Accept My Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Single Parent Pregnancy Romance (3 page)

She would have wanted
him to say that it was a mistake. That it was a one-time thing. That
there was something she did to warrant this kind of unfairness but
that was not what she found out. The affair between him and Sienna
had been going on for months. At least seven months as far as she
could tell. That was why their relationship changed. The reason why
Sienna stopped being the friend she was to her. She hated that it
took so long for her to notice what was happening between them. It
had been so obvious. The signs had been right in front of her and for
some reason, she had not seen it. Even the way Sienna had acted when
she walked into her house…she could have seen something was
aloof. But she didn’t, until now.

Amanda and Brett had
swapped cars. So when Sienna walked into the house, she had expected
to see Brett. That was why she had been so awkward…Amanda
should have known. Even the strange look Brett and Sienna
shared…Amanda sighed. She felt so stupid. As soon as she
talked to Brett and then Sienna, she knew more than she had hoped to.
The two of them had been taking her for a fool for the better part of
the year.

This was the worst
Christmas holiday yet. She had packed a couple of bags when she went
back home to talk to Brett and his mistress and once she was back at
the Three Towers, she didn’t know what she was going to do. She
wanted to go back home. To the house she bought. To the home she was
supposed to be making with Brett, of course without Brett in it. That
would have been divine. But there was a voice at the back of her head
telling her that there was no way Brett was going to leave that
house. And she could not stay there knowing that she was going to see
Brett and Sienna every single day without pulling her nine millimeter
Smith and Wesson out of storage. And there was more that influenced
her decision. She had been feeling sick lately, a lot which was
strange because she generally had quite the strong stomach. She had
never been one to Google her symptoms but this time, she didn’t
feel like she had a choice and every single page was pointing out the
same thing. Something that she wished was not true.

“
I
can’t be pregnant,” she said to no one in particular as
she checked out page after page on her computer. She then took her
phone and looked at it for a long second before she opened her
calendar. As she scanned the calendar, she could feel herself panic.
She had not realized until then that she was late. She suddenly felt
her heart rate spike. “I can’t be pregnant,” she
thought again as she got up from the bed and grabbed a jacket and her
purse. Her head felt a little cloudy as she made her way to the drug
store downstairs and got a couple of pregnancy tests.

She was not sure what
seemed longer. The walk back to her room or the five minute wait
after she peed on the stick. When she saw the positive results on
both tests, she felt like her heart was breaking all over again. She
tossed the tests in the trash before she sat on the bed.

Her thoughts were all
over the place as she scrolled through her emails. She sighed when
she saw a reminder of an email she had been avoiding. An email from,
Kayla Agostini, a lady she’d met back in France. Back when they
met, Amanda had noticed that she and Kayla were very much alike. They
both liked testing out what was different in their tourism rather
than sticking to what search engines would suggest. Amanda took a
long deep breath. It was her fifth night at the Three Towers and she
suddenly knew exactly what she had to do. She was breathing hard and
deep as she made a call to Emilia.

“
Hello,”
Emilia said in a groggy voice.

“
Emilia,
hey…it’s Amanda.”

“
Do
you have any idea what time it is?” Emilia asked and Amanda
sighed. It was around nine thirty in New York which meant it was
probably four in the morning.

“
I’m
sorry love…I have not been keeping a good record of time
lately,” Amanda said. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“
You
sound like this is actually worth me waking up before the crack of
dawn.”

Amanda wanted to roll
her eyes and say something like ‘no kidding’. But she was
too exhausted. Both physically and emotionally.

“
The
offer to come over? Is it still on the table?” she asked.

“
Of
course.” Emilia sounded a little more alert than she had been a
few minutes earlier. “Sweetie, want’s going on? You sound
stressed.”

“
I
just need a time out.”

“
Of
course, you can come over any time you want.”

“
Good.
Because I am booking the next flight out of JFK.”

“
Oh,”
Emilia muttered. “That’s sudden….but okay…do
you want to talk about…whatever it is that has you all
frazzled?”

“
No.
I just…I don’t really want to talk about this over the
phone,” she said in a soft voice as she walked to the window.
“I just want to get away from it all.”

“
Anytime
you want to come over, my door is always open for you,” Emilia
said.

“
Good.
See you soon,” Amanda said before she hung up. She walked back
to her bed and looked at the available flights.

She was still looking
at her computer screen when her phone rang again. She exhaled loudly
when she looked at the screen and saw it was Brett. It had been three
days since he spoke to her and she was not about to give him a chance
to explain himself again. By that time, she’d heard it all. All
the different versions of how and why he’d been sleeping with
Sienna. Most of his reasons had been stupid. Cliché even.

It was just the one
time but Sienna had contradicted that information and told her that
it had happened a number of times.

He had said that it
was a mistake but if it was a mistake, why did he keep on doing it.
Over and over again for months? And what reason did he have? Sienna’s
husband was away but she was right there. She had almost always been
around. The longest he had ever been alone was that month she had
been on safari and she had begged him to take his leave then so they
could travel together but he wouldn’t. She sighed when she
heard a beep in her phone meaning he’d left her another
voicemail.

“
I
wonder what he has to say now,”
she
thought as she picked her phone to listen to what he had to say.

Mandy, please pick
up. I don’t know where you are and I am worried about you.

