The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5) Read online

His fingers touched her chin and tilted her head up to his and he pressed his soft lips to hers, brushing her flesh with his. Despite her inner turmoil, she enjoyed the soft erotic touch of his lips as she inhaled the delicious scent of his cologne.

  She moaned with ecstasy as he moved his lips to her ear and nibbled on her sensitive flesh. Oh, she loved when Jules did that! It was so magical. So amazing. He then slid his lips to her cheek and kissed her lovingly. His mouth moved to the tip of her nose and she tingled with delight when he pressed his lips to her skin.

  “God, you’re so beautiful, Amber. Every single inch of you,” he murmured as he brushed his soft lips over one of her scars resting on her shoulder. At first she was nervous; her belly exploded into what felt like a thousand tiny butterflies scattering inside her. But then she remembered, he was nothing like her ex. Nothing at all.

  “Hmm,” she responded as she embraced his body, feeling his warmth and his genuine affection. His feelings for her were almost palpable.

  She moaned into his lips as he kissed her passionately, sliding his tongue between her lips and gently twirling his tongue inside while she felt her body throbbing from his desirable stimulation. They kissed hungrily and passionately as he slid his hands down her back holding her firmly as she leaned against the rail of the yacht.

  Panting hard, she pulled away from him.

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing. I just…I love this moment.” Amber glanced down lovingly at her baby bump before giving it a good rub. She didn’t want to progress any further. Not that anything could happen out there in the open anyway. She just wasn’t ready yet.

  She turned around to face the water. Jules snaked his strong arms around her. “Okay, beautiful,” he said, as if he could read her mind. “We’ll take it one step at a time.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head as he continued to hold her from behind. There was something soothing and calming about being near the water. Amber closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the feel of Jules around her, loving her.

  They embraced and held each other glancing up at the beautiful early evening purple sky, the coolness of the water from the lake breezing onto their skin as they savored the moment.

  The water might have been calm, but Amber felt anything but serene inside. Why did she feel as if Jules proposed under the excitement of the baby? She felt as if there was something missing. A marriage would not change things. If anything it might reveal things.

  * * *

  “He said what?” Venus asked Amber over the phone the next day, sounding excited.

  “He asked me to marry him, Venus. I’m still reeling with shock. I’m so overcome with emotion, you have no idea. Unless, you knew about this?”

  She was overcome with emotion all right. All kinds of emotions.

  Venus’s voice grew excited. “Oh, Amber, I’m thrilled for you and Jules. I had no idea! Carl didn’t say a peep. That’s amazing. Welcome to the family, sister-in-law.”

  Amber sat on the plush patio chair soaking in the warm weather at the cottage at Romero Manor.

  “Jules is at City Hall right now. He’s applying for the marriage license and seeing what he can do to expedite the ceremony for next week or the week after since I’m due in a few weeks.”

  Amber’s heart pounded hard and fast at the thought. Her nerves were getting the best of her again at the thought of getting married in a few weeks before the baby’s due date.

  “They’re lining up a minister and everything. I just don’t know how they’re going to find a dress that can accommodate my baby bump. I hope I look all right for the wedding photo. I wouldn’t want to ruin that for Jules.”

  “Oh, you won’t. And about that maternity wedding gown, that’s nothing to worry about. Believe me, you’re not the first one to be married with a bun in the oven! Besides, Pamela’s super connected in every walk of life. She’s good at finding stuff. In fact, she got my wedding dress at the last minute when Carl and I flew to Vegas on a whim to get married.”

  “Oh, that’s right. I remember you telling me that.”

  “And besides-”

  Amber let out a scream!

  “Amber?” Venus cried over the phone. “What is it? Are you all right?”

  Amber’s heart thumped erratically in her chest. She felt fluid ooze down her leg.

  Oh, no!

  So much for Amber’s dream of having her baby born into wedlock next week. “Venus, I…I need to call Jules. I need to go to the hospital right now. I think my water just broke!”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Well, congratulations, bro. Welcome to the wonderful world of wedded life.” Carl playfully slugged Jules’s arm. Jules had just applied for the marriage license so that he and Amber could exchange vows before the baby arrived. They hoped to tie the knot sometime next week.

  The two men were in his office at City Hall following Carl’s chamber meeting with the council. Carl then leaned back against his desk and folded his arms across his chest with a proud smile on his face. “Man, I’m so glad you decided you’re going to do the right thing. You know Granddad is going to go crazy,” Carl continued.

  “The right thing?” Jules asked, perplexed.

  “Yeah. You know Amber is the right woman for you, I just wasn’t sure how you were going to handle this situation with biological kids and everything that you were talking about.”

  “Well, you know, Carl, I thought about what you said and you’re right. I don’t want to miss out on something amazing with Amber because of this situation. I already lost her once. I’m not making the same mistake twice.”

  “What did she say when you told her about…?”

  “She looked a little stunned at first but then she shrugged and said it didn’t really matter.” Jules wiped a smudge off his belt buckle as he stood in front of his brother. “What matters is that we can be a family—together. And we can always adopt if we want more kids.”

  “Nice. Amber really has a heart of gold.”

