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  As she met her best friend’s shocked expression, Charlie couldn’t find the words to explain herself. She’d been gripped with an overwhelming terror since she’d received the letter yesterday, requesting her presence to discuss the issue of paternity of her unborn child. She knew she’d eventually have to contact Grant, she just didn’t expect it to be so soon.

  “We didn’t really discuss pedigree, Mary.”

  Hell, they hadn’t discussed much of anything except, “harder,” “faster,” and “yes, just like that.” The insistent kicks of her baby caused Charlie to clutch her stomach protectively. She’d had months to come to terms with her decision, and the thought that someone else was trying to sweep in and change all of the meticulous plans she’d made for her and her baby’s life pissed her off even as it filled her with dread.

  A man has a right to know he’s a father.

  Charlie tapped down the feelings of guilt that dared to voice their opinion. Her father’s words had haunted her on and off, but she was so firmly entrenched in a place of "off", living her life and ignoring thoughts about Grant, that she didn’t think there was a need to rock the boat quite yet. She really was going to tell Grant…eventually.

  “Okay, Mama, just stay calm. I’m sure this is just a preemptive measure to make sure you’re not some gold-digging whore.”

  Charlie giggled and lightly punched her best friend’s arm. “Is that your professional opinion?”

  “I’ll be honest with you, Charlie, not informing your baby daddy about his kid doesn’t make you look that great.”

  “I was going to tell him. Honestly. It’s just…I mean…it was a one-night stand.” She sighed and sat back in the office chair Mary had crammed into her cubicle.

  “That’s not what you told me,” Mary replied with a mock sneer.

  “You know what I mean, pervert.” She laughed, rubbing her belly.

  Mary chuckled softly and continued to look at the documents Charlie had received from Grant’s attorney. Her best friend’s humor had helped lessen some of her anxiety but it was still there, waiting to resurface and submerge her in a full-blown panic attack. It had to be the pregnancy hormones. Charlie had never worried about things in the past. Yes, she could get anxious, but the anxiety she’d experienced in the last few months of her pregnancy was entirely foreign. She’d find herself sitting in her kitchen, enjoying breakfast, and out of nowhere an overwhelming fear that something bad was going to happen to her or her baby would seize her, and she’d have to go lie down until it passed. Her mother hadn’t been much help when she’d confessed the emotional roller coaster she was experiencing.

  “Welcome to motherhood, kiddo,” she said with a pat on Charlie’s arm.

  Charlie had to bite her tongue to prevent her from snapping back at her mother after her glib comment. She knew motherhood was going to be stressful, but no one had told her she was going to lose her fucking mind.

  “Okay, this looks pretty straightforward. Standard procedure for protecting assets and some visitation stuff,” Mary mumbled as she flipped through the documents.

  “He’s trying to take my baby?”

  Mary’s quick look of concern didn’t help settle the ball of anxiety unraveling in Charlie’s chest.

  “Charlie, if the paternity test proves he’s the father, he has a right to visitation.” Mary reached over and gently stroked her back.

  Charlie knew her friend was being reasonable, but Charlie had crossed over from the land of logical into the realm of possessive and crazy. This was her baby, and she didn’t see why she had to share. They’d never made any promises to each other. They’d had great sex. Period. She didn’t want or require money from him. Why couldn’t he just be a deadbeat or write her a check and be done with it?

  “He can’t have my baby.”

  “Charlie, I need you to be reasonable. I can’t help you if you aren’t.” Mary continued to rub slow circles across her back. The calm sound of her friend’s voice and the gentle sensation of her back being rubbed helped quell some of the fear leaching her good sense away.

  “I didn’t expect it to happen this way,” she confessed in a small voice.

  “I know. I know. It’s going to be okay,” Mary said softly, gathering Charlie into an embrace.

  “Stupid fucking hormones,” Charlie sobbed into her friend’s shoulder.

  “You are a better woman than me.” Mary chuckled, gently stroking Charlie’s unruly hair.

