The Billionaire’s Risky Pregnancy

Chapter 7

“He’s really giving you carte blanche here?”

Tasha rolled her eyes at the sound of George’s question and took him by the hand once he pushed his car into park.

“He says that he wants me to be happy,” Tasha said as she climbed out of the car and stretched her arms behind her back. Eight long months. To the untrained eye, it might have looked like she simply went off a diet and had to get rid of a little excess weight around her middle. speed up the process and let her get to the good part, the feel of the bouncing baby in her arms.

Maybe Smith was right; a little shopping would do the trick.

Taking George by the arm, they entered the boutique on the corner of Hillside and Main. Tiny bassinets for the first few moments when the little one came home. Sturdy cribs for later on. There were too many mobiles to count, and she started to gravitate towards the series of stuffed animals that dangled from a rainbow string. The little lion smiled at the tiny tiger, and Tasha playfully knocked the big cats that weren’t so tough together and turned to see George studying a series of onesies adorned with a variety of slogans.

“Princess in the House. I bring the cute. Now this one is the smartest of all!” He led a black garment before her eyes with pearls painted just below the collar and a pink purse hanging off the right shoulder.

“And why is that?” I asked.

“Because it’s just so fierce,” he said. “And you know you’re having a girl, right?”

“I’m not finding out,” she said as she swatted his hand away. “I sort of want it to be a surprise.”

“You don’t need science to be sure,” he continued. “Way you’re carrying, my mom looked like that before every one of my sisters.” She smiled at the thought of him waiting for a little brother to be his buddy as a set of three girls slowly but surely entered his life. Sometimes he joked that all those tea parties and forced makeovers turned him gay before he knew what hit him. But he seemed so excited to get the chance to do it all over again with her daughter if that was the way the wind was going to blow.

Tasha laughed out loud and nearly took hold of his hand when she glanced at another couple shopping over her shoulder. This mother looked as if she was ready to pop at any second, and her husband or boyfriend or whatever the man was talked about the special border they had put in for that would feature every Disney character in its original incarnation. It wasn’t so much the idea of Steamboat Willie staring down at their newborn that tugged at her heart; it was the way the man kept his arm around his mate’s waist and stroked her belly every chance he got as his kiss fell into her hair.

“Problem, Tasha?” George asked as he shook her shoulder and dragged her out of her reverie. Turning back to face him, she sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with her fingers as she tried to move to the shelf of booties that would be meant for pictures only. It would probably be a full year until the little one managed a step.

Would Smith still even be in the picture at that point?

“What aren’t you telling me?” George prodded.

“Nothing,” she muttered. “I’m with a wonderful man and we’re going to have a baby. Life literally could not be any sweeter.”

“You’re a lousy liar, Tasha,” he teased even as he folded his arm around her. She started to fall into him when a great cry from across the room broke them apart.

Along with the sound of a distinctive splash.

“Betsy! You okay, babe!” The curvy woman with light red hair tied back in a ponytail clutched her belly as her legs trembled under her paisley skirt. The girl at the register was already easing a chair to the center of the showroom, and Betsy sat with a groan as the man held her hand and started telling her how to breathe.

“It’s too soon!” Betsy yelled as she screamed through what had to be a contraction. “We… we have two more weeks. And the nursery is not—”

“Think that’s going to have to wait,” George whispered as he patted her arm and left her side. He fell to the floor before the strangers and looked them each in the eye as he extended his hand.

“Name’s George,” he said. “Been through this once before.”

“You… you have children?” Betsy asked.

“Not quite,” he confessed. “But my youngest sister? Girl came like a freight train three hours ahead of schedule. My Dad was at work. So it fell to be the man of the—” His voice cut off with a sharp squeal as Betsy squeezed his palm to the point that Tasha thought his bones might shatter in the woman’s hold.

“Mister, I’m sure you mean well. But I’m not really in the mood for a family history and… Jesus God!” Betsy stretched her legs forward and planted her heels to the ground. Another shop girl rushed from the back and started to tear at a pile of blankets that had yet to be purchased. Was she trying to mop up the mess or give the baby coming hard and fast a safe place to land?

“The ambulance is on its way!” her co-worker called out, and George rolled up his sleeves as he waved Tasha over with the hand that was bruised but not broken.

“You won’t get this in any Lamaze class, Tasha,” he said. “You want a real life preview or what?” Her feet felt heavy as she made her way towards the couple. Betsy’s groans grew louder as her partner had to endure the force of her fingers.

“Is it supposed to hurt this much?” the man asked George.

“It’ll all be worth it in the end, pal,” George assured him. “Try rubbing her back and I’ll…” He hesitated as he lifted up her skirt, and Tasha watched him swallow hard when the woman leaned forward to scream in his face.

“Why aren’t you doing anything?” Betsy begged.

“Sorry, I… I mean if you feel weird about a stranger seeing you… down there.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Betsy pushed past both men and tore off a pair of polka dot panties that had soaked through. Flinging the undergarment into the corner, she spread her legs wide. “Look as much as you want. Just get this thing out of me!” Betsy’s voice reached towards the rafters, and she took the man’s face in her hand.

“Bets, I—”

“You did this to me, Matt!” she hissed through clenched teeth. Matt’s blue eyes narrowed over his beard, and he pulled back as he scrunched his nose.

“Pretty sure you had some say in the matter,” he reminded her. “I would have been perfectly happy with a dog.”

“Well maybe I’ll drop a whole litter right here and that will make you happy!”

The sound of them arguing… was this what she had to look forward to? If Smith was already hesitant, a scene like this would send him screaming.

“George?” she asked. “I… I want to tell you—”

“Confessional is closed, Tasha,” he said. “Someone else wants a say.” Betsy’s body arched as she released a final scream, and even though the blankets would never sell in the boutique let alone a garage sale, a tiny human being wriggled through the slime and seemed stunned by its first glimpse of the whole wide world. So many mobiles; maybe the little one thought that this was the jackpot of babydom, and Tasha reached for the tiny cheeks with trembling fingers when a loud wail rivaled Betsy’s screams.