The Footballer's Designer Baby (A BWWM Pregnancy Romance) (4 page)

“He’s alright; he’s just fine. You’re not too good, though. You have a concussion, three cracked ribs on your right side and that cast on your left arm. I guess your wrist is fractured.”

Cameron ached for the pain he knew she must be in, and he wondered what to do about it.

“How are you feeling? Are you hurt? Do you need any medication? I can call a nurse.”

Delilah shook her head.

“I’m okay; I’m just really stiff and sore. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get in a wreck. I was coming home from the library. I was returning some books for school and…” she broke off and looked around, struggling to keep the fear out of her voice and her eyes.

Cameron stood beside her and took her hand into his.

“It’s okay! It’s alright, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re both okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. Listen… there’s going to be a little change in our arrangement. Your doctor says it’ll be about eight weeks before you’re all healed and your cast can come off.

He said you’ll need help and someone to look after you, so I’m going to move you into my house, and we’ll have nurses come by every day and take care of you.”

She stopped him.

“No! No… it’s okay, I can take care of myself, I don’t want to ruin the contract. I’ll be alright.”

He shook his head.

“Don’t worry about the contract. We’ll amend it. I’m not willing to take any chances with your health and safety, or the baby’s. I have a big place and tons of room. We’ll set it up so that you’re comfortable. I told Jim to put you in the guestroom.

“You’ll have your own space, your own bathroom, there’s a pool so you can swim when your cast comes off, and you can relax… don’t worry about it. It’s what I prefer. Someone needs to take care of you. You can’t try to take care of yourself while you’re pregnant and in this condition.

“Let me do this for you and for my son. Okay? It’ll be alright. I promise.”

She closed her eyes and sighed, and then looked at him again.

“If you’re sure. I guess it’ll be alright.”

He smiled down at her.

“I’m positive. Now let’s focus on getting you out of here. First things first, are you hungry?”

She smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, actually, I’m starving.”

“Okay! I can take care of that right away.”

He picked up his phone and in no time, an excellent meal was delivered from one of the best restaurants in the city. She laughed at him, but she enjoyed the food and she was glad she wasn’t there alone.

She struggled trying to eat it with her right hand and he noticed, and then he realized an ironic fact.

“Oh my gosh… are you left handed?” he asked incredulously.

Delilah nodded.

“Yeah. This is going to be tricky,” she said, looking at the cast on her left arm,

“but I’ll figure it out.”

He stood up and moved his chair to sit beside her.

“You don’t have to. That’s what I’m here for.”

He reached over and began to feed her. She was a little embarrassed, but she was glad for the help. The nurses came in to check on her constantly and to chat a little with Cameron. They told her that he hadn’t left since he’d gotten there, right after she was brought in. She was really surprised by that.

“Don’t you have to be at practice or something?”

“I’ll be alright. I’ll get there soon. They’re releasing you this afternoon, so we’ll get you home and settled in tonight and then tomorrow I’ll be back on the field and your nurses will be looking out for you.” He smiled at her, touched that she was worried about him.

She was released later that afternoon and he drove her to his house which was tucked away down a long driveway and nestled into a beautiful beach on the Pacific coast. He helped her into the guestroom, which was bigger than her whole apartment.

And, she found that all her things had already been brought over and mostly set up for her. It felt weird to her that someone else had done that, but she was grateful for the help.

Cameron ordered out for dinner and it was delivered. He showed her around the main part of the house and the areas she might be using, he helped her eat again, and then when she was tucked into bed, he headed off for his own room and passed out cold until morning when he woke up and headed for the field.

The guys were waiting for him and they headed off to a corner alone with him when he arrived, so they could get an update without the rest of the team finding out what was going on. Cameron told them he’d gotten her home and settled and that the nurses would be with her during the day, helping to take care of her and give her some company.

His friends were relieved to hear it. Aaron reminded him to keep his head in the game. It took him a while to focus on football that morning, but before long, he was back to what he did best, and things were good.

In the days that followed, Cameron and Delilah both went through the awkward phases of first getting to know someone, particularly someone who is living in the same space.

She wasn’t sure what to watch on TV, or if she should be out in the common rooms to see him in the evenings when he got home from practice. He wasn’t sure just how much he’d need to help her as she learned to use her right hand, and he didn’t want to step on her independence.

He came into the house a few days after she’d moved in and found her sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop and a hot tea. She looked up at him and smiled.

“How was your day?” she asked.

Cameron smiled at her.

