Her Best Friend's Baby (7 page)

“I’m in love with you. I have been a long time, and it’s why I agreed to have a baby with you, why I crossed the line too many times. I’m not ashamed to admit I couldn’t stay away from you.” He swiped a thumb across her cheek, and she realized she hadn’t been successful keeping the tears at bay. “You’re everything to me. Stay with me, baby, and I promise to do all in my power to make you happy. I’ll even get up in the middle of the night to feed and change the baby so you can sleep.”

Zaierra covered her face and sobbed. Leith’s hold tightened, and it took her a long time to pull herself together enough to speak. “Your parents will never accept me.”

“I don’t care. I let them know I will cut them out of my life completely if they ever again disrespect you the way they did. I also threw them out of the house. They’re staying at hotel until they decide they’ll drive back home.”

“Leith, you threw your own parents out? They came a long way.”

“I don’t give a damn. Let them learn not to treat my future wife the way they did.”

She stared at him. “Wife?”

He grinned. “Yes, I’m going to wear you down until you agree to marry me.”

Zaierra slung her arms around his neck and kissed his lips. “You don’t have to go that far. I love you too, Leith. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, to have you love me. Yes, I will marry you.”

He squished her belly hugging her, and their son kicked up a storm in protest. Leith released her immediately and stroked her stomach. “Easy, son. We don’t hurt Mommy. We protect her.”

Zaierra marveled at the effect his deep voice had on the baby. Right away, the kicking stopped, and she watched with a lump in her throat as Leith continued to talk to their son. When she sighed in contentment, he deposited her in her chair and buckled her in. They continued on their way to his house, and by the time they arrived, Zaierra began to drift off. She had no energy to protest when Leith carried her inside and up to his room. The last thing she remembered before falling deeper into dream world was Leith reasserting his love and promising to always be by her side.

Chapter Seven

“One more big push, Mom,” the doctor encouraged her. “You can do it. Your little one is ready to meet you and Dad. Deep breath.”

“I can’t, I can’t,” Zaierra sobbed, exhausted mentally and physically beyond belief.

Beside her, Leith gripped her hand in his and used a cloth to wipe moisture from her forehead. “I know you can, baby. I’m here with you. I promise. One more, Zai. Just one.”

Through blurred vision, she looked at him and saw the pain in his eyes. His voice might be calm, but Leith worried about her. She had to do it for him and for their little one. She caught sight of the ring on her finger, and her heart stirred even more. Their marriage was a whirlwind affair, but it had been special, and they planned to have something bigger when she got her figure back. Maybe then his parents would come. At least she hadn’t had to see Jenna all this time. Leith had kept that part of his life separate for her sanity, but he was always honest about what he did and where he went. She adored him for that.

Zaierra leaned on Leith and fought with the last of her strength to push. The welcome cry of her little boy split the air to a cheer around the room. Soon she laid back on the bed with her tiny, sweet baby napping on her chest. Leith alternated between kissing her lips and kissing the top of the baby’s head.

When they were alone, she turned to him. Her eyelids were too heavy to lift all the way, but she fought to stay awake so she could watch him holding their son. “Are you sure about this, Leith? Her child’s older.” She hadn’t asked for any details of Jenna’s baby.

Leith settled in a chair and rested the baby on his shoulder. “His name is Leith Junior, Zai. I’m not giving in on that point.” He grinned. “Shall I give you a girl so you can name her?”

She rolled her sleepy eyes. “Boy, please, don’t even think about touching me after what I went through.”

An expression of desperation came over his face, and she almost laughed, but then he sobered. “I haven’t heard from her in a few weeks. I went to check in as usual, and her mother said she went away for a little while to get some rest. She wouldn’t give me the number or address.”

“That’s weird.” Zaierra had her suspicions.

He nodded, his gaze distant. “I’m going to give her some time, and if I don’t hear anything within a couple of weeks, I’ll hire someone to find her. I don’t like the games Jenna and her mother play. I want to provide for my other son and be a part of his life.”

Zaierra winced.

“Never mind about that, Zai. Time for you to rest,” he encouraged her. Get some sleep, and I will watch the baby until you wake.”

