A Royal Surprise: ( BWWM Romance )

by Tiana Cole

  The suspicion stung but Alex knew he deserved it. Still he couldn’t help but feel hurt that she didn’t trust him at all. Their past seemed to be nonexistent. “I told you why,” his voice dipped low and he pressed in closer until he invaded her personal space. “If you don’t believe me, step back and let me cook. Unless you’ve already eaten?”

  Her gaze narrowed and her grip tightened on the door, pulling it in close to her body. “No thank you. I decide when and what I eat, not you.”

  His shoulders relaxed at her capitulation and he brushed past her and headed straight for the kitchen. “I can’t carry our baby for you or do much to ease your suffering, but I can take care of you.” His gaze settled on hers, both of them confused by the love and anger between them.

  “I can take care of myself,” she said again.

  He sighed, already growing tired of this refrain. “I know you can Amanda but why can’t I take the load off? Are you still so angry that I can’t do anything to help while you grow our baby?”

  “When I wanted and needed your help Alex you weren’t around. Forgive me for learning to make do on my own.”

  “I know,” he sighed and leaned his hands on the counter, staring at her. “But can we just move forward from here? I know you’re upset and I know I messed up big time but we are linked to one another. Forever. Because of that baby. Do you really want it to be tense with us until one of us is dead?”

  He’d never felt such relief as when she shook her head. “No.” She didn’t say more but he didn’t need her to.

  “But it still hurts and you still don’t trust me.”

  She nodded and as much as it hurt, Alex knew he deserved it. It wasn’t his fault her communications never reached him but it is most definitely his fault that he’d all but forgotten her. Dammit! “I’ve gone over it in my mind at least a thousand times and still I don’t know why I didn’t pick up the phone to call or shoot you a text to you her know I was thinking about you. Because I was. All the time.”

  “Yeah well you have a funny way of showing it. You left Alex, right after dropping the biggest bomb on me. And then you didn’t follow up to make sure I was okay so it’s really hard for me to believe that.”

  “But you know me, Amanda. We’re not strangers to each other.” He sounded like he was begging but in a way, he guess he was. Begging her for a second chance. Begging to her look at him and see something other than betrayal.

  She scoffed and stared him straight on, eyes as blank as he’d ever seen them. “That’s just the thing Alex, we are strangers and we never meant anything to each other and you made it that way.” With a sigh she ran a hand through her hair, now grown out from the adorable pixie she’d worn at the start of the semester. “We can figure out what to do when the baby arrives, but I can tell you that he or she will live with me. You can do whatever you wish, but I won’t stop you from having a relationship with my baby.”

  My baby. She kept saying that as though the baby were hers and hers alone, and it pissed him off. “Our baby, don’t you mean?”

  “I said what I meant,” she shot back.

  “I won’t be a part-time father to my child, Amanda.” He wanted to be there for everything, first words and steps, the first day of school. College graduation.

  “That is a worry for another day. Right now though, I’m kind of hungry,” she told him nodding her head in the direction of the waiting omelet mixture next to the stove.

  With a laugh he got to work on the omelet. “How has your morning sickness been?”

  “Awful,” she answered automatically. “And really I think they call it morning sickness just to make the dad feel better because it would be correct to call it all day sickness.”

  He hated that carrying their baby was making him sick. “Is there anything I can do or get you that might help?”

  She gave him that soft eyed look again, the one that told him she wasn’t as immune as she pretended to be. “I don’t know Alex, nothing seems to help.”

  Oh yeah. This was something he could definitely help her with. “Eat up,” he told her and set the plate in front of her. “Clear your plate and I might stop hassling you.”

  She laughed, moaning as she took a bite of the egg and vegetable mix. “I don’t believe that for a second.” Then she surprised the hell out of him with her next question. “Tell me how things went in Silmaña.”

  He spent the next half hour doing just that.

  ~

  “Sorry sweetie but this seems really wrong.” Baker’s green eyes shone with uncertainty and Amanda appreciated it, she really did.

