“Can’t you see?” I wailed. “My water broke. I’m having a baby.” I dabbed at the tears in my eyes with my sleeve.
They lifted me onto the stretcher and began poking and prodding me. One of them inserted an I.V. while the other looked beneath my skirt to see whether the baby’s head was poking out. It wasn’t. He tucked a light blanket over me.
“Okay, we’re going to take good care of you. With any luck, I think you’ll already be at the hospital when the baby comes out. If not, my partner and I can handle that, too. Do you remember your breathing exercises?”
“I didn’t take the classes yet. The baby isn’t supposed to be here for another month.”
The two men exchanged glances. “Okay. Don’t worry. The hospital isn’t far from here.”
Everything passed in a blur once they loaded me into the back of the ambulance. We sped through the streets of the city with the siren blaring and wailing at every intersection. I wailed, too, every few minutes as baby Elizabeth made it clear that she was ready.
I wasn’t ready at all. “Dom won’t be back for another month,” I cried.
“Is Dom your husband?” the paramedic asked.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Is Dom the baby’s father?”
“Not exactly.”
“Okay. Well, we’re at the hospital. Let’s get you inside and have this baby.”
I looked at my diamond engagement ring sparkling on my finger. “My fiancé,” I said. “Dom is my fiancé.”
The paramedics unloaded the stretcher from the ambulance. “Can I call your fiancé for you?” one asked.
“You can’t. He’s in Europe on tour with his band. My fiancé is Dominic Angelchance.”
The other paramedic looked up. “I love that band,” he said. “You’re engaged to Dominic Angelchance?”
I nodded my head, wincing as another contraction tore through my body. Squeezing my eyes tightly closed, I whimpered through the pain. By the time I opened my eyes again, I was in the delivery room.
The contraction subsided. A nurse held my hand. “It’s going to be all right,” she said. “You’re going to get through this.” Her name tag said her name was Clarissa.
I shook my head. “No, I can’t do this. I can’t. It’s too hard.”
The nurse had kind eyes. She leaned closer. “There are seven billion people in this world, and they were all born just like this. You will definitely get through it. Feel free to squeeze my hand as hard as you want. No patient has broken my hand yet.”
Maybe I’ll be the first, I thought. I squeezed her hand as hard as I could.
I was in labor for more than twelve hours, and somehow that smiling nurse never left my side. Once Elizabeth was born, the doctor confirmed that I had given birth to a healthy baby girl and dropped the squirming bundle of joy onto my chest.
“She’s beautiful,” I said as I looked into her eyes. After only a few minutes, they took her away from me and brought me to my own room.
“It’s time for you to rest,” Clarissa said. “My shift ended hours ago. I just didn’t want to leave until your baby arrived, and now she’s here. I’m going home to rest myself, but I’ll be back tonight.” She leaned down and gave my hand a final parting squeeze. “You did great,” she said. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Despite the pain and the excitement, I felt my eyes drifting closed. I thought I could sleep for days; I was so exhausted.
I don’t know how long I slept, but when I opened my eyes, Dom was sitting in a chair beside my bed. “Dom?” I couldn’t believe my eyes; I was halfway convinced that he was a hallucination brought about by the pain medication.
“She’s awake,” Dom said. He looked back over his shoulder. “He’s awake.”
When I focused my eyes, I saw that Beth and Dom’s brother, Lucas, were there, too. My heart leapt with joy at seeing my two favorite people. It was nice to see Lucas, too, even if I had no idea what he was doing there.
“Beth, I did it.” I gave my sister a hug as she bent over the bed to congratulate me. Did you see Baby Elizabeth? She’s perfect.”
“Just like you,” Beth said. We saw her in the nursery. She’s by far the cutest baby there.”
I turned to Dom, who hadn’t spoken since telling my sister that I had awakened. He looked tired. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was unshaven. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Europe?” I asked.
“The rest of my tour got canceled,” he said. “It appears one of the members of the band just became a father.” He took my hand. “I’m sorry about the way I acted. That had to be one of the world’s stupidest excuses for a fight.”
“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I just never saw that many zeroes at the end of someone’s net worth in my entire life. I think I got a little scared. It gave me an anxiety attack.” My heart was skipping with joy. “Forgive me, Dom. I still want to marry you if you’ll have me.”
He bent over the bed and showered my face with delicate kisses. “They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it’s true, but nothing has made my heart grow fonder than being back together with you. I’ll never leave your side again.”
Beth cleared her throat. “If you need us, we’ll be in the cafeteria grabbing a cup of coffee,” she said.
“I don’t want any coffee,” Lucas said. He looked puzzled.
Beth glared at him. “It’s been six months, Lucas. Let your brother have a few minutes alone with his bride-to-be.”
“Oh.” Lucas got the message. “Right. I could really go for a cup of coffee.”
I was tired, but I smiled at them, hoping my happiness would bring them together. Just as they were about to leave the room, I noticed something strange. “Do I smell smoke?”
Beth turned around. She looked guilty as if she was hiding something. “Don’t worry about it now,” she said “We’ll talk about it some other time.”
