An Unexpected Baby (4 page)

“Hi, I’m trying to reach Emma Fletcher? I keep getting her voice-mail.”

Lucinda felt acid rise to her chest and tasted bitterness in her mouth at the sound of Emma’s name. Emma, her former co-receptionist who got promoted to account executive and then later lover to the CEO, or was it wife now? All this by weaving a little lie about a real marriage to spare her dying grandfather’s feelings while tricking him into believing it was fake. And now, she’s pregnant? Supposedly. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was faking that too to get Evan’s interest again. He’d been spending more time at the office staying late again and less time with her but now that’s all changed because she said she was pregnant. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair. She got the job first at Fletcher’s. Then before Emma even showed up on the scene, she’d been Evan’s secret lover. Well, sort of. At the Annual Office Christmas party. They both had too much to drink. But she remembered his erotic touch and his soft lips on her body. The feel of his muscular chest. God, she missed him. Lucinda could have had him, if stupid, clumsy Emma hadn’t showed up on the scene. What on earth did he see in her anyway? Ugh.

“Hello?” The voice on the other end of the phone jolted Lucinda back to reality.

“Her name is Wiggins and she won’t be working in the office for a while. She’ll be working from home.” Lucinda’s voice was curt.

“Oh? Well, I’m an old friend of hers. Is there a number where she could be reached?”

Lucinda looked at the memo posted on her reception desk from Emma and read it again: Please feel free to give out my cell phone number to all who call for me. I’m available and working from home.

“No.”

“Excuse me,” the voice queried again with surprise in his tone.

“No. There’s no number where she can be reached. She’s not available. Thank you for calling.” Lucinda didn’t wait for the other person to probe further and put down the receiver on the phone. If confronted about this, she’d simply say the opposite of what just happened. Why surely Evan would believe her version. A smug grin crossed her face. The thought of taking out her frustration behind Emma’s back delighted her. She was always the passive aggressive type according to an office survey from a private company. But who cared? That was who she was and any chance she could get to screw that nitwit cow, she would snap it up right away!

7.

The following week, Emma kept pulling different dresses out of her closet and placing them against her body looking in the full length mirror of her walk in closet. She didn’t know how she was supposed to dress for her first appointment. The truth was, she was just plain terrified of Evan finding out that she was not really pregnant. At all. She could not blow it now and take a real pregnancy test.

“Hey, you look beautiful, baby.” Evan’s voice startled Emma as he stood in the doorway with a cup of coffee in his hand, a warm smile on his handsome face.

“Oh, honey. I didn’t see you there.” She tried to hide the terror in her voice as it cracked. Guilt 101. Or was that fear? Fear of getting caught.

“Just admiring you from afar.” He smiled. His voice was seductively deep and salacious. Evan had been treating Emma like a prized queen ever since he’d found out that her home pregnancy test result was positive. Only it wasn’t.

Emma almost choked on her own saliva in her throat.

“You okay, baby?” Evan asked as he placed the cup of coffee on the table outside the door and walked over to his wife.

“Yes, I just…”
know that I’m going to go straight to hell when you find out I’m faking it and trying to get pregnant. “
I’m just a little-”

“I know. No need to explain. Baby, I’ve been reading up a lot about pregnant women recently.”

“You have?”

“Of course! I want to make sure I’m there for you in every way I can. Even when you go through your mood swings and your hormones are all over the place.” He held her close and gently massaged her belly. His aftershave seemed extra sweet this morning. Emma craved his touch. She really did. It was just that guilt was a bitter acid to taste in her throat.

That freaking false pregnancy test. Ugh.

Emma had been trying to think of ways for Evan to forgo the condom and make passionate love to her every night. At first he questioned it and then he told her he realized that because of her changing  hormones he understood her need for more sex and cuddling than ever. He just didn’t want anything to happen to the baby.

So far they’ve had great sex and read that it was a wonderful way for partners to remain intimate during pregnancy. As long as she was on the top position, which Evan seemed to have no trouble with or the side-lying position whatever made Emma comfortable. He tried to avoid deep penetration but Emma would tell him that really it was safe as long as she was comfortable. How else would she really get pregnant while she was faking it?