  “Tell me about it.” Jules looked out the window, his heart racing hard and fast. The city road was busy with cars zooming by. Construction workers were outside drilling. He felt like there was a drill pressing into him right now. Sure he was happy that Amber said “yes” to his proposal and it was good that she said she didn’t mind that they may never have biological kids together but a part of him still didn’t sit too well with his situation.

  “You look like your mind is somewhere else, Jules. You okay? You’re not having second thoughts, are you?” Carl arched a brow.

  “Nah. Not a chance, man. Listen, I’ve got to run. I’m meeting with Brenda so she can brief me on some upcoming changes with the Family Center.”

  “Oh, and how’s that coming along?”

  “As expected. The current employees were a little anxious about the change in ownership and worried about layoffs, of course.”

  “And? You’re not going to lay off anyone, are you?”

  “Are you kidding me? If I thought I would have to do that, I wouldn’t have bothered. You know me, Carl. I’m just as passionate about saving jobs as you are. In fact, they were a bit surprised that frontline workers at the center would be getting raises and there will be job expansion, not decrease.”

  “Sweet. Now that’s called progress. Betcha they’re glad a Romero took over the facility.”

  “Well, the old owners were hoping that I’d have an epic fail so they were the only ones who were reportedly disappointed with all of this.”

  Just then, Jules’s ring tone sounded. The tune “My Girl” played.

  Carl couldn’t help but chuckle. “Dude, that is so lame. Surely, you can do better than that, Jules.”

  “Nothing’s lame when it comes to…my girl. Besides, it’s one of our songs—Amber’s a huge oldies fan, you know,” he said, answering the phone. It was Venus. Why was Venus calling from Amber’s phone?

  “Thank God, Jules!” Venus sounded frantic. “I’m with Amber. We’re at the hospital. We had to call
an ambulance.”

  Jules’s heart exploded in his chest.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Amber shrieked as she was wheeled into the delivery room on the maternity ward. Her heart raced in her chest, her body felt pumped as if it were on a massive adrenaline spike. The nurses sprung into action while her obstetrician was paged.

  “It’s okay, baby, I’m right here with you,” Jules assured. Amber squeezed his hand. Everything happened so fast. She didn’t even remember how many centimeters she was dilated when the nurse did the examination at the emergency room before they sent her to labor and delivery.

  Amber was in active phase of labor—the phase before the final stage, which would be the transitional or advanced labor. Still, she felt as if she were about to give birth any time now but the ER nurse said she wasn’t dilated enough yet.

  Amber’s contractions were growing stronger and stronger by the minute and the pain more intense and memorable.

  She just moaned and groaned.

  “Just breathe like we learned in the classes, Amber,” Jules instructed.

  “Ah!” she screamed out as another shot of pain crippled her nerve.

  “Okay, baby, that’s good.” Poor Jules didn’t know what else to do. She was gripping his hand so tightly, it almost hurt. Good thing he was strong and firm like an impenetrable boulder. She needed him to be her rock.

  “Oh, Jules,” she finally managed to articulate. “I wanted us to be married first.”

  “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter.”

  “But it does matter. I want us to be married first. Please, Jules.”

  “What?”

  Amber cried out, unbearable pressure stabbing her lower back and tightness in her throat.

  Dion got there in time and Jules’s assistant Brenda was nearby. “Okay, guys, where’s the nurse?”

  “I’m right here,” a woman in blue scrubs called out. She was jotting down notes on a clipboard while watching the monitor with Amber’s vital signs.

  “What can I do for you?” the nurse asked sweetly. Poor thing. She was probably trained to cater to the needs of expectant mothers providing whatever she could for them; however, she was obviously unaware what this expectant mother needed.

  Most women asked for a back rub during this phase of labor or a wash cloth, not a minister who could perform wedding ceremonies.

  Amber tried to follow the directions she’d learned in her prenatal class about keeping calm and relaxing her muscles but it was increasingly hard to concentrate when her body was going through an avalanche of painful contractions.

  “We’re getting married,” Amber panted.

  “Oh, that’s nice,” the nurse said. “When is the date?”

  “Now!” Amber screamed out as another shot of pain struck her like a lightning bolt. Despite the agony, she tried to contain herself. Tears moistened her eyes. She felt her spine burn as if it were afire.

  “Now?!” The nurse’s eyes widened. She glanced at her notes as if to see if the mother-to-be had any history of mental illness. Her pupils were probably as dilated as the size of a mother about to give birth.

  Amber cried out again as the onslaught of fire blazed through her. She had always prided herself as someone who had a high pain tolerance but that was until she went into labor. It was true then, there was no pain in the world quite like it.

  “Do you have a minister on hand at the hospital?” Jules asked.

  “Um…I…we…um… do have a chaplain on call,” the nurse fumbled. She was almost lost for words.

  “Amber, are you sure you want to do this now? I don’t mind waiting,” Jules reassured her as he leaned over her to hold her hand while stroking her forehead with his other hand.

  “Don’t you want to marry me?” Amber demanded. Why was she getting so testy all of a sudden? Was it the tsunami of hormones caving down on her from every direction? She wanted this to be a perfect day for her, the baby and for Jules.

