The waiting room was decorated in pleasantly soothing shades of blue and pink pastels, and the chairs provided looked both pretty and comfy. Definitely no ordinary clinic, Fredericka thought.

“Hello,” the receptionist behind the counter greeted her with a wide-eyed look.

Bingo, Fredericka thought in relief. It was obvious that the receptionist recognized her, and that was exactly what she needed since she didn’t have an appointment.

After a discreet check on the nameplate pinned to the girl’s uniform, Fredericka smiled back. “Hi, Carla.”

The receptionist’s smile turned into a beam. “Hi, Attorney Money – I mean, Attorney Spears.”

In a confidential tone, she whispered, “I don’t actually have an appointment today, but do you think you could squeeze me in?”

“Of course.” Carla didn’t even bat an eyelash. Looking down at her appointment book, she murmured, “I can have you slotted in at 1:30 PM.”

Wow. That was just fifteen minutes away. Being connected to Sergei Grachyov really did have its perks. Flashing Carla a grateful look, she said feelingly, “That would be great. Thank you so much, Carla.”

“Anytime, Attorney.”

When she returned to Alyx’s side, she whispered, “I’m up next.”

Alyx gave her an impressed look. “You actually name dropped.”

Fredericka forced herself to shrug. “I do it all the time, it’s normal in my line of work.”

“Yes, exactly.” Alyx’s eyes bored through hers. “You do it all the time at work, but you’ve always been Little Miss Proper in your personal life.”

A server approached them then, handing the two of them a menu.

“This is for free?” Fredericka asked, surprised.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Wow again, Fredericka thought. Rich people’s clinics were sure different. And when she glanced down at the menu to see what was on offer, she was even more impressed, with the drinks ranging from everything between soya milk to freshly squeezed Four Seasons.

“What about coffee?”

The server blinked at her. “But that’s not healthy for the baby.”

Oh. Right. “And tea?”

“Anything with caffeine,” the server said cautiously, “is not healthy for someone expecting.”

“Yes, but I’m not sure I’m expecting---”

Seeing the militant look in her cousin’s eye, Alyx intervened quickly, saying, “We’ll both have water, thanks.” When the server left, she shook her head at Fredericka, saying ruefully, “You’re exactly like Yanna during her first pregnancy.” Completely unreasonable was what she meant, Alyx thought, but experience taught her better than to speak the words out loud.

Fredericka blinked. “But we’re not even sure if I’m expecting.”

Add to that completely illogical, Alyx thought, but in a rare effort at tact and diplomacy, she managed to say comfortingly, “You can drink all the coffee you want after we have the test results.”

One full minute passed before Fredericka turned to her all of a sudden, her face pale. “What if I really am pregnant?”

Alyx gave her cousin an awkwardly encouraging smile. “Then you’ll do what you think best.” She patted Fredericka’s hand in an equally awkward fashion. “You’re strong and smart, Freddie. You’ll know what to do.”

Fredericka shook her head slowly. “If it turns out I’m pregnant,” she whispered between bloodless lips, “I’m screwed.”

“You’re not screwed,” Alyx said loyally. “But you are in this because you, err, screwed.”

Fredericka’s mouth opened and closed.

“Well, it is true.”

Fredericka sighed. “Has anyone ever told you you’re bad at comforting people?”

“All the time,” Alyx didn’t hesitate to admit it.

“And you don’t plan to improve or maybe even consider changing your method for comforting people?”

“No.” Alyx gave her a serious look. “I’m already too cute as I am now. If I become less prickly, I’d be perfect, and that would be horribly boring.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at Alyx’s deadpan delivery, and despite everything, she could feel the tension ebbing from her shoulders as Alyx’s joke effectively lightened the mood. But when the doctor’s secretary called out her name, Fredericka’s tension returned with a flash, and when they left the clinic two hours later, she felt like a ton of bricks had just tumbled down on her.

Fredericka looked at Alyx. “I, umm, need to go for a walk. I’ll meet you later, okay?”

“Are you sure you’re okay with being alone?” Alyx asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry.” Fredericka managed a wan smile. “I promise I won’t do anything stupid. I just need some time alone to clear my thoughts and figure out…stuff.” It was the most coherent excuse she could manage when honestly all she could think about was running to the closest garbage bin so she could puke her guts out.

