Chapter 24: Baby Bliss

After a couple of phone calls, Tom drove Roxanne home to get her clothes. He insisted she wasn’t safe and needed to stay with him for a while. She didn’t want to disagree. Tom said he had someone trying to trace the text, find out what could be done.
“Don’t just pay off the debt. I know you want to. You think that will solve everything,” Roxanne said, trying to fold things neatly into a duffel bag, becoming frustrated that the clothes wouldn’t lay nicely in the bag and instead looked like a crumpled mess.
Tom shrugged. “Won’t it? Haven’t we seen enough? I don’t want them to kidnap you again - or worse.” He grabbed one of her shirts she had failed to properly fold and crisply created creases on both sides, doubled it over, and handed it back to Roxanne.
“I know, it’s just, I need more information. Like how did they know about the permit? What is with that building Owen sent me to and the beer can, and those men burning something at that other property – don’t you think it’s all connected?” She carefully placed the shirt Tom handed her into the bag, then threw a handful of socks on top and tried to zip the bag.
“Roxanne, we have to stop. It keeps getting worse.”
“You’re right. I think we just need to go back to normal. I go to work. You do your thing. We meet at night.” She threw the bag over her shoulder, its heavy contents sinking her shoulder.
“What does that solve?” Tom grabbed the bag and handled it with ease.
“Nothing I guess, but maybe there’s some way we can stall so I can figure this out before you have to pay those goons. I think there’s more to it than just my dad’s loan. And if you pay them now, they could keep coming back.”
Tom looked at her, the muscles around his forehead tightening, showing he was considering what Roxanne just said. He placed the bag on the floor, his brows knitted.
Roxanne snapped her fingers, startling Tom’s moment of contemplation. “The heiress. Tell them you’ll cut them in the deal.” Roxanne turned to rifle through her closet for some shoes.
Tom picked up a sneaker, then a black stiletto that Roxanne threw out of the closet. “Roxanne, I don’t know if that deal is going to go through.” He held the stiletto in his hand, examining it.
“Because you need a baby?” Roxanne’s head was still in the closet.
“Well…yeah,” he said, continuing to turn the shoe in his hand.
“I’m sure you can convince Ruby. Or I will. I mean it’s real now isn’t it?” She looked up at Tom, hopeful, the other stiletto in her hand.
He smiled. “It is.” He kissed her.
“So then we tell her I’m pregnant. Speed things along.” Roxane started dumping some shoes in another duffel.
“Don’t you think your lies are getting out of control?” He handed her the stiletto. “Pack that,” he said and smiled.
“When it comes to you, I’m willing to lie.” She smiled coyly, placing the shoes in the bag.
***
For the next two weeks, Tom and Roxanne went back to work. Tom had his finance guy draft a proposal for Ruby and one for the loan shark. He knew he was playing a dangerous game, trying to put off some bad guys and at the same time realize his real estate goals.
He thought he might be able to convince the loan sharks because he was promising a large long-term stream of legitimate income that he believed they might be interested in. As for Ruby, Tom hoped he and Roxanne could fit the profile she was looking for – baby or not.
Protective of Roxanne, Tom paid a bodyguard to drive Roxanne to and from work as well as sit at the construction site. He also invested some security measures in making sure Roxanne’s father stayed safe, including a surveillance system.
One evening after work, once the body guards delivered Roxanne safely back to Tom’s, he offered to cook dinner. Watching him from a stool at the island, Roxanne sniffed the onions and peppers he was cooking in a pan and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Ew,” she said.
“I thought you liked peppers and onions? I’m making steak.”
“I do, it’s just. I don’t know.” She sniffed the air again. “It’s sickening.”
“Are you feeling okay?” He stirred the vegetables in the pan, and turned toward her.
“I feel okay. A little bloated. And my nipples hurt,” she adjusted the cups of her bra. She looked at Tom wide-eyed. He went back to sauteing.
“Can your body guard get me something?” she asked.
“What is it? Maybe I already have it.”
Roxanne gave a sly smile. “I’m sure you don’t.” Tom looked perplexed. “It’s a woman thing.” She nodded.
“Sure. Just tell me…”
“No, I’ll let him know myself.” He handed her his phone so she could text her request.
While waiting for the bodyguard to return with her item, Roxanne went to the guest suite where she stored her stuff, even though she’d spent every night with Tom in his bed, and tried to get away from the smell. If her instincts were correct, her plan would fall into place, but she didn’t want to get Tom’s hopes up again.
She tried to read a magazine and couldn’t concentrate. She painted her toenails instead, anxiously awaiting the bodyguard’s return. When she heard the doorbell, she scampered to the door, being careful not to smudge her toes, before Tom could pop out of the kitchen. She opened it and snatched the bag from the bodyguard, calling, “thank you,” as she walked on her heels as quickly as she could back to the guest suite.
Ripping open the box with her teeth, she didn’t want to waste another minute. It felt different than the time before. The last pregnancy test, she was shadowed by worry and doubt. Now she knew how she felt about Tom, and despite it being early in their relationship, they’d already experienced quite a few emotional events together. A baby would be a happy development.
As Roxanne sat on the toilet, Tom knocked on the door of the bathroom. “Everything alright in there?” he asked.
“Yep, like I said, woman thing.” She yelled through the door.
“Well, dinner’s ready.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Roxanne finished with the stick and placed it on the counter. She tried not to look. Having patience wasn’t one of her stronger attributes.
After trying to remember the lyrics to an old rock song, singing a few phrases at a stretch in order to pass the time, she looked at the stick. The pink plus sign sparkled at her. She picked it up and brought it closer to her eyes, just to make sure.
She danced a little jig, shaking her hips. Now her plan could work. Tom could get his development deal, they could pay off the loan shark, and be a happy family.
Dancing into the dining room where Tom had set the table with cloth napkins and candles, further proof of his rigid formality, Tom stood up in a snappish movement . She grabbed his hand and started gyrating with him, singing a few lines from the song she had been thinking about. Tom obliged and swayed his hips with hers. She brought her face to his and kissed him.
Holding his head close to hers, she said, “I’m pregnant.”
Tom opened his eyes wider and shook his head. “Really? Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” she said.
“I mean I know we…but I didn’t think…”
“Yeah, apparently, two people can have a baby the old fashioned way.”
He smiled and swung her around. They laughed and he kissed her passionately, dipping her over his knee.
“Normally, people like to date longer, I guess, but after all we’ve been through, I think this is something of a relief,” she said as he righted her.
“This is great news,” he beamed.
Their excitement, however, was interrupted by a knock at the door. Two policemen stood in the large stone entryway outside. Their baby bliss was about to be extinguished.