“We’ll talk about what some other time?” I asked. “Beth, what’s wrong? What’s that smell?”
“Nothing’s wrong, but I really do need that cup of coffee.” She led Lucas out of the room.
“Dom, do you know what’s going on?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I came straight here from the airport,” he said. “I haven’t even gotten a chance to talk to my brother in private since I got here. I’m sure everything is fine.”
I didn’t feel so certain. “The baby was one month early,” I told him. “How did you know I was in labor?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out his iPhone and tapped the screen. When he turned it toward me, there was a picture of me on a stretcher just as I was being wheeled from the ambulance into the hospital. The expression on my face in the picture was terrifying.
“Dominic Angelchance’s fiancée goes into labor,” the headline read. “Rock star tours Europe as future bride gives birth to his child.”
I could feel my face turn red. “Dom, I didn’t tell anyone this was your baby. I don’t know how this happened.” Realization dawned on me. “I told the paramedics that I wanted you but you were on tour. One of them was a fan of yours, I think.” I covered my face with my hands. “Dom, I am so sorry. You know I wouldn’t do anything to cause you publicity.”
“Are you kidding?” he asked. “I’m glad it happened. If some paramedic—who I should have fired by the way—hadn’t snapped a picture of you in labor and sold it to a tabloid website, then I would never have known you were about to have the baby. It’s the best thing that could have happened.”
“Really?” Tears of joy made my vision blur. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad? This is the best day of my life, but I’m sure we can make our wedding day even better.”
There was a knock at the open door to my hospital room. “Hello,” a young woman said. “Would this be a good time to have the father sign the birth certificate?”
I looked at Dom, and he nodded. “Absolutely,” Dom said. “I’ve got a pen right here.” He lowered his voice and
moved his mouth close to my ear. “Is that okay with you?”
“Absolutely,” I replied.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The woman left with the piece of paper that declared to the world that Dom and I were Elizabeth’s parents. Things were nearly perfect. Dom was back in my life. The wedding was still on, and I thought my sister and Dom’s brother might be on the cusp of falling in love.
“I’m surprised Beth and Lucas aren’t back with their coffee yet,” I said. “Did you think that they were acting strange?” There was something about the way they were acting that bothered me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“I just flew all night long to come see you. I’m jet lagged, and I’m not even on your time zone. Everything seems strange to me right now. I’m probably not the best person to ask.” He poured a cup of water from the plastic pitcher. “Would you like some water?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not thirsty.”
“Do you mind?” He held the cup halfway to his lips but waited before drinking.
I shook my head again. “Help yourself. It’s only tap water. I’m sure there’s plenty more where that came from.”
Dom drank the entire contents of the cup in one gulp and then poured himself another. He downed that one, too.
“Didn’t you think they smelled funny?” I persisted. “I thought I smelled smoke.” The acrid odor still hung on the air.
Dom finished his third paper cup of water. “I smoked on the plane on the way here,” he admitted. “I can’t smell anything but my dirty clothes. Is that what you smell? Cigarette smoke? I didn’t have time to change my clothes or take a shower.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t know you smoked,” I said. “Do they even let you smoke cigarettes on the airplane?” I wasn’t particularly happy about this new revelation, particularly with a newborn baby in the hospital nursery down the hall.
“They do when you own it,” Dom said. He finally set down the paper cup. His thirst was quenched for now.
“Oh,” I said. “You own an airplane?” Will wonders never cease?
“Several, but don’t worry. They’re only small ones.” He tried to make light of the situation, knowing how I had reacted when I’d accidentally discovered that he was a multi-billionaire.
“And you smoke cigarettes?” I asked again.
“I quit a long time ago,” he said. “But I usually keep a pack on hand just in case. With the baby on the way and me so far away from you, I needed a cigarette to calm my nerves. I smoked the entire pack. Don’t worry. I can quit again, and I would never, ever smoke around you or the baby.”
“Okay,” I said. Although I wanted to say more about it, I thought it would be best to take him at his word. If he ever went back on his promise not to smoke around me or Elizabeth, then I would confront him. For now, his promise would suffice.
I felt a presence in the doorway before I heard or saw the person standing there.
A uniformed police officer and I caught each other’s gaze a moment before his raised hand tapped the door to announce his presence. “Hello,” he said. “I’m sorry for the interruption, but I need to ask you a few questions.”
Dom stood straighter, going into protective mode. “My fiancée just had a baby,’ he said. “She needs her rest.”
“I understand, and I apologize for the intrusion, but it won’t take long.” He entered the room without invitation. “It looks like the cause of the fire is pretty obvious, but we still need some information before we can close the case.”
My heart stopped. “What fire?” I asked. Bile rose in my throat as I thought about my parents’ home and all my belongings burned to the ground. “Where was there a fire?”
“I’m sorry,” the officer said. “I thought you knew. You are the co-owner of the bakery Sweets for the Sweet. Is that correct?”
I nodded my head. “Technically, that’s correct, but I’m really just a silent partner. It’s my sister Beth’s bakery. It’s her labor of love. Maybe you should be talking to her about this.”