“You’re okay?”

“It’s fine. I made a promise to you I intend to keep. Rest, woman.”

She took in his handsome face and how fatherly he already was holding their son. Her chest constricted, and love for this man grew to monumental proportions as she watched the two of them together. After a while, sleepiness took hold, and she drifted off still thinking about her best friend, her husband.

Zaierra’s time in the hospital came to a quick end, and Leith drove her and Junior home to his house where she lived on a permanent basis now. She had let her apartment go and moved all the things she needed to his house while getting rid of those she didn’t. They’d redone one of the guest rooms for the baby, and that damn frisky husband of hers kept reminding her he had three bedrooms they could fill with kids. She threatened to get her tubes snatched out and burned, but she only teased him. More kids would be great, but not for a while.

“What’s wrong?” Leith demanded, a crease in his forehead when she asked if he would take her and the baby to the baby’s first pediatrician appointment.

Zaierra reached up to smooth the spot between his eyes. “Stop worrying, Daddy. He’s fine. He just has to see his doctor within the first three to five days after birth. It’s customary. I know you’re doing half days for a little while at work, so I can handle it if you’re busy.”

“No.”

He turned her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Zaierra nuzzled into his hold, glad she was starting to drop the extra weight already. Of course her boobs were big as her damn head and leaking all the time. Regardless, the breastfeeding helped make her stomach go down faster, so she dealt with it. From the looks she got from Leith when she fed the baby, she knew he still got off on her breasts, and it made her feel good. Even though she breastfed, he rose in the middle of the night with her. The man was everything she could ever want.

“I’m taking you,” he insisted.

Zaierra let him pamper her, and she did all she could not to need him so much that he couldn’t take a breather or get rest himself. They worked together like a well-oiled machine for the most part, except during times when her exhaustion made her yell at him. He’d snapped once or twice too, but they were good. The only thing that would make her life complete was if Leith wasn’t still concerned about the other baby. She knew he had already been inquiring about a private investigator.

They left the house, and Zaierra tucked Junior in his car seat. Leith made sure the straps were secure and helped her into the passenger seat. Soon after, they pulled off headed to the doctor’s office. Zaierra chose the time to sleep, but during the smooth ride in Leith’s new, bigger SUV, she opened her eyes to look out the window. The small gasp was out before she checked herself.

“What’s is it, Zai?” Leith put a hand on her arm.

She sat up straight. “Go back, Leith. Go back the way we came, a half block.”

Her husband didn’t question her but performed a U-turn. When she directed him down a side street, he did as she asked. All the while, Zaierra scanned the area. Then she spotted her quarry. She pointed. “Who does that look like to you?”

Leith swore. He sped up a little along the street, but since Jenna pushed a baby stroller, there wasn’t much chance of her outrunning them. Besides, she hadn’t spotted the vehicle, but Zaierra knew that exaggerated sashay and the flipping of the long blonde hair. Who the hell was she trying to impress?

They pulled to a stop right beside Jenna, and Leith leaped from the car to block her path. Zaierra had never seen a person’s color drain from their face so fast. She joined her husband on the sidewalk. Jenna had hung a blanket over the front of the stroller to ward off the chill in the air, so they couldn’t get a glimpse of the baby.

“Where the hell have you been, Jenna?” Leith demanded.

“I-I-I,” she stuttered. Jenna’s gaze dropped to Zaierra’s hand, and she turned her head in a panic to take in Leith’s left hand. The paleness from a moment ago turned to beet red in her cheeks. “So you two got married?”

“I want to talk about the baby,” Leith growled, “not my personal life.”

Jenna flipped stringy hair over her shoulder. “It’s not a big deal, Leith. I had the baby, okay? I’m taking care of it.”

“Not a big deal?” He took a step toward her, but Zaierra put her hand on his arm. From the way he clenched his jaw, something told her he might make good on his always talking about wanting to ring this fool woman’s neck. Stupid Jenna could not know how seriously he took fatherhood, and she personally had had enough of the bitch treating him the way she did.