  Blowing out a harsh breath she looked at her friend and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m positive Baker. Look, it’s already done so stop worrying about it.” She rubbed her belly with a small smile curving her lips. She’d had her twenty week exam today and she needed Baker to drive thanks to her larger than life stomach. Her small car was no longer a match for her big belly and short legs. Driving was no longer an option.

  Baker released a dramatic sigh and turned in the driver’s seat to look at her. “Sweetie the father of your child is around and wants to be involved. You really should have invited him today.”

  Amanda sighed and looked out the window. “He doesn’t get to be that intimate with me or my body. When the baby comes, he can be around. Until then, this is my responsibility. If you don’t want to take me again, that’s fine.” She would simply call a cab or maybe an Uber if they were available out here to get her to her appointments. “I’ll take care of it myself.”

  “Sweetie that’s not what I’m saying and you know it. He deserves to know.”

  “He deserves to know his child. Children,” she corrected thinking of the incredible news she’d received today, which left her both terrified and excited. “Which he will. When they’re born. The other stuff is for a partner, a significant other. A husband. Not a random hookup.”

  Baker frowned. “You know he was more than that. Don’t deny what you had.”

  “We had nothing Baker. It was all a lie. None of it was real, aside from this,” she reminded him, pointing to her bump. As much as she wished for more, even today, she knew she couldn’t have it.

  “If that were true he wouldn’t be here.”

  Eyes closed and head tilted back to the headrest, Amanda let out the most awful squeal of her life. “Have you ever been forgotten Baker? I don’t mean have your friends even forgotten to invite you to a party or has a lover forgotten a date, but truly forgotten? Have you ever had someone so thoroughly forget you existed? Because if you haven’t, you don’t get to tell me how I should feel about his unwanted reappearance.”

  He gave her a sad smile that made her want to scream again. She didn’t need or want his sympathy. “I’m sorry Amanda, of course I can’t imagine how you feel. But think about how you’ll feel about this if you guys reconcile. And you and I both know his reappearance isn’t unwanted. Unsettling I’ll buy but not the rest.”

  “I have enough to think about Baker, I don’t have time to worry about someone I can’t trust.”

  Baker started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot before speaking again. “How long will you punish him?”

  Until I stop loving him. “I’m not punishing him Baker, I’m protecting myself. Do you get that, because it seems like you and Misty have forgotten that I am all I have. I can’t worry about a man who’s already proven that he’s not worth my time when I have myself and two babies to worry about!” They made the rest of the drive in silence, Amanda stewing over the lack of understanding among her so-called friends while Baker quietly assessed her. Worried about her.

  “I’ll be right back,” he told her after pulling into a parking lot she didn’t recognize. He slammed the door and she watched him jog away before promptly getting lost in her thoughts.

  She understood where her friends were coming from, but they didn’t get it because they were both blissfully in love. And more importantly, they were loved in return. At som
e point she would have to forgive—or pretend to forgive—Alex enough that they could co-parent together without friction. But right now her body changed from one day to the next, the hormone spikes made her emotional and irrational and she would probably be looking for a new job very soon.

  And she was still in love with a man she couldn’t trust.

  Baker’s return drew her back to the present and the delicious smells already filling the car. “I’m sorry Amanda. I give a damn and I just want to make sure you don’t let your pregnancy hormones talk you into something you might later regret. But I’ve gotten you a feast to make up for being such a nosy bastard.” He smiled, batting those golden brown lashes in her direction.

  Her smile came quick and sincerely. “I know Baker and if I didn’t appreciate you I wouldn’t get so upset.” She sighed, stomach grumbling as the aroma of the food wafted around her. “I smell egg rolls,” she groaned.

  Baker laughed. “Just don’t eat them all at once or you’ll end up on bed rest with only your handsome prince to look after you.”

