Authors: Elizabeth Kelly
“So, you and Hazel had a good day?”
Lily stared at Logan’s face on the screen
of the iPad. He had called to face time with Hazel before bedtime, just like
he always did, and after saying goodnight to her he had asked to speak to Lily.
She had left Hazel in her room, tucked into
bed with a picture book, and carried the iPad to the living room.
“We did.” She said quietly. “We went to
the park for a bit and made peanut butter cookies this afternoon. They’re in a
container in the cupboard above the stove if you want some when you get home.”
He smiled. “If there’s any left in two
days. Hazel loves peanut butter cookies.”
“She does.” She agreed.
There was an awkward silence and she
watched on the screen as Logan cleared his throat nervously and glanced around.
“So, about last night…” He trailed off and
took another look behind him.
Lily sighed. She had already decided she
wouldn’t beg for her job again. Although she knew what she had done with him
last night was wrong, she wasn’t going to apologize for it or beg him not to
fire her. She had wanted him and, after the first good night sleep she’d had
in weeks, she was actually feeling better and happier than she had in days.
That’s your post orgasmic glow talking
. A small voice whispered in her head.
She willed herself not to blush nor think
about how she had spent a good portion of her day daydreaming about various
schemes to get Logan back into her bed. That had been a useless waste of
energy. From the look on Logan’s face he was about to tell her just how much
of a sex maniac he thought she was.
“I really enjoyed it.” Logan said quietly.
She jerked in surprise. “You did?”
He nodded, his face a little red, and she
smiled with relief. “Me too.”
“Yeah?” He gave her his own look of
surprise.
“Yes. And I um, just wanted to say thank
you. The back rub and um,” she could feel her face heating up but she carried
on determinedly, “the other uh, thing really helped me sleep. I feel much
better today than I have in a while.”
He gave her a slightly naughty grin. “Any
time you need help sleeping, Lily, just let me know. I’m more than happy to
help.”
She blushed furiously and he leaned closer
to the screen, his voice warm and low. “Maybe when I get home, after Hazel’s
in bed, I could show you other ways to help you sleep. I have plenty of
ideas.”
She swallowed as desire flamed in her
core. “I – I’d like that, Logan.”
“Me too.” He said hoarsely. “All I’ve
thought about all day was how you looked and sounded last night. How it felt
when you came all over my –“
He stopped and faintly, Lily heard Rob’s
voice calling Logan’s name. A look of frustration crossed his face before he
gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“Of course.” She tried to act like she
hadn’t been about to come in her own pants just from the sound of his voice,
and gave him a cheerful smile. “We’ll talk to you tomorrow night, alright?”
“Yes. Good night, Lily.”
“Good night, Logan.”
* * *
Lily tucked the broom into the front
hallway closet. She rubbed at her lower back for a moment and then winced when
a spasm of pain went through it. It was late afternoon. Hazel had been grumpy
and uncooperative for most of the day and when she had fallen asleep on Lily’s
bed half an hour ago, Lily had covered her with a quilt and let her sleep. The
little girl had woken her with a nightmare just after midnight and the two of
them had crawled into Logan’s bed. Both she and Hazel had slept poorly and she
was looking forward to when Logan got home tonight. Hazel would be all over
him, she always was when he first came home, and Lily would have some alone time
and a nice hot bath. She had slept terribly for the last three nights and she
was hopeful that tonight she would sleep better.
You know you will. Especially if
Logan’s in your bed with all of his ideas on how to help you sleep.
She blushed, a little embarrassed by how
excited the thought of Logan touching her, being inside of her, made her feel.
Lusting after her employer was about the stupidest thing she could do but it
was happening and it was useless to keep denying it. She wanted him and,
despite her weird puffiness and huge belly, he wanted her too. It was shameful
of her but she was going to enjoy it and take advantage of –
The doorbell rang, startling her, and she
turned and limped to the front door. She opened it, her mouth dropping open at
the two people standing nervously on the front step.
“Hello Lily.”
She swallowed thickly. “What do you want?”
“We just want to talk. Please. Just talk
– nothing more. I promise you.” The tall, elegant grey-haired woman said pleadingly.
“Will you let us come in?”
Lily sighed and the woman gave her husband
a frantic look. “Please, Lily. Just hear us out. If you don’t like what we
have to say, we’ll leave and never bother you again.”
“Regina – “
“Hush, Charles!” The woman said
immediately.
Charles, his face and demeanor so much like
Barry’s that Lily almost felt like she was looking at a ghost, nodded and
folded his hands behind his back.
Regina gave Lily a hopeful look and with a
soft sigh, she stepped back. “Come inside.”
* * *
“How did you find me?” Lily sat down
heavily in the chair across from the couch and stared at Barry’s parents.
Regina sipped at the tea Lily had given
her, the cup shaking minutely, and smiled tentatively at her. “We hired
private detectives.”
Lily looked at her in astonishment.
“You’re kidding me.”
“We’re not.” Charles said quietly.
“You’re carrying our grandchild and you just left without letting us know where
you were going. Did you think we would just accept that?”
“Charles!” Regina said warningly. “You
promised.”
“Sorry.” He muttered. He glanced at
Lily. “We were worried. You have no family and no money.”
“Thanks to your son.” Lily replied.
Regina winced. “What Barry did was wrong.
We see that now, Lily.”
“Do you? Or are you just anxious to get
your hands on your grandchild?”