Alyx impulsively reached for her cousin’s hand. “Just call me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

And then she was alone.

She walked and walked, unmindful of where she was going, and she only stopped when her legs were aching too much and her throat was dry and parched. Casting a tired look at her surroundings, Fredericka realized she was at a park, and just a small distance away was someone selling hotdogs and drinks.

She paid for a sandwich and bottled water, and taking a seat on one of the benches, she drank thirstily, emptying the bottle by half in mere seconds. She forced herself to eat after, knowing that now was the worst time to go on an impromptu diet.

An indefinite amount of time must have passed when someone joined her on the bench, and without even looking up she already knew who it was.

“How did you find me?”

Sergei didn’t answer right away. It had been over a month since the last time he had seen her – since the morning she had run out on him, leaving a hastily scribbled note that told him she needed some time and space.

It was the first letter of its kind that the billionaire had received in its life, and he was honest enough to admit that the letter was more a serious blow to his ego than anything else. And for the first two weeks he did allow his hurt ego to dictate his actions, staying away from her like she asked, even knowing that what they both needed and wanted was to be together.

He knew her far better than she knew herself, and that was the problem more than a solution. Because he knew her, he knew that staying away would be more a punishment for Fredericka than for himself. Him staying away would make Fredericka think that she might have made the same mistake as her mother did, and that she had slept with a younger guy who couldn’t be trusted to understand any kind of commitment beyond what a one-night stand entailed.

He had known it would hurt her, and that was why he had stayed away.

And now he bitterly regretted it, after what Alyx had told him.

“I’m sorry I stayed away for so long,” he said quietly.

“You don’t have to be.” Fredericka stared down at her worn pair of ballet flats, unwilling to raise her gaze to the billionaire’s. If she did, she had a terrifying suspicion her hormones would get the better of her, and that would be too embarrassing. “I asked you to stay away.”

“But I still shouldn’t, and the only reason I did was because I know it would hurt you more.”

Ah. From there, she could easily add one and one to get two, and her lips twisted in a humorless smile. “There are really times when I think you’ll make the better prosecutor between the two of us.”

“Without a doubt,” Sergei agreed affably, “if I had cared as passionately as you did about seeing justice served.” He paused. “But I don’t. I can only care for a few people in the world – and you’re one of them.”

“Yeah right.” But her voice shook horribly, and she squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment.

“I missed you, pchelka.”

She pretended not to hear it, needed to act like the words didn’t exist so she wouldn’t end up crying. “You still haven’t explained how you found me.” Her voice came out thin but high-pitched, but at least she was still managing to hold her tears back. “Was it because of magic again?”

“Not quite.”

“I never did get to ask you. When you do magic, does it take the form of rubles or dollars?”

“Neither. I use checks.” He looked at her, noting how pale and thin she looked, and his remorse grew. “But in today’s case, I didn’t find you by magic.”

“You didn’t?”

“Alyx followed you and then she told me where to find you.” This time, he could no longer bear the distance between them, and the billionaire slowly reached for her, cupping her chin as he made her lift her face to his.

Her gray eyes were filled with terror, and his heart squeezed at the sight of it.

“I’m scared,” Fredericka whispered. It hurt to say the words because they made her feel like everything she had achieved until that moment was worth nothing.

Sergei released her face and when his hand slowly pressed against her stomach, her eyes stung.

“Is it because my child is inside of you?”

A tear spilled down her cheek as Fredericka choked out, “Yes.”

“Look at me, Fredericka.” He waited for her patiently, watched her square her shoulders before once again meeting his gaze. “I’m here for you. I will always be here for you, and I’ll be there for the baby, too.”

“You can’t promise me that,” she said brokenly. Because her father had promised her mother the moon and the stars, and yet in the end all his promises had turned out empty.

“I can and I am promising you that.”

“Life doesn’t work that way,” she cried out. “You’re you, and---”

His jaw clenched. “If someone older – someone perhaps like Julian Alexeyev – was the one who has made you pregnant, are you saying that will be the only time you feel there is no need to worry? It is only because of my age that makes you think I am incapable of caring for you and our child?”

