Ida Jane shrugged.“Famous hockey player.Maxim likes him.Said he’s Luka’s favorite.I was just testing out names.”
“Well, it sure as hell will not beGordie.”
She propped her chin on her fists.“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling it once I said it either.That name doesn’t suit your kid.”
“How would you know—” I shook my head.“You got me off topic.So, I told Luka about the baby, who isnotnamed Gordie.”I paused, my throat thick.“And then… Then I hung up.Justclick!I didn’t let him say anything.”I gasped, shocked at my poor behavior but also by the fear coursing through me.That combination caused me to sob.
“Oh, Mil-bil.You don’t need to be so frightened.Women have babies all the time.”
“Not that.Notonlythat.”I looked around for tissues, a napkin… Nothing.So I used the sleeve of my cardigan and grimaced.Oh, that was going in the wash as soon as I ended this call.I didn’t like bodily fluids—another reason I was freaking out about parenting.From what I’d seen and heard, babies eliminated from every hole possible, and often.The idea made me gag.
“What if…” I licked my lips.“What if Luka’s like…” I didn’t want to say his name.I shuddered.“What if he uses the baby to control me?”I whispered.Like my father did.
Maxim appeared behind Ida Jane, his bulk blocking most of the light.He peered in closer, his face softening as he took in my forlorn expression.
“Ah.Because someone has hurt you.Your father that you mentioned.”He gave a sharp nod.“It is as I told Ida Jane.Stolly is one of the best guys I know.”
“Luka,” I said.“His name isLuka.And the baby is ashe.I’m havinga girl, not an it, and her name will definitely not be Gordie.”
“We already ruled that out.You should have led with the baby’s gender!You had the sonogram?”Ida Jane asked.“Is it the three-D kind where you can see her little face?Show me, show me, show me!I want to see her sweet nose and chin.I hope she has your chin, but maybe Stol—er Luka’s cheekbones.That man’s cheekbones areto diefor.”
Ida Jane leaned in so close, her nose had to be touching her laptop’s screen.
I shook my head.“I have to wait almost six more weeks for the sonogram because the doctor said that’s the best time to find out the baby’s gender.”
Wow.Eighteen weeks was…a good way through the pregnancy.Almost five full months.
“And you’re right,” I continued.“She really needs to inherit his cheeks.”I groaned.“Dammit, now I’ll be sad if she doesn’t.”
“No, you won’t.She’ll be precious no matter whose cheeks she gets.”
“And you’re going to be her godmother.”I was on a roll now.
“Of course I am.”Ida Jane smiled happily.“I’ll spoil her properly.”
“But not too much,” I said, wagging a finger.
“You really think you’re having a girl?”Ida Jane asked.
“I really do.It’s a…feeling, I guess.But it’s more than that.And I’m going to name her Bree, because I love that name and I love her, so she gets the best of everything.”
Ida Jane’s expression turned dreamy, a smile curing her lips.“She will, Millie.I know she will, because you’re going to be an amazing mom.”
I snuffled a bit, surprised at my show of emotion but, at the same time, pleased with it.I hadn’t been sure I’d be able to love anyone after Trent.My hand crept down to my belly.
Ida Jane tracked the move, and she must have understood some of my thought process because her expression soured and worry glinted from her eyes.“Does your father know about the baby?”she asked.
“Not from me.I never plan to tell him.”
And just like that, my burgeoning power drained out of me.My lower lip quivered.These hormones wereinsane.
I never cried.Not even when Trent had refused to use a condom that night.He’d told me he was getting me pregnant whether I wanted to be or not—which I had not—so I’d had to run away from the man my father had chosen for me.I hadn’t cried when my father had stormed into my workplace, steam curling out of his mouth and raising his eyebrows as he shoved his face close to mine and told me I was marrying Trentimmediately.And I hadn’t cried when I’d begged Ida Jane to move into my new condo with me and started searching for out-of-country jobs.
I hadn’t even cried when my father had taunted me with all that money, telling me I only got to have it if I was a good girl and did the right thing by Trent—that he and Trent deserved their next big merger, and I would not mess up a multibillion-dollar deal with accusations that should have stayed quiet between a man and his fiancée.
That’s when I’d blended up my engagement ring, nicking the platinum before mailing it back and cutting all ties.
That was a lesson I would never forget.My father cared more about his precious empire than his only child.He’d been more upset on Trent’s behalf than mine.I would never, ever put my baby Bree in a position where she had to deal with my father.
