Steven _BWWM Romance

by Katie Dowe

  “Enough!” Alicia said with a laugh. “I happen to know what having a baby entails. I have seen you guys pregnant although with you, Donna, you made it seem so easy.”

  “I had an easy pregnancy with hardly any nausea and only twelve hours of labor with limited crying from my baby.”

  “I was the exact opposite,” Elaine said with a grimace as she handed the girls the bowls of soup. “Orlando was too big so I got a tear down there which meant that it hurt like hell to pee and my daughter was a whiny brat. Oh, did I forget to mention the sore nipples?”

  “I thought you wanted me to get pregnant?” Alicia asked them mildly as she slurped her soup.

  “We do,” Donna said with a smile. “Don’t pay Elaine any mind, she is always looking on the down side.”

  “I am being practical. All that aside, honey, we are thrilled! Motherhood is a blessing and all that. What does Steven say?”

  “He does not know yet. I only discovered it for real when I started to brush my teeth and everything came back up. It started at the sushi restaurant last night where we were having dinner.”

  “And he did not suspect?” Donna asked her.

  “I did not even know myself. I thought it was because I had not eaten properly.”

  “So when are you going to tell him?” Donna asked her.

  “Later. I am going to have him come over. So I guess we are really in a relationship,” she said slowly.

  “How do you feel about that?” Elaine asked her curiously.

  Alicia shrugged as she stirred her soup. “Very strange.”

  *********

  Alicia set the pace. Her friends left at four after giving her well-meaning advice and suggestions as to how she should go about telling him. She took a bath this time, a long one where she contemplated her future. She was going to have to go to the doctor to make sure but she had no doubt that she was carrying his child. Then she would have to tell them at work. She frowned. She hoped that she was not going to have to take off early because of the pregnancy! Then she had the nursery to think about. And how the arrangements would be between her and Steven.

  She finished her bath and slipped into a thin lounge suit, leaving her hair loose. She had called him an hour earlier and asked him to come over. It was almost seven o’clock which meant he would be here in a few minutes. She had just finished tidying up the kitchen when she heard the doorbell. Taking a deep breath she went to open it.

  “Hi.” Her eyes drifted over his soft blue sweater and up to his face. “Come on in.” She moved aside to let him in.

  “How are you?” he asked her as soon as she closed the door.

  “I am okay. Let’s go into the kitchen. Are you hungry?”

  “Do you have anything to eat?” he asked her in amusement as he followed her.

  She opened the fridge door and eyed the leftovers from the other night. Wrinkling her nose, she closed it. “No. We could order out when we are ready.”

  “We could.” He stood there facing her. “What’s up?”

  She took his hand and led him to the counter indicating that he have a seat. “Remember how I got sick at the restaurant the other night?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, it turns out that it was not the fact that I had not eaten anything much.”

  “What was it?”

  “I am pregnant, Steven.”

  Alicia waited as he stared at her in shock.

  “What?”

  “I am carrying a baby. And in case you were wondering. It’s yours.”

  “I was not wondering-” He shook his head. “You are pregnant?”

  “I have not confirmed it officially yet, but I have not seen my period for close to two months and I cannot keep anything down.”

  “You are pregnant.” His expression was dazed as he stared at her. “We are going to have a baby.”

  “It seems that way.”

  With a whoop, he got off his stool and pulled her into his arms, swinging her around until she was dizzy. “Steven, stop!” she cried out as she grabbed his sweater.

  “I am sorry!” He grinned. “I got carried away.”

  “So I take it that you don’t mind?” she asked him as he sat back down with her in his arms.

  “Mind?” He grinned down at her. “I am over the moon!”

  “Good,” she said in relief. “So we have to talk about arrangements.”

  “What arrangements?” he asked her, puzzled.

  “Like how we are going to share custody-”

  “We are not sharing anything, Alicia. We are getting married.”

  “What?”

  “You think I would have you and our child living apart from me?”

  “Steven, we did not discuss marriage.”

  “We are discussing it now. I want to marry you.”

  “That’s a big step,” she protested.

  “And having a baby is not?” he asked her in amusement.

  “Yes, but marriage?”

  He lifted her and carried her into the living room where he sat with her in his arms. “Look, Alicia. From the first time I met you I knew that I wanted to be with you. No doubt about that. I want us to be a family and I hope you want that too.”

  Alicia shook her head as if to dispel the confusion there. “I had not thought that far,” she protested. “We hardly know each other. I don’t think I would be a very good wife for you. I am constantly working.”

  “Now is a perfect opportunity for us to get to know each other,” he told her firmly. “And as for being a good wife for me; you are the perfect one because you are the one I need.”

  “I love my job.”

  “I know you do.” He bent and kissed her lips softly. “I am not going to interfere where that is concerned.”

  She was silent for a moment as if trying to come up with something else. “I love my apartment,” she said weakly.

  “And you can keep it or we could live here.”

