A Baby For The Billionaire (8 page)

There was always the option of
blackmailing Chase, she thought. Instead of going to the press, she
could tell him about the baby and demand he pay for her silence.
She might end up getting a very nice custody package and a lump sum
for her having to stop working.

Even without having to decide what to
do for the financial security of her unborn child, Alicia still
needed to figure out what on earth she was going to do with regards
to funding her mother’s treatment. It seemed that no matter how
hard she worked or what sacrifices she made, she just couldn’t seem
to catch a break.

As soon as she thought it
she felt ashamed of herself. She was worried about the so-called
sacrifices she needed to made, when her mother had been making
those very same, very real, sacrifices for years. Since Alicia had
been born her mom had scrimped and saved and gone without so much
just to ensure that her daughter had everything that
she
needed. And it was
soon going to be time for Alicia to do the same thing for
her
child. She just
wished that she could think of a way to at least get a fighting
start, her mother the financial help that she needed for her
medical treatment, and her baby a decent beginning in
life.

For now, all she could do was to make
sure that her pregnancy remained hidden for as long as possible. At
least that way she would be able to keep her job and try to save as
much as possible until the time came when she was unable to work
anymore. She didn’t have a clue what she would do then, but she
knew that she would think of something. She always did. And if that
meant that she ultimately had to choose one of the two options
she’d just thought about, then that’s what she would do. She’d just
have to deal with the consequences when they arose.

The following few weeks were some of
the hardest that Alicia had ever been through. Morning sickness
meant her days started off horribly, and a tiredness like she’d
never experienced before meant that it didn’t get much better
throughout the day. Not being able to talk to anyone about it was
probably the hardest thing to cope with though, and as the weeks
past she found herself wishing that she could at least tell the
housekeeper, Julie, what was going on, but she didn’t want to put
her friend in the middle of her predicament—especially considering
that they worked for the same person employer. The last thing
Alicia wanted to do was to jeopardize her friend’s job just because
she needed someone to talk to.

Julie had caught her crying one day in
the cleaning closet at the back of the kitchen, and it had taken
everything in Alicia not to breakdown and tell her friend about her
pregnancy. “Honey, what on earth is the matter?” The genuine
concern in her friend’s voice had almost been her undoing, but she
couldn’t put her problems on her friend’s shoulders; it wouldn’t
have been right or fair.

“Just ignore me, Julie. I just can’t
stop thinking about my mom. She gets thinner every time I see her,
and even though she makes sure there’s always a smile on her face,
I can see how much pain she is in and how worried she is.” The
tears started flowing again. “What am I going to do,
Julie?”

It was a rhetorical question, and they
both knew it. Julie didn’t have the answer to Alicia’s problems,
and they both knew that Alicia didn’t expect her to. But her friend
had always been there for her, and she was the only person that
Alicia could talk to about her mother’s situation.

“I know it’s hard right now, baby, but
it will all work out in the end. I promise.” It was a promise that
Julie was powerless to uphold, but it made both of the women feel a
little better to hear it voiced.

Alicia threw her arms around the other
woman’s shoulders, pulling her in for a hug of genuine gratitude.
“I know I’ve said it before, Julie, but I don’t know what I’d do
without you.”

Her friend gave her a playful swat on
the backside as she pushed her away and walked out of the cleaning
closet back into the kitchen. “Well it’s a good thing that neither
of us will ever have to find out, huh?”

Almost three weeks had passed since
Alicia had found out that she was pregnant, and thankfully she
hadn’t seen much of Chase during that time. On the rare occasions
that they had bumped into each other in the house, things had been
strained, to say the least. In the first couple of weeks, Chase had
more or less completely ignored her, only talking to her when he
absolutely had to, and even then his sentences were short and curt,
which had suited Alicia perfectly. The less time she had to spend
with him, the less probability there was that he would notice her
thickening waistline and gaunt face.

It didn’t seem to be just her that
Chase was abrupt with either. Many of the staff members had been
commenting on how stressed he seemed lately. He didn’t seem to have
a nice word to say to anybody, and it had got to the point where
the whole household was walking on egg shells whenever he was
around. It had also been noticed by a few people that he and
Vanessa seemed to be arguing more and more these days. Alicia tried
to ignore the gossip, but she could never quite seem to move out of
hearing range when Chase’s name was mentioned.

A week into Alicia’s second trimester,
one month after finding out about her pregnancy, Vanessa went away
yet again; this time on a vacation to the Bahamas. Almost
immediately the atmosphere in the house improved, and Chase seemed
to be in a better frame of mind towards everyone, including Alicia.
Rather than avoid her, it now seemed like he was deliberately
trying to see more of her; coming into rooms that she was cleaning
with some pretext of looking for something or someone.

While Alicia couldn’t help but tense
up every time he was around, she felt herself softening towards
him, even looked forward to actually seeing him. When other staff
were around he would treat her like them, but any time she happened
to be alone he would linger a little longer and strike up a
conversation.

She was in the middle of cleaning the
windows of the doors to the library when Chase arrived conveniently
needing to look for a specific book. Nothing much was said until
Alicia moved to climb up on the small step stool she used to reach
the topmost panes. “Do you usually do that?” His voice from behind
her made her jump, and she almost lost her footing. “Don’t we have
a window cleaner who comes around once a month?”

