Another Day In Paradise_A Steamy BWWM Romance

by Brandy Blake

  He certainly admired Imani. She was very outgoing, always confident, and even when she was in sweatpants and a t-shirt covered in crumbs, she was still stunning. She had that effortless beauty that not many women had, and Stavros easily recognized that. She had stunning mahogany skin that glowed, always sparkling in the warm Greek sun. She let her curls stay wild, and when she spent a particular long day in the sun, you could see a few freckles start to pop out over her nose.

  Pregnancy on Imani was an entirely different story as well. The beauty that emanated from her body was paralyzing, the pregnancy glow on Imani brighter than the sun. Imani thought that being obviously pregnant would have stopped anyone from giving her attention, but she got hit on more now than ever, many men wanting her to be their baby mama. She looked like she was always modeling for a maternity shoot, her bump placed perfectly on her body and rounder than a basketball. Stavros and Imani didn’t lay in a bed together and create a child because they were in love and wanted to. The pregnancy was the result of a hook-up, so it was different than some other pregnancies. Stavros and Imani were both happy to have it happen like this, as the baby might not have ever been created had either of them decided to go their separate ways once the court case was over. Stavros was certainly proud when he saw the gorgeous Imani carrying his child. If only he knew how to express these emotions to Imani, they might have a different kind of relationship. Instead, Stavros kept to himself. If he didn’t put himself in a position that he could wind up hurt, he wouldn’t have to deal with the chance of feeling heartache. He kept himself closed off from Imani, and it made her think he didn’t like her. He wasn’t ready to say he was in love, but not liking her certainly wasn’t the case. Something about Imani was just different than anyone else he ever met.

  There weren’t many people that could get along easily with Darius either. She knew how to treat him, and Darius certainly respected her. Many people saw Darius as the child of a rich guy, treating him the best they could just to always remain on the good side of the family. Darius got a certain sense of entitlement from the way others treated him, but Imani didn’t play into this. She did her best to treat him just like she did the kids at the underprivileged schools she used to teach in. Though her next child would be born just as wealthy as Darius, Imani knew it was her challenge to not raise a spoiled child. It was important that her kids knew how to be respectful, appreciative, and grateful. Struggling for money through college made Imani more thankful for all the things she had now, wanting the same morals to be instilled in the kids she was raising. Stavros had to struggle as her grew up, but it was clear it had been too long since he had single digits in his bank account.

  Petra wasn’t about to raise him humble either. She was enjoying every second of her life of luxury, struggling when she was a child. She had to split and share everything with her siblings and absolutely hated it. She wanted things of her own her entire childhood, jealous of the other kids at school that didn’t have to go home and take care of their siblings. Petra didn’t want Darius to feel that same pain of not having what you wanted, so she spoiled him endlessly, treating herself plenty as well. It’s not like Petra didn’t deserve to have a great life, but she also needed to consider the effects it was having on Darius. Imani would do her best to remind Petra when Darius was getting a little spoiled, but the two certainly had their different thoughts on the subject. Imani knew that when it came time to have her own child, she wouldn’t let Petra spoil that baby.

  Imani and Stavros barely talked about the pregnancy. It wasn’t easy for him. She assumed he didn’t care or think about it too much, not showing up for appointments but providing her with plenty of money to buy all the baby supplies she needed. She still needed to have more conversations with him about parenting, and what his plans were for helping to raise the child. She was planning on staying in the mansion for several months after the court case ended, wanting Petra’s help to take care of the child. What after that though? Petra could teach the baby Greek and Imani could teach them English, but would it live in Greece forever? The baby was supposed to come before the court case, but since it had been pushed up, Imani likely wouldn’t be having the baby until after now.

  What if Stavros didn’t get custody of Darius? They were so certain and confident that it was going to happen that Stavros realized he actually still had the chance of getting his son taken away from him. He had the wife and baby on the way, but would the court see through the gimmick and realize that a marriage license and pregnancy don’t mean that you’re a good parent? He was terrified at the thought of losing his little boy. If Darius moved to the states with his grandparents, would Imani move back as well?

  “Are you OK?” Petra asked Stavros as he shook his leg rapidly, still waiting on the airplane.

  “I’m fine,” he said sternly as he looked out the window. Petra could tell he was lying, but at the same time, she still didn’t know what he could be concerned about at the moment. He didn’t seem like he cared much about the picture when she showed it to him, so Petra figured that couldn’t be it.

  He did care, he just wasn’t as open about it all. he figured Imani was the one who didn’t want the baby as much. She just came for a job but ended up with basically two children. That’s why he offered her the home, though he certainly didn’t mind coming home to Imani at the mansion. Stavros only looked at the picture for a second, but it was clear that he was going to be thinking about it all day. He imagined what it would be like to not have those three angels on the couch in a few months, all of them leaving him to go back to the states. He started to feel his chest tighten and palms get wet.

