That night she dreamt of a wedding –her wedding. She was in a beautifully designed wedding gown with a train so long it rivaled the one Princess Diana wore at her wedding. The neckline was high and made entirely of sheer lace stopping just above the bust area where the material of the gown curved into an artful sweetheart shape and hugged her upper half to perfection before flaring out at the waist to sweep the floor. Her naturally curly hair had been swept up and held together by a simple clutch clip and a tiara was placed on top of her head. She wore bare minimal makeup as her caramel skin shone through with radiance all on its own.

Her face sported the widest and happiest smile she had ever worn and though she couldn’t see the groom, her feet traveled toward the alter in eagerness and excitement caused her body to buzz. It felt like she was walking towards her destiny – where she should have been a long time ago. She didn’t question the euphoric feeling she just knew she had to make it to the altar. When she looked around, everyone had pleasant smiling faces and this propelled her movements even more. When she finally made it to the altar, there was a man in an all-white suite with his back turned to her. Though she couldn’t see his face, she knew that it was him. He was close shaven and his low hair was wavy, reminding her of a fine day at the beach. When he turned around, her breath caught in her throat and she woke up – it was Michael.

Imani was perplexed by the dream. Why would she be dreaming about marrying Michael? The two barely knew each other and if it wasn’t for the baby she was carrying, they probably never would have crossed paths again. She couldn’t see herself marrying him, especially now that his assumptions of her were so far out and the fact that she could tell he wasn’t a Christian man. She doubted he even attended church unless on the given seasons. She chalked it up to the exhaustion of the day and the fact that although she had not outwardly admitted it, she was very much attracted to him. Deciding to use the waking hours properly, she decided to find out just who Michael Fray was.

Imani was mind-boggled – Michael was a billionaire. She found it difficult to continue reading all the information she had on the internet as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that her child’s father was definitely rich enough to provide him/her with whatever they needed. Which ultimately meant if he chose to get custody there was next to nothing she could do to stop him.

He was only twenty seven and already owned a conglomerate of businesses along with shares in major internet companies such as Google and Facebook. He also held double degrees in Business Administration and Economics from Harvard and had earned his Doctorate at Dartmouth, both Ivy League colleges. The article showed that after his graduation from Harvard his father had transferred the business over to him and since then he had grown their wealth from multimillions to billions and was still on the path of adding more to their empire.

She had never been in contact with a millionaire much-less a billionaire and it scared her. As she continued to read about the man, she offered up a silent prayer to God to work it all out as she couldn’t bear to lose her child that she had already formed a bond with even though it was still in her womb.

Imani jumped up in panic as the sound of her doorbell being rung woke her up. When she looked at the clock it read 6:00 am. She hadn’t planned to get up until an hour after to prepare herself for her appointment so whoever was at her door better have a good explanation as to why they just woke her from the most peaceful sleep she had gotten since waking up in the middle of the night after her dream. She assumed that it had to be Lauren as she was the only one who normally had no qualms about coming to her apartment at this hour. She swung the door open prepared to give her best friend a piece of her mind but froze when she saw who was standing there.

“Michael?” she asked unsure. What could he be doing here at this hour?

“Can I come in?”

“Uh,” she thought of the appropriate response to give him, like what was he doing at her apartment so early and why did he want to come in but the only word that came out was, “Sure,” as she stepped aside to allow him entry.

He then turned and looked her up and down.

“I see you’re not dressed,” he stated.

“Dressed for what?” she asked lifting her eyebrows in confusion.

“For your appointment,” he stated matter of factly.

“The appointment is not until 9:30 so I have time.” She was about to ask him why it mattered to him but then it dawned on her. “You’re coming with me?” she asked surprised.

“Why else would I be here?” he replied as if stating the obvious. She simply rolled her eyes immediately irritated by arrogance.

“Well you could have met me there if you were so eager to go. You didn’t have to come here,” she replied her voice projecting her irritation.

“On the contrary, I wanted to take you to get something to eat before we actually head to the Doctor’s office.” She wanted to say she wasn’t hungry butshe was and his mention of food caused her stomach to growl, confirming the fact.

She left him in her barely furnished living room and went to prepare herself for the visit. When she came out he led her downstairs, this time to a Land Rover which she couldn’t help but gawk at. Not acknowledging her stupefied expression he simply opened the door and waited for her to get in before closing it.

They went to a diner located downtown where Michael ensured that she got everything she wanted and ate it all down. They then left and went straight to her appointment.

“Imani it’s so nice to see you.” Dr. Grace’s pleasant personality always put her at ease and this time was no different. “You must be the father,” she said turning her eyes on Michael who stood right beside her. When she looked at him she could see that his expression was blank as if he didn’t know how to respond to the question.

“Well actually, we need to do a paternity test,” she jumped in making the situation even more awkward.

“Oh I see,” her doctor said with a slight worried expression before plastering a wide smile on her face. “Not a problem. The good news is that we can actually do it now. There are other tests that require you to do the test in your second trimester but there is a new method that has been developed called Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity and it is quite accurate.” As both parties shook their heads at her statement she continued to explain the procedure and then allowed Imani to prepare for her ultra sound after which they would perform the test.

“Can you see this?” asked Dr. Grace as she pointed to the barely visible object on the monitor as she ran the transducer along the bottom of her abdomen. Imani could see the tiny blob as well as hear the heartbeat that filled the otherwise silent room like surround sound. She felt a squeeze of her hand and looked up to see Michael with his mouth agape and his eyes wide with wonder. A feeling of hope washed over her at his expression. They both opted to get a print of the sonogram even though they could barely see anything. Imani wanted to use it to mark the journey of her little one.

After the ultra sound Dr. Grace took blood samples from both her and Michael telling them that the results would be available in three days.

“So,” she started in nervousness but was interrupted by Michael.

“If the baby is mine, you will have to marry me.”