by Kimmy Love
They had decided that they would fly back to New York when Tessa was finishing her second trimester. She wanted to have the baby in the hospital she was born with her mother and her sister to help her out in the first few weeks. In order to make sure the doctor she was going to have deliver the baby and the one that was checking up on her was the same, Oscar had hired one of the best doctors in New York to fly out every two weeks to check up on Tessa. He was certainly being overprotective, but Tessa loved feeling like someone was really taking care of her for once. She enjoyed her independence, but when someone was there to help in such a way, she had to let herself go and accept it.
Though she was heading back to New York in several weeks, she was still working at the gallery. She had finally told her bosses that she was expecting and wouldn’t be able to finish the internship. They still let her come in three times a week to help hang new paintings and get her hands on some different pieces, so she didn’t get too bored lost in Oscar’s apartment all alone. She still planned on going back to school after the baby was born and didn’t want to lose her work ethic. It was nice to not have to work full time, however, and take some time to prepare for the baby.
She walked into the baby’s room. She planned on turning it into a nursery. Though she wouldn’t be giving birth to the baby there, she still wanted to make a home for the child as they were sure to return to the city where they fell in love.
She grabbed a face mask to protect her from the fumes and poured some paint into a pan. She wanted to make the nursery a light shade of yellow. Though they weren’t planning on finding out the gender of the baby until she gave birth, she was hoping for a girl. Josiah had been delivering supplies to the apartment when Tessa couldn’t.
She and Oscar both agreed that it would be best if she didn’t do any shopping for baby supplies in public until they announced her pregnancy. He didn’t want himself caught in a scandal. Tessa didn’t mind if it meant not lugging gallons of paint up to the penthouse of their apartment building.
She started painting one of the walls. She wanted to create a mural as well but wasn’t sure what exactly she wanted to paint just yet. For now, she decided to just stick to the creamy yellow to make the room warm and inviting for the baby. She knew she probably shouldn’t be painting, but she wanted to get the room changed before she was too far along in her pregnancy.
She wanted to make sure that when they returned to Athens, everything would be perfect and ready for the family’s arrival. She climbed on top of one of the stepladders to reach the corner of the room. She was playing some loud music, so she didn’t hear when Josiah walked in.
“Hey Tessa!” he yelled over the music as he entered the nursery. She still didn’t seem to hear him. “HEY TESSA!” he shouted again.
She turned around, startled, and dropped the roller she was using. It knocked over the pan of paint, spilling yellow all over the floor. She had a mat down for paint, but it still caused a mess.
“Oh no! Sorry Tessa! I just wanted to see if you needed anything from the store today,” Josiah said apologetically.
“It’s ok! You scared me! I shouldn’t have been playing the music so loud, it’s my fault.” She bent over to clean up the paint. She slipped in it and fell to her knees, catching herself before she fell all the way. She was still covered in paint when Oscar ran into the room.
“Tessa! What are you doing!” Oscar said nervously.
“Hey honey! What are you doing home?” she said sweetly.
“I thought I’d bring us lunch. What happened?” he said a little more frustrated.
“It was my fault, I scared her sir!” Josiah explained frantically cleaning up the paint.
“No, it’s fine! I’m fine! Honey, don’t worry! Thank you for bringing lunch! That’s really sweet,” Tessa said as she walked Oscar out of the room.
“Tessa, I told you not to worry about the nursery, Josiah was taking care of it!” Oscar said, sounding a little angry. He was always overprotective of Tessa, but she certainly didn’t always need it.
“Oscar it’s fine. The paint has been sitting in there for almost a week, I just wanted to get it done, okay?”
“No, it’s not okay, Tessa. You could have fallen. Who knows what’s in that paint that the baby could be breathing in. You can’t do stuff like that anymore.”
“I can do whatever I want. The baby is fine. I’m fine. You’re overreacting, and I don’t appreciate you treating me like a child that needs a babysitter. Josiah is here every day. I appreciate his help, but I can take care of myself,” she said sternly. She wasn’t interested in having this argument.
“I know you can, Tessa, but you don’t have to. You know I don’t like you still working at the gallery so having Josiah here when I can’t be helps me feel a little better, all right?”
“No, it’s not all right, Oscar,” she said, throwing his words back at him. “You can’t control me or what I do in my free time. While you’re at work all day I’m not just going to sit around and have Josiah wait on me hand and foot. I’m not that kind of girl, Oscar. If you want someone to control, you found the wrong person.”
“Tessa, I’m not interested in controlling you. I just want to make sure that you and the baby are safe. That’s all,” Oscar said, trying to smooth things over.
“That’s all? That doesn’t seem to be all. What are you going to do when you can’t control my body anymore? When I’m nine months pregnant and can’t hide the fact that your baby is in here anymore? What are you going to do then? Make me wear a poncho everywhere? Tell people I just put on some weight? What about when the baby’s a year old? What are you going to do then Oscar? You can’t keep pretending like this baby isn’t happening.” Tessa broke down.
