on the phone. “In fact, do you think she’d mind if we also follow her progress in her pregnancy and what it would mean to have you be there for her? I understand that she is your closest relative.”

  “Well, yes, you could say that. She hardly sees her mom up in Canada. Emma is my baby. She’s my whole world and she has always taken good care of me. Never thought I’d live to see her married and settled down much less produce an heir to the Wiggins name.” He chuckled as he rocked back and forth in his specialized motor rocking chair. The one Emma ordered specially for him from this infomercial after he told her that he sometimes had no energy to move like he used to and he would love “one of ‘dem chairs.” It cost Emma close to $4,000 of her savings but it was worth every penny, she told him. Nothing was too good for her dear old Gramps!

  “So we can ask for her consent?”

  “Sure. I mean I could give it to you but better to ask her. She’d love for you to film her pregnancy progress as you film my year before I move on. It’ll make us both immortal.” He chuckled again.

  “That’s great. We’ll get some papers drawn up then we’ll make an appointment to film the first episode of The Real Survivors.”

  “Beautiful,” Grandpa Wiggins said as he placed the phone down. A smug grin made its way on his face. This would be a wonderful gift to his granddaughter and unborn great-grandchild. They’d have this for their keepsake forever. This documentary would be broadcast on local television but it would become a precious family heirloom on Grandpa’s fight for survival and for seeing to the Wiggins line continuing on.

  ***

  “Honey, why do I get the feeling you don’t really want me to come with you to your appointment? What’s going on? I thought you’d be excited for me to be there. We could both get some pep talk from the doc at the same time. You know I am half responsible for what’s going on inside of you.” He tried to sound as if it didn’t bother him, but it sure as hell did. Why was Emma so damn jumpy around him all of a sudden? He’d read up on a lot of literature recently on what to expect around pregnant women but “jumpiness around your husband” didn’t catch his eye. In fact, he didn’t think she should be that jumpy. Maybe she was just nervous about having blood tests. She never liked to be poked with a needle. But then again, who did?

  “Oh, it’s nothing, hon. I just…” Just what? What reason could you possibly give him without breaking his heart? Most women would jump at the chance of their other half going to every appointment with them and showing so much interest in the pregnancy. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why did you have to open your big mouth and put your big foot in it before you got a blood test done?

  Emma sighed. “Sorry. I just thought…I’d go it alone. You know. Please understand, Evan.”

  Evan drew in a deep breath and shook his head. “Are you hiding something from me, Emma?”

  The question was so pointed that Emma felt her heart pierce at the word "hiding."

  She remembered all too well what happened six months ago. After she hid the fact that they were really getting married instead of just pretending since the minister at the hospital would be licensed. Of course, she never planned it that way but it was so hard to come up with the truth to hurt Gramps who thought the wedding would be real and hurt Evan who thought their wedding would be fake.

  She reached over and planted a soft, passionate kiss on Evan’s lips. “I love you, baby. Please trust me on this one. I just need to go alone today. That’s all.”

  “Fine, if that’s what you want.” Evan kissed her forehead but without the sizzle she usually felt. Was he pissed off? Probably. He tightened his lips and she thought she saw a muscle twitch in his jaw. Oh, God, he was really pissed. A shadow of annoyance crossed his face.

  “Honey,” she tried to reach out to him but he strategically dodged her hand. She shivered at his sudden chilled reception. The warmth in his eyes had dissolved into ice.

  Shit!

  “You can reach me on my cell if you need me. I’m going to visit Pops at the center.” He walked away without looking at her.

  Emma felt her stomach lurch. A gamut of emotions rushed through her. Pain, disappointment in herself, guilt, torment. She was supposed to be
overcome with joy but instead she was overwhelmed in desperation. Desperate to be pregnant and to have her husband’s baby. As fear and despair knotted inside her she could not even go after Evan. What would she tell him? She heard his footsteps rush down the steps, the sound of keys rattling and the slam of the front door.

  She’d really done it, hadn’t she? She ruined things between her and Evan.

  Again.

  ***

  Emma perused the book section in Walmart looking for her books. She wore dark sunglasses, a large brimmed hat and tucked her hair neatly beneath it. Hopefully, she would not be recognized since this Super Walmart was the only store that carried the book at the moment closest to home—and unfortunately close to the office. She should have driven out of town or out of state but Evan would notice the odometer reading as he usually did when he took the car in for washing, which he did often or filling it up with gas. He’d refused to let his wife fill up her own gas or go to a car wash. He took it upon himself to do what he thought of as a man’s job when in a serious relationship.

  She’d already filled her cart with What to Expect When Expecting, the mother of all Expecting books and some other stuff on nutrition for pregnant women (just in case) but she was looking for one particular book.

  Instant Conception: 100 Proven Techniques

  “Great! There it is!” Emma couldn’t believe her luck. She reached for the book as if reaching for an Olympic gold medal. This was her prize. This was the answer to all her dreams. Another friend of hers said that she got pregnant after following only a few of the techniques and they were so much fun, like trying out special positions she’d never heard of before and eating certain foods. Having hot sex during certain times of the month and all that stuff.

  She eagerly flipped the book open and began scanning the pages with glee as if a child had just entered a toyland and couldn’t wait to dive into all the fun toys!