His Change of Heart: Unexpected Pregnancy Romance (14 page)

    “You can’t tell me what to do. I can answer my phone if I want to. It’s my house.” Avery tried to break free of his grip.

   “I’m asking you not to, Avery,” he said to her in a serious tone of voice. “After the stunt you and Kat pulled, she should be lucky I didn’t pay her a visit before coming here.” He took in the surprised look on her flushed face. “Yes, Avery, I know all about your deception. Thankfully Josh became suspicious when he saw Kat shopping up a storm. The baby clothes and crib that she ordered were a dead give away. None of her other friends were pregnant. Then he overheard the two of you talking about sending the stuff here. He told me right away what he suspected you two were up to. I would deal with Kat later.”

   “Kat did nothing wrong. She was only doing what I asked her to do, as a friend,” Avery shouted at him.

   “Well, she shouldn’t have. She should have stayed out of it.”

   “I’m sure you would have done the same thing for Josh.”

    “I would have done the right thing. I would never try to keep someone away from their baby.”

    The phone rang a fourth time, and Will went over and picked it up.

    “Hello, Kat,” Avery heard him say in a very aloof voice. “No, Avery can’t come to the phone right now. She’s busy. And yes, she’s okay. What, do you think—I did something to her? I will tell her you called.”

   Will hanged up the phone, clearly before Kat could get another word in. He came back to where Avery was still standing close to the counters, her hand rubbing the small of her back. There was a very determined look on his face.

  “You have no right to do that.”

  “I do, especially after what you and Kat did. You were trying to keep my child away from me—my child, Avery. I can’t believe that you actually thought you would get away with it.”

    He sounded angry. And Avery moved further away from him. She didn’t think that he would hurt her, because she knew it was something he wasn’t capable of. She just wanted to put some distance between them.

   “The baby is not yours, Will,” she yelled at him. “So please stop saying that it is.”

   “Fine, Avery. I didn’t come here to fight with you,” he said to her in a very resigned tone. “There’s an easy way to solve this. I will go to court and request a paternity test. And if it turned out that I’m the father, which I knew I am, I would sue you for full custody. And I need not remind you that the odds are stack against you. The fact that you tried to cut me out of the baby’s life will be a huge determining factor. A child needs its father in his life. I personally know a judge who doesn’t take kindly to women who pull such selfish stunts. You will lose, Avery. Is that what you want, to see the baby when the court says you can?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Avery said to him with tears welling up in her eyes. “You have no right to this baby. You walked out on me, remember.”

The baby was kicking, and she rested her hands on her stomach, and bit down hard on her trembling lips to prevent herself from crying. There was a distant look in her eyes as she looked past Will into the garden outside. She didn’t want to think that he could be this cruel to her—that he would want to hurt her in such a way

  “That was about us, Avery. Now there is an innocent baby involved, and I would be damn if you denied me the right to be its father. I want to be part of that child’s life. And don’t tell me that he or she isn’t mine, because I know you are lying.”

  Avery bit down even harder on her lips. She rubbed her stomach absently as she listened to him, wishing she could run from the room and far away from him.

   “You were a virgin when I met you, Avery, remember. You had very little if any experience with men. I doubt you would just jump into another man’s bed right after we broke up, especially when I know that you still had feelings for me running through that lovely body of yours.”

  “You mean before you broke up with me,” she corrected him in a trembling voice. “And I have changed since then. I grew up. I’m not that inexperienced girl you took to bed, Will.”

     Avery watched as he came closer to her. And standing before her, his body brushing against hers, he took her face in his hands and looked at her, his eyes searching hers, looking for answers. Avery tried to look away, but she couldn’t, he wouldn’t let her avert his scrutiny.

    “Now tell me, Avery, do I have to get a paternity test or are you carrying my child?”

    Avery didn’t answer him. “Fine, Avery, I’m not going to force you to answer me. The truth is written all over your lovely face.”

  She looked at him in silence. Then she saw him dropped onto his knees before her. He lifted her top, and began planting light kisses all over her exposed stomach, his eyes looking up at her, holding her gaze. And for some reason she couldn’t quite explain the baby stopped kicking the moment Will touched her stomach. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and rested his head gently on her protruding tummy, trying to feel the baby move. There was so much tenderness in the way he caressed and kissed her stomach that Avery found herself welled up with emotions, and before she knew it, she began to cry. She couldn’t stop the hot tears from streaming down her face. Her hands went up to wipe them away as Will continued to rest his head on her stomach.

    She didn’t want to deny him his child, but she was scared, terrified that he would break her heart again. He could also take the baby away from her. He had just told her so. The baby was all she had in the world, and she didn’t want Will taking him or her away from her. And Avery realized that he could—he had the money and means, and all the necessary connections. He knew people—she didn’t. She wouldn’t be able to fight him.

    “I’m not a doctor, Avery, but I’m sure you are no more than five months along. We broke up around that time. And by my calculation, that means you were pregnant when I left and you probably didn’t know it.”

   He was facing her again, his open palms resting calmly on her belly. “This baby is mine, isn’t it?” He searched her eyes again. “I can feel it. We made this child together, didn’t we?  Please don’t deny it.”

    And Avery still speechless, burst into a new set of tears. She began to sob loudly, not caring if he was right there watching her. She just allowed the tears to flow.

  “Ave, please, don’t cry. God, I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through. You didn’t deserve any of it.” Will held her, calmly stroking her hair and wiping the tears away from her cheeks. “It’s going to be fine. I’m here now. I’m going to make up for all the pain I caused you. I swear to God, I will.”

   He placed her head on his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders. “It’s not good for you or the baby to cry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry. I only want you to tell me that the baby is mine.”

