Julian nodded. “As much as I’d rather she not know, I think I’d better.”
“Is she going to think I got pregnant to trap you?”
Julian gave a huff of laughter. “You’ve only met her once, but you already have her number. It’s highly likely she will, but that’s irrelevant.”
“Will she want to meet the baby?” Kiara asked.
“Probably,” Julian said. “But you don’t have to worry about dealing with her. I’ll make sure she doesn’t try to exert any pressure on you in regards to the baby. It will help that you and the baby will be here, and she lives in New York. She doesn’t like visiting Idaho.”
“Is it because your dad and Elizabeth live here?”
“Yes,” Julian said. “Even though she was the one to initiate their divorce, she hates that Duncan married the nanny. Early on, she tried to blackball Elizabeth in New York elite circles, but Duncan threatened to cut back on the money he gave her if she kept it up.”
“Has your mom always been like this?”
Julian thought back to his childhood, something he rarely did. “Mom wasn’t really a hand’s on parent. Neither was Duncan, for that matter. It wasn’t until after the kidnapping that he became more so. She never changed. I’ve had to accept how she is if I wanted a relationship with her.”
“I guess being rich doesn’t always make a family immune to difficulties.”
Julian shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans as they walked. “No. In some ways, having excessive amounts of money makes close relationships more difficult. It was too easy for my parents to hire people to take care of us. They’d say goodnight to us, but they weren’t the ones reading us stories and tucking us into bed.”
“I’m not planning to hire a nanny,” Kiara said. “That’s not negotiable.”
“I’ll support whatever you want to do,” Julian said. “I know you’ll have people around to help you out.”
Kiara nodded. “Angie has already said she’s going to help me. She plans to be the best aunt ever. And Annie has said she’s excited to have a baby around again.”
“I’ll help however I can,” Julian said. “But honestly, I have zero experience with babies. I’ve never even held one. MaybeI held the twins when they were little, but I certainly don’t remember it.”
“I don’t remember holding a baby either,” Kiara admitted, then gave a soft laugh. “This poor little guy. He’s getting two inexperienced parents.”
“Hey, if teenagers can figure it out, I’m sure we can.”
They exchanged a smile and a laugh, and Julian was relieved he wasn’t the only one feeling a bit out of his depth with the parenting thing.
He was also glad that Kiara had agreed to share the house with him because he really did want to be a part of their son’s life as much as possible. And he wanted to support Kiara too.
Change was coming in his life, and, surprisingly, he was okay with it. And he thought the main reason for that was Kiara’s approach to everything. She was taking it all in stride and accepting what he could offer without demanding more of him.
She’d been supportive of him, and he wanted a chance to be that for her, even though he wasn’t as confident in his ability to be what she needed as a pregnant woman. Hopefully, she’d tell him if there was something she needed that he could help her with.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kiara took a long shower, then dressed in a pair of white shorts and a loose-fitting floral blouse with small cap sleeves. Both items were maternity. She’d finally caved and bought several outfits that would hopefully get her through the last part of the pregnancy.
She applied a light layer of makeup, then scrunched her curls, leaving her hair loose for a change, held back only by a headband.
That afternoon, Angie and Jude were due back. And on the same private flight, coming in from New York, would be Julian. Kiara was excited about Angie coming home, but her feelings about Julian’s return were a bit more mixed.
He’d stayed in contact with her while he’d been away, though they’d mainly just exchanged brief text messages. This time when he came to the estate, he’d be moving into the house with her, and the trial month would begin. She was nervous about it. Mainly because she was worried about how she would feel with him in such close proximity.
If she’d found the previous version of Julian attractive, this new version of him was even more appealing. He treated her with a care and concern now that hadn’t been as apparent when they’d first hung out together.
She knew it had more to do with her pregnancy than with her personally, but it would be hard not to want to read more into it.
The past couple of weeks had flown by. Most of it had been tied up with the house, as the designer had been there to complete the interior, moving in all the furniture and décor they’d agreed on.
She’d apparently been more than happy to rework her plans to make the design for Angie’s rooms more suitable for Julian. Kiara was sure that money had once again greased the wheels of that particular situation.
