Billionaire and Nanny Secret by Lauren Wood
Quinn
“Your mother’s health has had an entire turnaround these last couple of days, and today has been no different,” the doctor said. She was my mother’s main doctor. She had the most beautiful, curly hair, hanging down her shoulders. Her eyes were a warm brown, and she was absolutely beautiful. Not just that, but she was honest and incredibly sweet. Whenever we had to receive news, we always asked that Dr. Latta give it to us because there was nobody that was better than her at giving us news. And she was kind enough to constantly do so.
“That’s so great to hear,” I exclaimed, my hand resting on the medical bed. My mother, Maria, was awake as well, which was amazing. She had spent such a majority of her time sleeping, and it was nice that she was finally being more awake now. The improvements she’d made were magical and unexplainable, which was what her doctors said.
My mother should have died, but she hadn’t. She was a fighter, the best fighter that I knew. And I was so proud of her because I didn’t know so many people who would have nearly as much willpower as this woman. She truly was one of a kind, and it was one of the reasons that I was so happy to be able to call this amazing woman my mom.
“Yep, we should be releasing her tomorrow morning, have her other accommodations been made?” Dr. Latta was holding her chart and was staring at us, happily. In the weirdest way, she reminded me of Paige, as strange as that sounded. She was a little ball of sunlight which was incredibly needed in a time like this.
“They sure are,” I answered. “We found her an amazing nursing home, so tomorrow, she will be transferred there.”
“Well that sounds amazing,” she told us, nodding her head at us.
And it really was amazing. The nursing home that we’d found had nothing but good reviews, which was something that was necessary to me. I wasn’t going to place my mother somewhere if she wasn’t receiving the absolute best care. I loved her too much for that, and I wanted to make sure that she also liked where she was.
My mother was unable to go and see the nursing home because of her predicament, so I ended up having to go without her and just send her some amazing videos and pictures. She’d completely fallen in love, especially when she had heard about all of the activities and extracurriculars that they offered. Her days would be far from boring.
And the best part was with my job, I could more than afford it and any health care she needed and could pay it on a biweekly or monthly basis. For once in my life, everything was going well, and the sun was finally shining down on me. Luck had never done me so well, in the past.
“It sounds like you guys have everything figured out. I will get back with you guys tomorrow, sometime in the morning, to do one final checkup. The nurses will frequently look in here, and apart from that, I’ll sign her discharge papers, and you guys will be more than welcome to go. Does that sound okay?”
“More than okay,” my mother piped in. “I’m tired of sitting in this bed, unable to do anything. I can’t wait to stretch my legs.”
Dr. Latta laughed. “Well, I’ll try to get you off this bed as quickly as I can.” She was grinning. “Do you guys have any questions for me?”
Maria didn’t say anything, so I answered the question for us. “No, I think we’re okay.” I stood up and held my hand out, and Dr. Latta was quick to take it. “Thanks so much, Dr. Latta, you really made her happy today.”
“Well, that’s what I strive to do as a doctor.” She was still smiling. “You guys have a very good night, and if you need me, just tell a nurse and I will be here as quick as I can.”
“We’re happy to hear that. Thank you again.”
“Good evening, ladies.”
She walked out of the room, leaving me and my mother alone together.
“Oh, mija,” she said, her voice so relieved. “I’m so happy, muy contento. I thought that I was going to die, muerto. But I have fought through this, and I’m going to live. I’m not going to waste this gift, either. And I’m so happy that you were with me every step of the way, mija. I really hope that I didn’t mess up anything for you, back home.” Her voice sounded worried and tired despite her miraculous turnaround.
Oh, my mother. Even when she had just recovered from her deathbed, she was worrying about others and how she was impacting them. My mother was the most selfless woman that I’d ever known, and I could only hope that I was a portion of the woman that she was.
“Of course not, mom,” I told her and rolled my eyes before grabbing her hand. “You’re my world, and I would never let something happen to you. Nothing is as important to me as you are, you do understand that, don’t you?”
She was smiling at me as if those words were enough to make her entire day. “I love you so much, mija.”
“I love you more.”
Before she could start talking again, I felt the overwhelming need to go and pee. Usually, I had a pretty good bladder and only had to go to the bathroom a few times a day, but I’d started to notice that I was having to go once an hour, which was so unlike me. I tried not to think much of it, but I excused myself and walked out of the room.