“Sure we do, but he only does the
outside of the windows. He doesn’t clean any of the glass doors
inside the house.” Alicia looked over her shoulder at Chase while
she talked, but she was holding onto the door frame with her free
hand, ever conscious of making sure that she did nothing to put
herself or her baby at risk.

She saw the frown cross Chase’s
handsome face as he listened. “Why haven’t I been made aware of
that? I really don’t think that it’s a suitable job for a female
member of staff to do.” While his comments may have seemed sexist,
it actually endeared him to Alicia a little. She found it quite
sweet that he would worry about women cleaning windows, even though
it was actually one of the easier jobs that the cleaning staff had
to do.

She turned back to the task at hand,
hiding the smile that had crept across her face. It seemed that
Chase Carter could be a gentleman when he chose to be, she thought.
“I think we can handle it, Chase. We may be labeled as the fairer
sex, but I think most of us are tougher than we look, and cleaning
windows is a walk in the park. Now if you want to get a man in to
clean the chandeliers, I’m sure every member of staff, both male
and female, would be extremely grateful.”

Chase chuckled behind her. “Yes, you
are definitely the fairer sex. And some of you are fairer than
others in some aspects.” Alicia could feel herself blushing at his
innuendo, but she didn’t quite know how to respond, or if she
should respond at all. Thankfully, Chase carried on talking without
waiting for an answer. “I’ll definitely take your suggestion on
board though, because I really don’t want you climbing ladders any
more than you have to.”

I wonder what he’d do or
say if he knew that I was carrying his baby,
Alicia thought to herself. He would probably have a complete
meltdown and not let her do anything more strenuous than polish the
silver.

On another occasion, Alicia was about
to head out the door to spend her two days off with her mom, when
Chase walked in from outside. They both paused at the threshold
with Chase holding the door open for her to pass. As she walked
past him she couldn’t help but brush up against him, and her body
trembled as a bolt of instant desire rushed through her at the
contact. “Thank you.” She muttered the words and tried to get
through the door as quickly as possible in an attempt to hide her
reaction.

“You’re more than welcome.”
It might have been her imagination, but Chase’s voice seemed deeper
than normal, with a husky undertone that took her mind instantly
back to the night they had shared together. “Alicia.” She paused as
he called her name, turning slightly to look back at him with a
questioning look on her face. “You look lovely today.” His offhand
comment threw her for a loop, and she quickly mumbled
another
thank you
before turning and hurrying away.

She couldn’t stop thinking about what
he’d said for the duration of the journey to her mother’s. His
words had left her halfway between confused and elated. Was he
starting to feel something for her, or was it just her wishful
thinking? She mulled over the last couple of weeks and how his
attitude towards her had seemed to change. Whatever it was, the
fact remained that he was a married man, and as such it really
didn’t matter what they did or didn’t feel for each
other.

As she arrived at her mother’s house,
Alicia pushed all thoughts of Chase from her mind. Her mother’s
worsening condition made her determined that every free minute
would be time dedicated solely to her mom and not wasted on
thoughts about her and Chase’s messed up relationship. Her mother
deserved her full attention—Alicia owed her that much at the very
least.

“How’s my girl today?” As always, the
first thought her mother had was for her daughter and not herself,
and as Alicia wrapped her mother in a gentle hug she could have
wept at how unselfish this amazing woman was.

“I’m doing good mom. How about you?”
It was plain to see that her mother’s condition had worsened since
the last time Alicia had seen her. She had never been a large
woman, but now she was positively skeletal, and her clothes hung
from her thin frame. “You looked tired. Are you getting enough
rest?” She didn’t ask if her mother had been eating, because during
her last visit her mom had told her that she really didn’t have
much of an appetite these days.

“There’ll be plenty of time to rest
when I’m dead and gone.” It was something that her mother had said
frequently over the years, but this time it made Alicia’s blood run
cold, as it was becoming increasingly obvious that her mother would
be resting sooner rather than later.

“Let’s go and have a cup of tea, shall
we?” She changed the subject quickly, not wanting to dwell on a
future without her beloved parent. “I’ve brought some of your
favorite cookies to have with it.”

Her mom smiled and took the arm that
Alicia had offered, and the two of them walked side-by-side into
the kitchen where Alicia put some water on to boil and her mother
sat at the table and watched with a smile still firmly plastered on
her face.

“You look like the cat that got the
cream.” Alicia put her mother’s cup in front of her and sat down at
the table opposite her with her own drink. “What are you smiling
about, mom?”

“Oh, nothing, dear. I’m just wondering
how long I have to wait before you tell me.”

Alicia frowned in confusion. “Tell you
what?”

“Why, tell me when the baby is due, of
course. What else could I mean?” Alicia was so shocked at her
mother’s words she almost dropped her cup. “Did you really think
that I hadn’t noticed, baby? I’ve known you all your life,
remember? You’ve never been able to hide anything from me for
long.”

“You… I... It’s not...” Alicia
couldn’t formulate a coherent sentence, and in the end she gave up
even trying and just sat there looking across the table at her
mother who proceeded to give the biggest laugh that Alicia had
heard in a long, long time.

“Oh, Alicia. If you could only see
your face right now.” Her mother had laughed so hard that tears
were literally rolling down her face. “It’s not very often that I
have the element of surprise over you these days, is it? I wish
that I had recorded this so that I could watch it again and again.”
Her mother’s mirth was wonderful, and while Alicia was relieved and
happy to see her parent in such good spirits, she was still shocked
at the reason behind it.