  “Really?” She looked at him dryly. “You live in a freaking mansion! You think I would deprive our child of that?”

  “Whatever you want,” he told her with a grin.

  “This is crazy, Steven! We only just met a few months ago.”

  “And yet we are having a child together,” he said gently as he tipped her chin up. “I turned forty-three the fifth of September. I want this more than anything else in my life. I want a family and I want it with you. Please do me the extreme honoring of becoming my wife.”

  She stared at him and saw the intense emotion on his handsome face. She was having this man’s baby! And what was more, she knew he was going to be the best father there was! Taking a deep breath, she nodded, trembling as his mouth descended and took hers in a kiss that knocked the breath from her body! She wrapped her hands around his neck and the kiss deepened, intensifying the trembling. She could feel his erection poking through the thin material of her dress. She moaned inside his mouth and arched her body to his. He lifted his head and pulled the dress over her head, his eyes flaring as he saw that she was not wearing a stitch of underwear. “I thought we would celebrate this way,” she told him huskily.

  “You thought right,” he said hoarsely as he cupped her breasts. A visual of his child sucking on her nipples almost had the best of him! With a groan, he bent his head and feasted off her!

  Chapter 8

  “My dear, how lovely to meet you! And I understand that you are expecting my grandchild.” Grace enveloped her in her arms, transferring her exotic scent. She released Alicia, her dark blue eyes so much like her son’s glowing in excitement. “Come in please.” She took Alicia’s hand in hers and led her into the vast living room.

  Alicia could not help but be impressed! “This is quite a place!” she murmured as she looked around. “Lovely to meet you too, Grace, although I have seen you at several functions before.”

  “And I have been an ardent admirer of yours.” She sat on one of the plush sofas, indicating that her son and Alicia sit as well. “I understand th
at there is also talk of marriage?” A maid had come in with a tray complete with tiny sandwiches and what looked like a pot of tea. It was in the middle of the day with the sun high in the sky which did nothing to ward off the chill.

  “So Steven tells me,” Alicia said in amusement. He was sitting across from her and she could feel his eyes on her. He had made love to her over and over again until she had slept exhausted in his arms. “I keep telling him that having me for a wife is going to be a nightmare. I am career driven.”

  “And I tell her that I do not care about that,” he interjected.

  “He is hoping that when the baby comes I will become domesticated.” She laughed at him and Grace caught her breath at how beautiful she was! “Not going to happen.”

  “We will see,” he told her with an indulgent smile.

  Grace cleared her throat a little bit to get rid of the huskiness. Her son was in love and with a wonderful woman! “What date are you looking at?” she asked as she poured the tea and handed a cup first to Alicia and then to her son.

  “January I think,” Alicia said, knotting her brow a little bit as she blew on the tea. “I have a lot of things going on for November and December so January would be fine. I told Steven that I want a small wedding and he does not think it is possible.”

  “Neither do I,” Grace said with a smile. “You are both well-known people and the guest list is going to be big.”

  “I don’t have a lot of friends,” Alicia told the woman. “I am too busy to sit around and have tea and gossip. I am forty-one going on forty-two in December-” She stopped suddenly and stared from one to another. “Oh God! I am a middle aged woman having a child for the first time! What was I thinking?”

  Grace opened her mouth to say something, but her son stopped her and getting to his feet came and stopped in front of Alicia. “Stop,” he told her quietly. “You are going to be fine. We are going to be fine. I am going to be with you all the way and everything will work out. Say it with me. Everything will work out.”

  “Everything will work out,” she said slowly as she looked down at him. Grace looked at the scene before her in amazement. They complemented each other, she thought in wonder.

  “He is right, darling. I will take over the planning. You just have to give me the names of the people you want there and I will make it happen. We can have the ceremony here as well as the reception in the ballroom.” She clapped her hands in delight. “This place is going to come alive again!”

  Steven took the cup from her and put it away. “I am going to give Alicia the tour before dinner, Mother.”

  “Good, darling.” She looked at the coolly beautiful woman. “Is there anything you cannot eat?”

  “You should be asking if there is anything I can eat,” Alicia said wryly. “I tried lamb chops today and I kept it down, but soup is fine.”

  “Okay, my dear, I will tell the chef.” She watched them leave with a very pleased smile on her face.

  ******

  “Okay, I am officially exhausted and very impressed at the same time.” She sat on the sofa in his bedroom and stretched her legs out. “Eight suites is a bit too much, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe we will be the ones to fill it up.” He crouched down in front of her and ran his hands over her denim clad thighs.

  “Dream on, buddy,” she muttered. She was actually enjoying the way he hovered around her. She had sat on the basketball court and he had pulled her up firmly. The place was truly a dream with lush trees lining the fences and beautiful rose gardens that emitted a heavenly smell. “I think that the room adjacent to your suite would make a perfect nursery.”

  His eyes flared at that. “So we are living here?”

  “As if there was any doubt about that,” she retorted. She reached down and clasped his face between her palms. “You are a good man and there are not many of those around. I think that maybe this was meant to be.”

