The Footballer's Designer Baby (A BWWM Pregnancy Romance) (5 page)

“So, I had the construction company come in this morning, and I didn’t think they’d have it done this fast, but they really got a jump on it and it’s finished.” He opened the door of the library and walked in with her. There, beside the big bay window, was a new office area, complete with a desk, lamps, electrical outlets, padded arm rests and a very cushy chair. “I had them fix up an office for you, so you could study in here comfortably. This way you have your own space, and you have the library if you need it, and the view is nice.”

He stepped back as she walked toward the beautiful desk. Everything she might need was there; pens, pencils, paperclips, and sticky notes. All she needed to do was plug in her computer and sit down.

There was even a small tea station, filled with teas, a small tea pot, and a mug warmer. She gasped and covered her mouth with her fingertips, turning to look at him.

“You did this for me?” she asked.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Her eyes moistened with tears.

He walked up to her and carefully, tentatively placed his hand on her large belly.

She smiled and looked away from him as a tear escaped her eyes. He reached up and gently wiped it away.

“It’s no big thing,” he said lightly, “it makes this room better anyway. What’s a library without a desk? Will this work better for you than the kitchen table?”

She nodded and looked up at him with a big grin on her face.

“Yeah, it will. It’s great. Thank you.” She reached up and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug.

“I love it.”

He was surprised, but he hugged her back and as his body leaned against hers, the baby kicked him and he jumped a little, and released Delilah.

“Wow! He does have strong legs! You weren’t kidding!”

She rubbed her belly and smiled at him, shaking her head, then she walked over to the desk, sat down, and turned on the light, looking at everything, opening the drawers and small cabinet doors.

He pushed his hands down into his pockets and watched her with a smile on his face, and then remembered something else he meant to mention to her.

“Hey, by the way, I forgot to tell you… my mom and my sister want to come by to meet you. They can come by any time, but I thought maybe if we have dinner with them here, then you could meet them. They’re anxious for the baby, too.” He smiled and his dimple showed just a little. “What do you think?”

She turned in her cushy new chair to look at him.

“I think that sounds nice, on one condition.”

Cameron was surprised.

“What’s that?”

“Can I cook for all of you? I’d like to do something for you. You’ve done so much for me, and I just want to give back some.”

“Well, what if I help you, and we can make dinner for them together. Would that be okay? I don’t want to brag, or anything, but I’m pretty good in the kitchen.” He puffed his chest out a little and grinned at her.

She laughed at him and nodded.

“Alright. You can help me. When would we be doing this?”

He reached his hand to the back of his head and rubbed his neck.

“Uh… tomorrow night?”

She just smiled at him.

“Okay, we’ll do it tomorrow.”

Cameron thanked her and they headed their separate ways for the evening.

The next day on the field, Aaron was talking with Cameron while they took a break from practice.

“How’s it going with Delilah there at the house?”

Cam shrugged.

“It’s fine. She’s a student and she’s taking online courses, so I had an office put into the library for her, so she can work in there instead of in the kitchen.”

“That’s nice, Cam. Very thoughtful.” Aaron smiled at him.

“You two getting along alright?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty nice. I wasn’t sure how it would be, but we’re more like roommates, so it’s cool.”

“What’s she going to do while you’re at away games? Is anyone going to be there to help her?” Aaron looked up at him seriously. “She’s not going to be able to really look after herself for a while yet, is she?”

Cameron rubbed his forehead.

“My sister and mom are coming over for dinner tonight. I’ll talk to them about it and see if one of them can help out when I’m away. Good call, Aaron. Thanks, brother.”

Aaron nodded his head and smiled at him.

“I can’t wait for our little guy to be here.”

Cameron grinned.

“Me, too.”

Delilah was surprised when she heard the garage door and saw Cameron come into the house.

“You’re back early. How was it today?”

He paused on his way to the laundry room, his bag slung over his shoulder.

“It was good! We had a strong practice today. How are you feeling?”

She rubbed her large belly.

“We’re alright. Getting better each day. He’s still giving me a hard time with my ribs, but I know it’s tight in there, so there’s nothing to do for it. Cameron, I wondered if we could go to the market to pick up a few things before we make dinner for your mom and sister tonight. Would that be okay?”

Cameron looked at her in surprise. It was the first thing she’d ever asked him to do for her, other than to let her cook dinner.

“Yeah, sure, no problem! Let me just toss this in the washer and we’ll go.”

Ten minutes later they were heading down the road in his Murano. She looked around at the inside of it and then looked at him.