  “What’s taking so long?” Stavros said, still sitting on the plane with the seatbelt light on even though they had landed. He slept most of the flight, sitting first class giving him plenty of room to relax. He flew at least once a week, so he was used to the normal protocol of traveling through the air. He was getting stressed about his homelife and being stuck on the plane was only making things more intense.

  “I have no idea, but I’m ready to get off this plane,” Petra told him. Stavros was certainly starting to get anxious, wishing he would have taken his private plane instead. His normal pilot was on vacation, so Petra booked them some first class seats for this particular trip.

  Stavros had grown used to all the privileges he was granted as a person with his wealth and status, so it wasn’t easy for him to deal with these minor inconveniences should they pop up.

  “Miss, what’s going on?” Stavros asked, clearly very anxious at this point.

  “We did land a little early, so we’re just waiting for the next plane to board and leave the gate,” the flight attendant told Stavros.

  “I need to get off this plane,” Stavros said, unbuckling his seatbelt and standing up.

  “Sir, you need to sit on. We’re not back yet so it’s best if you just keep your seatbelt on for now,” the flight attendant told him again with a bit of urgency. Stavros was certainly being a difficult passenger at the moment.

  “I need to get off, this isn’t right,” Stavros said, flashes of Imani and Darius sleeping on the couch in his head.

  They had booked a hotel to stay in for the night, not wanting to take the car and boat rides back home so late after their flight. Stavros was realizing now that he just wanted to get off the plane and back to his son, feeling the panic kick in. Stavros was putting his emotions off for a while, ignoring a lot of the feelings he didn’t want to have to confront. Now that he was strapped in on a massive plane, he didn’t have any choice but to sit there and self-reflect, his phone hardly getting service. Stavros had walked into the aisle, looking around at whatever he could to try and figure out what was going on. He had never wanted to be off a plane more in his life.

  “Stavros sit down,” Petra said with urgency. He was acting strange, and Petra didn’t know what to do. She hadn’t seen him that panicked in a while.

  “Let me off!” Stavros shouted, getting the attention of ever
yone on the plane.

  “Sir, please, you need to sit down!” The flight attendant told him again. Another one had approached, and a tall looking man standing towards the front stood up, letting Stavros know that there was no amount of money that Stavros had that made him physically stronger than those around him.

  “Folks, we’re about to pull into the gate, the last plane is leaving now. Please take your seat as we can’t leave until everyone has their seatbelts fastened,” the pilot said over the loud speaker.

  The flight attendant gave Stavros a look of urgency, and he reluctantly sat down, not wanting to be that go on the plan that causes all the commotion. He buckled his seatbelt and looked at the flight attendant with a defeated look.

  “Thank you,” she said condescendingly, walking back towards the front of the plane.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Petra asked once everyone around them had faded away from the situation, turning their attention towards something else. Stavros honestly didn’t know how to answer that question. He looked out the window again, only able to see Darius and Imani’s faces in the dark and starry sky.

  Chapter11

  Imani couldn’t stop tossing and turning in bed that night. Having the blankets on made her way too hot, but when she took them off, she felt too exposed and out in the open. If she had her eyes open too long, she would get scared of the dark, but if she left a light on, it was too bright for her to fall asleep. Her back was sore, so she laid on her side, but then her leg started to fall asleep. When she laid on her other side, her neck felt weird. Imani longed for the day when she’d be able to lay flat on her stomach, face shoved in the pillow and legs sprawled across the bed. Imani hated being this pregnant and trying to sleep. She was ready to get the baby out, so she could feel like herself again when it came time to lay her head on her pillow. She wondered if having someone next to her while she drifted off to sleep would make it easier for her to get a good night’s rest.

  The weather was nice enough to keep the windows open at that point, but it was a little too hot that night, and closing all the windows and doors in the house to turn the air conditioning on was a job for the maids the next day. Imani had a ceiling fan, but nothing was doing enough to keep her comfortable. She was thirsty, but every time she even looked at a faucet, she felt like she had to pee. There was always something, and Imani just couldn’t relax. She felt more uncomfortable than all the times she was sick, sore, or tired in her life. The only thing that was keeping her going was the reminder that having this baby was going to be much more rewarding than any of the other things that normally made her feel this miserable. She just wished her baby was there now, so she could try to fall asleep. Imani jumped months ahead when her baby was crying in the middle of the night to be fed and realized she was being a bit foolish when it came to her wishes.

  Imani held her stomach, feeling if her baby was moving in there. They were being pretty quiet and calm that night, Imani not feeling much. Imani could always feel her baby there, and if she didn’t, she’d panic for a moment, only to feel a little kick, as if her baby knew that she was panicked about them not being there. She had felt connected to living things that couldn’t communicate with words before, but this was so different. She had no idea what this little life looked like, what it’s personality would end up being, but she loved it so much it hurt. Imani never felt anything so powerful, yet it was a bitter sweet moment. She wondered if she would feel more connected to her child if she was also in love with the man her got her pregnant in the first place.

