The Bosses Billionaire Baby 2 (Billionaire, BWWM, Interracial, Romance) (3 page)

Selena was a basket of nerves as she sat twiddling her thumbs waiting for Melanie to arrive. She had made an appointment the day before for ten, and it was half past nine now. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she heard the car drive up and the door slam shut.  She stood and walked to meet Melanie.

“You ready?” She asked as she got to the steps. She stopped, recognizing the need to not go any further.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Selena said as she let out a gust of air.

“Come on then; we don’t want to be late,” she said as she headed back to the car. She opened Selena’s door before walking around to the driver’s seat. She looked over at the girl staring ahead as if she wasn’t aware of her present circumstances or surroundings. Melanie leaned over and touched the hand that gripped the side of the seat. “Are you alright?” She asked her with concern.

Selena looked down at the hand as if it was strange that she should be touching her and then looked her in the eye. She seemed lost and uncertain of her next movements. Words seemed to escape her as she nodded her head in the affirmative. Melanie wasn’t sure she was, but that answer would have to suffice. The car rolled off the curb as she hit the gas pedal and turned onto the main road. The journey there was as quiet as it was tense, and several times Melanie wanted to blurt out her thoughts, but Selena seemed so fragile, she was afraid her words would break her. She hardly kept her feelings abated, but this time, she felt it a necessity.

“Here we are,” she said as she turned into the parking lot of the medical center Selena always visited for sinus infections and food poisoning and advice on weight; never did she dream she would be visiting for the reason she now was. And alone at that, no father to stand by her side and make her feel joyous about the miracle of childbirth. All she had now was Melanie, but for now, she was grateful for at least that.

Melanie pushed the glass door open and waited for Selena to enter first before f0llowing. The lobby area was nice and spacious as it branched off into varying offices of as many medical genres. This time she needed to see the OBGYN, and her heart did a somersault as she walked over to the receptionist.

“Good morning. Appointment for Selena Patterson,” Selena said quietly.

The woman looked at her over her glasses, then at Melanie and back at Selena. Then she rifled through her appointment book before responding. “Good morning, Miss Patterson; it is Miss right?”

The question hit Melanie hard, and she saw the insinuation etched on the woman’s face as she waited for the answer. “What does that matter?” Melanie asked, taking offense as well.

The woman looked at her and then back at her book. “Dr. Matthews will be with you shortly. Please wait until you hear your name called,” she said as she faked a smile.

Selena was not in the mood to take her on, and she held Melanie’s hand and pulled her away, knowing her friend all too well. “Come on,” she said through gritted teeth and lips barely parted. When they sat down, Melanie was still scowling, and Selena couldn’t help but laugh, especially when she saw that the woman kept looking at them. “I think she believes we are together,” she giggled.

Melanie’s brows shot up, and then she looked several times from Selena to the receptionist. “Eww,” she said at last.

Selena laughed some more. “Are you saying I am not your type?” She asked her.

“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying...because I am into men,” she said the last part loudly enough for the woman to hear and Selena to get embarrassed.

“Remind me not to take you anywhere again,” she said to her as she urged her to be quiet. But Selena noticed that the woman was more at ease after she called her name. Selena jumped up and walked over to her. She handed her a sheet of paper on a clipboard and pointed the way down the hall to the office that beckoned her. And this time, the smile she wore was more genuine than before. “Thank you,” Selena said as she took the board and dragged Melanie along.

“Just you, Miss Patterson,” the woman said as she and Melanie had a stare down.

“Can’t she come in please?” Selena asked.

After a moment, she picked up the phone and called the doctor, and when she hung up again, she nodded to the two. “The doc said it is fine.”

Melanie looked at her with a grin that boasted her victory at present, and then she walked off with Selena down the corridor. They got to the door labelled ‘Dr. Matthews,’ and Selena knocked as she waited to get admitted.

“Come in,” the voice said from behind the wooden panel.

Selena walked around the door, and Melanie moved in protectively after her. “Hi Dr. Matthews,” she said as she shook the woman’s small hands.

“Please, have a seat. I presume you are Selena, and this is your friend,” the good doctor said.

“That’s correct,” Melanie interjected.

“Okay, let’s get started,” she said again as she sat looking at the girl. “What is the nature of your visit?”

Her face was small, and she had eyes that twinkled; instantly Selena felt comfortable with her. “I think I am pregnant, but I would like to confirm that and to determine how far along  I am, as well as to have an ultrasound done,” she blurted out with the hope of getting it all out should any of the words get caught in her throat.

Dr. Matthews smiled and walked to a silver cabinet behind her and procured what Selena recognized to be a pregnancy test. “This should work for your first concern,” she smiled. “When was the last time you had your cycle?”

Selena thought back to almost two months ago and told the doctor. She nodded and then flipped through a chart she had on her desk. “What took you so long to come in?” she asked. “You would be seven weeks pregnant now. Normally you would have seen some signs already.”

“I did, but I was too nervous. I don’t have any more children,” Selena said nervously.

“That’s understandable, but you are one among billions to have done so, and successfully too, so you don’t need to worry. Just go through there, and use one of the cups in the bottom drawer. You will know for sure if you will be a mother soon.”

Selena smiled, but she was nervous as she pulled back the curtain that separated her from Melanie and the doctor. She didn’t find it hard to urinate, and soon she let a few drops race along the woolen fabric of the test. She grew even more nervous when she saw the single line turn to two, and then she knew for sure. She was pregnant, and Ethan Bloomfield was the father. She let out a deep sigh she was sure was heard from behind the curtain, but this was her destiny now, and her load to carry.

She held the test up to the doctor as she slid the curtain apart once more and sank into the seat. “I am pregnant,” she said, but she didn’t sound as excited as a new mother should.

Dr. Matthews could read the signs, and rather than asking, she simply assumed the father would not be coming. “Let me see,” she smiled as she took the device and recorded the result on Selena’s file. “You can fill that out in the meanwhile,” she told her as she rummaged in her desk for something else.

“Oh,” Selena said, the clipboard and paper all but forgotten next to her on the chair. She began to fill out the form with unsteady hands and slapped the board down on the desk when she was done. The doctor smiled and took the paper from it. She pored over what Selena had written down, made some notes of her own, and then slipped the paper into a file jacket.

“Okay, now for that third request; the ultrasound.”

“Excuse me,” Melanie said now. “What would you advise concerning an abortion?” She wasn’t sure why she asked, but she felt she needed to.

Dr. Matthews looked at Selena with concern in her eyes, just as she shot daggers at Melanie in return. “Do you want an abortion, Selena?” she asked.

“I don’t. I don’t know why she asked,” she replied, looking at Melanie the entire time. Melanie didn’t even look at her at all but focused entirely on the doctor.

“I am interested,” she spat.

“Well, that is something I am prepared to discuss only with Selena if the need arises. Until then, we will have that ultrasound you requested,” she said cordially, all the while with a smile which began to irritate Melanie, but her hands and lips were tied at the moment.

Dr. Matthews led Selena into a section of the office where a curtain was drawn; Melanie trailed behind. She pulled away the tissue like paper on the adjustable bed and asked her to lie down. When Selena did, she instructed her to pull her blouse up so that she could apply the gel to her stomach. Selena twitched when she felt the cold substance on her body, but she soon relaxed into it. The doctor took a metal object and began moving it around on her stomach in a circular motion. The monitor was directly in front of Selena so she was able to see the image of her baby when it became clear, and her eyes watered when she did.

“There it is,” Dr. Matthews said when she could detect the small heart beating on the screen. “Say hi to your baby.”

“Hi,” Selena said, her voice now getting scratchy the more emotional she got.

Melanie was quiet now as well, having softened somewhat now that she was seeing the actual image of the baby she wanted to kill. “Can you tell the sex?” She asked.

Even though Melanie was the one to ask, Selena looked at the doctor expectantly. “Not yet,” she told her. “But we can reschedule an appointment for a later time if you would like to know that.”

“I’m not sure I want to,” Selena said. “I’d love to be surprised.” She turned her attention once more to the screen.

“Okay,” Dr. Matthews said as she pressed the device on the monitor and a small, square picture came out. “This is your first official picture of baby Selena,” she said with a smile as she handed her the photo. She then used a warm rag to wipe the gel from her stomach before instructing her to rejoin her in the office.

Melanie smiled and hugged her after the doctor had gone. “Congratulations, mommy,” she grinned.

“So, you okay with a baby now?” Selena asked her as if she actually had a say.

“Damn right,” she said. “I change my mind.” She held her hand in the air in surrender, and Selena laughed at the unusual sight.

Dr. Matthews gave Selena tips on staying healthy throughout the pregnancy after congratulating her on her tiny miracle. At the end, she smiled and shook her hand, feeling a lot lighter than when she had first gone in.  It’s like seeing the baby had made all the difference in the world to her, and she no longer cared whether Ethan wanted the baby or not; he or she was hers, and she would do anything to protect her baby.

But things aren’t always as you would have them, and Selena was soon to discover the difficulty in her new resolve. The following day at work showed Ethan to be the same man of old, and it made her sick to watch the variety of women who would come in and out of his office on his arm. She could hardly believe he could be that insensitive especially considering her current situation.

“There he goes again,” Megan said one day when she caught Selena watching him. “I know he interests you.”

“Megan, get the hell out of my face,” Selena said, her face growing as red as the pixie from Neverland. “I need to get some work done.”

“You don’t fool me, Selena Patterson,” she said before she walked off.

“No, I guess it would take a man like him to do that,” Selena responded as she indicated Ethan.

Megan leaned in closer so only she could hear. “At least he didn’t fool me enough to get me pregnant,” she said as she slowly raised herself upright again and wink at Selena. “Who’s the fool now?”

She walked off, but for the remainder of the day, her words rang in Selena’s ear. Was it already obvious that she was pregnant? She looked down at her stomach and then at Megan walking away. There seemed to be little use in hiding it now. Her morning sickness had slowly died down as she neared the end of her first trimester, but her stomach was already beginning to show. And that she cannot disguise.

She stared blankly at the screen for a protracted period of time, not seeing anything, until she realized it was after closing hours when she saw the other employees filing out. She shuffled some papers around on her desk, wanting desperately to leave the office before she had yet another confrontation, but when she was passing his office, she saw him there alone, his back turned, and his eyes peeling the color off the walls. She looked around, and not seeing Megan about, she decided to go in.

“Knock, knock,” she said. He didn’t turn right away, but she closed the door anyway.

Eventually, he did. “Hi Selena,” he said as he averted his eyes. 

Selena knitted her brows as she gazed at the man she thought she was falling for three months ago. “Are you alright?” She asked.

It was then that his face took on a wintry look, and he stared at her blankly as if he didn’t even know her. “Why are you here?” He asked. “I thought everyone had gone.”

“I thought I would come in and show you this,” she said as she retrieved the photo of the baby the doctor had given her. “This is our baby,” she said to him. He glanced at the picture briefly and then directly at her.

“What do you want?” He asked her flatly. “Is it money?”

Selena could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Money? You think I came in here for money? I want you to acknowledge this child. That is what I want from you. That is the only thing you need to do.”

“Look, I didn’t want a baby right? I am going through enough as it is with Eva to get tangled up in this,” he said.

“And you think I wanted it? That doesn’t even matter right now. The baby is already here, so we need to deal with it.”

“Is it?” he asked her as he swung his chair around and got up.

Selena was dumbstruck by his words, and even more so by those he didn’t say. “Ethan Bloomfield, are you asking me to get rid of our child?” She could feel the tears sting her eyes, and she fought to maintain control of herself.

“I w0uldn’t be the first man to do so,” he said as he poured some whisky in a glass and downed it in one gulp. Then he turned to look at her, and it almost crushed him to see her standing there looking so helpless. “Don’t be so surprised, Selena. Did you really think I would welcome this with open arms?”

Selena didn’t know what to say. Yesterday, she was so happy to have seen her child, and had made up in her mind that she would carry him or her to term with or without his support. Now, to be standing here and listening to him talk about the baby like it was just a piece of waste to be disposed of broke her heart. “I really thought you had a heart. When I first came here, I despised you, and the way I saw how you carried on with the women here, I decided I would never get close to you. And I went against my better judgement only to prove that you are even worse than I ever imagined.”

Ethan didn’t comment when she was through. He simply poured another drink and walked back to his chair. “Selena, you saw who I am,” he said as he made reference to what she had just said. “How can you now think me capable of being a proper father to that or any other child now? I have enough on my plate what with this lawsuit...” He stopped before he intimated anything further.

“Lawsuit?” she quizzed. “What lawsuit?”

“Never mind; slip of the lip,” he said as he put the glass to his mouth and sipped once more. “I am not in the frame of mind for this. If you want to have this baby, then go ahead, but I...” His words faded, but he didn’t need to say anything more.

“I get it Ethan,” she said. “I’m on my own.” She turned and walked away, feeling as if she was leaving a part of her soul in the office with him, for she had never felt as empty as this. Ironic when she should be feeling more wholesome. When she got to the door, she stopped and looked back at him. “I never wanted any of this, Ethan,” she said with her back turned to him still. “And being here this evening, I realize that my finances may not be anywhere that I am comfortable with, but for the sake of my sanity and my pride, I don’t think I can work here any longer.”

She turned the knob, and the door swung open, but before she could walk through, he was before her. “What is that supposed to mean? You quit?” He asked her.

“What else am I supposed to do? I slept with my boss, and now I am pregnant and he wants nothing to do with it. How can I sit there every day and watch you come and go from this office? That is torture, and I will not do that to myself or risk the health of my child. I have to go,” she concluded.

Ethan sighed when she had finished. He understood what she was saying, and he blamed himself for being so uncaring, but what else was he to do? He had found himself between a rock and a hard place, and that was even before Selena announced her pregnancy. It had completely thrown him off his guard, and he didn’t know how to react to it yet. “Would it make it any easier if I was around less? I know things haven’t been so great with your sales.”

“I sold three houses of late, and I can do more,” she defended.

“Yes, but soon you won’t be able to walk around much,” he added. “What will you do?”

“I am not sure. I just know that for now, I can’t stay here.”

Ethan raked his hand through his hair and let out a big sigh. “Okay. Here’s what you will do; you will take some time off, blow some steam, and get your head sorted out, and then you can come back.”

Selena looked at him as if he was mad. “Cool off?” She asked, and then she folded her arms and looked him dead in the eye. “And what happens when I return? I still see you going around acting like this baby isn’t yours and you weren’t letting me into your life before? How often will I need to cool off?”

“I don’t know how to make this any easier for you without jeopardizing things for me,” he said, and she could see the stress lines on his face. But his life was his problem; she had her own now to think about.

“You could try taking responsibility instead of pushing this under the carpet,” she said.

“I can’t.” he said.

“Why not? This is your baby too.”

“You wouldn’t understand. It’s just that the baby is going to complicate things for me now more than before,” he said as he walked off. “I would prefer if you didn’t carry it to term.”

And there it was. The forbidden words finally escaped his lips. She could see that something was bothering him, but whatever it was didn’t have to come between them. “I just might grant you your wish,” Selena said as the tears began to gather in the corner of her eyes once more. “Good evening, Mister Bloomfield,” she said as she hurried from the office.

So blinded was she by tears that she failed to see the woman who was coming through the door at the very moment she was leaving. She ran straight into her and fell against the desk, hitting her back hard in the process.

“Oh my,” the woman said as she collected herself and reached out to Selena. “Are you alright?”

Selena’s face remained contorted as she tried to will the pain in both her heart and her back away. “Yes, I am fine, thanks,” Selena said. “I’m the one to blame though. I wasn’t looking.”

The woman saw that she had been crying and took pity on her. “It’s alright,” she said. When they both seemed to have regained their composure, Selena looked at her. “Do you know if Ethan is still here?”

The question surprised Selena somewhat. She appeared different from the other women she had seen visiting him; she was beautiful, and her dark hair pinned at the back of her head gave her a stately look. Judging by the clothes and jewelry she wore, she was bred from money as well. “Yes, he is in the office,” Selena pointed.

What happened next surprised Selena the most. “Are you one of his girls?” The woman asked.

“N-no,” Selena stuttered.

“Don’t be shy,” she said as she smiled at her. “I know of his many indiscretions, but I don’t let them get to me. For years he has been this way, but one day...”

“What are you doing here?” Selena heard Ethan ask from the door.

“I was just leaving,” Selena responded.

“Not you Selena, her,” he corrected her as he nodded to the woman.

Selena was now more curious than ever based on what the woman had asked her before, what she was just saying, and now Ethan’s tone. “I’m sorry, who did you say you are?” she asked.

“I didn’t,” she said as she turned to Selena and smiled. “But I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Selena,” she said as she held out her hand to the girl. “I’m Eva Bloomfield.” She released her hand and walked towards Ethan. His face turned stony then as she did, and suddenly she felt her stomach turn.

She was Ethan’s soon to be ex-wife, and she was more beautiful than she had imagined she would ever be. She looked down at her stomach, imagined the baby lying curled up inside, and instinctively began stroking it. Then, she looked over to the office that was now closed; how could she ever compete with that?

She walked out then, but she was oblivious to the pair of eyes that observed her in her tender moment, as well as the trouble that had already begun to brew.