  “No maybe about it.” He got to his feet and lifted her into his arms.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “I think we have time to christen my bed,” he murmured.

  “I think so too.”

  ******

  She was officially two months pregnant! They flew to Henry Whittingham’s medical center and he did a thorough examination of her.

  “Is there any fear of me losing my baby? I mean considering my age. Is there anything I should do to ensure that I go the full term?” she asked anxiously as he finished his examination.

  “You are healthy so I foresee no problem,” he told her with a smile.

  “What about my work load? Is that going to be a problem?”

  “I should think not.” He shook his head with a smile. “I will give you a sheet with the proper meals to eat. And I will also give you something for the nausea.”

  “I could kiss you for that,” she said with a smile.

  “Get dressed and meet me in the office.”

  “Okay, now that it is official, what do you have to say?” She smiled at him as he helped her back on with her clothes. He had insisted that she take two hours to come and see the doctor. She had agreed reluctantly. It was a Monday and she had lots of meetings lined up with staff members.

  “I am extremely humbled.” His hands spanned her small waist and wandered to her flat stomach. “And I am also going to ask you to slow down, Alicia.”

  “The doctor said-”

  “I know what the doctor said and I know what your schedule is like. All I am asking you to do is to take it easy a little bit. Maybe leave the office a little earlier. Please.”

  “Okay, fine,” she said grumpily. She ran her hands up his chest. “I really like having you as my baby daddy,” she said with a sly grin.

  “I much prefer the term husband,” he told her with gentle smile. He bent his head and kissed her slowly, his mouth moving over hers enticingly. She clung to him tightly, her fingers curling into the crisp slate grey jacket he had worn for work this morning. She had met him at the airstrip not wanting anyone at the office to know anything yet. He lifted his head and looked down at her. “My place or yours later?”

  “Mine. It’s closer,” she whispered as she ran her fingers over his jacket. “You make me want to tear off your very expensive suit and have my way with you right here.”

  “We could settle for a quickie in the car before we go back to work.”

  “That works for me.” She lifted her head and his descended. Their lips met and clung. For a moment he almost took her right there in the room with the doctor and his staff outside the door!

  He lifted his head and stared down at her broodingly before stepping back. “Let’s go.”

  *****

  “Honey, you look flushed! A little lunch time sex?” Allen asked as she hurried into the office.

  “Bite me!” she told him tartly as she hurried towards her office.

  “I am sure lover boy already did that.” He trailed behind her. “Mr. Corpse was looking for you,” he drawled using the derogatory name he kept for Simon Gutenberg.

  “Show some respect!” she told him sharply. “What did he want?”

  “Something about a board meeting.”

  “Oh, crap!” She clapped her hands over her mouth. “I forgot about that. Where is he?”

  “I think he went out to lunch. Want me to call him?”

  “No, I will do it. I need the report for the last meeting.”

  “You got it.” He stared at her for a moment. “What’s different about you?”

  “Get out of my office now,” she told him.

  “I will find out eventually. I always do.”

  She rolled her eyes at him and then plunged into work.

  *******

  “What time will you be done?” She could hear the impatience in his voice. It was the second week since she had been leaving the office at minutes to eight and she knew he was not pleased.

  “I am finishing up now,” she assured h
im.

  “You promised to slow things down, Alicia.”

  “I know,” she said in a soothing tone. They alternated spending nights at her apartment and at his place. They spent most time at her apartment because it was decidedly nearer to her office. He would have his driver pick him up in the mornings and take the long commute to his office. His mother was busy with the wedding plans and Alicia felt guilty that she was not contributing anything to it. They had kept it out of the papers somewhat but she had a feeling that it was not going to be a secret for much longer. “I am just sending a quick email and then I am done.”

  “Who is there with you?”

  “Allen. Ah! I am done.”

  “I will see you when you get here.”

  “Lover boy a little worried about the late nights you are keeping?” Allen asked her silkily as he packed up. “I hope he is not worried about the times we are spending together.”

  Alicia burst out laughing! “He knows he has nothing to worry about where you are concerned.”

  “Ah, you don’t have to be so mean,” he grumbled. He slid his hand through her arm. “So how is the sex?”

  “Get your own sex life,” she told him dryly as they headed for the elevator.

  “You were never this mean when you did not have a man,” he said with a pout.

  “I was way meaner.”

  *******

  He was waiting in the kitchen when she got there and she knew from the expression on his handsome face that he was not appeased.

  “Look, I have already apologized for being so late.” She kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen. “I have a commitment at work, Steven, and you know that.”

  “I run a billion dollar company and I get off just to be with you to see in what way I can be of help.” He got to his feet and went to make some tea for her. Her heart melted as she saw him take out the sachet of chamomile from the box. No matter how upset he was with her he always put her needs first and she was so appreciative of it!

  She walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, resting her head on his back. “I am sorry,” she murmured. “I am going to try and do better.”