They’d both had fun searching online for medical sites that advised ten things a person should know about sex during pregnancy and what Emma should expect while expecting. She was already on the hunt, privately, for a book on how to get knocked up fast. The title was something to the effect of
Instant Conception: 100 Proven Techniques
that really work!
She didn’t want to order through Amazon and risk Evan getting the package and opening it. And unfortunately, it was probably the only book in the world not available on Kindle. Who didn’t have a Kindle version of their book online? Ugh. So she had planned to go to the bookstore today instead of the doctor’s appointment to stock up on other techniques on the best positions for conception and so on.

“Honey, you look gorgeous in your new dress shirt and tie. Are you going in to the office today?”

“You kidding me? I’m going with you to your first appointment with the doctor when you take your blood test.”

Emma’s blood ran cold.

***

“Yes, yes,” Grandpa Wiggins spoke loudly on the phone to the producer of the documentary on cancer survivors.

“My granddaughter is going to have a baby and I may live to see my great-grandchild being born. Doc says that I could have a year depending on how stable I remain. Isn’t that great news?”

“That’s wonderful news,” Kyle responded on the phone. “In fact, do you think she’d mind if we also follow her progress in her pregnancy and what it would mean to have you be there for her? I understand that she is your closest relative.”

“Well, yes, you could say that. She hardly sees her mom up in Canada. Emma is my baby. She’s my whole world and she has always taken good care of me. Never thought I’d live to see her married and settled down much less produce an heir to the Wiggins name.” He chuckled as he rocked back and forth in his specialized motor rocking chair. The one Emma ordered specially for him from this infomercial after he told her that he sometimes had no energy to move like he used to and he would love “one of ‘dem chairs.” It cost Emma close to $4,000 of her savings but it was worth every penny, she told him. Nothing was too good for her dear old Gramps!

“So we can ask for her consent?”

“Sure. I mean I could give it to you but better to ask her. She’d love for you to film her pregnancy progress as you film my year before I move on. It’ll make us both immortal.” He chuckled again.

“That’s great. We’ll get some papers drawn up then we’ll make an appointment to film the first episode of The Real Survivors.”

“Beautiful,” Grandpa Wiggins said as he placed the phone down. A smug grin made its way on his face. This would be a wonderful gift to his granddaughter and unborn great-grandchild. They’d have this for their keepsake forever. This documentary would be broadcast on local television but it would become a precious family heirloom on Grandpa’s fight for survival and for seeing to the Wiggins line continuing on.

***

“Honey, why do I get the feeling you don’t really want me to come with you to your appointment? What’s going on? I thought you’d be excited for me to be there. We could both get some pep talk from the doc at the same time. You know I am half responsible for what’s going on inside of you.” He tried to sound as if it didn’t bother him, but it sure as hell did. Why was Emma so damn jumpy around him all of a sudden? He’d read up on a lot of literature recently on what to expect around pregnant women but “jumpiness around your husband” didn’t catch his eye. In fact, he didn’t think she should be
that
jumpy. Maybe she was just nervous about having blood tests. She never liked to be poked with a needle. But then again, who did?

“Oh, it’s nothing, hon. I just…”
Just what? What reason could you possibly give him without breaking his heart? Most women would jump at the chance of their other half going to every appointment with them and showing so much interest in the pregnancy. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why did you have to open your big mouth and put your big foot in it before you got a blood test done?

Emma sighed. “Sorry. I just thought…I’d go it alone. You know. Please understand, Evan.”

Evan drew in a deep breath and shook his head. “Are you hiding something from me, Emma?”

The question was so pointed that Emma felt her heart pierce at the word "hiding."

She remembered all too well what happened six months ago. After she hid the fact that they were really getting married instead of just pretending since the minister at the hospital would be licensed. Of course, she never planned it that way but it was so hard to come up with the truth to hurt Gramps who thought the wedding would be real and hurt Evan who thought their wedding would be fake.

She reached over and planted a soft, passionate kiss on Evan’s lips. “I love you, baby. Please trust me on this one. I just need to go alone today. That’s all.”

