“Well, what do we have here? A shrimp? If only I had someone to help me eat this.” Logan made a kissing noise again, but there was no need. River was already at his feet, her eyes wide. Logan smiled down at her. “Hello there, Ms. River. Do you like seafood? I think you might.”
Logan leaned down and placed the shrimp at her feet. Ever the lady, she sniffed it delicately. She got right to work eating it. Logan smiled and leaned down to pat her hindquarters. River didn’t run away, so Logan felt like his mission was successful.
“The second my back is turned, you’re out here bribing my cat with seafood? I expected more from you, Logan,” Phaedra said from behind him.
Logan jumped, startling the cat. River grabbed her shrimp and ran away. Logan stood and turned to face Phaedra. Her arms were crossed. “Now look what you’ve done. I was finally making progress.” She shook her head. “It looks like you’ve learned her secret. Feed her and she’ll love you forever,” Phaedra said with a smile.
“Just like her mother.” Logan laughed. “I would like nothing more than to stay here with you two lovely ladies, but if I don’t head back to the city, I’ll be late to work.”
“How is that going, anyway?”
“It’s going great, actually. Our plan seems to be working. After meeting you, the partners all love you. I got an inquiry today that seemed serious. I’m expecting to be called up to the big office any day now.”
“I’m so glad it's working out for you. If anyone deserves to make partner, it’s you.”
“I always knew you were a clever woman.”
“Which is exactly why you needed me to make partner.” Phaedra laughed.
“Ms. Sparks, I need you for much more than that,” Logan said, pulling her closer. He embraced her, kissing her softly. Phaedra broke the kiss first.
“Weren’t you saying something about leaving for work?”
“I’m so glad you aren’t a lawyer. I would hate to face you in court.”
“As you should. Now get out of here.”
Logan chuckled and headed for the shower.
Chapter Thirteen
Phaedra
While Logan showered, Phaedra hummed to herself and scratched River under her chin. This was a dream come true. A lawyer in her shower and a cat at her feet. She reached down and stroked the top of River’s feet. Soon, there would be more little feet walking around. Phaedra wondered if Logan noticed anything different about her. Did sex with her feel different? It hadn’t for her. Logan wasn’t acting as if anything had changed. Her secret was safe for now.
* * *
Phaedra was relieved when Logan left. She loved having him in her space, but she wanted to do some more research about the pregnancy. Phaedra had never even had any pregnant friends. The only real information she had, outside of high school health classes, came from television and movies.
A simple web search led her to the information that she needed. There were so many pregnancy sites. Morning sickness usually showed up around the sixth week. Phaedra couldn’t have been more surprised. She had been pregnant for almost two months and hadn’t even noticed. At least she still had about a month until her belly started to show.
Before Phaedra did anything else, she needed to see her doctor. A quick call to the office and she was on her way to an appointment. There had been a cancellation, so if she hurried she could be seen within the hour.
* * *
At the doctor’s office, Phaedra could barely control her nervousness. Even with an appointment, she still had to wait to be seen. The magazine selection didn’t help her nerves at all. All the magazines were about parenting, health, and pregnancy. All of those ideas were terrifying.
Once they called her back to the exam area, they had her repeat the pregnancy test just to ensure the results. It was much less stressful because Phaedra knew what the results were going to be. After the test was completed, she went to the exam room and changed into a hospital gown. She hadn’t been to the OBGYN in over a year, so this appointment was long overdue.
Luckily, Phaedra’s doctor was the greatest. She insisted on being called by her first name, Christine. Christine reminded Phaedra of a nineties-era Meg Ryan. She was sweet and a little bit quirky. If Phaedra had to go through pregnancy, she was happy to have Christine to guide her.
“I hear we have a baby on board,” Christine said, with a gleeful gleam in her eye.
“That’s what they tell me.”
“I think this is great news. I have my small sonogram machine in here. That’s why I had them put you in this room. We can listen to the heartbeat while you tell me all about it.”
“I can already hear the heartbeat?”
“Definitely! Let’s get you prepped.”
The doctor covered Phaedra’s lap and lifted her gown, spreading whatever that goo is called all over her lower abdomen. The gel was icy cold as soon as it hit her stomach. Phaedra could only imagine that the sonogram wand would be even colder. She wasn’t wrong.
She forgot all about the cold when she heard a strong sound of her baby’s heartbeat. Phaedra couldn’t believe it. When she looked up at her doctor, Christine was beaming from ear to ear. At the site of her smile, Phaedra burst into tears. Phaedra wanted Logan to hear this even if he wasn’t happy about the baby. He had so much going on in his life. What had she gotten herself into?
“Isn’t this good news?” the doctor asked with her brow furrowed in concern.
“Yes. Yes, of course. I’m just overwhelmed. It’s all still so new. I wasn’t expecting this.”
“That’s normal. Almost everyone cries at this point. The worst ones are usually the fathers,” Christine said, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m sure that he’ll be excited. I only just found out.”
