Forgotten Love: A BWWM Pregnancy Billionaire Love Story (14 page)

“
So
we’re pregnant huh?” she said.

Allen
laughed, “What is this? Greatest hits of your amnesia or what?”

“
Just
trying to catch up,” she said with a shrug. Allen turned his
head to study her.

“
If
it means anything I’m glad to see you,” he said.

She
rolled her head over to meet his eyes. “You’re sure?
Because I kinda got the feeling you were enjoying amnesia me
a
lot
just back
there,” she said. Allen laughed.

“
Amnesia
you has some serious sex moves,” he said. She hit him on the
arm again.

“
Hey
you wanna take this down to the gym? We could spar it out,” he
said rubbing his arm.

“
Ha,
as if I’d fall for that one. I’m out of practice and
you’ve been in that gym every day.”

Allen
shrugged, “It was that or jump your bones. Which one would you
have preferred?”

Frances
was silent, looking off into the middle distance then she laughed.
“Hey what if it was that that brought me back? The sex?”

“
That
would just be like you to have your memory jogged by sex. You’re
so weird.”

“
Jeez,
thanks. And you’re the guy who’s in love with a weirdo so
there.”

Allen
laughed. “Guilty,” he said and sighed. “You wanna
get some food?”

“
You
owe me a date dude,” she replied.

“
Fine.
Get dressed, I’m taking you out,” he said.

“
Yay,”
Frances said standing up. She staggered a bit; her insides were still
mush from the pounding they’d taken earlier and her knees were
perceptibly weak. She walked swaying from side to side toward her
closet. Behind her Allen pulled himself up.

“
You
need me to help you?” he asked. Frances didn’t have to be
looking at him to know that he was looking smug. She grimaced and
kept going.

“
I’ll
see you at the door,” she said.

Allen
was silent behind her and then he murmured something that she didn’t
quite hear. It sounded like, “Welcome back.”

They
went to McDonalds because Frances wanted a cheeseburger and she felt
that if she were looking for a particular cuisine, she should go to
the source. The place was loud and busy but they found a table and
spread themselves out.

“
So…now
what?” Allen asked.

Frances
thought about it as she chewed her burger; mostly though, she was
enjoying the burst of creamy cheese and minced beef in her mouth.

“
I
think…we probably have to like go to the hospital and have
them check me out or something. And then we really have to talk about
this baby we’re having. No half-assing it like you did with
Amnesia Me.”

“
Babe,
what was I supposed to do? I mean, you didn’t recall anything
about our situation; how were we even supposed to have a coherent
conversation?”

“
Sooo,
do you actually want to have this baby or not?” she asked.

“
I
want what you want,” Allen said. Frances was shaking her head
even before he finished.

“
Nope.
No. That’s a cop out. I need an answer,” she said.

Allen
looked down at the table, chewing slowly on a French fry.
“Fine…babies. Uh…I didn’t think I would be
having them so early in life you know? I’m only twenty six. On
the other hand, I’m kinda excited about it. I’ve been
imagining holding it and loving it and it loving me…it's
been…nice.”

“
So
you’re in love with the fantasy of having a child?” she
asked.

“
I’m
in love with the thought of having some
untidy haired pu
nk
with a smart mouth giving me a hard time all day every day…wait…I
already have that,” he said with a grin.

“
Jerk,”
she said without emotion. “And you’re not going to cop
out, however many jokes you make. Gimme an answer.”

“
I
can’t wait for the baby to get here. I’m curious to know
him or her. I want to meet him or her. Is that clear enough for you?”

“
So
you’re on board with the baby wagon?” she pressed.

“
Yeah
Frances, I’m on board with the baby wagon. I want the baby
wagon to come into town and sweep us all away. I want the sleepless
nights and the crying and pooping, more crying and suckling twenty
four seven…all of it.”

“
That
is so cute. I almost believe you,” she said.

Allen
looked up at her from beneath his lashes. “I know what you’re
thinking and I don’t blame you. The Allen who walked out the
door the day of your accident was a child; a sulky child. But that
Allen has had to grow up, step up to the plate, become a responsible
adult. If you remember what happened when you were amnesiac, you know
that’s true. I mean would the old me have slept next to you
every night without so much as a whimper of complaint about the fact
that we weren’t having sex?”

Frances
made an impressed face, lifting her eyebrows and making an upside
down bow with her lips; she tilted her head to the side considering.
“I guess, yeah that was terribly obliging of you. I can’t
remember you throwing one tantrum.”

“
See!”
he fisted his hand in triumph.

“
So
what now? I get amnesia and all of a sudden you’re a grown up?
I feel cheated,” she said.

“
Blame
yourself for letting me get away with murder all those years. You
could have put your foot down, you could have left.”

“
And
gone where?” she asked.

He
shrugged, “I don’t know. Wherever you wanted; hell you
survived the streets at an age when most of us would have curled up
and died; I’m pretty sure you can do anything you want.”

“
Thanks
for the vote of confidence,” she said dryly, biting into her
burger.

“
You
don’t need it. You have anything you need, to be anyone you
want. And you know it. So thank you. Thank you for staying with me
and tolerating my shit and standing by me all these years. I
appreciate it,” he said. Frances forgot to chew her food in
surprise.

