The Billionaire's Unexpected Baby(19)

And when it was over … well, she wouldn't think of that just yet.





Chapter Thirteen

"So how's it going?" Cole asked.

He and Brooks sat on the couch while the women were on the floor on the  other side of the living room watching as the baby lay on her back  kicking her feet in the air.

"All right," Brooks said.

Cole raised his eyebrows and waited.

Brooks didn't say anything for a second. "I told Leah I'd help her get ahold of the father."

"So why do you sound so pissed about it?"

"The father is Marcus Cassidy."

Cole's eyes widened. "Douchebag Cassidy from college?"

Brooks nodded and Cole gave a low whistle. "Well, shit."

"Yeah."

"Does she know about him?"

"What, that the guy is a total dick who made it his mission in life to screw me over? No."

"Well, maybe she should."

Brooks waved that off. "It'll look like I'm jealous of the asshat."

"So are you still going to try and find him?"

"I already did. I left a message through his secretary that he needed to check his Facebook messages."

Cole raised a brow. "That's pretty vague."

Brooks shrugged. "Maybe, but I said I'd try and find the guy, not that I'd bring him to her wrapped in a neat little bow."

"You think he'll respond?"

"My gut reaction is no. Under normal circumstances. But … she told him that she's married to me."

Cole sat back. "If he reads those messages he'll know that the woman carrying his child is married to you."

"Yeah."

"Holy shit."

Brooks sighed. "Yeah."

"You need to warn her about him."

"Anything I say is going to come off wrong. What am I supposed to do?  Tell her that if the guy does come around, it's only because he's got  some weird complex about always besting me and stealing my wife would be  the epitome of that?"

"Something like that."

"I can't do that. Hopefully, he'll see the word baby and run screaming in the other direction."

"Yeah, hopefully." Though Cole didn't look even slightly convinced that  would happen. "So, other than baby daddy drama, how are things? You  know … with the whole marriage thing?"

"Fine."

"Just fine?"

"Put the meddling mother tone away," Brooks said. "It can't be going  much more than fine until the doctor says everything's good to go. And  even then I'd be terrified to touch her."

"Man," Cole said, slapping him on the knee, "don't worry about it. It happens. It's really common."

"Really? Did it happen when Kiersten was pregnant?"

"Well no, but it's in all the baby books. The doctor said everything is good, right?"       

   





"Yeah. I don't know, though, and to be honest it's something I've been trying hard not to think about."

"I can understand that. In the meantime, are you sure you're up to this?" Cole nodded his head at his offspring.

"Sure. I mean, how hard can it be?"

Cole looked at him and laughed.

"Way to be ominous, bro."

That only made Cole laugh harder.

Kiersten and Leah came over to join them, Kiersten jostling the baby on her hip. "What's so funny over here?"

Cole stood up and kissed her on the cheek. "Brooks said he thinks this will be a piece of cake."

Kiersten looked over at him and grinned. "Just like the cow would be a piece of cake."

"Hey. Vow," Brooks said.

Leah looked back and forth between them all. "Okay, I'm definitely being left out of an inside joke here."

Brooks sighed. "It peed on me. And that's all I'm saying about it."

Leah's jaw dropped and Brooks shook his head, not wanting to relive the memory.

"And on that note," Kiersten said, "we've got to get going."

She handed him the baby, startling Brooks too much to do anything but  take her, though he had assumed Leah would be doing most of the baby  work. He held the baby under her arms, letting her legs dangle in the  air, but he didn't know how long he could keep that up. She squirmed  much more than he'd anticipated.

"She's not a bomb, Brooks," Kiersten said. "Hold her back against your body."

He'd seen it done in movies and in the park, but he hadn't had any  younger siblings to practice on, and he hadn't been around babies much.  He did what Kiersten said, tucking his arms under the baby's legs and  holding her back against his chest. It still didn't feel comfortable but  he did have a better grip on her.

