Saving Her Billionaire

“How’s the baby doing?” Nate asked. He did not know where the question came from and he immediately regretted asking it. He did not want Phoebe to think that he was just going to move in and out like this, that he was going to be completely separate from everything one moment and in the next moment he was going to ask her how their child was doing.

Their child. Nate thought about this for a moment. The child in her belly was their child. This was not something he had thought about for some reason, even though it had been a month since they had talked about the baby. The child in her belly was his. It was the product of his seed. How had he not thought about this before? Was he really such a callous, horrible person? Was he really so utterly emotionally bankrupt that he would simply ask Phoebe to raise his child all on her own? His child, as much as it was hers.

Phoebe flinched a little when he asked but then said, “It’s doing fine. I actually have to go to the hospital after your appointment and get a sonogram done.”

“Oh,” said Nate. He patted his thighs. He felt nervous. He wanted to go with her. He wanted to see how his baby was doing, his child. He wanted to know what the sex of the baby was, if such a thing would be possible to determine right now. He didn’t know what was coming over him. He didn’t think that he would ever feel this way, because, after all, he had to focus on the company, that had been the whole reason that he had been unwilling to be a part of the child’s life in the first place.

He decided to be bold. He decided that it was the right thing to do, after all. Phoebe should not have to go for her very first sonogram alone. That was something that the father of her child should do with her. That was something she should have at least some support for.

“Can I come with you?” asked Nate.

Phoebe looked taken aback by his offer. “Are you sure you want to?” she asked. “I mean, you don’t have to. I only told you because you asked, it wasn’t because I wanted you to go with me. It’s just… you asked you know, and I just thought that it’s your child too so you should know about the fact that I am going to get a sonogram done right after I am done talking to you. I… I guess I felt like it’s kind of your right to know that.”

Phoebe was ranting. He had never seen her do that. Had he really made her that nervous? He had never wanted to do that. He had never wanted to make her feel unsettled in any way. He felt like he had wronged her yet again and he wanted to make it right. He wanted to get up and hug her and make her feel like everything was okay. It was his responsibility, in a way, after all. He was the father of the child in her belly. However, he could not hug her because that would have just been extremely awkward. He could only reassure her with words, and that was what he decided to do.

“I want to,” said Nate. “I promise, I want to go with you. I’d like to see how the child is doing.”

Nate had wanted to say “my child”, or “our child”, or anything else except the extremely emotionally distant “the child”. However, he still did not think that being a part of the child’s life would be the best thing for him right now. He did not think that he would want to split his time between two things. He would want things to go well for his company first before even thinking about something like that.

“Really?” asked Phoebe.

She looked very vulnerable, and once again Nate was filled with the desire to hug her. It consumed him. It was all he wanted in the world, to hold her tight and make her feel safe. It was all he wanted in the world to make her feel like what she was doing was right, and that she was doing a good job of being pregnant on her own. He wanted to hold her and tell her that it was alright to feel vulnerable right now, that she didn’t need to be strong all of the time, that she was strong enough most of the time to allow her this small, rather insignificant moment of vulnerability.

“Yes,” said Nate. “I mean… I don’t know it just seems wrong that I know you’re going yet I won’t go with you, you know? It’s not that you’re making me feel obligated to go with you in any way, it’s just that I feel obligated on my own, you know? I feel like I should be the one to take you there. It doesn’t seem fair that I would go home and do something stupid like watch TV or have a drink while you are at the doctor’s getting a sonogram of our child.”

He had said it. He had said the words. Phoebe, however, did not seem to mind. On the contrary, she seemed rather happy that he had said that. She looked happier than he had seen her in a long time.

“It would make me really happy if you go with me,” she said. “I really appreciate it. Stephanie was supposed to go but she has a double shift, and my mom hasn’t been able to quit her job and make it out here yet.”

“Your mom is quitting her job to come to you?” asked Nate.

“Yeah,” said Phoebe, suddenly self conscious. “It’s okay, she’ll find a job here. She’ll help me take care of the baby, it’ll all be okay. You don’t have to worry about that.”

He didn’t have to worry about that, but worry about that he did. He was very worried about how she was going to manage, about the fact that her mother was going to have to move to a brand new city, and all because of something that he was equally responsible for. Nate did not want that to happen. He was very, very confused.