“
Okay,”
she said finally remembering that her mouth was full and closing it.

“
And
I want to make this official; before the baby comes. Let’s get
married,” he said.

“
Whoa
there cowboy! We were just getting used to the fact that you’re
an adult now. And we haven’t even discussed the major issue we
were facing when I had my accident.”

“
I
thought the issue was my immaturity?” Allen said looking
puzzled.

“
It's
always about you isn’t it?” Frances said in amusement.
“Actually no, the issue was…actually now that I think
about it, it
was
how
immaturely you were handling my burgeoning success. So you’re
saying you’re okay with me having a life outside of you now?”
she asked trailing French fries in the sauce so they were thoroughly
soaked and then sucking them into her mouth. Allen was distracted by
this but he tried to concentrate.

“
I
wasn’t not okay with you having a life outside of me. I just
didn’t like how much it took you away from me,” he
protested.

“
Are
you over that now? Because I have postponed book tours, and
appearances I have to make up for…it's going to be a busy
time,” she warned.

“
I
can compromise too. You came with me, you supported me when I was
just starting out. I can do the same for you. I’ll never be
happy with not seeing you, you gotta realize that is not going to
change; but I can handle it better than I did. I can be a man about
it.”

Frances
studied him in quiet consideration, “I don’t even know
who you are anymore.”

Allen
laughed, “Try going to see the love of your life in the
hospital and having her look at you like you’re a total
stranger. It changes you.”

“
So
I see,” she replied.

“
Anyway
that’s over now right? And you still haven’t answered my
question.”

“
What
question would that be?” Frances asked still making patterns in
the tomato sauce with her French fries. Allen leaned back in his
chair and stared at her in disbelief. She glanced up at him as the
silence stretched between them, puzzled as to why he didn’t
answer.

“
What?”
she asked when she found him staring at her.

He
sighed theatrically, getting off his chair and coming around to hers.
she watched him in surprise wondering what was up. They hadn’t
finished eating. He got down on one knee.

“
Frances
Elizabeth Hilton, will you marry me?” he asked. The table next
to them turned to watch, as did various other people milling about.
Frances could feel the heat in her face and imagined how flushed she
must be. Getting a proposal inside Mickey D’s had
not
been on her bucket list. This was blackmail, pure and simple.

“
Yes
,
yes I’ll marry you, now get up before the entire restaurant
stops to watch us,” she whispered frantically. Allen was
grinning wickedly as he got up, looking supremely satisfied with
himself.

“
I
don’t have a ring on me, but I promise you shall have one by
the end of the day,” he said. Frances could feel her stomach
stirring; getting ready to eject everything she’d just eaten
into her lap. She stood up quickly and ran for the ladies, hand over
her mouth as her body began to heave. The table beside them was
extremely entertained by this behavior, with one of the guys going so
far as to pat Allen on the back in commiseration.

She made
it to the bathroom without embarrassing herself…more and threw
up her food regretfully. She had really enjoyed that cheeseburger and
she was sorry to see it go. She washed her hands and face, taking her
time about it. She had to go out there and face the entire restaurant
in a moment, plus she’d just agreed to marry Allen and her
stomach was empty. She didn’t really know what issue to focus
on at the moment but she was basically miserable. Finally, she
emerged to find Allen waiting not two steps away, a bag in his hand.
He held it up to her.

“
I
got you a refill. Take away,” he said solving two of her major
issues in one go.

She
lurched forward, throwing her arms around his neck. “I love
you,” she said gratefully into his neck.

He
laughed, snaking his arm around her waist and leading her out of
McDonalds, “You’re so easy,” he said smugly.

She
really didn’t feel like she could argue with that.

*****

Allen
deposited her on the couch with a blanket and her food, stuck in the
Game of Thrones DVD and then disappeared. He didn’t tell her
where he was going and by the time it occurred to her to ask, he was
long gone. She settled back in her blankets, enjoyed her food and
watched her movie feeling as contented with the world as it was
possible to. Unfortunately, the baby was against junk food on
principle it seemed, because pretty soon after demolishing the fries,
Frances began to have heart burn. She rubbed at her stomach, trying
to get some relief but it didn’t help. So she snatched up her
phone to call Allen.

“
What?”
he answered but his voice was indulgent.

“
I
have heart burn,” she said sulkily.

“
Aww
poor baby. You want me to get you some tums?” he asked.

“
Yeah,”
she replied, cradling the phone and close to tears for some reason.
“Thanks,” she said swallowing the lump in her throat.

“
Hang
in there baby, I’ll be home soon with them okay. Give you a
back rub; would you like that?” he asked.

Frances
couldn’t help it, the tears were just falling on their own.
“Yeah,” she said sniffing hard and hoping he wouldn’t
notice.

“
Baby
what’s wrong? Does it hurt that bad?” he asked making her
cry harder. She didn’t even know why she was crying.

“
Okay,
give me twenty minutes I’m coming. Can you hang in there for
twenty minutes?” he asked, his voice concerned.

“
Y-you
d-d-don’t ha-have to come b-b-back,” she managed to get
out, breath hitching as she cried.

“
Baby
hold on okay. Ten minutes,” he said and hung up.