Oscar suddenly realized why she was so angry. She had been holding her anger in about his refusal to tell the public about their pregnancy for too long. Oscar was speechless. She walked into the bedroom and slammed the door. They hadn’t fought yet, but Tessa was glad to finally lay out her emotions. Oscar turned around to see Josiah standing in the doorway. He had heard the entire thing.
“I’ll spend the rest of the day painting, don’t worry sir,” Josiah responded.
Oscar shook his head and said, “Also, stop calling me sir!”
Chapter9
Tessa looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She was bigger than ever before, but she was still able to hide her baby bump under the flowing silk gown she had bought for that night. The opening of the store was supposed to happen in a week, just a week before they were headed back to the States to move into their New York apartment.
Tessa and Oscar had since made up from their fight and agreed that they should wait until they had the baby to announce the pregnancy. Tessa realized that if they revealed it any sooner, she would probably be overwhelmed by the public’s attention. This would be the next baby in the Legros family, and possible heir to a billion-dollar fortune.
People are going to want to meet Tessa and her family. The press would certainly look hard into her past and paint whatever picture they could to get people clicking on their articles and buying their magazines. Oscar explained all of this to her after their fight, and she realized he was only holding off on the pregnancy announcement to spare her the stress of being in the public’s eye.
The paparazzi hadn’t been so bad in Athens, but if they found out that she was pregnant, they would certainly have been bombarded in the Greek city. She wanted to have a smooth and easy delivery, so waiting until after the baby was already there was certainly the best option.
Though things were smoothed over between the two, Tessa was still getting more and more nervous as the baby grew and she got closer to being a mother. She certainly already felt like one, but there was something new about caring for a child that she didn’t realize when she first got pregnant.
Her sister was always telling her horror stories of Maverick having poop explosions or puking on her right before she left for work. Tessa knew she would alw
ays have Oscar there to take care of her, but even billionaires don’t always have things easy as parents.
Tessa also made sure to let Oscar know that only she and Oscar would be raising the baby. Oscar had grown up in a wealthy family, so he was used to nannies cycling through his various mansions, always leaning towards a caregiver in tough times and not his mother or father.
She didn’t want her baby to know anyone as their mom but her and feared what would happen if she let a nanny do most of the childcare. This also worried Tessa, however, as Oscar hadn’t always made himself perfectly available to her at all times throughout the pregnancy. When they were together, Tessa felt perfectly safe in his arms. She knew he would always be there and take care of her.
When he was away, she would really start to worry. He had followed through with his promise and hadn’t missed a doctor’s appointment again. He certainly showed up late plenty of times, sometimes making her anxious that he wouldn’t come at all. He was definitely a workaholic, so Tessa worried that might overrule raising their child together. She tried not to let her fears about the future bother her present mind. She was working harder than ever to control her anxiety and make sure that her baby was growing in the most peaceful home possible. Tonight, however, she couldn’t help but feel especially nervous about what was coming up.
Oscar was throwing an early party for everyone involved in the store and factory’s opening. He wanted to boost morale and give his employees a night to enjoy free dinner and drinks on him to push the opening of the store and make sure everything in the final week went smoothly. The party was going to take place in the empty store, before merchandise filled it in the following week.
He had hired catering companies to transform the Legros store into a beautiful ballroom-like center for the party. It would be the first time Tessa and Oscar were making an official appearance as a couple. She had bought the perfect gown for the night. It was long-sleeved with purple lace on top and flowed into layers of silk down from the waist. The loose fit perfectly hid her growing stomach. Even sitting down, you could barely see any bump at all. No one would suspect she was carrying the billionaire’s baby. Tessa was just about ready and only had to put her earrings on when Oscar knocked on the door.
“Hey beautiful, you about ready?” Oscar asked, opening the door a crack. “I have something I want to show you.”
“Coming!” she said as she hurriedly put on her earrings.
When she walked out, Oscar was standing there, holding a beautifully wrapped flat package. He started by saying, “I don’t think there’s ever going to be a gift good enough as the one you’ve given me. Each day I’m amazed that someone like you walked into my life. On top of that, you’re carrying my child, and there’s nothing on the planet that could show my gratitude.
“I’m going to spend as much time trying to repay you for the magic you’ve brought into my life, Tessa.” He handed her the package. If the gift wasn’t so flat, she would have thought he was proposing. His delivery was a bit nervous, so Tessa could tell he thought much about what he was going to say. The gesture was so sweet she could have fallen over and cried right there.
“Oh Oscar, you didn’t have to.” She grabbed the package and opened it quickly. “Oh my god. Oscar, this is too much.” It was another Cronus original, this time, of a sunset overlooking the Athens park. The park had played such a special role in their relationship that Tessa was blown away that he was able to find a painting of it by one of their favorite artists.
“I thought it’d look perfect in the nursery,” Oscar responded. She leaned in and kissed him, not caring that she was messing up the makeup she had just spent so long perfecting.
Oscar had a limo pick them up. He warned Tessa that when they got out, there would probably be paparazzi waiting to snap a picture of him and his perfect girl. She knew the day was coming that she would have to appear on his arm next to him. She was certainly nervous, but she was thrilled at the idea. She never would have thought she’d be caught on the arm of a billionaire. When they pulled up, the reality hit Tessa hard. She went to open her door, but Oscar stopped her.