“You keep surprising me. I never would have expected you to have one of these. I would have thought you’d be in something more like a hot little sports car, or a truck.”

“Well, I have a little truck, but it’s an old one that belonged to my dad and I just can’t make myself part with it. I like to take it up in the hills. I’ve had this a little while; it’s just easier for me because I wind up going places with my teammates or my mom and sister, and this just works. Now it’s going to really be useful, because I’ll have the baby in here, and all his stuff will fit. I don’t need to buy another vehicle to accommodate him.”

She raised her eyebrows and smiled.

“That’s thinking ahead. I like it. I’ve wondered about these vans. It’s nice.”

Delilah asked him to go to a particular market that was hidden in the city, and he obliged. He’d never been to it before and hadn’t known it was there. He parked and opened the glove box, pulling out a baseball cap and a pair of eyeglasses.

She looked at him in surprise.

“I didn’t know you wore eyeglasses.”

He winked at her.

“I don’t. These are clear lenses. I’m just covering up a little so we don’t get mobbed when I walk into the store. I keep these handy for when I’m in public. Sometimes I get recognized, but these help a lot.”

She nodded with an understanding look on her face, and they headed into the store.

“So what are we shopping for?” he asked quietly.

“Dinner. I thought we’d make Cajun and do beignets for dessert. What do you think?”

He grinned. “That sounds so good!”

Together they strolled through the produce section, and he insisted on choosing the onions, green peppers and celery.

“This is called the holy trinity in Creole cooking… you have to get it just right if you want it to taste good.”

He carefully made his selections and tucked them into the basket on his arm. They found some Andouille sausage, crab and lobster meat, shrimp and chicken.

Delilah picked out seasonings and rice, and they were lucky and found a box of Café du Monde beignet mix for dessert. Cameron was growing more excited about cooking the meal as they found all their ingredients, and by the time they got back to the house, he was in jovial spirits. Delilah smiled at him, enjoying his delight.

He sautéed the meat and she got to work on the rice and vegetables, and a conversation about places where they had traveled started when she held up the box of beignet mix and said she’d never been to New Orleans.

“Really? You ought to go sometime. It’s one of my favorite cities. Every time we play the Saints I go to the French Quarter and hang out, and I always go get beignets from Café du Monde. It’s tradition for me and the guys.”

“How many of the guys? Does the whole team swoop in on the café?” she asked teasingly.

He shook his head and started tossing spices in to the mixture of meat he was rolling around in the pan on the stove.

“Nah, there’s four of us that are really tight. Aaron, Josh, Mikey, and me. We do a lot together. We’re family. Here, try this.”

He pushed a spoon into his meat mixture and held it out for her to taste.

She blew on it and cooled it a little, and then slipped the spoon into her mouth. She closed her eyes and savored it.

“Is it good?” he asked.

She couldn’t even answer him for a minute; all she could do was chew.

“It’s so good,”

she finally said when she swallowed it. Cameron grinned at her and said,

“Yes!”

Then he turned back to the stove and focused on his Cajun concoction.

Delilah cut the tops off of some of the bell peppers, cleaned them out and after she’d helped Cameron mix the meat in with the dirty rice, they filled the peppers with the dirty rice mix and topped them with spices and a little cheese.

He admired their work and said,

“We did alright! Look at that. We make a good team.”

He set the dishes of food on the table just as the doorbell rang, and he looked at her and smiled.

“Well, that’s my mom and sister. I’ll get it.”

Delilah felt her heart speed up, though she thought it was a bit silly. She smoothed her hands over her hair and her top and Cameron saw her do it, just as he was about to walk out of the dining room and kitchen. He looked at her and smiled warmly.

“You look great. Don’t worry.”

She smiled back at him in thanks, and a few moments later, Cameron came back into the room with two women right behind him. His mother was a lovely woman with short hair and big blue eyes. It was obvious that he got his good looks from her.

His sister was younger than him and seemed to be full of energy and happiness, like a radiant blonde sun that warmed up a room just by stepping into it. Delilah felt her nerves settle a little as soon as she saw them both. They almost raced to her, and Cameron’s mother spoke first, both of them grinning from ear to ear.

“Hi, you must be Delilah. I’m Maryanne, and this is my daughter Renee. It’s so wonderful to meet you! Aren’t you a beautiful lady! Cameron told us you were really pretty, but my goodness, you’re a sight to behold!”

Delilah decided that she liked these women immediately.

“I’m so sorry about the wreck,” Renee said to her, worry crossing her pretty face, “When we heard about it, we were just beside ourselves. How are you feeling? Is my big brother taking good care of you?”