The Billionaire’s Risky Pregnancy

“Nice,” George said as he cleaned the child off as best he could and cleaned out the small mouth with his right index finger. “Bet this kid will sing opera one day.” The umbilical cord still linked the baby to Betsy, and George was in no rush to cut the tie as he passed the baby into Betsy’s arms.

“Here’s your little boy,” he said. “Don’t know which one of you he looks most like, but that’ll come in time.”

Betsy’s rage seemed to melt away as she cradled the boy to her bre*st and looked down at him through a stream of tears. Her fallen red hair stuck to his tiny, sweaty cheeks, and Matt eased the strands away as he kissed Betsy’s face and beamed down at the baby.

“Look at him, Bets,” he murmured. “We made that happen.” Betsy smiled into his lips, and they shared a quick kiss before both sets of eyes were only for the baby.

“We still need think about a dog,” she whispered. “You know that he’ll want one.”

“Anything,” Matt said. “Nothing but what you want. Forever.” Tasha expected them to share another kiss, but their love stayed on the bay as two EMTs and a gurney made its way into the boutique. Betsy kept the baby close as her body was eased onto the stretcher, and Matt was ready to follow after her when he grabbed George’s hand.

“Thanks, man,” he said. “I… we don’t even know your name.”

“It’s George,” he said with a blush as he cleaned off with the cleanest blanket on hand. The couple exchanged a quick glance as Betsy shrugged her shoulders.

“That’s the middle name,” she said. “We’re still going with Brandon.” George cleared his throat and started to fall back when Betsy asked the EMTs to wait and touched her fingers to his arm. “But we can’t thank you enough,” she continued. “Your wife here is very lucky to have you.”

“Oh. But she’s not my—”

“I’m going to need a lot of help,” Tasha said. “And he really is a great guy.” George stayed silent as the new family was wheeled away, and Tasha bit down on her lower lip as George dropped the dirty blanket and centered his hands on her shoulders.

“You a little overwhelmed or whatever?” he asked.

“Something like that,” she said. “You really were amazing.”

“Smith will be that for you and more,” he promised. “Because he loves you, right?”

“Yes,” she started as she just nodded her head. But there was a nagging at the back of her mind that would not go away.

“Let’s get you out of here,” he said. “You look like you need some fresh air.” She leaned into his side and wanted to leave the perfect nursery behind when she heard the shop girls giggling and talking fast behind her back.

“That was like crazy!”

“I know. Think it’ll be good for business?”

“Not if we can’t clean up this mess.” Tasha paused and glanced down at the assorted stains on the fluffy pink carpet. It would take a crew with the proper chemicals and supplies to make the room as good as new.

And she had carte blanche.

“Here.” Snatching a stray piece of paper from just beside the resister and a pen lined with a lavender feather, Tasha wrote down Smith’s account number and made sure to include the expiration date along with the security code. “Do what you need to do.”

She started to leave again when George wrapped his fingers around her arm.

“Isn’t that supposed to be for the baby?” he asked.

“It’s not like he’ll notice one way or the other.” The shop girls offered a few words of thanks, and Tasha slipped back into the passenger’s seat as she started to cry. No. Sob. Breathy heavy things that wracked her chest and made her heart hurt until George ducked behind the wheel and took her hand.

“Talk, Tasha,” he said. “What’s going on?” She hardly knew where to start. Smith said he was happy. He held her while she slept and even made a few late night runs to the convenience store one block away from his apartment. Not as many choices as Schroeder’s but he always came back with strawberry ice cream and an Italian sub. She’d reached the point where she was using the pink stuff like mayonnaise on the bread, and he would always laugh when she offered him a bite. He smiled at her in those moments.

But that didn’t change the fact that he was only too happy to have her take George or anyone else along to shop.

“He doesn’t want this,” she said. “And I… I know why he’s scared. Just hoped that it would be different.” George let her cry until tears were spent and didn’t ask another question until she managed to look into his eyes.

“You told me once that he was a bad call,” she whimpered. “Were you right about everything?” George took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head as he played with her braids.

“You obviously don’t think so,” he said. “Why else would you still be with him?” George pushed back and raised his eyebrows. Her fingers trailed down his arm in search of his hand, and she tightly squeezed his palm.

“I… I really love him, George,” she admitted. “I am happy about this. I just want him to feel the same.”

“Okay,” George said. “Any juice left in that plastic?”

“He has unlimited funds,” she sniffled. “So if nothing else, there’s always that.”

“Good enough,” George said as he shifted the gear and hit the gas. “Let’s get you some lunch.” They turned into the first McDonald’s they found, and George asked for five 20-piece chicken nuggets, eight Big Macs, a ton of large fries.

“And do you guys really do breakfast all day now?” he asked into the menu. The hidden voice cracked around the word yes, and George threw in a couple of Egg McMuffins and some hash browns into the mix for good measure.

“That good?” he asked.

“Might as well blow the bank and do a few strawberry shakes.”

“You are a beast, my friend.” They had to park before the plastic playground as they waited for their order. Tasha looked through the windshield and saw a birthday party in full swing. Four children ran around the slide with glittery hats on their heads, and she saw a man in a suit hanging off to his side as a woman with blonde hair tied into a bun worked to wrangle the little ones. The man was there but hardly present, and Tasha was ready to burst into tears all over again when their order arrived.

In a cardboard box.