The Greek's Pregnant Lover (15 page)

How could they not see that?

“He’s larger than life, that’s for sure.” Her mom’s words agreed with Piper, but her tone was another story. “I’m just not sure that kind of man makes for a secure home.”

“Oh, you mean as opposed to a husband whose career requires uprooting yourself and your children every couple of years?” Who was her mother to question Piper’s choices based on that criteria, on any?

He dad got all blustery. “There’s no reason to get snippy, missy. I was serving my country and well you knew it.”

“Well, Zephyr serves me.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” her dad demanded.

“He does everything in his power to make me happy.” Wasn’t that obvious? It was to her. “He takes care of me, but
he lets me take care of him, too. He doesn’t play lord of the manor with me, but I know I can rely on him when I need him to be there for me.”

“But he doesn’t love you,” her mother guessed in a gentle voice filled with pity.

Wow, was it a parent’s job to rip their child’s heart out? If it was, Piper wasn’t taking that one on when this baby grew up. “Why would you say that?” she demanded in a tone far from friendly.

“Because you didn’t say he did. You would have by now if it was true.” The pity was still there in her mom’s grey eyes.

Piper hated it. She didn’t need anyone’s pity. She’d chosen this marriage and she didn’t regret it. She almost told them about the civil ceremony to shut them up, but she wasn’t sure even that would do it. “I have what I need from him.”

“You need his heart.”

“That’s my business.”

“You’re our daughter,” her dad asserted. “Your happiness is our business.”

“Zephyr does make me happy. Can’t you see that?”

“Your dad and I think you should consider waiting to get married. At least until you get through your first trimester. I miscarried twice. What will you do if that happens to you? What happens to your marriage if the reason for that marriage doesn’t come to full term?”

“That is not a scenario I am willing to discuss.” She’d thought about it and decided that they would have to deal with that tragedy just like any other couple. She wasn’t marrying him for the baby’s sake and she didn’t think he would dump her for the lack of it, either. He wanted children and one day; God willing in nine months, they would start that part of their family.

“I didn’t raise you to hide from the hard stuff, Piper.” Her dad’s frown was softened by the very real love and concern in his eyes.

That’s what she had to cling to, the knowledge that her parents loved her and were only concerned about her. They weren’t trying to hurt her. “I’m not hiding.”

“She’s merely choosing to focus on the positive.” Zephyr’s voice filled Piper with relief, even as she was mortified at the thought he had overheard even part of this discussion with her parents.

Her father stood up to face Zephyr. “That’s all well and good, but maybe you can answer what happens if my daughter doesn’t have your baby?”

“We would deal with that tragedy like any other couple.”

She couldn’t help smiling at his words, which were so like her thoughts. They really were on the same wavelength.

“Some of those couples split up under the weight of the grief and
those
men and women have the benefit of love on both sides.”

“I don’t know about other people, but I don’t give up in the face of adversity and neither does your daughter. You, of all people, should be intimately aware of that fact. She survived leaving friends and familiarity behind time and again in her childhood and a disaster of a first marriage as an adult.” He put his arm out to her. “Piper isn’t going to give up on our marriage, no matter what we have to face together.”

She practically flew off the sofa to land against his side, the relief she felt in the shelter of his presence nearly physical. His words created another welcome layer of protection against her parents’ fears and her own secret ones.

He put his arm around her waist and looked down at her as if they were the only two people in the room, as if her opinion was the only one that mattered. “You said nothing would change your feelings for me.”

“It won’t.”

“Well, nothing will change the fact that I want you to be the mother of my children and the woman at my side, including the far-reaching possibility you will not carry this baby to term.”

“Then we’re golden.” She smiled even as tears burned at the back of her eyes.

He set his espresso gaze on each of her parents in turn. “If that’s not good enough for you, I am sorry, but I will not give your daughter up. Not now, not ever.”

That was a statement of long-term intent if she’d ever heard one.

“We’re not suggesting you give her up. Merely that you hold off on the wedding for a while.” Piper’s mom gave Zephyr her
let’s be reasonable
look. “Surely, you can be a father to your child without being married to its mother.”

“I can be a better father and helpmate to your daughter if we are married.” Zephyr wasn’t budging and she didn’t think his attitude would be any different if they hadn’t already been through a civil ceremony.

Piper was certain that if this discussion had come a week ago, he would have responded the same way. Unlike her parents, who were giving a very different attitude in person than they had when she called to tell them her news.

“I just don’t understand,” she said. “You didn’t say anything about not wanting me to get married when we talked on the phone.”

“This isn’t something you say over a telephone line.” Her mom met her eyes, willing Piper to understand.