  She groaned. “Why? Why would you go there?” His smile was unapologetic. “I’m eating less at each sitting but more times a day so that’s not a problem for me.” They were silent for a long time as the hauntingly beautiful lyrics of Adele filled the car. Finally the car turned into her neighborhood and she sighed. “I know you’re right Baker but I really do need to be a little bit selfish for awhile longer. When I can look at him without remembering how badly he hurt me or how much I love him, things will improve.” When that would be, she’d love to know.

  “Fair enough, honey.”

  She smiled and let him help her from the car and into her house. When Baker left she leaned back on the sofa with a pillow behind her lower back and stared at the twin images of her baby boys. “Just my luck they’ll be handsome blonde haired boys just like their father.” Twins. In all her life, Amanda never imagined she’d have a family. Now she would have more family than she could handle. Twins.

  After hours of studying the sonogram photos and listening to the dual heartbeats, she knew she couldn’t deprive Alex of this feeling. Despite what he’d done to her, this magical feeling of hearing the lives they created belonged to him as well.

  She fell asleep promising that she would mail him copies she’d asked for on his behalf. Neither Baker nor Misty needed to know he was still foremost in her mind.

  ~

  “What does it mean Elena? I don’t have time to gush over it right now, but trust me when I say it’s amazing.” Alex spent the past day and a half staring at the sonogram photos and listening to the sound of their sweet little heartbeats.

  Elena sighed heavily on the other end of the line. “And I thought being a princess would be so glamorous,” she joked. “Look Alex I know you want to make this mean something but the truth is maybe she just thought you’d want to have them.”

  She was right, he wanted it to mean more than that dammit. He wanted her to want to share this experience with him. “I’m missing everything, Elena.”

  “Then you just have to keep trying. Use this as an opening to show up and thank her. Maybe invite her to a celebratory dinner. Maybe just lunch to take the pressure off. Go slow, Alex.”

  “Slow? She’ll be having my child in a few months and I’d like to be there. Maybe have a ring on her finger by then.”

  Elena chuckled. “And you’ve been out of her life for months. Don’t rush this because of the baby or I promise, you will regret it.”

  That was not what he wanted to hear. “Thanks Elena. How’s Stefan?”

  “Better than ever,” she told him with a joyous sigh. “He’s working too much which means he’s feeling better, but his migraines persist. And when I nag him I get what I want. And need,” she giggled.

  “I don’t need to hear that,” he grunted into the phone.

  “Oh pish!” She quickly dismissed him and laughed again. “There will be a ball for him soon, Alex.”

  Which he would be expected to attend. “Mother?”

  “Madder than the devil but don’t worry little brother, she has lined up quite a few women of status to attend the ball.”

  “I’ll be bringing Amanda if I show up. Please let Stefan know.”

  “I will, I promise. Giving her that news will bring me nothing but glee!” She laughed with such enthusiasm Alex had to join in. “You and Amanda better come for the party, your brother and I have some big news to share with you!”

  With a smile he promised he would try and begged off so he could shower and change before going to see Amanda. I have a good feeling about this, he thought as he hopped in his car and started the engine.

  Turning the corner onto her street, Alex frowned at what he saw. Amanda on the ground. Writhing in pain. Slamming on the brakes he flew from the car and was at her side in a second. “Amanda, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

  Her petite body shoot and when she looked up at him with those doe eyes, so big and brown and liquid, he felt his heart constrict. “I fell and I think I sprained my ankle.” Her chest heaved fast. Too fast and the tears made breathing hard. It was a recipe for lightheadedness. “I didn’t fall forward but I can’t get up and I don’t have my phone.” By the time she finished speaking her words her little more than hiccups.

  Alex gathered her in his arms and stood. “I’m taking you to the hospital, where are your things?”

  “I-i-in the house,” she stuttered. “It’s unlocked because I was only going for a walk to clear my head.”

  He gave a brisk nod and deposited her in his car, strapping the seatbelt into place and cupping her face so he could see her eyes. “I need you to stay calm Amanda, okay? Breathe,” he inhaled and exhaled slowly until she began to mimic him. “Perfect. Keep doing that while I get your things.” Pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, he quickly grabbed her things and in less than a minute he was back on the road. “Tell me how you feel.”

