Three months after my mother and her husband had gotten divorced, and I had started openly dating Tyler, I found out I was pregnant. I had put it off for a couple of weeks. I had always been pretty regular, even taking birth control pills. When I missed my period, I told myself it was something else. Maybe I was getting sick. That surely could mess up my cycle. But I had never been a couple of weeks late before. I took a test. It was positive.
So was the second test, and the third. I cried. I had been sexual in the last month with only the brothers. We had never had another threesome, though Brad did eventually admit it had been him the one time. He had always wanted me. He and his brother had done something similar before. Tyler had talked him into it.
The father could have been either one of them. I found myself hoping it was Brad, but I was technically with Tyler. He didn’t know I was having sex with his brother still, so I went to him first. I told him at his apartment.
“You’re on the pill,” Tyler said.
“I know,” I said. “I don’t know what happened.”
“Well, it’s fine. We can take care of it,” Tyler said.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll pay—for the procedure.”
My mouth fell open. Not having the baby had never even crossed my mind. “I’m not going to get rid of it,” I said.
“I’m not going to be a dad,” Tyler said.
“You are,” I argued. I felt my face growing red and my anger rising.
“How do I know it’s mine?” Tyler said.
“What do you mean?”
“I won’t pay for anything until we take a DNA test. I don’t know who you fuck.”
“Do you fuck other people?”
Tyler laughed. It hurt my feelings. “Of course I do.”
I didn’t know why I was so hurt. I was cheating on Tyler with his own brother. But I was hurt, badly. I turned and rushed from Tyler’s apartment.
Brad lived just outside of Chicago, in a massive home in the suburbs. He answered the door quickly.
“I’m pregnant,” I said before he could say anything.
“Is it mine?” he asked. He knew I was with Tyler.
“I don’t know,” I said, and I began to cry. I went inside and sat on the couch and told Brad what his brother had said. Everything overtook me. I rushed from Brad’s place the same way I had rushed from Tyler’s. I needed to be alone.
I called off work the next day, and then it was the weekend. Tyler called me on Saturday. Brad had talked to him. He left me a message. He yelled at me, berated me. Brad came to my home on Sunday. I almost didn’t let him in, but I did. He held me. I cried. He kissed me. I cried. We made love and then lay together.
“I love you, Josie,” Brad said. “I do.”
I nodded. I knew he did, and I knew I loved him too.
“It might be Tyler’s,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Brad said, shaking his head as we lay naked together in the bed. He kissed me. I kissed him. I didn’t know what the future held, but I knew that with Brad by my side, I could be happy.
And I was happy. Brad and I ended up moving from Chicago. His dad wanted to expand the business. We moved to California. A new building opened up in San Francisco. I headed up an ad team. Brad ran everything else. We married. I had my baby. Neither one of us spoke much to Tyler. I was related once more to Brad—not by blood, but by love.
*****
THE END
BILLIONAIRE BOSS Romance – Bought by the Boss
Tonya Campbell was late for work. The road was littered with branches after a violent thunderstorm the previous evening, and the fire department had partially closed the road. Tonya was glad it had rained, because it had been unbearably hot over the previous three weeks and the office had been littered with old people suffering from heat stroke.
When she pulled into St. James Medical Facility, she waved at Jonnie, the gardener, and parked her battered old VW Beetle in her usual place.
“Hi, Jonnie. How you doing?” she shouted across the parking lot. Jonnie was pruning a border of roses adjacent to the doctor’s office.
“Great, Tonya. How's your mom?”
“Not great,” Tonya replied.
“Send her my love. She's a tough old thing. She'll be fine.” Tonya wished she shared Jonnie's optimism.
The rain had brought the temperature down by a few degrees and everything smelled fresh again. The medical facility had been built about ten years previously and served the community of Sandpoint, Idaho. The town was situated on the Lake Pend Oreille just outside the Kaniksu National Forest, a major tourist attraction. The town was full of hikers in summer and skiers in winter. Tonya was grateful she had been born in such a picturesque place, and she had no intention of leaving.
“Here she is,” Gretta said thankfully. “Tonya, Mrs. Bain here says she has an appointment this morning, but I can't find it anywhere in the system.”
“Hi, Mrs. Bain. How are you?” Tonya asked.
“I need to see the doctor about my you know what,” Mrs. Bain whispered.
Tonya knew very well what Mrs. Bain was referring to. Mrs. Bain was a regular because she had the worst case of bunions any doctor at the office had ever seen.
“No, Mrs. Bain. Your appointment is for tomorrow morning at eight o'clock.”
“Does that mean I've got to come back again? It's such a nuisance. I can hardly walk.”