by Eve Black
“Hello. I’m Dr. Monroe,” he announced reaching out to offer his hand to Diana. “Miss Bluth.” She nodded then watched as the doctor turned to offer David his hand as well. To her surprise, David took the doctor’s hand, shaking it heartily.
“Doctor,” David said.
“You must be the father,” Dr. Monroe inquired without asking.
David nodded once. “I am. I’m David Brenner.”
The doctor—obviously, a reader of the news—arched both white brows.
“Ah,” was his response as he lowered himself onto a rolling stool.
“Now, Miss Bluth, when was the first day of your last period?”
Blushing, she told him, refusing to glance in David’s direction.
The doctor hmmed in response, plugging the numbers into the software on his tablet.
“And you indicated that you would like to forego the pelvic exam until the next appointment?”
Diana nodded, nervous. She’d told the receptionist that she’d wanted to hold off on account of David actually showing up. Yeah, the man had already been all up in there, but she didn’t need the humiliation of him seeing her in such a cold, clinical setting. It all hinged, however, on David not coming to the next appointment. As shocked as she was that he’d actually come to this one, she’d be knocked the fuck out if he actually deigned to attend another appointment. He’d get his confirmation from this appointment and then probably throw money at her like she was a stripper in a Vegas club and not the mother of his child.
“That isn’t something we usually encourage, but there is no harm in waiting, especially since your records from Dr. Mellon’s office show that you are otherwise healthy.”
David remained silent as Dr. Monroe intently filled in the information as Diana supplied it until finally he reported, “I would say you are eight weeks along, which puts the time of conception on or around April 7th.”
From the corner of her eye, Diana watched David stiffen. Obviously, that wasn’t what he’d been expecting to hear. April 7th was the night they’d shared at the Incantata.
“Are you certain?” David inquired, his voice tight.
“Well, the only way to be certain is to perform an ultrasound and measure the fetus.”
“Let’s do that, then,” David demanded.
Dr. Monroe pinched his lips together, obviously not keen on David giving him orders.
“I had already ordered one for the appointment, young man. Believe me when I say that this isn’t my first rodeo.”
Diana turned to glare at David who refused to meet her gaze. He was even stiffer, his shoulders like a broad, flat plank that could hold the weight of an elephant.
Dr. Monroe stood up, left the examination room, but returned moments later with an ultrasound machine trailing him.
“Alright, Miss Bluth. Lie on your back.”
Swallowing, Diana did as bid.
Dr. Monroe stood and then turned out the lights, leaving the only illumination coming from the black, white, and gray ultrasound screen. “Now, I need you to pull up your shirt to just below your breasts and pull your waistband down to just above your pubis bone.”
She did, and she couldn’t help but notice that David was watching her movements most intently. What was he thinking? Was he staring at the pale expanse of rounded flesh that was her untoned stomach? Feeling a blush burn her cheeks she looked away, watching the doctor as he set up the machine, inputted her information, and lifted the white bottle of lubricant from the warmer. He turned to her.
“Now, this has been in the warmer, but it will still feel somewhat cold and wet on your skin.” He squeezed a heaping amount of the clear gel onto the area just below her belly button.
She hissed, tensing.
Used to those sounds, no doubt, the doctor proceeded with the exam by squeezing some gel on the ultrasound wand and placing it right where he’d squeezed the gel on her belly.
“Alright, let’s have a look,” Dr. Monroe murmured, his gaze focused on the screen before him. Nervous, Diana flicked her gaze to the foot of the exam table where David had been standing before. He wasn’t there; he was standing just behind the doctor, his eyes glued to the screen.
The doctor moved the wand with one hand and with the other, he adjusted some of the knobs on the dashboard. There were some clicks, some strange buzzing, and then silence.
Neither she nor David moved or seemed to even breathe as the doctor moved the wand, clicking and labeling images.
Finally, Diana asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes. So far, so good.”