“It was good. The team is really strong. It’s going to be one of our best years. How was your day?” he replied.

She shrugged.

“It was quiet. I’m just working on my classes and homework.” She indicated her computer.

He stopped in his tracks and stared at her for a moment and then covered his face with his hand. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!” he groaned.

She looked at him in confusion.

“Think of what?”

Cameron let his hand fall to the kitchen counter he was standing beside.

“Your school work. You can’t sit at the kitchen table every day for hours at a time and do your work. Those chairs aren’t meant to be sat in for long periods of time. I’m so sorry I didn’t think of that.”

Delilah shook her head and smiled.

“Oh, I’m okay. I wasn’t here all day. I sat on the couch for a while, too. It’s a laptop… I can move around if I need to.”

He just grimaced and nodded.

“So how are you feeling? Are your ribs giving you any trouble? How’s your arm?”

She leaned backward a little and touched her ribcage where she was injured.

“I think you have a serious kicker in here. He’s got strong legs. He keeps getting me in the ribs pretty good, and that’s really painful, but I’m alright.”

Cameron walked around the counter to her and reached his hand carefully to her cheek, touching her gently to turn her head. She looked up at him and let him examine her. He looked intently at her eye and her head and then let his hand fall from her face.

“You’re healing up. The bruising doesn’t look good, but the swelling is going down quite a bit. Don’t worry about the bruises,” he added.

Seeing the sad expression on her face, he explained,

“My guys and I get those all the time and their gone pretty fast. Drink lots of water.”

He grinned at her and sat beside her.

“So, I was thinking about you being cooped up in here all the time, I mean, it’s good for you to heal, you know… to have a quiet comfortable place to rest, but you still need fresh air and sunshine.

“The backyard and pool are nice, and the beach is private, so you can be out there a bit, but if you want to go up to the Presidio or out to Muir Woods, something like that, I’d be glad to take you. Just don’t go anywhere alone, okay? I want to be sure you’re okay. We can’t have anything else happen to you, alright?

She nodded.

“I understand.”

“I want you to have some freedom but I just want you to be safe as well. Let me know if you want to get out somewhere, and I’ll be glad to take you. No problem, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you for that.”

He looked at her computer and realized that he was probably interrupting her studying.

“Well, I should let you get back to class, right?” He smiled

and rose up from the chair, waving slightly; he left the room and went in the back yard to sit beside the fire pit there.

He pulled out his cell phone and made some calls to the construction company that had worked on the nursery. When he went back into the house, he poked his head into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the table, still working on her laptop.

“Hey, Delilah? There will be a construction crew coming into the house tomorrow morning, just so you know. They’ll be here around eight, okay?”

She looked up at him in surprise and nodded her head with a small smile.

“Okay. Goodnight!” she called out as he waved and disappeared.

The next morning, bright and early, a construction crew showed up at the house and began work on the library at the back of the house, which faced the beach. Delilah stayed out of their way and let them do what they needed to do. She walked through the massive house and shook her head, wondering in amazement at how she’d wound up where she was.

She was glad she was doing this surrogacy for Cameron. He was a really nice guy and he would make a good dad, she thought. She’d have enough money to pay off her student debt and be set for a long while. She was looking forward to that.

The house was built in a ranch style and stretched over a wide expanse of land, and the grounds around it were also considerable. She loved that the house backed up to the ocean, and he had a very nice beach.

She hoped she’d have her cast off in time to swim before she left. There were fruit trees all over the grounds, and a beautiful garden with a sitting bench and a little reflection pond in it.

She’d explored much of the outside area and some of the inside, but she didn’t feel like she should go poking around his house too much. She was a guest, after all, even though he’d gone out of his way to make her feel at home and kept insisting that if she needed anything, he’d be glad to provide it for her. She felt almost spoiled, really, and she had to admit that she enjoyed it.

When Cameron came home that day, he stopped in the living room where she was working on her laptop and asked her how her day was and how she was feeling. Then he disappeared and she went back to her studying.

Cameron hurried to the library at the back of the house and turned the light on to see how the changes had come along. He was amazed. They were done. The window was open so that the paint could dry, and it had, but the slight addition of an office in the library was complete. He felt almost giddy and excited about the change he’d had done for Delilah and he went to get her, to share it with her.

“Hey, Delilah? Could you come here, please? I have something for you.”

He had an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face. She grinned back, not knowing why, but she set her laptop down and he helped her to her feet, and walked her to the library.