Cleaning out her desk at work the next day proved to be much easier than Jean expected. She left an empty box on her desk as she walked back to Gordon’s office, Dillon beside her. He was still afraid to let her out of his sight for more than a few minutes at a time.

She walked into Gordon’s office, which had the door open, and immediately sat down in the chair across from him, which she knew he wouldn’t like, but she had to reserve her strength for more important things than talking to him. “Gordon, this is my husband, Dillon Jeffries. He came to help me clean out my desk. My doctor doesn’t want me working for the rest of my pregnancy, so I’m going to give notice.” She handed him the letter she’d typed and printed at home. If she did go back to a formal job after the baby was born, it would be a job she wanted to do, not something she hated.

Gordon immediately stood, paling a bit. “Dillon Jeffries? Are you Lawrence Redding’s nephew?”

Jean hid a smirk at the way Gordon snapped to attention at Dillon’s name. She’d never realized how much she’d enjoy a moment like this, and she didn’t know if it was the pregnancy hormones bringing out the evil in her, or what, but it was fabulous.

Dillon nodded curtly, a look on his face that Jean had always associated with the wealthy privileged. She’d never seen it there, so it surprised her for just a moment. “I am.”

“It’s so good to meet you. When Jean told us she married and changed her last name, I had no idea she’d married you. Welcome to our firm. Can I get you something to drink?”

Dillon shook his head. “No. Nothing. I accompanied my wife here today, because she’s not capable of walking long distances by herself with as ill as she’s been.”

“We’ve all been so worried about Jean. She’s our top performer here and a huge asset to our firm. We’re truly going to miss her.” Gordon smiled at Jean in a way that made her skin crawl. That must be the smarmy smile she’d been told he reserved for clients. She hoped she never had to see it again.

“I won’t be able to work out my notice, but I thank you for the opportunity to work here.” Jean got to her feet carefully. “We’ll pack up my desk and go.”

As Dillon and Jean left his office, Gordon called after Dillon, “I’d be happy to help you set up an account with us!”

Dillon turned, glaring at Gordon. “You not only won’t have my business, I’ll make sure you don’t have the business of any of my friends, either.” He walked with Jean to her desk, making her sit while he piled all of her personal belongings into the box they’d brought.

A couple of her co-workers smiled at her, and one woman who she’d had lunch with in the break room more times than she could count, walked over. “I’m sorry you’ve been sick. Are you okay now?”

Jean shook her head. “I have hyperemesis gravidarum, which is a fancy way of saying severe morning sickness. I’m having a hard time keeping food down, and doctors are worried if I lose any more weight, I’ll lose the baby.”

“I’m so sorry!” Stephanie told her. “I had no idea. Is that why you were in the hospital?”

“Yeah. I just got out yesterday. When I left work sick, I didn’t have the stomach bug everyone else was fighting.”

“Let me give you my number, and maybe we can do lunch on the weekend sometime. I can’t believe how much you used to do. Gordon is not pleased to have to divvy your work up among the rest of us.”

Jean smiled. “I’m sure he’s not. I did more than my share, no doubt about it.” She typed Stephanie’s number into her phone and gave her number in return. “Aren’t you afraid of what Gordon will say if he sees you talking to me?”

Stephanie laughed. “We all saw how he reacted when he realized who you were married to. I’m safe.”

Jean bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. “Well, give me a call soon, and we’ll go to lunch. I might have my watchdog with me, but we’ll go.”

“Are you able to drive?” Stephanie asked.

“No, not yet. Maybe not for a while. I’m not steady on my feet, and I’ve lost consciousness. Only once, but Dillon and my doctor are determined to never forget it.”

Dillon finished with the packing, turning to Stephanie. “If you want to have lunch with Jean, I’ll make sure she gets to you. I’ll eat by myself across the restaurant if I need to.”

Stephanie smiled. “Thank you. I wouldn’t want her to be hurt by spending time with me.”

“I won’t let that happen.” Dillon picked up the box, frowning at Jean. “I am going to take this to the car and come back for you. I don’t want you walking that far if I’m not ready to catch you.”

