Pregnant By A Bad Boy: A Dramatic Urban BWWM Romance Novel

by Cookie Jones

  “The eggs…the smell is killing me,” I said with my hand still clamped over my mouth and nose. Nick’s eyes widened and he went ahead and put the whole pot of eggs in the oven, then he turned on the stove’s over head fan.

  “Let me go open some windows,” he said apologetically and breezed by me to go air out the rest of the apartment. I walked back to my bedroom and took a deep breath of the cool fresh air coming in from outside. Nick knocked on my door before he walked in. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

  “I didn’t know eggs made you nauseous,” he said sheepishly and I waved it off.

  “It’s alright, now you know…also the smell of tuna will do it, too,” I said and he nodded.

  “Noted…I did make some pancakes as well if you want some?”

  I nodded, a small smile touched my lips and Nick perked up some. I followed him back out to the kitchen and tried to ignore the residual scent of eggs while he served three pancakes each for the both of us.

  “So when is your appointment today? I didn’t know doctor’s offices were open on Saturdays.”

  “My appointment is at one and some are, those who do special appointments. I lucked out by finding a really great obstetrician.”

  “Good, you should have the best,” Nick said, his tone approving.

  He sat down next to me at the breakfast bar and I tasted his pancakes. They tasted a lot like cinnamon buns and it was amazing.

  “These are so good…where did you learn to cook?” I asked and he chuckled.

  “I learned from watching Buddy, mostly; he’s a whiz in the kitchen. He’ll actually be flying in later today so you’ll meet him officially,” Nick said and I smiled. He seemed more comfortable and I was glad. I didn’t know how long I would’ve been able to deal with the awkwardness.

  “So last night I looked up a bunch of stuff about, you know, pregnancy and where things are at around six weeks…” he said and my eyebrows rose in surprise.

  “You did?” I asked with a chuckled and he seemed a little bashful.

  “Yeah, I read that all the symptoms kick in around now. Are you showing a little?” he asked me and I glanced down at my belly. There was a little bump, but it wasn’t noticeable.

  “Not yet, really, but my boobs are definitely swollen,” I complained and then realized that was a little inappropriate, especially as Nick’s eyes zeroed in on them.

  “Does that mean they're sensitive, too?” he asked as he slowly moved his gaze back to his pancakes.

  “Um…yeah,” I said and then took another bite of pancake and a sip of orange juice.

  “You haven’t told your parents about this yet have you?”

  The question surprised me and I shifted my gaze back to his.

  “No I haven’t, I only told you,” I said and he nodded slowly.

  “Well, um, after you left, I needed to know where you lived, so I stopped by your parent’s house…”

  Dread slowly crept into my veins as I remembered my dad calling last night. I hadn’t checked my phone since I let his call go to voicemail.

  “Oh my God…please tell me you didn’t tell my parents, please,” I said and he shook his head quickly.

  “No, no I didn’t tell him. But I was in a rush and acted weird so…your dad knows something is up,” he said and I groaned. If it was my mom that would have been okay, but Dad?

  “I just…I don’t know how to tell them yet. My job—I love my job and I work a lot because I have to. But what if I tell my dad and he doesn’t want me to head the office here anymore?” I voiced my worst fear and Nick looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.

  “I don’t think your dad would do something like that just because you’re pregnant. He doesn’t strike me as that traditional. I’m sure you have a lot of capable lawyers in your office, those willing to help when you have the baby and I’m here…it’ll work out,” Nick said confidently and I wondered how he knew that and I didn’t.

  “I don’t know…it’s just that—I’m the only senior partner over here and I don’t know what will happen when I’m on…maternity leave,” I mumbled the last part and Nick looked at me as if the answer were simple.

  “How about hiring another senior partner?” he asked and I paused for a second and tested out that idea.

  The New York office was definitely bigger than the one in New Haven, I’d have reason to hire another senior…plus I could pick from my pool of juniors and then have that person hire another lawyer to replace them at the junior level. But then again it all went back to my dad and if he’d approve it.