  Amber so badly wanted her baby to be born in wedlock and she came so close. She didn’t want her daughter’s birth certificate to resemble her own with the admission of “unknown” where the father’s name should be. If Jules and Amber were legally married, then by law, Jules would be named the father. Period. It meant so much to her. She’d lost so much in her life, her parents, her brother... So many things she did not have control over but she wanted to have a little control over the birth of her precious baby. She didn’t know why she wanted this now, she just did. Something in her gut was telling her that it would be done and could be done safely. She wasn’t even fully dilated yet.

  An hour later, Amber was still in the active phase of labor and nearing the advanced phase. It could be at any moment when she would come face to face with her precious little miracle.

  Carl had managed to make it in and got an officiant, Mr. James Calderwell, who was also a JP, justice of the peace, on hand to perform the “labor” vows at the bedside. It was a good thing Jules had already applied for the marriage license. Jules was grateful to his brother for being there for him at the right time.

  “Right, we’re going to do this, honey,” Jules reassured her. He never left her side since he got to the hospital. He wished he’d never left her side that morning but he really thought she would be fine. She wasn’t due for another few weeks. This was so sudden. But he was a Romero. They always knew how to rise to any challenge, expected or unexpected.

  Seeing Amber in so much agonizing pain was like a wrench to his gut. He was pained him to see her like this. Man, he really respected the body of a woman more than ever. Seeing beautiful, sophisticated Amber bravely preparing her body to deliver a human being into the world.

  He wondered why more men were not at the bedsides of their wives during this awesome yet emotional time. He was overcome by the spirit in the room. The obstetrician and nurses were preparing to deliver their precious little angel into the world, while the elderly JP—the man who was qualified in the province of Ontario to marry them, dressed in a dark business suit, wiped sweat from his brow with a cloth and adjusted the round-rimmed glasses on his nose as he prepared to race through the vows.

  Ordinarily the delivery room would only have those involved with the delivery and the mom and dad but Carl and Venus along with his brother Dion were there as witnesses. The rest of the Romero clan was gathered in the waiting room—those who heard the good news and were able to make it.

  “Okay, let’s begin,” Mr. Calderwell announced as he opened his Bible.

  Amber bellowed as the pain hit her full force again. Oh, man! What Jules would do to take away the hurt and go through it himself so she would not have to.

  Mr. Calderwell was understandably nervous. Jules remembered Carl saying that old man James admitted he was way beyond retirement. He was also a friend of Toni Romero, Jules’s grandfather. They went way back. Jules only hoped that there wouldn’t be any colorful language in the room as Amber came close to the delivery phase when she would have to push. He trusted Amber would do just fine. She was strong, and like the majority of women, she could do just about anything.

  The physical demands on her body were exhausting Amber, but she had to do this. She must get through this for her baby’s sake. It was the right thing to do. She felt it in her body, her bones, in her soul. She wanted the best for her baby. The best start to life.

  Amber’s mind ran quickly to a TV show she’d seen many years ago, an old re-run. She couldn’t remember the name of the show but she remembered that memorable scene with the woman being rushed to the ER and a minister on hand as she was saying her vows—right there before the delivery of her baby. How crazy was that? Amber had thought at the time.

  Never in her wildest imagination would Amber have thought that the same darn thing would end up happening to her. Imagine that! That famous scene from that show played out in her own life!

  This was real. It was really happening.

  The minister started talking nervously. Noise. There was a cacophony from every
direction from the doctor and nurses prepping her and monitoring her vital signs. Less unsettling was Jules by her side, stroking her forehead, comforting her while holding her hand. Carl, Dion and Venus were off at the side somewhere in the room out of the way of the bedside to give her privacy but close enough to witness, while the minister looked as embarrassed as could be.

  No birth goes exactly according to plan, the prenatal coach had told Jules and Amber. Well, heck! If her prenatal coach could only see this birth!

  “Do you, Amber, take Jules Romero to be your lawfully wedded husband, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face like childbirth, for as long as you both shall live?” the minister said as loudly as he could over her panting and grunting in pain.

  “Yes!” Amber cried out as pain shot up through her back and in her groin like no other pain she’d experienced in her life. Oh, dear. The contractions were getting more intense. Any time now. Would they do it in time? Would the baby be born before they said their vows? Or would her child have the same life Amber had grown up to have?

  It mattered to Amber a lot to be married to Jules before this innocent baby entered the world. It meant the world to her baby. She really wanted to do what she felt was right for her precious little one.

  The doctor told Amber it was time to push. She was fully dilated. The baby had its own plans. “Okay, now push!”

  Amber did just that and she could not believe the feeling her body was going through. The overwhelming sensation was physically demanding. Incredible.

  “Do you, Jules Romero, take Amber Johnson-Murray to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and childbirth, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?”

  “Yes!” Jules said lovingly, yet with conviction. He looked deeply into Amber’s eyes, his body close with hers, supporting her. He never once looked at the minister. Jules seemed more concerned with Amber right now. As he should. It was time. She was fully dilated.