"Okay, we'll be back in a few hours," Kiersten said. "Have fun, you two."

She glanced at Leah and they shared a look. Leah grinned and walked them  to the elevator. Piper started squirming again and arching back against  him. He didn't want to put her on the floor so he sat her up on the  couch, but she promptly slid to her side. She didn't seem uncomfortable,  though, so he left her lying there while he went to get her blanket. He  spun around when he heard Leah gasp.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?"

She took two giant steps toward the couch, arms out, catching the baby before she rolled off.

"You can't leave babies unattended like that," she said.

"But she wasn't unattended. I was right here. I turned around for a second."

"That's all it takes."

"I didn't know she could roll like that. I thought she'd stay put."

Leah laughed. "Babies never stay put. You can't leave them someplace  where they might roll off. Either build a barrier with pillows or strap  her in her bouncy chair or something. Or just lay her on the floor.  She'll be fine."

Brooks took a deep breath trying to keep his heart from pounding  straight out of his chest. He'd been in charge for less than a minute  and he'd already almost killed the baby. Her parents probably weren't  even out of the elevator yet.

"I think this was a bad idea," he said.

Leah laughed again. "Don't worry. You'll be fine." She handed Piper back  to him. "I have to use the restroom. Will you be okay on your own for a  minute?"

Brooks looked at the squirming bundle smiling up at him. "Sure, but … hurry back, okay?"

She grinned at him and shook her head. "Don't leave her alone on any high surfaces."

"No high surfaces. Got it."

He sat on the couch, but Piper kept wriggling in his arms. "Are you bored? Do you want to lie down? What do you want?"

She blinked up at him with her big blue eyes and shoved her little fist  in her mouth. A line of drool leaked from between her chubby fingers as  she chewed on it … heading straight for his shirt. He glanced around  trying to find something to catch the mess. Her diaper bag sat a few  feet away at the end of the couch. He went to put her down and then  remembered rule number one: no leaving the baby alone on high surfaces.  So he carried her with him, taking care to keep her face away from his  shirt.       

   





He rummaged through the diaper bag unearthing diapers, wipes, assorted  bottles of powders and ointments, toys, bottles, formula mix, extra  outfits, changing pads … there had to be something in there to catch the …   Oh there it was!

He grabbed a square of cloth and wiped the baby's chin and fist, but his  shirt was already a goner, smeared with baby drool. He sighed and  smiled down at her.

"Looks like your daddy's footing the dry-cleaning bill this month," he  said. Piper grinned back up at him. Cute little thing, he had to admit  that.

He held her up a little higher. "You know, I've always wondered why  people get so goofy over babies." He held her out so she could see his  face. She giggled and swatted at him.

He laughed. "You guys are kind of cute, though, aren't you? Aren't you?"  he said again, his voice changing an octave. "Yes, you are. I don't  know why I'm talking like this. But I can't seem to stop. It's  contagious, I think. Baby-itis. Are you contaminated? I think you are.  I'm going to talk like this forever, aren't I? Yes, I am. You're just  adorable. Definitely take after your mummy. Not smelly Daddy. No, we  don't like him."

He held her over his head, jostling her around to make her laugh. She  giggled harder so he continued to do it, even when he heard the bathroom  door open. Sure, there was a slight sense of embarrassment, but that  was overshadowed by the adorable sounds coming out of the little  creature in his hands.

"Brooks, you might want to be careful," Leah said.

"Careful of what? She's just adorable. Couldn't hurt a fly. No, she  couldn't," he said in that annoying baby voice that people get around  anything younger than a teenager, that he seriously couldn't stop doing.

"Aren't you? You're a tiny little thing. What could you possibly do-"

There was no warning, no sign of distress. No scrunched-up face. No cry.  The baby went from an adorable giggling machine to an Exorcist-worthy  vomit fountain in under a second. It happened so fast he didn't even  know how to react, just stood there blinking the warm liquid from his  eyes as Piper began to fuss.