  “Well, yeah…I guess I could talk to my dad about it,” I sighed and Nick nodded empathetically.

  “I know it’ll be hard to tell them, but I think it’ll all be okay once you actually get it out in the open,” Nick said and I sighed.

  He was probably right; I was making things bigger than they had to be in my head. “You’re right, I don’t know if it’s the baby hormones or what. Usually I’m more rational,” I said and Nick grinned.

  “Good thing I’m here,” he said and I laughed.

  “I guess so…” I looked at him, sort of surprised honestly.

  Yesterday I would never have thought we’d be getting along so well and having pancakes in our pajamas. After we ate, we got ready for the doctor appointment and I was anxious to get there and make sure everything was okay with the baby. When we left the apartment to walk to my car in the parking garage, Nick stopped short. Once he saw that the sleek Jaguar F-Type was mine, he cursed.

  “I so have to get a new car,” he said and I looked at him curiously.

  “Why?”

  He just shook his head, not wanting to talk about it. When we got into the car and I started the drive to the doctor’s office, Nick gasped.

  “You know how to drive stick?” he said, obviously surprised and I laughed at his expression.

  “Yeah, a manual transmission causes less problems…plus it was cheaper than an automatic,” I said and shrugged nonchalantly as I shifted the car into third and continued down Amsterdam Avenue.

  “You’re…that’s…cool,” he said eventually and I laughed.

  When we got to Dr. Sedekis’s office Nick seemed to grow a little nervous.

  “Are you alright?” I asked and he nodded.

  “Yeah, I just…I didn’t think to look up what happens at a six week check up last night,” he said and I realized he was the type that had to prepare himself for things. Clearly, it made sense given the way he reacted when I told him I was pregnant.

  “They are going to do a transvaginal ultrasound on me, so we’ll get to see the baby and its heartbeat,” I said and Nick nodded.

  “What does transvaginal mean?” he asked and I smirked.

  “They’re going to put a wand inside…” Nick paled and I had to laugh. “It’s not as bad as it sounds, don’t worry.”

  I patted his arm and he took a deep breath before we walked into the office. I told him to go sit while I went to sign in. The waiting room was pretty empty apart from one other couple who seemed really grossly in love. The woman was very pregnant and her husband, I presumed, was kissing her belly and talking to it. I glanced over at Nick who was reading a pregnancy magazine. He glanced up at me to show me an article.

  “Look, this has a bunch of wives tales on whether it’ll be a boy or girl,” he said and I smirked. “Have you been craving salty things?” Nick asked me with a quirked brow and I nodded. “Morning sickness, is it really bad?” I shook my head with a silly grin on my lips. “How about mood swings?”

  “Um…hard to tell yet,” I said and he continued to quiz me.

  “Which boob is bigger? The left or the right?” he asked me in all seriousness and I cracked up. “Seriously, come on,” he said with a smirk and I shrugged.

  “I haven’t looked at them that closely,” I said and then Nick’s gaze went to my chest and I rolled my eyes, though my smile was still firmly in place.

  “I think the left one is bigger.�
�

  “How can you tell, my boobs are covered,” I said and he gave me a goofy grin.

  “I have my ways,” he said and I laughed again. “I think it’s gonna be a boy,” he said and closed the magazine to set it down on the table.

  “Would you want a boy or a girl?” I asked and he thought about it a moment.

  “I think I’d want a girl, but boys are awesome, too,” he said and I smiled again. I wouldn’t have guessed that he’d prefer a girl.

  “Clary?” Dr. Sedekis came out herself to call me back and I gestured for Nick to follow when he seemed unsure. “Oh, is this the father?” she asked me when we were close enough and I nodded.

  “Yep, this is Nick, Nick this is Doctor Sedekis.” I introduced them and Nick shook her hand. She smiled at him almost happily instead of politely, her brown eyes lit up and all.

  “I’m glad you could be here, I’m the kind of doctor that likes for a mom to have some help from the dad,” she explained and Nick chuckled nervously.