“I already have,” he said. “Let me see if I understand correctly. You and your sister were at the bakery yesterday morning.”
“Yes,” I said. “We were at the bakery, and I was helping her with some of the baking, which I really hate. Baking isn’t my thing.”
“Then what happened?” He clicked his pen and started making notes in a small notebook.
“Beth and Lucas left the bakery to deliver baked goods to a local shelter. I stayed behind to watch the cookies.” A sudden realization hit me. “The cookies!”
“What about them?” the officer asked.
“I went into labor after I put the cookies in the oven. My water broke, and I called 911. They had to come get me in an ambulance. The paramedics took me to the hospital, and I never even thought about the cookies until now.”
Tears filled my eyes as Dom took my hand for support.
“I started a fire in the kitchen. Didn’t I?’ A starburst of panic formed in my chest.
The officer nodded his head.
I turned to Dom. “Did you know about this?”
“I didn’t know a thing about it. It’s like I told you. I came straight here from the airport.” He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “I’m sure everything is going to be just fine.” He turned to the officer. “How badly was the bakery damaged?”
The officer avoided my eyes. “There’s nothing left but ashes,” he said. He snapped his notebook closed. “I’ll be reporting in my findings that it was clearly an accident. There won’t be any charges filed against you, but I hope you have insurance. The damages were quite extensive.’
“There’s nothing left?” I asked.
“There’s nothing left,” the officer confirmed.
“What about my sister’s apartment? She lives upstairs from the bakery.”
“There’s nothing left,” the officer repeated. “I’m sorry that I had to be the one to tell you. I had no idea that you didn’t already know. If you need anything, or if you think of anything else that might be important, you can call the station.” He handed Dom a business card and left.
“I want to see my baby,” I told Dom. “Our baby.”
Dom went to the nurse’s station to ask whether it would be okay for me to go down the hall to see Elizabeth. She was healthy, but she was still a preemie. So they were keeping her under observation. Since my milk hadn’t come in, I wasn’t breastfeeding. Unfortunately, that meant fewer opportunities to get close to her in the hospital.
I sighed. My breasts had grown so big during my pregnancy that I had been sure I would be able to produce milk by the gallon. I was wrong.
Dom came back into the room. “The nurse said you should probably stay put for now, but it’s almost time for Elizabeth’s feeding. Someone will bring her to us, and you can bottle feed her.” He grinned, looking as happy as I felt about getting to hold and feed Elizabeth.
“You’re going to be an amazing father,” I told him.
“You’re going to be an amazing mother.” He kissed me on the nose. “I still can’t believe I found you.”
“Well, I’m the one who bought the concert tickets. So I think it might be more accurate to say that I found you,” I said.
“Let’s just say we found each other.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
A nurse walked into the room. She was holding a tiny wrapped bundle that made tiny sounds like a kitten.
Beth and Lucas were right on her heels. “Oh,” Beth exclaimed. “I want to hold her first.”
The nurse turned to her and smiled. “Maybe we could let the new mother hold her first, and then I’m sure you could have a turn.” She approached the bed and placed the small bundle into my arms. “I’ll be right back with the formula, and then you can feed her.”
Beth stood at the side of the bed and hung over me and the baby to get as close as possible to the little girl who shared her name. “You picked the perfect name,” she said. “El
izabeth looks exactly like me.”
I smiled happily, never taking my eyes off my little daughter’s face. “She might look just a little bit like me, too.”
Beth shook her. “No way. She totally looks like her favorite aunt.” Her fingers twitched in anticipation of having her turn to hold the baby.”
“By the way, was there something you wanted to talk to me about?” I asked Beth without looking up at her.
“What do you mean?” she asked. A look of concern flooded her features.
“A police officer was here while you and Lucas were getting coffee. He had some questions about the bakery.” I let my words hang in the air, thinking that Beth would take the opportunity to tell me.
“Beth,” Dom spoke. “She knows about the bakery.”
My sister tried to hold back her tears, but I could hear the sadness in her voice. “It was an accident,” she said softly. “There was nothing anyone could have done.”
“There was something I could have done,” I said. “I was supposed to be watching the oven.”
Beth stared at the newborn in my arms. “You were busy having a baby. No one would expect you to do anything other than what you did, and you did great. She couldn’t be more perfect.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You can stay with me until we figure things out.”
“Thanks, Jenny. Lucas already offered to help me out.” She saw the look on my face. “It’s not like that,” she protested with a quick glance at Lucas. “He helped me rent a suite a hotel where he stays sometimes when he’s in town on business.”
“It seems like he’s in town on business a lot these days,” I commented.
“Lucas helped me get some essentials.” She looked at him longingly. “He bought me some clothes and stocked the kitchenette in the hotel suite with food. Lucas has been really great.” She paused.
I looked at Lucas, who was smiling. “That was really generous of him,” I said.
“The police let me look through the ashes this morning to see if I could recover any of my things. That’s why my clothes smell. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to take the time to go back to the hotel to shower and change before I came to see you. Maybe I should have.”
Rock Me: A Billionaire Romance (Billionaires, Brides and Babies Book 1) Page 13