Bear My Babies

Before she went to greet her next patient, she checked her phone to see five missed calls. Nathaniel was at it again. Her ex was constantly trying to be in her life despite the divorce being final. They were still entangled by debt and his inability to let her go. That was another thing that gave her pause on the baby side of things, he would be completely unavoidable while she was pregnant. The money could help her get rid of him because she could pay off anything in both their names and get him off of her credit once and for all. She really needed to sleep on it for a few days. If she didn’t have work, that’s what she would do.

The day was over quickly and she was excited she could mark pelican off her list of shifters to meet. It was amazing to her how many species there were. The couple was having trouble conceiving due to the female only having one ovary. It was a problem that occurred within human women, but was treated a bit differently in the supernatural world. Melissa was thrilled she would get to help them.

“Tilly, you want to go to dinner? I don’t want to go home in case Nathan is waiting for me.”

“That man is still stalking you?” Tilly walked around turning off the lights.

“I don’t call it stalking so much as annoying me by showing up and calling me every hour, sometimes twice.”

“What exactly is your definition of stalking?” Tilly asked, her voice high pitched like it got when she was trying to make a sarcastic point.

“Just go to dinner with me, please?”

“Okay, but you need to establish some boundaries with that man.”

They went to a smaller Italian place close to the office. It was a place Nathaniel wouldn’t go to because he owed the owner some money. She really had picked a winner for a husband. He owed money all over town. Nathan wasn’t good with money, had a gambling problem, and a drug problem. He was pretty much the perfect storm of dysfunction and it was the reason her credit was so terrible.

She was not expecting to see Thomas at the restaurant with another woman, but right when they were getting settled into their seats there he was in a corner booth with a blonde. She couldn’t tell if the girl was pretty, but she assumed she was. There was a tiny spike of jealousy that moved through her before she could stop it, but she held her head up and smiled at him. He smiled back and raised his wine, causing the woman to turn around and give her a once over. She was beautiful, as Melissa had suspected.

Tilly turned at that moment to see what she was looking at and gasped loudly. She kicked Tilly under the table. Thomas was still smiling and there was no doubt he’d heard Tilly’s shocked inhale of breath. So much for being cool and acting like it was no big deal.

It was still better than dealing with Nathaniel, who was calling her at the moment. He was more than likely at the apartment they used to share and wondering where she was. It was her own fault for allowing him to come around at all. He made her feel weak and, sometimes, she was a little scared of him. It would be nice to have someone to take care of her. She found herself staring over at Thomas but shook out of it when the waiter showed up.

“I’m not going to say a word,” Tilly said, but it was obvious she was dying to give Melissa her opinion.

Once their food came, she busied herself eating pasta and talking about work. She noticed when the blonde went to the bathroom and Thomas rose from the table. He was coming over.

“Ladies.” He smiled as he stood next to the table.

“Who’s that blonde lady?” Tilly asked immediately and stared up at him.

Melissa’s face felt hot as the blood rushed to her cheeks. “Tilly,” she tried to say under her breath.

“That’s Cherie, she’s an actress. Had a commercial for some type of powder you add to water for fiber or something recently. Nice girl.”

“How’d you meet her?” Tilly wasn’t going to stop.

“I met her a little earlier at a bar we both go to, and decided to have dinner.”

“Well, you’d better wear protection.”

Melissa was horrified with her friend. Why she would say something like that was beyond her. It hadn’t been long enough for her to make her decision, and she knew what Tilly was implying.

He was speechless, opening his mouth to speak and then closing it again. His date was returning to the table, so he nodded at them both and walked away. Melissa wanted to sink into the floor.

“I can’t believe how embarrassing you are.”

“What?” Tilly smiled. She’d never had any problems embarrassing her friend. “Now he’ll be thinking of you while he’s banging her.”

“That’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard.”

She could never stay mad at Tilly for long, but the whole thing made her feel like she was crazy. It wasn’t like she had any claim over the man but part of her still felt betrayed he was on a date when they were making such an important decision. Her phone rang again. Nathaniel’s messages were probably getting angrier.

“Can I stay with you tonight? I don’t want to put you out,” she asked, ashamed of her situation.

“Of course, we can have a slumber party with the girls and watch Disney movies.”

“Sounds perfect.” Melissa would deal with her crazy ex another night. Tonight she just needed a break and to clear her mind.

***

A week was over before he knew it. Thomas paced in his office, not really wanting to call her first thing in the morning. That would seem a bit desperate. It was hard but he resisted the urge, she would just be getting to work and starting her day.

“Janet, bring me some coffee, please,” he called out to his assistant, “and a donut or two.”

“Is everything okay sir? You don’t eat donuts.” She had a point.

“You’re right. Bring me an oatmeal with fruit, a banana, and some yogurt.”

He was a healthy eater unless he was stressed. After he finished eating, he settled back into his chair and tried to decide what to do next. His phone started to buzz and he saw it was a text from Melissa. She asked if he was available. After thinking really hard about what to say back to not seem too eager, he settled on ‘I am available’ and waited.

“Hello,” he answered on the third ring.

“Mr. McMillian?”

“Call me Thomas, Miss Rancic, please, I think we’re past the formalities.”

“Okay, then call me Melissa. I’ve decided to accept your offer. I wouldn’t even take the money if my ex-husband hadn’t buried me in debt and my mom wasn’t really sick. I can’t afford not to take the money, but it makes me uncomfortable because I would do this for you for free. I’m thrilled that I’ll be able to see if my research will work and the possibility of it helping other people in the future. There are some risks to the baby that we’ll need to meet to talk about, and, of course, we’ll need to set up a timeline. Can you come in for an appointment sometime this week?”