The Billionaire's Baby Bargain novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: Lake Drive

The guest room on Lake Drive had a bed the size of a boat, and in March it had no bed at all.

Ania had been in there for three days with the door shut and a paint-spattered sweater of Matthias's.

"Nobody looks until I say," she'd told us. "Not even the baby."

On the last evening she opened the door and stood aside.

"Behold," she said.

I walked in with my hand on my belly, which was big enough now that I couldn't see my feet.

The walls were the color of morning.

A drawn world climbed all four of them, in soft pencil lines and washes of blue and gold.

There was a freight truck with a smiling face and a cold-storage warehouse with a chimney.

There was a duck with a cane, and a very small ham in a very sad hat.

There was a night clerk with a ponytail and a scanner, riding on a tall man's shoulders over a lake.

On the highest line, where the ceiling began, she'd written in careful capitals, THE BABY IS HERE.

I put my hand to my mouth.

"The ham is me," Ania said. "I've decided. It's a family word now."

"It's the best thing I've ever seen," said Matthias.

His voice had gone rough.

He stood in the middle of the room and turned in a slow circle.

"Name your price," he said.

"A pencil set," said Ania. "The good tin."

"Done."

"And you cry less. It's embarrassing."

He laughed, and wiped his face with the back of his wrist.

← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend