Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
She pulls back and looks at me with tear filled eyes. She’s incredibly beautiful, and I swallow thickly, unsure what to expect.
“You love me?” she asks, her voice still shaking.
“Of course, I do,” I respond steadily, without a single doubt in my mind about the fact.
She smiles at me then, and my pulse pounds at her heart-stopping beauty. Then, the words come.
“I’ve fallen in love with you too, John. I love you, and I love our baby.”
Her words fill me first with a deep sense of relief, followed by a rush of pure joy. But then Megan speaks again. “I didn’t mean to get pregnant; I know that this isn’t what you wanted.”
“No,” I say, laying a finger gently over her mouth. “Don’t apologize. This is what I want, and I’m so happy. I’m beyond excited to begin this journey with you, and just to be clear, I know in my heart that the baby is mine. You have nothing to worry about, honey.”
Megan’s face lights up tearfully, a hint of happiness behind all the sorrow. I tuck her hair behind her ears, and then cup her face between my hands before leaning in to passionately kiss the mother of my child-to-be.
We hold each other for some time, the New York City skyline behind us, and then slowly, begin talking of our future together. It’s a bright future; a happy future; and one where Megan and I celebrate all of our achievements, losses, sorrows, joys and accomplishments together because that’s all that matters. I may be her boss’s father, but in the end, I’m also the man who’s fallen in love with the gorgeous curvy girl.
Epilogue
Megan
* * *
Two years later.
Two years have come and gone since that chaotic confrontation in John’s office. It was a crazy situation, but my man and I are better now because of it. We were able to come clean about our love, and since then, I’ve never been happier.
Now, it’s a gorgeous Saturday morning, and I sit on the fuzzy brown carpet in the front room at my parents’ place in New Jersey. The walls are lined with photographs of my youth. In fact, the pottery from my high school art class is still on display in the corner china cabinet, and I hear the bleats and chirps of goats and chickens in the yard. It’s definitely much more peaceful than the racing cars and police sirens of the city.
My daughter turns to look at me, her cherubic face in a big smile.
“Mama?” she asks, shaking a toy.
“Yes baby,” I say, bending forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “Mama is here.”
Rumi laughs and my heart contracts. She’s the spitting image of John, with her black hair and big blue eyes. In fact, sometimes she gets a mischievous look that makes me laugh because her expressions are his expressions too.
Meanwhile, my parents chuckle fondly as they watch us from the couch. They’re beaming with pride and happiness at their granddaughter. My dad looks so touched, and my mom is fighting back fits of happy tears. Of course, Mom and Dad see lots of Rumi. My parents came up to New York to stay with us at the penthouse for two weeks when I gave birth, and again for the baby’s first Christmas. But it’s special to have her here, in their home, as she plays with toys and gurgles happily.
I think Robert and Maggie are more or less okay with my relationship. They appreciate John for all that he’s given me, and understand that despite the fact that there’s a significant age gap, that we belong together. They were blown away by the home John and I share in the city. It’s a gorgeous space with five bedrooms, six baths, and its own screening room and gym. Robert and Maggie gasped, their eyes going wide.
But it wasn’t just our penthouse. We took my parents around town, revisiting sights old and new: the Statue of Liberty, the billboards in Times Square, and we even treated them to a hip up-and-coming restaurant where John had to pull strings to get a reservation. I got a kick out of seeing my parents enjoying themselves so much. Robert and Maggie were so out of place, and yet they loved their visit and had an absolute blast. But now, I’m sure they’re glad to be back in their peaceful oasis, their rural homestead.
“Now Rumi,” my dad starts in a voice one would use to narrate a fairytale to a child at bedtime, “Grandma and Grandpa’s home may be a bit smaller than the play area you’re used to back in the big city, but I just know you’re going to love being here in New Jersey. Why, when you get older you will have to come down and spend a summer with us!”