    Avery continued to cry. “I would leave if that’s what you want. If it will make you feel better.” He wiped her tears away again and looked at her helplessly. “Is that what you want, Ave, for me to go? For me to leave you and our child, because I don’t want to go.”

   Avery looked at him without replying. She stopped crying, and Will took her hand and led her into the living room. They took a seat on the sofa, and he reached over and took her in his arms.

   “You should have told me the second you found out you were pregnant. I would have dropped everything and come back to New York to be with you.” He held her, his hand rubbing her back. “Babe, I’m so sorry for everything. I will do anything to change what I did to you. Please give me another chance to prove that I love you and only you, and have always.”

   “I thought you had moved on with your life. You were engaged. I saw the announcement online..”

  “God, Avery where did you get that ridiculous piece of information, from Kat? Heavens! I’m not engaged to anyone—not then or now. I was in Chicago working my ass off. I had no time for a relationship. I was surviving on a couple hours of sleep a day at most. I hardly had time for myself, much less for a woman.”

  “Wha...what about Lori, the woman you brought to the wedding? I saw photos of the two of you together, and then that announcement. Weren’t you dating her?” Avery told him between fits of hiccups.

   “No, God, no! You shouldn’t believe everything you read, especially the rubbish you find on the Internet. Lori is a professional consultant the firm sometimes hires to work on some cases. We went to a couple engagements together because of the work we were doing at the time. Those photos you saw of us were all work related, nothing more—they weren’t dates.”

    “But you seem close.”

    “Avery, honey, the media has a nasty habit of spinning things to suit their own twisted curiosity—they will do anything to sell papers and generate traffic to their websites. And I brought Lori to the wedding with me because we were scheduled to meet with clients in New York that week. I thought it would save us time and the firm some money if she came to New York with me—you know, kill two birds with one stone. If you had come back with me when I had asked you to, instead of running off with that sore loser Jason, you would have found out why she was there. Didn’t Kat tell you I asked to include Lori at the last minute?”

    “No, she only mentioned that you were bringing someone—she was almost apologetic, as if she was looking for my approval.”

    “Well, she shouldn’t have given you the impression that Lori was my date, or girlfriend for that matter, because she never was. I am surprised that Kay would mislead you that way. I wished you had taken me up on that offer and left with me. I wanted to spend the night with you, Ave. I needed you, and you ran away from me. I was going to tell you that I love you. I wanted to ask you to take me back, give us another chance. If you had asked me to stay in New York, and gave up the job in Chicago, I would have. I just wanted to be with you, but you hightailed out of there like I was some sort of monster. Did you go home with Jason? Did you sleep with him?”

    “Heavens, Will, no. What kind of person do you think I’m?”

    “I know you didn’t. I’m only asking because I was jealous that you even spent a second with him. I saw the way he was looking at you and following you around.”

    “I was nursing a broken heart, thanks to you, and I wasn’t feeling well, because I was pregnant at the time and didn’t know it. Besides I knew about you and Jason—I thought maybe he wanted to get back at you, through me. I wanted no part of it.”

     “Jason doesn’t know how to get over a grudge. He blamed me for what happened in college. We have all moved on, except him. His ex-girlfriend is married with one or two children of her own.”

    “I guessed it’s taking him a lot longer. He must have loved her.”

    “I doubt it. Some guys just don’t like to lose out to other guys. Jason is one of those guys.”

    “And, Lori, the two of you seemed like an item. It looked you were together. I couldn’t bear being there knowing that you were with someone else. I just had to get away.”

  “I wouldn’t lie if I say Lori didn’t try, because she did. But I could never be with another woman after you, Ave. You have made it impossible for me to love anyone else. I love you. I always have, and always will. If you had told me about the baby, I would have given it all up and come back. Why do you think I wouldn’t want to be there for you and our baby? I was foolish and crazy to have left you in the first place.” He kissed her full on the lips. “I’m going to take care of you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Will placed his hand on her stomach and at that very second the baby kicked and he burst into an excited fit of laughter.

  “Wow! Does he do that a lot?” he asked, putting his hand on her stomach again, waiting for the baby to move.

  “What makes you think it’s a boy? And yes, the baby kicks all the time. It’s a sign that he or she is healthy and active. It also reminds me of the life growing inside me.”

   Will bent and kissed her stomach. “Do you want it to be a boy?” Avery asked him, resting her hand on his head and stroking his hair.

  “No. I have no preference—I will be happy either way. I just want our baby to be healthy, and beautiful, just like you.” He kissed her on the nose and cheek, and again on the lips.

  “I have another ultrasound next week. I didn’t want to know before, but we can find out together, if you want.”

  “I would love to.” He turned and looked at her, his eyes making contact with hers. “I can’t believe I would have missed out on this wonderful experience,” he said to her, patting her stomach. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t there before. Have you been eating? Are you hungry?”

   Will got up. “I notice you are low on grocery—I’ll grab a few things at the store and cook us dinner. Is there anything special you need? Do you have any of those wild cravings I hear about?”

    “You wouldn’t want to know.” Avery laughed, thinking of her craving of the last few weeks for pickles and cottage cheese. “My taste changes—I’m into fruits now, mostly berries, grapes and granny smith apples.”

   “Okay—those are healthy. I will see what I can find at the supermarket.” He bent and kissed her.

    He grabbed the keys for the rental car she had seen parked outside in the driveway, and Avery watched him go out the door. She yawned and stretched her feet out on the sofa. She was suddenly exhausted. It was an unbelievable hot and sticky day, and she was happy to take refuge inside. She got up and switched on the central air conditioning, stopping on her way back to the couch to grab a light blanket and an extra pillow from the linen closet. And before Avery knew it, she was fast asleep.