Regina shook her head. “No, that isn’t
it. We – we made a mistake in offering you the money in exchange for the
baby. It’s just – we were desperate to hang on to what little we had left of
our son. The baby you’re carrying is all we have left of our child.”
Tears were forming in the woman’s eyes and
Lily could feel herself softening. In all the years she had known Regina, she
had never once seen the woman cry. In fact, she had often thought privately
that the woman was an emotionless robot.
Now, seeing her shaking and staring at the
new lines on her face, she felt ashamed for what she had done. Barry had been
terrible to her and Charles had never been much better, but Regina had always
been polite if a little distant to her. She made herself harden her heart
against them. These people had try to buy her baby from her and she would be
wise to remember that.
“You tried to buy my baby. Why should I
let you have anything to do with her?”
“Her?” Regina leaned forward eagerly.
“You’re having a girl?”
Lily nodded. “Yes.”
“That’s wonderful!” Regina’s face had lit
up with happiness and she reached out and squeezed Charles’ hand. “We’re going
to have a granddaughter, Charles.”
He nodded, his face a mask of barely-concealed
emotion, and cleared his throat. “Have you picked out a name yet?”
Lily shook her head. “No.”
Regina gave her a hesitant look. “The name
Annabel has been in our family for generations. It was my grandmother’s name,
my mother’s name and my middle name.”
“It’s very pretty.” Lily said
non-committedly.
Regina sank back in her seat. “We know
what we’ve done is unforgiveable, Lily, but we’re hoping you’ll find it in your
heart to forgive us. We want to be a part of her life.”
Lily said nothing and Regina gave Charles a
quiet look of despair. “We – we’re hoping that you would let us help you with
the baby. We know how expensive babies can be and we – “
“No.” Lily said immediately. “I don’t
need or want your money.”
Charles snorted. “You’re working as a
live-in nanny for a fireman. What are you going to do once the baby arrives?
I doubt he’ll be interested in keeping you on as a nanny once you have a
newborn. What will you do for money then?”
“That’s none of your business.” Lily said
tightly.
“None of our business? None of our
business?” Charles’ face was turning red and he sat forward on the couch.
“You’re carrying our son’s child. It is absolutely our business! You have no
right to – “
“Charles!” Regina nearly shouted his name
and he stopped and gave her a look of anger. The woman neither relented nor
shrank back and after a moment, he looked down at his lap.
“Sorry.” He muttered.
“He really is.” Regina said hurriedly.
“The last few months have been very… difficult. We’ve been very worried about
both you and the baby.”
Lily gave her a look of disbelief and
Regina nodded. “It’s true, Lily. I know I haven’t been the best mother-in-law
and I’m sorry. I just – I’m not very good at expressing my emotions, but I’ve
always liked you.”
She glanced at Charles. “We – we know that
Barry treated you badly and we appreciate that you stuck by him, that you
stayed with him and loved him.”
Lily felt a twinge of guilt go through
her. She shook it off. Barry had been abusive and she had been right to want
to leave him. “Your son was horrible to me.”
“I know.” Regina said softly. “I’m sorry
for that.”
“Yeah, I am too.” Lily sighed.
There was a few moments of silence and then
Regina gave her another timid smile. “Has everything gone well with the
pregnancy?”
Lily nodded. “Yes. I haven’t had any
trouble.”
“Good, that’s really good.” Regina said
eagerly. “When are you due?”
“In another three weeks.”
“That’s coming up quickly.” Regina smiled
at her. “Do you – have you gotten everything prepared for her?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need anything? We would love to
help buy some of the bigger items. Maybe a stroller or a crib, if you need
it.”
Lily shook her head. “I have everything I
need, but thank you.”
“Well, if you think of something that you
might need, don’t hesitate to call us. We’d be more than – “
“Lily? Hazel? I’m home!” Logan’s deep
voice echoed down the hallway and Lily stood up nervously as he entered the
living room.
“Hi!” He gave her a warm grin and stepped
towards her. He hadn’t noticed either Regina or Charles and she twitched
nervously when he reached out and rubbed her belly. “How was your day?
Where’s Hazel?”
“She’s having a nap. She had a nightmare
and didn’t sleep well last night.”
He frowned. “Is she okay?”
“Yes. We talked about it today and she
seems to be doing fine. She was a little on the grumpy side.”
“How did you sleep?” He caressed her belly
again and she caught his hand.
“Logan, I – “
“Have you been thinking about all the ways
I can help – “
“Logan!” She said his name sharply and he
gave her a curious look.
“What’s wrong?”
“Logan, I’d like to introduce you to
Charles and Regina Castro. Barry’s parents.”
His eyes widened and he turned to look at
the couple sitting on the couch. His hand dropped to his side and Lily touched
his arm gently as Charles and Regina stood up.
“Charles and Regina this is my employer,
Logan Anderson.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Regina said
politely as she held her hand out.
Logan stared at it and after an awkward
moment, she let her hand drop.
“What are you doing here?” He asked
bluntly.
Charles bristled. “What do you mean by
that? She’s carrying our grandchild. We have every right to be here.”
“Every right? After what you did, you
think you have every right to be in Lily’s or her baby’s life?” Logan said
incredulously.
“Logan, don’t – “ Lily began nervously.
He gave her a confused look. Charles
stepped closer and Logan moved protectively in front of her.
“Don’t come near her.”
Charles glared at him. “Who do you think you
are?”
“I’m someone who cares about Lily. More
than you two assholes do.” Logan’s face was turning red and Lily patted his
back lightly.