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t want Clary to do things on her own,” he said as we followed her back to an examining room. Sedekis was a small woman, probably five-three…and a half, with pretty features and fair skin.

  “Okay, so we know that we’re going to be getting a look at the baby today right?” she asked once we were inside the examining room.

  “Yeah, using a transvaginal…?” Nick spoke up, surprising me, yet again.

  A nurse walked into the room then with the big ultrasound monitor and also some things to take my vitals while the doctor explained to Nick what she was going to be doing.

  “Wow, we’ve got an attentive one here, most dads don’t tune in until the baby pops up on the screen.” She chuckled and Nick looked at me, his gaze full of meaning.

  My chest got all warm and I began to trust that he was going to be there every step of the way. The doctor and nurse then stepped out so I could change into one of the paper gowns behind the curtain.

  “Do you want me to step out, too?” Nick asked before I went behind the curtain to change.

  “Um, yeah actually,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed.

  Nick didn’t take it to heart or anything he simply said okay and then stepped outside. I changed quickly and then sat up on the cushioned table; it was equipped with stirrups and, oddly, I didn’t like the prospect of having my feet in there and being all open and exposed.

  “You ready?” Nick poked his head inside and I nodded. He disappeared and a few seconds later everyone came back into the room.

  “These look kind of scary,” I said to Dr. Sedekis while she and the nurse got the ultrasound stuff ready to go.

  “They aren’t that bad, and you’ll be covered the entire time,” she assured me and I nodded.

  She directed me on how to lie down on the table and where to put my feet. She did drape a blanket over my lap and then got the long wand lubricated and warm before she slowly inserted it. The nurse was operating the ultrasound and Nick was standing next to my head, his eyes glued to the screen. So far there was just a lot of white noise.

  “What’s that?” Nick said suddenly and I glanced at the screen along with everyone else. A black sort of circle appeared on the screen and inside it was this little…bean thing.

  “There’s your baby, that is the head there and this is the gestational sac. Also, do you see that blinking right there?” the doctor asked and I had to squint, but I saw the faint rapid blinking just under where she pointed out the head.

  “That’s the heartbeat?” I asked and she looked at us and smiled.

  “Yep, that’s the heartbeat. Now we’re just going to measure the heart rate…”

  The nurse did something on the ultrasound, but I didn’t really track what he was doing, I simply stared at the little bean with the blinking heart. The baby was really in there…really alive and growing. I looked at Nick and found that he was tearing up. My eyes widened in surprise, he was solely focused on the baby.

  “Hey…” I touched the back of his hand and he startled a little bit, but looked down at me and quickly wiped his eyes. I smiled up at him and he smirked. “The baby is real,” I said and he nodded.

  “Yeah, he’s, or she’s…really in there,” he said. He was trying to hide the emotion in his voice, but it was still evident.

  “One hundred fifteen beats per minute, that’s perfect. Right where we want to be,” Dr. Sedekis said, breaking into the small moment Nick and I had been having. I smiled at her excitedly.

  “That’s great! Can we get pictures?” I glanced at the nurse as the doctor assured us we could.

  “Alright, so, now that we know everything is good with baby, I’ll give you the spiel about what you should do and shouldn’t do going forward.”

  Nick took the pictures that the nurse printed out and he listened intently when Sedekis started telling me what foods and activities to stay away from, how I should get used to sleeping and what not.

  “So, I think that’s it, I’ll schedule you for another check up next month, but you’d better get in here if anything odd happens, also you have my number for any concerns,” she told me and I nodded.

  “Oh, can I have your card as well?” Nick asked and I had to smile, I just would not have expected him to be so…well perfect about all of this. They all left the room to give me privacy to get dressed and I did, quickly, then met Nick in the hallway. He was programming the doctor’s number into his phone.

  “Do we go now, or do you have to do something at the desk?” he asked curiously.