“No.” His words forced her to see the silliness in her thoughts, forced her to remember the kind of man she knew Sergei Grachyov to be. He wasn’t like her father and had never been like him.

“Trust me, pchelka.” He breathed hard. “Because I love you.”

Fredericka jerked.

“I have loved you for a very long time.”

“Don’t say that just because of the baby.” Her tone was strained. “It’s not necessary. If you’re worried about what people would say---” She shut up when he looked at her like she had gone mad.

“My mother is an infamous gold-digging snob, and my youngest brother is dating our stepsister. Do you think I’d survive this far if I cared about what other people think?”

Right, right. But if that was so, then did that mean---

Her eyes widened.

And just like he could read the question screaming in her mind, Sergei said flatly, “I wasn’t lying. You didn’t hear wrong. I love you.”

“You can’t,” Fredericka whispered.

“I do, and I know you heard me the first time I told you.”

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

“How can you love someone like me?” she choked out. “I’m older than you. And I’m boring. And---”

“I love you,” the billionaire murmured, “and I can love only you because you’re the only woman who pays for dinner when we go on a date.”

She laughed and cried, but when she saw him reaching for his pocket and pulling out a small jewelry box, her heart stuttered, and she burst out unthinkingly, “No.”

A shuttered look fell on the billionaire’s handsome face as he said stiffly, “I haven’t even asked you anything yet.”

“And you shouldn’t.” Her mind was shouting at her for being insane enough to preemptively turn down a marriage proposal from a confirmed bachelor like Sergei, but she knew her conscience wouldn’t have let her live with any other choice. Giving the billionaire a tremulous smile, she whispered, “Not just yet. Please?”

Ah. The billionaire studied her for a long moment before saying finally, “You still don’t trust me.”

She didn’t answer.

“You think I’ll leave you the way your father left your mother.”

She still didn’t answer, but when he started to move, she stiffened, the paranoid part of her already preparing itself to face his anger or disappointment.

But instead all he did was place a tiny kiss of her nose. It was a surprisingly cute kiss, and her toes actually curled hard at the billionaire’s gesture. “It’s okay.” His voice was quiet and gentle, strong and steady.

Definitely didn’t sound like a guy who was going to run out on her, she thought, but she also knew that things could still change, especially when the truth of his impending fatherhood finally sank in.

“I just want us to be both sure---” Fredericka was aghast to hear her voice crack suddenly. Was this already the start of those rumored mood swings caused by pregnancy?

Hiding a smile when she looked at him with eyes that unconsciously begged for his help, the billionaire said soothingly, “I understand, pchelka, and I will wait for you to be ready. There’s no need to hurry when we have the rest of our lives to be together, da?”

“D-da.” Right now, she would probably say yes to whatever he said. It was strange, the way she suddenly felt weak and confused, almost like she had reverted to being a newborn baby unable to understand how the world worked.

He cupped her face, murmuring, “All you need to do is focus on one thing, and you’ll be fine.”

“A-and w-what’s that?” she asked shakily.

His mouth moved down, and he whispered against her lips, “Just remember that I love you, Fredericka Spears.”

Ah. A wobbly smile touched her lips. “Cheesy.”

“But it’s working, da?” His tone was lazily confident. “You are smiling now, and you are no longer worried about our future.”

“You’re too cocky.” But her voice was breathless, and the way his eyes gleamed told her he knew she wasn’t irritated by his so-called cockiness. Rather, it was a major turn-on, and they both knew it.

When he bent his head, she closed her eyes, and as her lips parted, his tongue slipped in. The kiss they shared was so sweetly possessive it had her toes curling, and in the back of her mind, a thought formed. A future full of kisses like this didn’t sound so bad. Actually, it didn’t sound bad at all.

When the billionaire pulled away, the first thing he saw was the clouded look in her eyes, and the sight made him want to simultaneously laugh and crush her in his arms. Such denseness, little bee, Sergei thought with a mental sigh. This beautiful woman already loved him back. He just had to teach her to look past her fears to realize it.