  “Never say never, bitch.”

  Mary’s throaty laugh helped ease some of Charlie’s tension. She let her friend gently rock her as she cried softly in the crammed cubicle of her friend’s crowded office. Hot mess couldn’t begin to describe what her life had become, but at the heart of all the drama was the little life she’d never thought she wanted, keeping her going. She’d admit that it was unrealistic to think she could have kept her baby a secret for so long. Grant would have had to know eventually, and the process wouldn’t have been any better or worse. Charlie leaned back abruptly, though, when she realized something she hadn’t even thought about.

  “Wait, how the hell did he find out?” She wiped at her face with the tissue Mary offered her.

  “Private investigator is my guess,” Mary replied with a shrug.

  “Why the hell did he have a private investigator looking for me?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he wanted to hit that good shit again.”

  “Stop.” Charlie held up her hand.

  “What?” Mary replied with an innocent face.

  “No. Please, don’t ever say anything like that ever again in life.”

  “It’s a valid response,” Mary said with an incredulous look on her face.

  “Just, no. Never again.”

  Mary grumbled and said what sounded suspiciously like hater under her breath before turning to her computer. Giggling, Charlie reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand. The sly smirk her friend gave her in response was the balm she needed to soothe her frayed nerves. She’d have to put her questions about why Grant had hired a private investigator to locate her on the back burner. Even if the thought of him wanting to reconnect caused a delicious ripple of desire to warm her body. Damn hormones.

  “Okay, let’s get this handled.” Mary’s confident tone helped anchor Charlie’s wayward thoughts.

  As they began to draft the legal document and Mary called the law firm to schedule the appointment, Charlie felt a little lighter. The panic that had initially seized her was beginning to ebb, and she was optimistic about the future. Of course there was a little niggling doubt of guilt, but she wouldn’t let it overpower her.

  A man has a right to know he’s a father.

  Charlie focused on the questions Mary asked in hopes they would drown out the recrimination of her father’s words. He’d get to know he was a father, and if he were reasonable he’d even have the opportunity be a father. He just had to realize that this was her baby, dammit.

  “You do know you’ll have to share,” Mary stated, focused on the computer in front of her.

  “But why?”

  Mary chuckled as Charlie whined. Her best friend knew her well, and until Charlie was really committed to doing something, she'd find excuses to put off the inevitable as long as possible. Turning briefly from the screen, she pinned Charlie with the steely blue stare that made her a formidable attorney. Charlie tried to meet her best friend’s gaze with a look of defiance but eventually wilted under the pressure of her gaze. Charlie sighed and slumped down in her chair.

  “I know I have to share.”

  “Jesus, Charlie, it’s not like he’s trying to take your favorite toy. It’s his baby too.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to say allegedly?” She smirked.

  “No, stop. Don’t ever say that again,” Mary responded in a mocking tone.

  “It’s funnier when I say it.”

  “Dude, I need you to be reasonable. This can become a total shit show if you decide to make it one.”


  The tone of Mary’s voice let her know playtime was over. She nodded and looked down at her protruding belly.

  “I don’t want to lose my baby,” she whispered, giving voice to one of her biggest fears.

  “You’re not.”

  It wasn’t a promise that everything was going to be okay, but it was what Charlie needed to move forward.

  ***

  Charlie sat at a large, polished conference table in a prestigious law firm in downtown Los Angeles. She’d tried to look as professional as her expanded stomach would allow, while still being comfortable. She’d settled on a black sheath maternity dress that went to her knees and a black cardigan. Her swollen feet would only accommodate soft leather ballet slippers, and her wild mane had been tamed into a bun at the base of her head. Mary had given her an approving smile when she showed up to take Charlie to the meeting.

  “Nice, you definitely don’t look like a gold-digging whore.”

  “Why do I put up with you?” Charlie sighed, trying to ease her way into Mary’s low, compact car.

