Her Bad Boy Billionaire Lover (Billionai - By Bretton, Barbara Page 0,50

effects. The girls were enraptured. She followed up Cinderella with an abbreviated Sleeping Beauty then declared story time officially over for the night.

"You'll see a better version of Sleeping Beauty tomorrow at the mall," she said, giving each little girl a kiss.

"Do you think my mommy will have the baby tonight?" Stace asked as Megan was about to switch off the light.

"Yes, honey, I do. I think by the time you wake up in the morning you'll have a beautiful little brother or sister of your very own."

Miguel had called right around dinner time to speak to Stace and to let Megan know that Ingrid was heading into the home stretch.

"Aunt Meg." Stace tugged at Megan's sleeve. "Can Jenny have a baby brother?"

Megan looked from Stace to her daughter. "Not right now," she said. "I'd like to be married before I have another baby."

"You don't have to be married," Jenny piped up.

"I know that, Jenny."

"You could go to the store and get one," Stace chimed in. "My Aunt Lisa did that."

"No, silly," said Jenny. "Not a store. It's a squirm bank."

"I think it's time we turned out the lights," said Megan, feeling faint. "Now sleep well."

They knew so much--yet they knew nothing at all. And it would be another twenty years before they even realized it.

With a sigh, she headed toward the kitchen to finish cleaning up. The melancholy mood that had begun with Jake's appearance at their daughter's birthday party still persisted. Ingrid and Miguel were about to welcome a new member into their family while Megan felt as if she were running in place. Her past, her present, and her future had unexpectedly converged and she found herself at the crossroads without a compass.

But not without memories.

#

The nurse looked up from the sheaf of papers. "Are you sure you don't want to call someone?" Her expression was kind. "First labor can take a long time. You might like the company."

Megan shook her head. "Thank you, no. I'll be fine."

The nurse looked dubious. "There must be someone," she persisted. "I know you're not one of our Lamaze patients but still...."

Megan smiled but remained silent. I have no one, she thought as an attendant wheeled her to her hospital room. There isn't one person on earth I can call to help me.

For weeks she'd found herself thinking about Jake, dreaming about the man who was her baby's father. Ridiculous, elaborate dreams--fantasies, really--where he would show up on her doorstep and sweep her up into his strong arms where she would be safe and protected. "I love you, Meggie," he said in her dreams, "and I'll love our child more than life itself."

"Fool," she whispered.

"Did you say something?" asked the attendant.

"No," said Megan, blinking away sudden tears.

Everywhere she looked she saw expectant mothers surrounded by an army of family and friends. Proud husbands, nervous mothers and fathers, friends there to lend support and celebrate a brand new life. It seemed so little to ask, to have someone with her to share the most important day of her life.

Jake, she thought. Before today is over you'll be a father.

"Do you need help changing into a gown?" the attendant asked.

Megan shook her head. "I can manage."

The attendant nodded. "Someone will be in shortly to examine you." The woman disappeared in a flurry of disinfectant and laundry bleach and that odd smell that belonged to a hospital alone.

From somewhere she heard the sound of laughter and a soft rush of footsteps past her door. She stiffened as a contraction came and went, stronger and more powerful than the one before. She rubbed her belly, feeling more alone and frightened than she had at any other time in her life.

"I'm going to do right by you," she whispered to the child eager to be born. "You'll always have me to rely on."

#

The experience had been terrifying and wondrous and all things in between and Megan would have given anything for the comfort of having someone who loved her help her through it. When they'd placed Jenny in her arms for the first time, she'd been overwhelmed by a sense of loss so profound that it took her breath away. Jake should have been there with them and he would have been if she hadn't been so eager to run back to the comfort of her father's house.

For all she knew Ingrid was giving birth at this very moment. Miguel would be there by her side, holding her hand, calming her fears, there to share the