Series: Stacey Espino
Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
And so, she had started at his company. He hadn’t given her an office or a high-ranking position. She had started at the bottom. The head of her department had been a little pissed at her hiring, until she opened her mouth and began to help him with a particularly difficult project. After a few weeks of working with him, he changed toward her, exactly like Grayson said he would. There were still some members of the company who didn’t like her, and they said nasty stuff behind her back, but she was able to deal with all of that.
However, as she walked up to April’s apartment door, this seemed a little more … scary. She’d rather face all of Grayson’s employees than her best friend.
Grayson wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She was tempted to pull away, and to break it to April slowly, but he was having none of it.
“If she throws a tantrum, we’ll deal with it.” He kissed her cheek.
His lips were still touching her cheek when the door opened, and there was April. Clara didn’t have to say anything, and neither did Grayson. Any confidence she had fizzled away. April’s mouth opened and closed as she looked from her to her father, then back again.
They must have only been on the doorstep for a couple of minutes, not even that, but it had already felt like a lifetime. Clara’s heart started to speed up and she felt a little sick to her stomach.
“Well, it’s about time,” April said, and then proceeded to throw her arms around the two of them and let out a little squeal.
This was not what Clara expected.
Her best friend let go of Grayson, and then pulled her into a hug. After that hug, April wagged a finger into her father’s face. “You better not hurt my bestie.” She turned toward her. “And you better not hurt my father. I won’t have any of it. I’ll have to hunt you both down because the whole stress thing isn’t good for the skin. It will be much better for me if you love each other.”
Clara held April close. “I love you.”
She’d been so afraid of April hating her. It had kept her up night after night.
“You thought I was going to protest, right?” April asked.
“Clara has been nervous about telling you,” Grayson said.
April giggled. “Please, I knew something was going on with Dad long before now. He is never mean to anyone, well, unless they annoyed him with work. Besides, I saw the way he’d stare at your ass and your tits.”
“April!”
She threw her hands up in the air. “What? You can’t help it. You’re a hottie, not that you see it. But you make him happy, and I know he’ll make you happy.”
****
Six Months Later
“You’re calm.”
Grayson smiled and reached for his woman’s hand, locking their fingers together. Clara got nervous about every little detail, and he didn’t want her to be nervous. They would handle anything.
“Of course I’m calm. Listen to the soft soothing notes of the classical music. And it smells like lavender.”
“And we’re waiting for the results of a blood test, Grayson.”
“We’ve already taken multiple tests, baby.” He pressed his lips against her cheek.
They hadn’t used any condoms, and he couldn’t think of a moment when Clara had attempted to refill her birth control prescription.
Within the last couple of weeks, Clara had been feeling sick in the morning. Every time she woke up, she rolled over and then had to scramble to the sink to throw up. He’d held her hair back several times. At first he thought it was just a stomach bug, but days had turned into weeks, and then the scent of coffee started to affect her.
It was little things, like how sensitive her breasts were becoming, and then, the final straw was the skirt she’d tried to put on for work. With her nausea, he knew she had barely eaten, and she had complained that the skirt wasn’t zipping all the way up anymore.
Grayson had then felt incredibly dumb, because he hadn’t put the sensitive breasts, the vomiting, and the new aversion to smells, down to one simple thing—Clara was pregnant.
He hadn’t scared her on that day. He had come to realize with Clara, it was better with slow, baby steps. So, he’d pulled out a skirt that had a nice stretchy elastic waistband and helped her to dress. Once that was done, he then taken her to work, being sure to offer her plain crackers after a breakfast of toast and some juice. She could handle juice. Coffee and tea were off the menu, even her love of spicy food had taken a back seat.
He kept an eye on her, but at lunch, he’d gone to the pharmacy for a pregnancy test. After work, he took her home, made her a lovely meal, and then he’d sprung the news on her.