Jean rolled her eyes. “I’m not as sick as he makes it sound.”

“She’s sicker,” Dillon said. “Don’t let her leave.”

“I won’t.” Stephanie pulled up a chair and sat down close to Jean. “Dillon’s handsome. You lucked out.”

“I really did. He’s a good man too. He was able to locate my favorite chocolate that’s only sold in one place in the whole city for me yesterday, because I told him I wanted it.” Jean was surprised at Stephanie’s friendliness. She was the only person she’d really had any social dealings with at the office, but she was shocked to be sought out this way.

“Lunch has been so boring without you. You should come back every day for lunch with me.”

Jean grinned. “Oh, wouldn’t Gordon love that?”

Gordon walked over, noting that Jean and Stephanie were sitting close together talking. “Don’t you have work to do, Miss Patterson?”

Stephanie smiled. “Dillon asked me to watch over Jean while he’s gone. He’s worried she’ll try to follow him and get hurt. We wouldn’t want that on our heads, would we?”

“Oh, of course not. You watch over her then. Tell your husband if he ever needs a good investment firm, we’re more than willing to speak with him. I would take him as my personal client and give him the special treatment.”

“I’ll let him know.” Jean spotted Dillon walking toward her and scooched to the edge of her chair. She felt very awkward and slow as she moved.

Dillon took her elbow and helped her to her feet. “It was good to meet you,” Dillon said, nodding at Stephanie. “You okay to do this? Or do you need to rest for another minute or two?”

“I don’t have to rest for thirty minutes every time I walk for five. Maybe my body wants to, but I don’t need it.”

“Okay. If you need to rest, just let me know.” He walked beside her, their fingers entangled. He was obviously watching every move she made, and Jean couldn’t contain the trickle of pride that rushed through her. She had a good husband, who was handsome and well-respected. It was nice to have people who had once blown her off look at her like she was someone for a change.

* * *

Much to Jean’s dismay, the morning sickness didn’t end at twenty weeks. Or even at twenty-five. She was well into her third trimester, and still struggling with it every day. With the help of medication, and much resting, she was able to gain the minimum amount of weight the doctor wanted her to put on, but not an ounce more. They did weekly sonograms to make sure the baby was still growing.

It was eight weeks before her due date when Dillon came home from the job he was working, going to find her immediately. She was on the couch with her feet up, talking to Erin on her Kindle. “He’s so beautiful! I can’t believe little Darren is here!”

“I still can’t believe Al gave in and let me name him that, but honestly I think he would have agreed to let me name him anything I wanted as long as I survived childbirth. He was really freaked out!”

“Well, hopefully little Lisa will be easier on her mama when she decides to arrive.” Jean’s eyes met Dillon’s. “My husband is home. I’ll probably talk to you tomorrow. You’re not going anywhere, and neither am I.”

Erin laughed. “Isn’t that the truth. My sweet little parasite keeps me from going anywhere. Love you!”

“Love you too!” Jean lifted her hand in a wave as she tapped the end call button on her Kindle. “You came home!”

Dillon sank down beside her on the couch. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

She shrugged. “I get so bored during the day. How do women manage to not work? I feel like I should do something constructive, not sit around under a blanket all day reading or staring at the television. Do you want to hear something terrible?”

He smiled at her, wondering how she was going to cope with being a mother. She was so independent, which he loved, but being tied to a baby all the time was going to drive her crazy. “What?”

“I actually watched a little bit of General Hospital today, and I liked it. I think I’m dying!”

“You’re not dying just because you liked one episode of General Hospital. I promise!”

She sighed. “But I want to watch it again tomorrow. I have got to find something to do to keep me from losing my mind while you’re working. Let me decorate the nursery.”

“Absolutely not. The nursery will be upstairs, and you are not climbing stairs without me here. No way. Not happening.”

“So can we go up there now and I can look at the space and get an idea of what I want to do with it? Then tomorrow while you work, I can order all the stuff I need. And I can start ordering beautiful little outfits for our angel.”