I settled onto the toilet and peed once more, hoping that it was the stress of everything that was making me pee this much. That was the only answer that I could come up with. Once I finished, I washed my hands before walking back into the medical room.
My mom was staring at me when I walked outside. I knew that she had noticed how often I was going to the bathroom, but thus far, she’d managed to keep her thoughts to herself which was very unlike her. As sweet as she was, she could be a very opinionated woman, which was something not a lot of people were prepared for. Even I didn’t want to hear what she said a majority of the time.
I sat back down, and Maria wrapped her hands in mine. “Mija,” she said. “Is there something that you’re not telling me?”
My eyebrows knit into a frown, as I looked at my mother. I wasn’t a good secret keeper, and even if I was, I enjoyed telling my mother about almost everything that happened in my life. What could I possibly be hiding from her?
“What are you talking about?” I asked her, looking into her eyes. “You know I never lie to you, that’s never going to change.” My words could not have been more honest.
“Well, it’s quite obvious that you’re pregnant.” Her words made my eyes widen, and I snatched my hand away from her. Was she absolutely insane to be suggesting something so ludicrous? Once the surprise and shock had worn off, my lips curved into a smile, and I couldn’t help but to laugh at her even though I tried to keep the chuckles in.
“Now, what are you laughing at?” My mother asked me.
“You,” I said, matter-of-factly. “You saying that I’m pregnant, I mean, that’s probably the funniest thing that I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t be further from pregnant.”
Maria raised an eyebrow at me. “Is it really so farfetched?” She asked. “Have you been opening your legs to anyone as of recently? Anybody attractive in your life, hmm?” I had forgotten just how nosy my mother could be. I was sure that everyone had those issues with their mother, to be completely honest.
“Mother!” I exclaimed. “First of all, you can’t just say ‘opening your legs’ like that! Second, that’s none of your business!”
“I’m just asking questions…” She waved me off the best that she could. “But your answer has made me realize that you have been sexually active. Be honest with me, mija. Who is it? That gorgeous boss of yours? It seems like he’s pretty tempting…and it’s hard to live with a man that attractive without…something…happening.”
“Yes, mom,” I said, sighing exaggeratedly. She would find some reason to figure out the truth anyways. Why not just tell her? Besides, she’d already told me that she liked him and she’d been rooting for the two of us ever since I started working with Ezra. She didn’t have to know about everyone I’d slept with, though. A daughter deserved the right to keep some secrets from her mother.
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” she told me.
“I’m not pregnant, mom. Can we just drop it?” I asked her and let out a deep breath. “Please?”
She stared at me for a long time, thinking about what she wanted to say before she sighed and nodded. “Fine, fine, I’ll let it go for right now, doesn’t mean that I won’t ask you more in the future. You know I like to know what’s going on in your life. You could stand to open up to me more, you know. I don’t want to make you feel guilty, but you won’t be able to talk to me forever. I may have advice you need, you never know!”
The thought that I could be pregnant had never even crossed my mind. Yes, of course, I knew that having a small bladder and having to pee constantly was a common sign of pregnancy, but with everything happening, I hadn’t been able to piece two and two together. After all, what were the chances that I could be pregnant after one or two encounters? Besides, my mother was probably wrong.
There was nothing she wanted more than for me to have children, and this was probably just her excitement getting the best of her. It’d been a long time since she had me, and there was a chance she was just projecting what she wanted to be true onto my actions.
But the timelines did match up, unfortunately. After all, the last time that I’d slept with Ezra was six weeks ago. And wasn’t that when pregnancy started to show, when women started to get symptoms? And what if I was just worrying myself about nothing? Wasn’t there a thing called false pregnancy? And then again, my “symptoms” could have been caused by my mother even getting these stupid thoughts in my head. I was probably only reacting to the stress of everything that I was going through. And, quite frankly, that was the reason that I wanted to go with, because it was the easiest for me to believe and cope with.
That didn’t mean that I could ignore my mother’s words though. My heart was beating against my chest quite rapidly as I tried to think back to when I had slept with Ezra. I hadn’t been on birth control at the time. I still wasn’t, considering that I wasn’t the kind of woman to just go sleeping around. But the more that I thought about it, the more that I realized that I couldn’t remember Ezra slipping a condom on.