David grumbled something under his breath but his gaze was still on what the doctor was doing. There was a haunted look about him, in the light from the screen, his eyes looked sunken, his cheekbones were more pronounced.
The doctor hmmed, drawing Diana’s gaze back to the screen.
“What?” she blurted, suddenly extremely anxious.
“Let’s have a listen,” Dr. Monroe said by way of an answer. He clicked another button and then the room was filled with rapid whooshing sounds, like pulses of water rushing through a tiny pipe.
A smile broke over her face, her heart thundering in joy.
“That’s the heartbeat?” she nearly squealed.
David gasped, his gaze finally drifting to her. She couldn’t miss it—the awe that brightened his features.
“That it is,” the doctor murmured. “Listen closely, though.”
For what? What should she—
She heard it. Right after the pulse of the first whooshing, overlapping with it, was the sound of another whooshing.
“What is that?” she asked, her skin pulling tight over her chest.
The doctor smiled at her then turned back to click another button. An image appeared on the screen. It looked like a black void, pulsing, and in the middle…
“There are two of them?” David rasped, leaning down to place a hand on the table, his weight pressing down beside her legs.
“Two?” Diana exclaimed.
Dr. Monroe chuckled then clicked another button, making bright blues and reds appear on the screen. “There are two babies, two umbilical cords, and two amniotic sacs.”
David sucked in air. “What does that mean?”
“It means that these two beans are fraternal twins. Two separate eggs fertilized by two separate sperm.”
David blinked once. Twice. Then shook his head.
He couldn’t seem to believe it either.
After printing out several ultrasound images and making an appointment for the following month, Dr. Monroe escorted Diana and David into the waiting room.
With a parting, “congratulations” from the doctor, Diana stumbled out into the afternoon sun, blinking up into it before closing her eyes. She felt him before she heard him, his presence a heady thrumming against her back.
“There is much to discuss,” David asserted. “Do you live near here?”
Curious about what he intended to do, she nodded.
“I will follow you home and then we will discuss in private.”
Discuss what? Swallowing, she nodded again. What else was she supposed to do? He’d actually come to the appointment, he’d heard what the doctor said, he’d been there for the most shocking news of all.
Numb with disbelief, Diana slid into her car and started it, leaving the parking lot and heading toward home. She didn’t even bother wondering if her mother or sister would be home, or what David would think of her house. Would any of that matter?
Twins.
Parking in front of the single car garage, Diana left the car and waited for David’s Escalade to pull up behind her. When it did, David hopped out, using his long, muscular legs to eat up the distance between them. At her door, she fumbled with the keys, suddenly overwhelmed. Finally getting the door unlocked, Diana stepped through the doorway and into the tiny foyer. Linoleum squeaked beneath her sneakers.
Diana cleared her throat. “Come on in. What is it you’d li
ke to talk about.” She sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her, offering a small showing of hospitality. After all, he did put two babies in her, offering him a seat was the least she could do.
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she waited.
“I think that until the children are born, you should remain close,” David announced just as he stepped inside the small living room off the tiny foyer.
Diana stared up at him, her body tense, her heart pounding. “Close?” Was he asking her to move in with him?
“Of course. Keeping an eye on you and making sure you are abiding by a healthy pregnancy lifestyle would be much easier if you weren’t living in Edison.” He said the name of the New Jersey town as if it were a curse word.
She opened her mouth to snap at him—his snide tone souring the high she’d felt seconds before. But, before she could speak, he slapped her with an invisible hand.
“You will stay in my suite at the Incantata. There you will have all you could need, and you will be available to me, and I will be available to you. Rodney will return here in two days to retrieve you and whatever you feel you will need for the next several months.”
“Available?” It was one of the words that shattered the haze around her brain.
“Yes.”
Like…a two-way booty call? God! The audacity of the man.