  “Because you couldn’t imagine your life without me.” Mary chuckled as she helped Charlie into the car.

  She was right, of course, and the firm squeeze she gave Charlie’s hand under the table helped reinforce that. Grant sat across the table from her, flanked by lawyers and his father, every bit the confident businessman. She felt as if she was going to faint and throw up all at the same time. It didn’t help the baby had been particularly active during the night into the early morning. Charlie hadn’t been able to get a comfortable night’s sleep, and the anxiety of the day’s meeting hadn’t helped either. The last few weeks of her pregnancy were starting to take their toll. She still had two more weeks, and she hoped after the meeting today she’d be able to ride those out in comfort.

  The sudden sharp pain at the base of her stomach caused her to grimace and rub her stomach. When she looked up she caught Grant watching her intently. She gave him a small smile and tried to focus her attention on what Mary was saying to one of Grant’s attorneys. Grant had been curt when he walked into the room, only giving her and Mary a minimal greeting. The width of the conference table prevented her from shaking his hand and she’d been thankful for it. She’d prepped herself throughout the night on what their first meeting would be like after the last night they’d spent together. She’d planned to be cool and confident, the reasonable adult Mary kept requesting of her, but the first sight of him caused her to shrink in on herself.

  He’d never seemed that imposing that night she’d met him in their hotel bar. Warm and open weren’t the immediate adjectives she would have used to describe him—more like cool and collected—but when he’d pierced her with a cold blue stare, she’d been frozen in place. Right now he was nothing like the man who held her in his arms and gently brought her body to release. There was something sad about the stiff profile of his face and the harsh line his once-lush mouth formed. Grant looked back at her with a frosty expression that quelled any thoughts of desire their last time together may have elicited.

  Tuning back in to the proceedings, she could tell that one of the attorneys was completing his lengthy legal jargon. Mary was doing a great job of answering questions and providing the appropriate responses. Charlie hadn’t had to speak at all, and that was good thing, because she didn’t know if she wanted to scream, cry, or do a little of both. She winced as another sharp pain traveled outward from her stomach into her lower back. She’d need to soak in the tub when she got home in hopes it would help with the pain that had settled in her lower back.

  “Do you have any questions, Ms. Ambrose?” the ancient attorney across the table asked.

  Charlie looked at Mary and nodded at her friend to answer.

  “Actually, my client has compiled a document of her own. Seeing as she has never sought contact with Mr. Carter nor has identified him as the father, she would like to relieve him of any possible legal obligation. In this document my client absolves Mr. Carter of any legal responsibility and has also added a non-disclosure clause that will prevent the discussion of their affair and my client’s child’s possible parentage.”

  Sliding the document across the table, the two women waited while the men read its content.

  “You have to be kidding. You want me to give up the rights to my child?” Grant asked with an incredulous tone.

  Charlie watched as Grant’s father read the papers with a furrowed brow. She and Mary had gone back and forth on what her position would be. It was obvious from the request sent by Grant’s attorneys that he and his legal team were interested in protecting his assets and his image. She didn’t care about either of those things and had provided him with the perfect out. Mary warned her that he might not be as much of a villain as she’d hoped and might actually want access to his child. From the look of anger and shock on his face, she’d say her friend was right.

  “If you would like to establish paternity, my client is to retain sole legal and physical custody of the child. At a time she deems appropriate, visitation can be negotiated. Also, any financial contributions Mr. Carter provides for the child will be held in trust, to be released on the child’s eighteenth birthday. As mentioned on page twelve,” Mary continued.

  Charlie listened to her best friend with a sense of pride. She really didn’t know what she would have done without her. Mary had her game face on, and seeing her in her element made some of the anxiety burning in Charlie’s chest dissipate. Unfortunately, the icy glare Grant was directing toward her wasn’t helping to calm her nerves.

  “I’m not signing my rights away,” Grant stated in a steely tone.