“Forget this,” Zaierra snapped. She leaned forward and yanked the blanket off the front of the stroller. Nestled inside asleep was one of the cutest little boys—outside her own of course—she’d ever seen. He gummed a chubby fist, and cute silky ringlets covered his head. Oh he was indeed a sweetheart, she thought, and looked a lot like his mama. There was one problem. Zaierra met Jenna’s deer-in-the-headlights gaze. “Your baby boy is biracial, Miss Thing. I should know because so is mine. What I want to know is how two white people can make a half black baby?”

Leith had gone silent, staring at the baby. Jenna blustered, but Zaierra cut her off. “That’s why you disappeared, isn’t it? You let him pay for everything and give you money. You used him all the way up to the end, and I bet you knew from the beginning, didn’t you? The only reason I’m not dropping you on the ground right now is that innocent little baby.” She shook her head and hung the blanket up over the baby again. Because his mother was no good didn’t mean he should suffer for it.

“I don’t regret giving you money and basically forcing you to take care of yourself while you were pregnant,” Leith announced, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Even if he’s not mine,
he
deserves it.”

Meaning Jenna didn’t deserve it, Zaierra guessed, and she cut in. “I hope taking care of the baby will make you a better person, but I doubt it, and you don’t have to worry about ever seeing Leith again because you won’t!”

Zaierra turned to go and stood at the SUV. Leith didn’t say another word to Jenna but opened the door for her. After she’d climbed inside and he shut the door, he went around to his seat and started the SUV. They drove off down the road in silence. Only after the baby’s doctor appointment did Leith broach the subject of his ex.

“It feels like he was mine, and she lost him.”

Zaierra gasped. She threw off her seatbelt and leaned across to wrap her arms around his neck. They pulled to a stop at a red light, and Zaierra just held him a long time. “I’m so sorry, Leith. I admit I felt relief when we learned the truth, but I didn’t imagine what you were going through. I should go back there and punch her in the face for doing this to you.”

He offered her a sad grin. “Thanks, baby, but that won’t be necessary. I still have you and Junior. That’s all I need. Come on. Let’s go home.”

When her doctor gave her the go ahead, Zaierra decided it was time to give her husband what they both had been craving for a while. She never thought she’d want sex so soon after pushing a baby out of her body, but the desire came flying back with a vengeance, even before the six-week checkup.

Leith had gone back to work his full hours, so she had plenty of time to prepare. She slept as much as possible with her son’s naps and then cooked a simple meal that wouldn’t weigh either herself or Leith down. She pulled a sexy leather and lace baby doll set Cammie had given her, to be worn “when you get your figure back” she’d said. Zaierra rolled her eyes looking at it. Her figure wasn’t quite back, but she didn’t care. The top piece would support her heavy breasts in black leather, while the lacy hang would show off her belly and disguise it at the same time. She was just relieved and glad it fit. If there was one thing she knew, it was that Leith loved her. The man hadn’t been able to get enough even at nine months pregnant. She’d knock him down to his knees now.

The day passed quickly, and when all preparation had been done, she rested a bit more. Just before Leith was due to get off work, she texted him.
“You have to come home on time. No exceptions, Mr. Leith Stone.”

“
I’m there!”
he wrote back, and she sensed his excitement.

Zaierra fed the baby and put him down to sleep. She peeked outside the second floor window and saw her husband drive into the garage. Her heart pounded as she hurried downstairs. In five-inch heels, which she pulled off well, if she said so herself, she waited for him at the entry door from the garage to the house. Her throat dried, and nerves hit when she glanced down at how much lower her breasts hung and how wrinkly the skin on her belly had become.

“Now’s not the time to get all self-conscious, Zaierra. This is Leith. He’s not just your friend now. He’s your husband, and he loves you. Get it together, girl.”

She sucked in a deep breath, and joy burst through her heart and mind.
He loves me. Of all people, the sexiest man alive loves me!

The door opened, and Leith stopped cold, staring at her. The briefcase he held slipped from his hand and clattered on the floor. He pushed a hand through thick, dark hair that needed trimming, but with all they dealt with lately, he hadn’t gotten around to it.

“Damn,” he murmured.

She shifted from one foot to the other and put her hands on her hips. “I know I’m not—”