Billionaire Baby Bump: Pregnancy Romance (A Billionaire BWWM Romance HAH Book 9) (7 page)

“
Welcome
back, honey. We have…I have the day fully planned out for
you,” Andy said as he threw his arms around her.

“
Yeah
and I was just stepping out, but I wanted to say hello before I
left,” Dana said stepping in after Andy pulled away. Julie
smiled and shook her head.

“
Why
don’t you guys just say it and get it over and done with, huh?”
she said as she began walking down the hallway.

“
Wha…what
are you talking about?” Andy asked as he and Dana walked after
her.

“
The
party…small thing you have planned?” Julie asked as she
stopped in her tracks and looked at Dana and Andy who were now
looking at each other nervously. “You are both terrible with
secrets,” she added with a smile before she went on walking
down the hall. The minute she turned the corner to go to her office,
she came face to face with the entire company cheering and clapping.
She smiled and then turned to look at Dana and Andy.

“
You
saw right through us, didn’t you?” Dana said with a
smile. Julie shrugged and nodded.

“
Now,
let’s get on with it. I’m starved. I hope you got a red
velvet cake,” she said in a whisper as she walked towards the
crowd. “Hey guys,” she said with a smile as she shook
hands and hugged almost every person there. She looked at the
beautiful white cake with strawberry and grape garnish and felt her
tummy grumble.

“
Well,
go ahead,” Rory, one of Julie’s workmates said excitedly.
Julie smiled and stepped forward. She grabbed the knife and slowly
began cutting the cake.

After
her office party and meeting, Julie decided to drive to her father’s
place before she went back home. It had been a while since she’d
been home and the only time she had seen her father and her Nan in
the last four months was when they had come over to visit and even
then, their visits were not worth much. At least that was what she
felt. She was always in bed when they visited and thanks to her first
trimester blues, most of the time, she spent sleeping or throwing up.
It was almost midday when she drove up in front of her father’s
house. She got out of the car and slowly made her way into the house.

“
Hello!
Anybody home?” She called out when she opened the front door.

“
In
here!” she heard her Nan call from the kitchen. She threw her
bag on the couch and kicked her shoes off before she made her way to
the kitchen.

“
Are
you making sweet potato pie?” she asked as she walked towards
her Nan who turned around and smiled before she threw her arms around
her.

“
Actually,
yeah. We have a bake sale tomorrow,” she said. “But I can
give you a slice right now,” she added as she served a slice of
pie onto a plate. Julie took a seat at the counter as her Nan pushed
the plate to her.

“
Damn
it,” Julie said under her breath when she realized that she had
taken a seat without washing her hands first.

“
Watch
your language, lady,” her Nan said in a stern tone.

“
I’m
sorry. I just feel a little lazy today,” she sighed.

“
What
do you need?” Nan smiled at her.

“
Some
wet wipes? Hand sanitizer maybe?” she asked. Her Nan handed her
a hand sanitizer before she went to take another pie out of the oven.
“Oh my God, this is heavenly,” Julie said as she took a
bite.

“
Some
milk to go with that?” her Nan called. Julie looked up and
frowned before she shook her head. “Still getting nauseated?”
Nan asked.

“
Especially
with milk. Flavored or otherwise,” she rolled her eyes before
taking another bite. Her Nan walked over to where she was and looked
at her.

“
Steven
told me you have taken a liking to that weird Indian milkshake.”

“
Actually
it was just the one time. Maybe that was what made me dislike milk,”
she said before taking another bite as her Nan sat next to her.

“
So,
how are you feeling? Is everything alright?”

“
So
far so good,” she said in between bites. “I went back to
work today,” she added smiling gleefully.

Nan
smiled and nodded.

“
Yes,
Steven had told me of your intention to go back to work but,”
she paused and touched Julie’s chin and turned her face to look
at her. “Are you sure you’re up to it? I mean what did
the doctor say?”

“
Dr.
Solloway told me that I was out of the woods so I have nothing to
worry about really and in case of anything I still have Chloe,”
Julie said.

Nan
frowned and she shook her head. “Chloe?”

“
The
home nurse,” Julie said before she took one last bite. “But
I really don’t want to talk about me. I’ve had four
months of that…how are you? And where’s dad?” she
asked.

“
Your
father had to rush out. Some work lunch or something,” Nan
said.

“
Pity.
I was really looking forward to seeing him today,” Julie said
frowning.

“
You
are still coming for Sunday dinner, right? You can see him then,”
her Nan said.

Julie
raised an eyebrow. “Nan, I think this week’s Sunday
dinner is at our house.”

“
Are
you sure?” Her Nan frowned. Julie wished she had her phone with
her so she could check out her calendar.

“
Yeah.
I’m pretty sure,” she said.

“
But
we were at your place last week, honey,” her Nan said looking
into Julie’s eyes.

“
Yes
but I was still under house arrest and I hated having to eat in bed,”
Julie said. She made puppy eyes at her grandmother and smiled
sweetly. “Please Nan. I’m cooking. You know you love it
when I make that chicken and mashed potato,” she said as she
looked into her Nan’s eyes. There was a long silence before her
Nan finally sighed.