“It’s easier to tell them than you think. I told my husband by throwing up on his shoes. It doesn’t get much easier than that.” Christine and Phaedra shared a laugh.
“Is everything okay with the baby?”
“The baby looks great. It’s still early. You haven’t been pregnant before, so you don’t have a history of anything troublesome. Just keep an eye out for anything that seems unusual. The first three months are the most precarious. Keep an eye on your diet and don’t go bungee jumping. You should be fine.”
“I’m no expert, but I feel like there should be more advice outside of no bungee jumping.”
“You are smarter than you look,” Christine said with a chuckle.
“Is that so?”
Christine laughed harder. “Babies make me giddy. I do have the usual advice for you: No drinking. No smoking. Take the prenatal vitamins I prescribe to you.”
“I can handle that.”
“In case you were wondering, it’s too soon to tell the sex of the baby. I find that it is something the dads like to be in on.”
Phaedra smiled and nodded. It was clear what the doctor was getting at. That would be a conversation for another day. They finished up with a pelvic exam and Phaedra went on with her day.
Chapter Fourteen
Logan
Logan didn’t know what had gotten into Shelly. She was practically skipping around the office and she had been humming some annoying tune all day. He considered asking her to stop, but Shelly wasn’t a woman he wanted to cross. Logan couldn’t make it through the day without her help and she made sure that he knew it. If it wasn’t for Shelly, Logan wouldn’t be able to keep track of his appointments, his cases, or anything else. He had such a heavy workload that he depended on her.
Shelly started whistling. Logan was going to have to draw the line. That would be far too distracting while he was trying to prepare legal briefs. His surprise trip to see Phaedra had cost him some work time. Logan usually brought work home with him, and last night was no exception, but Phaedra was worth it. Logan would happily spend the day locked up in his office if it meant spending five more minutes with Phaedra.
Shelly began opening and closing file cabinets at a fevered pace. Logan kne
w better than to step foot outside of his office. That noise meant she was organizing files. She only organized files when she was in a good mood. Shelly claimed that doing it any other time would send her into a depression spiral. She was probably right. Logan didn’t even like to look through the files without her help.
Logan knew that he wouldn’t get much work done until his backlog was straightened out, but he did his best. Emails would be the best way to go, since they didn’t require silence. They had slipped to the bottom of his priority list lately.
Logan was nearly finished clearing his inbox when he realized the office had gotten quiet. All the banging of drawers had stopped. Shelly was whispering excitedly into her phone. It wasn’t like her to be secretive. Logan hated to be nosy, but technically she was at work. Supervising her was part of his job.
He listened as intently as he could without poking his head out of the door. He was surprised when the next word out of her mouth was his own name. Shelly was asking if he knew about something. The bigwigs did say that they were going to send information down. But Shelly had run right into Logan’s office the last time they called; he doubted she would keep it a secret now.
Logan was starting to feel guilty about eavesdropping when he heard her say Phaedra’s name. It all made sense now. Of course she would be plotting with Phaedra. Those two were thick as thieves, which didn’t usually bother Logan.
Two of the most important women in his life got along. You couldn’t ask for much more than that. Phaedra could have been the type of woman that would be jealous of all the time Logan spent with Shelly. That would have been a nightmare.
He decided to let them have their girl talk for now. Logan still had work to do. Shelly was still speaking to Phaedra in hushed tones, so he didn’t have to worry about noise disrupting him. He could follow up later.
* * *
When Shelly finished her phone call, she seemed to be in even better spirits than before. If that was even possible. Logan had his nose buried in his work. He couldn’t be sure, but he felt like Shelly was walking by and peeking in at him every chance she got. To be honest, that was something Shelly would do. He was almost done with his work, so he didn’t press the issue.
As soon as his work was finished, Logan sidled out to Shelly’s desk. She was smirking like a woman with a secret. There was no doubt that she knew something Logan didn’t know.
“I see you and my fiancé have gotten quite close,” Logan said with a smile of his own.
Shelly’s smile faltered, but only for a moment. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“No idea, huh? Well, I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but our offices are pretty close. I know that you were talking to her. I also know that there are things you are privy to that I am not.”
“It sounds like you don’t know much of anything, if I do say so myself.”
“As your superior, I could compel you to tell me.”
Shelly laughed. “It’s cute that you think that. The sister code will not allow me to break her confidence. Phaedra entrusted me with this information and I will take it to my grave.”
“I wasn’t going to try that hard to convince you. I just want to know what is going on. I don’t like being out of the loop.”
“You never do. If it was up to me, I would tell you.”
“What if I were to buy you dinner?”
“You might want to try that fiancé of yours. You might have a better chance of sweet talking her.
“You know what? You’re right. I might just try that.”
Chapter Fifteen
Phaedra
Phaedra felt better now that she had told someone. She wasn’t sure if telling Shelly was the best idea. But if it hadn’t been for Shelly, she would have never known she was pregnant in the first place. The least she could do was let her in on the story on the pregnancy confirmation.
