An Unexpected Baby: The Bride Series (Romantic Comedy), #5

By Shadonna Richards

Getting a man is one thing…keeping him is a whole different story!

Recently wed to her hot boss, CEO Evan Fletcher, Emma Wiggins-Fletcher thinks her sizzling hubby is avoiding spending quality time with her…that is until Emma discovers that her pregnancy test is positive. Or at least she thought it was...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shadonna Richards
• Release date: May 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781501457005

Shadonna Richards

USA Today bestselling author Shadonna Richards enjoys reading and writing about the magic of romance and the power of love. She has sold over 500,000 copies of her bestselling romance novels. Born in London, England, she has a B.A. Degree in Psychology. Winner of Harlequin's So You Think You Can Write 2010 Day Two Challenge, she is also a member of Romance Writers of America. She's a proud mommy and wife and lives with her husband and son. Books by Shadonna Richards BILLIONAIRES OF BELMONT (The Belmont Family) The Billionaire's Bride for a Day #1 (Dane & Olivia) The Billionaire's Promise #2 (Brandon & Faith) The Billionaire's Housekeeper #3 (Chase & Abbi)  The Billionaire's Lost & Found Love #4 (Cole & Hope)  The Billionaire's Redemption #5 (Leo & Honesty)  THE ROMERO BROTHERS The Billionaire’s Second-Chance Bride, #1 (Antonio III & Lucy) A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy, #2 (Lucas & Maxine) The Playboy Billionaire, #3 (Zack & Blue) The Billionaire’s Island Romance, #3.5 (Christian & Arianna) The Billionaire’s Proposition, #4 (Carl & Venus) The Billionaire’s Baby, #5 (Jules & Amber) The Billionaire’s Assistant, #6 (Dion & Jenna-Lynn) Snowbound with the Billionaire, #7 (Troy & Pamela) The Billionaire’s Marriage Proposal, #8 (Alonso & Britney)   THE BRIDE SERIES An Unexpected Bride The Jilted Bride  The Matchmaker Bride His Island Bride (Free) An Unexpected Baby (The sequel to An Unexpected Bride)   WHIRLWIND ROMANCE SERIES Accidentally Flirting with the CEO (Books 1 -3)  

Book preview

Chapter 1

"So when are you going to make me a great-grandpa? You can have children, can’t you, pumpkin?" The old man’s eyes playfully narrowed towards his granddaughter.

Gramps! Emma Wiggins-Fletcher felt her stomach churn as she sat beside her ailing grandfather feeding him cornmeal porridge she had made earlier. She felt heat rush to her cheeks.

Sorry, pumpkin. You know your old grandpa. Sometimes I just speak what’s on my mind. Didn’t mean to embarrass you, sunshine.

That’s okay, gramps. How could Emma be upset with her dear old grandfather who just six months ago was given a death sentence with prostate cancer. He’s still not out of the woods yet, but at least he’d been given a few more months. A miracle. She wanted to spend every blessed moment she could with him, especially now that he was getting too weak to take care of basic needs like feeding and changing. Thanks to her rich, new husband, Evan Fletcher, CEO of her former company, Fletcher Advertising, she could afford to have a personal support worker come in daily to bathe him and tend to his other needs. Still, his spirit was strong though his body was weak. His tongue, however, seemed to carry a lot of strength these days.

"But you can have kids, right? Again, he persisted between mouthfuls of scooped porridge. He swallowed quickly to continue his speech to Emma’s chagrin. Some people are infertile, you know. And they don’t even know it! Imagine that!  Is something wrong with Evan that you’re not telling me?" He leaned closer to her, his eyebrows knitted together.

Gramps!

Sorry, pumpkin. Sorry. He leaned back in his reclined bed folding his arms across his chest. He wore a smug but innocent expression on his face.

Talk about an invasive question. What happens between couples should stay...between couples!

Talk about pressure to fit into society’s mould.

Truth was, nobody knew if they could have kids until...well, they had kids. She’d read somewhere that studies showed that a percentage of infertile couples have nothing wrong with them physically. It’s just the luck of the draw. That was the worst scenario. Sure, she had irregular cycles but still, Evan was alright. Wasn’t he? He was healthy. He wore boxers not briefs, so that could not affect his sperm count. Was the pressure to have kids within the first year of marriage so great? Still, she really wanted to be a mommy and the more people, meaning her grandfather and mother, stressed her about when she would finally become a mother, the  more resentful she felt. Sheesh! It wasn’t as if one would go to the mall and purchase a bundle of joy. One little sperm out of a billion had to meet the egg thingy at just the right time in the month. How easy was that? If only couples with kids knew what a blessing they had—something that must not be taken for granted. Still, secretly Emma had been purchasing every single home pregnancy test at every drug store she could. She and her new hubby were having unprotected sex, even though Evan won’t admit he’d love to have a child, he’d agreed to it. She wanted to increase her chances of pregnancy. It wasn’t like she was getting any younger.  Children meant the world to her. Having Evan’s children would mean the world to her. Not to mention to be able to carry on the Wiggins family tree on her father’s side. Evan was facing lots of pressure himself, like his own father’s failing health and the fact he had to be placed back in an institution. That couldn’t be good for him or Evan. Probably it was the stress of having no choice but to return his father to the mental institution that was driving him...crazy. Maybe that could affect his sperm count. Sheesh!

What could Emma do, really? So much had happened during the last six months since her quickie wedding at her grandfather’s hospital bedside to Evan due to circumstances surrounding her grandfather given only days to live at that time and wanting to see his only grandchild married off before he reached the Pearly Gates. Thankfully, his prognosis had been extended to include months. After Evan agreed to marry her and professed his love for her just as she had always been in love with him, Evan insisted that her grandfather move in with them.

But then things changed suddenly.

Without warning!

The heat from Evan’s passion cooled off quite a bit after mounting pressure at work, including politics at the office and jabs at Emma, his former assistant turned bride and whispers of a horizontal promotion which Emma decided to back off from the promotion due to accusations of nepotism to work from home on other things like being his private secretary.  

Was he having second thoughts? Did the whole marriage by guilt or having an elderly in-law live in their home cause him concern? She wished he would speak his mind.

Men.

They could be so...non-communicative sometimes. 

***

Later that morning, Emma walked up the winding marble staircase in her new home to the double doors leading to her quarters. Evan really knew how to pick a good location for a house. It overlooked one of the manmade lakes with the blueness sparkling on the water as the sun shone on their estate. She felt extremely lucky to have married Evan. It was so sweet of him to finally go along with her fake marriage to please her grandfather in his dying days only for it to turn out to be the real deal to his shock. But it worked out because they’d always had feelings for each other, hadn’t they? They’d worked together closely for years and respected and trusted each other. It was only a matter of time really. Of course, the gossip mongers at work like Loose-lips Lucinda, the receptionist and office coordinator, whom she’d started working with at the reception area. Lucinda resented her more and more after each advancement Emma made at the firm.

Emma earned her way by going back to college and getting her bachelors then her master's degree. She even encouraged Lucinda to go back to college, too. Honestly, why couldn’t women just be happy for other women when they move ahead in life?

Why the haters? Emma hated haters, and back-stabbers and loose lips and people who worked to