The Pickup (Imperfect Love 1)

My little man burps. When I lower him from my shoulder to take a good look at him, his eyes are already fluttering shut. I swaddle him in his blanket, but instead of laying him in the bassinet, I hold him, hoping that having him in my arms will help heal my broken heart.

Just as I’m about to respond, a woman comes barreling through the door. “Ugh! Do you know how hard it was to get through the hospital without being photographed?”

Having no clue who this woman is or why she’s in my room, I say, “Excuse me?”

“Celeste, what are you doing here?” Cole walks over to her. Okay… I guess he knows her.

“It’s all over social media! Do you not understand how bad this looks? And I’m your fiancée! A phone call to let me know would’ve been nice.” Taking a closer look at the woman, I spot a gigantic engagement ring on her left hand, the hand that’s waving around in frustration as she drones on about being blindsided. She’s skinny and tall and lacks any major curves, yet she’s stunningly beautiful. Her hair is long and black and smooth. She’s wearing what I recognize as a Valentino dress from his couture winter line, and her makeup appears to be professionally done. I can’t put my finger on it, but I recognize her from somewhere…

“I was forced to leave the shoot, and now it will need to be rescheduled for another night.” Oh, yeah! She’s a model. I’ve seen her on billboards. And…wait a second…holy shit! She’s Celeste Leblanc. I only purchase my makeup from her line. It’s the best. Jesus, Olivia…now is not the time to fangirl over her and her amazing makeup line. She’s your baby-daddy’s fiancée for God’s sake.

“I didn’t ask you to come here,” Cole points out. “And I was going to call you, but everything happened so fast.”

“Ahem.” I clear my throat, and both of them whip around to acknowledge I’m in the room. “If you guys wouldn’t mind, maybe you could discuss this…oh, I don’t know”—I lift my shoulders in a shrug—“out of my room.” I hold my sleeping baby up slightly. “I just gave birth, and I’m a bit tired.” I’m aware my words come out bitchy, but we’ll blame it on the new mom hormones. Okay, no, screw that. I’ll take responsibility. I just don’t want to hear them.

“Look, Celeste. I didn’t know she was pregnant. I just found out. And I didn’t know the press and paparazzi figured it out until I got here.” He looks at me. “I’m going to call my attorney and find out about having a paternity test done.”

I would rather not do this with an audience, but I guess I have no choice.

“You said you didn’t want to be his dad,” I point out.

Celeste’s eyes swing from him to me, and she gives me an incredulous look. “Wait a second, you’re not pushing for Nick to be the father? Then what’s your angle?”

Refusing to discuss this with a woman I don’t know—and also mentally making a note to throw away all of my makeup—I say to Cole—or shit, I guess it’s Nick, “I told you, you’re the father. If you don’t want to be the dad, you don’t have to be.” I try my best to keep my crazy emotions from leaking out. “I don’t know what happened that night, but I didn’t get pregnant on purpose. I’m not going to force you to want our son.” I hear my voice crack on the last word, but I will myself not to cry. It’s not like I’m in love with the man—I don’t even know him. I just always thought I would raise my children in a two-parent loving home like my parents gave me. I never thought at twenty-five I would be a single mother.

With his eyes trained on my baby in my arms, he says, “I still want to know.”

Celeste steps closer to him and says, “If you take that test and it proves you’re the dad, there’s no going back. You’re the one who said you don’t want to be a dad. The last thing that baby needs is a father who doesn’t want him.”

He nods once and then says, “If I’m the father, I’ll pay you whatever it is you want.”

“Will you stop saying that?” My voice comes out harsh, and my baby jumps in his sleep. “I don’t want or need your money, and if you don’t want to be this baby’s father then I don’t want you to be. If you want a paternity test, fine. I know he’s yours. Now both of you…get out.”

Nick opens his mouth to argue but closes it. Both of them walk out and close the door behind them.

A few minutes later, my dad, Corrine, Shelby, and Giselle all come back into the room. Nobody asks what happened. Instead, we focus our energy on the beautiful, healthy baby.