“Fine, if that’s what you want.” Evan kissed her forehead but without the sizzle she usually felt. Was he pissed off? Probably. He tightened his lips and she thought she saw a muscle twitch in his jaw. Oh, God, he was really pissed. A shadow of annoyance crossed his face.

“Honey,” she tried to reach out to him but he strategically dodged her hand. She shivered at his sudden chilled reception. The warmth in his eyes had dissolved into ice.

Shit!

“You can reach me on my cell if you need me. I’m going to visit Pops at the center.” He walked away without looking at her.

Emma felt her stomach lurch. A gamut of emotions rushed through her. Pain, disappointment in herself, guilt, torment. She was supposed to be overcome with joy but instead she was overwhelmed in desperation. Desperate to be pregnant and to have her husband’s baby. As fear and despair knotted inside her she could not even go after Evan. What would she tell him? She heard his footsteps rush down the steps, the sound of keys rattling and the slam of the front door.

She’d really done it, hadn’t she? She ruined things between her and Evan.

Again.

***

Emma perused the book section in Walmart looking for her books. She wore dark sunglasses, a large brimmed hat and tucked her hair neatly beneath it. Hopefully, she would not be recognized since this Super Walmart was the only store that carried the book at the moment closest to home—and unfortunately close to the office. She should have driven out of town or out of state but Evan would notice the odometer reading as he usually did when he took the car in for washing, which he did often or filling it up with gas. He’d refused to let his wife fill up her own gas or go to a car wash. He took it upon himself to do what he thought of as a man’s job when in a serious relationship.

She’d already filled her cart with
What to Expect When Expecting
, the mother of all Expecting books and some other stuff on nutrition for pregnant women (just in case) but she was looking for one particular book.

Instant Conception: 100 Proven Techniques

“Great! There it is!” Emma couldn’t believe her luck. She reached for the book as if reaching for an Olympic gold medal. This was her prize. This was the answer to all her dreams. Another friend of hers said that she got pregnant after following only a few of the techniques and they were so much fun, like trying out special positions she’d never heard of before and eating certain foods. Having hot sex during certain times of the month and all that stuff.

She eagerly flipped the book open and began scanning the pages with glee as if a child had just entered a toyland and couldn’t wait to dive into all the fun toys!

“Oh, hi there!” an achingly familiar voice called out to her.

Emma jumped around dropping the book on the ground.

Oh, my God!

***

Evan sat in a chair across the room looking at his father lying on the hospital bed at the Dan Baker Center.

Old man Fletcher looked out of it as he slept soundly but Evan’s thoughts kept swinging back to his newly pregnant wife, Emma.

Emma. Emma. Emma.

“Can I get you anything, Evan?” a nurse in orange scrubs came in with a syringe filled with medication.

“No, I’m good, thanks. Just spending time with my old man. What are you giving him?”

“Oh, this is his routine pain medication.”

“But he’s sound asleep. He doesn’t look as if he’s in pain.” Evan’s brow raised a fraction.

“Yes, I know. That’s the reason why he looks sound. Because the medication is used as a preventative action. To prevent pain. After his fall a few weeks ago and his hip fracture, he’s been having excruciating pain.”

“Right,” Evan said, his voice trailing off. It had struck him again that he may not have all that long with his old man. After his terrible fall and serious hip fracture, he had to go to Mercy Springs Memorial Hospital for two days to have surgery then recovery before returning to the center. It had been a torrential downpour of emotions for Evan. Dealing with changes in the business, his new wife, his wife’s grandfather who now lived with them and caring for his own father. He’d wondered if he’d taken on too much too soon. His father had looked so broken and bruised a few weeks ago, he thought he was going to lose it. His father had been in and out of delirium for a while. The doctor said that he also had an enlarged prostate, which didn’t help, but Evan wanted him to stay at the center where the staff patient ratio was better than at a regular hospital. He also hired a private duty nurse to stay at his father’s side but she was on break when his father had climbed one of the side rails that was up and fallen hard on the hospital floor.  He and Emma had been back and forth since then. His father never really gained consciousness since then only opening his eyes once in a while when touched then closing his eyelids again.