An Unexpected Baby Read online

  Praise for Shadonna Richards’s

  AN UNEXPECTED BRIDE

  (BOOK ONE IN THE BRIDE SERIES)

  "Her debut novel, An Unexpected Bride, has burst onto the scene, zooming up the bestseller lists and racking up fans faster than other writers racking

  up words....a smash hit!"

  - KINDLE FIRE DEPARTMENT

  "Author Shadonna Richards has an "unexpected" bestseller on her hands with this unheralded romantic comedy....An Unexpected Bride has sold 10,000 copies in its first three months..."

  -KINDLE NATION DAILY

  "Shadonna Richards is a wonderful author!...It's a sweet and romantic story that will sweep you off your feet."

  - REVIEWS BY MOLLY

  ***

  THE BRIDE SERIES

  An Unexpected Bride

  The Jilted Bride

  The Matchmaker Bride

  His Island Bride

  The Bride Series (Novels 1-4)

  An Unexpected Baby

  Copyright © 2012 Shadonna Richards

  All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you, God for all my blessings. To my cherished son and husband for your unconditional love. With gratitude to my family and friends for your endless support. To Solomon, Jermaine, Merdella, Nesitta, Godwin, Monica, and Percell. To my editor M.M. for always being brilliant.

  To Sean, Charms, Judy, Yvonne, and Fenn.

  AN UNEXPECTED BABY (Romantic Comedy)

  (The sequel to ‘An Unexpected Bride’ – The Bride Series)

  Getting a man is one thing…keeping him is a whole different story!

  Recently wed to her hot boss, CEO Evan Fletcher, Emma Wiggins-Fletcher thinks her sizzling hubby is avoiding spending quality time with her…that is until Emma discovers that her pregnancy test is positive.

  A baby changes everything. Jetsetter Evan discovers his new wife is pregnant and cancels an important business trip and prepares to rearrange his workaholic life to pamper his newlywed princess. Emma is over the moon about the new special affection from her spouse and her ill grandfather. Gramps has been given six more months to live, and he is so delighted about the baby news, he plans a surprise for the couple.

  Too bad her world is turned upside down when she discovers the pregnancy test was false. Emma has been enjoying Evan’s renewed attention and he’s already shifted his life around to be daddy to their unborn. How could she possibly break the news to her husband and to her ailing grandfather without breaking their hearts? Still, pretending to be pregnant is a whole different story and can only last so long before they find out the truth.

  1.

  “So when are you going to make me a great-grandpa? You can have children, can’t you, pumpkin?” The old man’s eyes playfully narrowed towards his granddaughter.

  “Gramps!” Emma Wiggins-Fletcher felt her stomach churn as she sat beside her ailing grandfather feeding him cornmeal porridge she had made earlier. She felt heat rush to her cheeks.

  “Sorry, pumpkin. You know your old grandpa. Sometimes I just speak what’s on my mind. Didn’t mean to embarrass you, sunshine.”

  “That’s okay, Gramps.” How could Emma be upset with her dear old grandfather who just six months ago was given a death sentence with prostate cancer? He was still not out of the woods yet, but at least he’d been given a few more months. A miracle. She wanted to spend every blessed moment she could with him, especially now that he was getting too weak to take care of basic needs like feeding and changing. Thanks to her rich new husband, Evan Fletcher, CEO of her former company, Fletcher Advertising, she could afford to have a personal support worker come in daily to bathe him and tend to his other needs. Still, his spirit was strong though his body was weak. His tongue, however, seemed to carry a lot of strength these days.

  “But you can have kids, right?” Again, he persisted between mouthfuls of scooped porridge. He swallowed quickly to continue his speech to Emma’s chagrin. “Some people are infertile, you know. And they don’t even know it! Imagine that! Is something wrong with Evan that you’re not telling me?” He leaned closer to her, his eyebrows knitted together.

  “Gramps!”

  “Sorry, pumpkin. Sorry.” He leaned back in his reclined bed, folding his arms across his chest. He wore a smug but innocent expression on his face.

  Talk about an invasive question. What happens between couples should stay…between couples!

  Talk about pressure to fit into society’s expectations.

  Truth was, nobody knew if they could have kids until…well, they had kids. She’d read somewhere that studies showed that a percentage of infertile couples have nothing wrong with them physically. It’s just the luck of the draw. That was the worst scenario. Sure, she had irregular cycles but still, Evan was alright. Wasn’t he? He was healthy. He wore boxers not briefs, so that could not affect his sperm count. Was the pressure to have kids within the first year of marriage so great? Still, she really wanted to be a mommy and the more people—meaning her grandfather and mother—stressed her about when she would finally become a mother, the more resentful she felt. Sheesh! It wasn’t as if one would go to the mall and purchase a bundle of joy. One little sperm out of a billion had to meet the egg thingy at just the right time in the month. How easy was that? If only couples with kids knew what a blessing they had—something that must not be taken for granted. Still, secretly Emma had been purchasing every single home pregnancy test at every drug store she could. She and her new hubby were having unprotected sex, even though Evan wouldn’t admit he’d love to have a child, he’d agreed to it. She wanted to increase her chances of pregnancy. It wasn’t like she was getting any younger. Children meant the world to her. Having Evan’s children would mean the world to her. Not to mention to be able to carry on the Wiggins family tree on her father’s side. Evan was facing lots of pressure himself, like his own father’s failing health and the fact he had to be placed back in an institution. That couldn’t be good for him or Evan. Probably it was the stress of having no choice but to return his father to the mental institution that was driving him…crazy. Maybe that could affect his sperm count. Sheesh!

