Grumpy Boss

I couldn’t hack the crazy hours that a massive firm demanded, and frankly, I didn’t need the money—not when Rees proposed.

The day after he met my grandmother for the first time, he got down on one knee, and I cried like a stupid baby.

“What’s your plan for today?” he asked.

“I have client meetings,” I said, and rubbed his arm as he cleaned a glass. “What about you?”

“I was thinking I’d take Dottie to the movies,” he said, and looked over his shoulder. “Hey, Dottie, you want to see a movie?”

“If it’s a date, I’m amenable,” she said, nodding to herself.

He grinned at me. “She might steal me away.”

“Stop,” I said, and kissed his neck. I hesitated, lingering there for a second. “I need to tell you something.”

“What’s up?” he asked, washing a bowl. “Don’t tell me you’re going to miss dinner. You went private so you wouldn’t have these intense hours. You know I’m greedy and want you all to myself.”

“No, Rees, it’s not that.” I sucked in a breath, steadying myself.

I found out that morning. I’d suspected for a few days, and didn’t confirm until I had a chance to take a test. I felt lightheaded, like the world was floating around me, and I didn’t know why I waited so long to tell him. I should’ve woken up him, but instead I let it sit inside me—maybe I wanted to live with it for a little while first.

He stopped washing and frowned a little. “What’s up, Mills? You’re freaking me out.”

“I’m pregnant,” I said.

He dropped the bowl. It clattered into the sink. Grandmom jumped a little and squinted at us, then want back to her paper, shaking her head.

He didn’t move. I felt my throat tighten. We hadn’t talked about kids—I sort of assumed we would, at some point. But we weren’t exactly careful with birth control, and had sex a lot, like, a lot a lot, and it finally just—it finally happened. Unexpected, unplanned, and I was so afraid of how he’d react.

“You’re serious?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’m serious. I wouldn’t joke about that.”

He scooped me up into his arms and laughed. Pure joy poured out of him as he threw his head back and hollered. Grandmom flinched again and grumbled to herself, and he hugged me tight, swinging me around. “Can I tell the world?” he asked.

“No yet,” I said, hitting his chest, and felt so relieved I could cry. “We have to wait for a while. I forget how many weeks. But as soon as we can, I promise we’ll tell everyone.”

He kissed me and held me for a long time in that kitchen where my grandmother lived, in a house next to my own, in a life I never thought I’d have. After so much struggle, we finally had something, me and my grandmom—finally had a place to call our own.

“This is perfect,” he said. “I love you so much. God, we need to discuss names.”

“Slow down,” I said and leaned my head against his chest. “Let’s just be happy about this for a little while first, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, hugging me tight. “How about Rees Junior?”

I smiled and shook my head, but I knew I’d give him whatever he wanted, because he deserved everything.

* * *