In fact, I was almost certain that he’d fucked me raw. It felt too good and happened too fast for us to have used protection. And I hadn’t even thought of taking the morning-after pill. This was beginning to seem bad the more I remembered about our encounters. How had we not thought about any of this and taken any precautions? And if all of this was true, how was Ezra going to react when he found out? He hadn’t bothered to ask me whether or not I was protected, and he’d been the one to suggest that we did all of this.
There was no way that he could say that this was my fault. Yes, maybe I should have told him about not being on birth control, but he’d never asked. That was certainly not something he should have assumed about me. And he was far more experienced with this kind of thing than I was. If he was going around having unprotected sex with everyone he’d been with, who knows how many kids he’d fathered out there in the world. And he definitely should have bought a condom. He had plenty of time to prepare for our “date.” It took two to tango, and if he dared to put all of the responsibility on me, then he would find just how sharp claws I had.
“Maybe you should…” my mother began before the door opened, and one of the nurses walked in. She was a brunette that had been helping us for the past couple of days. She was nice, as well, so I supposed we’d lucked out with that.
“I’m just going to run a few tests,” she told us. “Make sure everything is all good for you to get out of here, as sad as we’ll be to see you go! Is there anything I can get you to make you more comfortable?”
“Actually, I’d like to ask for something for my daughter,” Maria told the nurse. “Do you guys happen to have any pregnancy tests?”
My eyes bulged out of my head when I heard my mother’s words. Was she serious? Was she actually doing this, here, in front of other people? Was she insane? I could feel my entire face turning red from the pure embarrassment that I felt when she had brought this up to the nurse.
“Mom, are you serious?!” I exclaimed.
“If you need one then you need one, mija. There’s no reason for you to feel nervous about it.”
“Well, I do!” I sputtered helplessly.
“Oh stop it.” Her attention turned back to the nurse. “Do you guys have any?”
She nodded, smiling kindly at my frustration. “We do. Let me run these tests, and then I’ll run and get you one.”
The entire atmosphere felt incredibly awkward to me because of the question that my mother had asked, but the nurse seemed to make the best out of it while she wrote notes all over her clipboard and checked the screens monitoring my mother’s conditions.
“Everything looks good,” she reiterated with a smile on her face. “I’m going to report these to the doctor so she can sign the paperwork! I’ll be right back and get you that pregnancy test that you’ve been asking for.”
“Great, thanks,” my mother said, that stupid smirk on her face.
Once the nurse disappeared, I squeezed her hand. “What’s the actual matter with you?” I asked her, unable to believe what she’d just done. This was my personal business, and she was weaving her way into it although I’d never asked for her to.
“Well, baby, you need to know.”
“Not like that I don’t. That wasn’t fair, and you know it. You just want me to be pregnant because you want grandchildren. Mom, it doesn’t work like that. You haven’t even stopped to ask whether or not I’m ready.”
“You’re right,” she said. “And I’m sorry. But this will be good for you. We’ll know for sure, one way or another. Then I’ll ask you if you’re ready.”
I knew that my mother was right, but that didn’t mean that I was ready to accept her words. The nurse came back a few minutes later, and she handed the box to me, a bit awkwardly. “I brought you a two pack, just in case. We always recommend women take at least a couple. You never know if there’s turned out to be a fluke and you get worried or excited over nothing! Trust me on that.”
“Thank you,” my mother told her, and I just nodded, still trying to grasp everything that was happening. My head was spinning.
When the nurse left, my mom immediately gazed at me. “Now, go to the bathroom and pee on the sticks.”
“Don’t say it like that.”
“But that’s the fun way to say it!” She protested. The twinkle in her eye after so many weeks of sickness almost made it all the stress she was giving me worth it. Almost.
I rolled my eyes and went into the bathroom, hoping that I was going to be able to prove my mother wrong. Besides, I didn’t even know if now was a good time to have a baby. I doubted that I was even remotely prepared. Surely that counted for something, biologically.
I peed on both tests and then waited the two minutes until they were both ready. I gasped.
Both of the tests were positive.