“That you can do. As long as you promise to let me help you put it up when it arrives.” He leaned forward and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, opening it and removing a credit card. “Here. Go crazy.”

“What’s my limit?” she asked. She worked well with budgets and was always happy to have one.

“I don’t know. What’s reasonable? Is twenty thousand enough?”

Her eyes grew wide. She lived in a big beautiful home, but sometimes she forgot just how much money he had. “I’m sure I can do it for less than that.”

“Whatever. Do you want to go up and look now? Did you get a nap today?”

“Got my nap, and yeah, let’s go look. I need something to keep me occupied. She’ll be our little princess, so I could do a Disney Princess theme…Or there’s always Winnie the Pooh. Or Sesame Street! I love Sesame Street.”

“Anything you want. It doesn’t matter to me.” Dillon stood up and offered her his hand to help her up. She was still too thin, but her face had filled out a little bit since her early pregnancy. “Let’s go look. Do you want me to measure?”

She shook her head. “Nah. I’ll figure it out. I’m sure the room is bigger than any baby has ever lived in since the beginning of time. She’s going to be rotten.” She had to stop and sit down halfway up the stairs. “I can’t believe I’m still dealing with vertigo. I’m already thirty-two weeks. Most women are done with morning sickness between sixteen and twenty weeks!”

“You need to stop looking up ‘normal’ pregnancy symptoms. You and Lisa are not normal!”

“Obviously.” Jean patted her belly. “It’s a good thing I love her, because she’s making me just a little bit crazy.” She felt a little foot kick her hand and reached for Dillon’s hand quickly, pressing it to her side. Mrs. Stevens had felt the baby kick. Stephanie had felt the baby kick. Even the doctor had felt the baby kick. Every time she tried to get Dillon to feel it, the baby stopped kicking.

Dillon’s eyes widened as they met hers. “Does it hurt?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. I’m not so fond of her kicking my bladder, or any other vital organs for that matter, but when she’s just kicking my side, I kind of like it. I know she’s still going strong.” She waited until the baby finally quit kicking before standing. “Let’s go up.”

He carefully helped her to her feet, leading her into the room that was attached to the master. “This was the nursery where they put me when I first came to live here.”

Jean walked into the room, looking around. She was right. The room was huge. No baby in the world needed that much space. She looked around, closing her eyes as she tried to think of what should go there. She’d never really decorated anything, except the small apartment she’d had, and that had been mostly haphazard. She wanted her daughter to have a nursery fit for a princess. “Okay, I have some ideas. Are you ready to start the long voyage down?”

“If you get pregnant again, the first thing I’m doing is having an elevator installed. I really thought this would go away quickly.”

“You and me both. When the doctor said it could be over at twenty weeks, I thought that would be me. I’ve never been this sick in my life!”

“Hopefully this all means you’ll have an easy delivery. It wouldn’t be fair at all if you had such a hard pregnancy, and then the delivery was awful as well.” He got onto the stairs first, making sure she was behind him. He was so afraid she’d fall.

When they got to the bottom of the stairs, he turned to her and held her close. “No more climbing stairs until after that baby comes!”

“But I need to help decorate!”

“You can tell me where you want everything and I’ll do it. Make me a diagram.”

Jean frowned. “Don’t cut me out of this. I have got to entertain myself somehow. Maybe decorating a nursery doesn’t sound entertaining to you, but it does to me.”

“How about I let you help me decorate the downstairs for Christmas, and I do the nursery according to your specifications? I’ll take pictures and even Skype you while I do it so you can show me where you want things.”

“Are you going to be like this through every pregnancy?”

Dillon shrugged. “Depends on how sick you get!”

“I guess that works. Do you have Christmas decorations and stuff already?”

“Nope. Nothing. My uncle thought Christmas was a waste of time.”

“Well, it’s always possible that Lisa will be here before Christmas, so I need to make sure we have everything just right.”

“Perfect!” Dillon hoped she would really concentrate on doing things downstairs, because he didn’t want her to risk her health for their child. More than she already was anyway.