“
Fine.
But you twisted my arm there,” she said as she climbed off the
stool and walked round the counter. Her Nan was packing up the pies
just as she heard the front door open. “Maybe that is your
father right now,” Nan said without looking up. Julie was
debating whether to get off the stool and walk to the living room or
just stay where she was when she heard the unmistakable voice of Anna
Rizzoli, one of her father’s new neighbors and the loudest
person she knew. “Anna is that you?” Julie’s Nan
called out.

“
Yes!
I came for the pies. Hope you are done,” Anna yelled.

“
Hey
ma! Anna’s here,” Julie heard her father call out.

“
Hey
Michael, Julie’s here,” Nan called from the kitchen.

“
All
this yelling is going to make me go crazy,”
Julie
thought trying to sit still.
“Yup.
This is too much,”
Julie
thought as she climbed off the stool and walked to the living room.
She could not wait to see her dad and just catch up. Also, she wanted
to be away from Anna Rizzoli’s loud mouth. She almost cringed
when she saw Anna walking towards her.

“
Oh
my God, Julie! You are glowing,” Anna said when she saw Julie.

“
Thank
you, Anna. I was just going to the…um…living room,”
Julie said trying hard to get away from Anna.

“
If
you’d ask me I would say that pregnancy is agreeing with you,”
Anna said. Julie forced a smile. She wanted to say ‘no one’s
asking you’ but she didn’t want to seem rude even though
Anna was talking to her like she was on the other side of the world.

“
Thanks,
Anna. Always nice seeing you,” she said as she pulled away from
Anna.

“
Nice
seeing you too!” Anna called out. Julie wanted to put her hands
over her ears as she finally walked into the living room. Michael
smiled when he saw her.

“
That
Anna has quite a mouth on her doesn’t she?” he asked.

Julie
rolled her eyes and nodded.

“
She
has vocal chords of steel, that one,” she said before she gave
her father a long hug. “I’ve missed you,” she said
in a low voice.

“
Missed
you too, angel,” he said as he pulled away. “Let me look
at you,” he said holding her hands in his. He looked at her
from head to toe and smiled. “You look more beautiful than
ever.”

“
Really?
I feel like a whale,” she frowned as she sat down.

“
You’re
still in your first trimester. You have no idea what a whale looks or
feels like,” Michael said.

Julie
shook her head. “Actually, I’m already in my second
trimester.”

Michael
looked at her questioningly.

“
Wait,
what?” he asked as he sat down next to her.

“
Yeah.
I found out I was expecting one month in and I have just come out of
a three month strict bed rest,” she said with a smile. “I
will be ready to pop in four and a half short months,” she
added..

“
Wow,
my little girl is about to make me a grandfather,” he said.

She
frowned and raised an eyebrow. “I always thought you would like
grandpa more,” she said.

Michael
looked at her and nodded.

“
Yeah
I guess that does sound better. Or pop,” he said but Julie
shook her head. “Yeah it sounds like I’m a million years
old. I guess grandpa it is,” he said with a smile.

“
I
would have raised a glass to that if it were any other day,”
Julie said as she leaned back against the couch.

“
I
remember when your mother was expecting…it was hell,” he
said laughing. Julie rolled her head to the side and looked at him.
“She hated anything with onions, garlic, pepper…basically
any kind of condiment. I think we had boiled vegetables for the
better part of her pregnancy,” he said still laughing.

Julie
frowned. “I’m sure that must have been terrible. I know
how much you love your meat and deep fried chicken.”

“
Oh
yeah,” he said. “But it was worth it,” he added in
a low voice as he squeezed her hand. She smiled and put a hand on her
tummy. “So, I know that you don’t like talking about it
but I have to ask. Have you talked to Monique of late?” he
asked. She looked at him and sighed. She hated talking about her
mother. She looked at her father and shook her head.

“
I
don’t really want to talk to her about anything right now.”

“
I
really think she would want to be involved in her grandchild’s
life.”

Julie
looked at her father and shrugged.

“
She
never wanted to be involved in her child’s life. Why would a
grandchild be special?” she asked in a low voice. Michael
nodded as he loosened his tie. “I have tried giving her chances
dad and every time I think things are going well, she disappears on
me. I cannot…will not do that to my child.”

Her
father leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

“
I
just wanted to make sure you had given it some thought,” he
said. She looked at him and smiled.

“
I
did give it some thought. A lot of thought actually but when she is
ready, she can meet my child,” she said as she looked down at
her tummy. “Until then, I think it is better to make sure my
baby stays away from her,” she added as she looked at her
father. She knew that her words were hard for her father to hear but
like so many people had told her before, she was no longer looking
out for her interests alone. She had an innocent life to protect and
it was all on her shoulders. She looked at her father and held his
hand. “I’m sorry daddy. I know this is really hard for
you to hear,” she said.

He
smiled and squeezed her hand.

“
Actually,
I’m just glad you made that decision all on your own. I don’t
know if I can still call you my little girl anymore,” he said.
Julie leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“
I’ll
always be your little girl.”

“
Lunch!”
Nan called from the kitchen.

“
Ready
to deal with Anna Rizzoli once more?” Michael asked.

Julie
took a long deep breath.

“
Is
there any way I can have my lunch to go?” she asked.

Michael
laughed and stood up.

“
If
I have to endure her voice, then so do you,” he said as he
helped her up.