Shelly promised that Logan wouldn’t find out the truth from her. She wouldn’t have been whispering if he hadn’t been in the office. Shelly was so happy that you would have thought she was the one having the baby.
Phaedra could almost picture their life together. She could already imagine herself making breakfast with the baby on her hip, turning around to straighten Logan’s tie. She could bring her baby to photoshoots and watch her crawl in the grass while she took pictures.
She was so close to living her dream life. Phaedra had her dream job and her dream fiancé. Connecticut was a great place to live, and it was an easy commute to New York City. Unlike some parts of the country, Connecticut got to experience all four seasons.
Phaedra had never been sure if she wanted children. She did believe that some things were meant to be. She thought she was handling all of this quite well. The more she thought about it, the better she liked the idea.
The fact that River was still alive and kicking was a good sign. That meant that Phaedra could keep other living things alive. River was fifteen years old. That was a full-grown feline adult. The little one growing inside her would still need a lot of care and attention. The thought of her baby turning fifteen made her a little queasy. One step at a time. Baby first. Babies were sweet and cute even if they were a lot of work.
There was no denying that Phaedra was in love with Logan, but now they had a lifelong commitment. Until this point, they were only pretending it would be forever. She knew that Logan cared for her, but she didn’t know how he would feel about a baby forcing their hand.
As positive as she was about having the baby and having her relationship with Logan, she still wanted to keep the pregnancy a secret. Phaedra trusted him, but she wasn’t sure how he would feel about starting a family.
Before the pregnancy test, Phaedra was comfortable with her lifestyle and decisions. The new baby had thrown a monkey wrench into her plans. Phaedra didn’t blame the baby, though. She and Logan made this baby, and no matter what happened, they would raise it. Hopefully, they would raise their child together.
All this thinking about babies stressed her out. The stress was making her hungry. She hadn’t been paying too much attention, but in the back of her mind the idea of an apple pie milkshake was planted. It was odd because that wasn’t even her favorite type of milkshake. Chocolate was her all-time favorite. Right now, the apple pie shake was all she could think about.
Phaedra had a photoshoot today. A maternity photo shoot, at that. She was going to have leave early for her shoot if she wanted to stop for a shake. There was only one place that made them. It was a tiny diner, but their attention to detail was unmatched. They took an entire slice of apple pie and blended it with vanilla ice cream and milk. It was truly heaven in a cup.
* * *
Once Phaedra had her milkshake firmly in hand, she was ready to get to work. The entire drive to the shoot, the milkshake never left her lips. Just as she heard the telltale slurp that indicated she had reached the bottom of her drink, she pulled into the parking lot.
The lot wasn’t leading to a more refined destination. It was the destination. The mom-to-be was having her maternity shoot in front of a graffiti wall. She was a fan of street art and thought it would be a great way to share her love of art with her family.
Phaedra wondered if she was cutting it close by doing a photoshoot at this precarious time in her life. Working was important. She had to make a living. Phaedra was nervous, but she hoped it might give her ideas about her own maternity photos. Phaedra realized she might have to find another photographer for her shoot although she would prefer to do it herself. She didn’t have time to dwell on it. There was a very pregnant woman waiting for her.
Phaedra couldn’t recall the last time she had enjoyed a shoot so much. It was perfect. The mom-to-be had chosen to have her photos taken in front of a large piece depicting B Boys in eighties-style graffiti. She and her husband had even dressed the part. They both wore track suits, shell toe sneakers, and chunky gold chains. The best part of their outfits was the woman’s cropped shirt that showed the baby bum
p to its fullest extent. It was the sweetest thing Phaedra had seen in a while.
Her thoughts started to drift back to her own pregnancy, but she caught herself before the daydream went too far. She could give it some serious thought later. Fortunately, the couple on the other side of her camera barely needed any direction. It was clear from their body language that they had been together for a long time. Their moves and poses were so in sync.
The shoot went by in a flash. By the end, everyone was laughing and smiling. Phaedra couldn’t wait to see how the photos turned out. She had a sneaking suspicion that they would be great, though.
Once everything was done, Phaedra had the rest of her day free. She thought about heading back to Connecticut; then she remembered Logan’s spare key. It wasn’t actually Logan’s key anymore. It was Phaedra’s key, and she might as well use it. She considered stopping to buy groceries to cook for him, but she had a strong craving for Chinese food.
She stopped on the way to Logan’s place long enough to grab a takeout menu from a local restaurant. When Phaedra arrived at Logan’s house, she wandered around, getting better acquainted with the place. She had been to his apartment many times, but never alone. Phaedra almost felt like she was trespassing. She had to remind herself that she was allowed to be there.
She decided to text Logan.
Phaedra: How is work going?
Logan: Not bad, almost done for the day. You?
Phaedra: All done. Shoot was great!
Her Focus: Exposed to Love: Book Two Page 4