  “Mr. Carter, if you would…”

  The older lawyer’s statement was cut off by Grant’s hard stare in his direction. Little beads of sweat began to form on the top of Charlie’s lip, and she reached for her purse to get a few tissues she’d kept stashed there since the start of her pregnancy. The pain in her lower back had intensified, making it difficult for her to think.

  “As it states on page twelve, Mr. Carter, if the paternity test determines…”

  “I don’t need a damn paternity test,” Grant interrupted Mary with a growl.

  “Grant, please, let Ms. Fitzpatrick continue,” his father said in a stern tone.

  “You know it’s my baby and I know it’s my baby. What the hell kind of man do you think I am? I’d just sign away the rights to my child?” Grant pinned her again with an icy look.

  “I don’t know what kind of man you are, as you don’t know what kind of woman I am. Hence the need to confront me with your legal team,” she replied, feeling slightly indignant.

  “I know you’re the kind of woman to carry my child and not tell me. How else was I supposed to confront you?”

  The amount of scorn he placed on the last words of his question made her feel like shit. She could play the scorned victim and bluster some more, but the words of her father kept playing over and over in her head.

  A man has a right to know he’s a father.

  “What was I supposed to do, Grant? It wasn’t as if we were in a relationship. We had a holiday affair. This wasn’t something we’d planned.” She looked down at the tissue she’d shredded in her hands.

  “But you decided to keep the baby. You made a decision to leave me out.”

  “That’s not fair,” she shouted hotly.

  “You want to know what’s not fair?” Grant reached over and picked up the paternity agreement Mary had spent so much time putting together. “This shit isn’t fair!”

  “Grant, that’s enough,” his father admonished.

  “This is bullshit and you know it. That’s my baby, and she can’t keep me away from it.”

  “You’re just being petty right now. It eats you up inside to think you haven’t won. If I’d looked you up and asked you for money, I’m sure we’d be having a different conversation.” Charlie was really angry now. She wasn’t the one who brought in the high-priced lawyers. Yes, she should have to
ld him sooner, and after she’d dragged her feet she would have told him eventually. But the key to this would have been her telling him, not his fucking legal team. She pushed herself up from her seat and glared down at Grant. The pain was becoming unbearable, and the anger she felt over his accusations wasn’t helping.

  “This conversation is over. I’d like to keep our relationship civil for the sake of our child. I’m willing to agree to visitation at some point in the future, but I will not be bullied. We have a baby now, okay, but you are not going to run over me.”

  “Ms. Ambrose, I’m sure if you sit down you and my son can have a reasonable conversation about the future of the child,” the elder Carter said, as he tried to play mediator.

  Mary was already up and out of her seat, helping Charlie maneuver around the deep conference chairs they’d been seated in. As far as grand exits went, hers was shaping up to be pretty pathetic.

  “I don’t plan to be bullied, either. I will have a say in my child’s life.”

  Charlie was prepared to blast him with a scathing rebuttal, but at that moment the pain she’d been silently enduring since late last night flared and left her with no ability to speak. She curled forward and rested one hand on the table and the other on her lower belly, taking deep breaths. The anxiety that had been a constant in her life recently beat a steady staccato of alarm through her brain. She still had two more weeks until her due date.

  “Charlie, are you okay?” Mary asked with concern as she leaned to help Charlie stand.

  Charlie hadn’t realized she was starting to fall until her friend righted her. It seemed she was only able to shake her head as a wave of pain crested through her body. When it was finally over, she looked up to see Grant staring at her with an ashen expression.

  “I’m fine. I’m fine,” she breathed through clenched teeth.

  “I’m going to take you to the hospital.” Mary’s worried expression didn’t help quell Charlie’s nerves.

  “I’ll take her.”

  Charlie hadn’t registered Grant coming around the table until she felt his strong hands pulling her toward him. She could be stubborn, and considering the heated argument they’d had earlier, pride was whispering fiercely in her ear to rebuff his attention, but pain was her master now, and she would do anything he requested if he could get her to the place that made it stop.