“I can see the wheels turning in your head, and they are steering you off a cliff. I do not intend to spend another moment in your bed. I will not be staying in the room with you, I have my own dwelling in the city. This is simply a way for me to keep an eye on my investment.”
She hissed. “Investment?”
“Of course. You expect me to pay for these babies, and I expect to make sure my investment isn’t wasted on things like expensive clothes, shoes, bags, manicures…”
Diana gagged on the bile that shot into her throat. “Fuck you, David.”
He sneered, his steel eyes flickering with destructive malice. “You already did.”
Before she could gather the saliva to spit at him, he turned and left the room, effectively cutting off any other argument.
Fuck him! He expected her to fall in line, to be a bird in a cage, roosting on his eggs.
Grabbing a pillow from the couch she screamed into it, letting loose all the frustration, anger, terror, and bitterness that had been festering, rising, splintering through her over the last two months. Once her energy was spent, she fell onto the couch, her body limp, her heart racing, her thoughts as hazy as ever. But one thing was certain… David had left her with no choice.
Yes, over the last two weeks, she’d been determined to be all the baby would need. The baby wouldn’t wear designer clothes or rock a thousand-dollar stroller, but he or she would have been clothed, fed, and cared for. Now, though… Twins. The investigation into her behavior at work resulted in—how shocking!—her termination, so going back to work for Ayers would never happen. How the hell could she afford to care for two babies, especially without a job? With one baby, she could get a job at Walmart for minimum wage and save up enough for the basics, but basics for two babies?
It felt impossible. Tears burned the backs of her eyes, searing their promise of pain into her flesh. She rubbed her face, the heels of her palms providing a little added pressure she needed to help clear away the cobwebs.
David was an asshole, but he was the father of her babies, and he had the money to provide what two new lives would need. She had to suck it up, push aside the hurt and the resentment and the humiliation and do what needed to be done for her children.
Children.
She sucked in a breath and squeezed her eyes shut.
She was having twins. Two babies at once.
Would they both be boys? Girls? One of each? Dr. Monroe had said they were fraternal twins, which meant two babies, two amniotic sacs, two sperm.
Diana chuckled at the irony. For a man who claimed to be sterile, his sperm had certainly proved him wrong. Twice over.
Struggling to stand while her legs refused to support her, Diana forced herself to move. She only had two days, forty-eight hours, to gather her clothes and her wits.
Why did it feel like she was headed into battle instead of into Manhattan?
Chapter 19
David stood in the doorway of one of the smaller rooms in his penthouse apartment. One wall was tinted floor to ceiling windows, the carpet was plush and still had the lines in it from the vacuuming after installation, and there was a small bathroom off of it. All in all, it was a practical space, a blank slate that could be decorated to reflect its future occupant.
Occupants. Plural.
This would be a perfect nursery, his thoughts whispered. But would it fit two cribs, two dressers, two rocking chairs? Was it close enough to the master suite so that he or Diana could tend to the babies when they cried?
Startled from his thoughts by the very content of his thoughts, David stood there stunned.
Was he really contemplating turning one of the rooms in his penthouse into a nursery? Was he really picturing Diana in his bed, curling up beside him as they slept? Was he really considering turning his penthouse into a…home for his family?
His family…
Shaken to his core, he squeezed his hands into fists to keep them from trembling.
His penthouse? The one he’d bought with the express purpose of never letting anyone invade his space again? Babies would be worse than invaders, they’d be interlopers, squatters, turning every surface of his designer home into a nightmare.
Piles of dirty nappies. Used bottles. Crusty baby blankets. Dozens of toys underfoot. Crying, squalling, burping, sneezing…giggling, smiling, laughing, cooing, babbling… Diana’s beautiful face peering up at him as he stood over her as she nursed one of his babies at her breast.
One of his babies. Diana had given him twins.
