"Hi, Sweetie," I said. "I'm not the father."
I heard her exhale on the other end of the line.
"Thank God, Josh. I mean, I feel bad for this Alicia person but glad for us."
"I know," I said, relief making me feel giddy. "I feel bad for her, too, but now we can put this behind us and focus on our future. We'll have our own children when the time is right."
"Yes," she said, and she sounded really happy. "We will."
"Well, that's all I had to tell you. Shall we go out for lunch and celebrate?"
"That sounds perfect. Pick me up when you're ready."
"See you at around twelve thirty," I said after checking my schedule. "We'll go get some deli food at Maxine's. I want a huge pastrami on rye and some of those great fries."
"I can't wait," Ella said. "I love you, Josh. I'm so relieved."
"Me, too," I replied. "I love you, Ella."
Then, we hung up and I sat back in my chair and let out a huge sigh of relief. It had been incredibly stressful, waiting for the news about the test. I had been prepared to be a father, but the truth was that I had a lot of living to do before I wanted children. I had a new penthouse renovation to finish, I had a wedding to arrange, and I had a honeymoon with my love to plan. Plus, I had a paper to run and an empire to manage. Having a child was not on my radar for at least a year or more, depending on what Ella wanted.
She had her own plans. She wanted to work as an editorial assistant and when she got enough experience, move up to a full editor. She wanted to write her own novel and get a publishing contract. She wanted us to live together and travel. She wanted children as well and hopefully, when the time came, she'd have that as well.
We had our whole lives ahead of us and now that this one potential speed bump had passed, there was nothing else in our way.
* * *
At twelve thirty, I grabbed my coat and scarf and took the elevator down to Ella's office to pick her up. She smiled when I entered her office and closed her laptop, grabbing her bag from the drawer in her desk.
"There you are," she said and came over to me. She slipped her arms around my neck. "Give me a kiss."
I was only too happy to oblige, grabbing her and picking her up off the floor. We kissed, deeply, and I felt an overwhelming love for her at that moment.
I was so lucky, and I knew it.
"Let's go get some pastrami," I said and helped her with her coat and scarf. "I'm so hungry I could eat half a cow."
"Me, too," she said, her eyes wide. "Although maybe only a quarter." She grinned at me and I put my arm around her shoulder, squeezing.
We walked out together, my arm still around her possessively, and I didn't care who saw us giving a PDA. She was going to be my wife and to hell with what anyone thought about it.
The deli was only eight blocks away from the office, so we elected to walk there, hand in hand.
"Aren't you glad we no longer have Reg and crew tailing us?" she asked.
"Yes, but I do miss someone else doing the driving," I said and smiled down at her. "I kinda like the whole limo thing."
"Do you really?" she asked, frowning.
"Yes," I replied. "I hate Manhattan traffic. I'm happy when someone else has to worry about it."
"So, use the limo service all the time," Ella offered. "You can afford it and it employs people."
"That's the ticket -- I can justify it by saying it boosts the economy," I said with a laugh. I glanced down at her smiling face. "I like the way you think."
We kissed and then arrived at the restaurant. It was busy and the lineup extended out the door.
"I guess we have to wait for a table," I said. "Everyone else seems to have the same idea as us."