  “Yeah, I have to pick up my appointment card for next time,” I told him and he nodded, his hands in his jeans pockets as he followed after me. Once we got back to the car Nick pulled out the ultrasound photos.

  “I don’t know about you but…I think whether it’s a boy or girl, our baby is gonna be the most attractive one to ever live,” he said and I laughed out loud.

  “You can tell that now?” I asked and he nodded and handed me a picture.

  “Come on, look at how the head is shaping out,” he said and I giggled.

  “Honestly, he just looks like a little bean for now,” I said and Nick looked at me.

  “She,” he said and I laughed. “So Buddy should be in town by now, do you want to have lunch with him?” he asked me and I nodded.

  My phone started to ring then, it was connected to the car’s Bluetooth so I saw it was my mom calling on the dashboard’s screen. Nick looked at me with his lips pressed together and his eyes wide, I took a deep breath and then answered the call.

  “Hi, Mom…” I answered almost cautiously.

  “Hello, darling…how are you?” she asked a little too pleasantly.

  “I’m fine,” I nearly squeaked and Nick shook his head at me, his expression said he knew we were done for.

  “Do you want to tell me why your father is freaking out about you and why Nick Price came by the house last night in a panic, looking for you?” she asked, in that same pleasant tone.

  “Ah…um…Mom, I have something to tell you and Daddy.” I sighed and she paused on the other line.

  “Should this be a face to face thing?” she asked and I glanced at Nick who nodded, oddly enough.

  “Yes…it should,” I said and looked at him curiously, he waved at me in reassurance and I set up dinner at my parent’s house for that evening. I had never driven back and forth from New Haven so much in one weekend. “So…I’m nervous,” I announced after I got off of the phone with my mom and Nick took a deep breath.

  “Yeah, me too…I think I want to invite my mom to dinner, too, but I don’t know if she’s ready to speak to me yet,” Nick said, sadness and remorse touching his voice and his eyes.

  “Maybe I can call her,” I suggested and Nick looked up at me hopefully.

  “Can you try?” I nodded and then took Marge’s number from his phone. I dialed the number and then put the call through; Marge answered on the second ring.

  “Hello?” she answered curiously, obviously
not having recognized my number.

  “Hi Marge, it’s Clary Richards,” I said and then she shed the polite curiosity and expressed genuine pleasure that I called. “I’m going to be in New Haven tonight to have dinner with my parents and I wanted to invite you. We’re going to go to my mom’s restaurant,” I told her. Nick was watching me with wide eyes as he listened to the car speakers waiting for Marge’s reply.

  “Oh that sounds lovely, I’d like to get out of the house for a while. It was very nice of you to invite me,” she said and I smiled. To me, Marge sounded perfectly nice, I guessed when it came to Nick things changed…drastically.

  “That’s great! So I’ll see you tonight at eight then,” I told her and we solidified plans then ended the call.

  “She likes you,” Nick observed as I pulled out into traffic.

  “I think it’s just a neighborly thing, and that I’m one of your dad’s close friend’s daughter,” I said and he shook his head.

  “No, she’s always liked you, even when we were in high school. Sometimes she’d comment on how pretty Jeff’s daughter is, or how kind she is…” Nick said and I smiled crookedly at him.

  “Really? That’s nice to know,” I said and Nick nodded sagely. “So where are we meeting Buddy?” Nick gave me directions, via Google Maps to a restaurant I hadn’t yet tried out in Midtown; it wasn’t that much farther from where the doctor’s office had been.

  Chapter7

  Nick

  Clary looked sexy driving her car. Plain and simple. When she drove, I could kind of imagine her being the boss of her law firm, taking charge, making decisions.

  “Here, right?” she asked me as she pulled into a lucky spot right on the curb outside of the pizzeria Buddy found.

  “Yeah, this is perfect,” I told her and watched her park, she was wearing shorts and a long sleeved blouse that almost covered up the shorts. Needless to say I had a full view of her perfect legs.

  “Nick, are you coming?” she asked me and I realized that she had gotten out of the car and was waiting for me to make a move.