His heart wrenched, images of two green-eyed, black-haired angels smiling up at him, reaching out to him, snuggling into his embrace. It was a vision of what was possible, of what could very well be his future. His children. Children he didn’t believe he could have even after speaking with Dr. Branchard. Even after the tests showed he was producing sperm regularly. Even after he saw Diana’s beautifully rounded belly that afternoon when she’d lain back on the exam table and exposed herself to him. It wasn’t until that rapid yet steady whooshing sound tumbled from the speakers…and right into his soul.
And then…to have seen them…his children, with his own eyes. Two glowing treasures surrounded by night, cradled in the safety and security of their mother’s womb.
Diana.
His heart slamming against his ribs, he leaned heavily against the door jamb, his legs barely holding him upright.
Dragging air into his lungs, he squeezed his eyes shut, panting into the silence of his large, lonely penthouse.
“Thank you, Miss Bluth. Enjoy your stay at the Serata Incantata,” the bushy eye-browed man crooned as she passed him a ten-dollar bill and offered him the crack of a smile.
This was it. She was actually doing what she said she wouldn’t do ever again; giving in to the asshole of the century, David Brenner. After two days of back and forth with her mother, and two nights of crying into her pillow while watching A Baby Story, Diana had realized something she hadn’t dared to expect.
She was falling for her baby’s daddy, a man wholly unsuited to own something as precious as her heart. Over the last two months, she had seen so many sides of him: the arrogant ass, the charming playboy, the generous lover, the persistent billionaire, and the vulnerable father.
No matter how many times she recalled his words after the OB appointment, she couldn’t shake the memory of his face when he’d seen the silhouettes and heard the heartbeats of his babies for the first time. He’d seemed haunted, overwhelmed…terrified. But not once had he looked angry. Or dismissive.
It had given her much to consider besides herself and her babies. The father had his own fears, his own
uncertainties to overcome. He was as new to this as she was, and since he was the one who truly believed he’d been sterile, he was dealing with an even deeper sense of disbelief. Of shock. Emotionally speaking, David was more fucked up than she was.
The staff at the Incantata were all smiles, cordiality, and helpfulness. Not one of them looked at her like she was a gold-digging parasite on the ass of society. Though, that didn’t stop her from thinking of herself as one, as erroneous as it was. She couldn’t help it. She knew what it looked like; the chubby chick with the messy bun and the ratty luggage was moving in to the penthouse suite, a beautiful and expensive and exclusive room, paid for by a billionaire who had made headlines over the last several months. She probably looked like the dirty secret he was trying to hide.
And she was, wasn’t she? He wanted to hide her away in luxury while he plotted what to do next, how to handle her pregnancy and his siring of said pregnancy. Diana understood that it was a lot for him to deal with, especially fresh off that shit with Rinna, but Diana was dealing with all that shit, too. She might not have been part of the issue between David and Rinna, but she was now dealing with the fallout. David was unwilling to let down his guard, to let Diana in, and Diana blamed Rinna for that. Okay, she blamed David, too. He didn’t have to treat her the way he had, forcing her to take the room at the hotel and make herself available for his investment inspection.
She sneered, her goodwill toward the man slipping.
Once the door to the suite shut behind the departing bellhop, Diana stood in the large foyer, her gaze taking in everything. She’d been in the room before, but it she’d been too busy being seduced and then fucked by David that she hadn’t taken the time to enjoy the view.
The room was gorgeous. In the light of day, with the large windows overlooking the city, she could see everything she’d missed at first pass, not that she had expected a second pass.
She bent down and removed her slip-ons, the cold of the marble floors against the soles of her feet was bracing. Letting loose a heavy sigh, she left her bags on the floor where the bellhop had placed them, and padded barefoot into the humongous living space. A sitting room on one side was separated from the TV area on the other side by a large L-shaped dark leather couch. The suite consisted of a main area then two wings on either side. On one side was the kitchen, dining room, guest bathroom, and office. On the other side were two bedrooms—one a master suite. The master suite where she’d spent the night with David almost a month ago.