  What could Emma do, really? So much had happened during the last six months since her quickie wedding at her grandfather’s hospital bedside to Evan due to circumstances surrounding her grandfather given only days to live at that time and wanting to see his only grandchild married off before he reached the “Pearly Gates.” Thankfully, his prognosis had been extended to include months. After Evan agreed to marry her and professed his love for her just as she had always been in love with him, Evan insisted that her grandfather move in with them.

  But then things changed suddenly.

  Without warning!

  The heat from Evan’s passion cooled off quite a bit after mounting pressure at work, including politics at the office and jabs at Emma, his former assistant turned bride and whispers of a “horizontal promotion” which Emma decided to back off from the promotion due to accusations of nepotism to work from home on other things like being his private secretary.

  Was he having second thoughts? Did the whole marriage by guilt or having an elderly in-law live in their home cause him concern? She wished he would speak his mind.

  Men.

  They could be so…non-communicative sometimes.

  ***

  Later that morning, Em
ma walked up the winding marble staircase in her new home to the double doors leading to her quarters. Evan really knew how to pick a good location for a house. It overlooked one of the manmade lakes that glistened, blue and sparkling, as the sun shone on their estate. She felt extremely lucky to have married Evan. It was so sweet of him to finally go along with her “fake marriage” to please her grandfather in his dying days only for it to turn out to be the real deal to his shock. But it worked out because they’d always had feelings for each other, hadn’t they? They’d worked together closely for years and respected and trusted each other. It was only a matter of time really. Of course there were the gossip mongers at work like Loose-lips Lucinda, the receptionist and office coordinator, whom she’d started working with at the reception area. Lucinda resented her more and more after each advancement Emma made at the firm.

  Emma earned her way by going back to college and getting her bachelors then her master's degree. She even encouraged Lucinda to go back to college, too. Honestly, why couldn’t women just be happy for other women when they move ahead in life?

  Why the haters? Emma hated haters, and back-stabbers and loose lips and people who worked to ruin your good rep just because they don’t like you. She was glad to take on more duties in the home as a personal assistant to Evan, working from home instead of being manager of the office which she was in line for. What really hurt Emma the most was the friends she thought she had were those who laughed in her face and skinned her back the moment it was turned. Emma tried so hard to be nice to them, honest she did. She really liked people in general and liked to get along. Maybe she should have tried being a bitch. Office bitches were the ones who seemed to get respect in the workplace. But on second thoughts, she knew she couldn’t last long hurting people’s feelings. It just wasn’t her. Then again, that was her problem, wasn’t it? Evan had the commitment phobia and she…well, she had a bad habit of not wanting to hurt people’s feelings or break their hearts. But it would end up getting her in a whole lot of trouble when she started making things up.

  She shook her head as she walked into her large bedroom overlooking the rose garden. The bedroom had tall ceiling to floor windows. The room was always bright and full of light thanks to the design of the place compliments of Evan.

  Emma heard the sound of laughter and teasing from Gramps as the personal support worker prepared to bathe him. The woman had just arrived. A nice Filipino woman with a pleasant, bubbly personality. She also took no nonsense and both she and Emma’s grandfather often clashed but Gramps loved her. He also loved giving her a playfully hard time.

  Emma reached into her designer tote handbag and pulled out a white paper bag from the pharmacy. Yep, it was time to do her daily pregnancy test. Okay, she was overly obsessed. She just didn’t want to miss the day it became a positive test. She even took it upon herself to purchase several different brands and types from digital tests to the old-fashioned pee on a stick and wait for a line or two depending on the test, to appear.

  “Okay, womb, you’d better give me some good news today.” She spoke to herself as she walked past the tall plants in her room towards the en suite bathroom and closed the door. Evan was at the office but said he’d be home soon by noon because he had to go into Dallas to work on getting a new location for his advertising empire. This was an exciting time for him.

  She drew in a deep breath and ripped open the package and tossed the direction in the bin. She was used to doing so many of the different tests that she knew them all by heart now. Each and every brand. This one promised to give her the most accurate results, fast!

