Chapter 28

The next morning Nikolai was called over to his parents for an interrogation at brunch. It was obvious his little sister spilled the beans and now he was sitting around a large rectangular table with his parents on the end, his sister across, and two brothers, Alexander and Gabriel beside.

He was bombarded with questions. How, who, what, where when, why, were all asked and he did his best to explain. They learned of the marriage and of the later divorce, but they didn't suspect the child Baylee was carrying was his, and he had to break it to them. They were already upset about all the lies and couldn't understand why and how he could keep such a secret.
"So..." he wipes his mouth, hands, and sets the napkin down. "There's one more thing."

"What's that dear?" His mother asks. The tone of her voice told him she didn't think there could be worse.

"You're going to be with a grandma." He decides to just come out with it.

She chokes and begins coughing. She takes a sip of her cranberry juice and clears her airway. "What?

The rest of the table had stopped eating and was gaping at him with half-chewed food in their mouths.

"Baylee is carrying my child." He admits. His eyes couldn't meet anyone else's. He looked down at his plate and took another mouthful.

Lola dropped her fork causing a clashing noise... "You can't be serious..."

"Tell me you're joking." His father demands.

"I'm not."

"So, you got a test done? Gabriel inquires.

"No, but..."

"Then how do you know it's yours?" Lola angrily demands.

He shifted his focus on her. "I slept with her." He nods in confirmation. "That's how I know."

"And she probably slept with a lot of other men too."

His hands turn to fist.

"How hard is it to just get a test done?" She goes on. "So that you can be sure, so that we all can."

"She said it's mine."

"I can't believe how stupid you're being. You're just going to blindly trust her?"

"I know what I did okay"

"But do you know what she did?"

He rolls his eyes away.

"She's right." His mother agrees. "Just get the test done for all of our peace of mind."

"She doesn't want one." He lets it be known. "But I know her, and I don't think she would lie."

"Then why not just get one?" His father intercepts

"That's a bit odd... " his mother cuts in. "if she is sure it's your baby then why the problem with the test?"

"What do you think she wants?" He irritatedly withdraws. "Money?"

"Maybe she wants you back." Lola inserts. Maybe she wants to break you and Melissa up."
Maybe she just wants a father for the baby because she doesn't know whose it is."

"Do you really believe that?" He furrowed his brows challengingly.

She shrugs. "Who knows what she is capable of... What does Melissa think about this?"

He releases a breath. "Melissa knows that this happened before her, and if she wants to be with me she has to accept it." He shrugs again.

"Does she know the part where you're not going to get a DNA test done?"

"Excuse me." He abruptly stands. "He had just about enough of the conversation. No matter what they said he was going to do what he wanted.

"We will not accept this child without one Nikolai." His father announces before he could leave.

When he arrived home he called his girlfriend and when she answered it was a cheerful "Hi..."

She was always in a good mood and he hated that he couldn't be as good to her, as she was to him. "Are you busy?"

"Actually yeah... I'm on my way to my mom's. What's up?"

He comes out with it bluntly. "The baby is mine."

He could only hear the road noise from her moving car but she had gone silent.

"No, we didn't have a test done and we're not going to have one done. Can you accept that?"

"This is a lot to spring on me, don't you think?"

"I want to be fair to you. You deserve that of me. You need to be able to make your own decisions about what you can tolerate and what you can't."

"So even if it's not yours, you're going to raise it?"

"Her, yes I'm going to raise her."

Melissa pulls the car over into a fast-food parking lot. The first place she saw. He was being honest but it was so painful for her. He made his decisions and then regarded her later. She wasn't a factor and it hurt so badly. She either accepted it or left and she loved him so much, she fell in love with him so deeply now, that she may be willing to tolerate too much. "Can I ask why?"

"I... I believe the child is mine and you already know she is not willing to get a test done."

"You can always get one done without her knowing."

He releases a breath. "Can you accept this or not?"

"Of course... you know what I can't accept, and that's if you have feelings for Baylee."

"The only feelings I have...are towards my child."

"Then... I'll go on this ride with you."

"You're amazing Melissa...thank you."

"Yeah...so I've been told." she clears her throat. "I should get going. I'll call you later."

When they hang up Niko calls Baylee like he promised he would. "Hello.," she answers.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good... I've been watching daytime television, one of those court shows you know, and it's actually pretty interesting."

He laughs. "And my daughter, how is she?"

"She was kicking a lot this morning but I think she's sleeping now."

He smiles. "Did you take your medication?"

"Yes..."

"Good..."

"So... about Lola and Conner."

"I think I have an idea but it's going to take some time."

"What? Tell me..."

"Can I come over?"

"I... I guess so..."

"Can I bring you something?"

"No, thank you."

He was over in a little over forty-five minutes and with groceries.

Baylee opened the door with a bright smile. She smells the heavy scent of his cologne he was wearing as he brisk by. She shuts the door and follows him. "What's all of this for?"

He shrugs as he sets the bags down on the kitchen island. "Thought I'd make something for you."

"Aww, how sweet."

"Something healthy." He adds.

She frowns.

"Sit." He orders her to the table.

She watches as he maneuvers around the kitchen slicing chicken breasts, seasoning rice, and steaming veggies. This time reminded her of when they were together. He was the one that cooked in their relationship. Most days, they had a chef come over or they ate out, but then there were some days she would come home to him shirtless in the kitchen, and always preparing one of her favorites. Sometimes he would order dessert, like a double chocolate cake or cinnamon apple pie with whip cream on top, and that night he would eat it off her.

"Try this." He sets a small bowl and fork in front of her.

She blinks away her memories. Before she could try it herself, he forks a piece of meat and rice and feeds it to her.

"What do you think?"

Her mouth was in an exotic paradise. "Hmm..." Her eyes roll back. "Wow..." Nothing has satisfied her more the whole pregnancy.

The corner of his eyes crinkled watching her. He unexpectedly reaches out, and with his thumb wipes away a grain of rice from near her lips.

Air rushed her lungs as she subtly gasped. Her heart skipped a beat, and her eyes snapped open, and what she saw was his back as he walked away to get her a plate. She felt like her inners sizzled, and only Niko could do that to her.

Hope was starting to sprout within her. Maybe he could forgive her one day. She could see, no, she knew, he was still in love with her, and she was realizing every second how much she missed him, how much she wanted another chance, how lucky and ungrateful she was.

"Here you go, feed my child." He sets down a filled plate and she happily digs in. He then gets one for himself and joins her.

"Hmm...hm hm hmmm..." she makes noise.

He laughs.

"Don't laugh because now when craving this you have to cook it for me."

He shrugs like it didn't bother him. "Oh well..."

"At three o'clock in the morning." She cheeses.

"Whatever it takes." He takes a mouthful.

Her heart was aching for him. How could she ever have been stupid enough to walk away from him? She made a silent vow to herself right at this moment, that she was going to win him back and she wasn't going to give up, even if it took years."Oh.." the baby suddenly kicked. She lays her hand on her stomach. "She likes it too I think."

He drops his utensil, stoops low near her belly, and places both of his hands. "Hey, my sweet girl..." She kicks again. "Are you enjoying your meal?"

Baylee saw it in his eyes that he truly loved his child already, a child he wasn't sure was even his. This was the man of her dreams.

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