She rolled her eyes.

“
If
you were that worried about me, maybe you should have kept your dick
in your pants,”
she
thought.

I know what I did was
stupid but we need to sort this out. We need to at least sit down and
talk…figure out how to move forward from this. Figure out how
to heal…

She couldn’t
bear to listen to what he had to say anymore. She deleted the message
and tossed the phone on the bed next to her computer. Her heart was
racing as she looked at the Travelocity page and clicked on the first
flight. This was it. There was no going back.

*****

When Amanda finally
made it out of customs at the Turin airport, she was exhausted. She
was sure it had to do with the eight hour layover. She was normally
one who enjoyed layovers. Anything to experience a new place even for
a little bit. But this time, she would have done with a direct flight
taking into account that she had not had much sleep over the last
twenty four hours. But she needed to leave as soon as possible and
unfortunately for her, the only direct flight was Delta which would
have demanded her to stay in New York till one in the afternoon, the
following day. British Airways had a flight leaving at six in the
morning and that was all she cared about. Leaving Brett behind.
Leaving Sienna behind. Leaving…her house behind.

“
Mandy!”
she heard Emilia’s unmistakable excited voice. She noticed her
friend among the crowd and pushed her luggage trolley towards her.
“You look terrible,” Emilia said as she hugged Amanda who
forced out a laugh.

“
Well,
fuck you very much,” Amanda said when she pulled away.

“
Well
you have to understand that this is coming from someone who is used
to seeing you all polished up and now even your hair looks a little
messed up.” Emilia took the bag she was carrying. “But
that doesn’t mean that I am not happy to see you.”

“
You
should be happy to see me. I’m delightful,” Amanda said
matter of factly.

“
Oh,
you would never let me forget it, now would you?” Emilia said.
“Come on. I’m sure you must be tired.”

“
Exhausted,”
Amanda said as she followed Emilia out.

“
But
with the time difference, are you going to be able to get some
sleep?” Emilia asked when they got to her car. Amanda took a
long deep breath.

“
Well
I haven’t really been sleeping lately. So, if I have any
trouble sleeping, I have my good old friend Ambien.”

Emilia smiled and
then laughed.

“
Get
in, missy.”

*****

The
Ambien was way more efficient than Amanda thought it to be because it
was almost four in the evening when she woke up. There was a note on
her nightstand when she finally woke up.

Didn’t want to
wake you. I’ll be home a little late but there is some lasagna
and pizza in the fridge for when you get hungry, I also left some
money and takeout menus on the kitchen counter if you want something
different. XOXO.

She put the note down
and put on a bathrobe before she made her way to the kitchen. She
poured herself a bowl of cereal and then walked to the living room.

“
I
could work with this,”
she
thought as she looked around Emilia’s spacious living room.
Emilia’s new place was a big step up from the studio apartment
she had first been living in when she moved to Italy. This place was
simply amazing. Lots and lots of space, not forgetting the natural
lighting from the huge floor to ceiling window that overlooked the
city below. She was almost sure that this building was one of the
ones Emilia’s company had been working on lately.

She
could not help but walk around the apartment. The master bedroom was
huge, as if the guest room wasn’t big enough. Even back in the
States, getting an apartment this big was almost impossible.

When she finally made
her way out to the living room, she reached for her phone and sat
down. She sent a quick email to Kayla letting her know that she was
in Italy before she deleted a number of Brett and Sienna’s
voicemails.

After
she was done with her cereal, she walked back to the guest room and
stripped down before she went to the bathroom. As soon as she had the
water turned on, she didn’t know why but she was suddenly
crying. She could feel the saltiness of her tears on her lips and
that was when she finally broke down. She sunk to the floor as she
cried, letting out every pain she had kept locked in for so long. She
had always considered herself lucky.

Lucky to have a
career that she actually enjoyed.

Lucky to find a man
she loved.

Lucky that the man
she loved actually made her happy more than she could ever know.

But
suddenly, everything she knew was no longer a reality. And to think
she had been looking forward to starting a family with Brett. That
was the whole idea of buying the house together. But now, everything
was gone. Everything was lost. Life as she knew it was over.

*****

“
Honey,
I’m home,” Emilia yelled loudly when she came back home
later.

“
In
here,” Amanda called out from the kitchen.

“
Something
smells amazing,” Emilia said as she walked into the kitchen.

“
My
mother’s good old pot roast,” Amanda said as she wiped
her hands on a dishcloth.

“
You
really shouldn’t have. I was going to make you something when I
got home.”

“
Well,
I woke up at four so I guess I thought I should just put my time to
good use since clearly, I won’t be sleeping for a few more
hours,” Amanda said smiling. “I hope you don’t
mind, I went through your place till I found the makeshift wine
cellar down the hall.”

“
Please,
mi casa es su casa,”
Emilia said.

“
Shouldn’t
you be speaking Italian by now?” Amanda asked and Emilia
shrugged.

“
Fine.
La mia casa
è la tua
casa
,” she
said in a soft voice. “Pour me a glass.”

“
You
know, maybe we should take advantage of this dining table that you
have clearly never used,” Amanda said smiling. “I was
thinking we should eat here tonight.”

“
You
already set the table, I see,” Emilia said with a smile. “Not
that I mind. A girl could get used to this.”