  After peeing on the stick and waiting, she washed her hands and toyed with her hair in the mirror thinking of what to do with her tresses. Maybe it was a new hairstyle or hair cut she needed to really bring back spark to her relationship. Maybe she should transform her image. That would do it!

  “Honey, I’m home!” Evan called out, flying up the stairs.

  Emma’s heart raced in her chest. “Oh, no!” He wasn’t supposed to be there for another hour! She had accidentally knocked the test strip that was supposed to lie on a flat surface from the sink counter. When she picked it up, her eyes widened!

  Shock!

  “I’m….Oh…my…God!” Emma felt herself hyperventilating.

  “What is it, hon?” Evan walked into the room and opened the bathroom door. “You okay?”

  Emma was in a daze.

  “Honey, what are you doing with those things again? Didn’t you take the test yesterday or the day before?” he said with a heavy voice that sounded more like annoyance.

  Emma slid down to the floor. Evan dropped his folder on the floor and reached over to his wife before it was too late. “Emma! What’s wrong? What’s gotten into you?”

  Emma shook her head. “Nothing, baby. I’m just. We’re…” She smiled. “Look!”

  He took the test strip from her. “And? What does this mean?”

  “Honey, we’re pregnant!!!”

  Evan froze. “We are?”

  Okay, not good! “We are?” should have been “We are!!!”

  Evan got up and shoved his hands in the pockets of his executive dark grey suit. He just stood there. His entire body stiffened at the news. Dazed. Lacking expression. Didn’t he want to have kids? Oh great, this was not the best time to find out now, was it?

  “Honey, aren’t…you…happy?” she said weakly. Still was still dazed and in shock. Truth was, Emma really didn’t know if she could get pregnant and there it was—the thin pink line as bright as ever. Not faint like before. Not clear. Pink and strong. She was pregnant. She was having a baby.

  Evan picked up the test stick and looked at it. Tears misted his dark sexy eyes. Okay, she’d never seen him cry before. Ever! What was going on now?

  He thinned his lips and held his head back. After he drew a breath his lips curled into one heck of a grin. He reached over to Emma and picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom and laid her on their plush king size custom made bed.

  “You, my dear, have made me the happiest man in the world!”

  “What? You…you’re happy!?”

  She was a huge fan of Tom Cruise and he knew it. So when he gave this Tom-Cruise-on-Oprah-show-couch-jumping excitement she knew he really meant it! He was excited to have this baby.

  “Gosh, Evan. I’m so happy that you’re happy.”

  “Honey, I didn’t want to tell you this before with all the pressure that’s going on but, guys like me, there’s always a doubt when we get to a certain age and we haven’t had kids. No guy is going to admit they can’t produce. It’s like a sacred part of their manhood, you know.”

  Okay, Evan was opening up to her in a way he hadn’t before. This was good. No, this was great, wasn’t it?

  “I really thought I couldn’t do it!” he continued. “But, honey, you just gave me the best gift in the world!”

  “I did?”

  “Yup. You and being a daddy! Yes!!!” He pumped his arm up and down in a victory cheer. Again, the Tom-Cruise-effect. It was delightful to watch because up to that point, Evan had been more quiet, reserved, businesslike. Distant. She loved this side of him. They both cried and hugged each other as excitement overcame them.

  “Did I hear something about having a baby?” It was Gramps with a huge grin on his face. He was in his wheelchair in the large corridor outside their bedroom, the personal support worker, Lina, behind him holding the handles to the wheelchair.

  “Yes, Gramps! Your granddaughter is going to have a baby!” Emma hugged and kissed her grandfather on the forehead while Evan stood beside her, hugging her waist lovingly.

  “Oh, miss, that’s so wonderful. Congratulations,” Lina said as she joined in the group hug. The moment was tearfully emotional. It was just…perfect.

  “Honey, the director for that cancer care video is calling me anytime now. I’m going to tell him the good news. We can incorporate the news in the video they’re filming about my living with cancer and
having been given more time to enjoy life. This is perfect. I can now live to see my great-grandchild come into the world.”

  “Gramps, that’s nine months, you know!”

  “Doc says I may have up to twelve months. So that’s perfect,” he said with his chin up and a smug grin. Lina wheeled him over to the other side of the corridor towards the veranda where he'd enjoy some fresh air and overlook the other side of their large garden. His usual daytime routine.

  Evan reached over and hugged Emma again, his soft lips brushing hers so gently. Ripples of desire shot through her body like she hadn’t experienced in so long. It was funny how stress could make you change in your love-making ability. He was clearly nowhere near the tenseness he had before the good news!

  “Oh, baby. I want you right, now,” he said moaning into her neck, gently sliding his soft lips on her neck while still cradling her belly with both hands. “You are so beautiful, honey.”

  Emma moaned as she leaned back into Evan’s firm muscular chest. “I love you, too, sweetie. So much.” She didn’t want to bring up about how she was glad he was coming around again. Why spoil the moment? Besides, he had business to take care of.