  “Silly. Worried. Bloated and hurt.” She squeezed her eyes shut and Alex knew she was in more pain than she was letting on.

  “It’ll be alright,” he told her, grabbing her hand with his free one and giving it a squeeze. “Let’s not worry until we have reason to, okay?”

  Her nod was slow and unsure but the tears streaking down her face were unmistakable. “Okay.”

  Alex carried her into the hospital, where he refused to wait in line. “Please, my fiancée is pregnant. Twenty weeks and she took a fall.” He gave his best sad face, the one that used to work on all the staff inside the palace, especially cook.

  The woman looked at Amanda, half-limp and tearful in his arms and nodded him back. “Follow me, then.” She rattled off questions that he answered as best he could while Amanda sat on his lap almost comatose. “I’ll need her on the table, sir.”

  Alex deposited her there and stayed right beside her, holding her hand. “She’s shaken up. It’s our first baby and they’re twins.”

  The nurse’s face lit up and she tilted her head at them. “Congratulations.” She took Amanda’s vitals and left, promising a doctor would be in shortly.

  “I can’t believe I let this happen.”

  “You didn’t. Accidents happen and if anything you helped yourself. I came to thank you for the photos and found you.” He beamed that smile that used to make her blush and she gave him a smaller one in return. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She sighed as though just those two words had stolen the last of her energy. “Thank you for coming. I hoped you’d come.” And just like that she fell asleep on the exam table.

  As he drove them back home hours later, Alex was relieved that she had no truly serious injuries. That would have been unbearable. But she had a severely sprained ankle and a fractured wrist, the latter the result of avoiding a forward fall. With a foot and a wrist each immobilized, moving around would require help and Alex planned to be right there for her. Every step of the way.

  Chapter 15

  “You know you really d
on’t need to carry me around? My ankle is sprained, my legs aren’t broken Alex.” The man had commandeered her life since the day he’d stopped by and found her a sobbing, soppy mess on the sidewalk.

  He smiled, lifting her from the bed and into his arms. “I don’t mind, you weigh less than a hummingbird,” he joked while she was trying hard to pretend his closeness didn’t affect her. “And you smell good.”

  She laughed and laid her head on his shoulder. “I smell like patchouli and you know it.” Adrian had sent her a tub of homemade patchouli body butter that he swore would help with stretch marks and dry skin. She wasn’t a fan of the scent at first but now she kind of liked it.

  “You do and it kind of smells like sex.” His blonde eyebrows rose and fell lasciviously, making her laugh.

  “You were able to jump from carrying me around to sex in one move. Impressive.”

  “Thanks. I’ve made breakfast so I hope you’re hungry?”

  She nodded, letting her mind wander to how great Alex had been over the past few days. He was handy in the kitchen despite his wealthy upbringing and he worked hard to keep her comfortable without smothering her. She was in serious trouble and it hadn’t even been a full week yet. “Starved,” she told him just as her stomach rumbled loudly. “Told you.”

  He set her at the table with a steaming cup of tea and went to plate the food. “I know it seems like a lot so just eat what you can.”

  Her eyes went wide as he brought several plates to the table. An omelet with spinach and cheese plus a ton of other veggies. A bowl of fruit and a plate piled high with hash browns. “Are we expecting company for breakfast?”

  “No but this is a perfectly balanced breakfast that will give you and the babies all the calories and nutrients you need.”

  Swoon. She needed to get Alex out of her house. The man was wreaking havoc on her equilibrium. His handsome face and masculine scent were too much once in awhile, but day in and day out had him finding his way into her dreams. Fantasies. And the little things he did, setting a vase full of flowers on her bedside table, making a special trip to her favorite bakery in the city for her favorite bear claws, were all slowly thawing her towards him. “Thank you Alex, that was very considerate of you.”