“No, let the driver do it. We’ll get out on my side. It looks bad if you get out first.” He straightened out his suit and took a big breath as the driver opened the door. Once he stepped out, Tessa was hit with a wave of anxiety. She thought about slamming the door shut and telling the driver to get away. She could hear people yelling and asking questions to Oscar, not really able to tell what exactly they were saying.
She thought she might throw up right there in the back seat of the limo. She looked down at her stomach and started to panic. What if someone did realize she was pregnant? What if her dress got caught in the door and the limo drove away, forcing her gown to get ripped off and revealing her pregnant belly? What if she tripped and fell right in front of all the cameras? She didn’t think she could do it. Just when she thought about running through the other door, Oscar stuck his head in.
“Hey cute girl, you going to come say hi?” Oscar teased as he reached his hand towards her. She suddenly felt calm. Seeing his face, those crystal blue eyes and bright smile, she knew that she would be able to handle whatever might happen once she got out of the car. She grabbed his hand and felt light, almost like she could fly right through the door. Then the flashes started hitting her eyes. She could hear the cameramen calling her name but didn’t know who to look at. “Just ignore them and hold my arm tight. They’ll be gone once we’re inside.” She looked straight ahead, right at the doors to the Legros store. She smiled as nicely as she could, ignoring everyone around her but Oscar. She felt glued to his arm and never wanted to let go. Once inside, she felt more relieved than ever.
“We did it!” Oscar said. “Now it’s time to really show off my beautiful girl.”
They walked towards a table and Oscar pulled a chair out for her. “You can sit here while I get us some drinks.” He left her alone at the table and she got a chance to look around. She had been in a Legros department store before, but not that often. She mostly bought her clothes from secondhand thrift stores, enjoying the unique clothes she could find there instead of department stores. She was still impressed knowing that this company was all Oscar’s, and only one of hundreds all over the world. In just a week, the tables would be replaced with clothing racks and perfume counters. She looked around the room.
Everyone in there was someone who had helped in the opening of the store, or their family. Oscar wanted a chance to get people excited about the opening. Some had only worked in building the factory and hadn’t gotten to see the store just yet. Tessa felt amazed that the man she had fallen in love with was responsible for putting all of this together. She was infatuated with Oscar and the way he was as a businessman.
She knew that this dedication and compassion would make him an amazing father. Just as she started to feel comfortable, she spotted Lydia walking towards the bar. She hadn’t seen Lydia in person yet, only in photographs of her and Oscar. She felt sick once she laid eyes on her face. She always thought Lydia was a stunning beauty and seeing her in person only made her more terrified.
She was the opposite of Tessa. She was a stick-straight thing with blonde hair. She looked like a pageant girl, and that terrified Tessa. Was this what Oscar was interested in? Was he attracted to Tessa? The storm in her head was acting up, making her less confident by the second. She grabbed her belly and remembered that she was the one carrying his child and Lydia was the one getting divorced from Oscar. She quickly removed her hand, remembering no one was supposed to know she’s pregnant.
At the bar, Oscar ordered two glasses of champagne and a glass of sparkling water. As discreetly as possible, he chugged one of the champagnes and filled the empty glass with the sparkling water. He and Tessa had planned on her pretending to drink so as not to give anyone the idea that she could be pregnant. He left the rest of the sparkling water at the bar and started to walk to the table, only to have Lydia pop up in front of him, s
eemingly out of nowhere.
“That for me?” Lydia said devilishly.
“Lydia? What are you doing here?” he said angrily. He certainly didn’t put her name on the list.
“Well, I was married to you when you first started to build, I figured I should be a part of the celebrations. Besides, I always know how to sweet talk Josiah into putting me on the list,” she said with a grin.
“Look, Lydia, you should go. I don’t want any rumors to start by you being here. I already have a date for the night and am only interested in being with her. It’s not appropriate.” Oscar wasn’t one who normally put too much thought into what the public thought of him, however, he was looking for any reason to kick Lydia out of the party.
“Relax, Oscar. I wanted to come tonight also, so I could tell you the good news in person. I signed the papers and my lawyer will be sending them over. By Monday we’ll be officially divorced. What better way to show everyone you’ve moved on than to make nice with your ex-wife before the store opens?” she explained to him.
“Fine. You can stay, but don’t start anything,” Oscar said, walking away. He only wanted to focus on the mother of his child that night.
“Who, me?” Lydia said suspiciously. She laughed and walked away, ready to schmooze her way back into the public’s eye.
Oscar returned to the table and handed Tessa a glass. “Thanks for the champagne, sweetie,” she said loudly, overdoing the cover just a bit. She took a sip. “Oh, wait that one’s actually champagne,” she said, handing her glass back to Oscar and taking the other one. She took another sip. “There we go.”
Oscar laughed and responded, “Sorry honey. I’m just a little flustered. I just ran into Lydia.”
“I saw. What’d she say?” she responded.
“It’s done. She’s finally signing the papers.” Oscar leaned in and gave her a kiss. “Come on, I want you to meet some people.”