  It’s not like she didn’t feel anything for Stavros, or that she was still repulsed by him. In the beginning, she certainly had issues seeing past his arrogant manner or overly confident demeanor, but she had grown to see that Stavros was just a hardworking man that wanted to provide a lot for his child. Still, the last time they had been intimate with one another was the day before Imani found out she was pregnant. He was always so busy and barely ever around, and once they had the photoshoot for the announcement, he was even more distant and cold, clearly triggered by the idea of having another family. Imani could see his pain, and for that, she felt closer and more connected to him, being able to understand something about this man that maybe he didn’t even understand himself. But Imani wasn’t in love with Stavros. They didn’t have those long deep conversations that kept them up all night, or cute little arguments about what they were going to eat for dinner that night. She certainly felt connected to him, and carrying his child only made that all the truer. Imani still couldn’t put the thought out of her head that she might have a better pregnancy if Stavros and she were in love, expecting a little baby together rather than the separate lives they were living now.

  She tried her best not to be the paranoid new mom, but she couldn’t help but envision all the terrible things that could happen to her little baby bumping around inside.

  Pregnancy had been a joy for Imani, but she was ready to meet the little one. The nursery was stuffed with little things to welcome the baby, and Imani couldn’t wait to see what her little baby would be. Having to wait so long to meet this life that she loved so much already was not easy. She hoped the little baby would come out looking like her, but it was clear that Stavros’s genetics were pretty strong, as Darius was the spitting image of his father. Imani looked exactly like her mother, or at least what her mom looked like when she was Imani’s age, so she hoped that her looks would come through strong in the genetic mash-up as well. Either way, Imani knew that her baby was going to be gorgeous, and it was just a matter of time until she was going to be able to meet the little one.

  She scrolled through her phone, checking up on others online. She knew busting out an electronic would only make things harder for her to fall asleep, but she couldn’t let her mind wander too much. When she was starting to feel herself fill with anxiety, she would try to cut that off, so her baby didn’t feel any of that. She tried to remain as calm as possible throughout her pregnancy, even though everything around started to feel a little like it was falling apart. The baby didn’t have a say in what their future held or what life would be like once they were born. Imani wanted to make sure that because of that, they wouldn’t have to deal with all the stress of the situation that Imani had put her and her little baby boy or girl in.

  She had stayed off social media for a while but still kept up with what was going on in the rest of the world. Imani started to feel anxiety from that, overwhelmed with the negative news stories she’d see all the time. She had never lived outside the states for such a long period of time, so now that she was an outsider on the country, she had a different perspective on the news stories that surrounded everything. Anything she read on other publications were about the horrible things taking place in the country, or celebrity news that Imani didn’t much care for. Stavros wasn’t as well known in the U.S., but when they were in Mykonos or anywhere else in Greece, he certainly had a bit of a celebrity notoriety. Many people thought he was an eligible bachelor, one of the most popular single men in the country. There was something about the ring on his finger that made him seem even more desirable as well.

  She started at the ceiling, wishing she wasn’t alone in bed. At least if there was another warm body next to her, she’d have something to focus on. She could watch their rhythmic breathing, hearing their peaceful sighs. She loved watching people sleep, as creepy as that may have seemed to some. Seeing a person so vulnerable, open, and restful was a rare occurrence, so she liked seeing them in their natural state. That was one thing adults still had in common with babies. Once you’re asleep, everyone looks as vulnerable and gentle as a baby. Imani liked seeing that comparison, but when she looked in the bed next to her, no one was there. The air was thick and hot, but the sheets were cold when she kept herself covered. It felt good against her skin, but she couldn’t help thinking how nice it would be if there was someone next to her to spread their body heat throughout the rest of the bed.

  She would have brought Darius
in, but he was probably getting a little too old to sleep with her. Being alone made both of them scared, but Darius falling asleep on the couch first allowed him to fall asleep that much faster once Imani put him down to sleep in his own bed. Imani didn’t like being home alone, and even though Darius was there, she still felt like she was in charge and the one responsible for holding the house down. She knew she could easily handle that, but she still didn’t want to have to. She liked the idea of someone else being there to protect and care for her. Imani wondered why in this large mansion, Stavros hadn’t hired private security to stick around the grounds. Of course, Imani would have felt a different kind of eeriness if she knew that someone was watching her at all hours of the day.

  Soon enough she’d at least have a little girl or boy to share the bed with her, so she didn’t feel so alone. The new baby had been given one of the most incredible rooms in the mansion, placed right in between Imani and Darius’s room. She felt strange that she had a room next to the kids but having her own private suite was pretty exquisite. The baby had built-in bookshelves surrounding massive windows, a large bathroom that they wouldn’t be able to use for a few years, Imani wondering if they would be around for that long. They hadn’t really discussed a schedule for the baby. would Stavros want to spend nights with the child too? He couldn’t do the feedings, but Imani could certainly provide him with plenty of breast milk. The house was so large that it was basically like they were living in an apartment complex, and Stavros was just a neighbor. Either way, Imani couldn’t wait to have her little one curled up next to her, another beating heart to remind her hers was still going as well.