She didn’t. Not one little bit. “And you wouldn’t have gotten a free trip to Greece out of it, either.”

“Piper!” her mother admonished.

Her dad just frowned at her with that disappointed expression he reserved for misbehaving troops and his children.

Zephyr shook his head. “She didn’t mean that.” But he didn’t sound disappointed in her.

He understood her parents were really hurting her and right, wrong or indifferent, she’d lashed out. “Of course I didn’t. I’m sorry, but this is my time to celebrate and you’re diminishing it for me.”

“That is not our intention. We just want what is best for you.” Her mom sounded as sincere as Piper had.

Zephyr gave her parents a considering look. “Tell me something, did you suggest she wait to marry Arthur Bellingham?”

“No,” her mother answered as if she’d been forced to.

“We thought he was perfect for her,” Piper’s father admitted.

“That is why you are so determined to make her reconsider her decision now, isn’t it? You didn’t protect her from pain once and now you are going overboard to do so.”

Piper had not considered that possibility. “Is that true?”

Her mom’s eyes filled with tears. “We just don’t want your heart broken again.”

“Everyone faces pain in life, but we can’t stop taking chances because of it. I trust Zee to be the husband I need. If I’m wrong, I’ll deal with the fallout. What I need from you right now is not advice, but support. Can you give that to me?”

“Yes, of course,” her dad said even as her mother bit her lip in worry.

But they both hugged her and apologized for hurting her feelings, if not for doubting Zephyr.

Surprisingly, dinner was relaxed and pleasant. It was as if, once having voiced their concerns, her parents gave themselves permission to simply enjoy the celebration of their daughter’s second marriage. She appreciated that and did her best not to hold the discussion in her and Zephyr’s suite against them.

Thankfully, her siblings’ reactions were not nearly so complicated. They were thrilled for her and Zephyr, and let them both know it. They also readily admitted they thought it was beyond lovely they got a free vacation out of attending their baby sister’s wedding.

Dinner with Zephyr’s mother and her family was every bit as emotional as the afternoon before had been, but in a completely
different way. Leda was ecstatic that her son was willing to build a relationship with her. She, too, guessed Piper was pregnant, but treated it completely as the reason for rejoicing that it was. She made it clear she was very happy Zephyr had found Piper to spend the rest of his life with and that she was looking forward to another grandchild to spoil.

His siblings were even more pleased than Piper’s, his sister going so far as to offer herself as a resource for a first-time mom.

“That went well,” Piper said as she dropped onto the sofa in their suite’s living area after returning from the house in Kifissia.

“
Ne
…yes.” Zephyr joined her on the couch, tugging her into his body and practically across his lap.

“You’re such a cuddler.”

“I like holding you.”

“That works well for me as I like being snuggled, a lot.”

“We are perfect complements to each other.” He sounded very satisfied by that observation.

“We are.” Even if the love only went one direction, he acted like he loved her, and in the end, wasn’t it actions that mattered the most?

“Your parents are wrong,” he said with absolute certainty. “This marriage is not a bad thing for either of us.”

She leaned up and kissed the corner of his mouth, loving that she had the freedom to do so. “I know. And considering the fact we’re already married, that’s a good thing.”

“Would you have listened more closely to their advice if we hadn’t already gotten legally wed?”

“Seriously? You’re asking me that?”

“I am.”

She tilted her head to one side, considering him, and decided the time had come for a little full disclosure. “I am perfectly aware that there is a significant risk the first trimester.”

“So?”

“So, I considered hashing that all out, but I didn’t want to wait to marry you until we were sure. It would have felt too
much like we were only getting married because I’m pregnant and while I believe that is the reason you first considered marriage, I also believe that you wouldn’t tie my life to yours if you didn’t want to on a level beyond that. I’m not saying you love me, but I do believe you need me.” She cupped his face with both her hands. “And I
want
to be married to you.”

“You are saying that you would have wanted to marry me regardless of whether or not you carried my child. The baby was a necessary catalyst to get over
my
reticence.”

“Exactly.” When he didn’t say anything, she asked, “How do you feel about that?”

“I am surprised. Even though you said you loved me, I thought you were marrying me mostly because you are pregnant.”

“Nope. I love you, and for me, that sort of goes hand in hand with me wanting to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Does it?”

She dropped her hands from his face, letting them rest against his chest, feeling his heartbeat under one palm. “Yes.”

“What does it mean when a man wants to marry a woman more than he wants anything else in his life?”

Was he implying that was how he had felt? “What are you saying, Zephyr?” She couldn’t afford to make assumptions about something this important.

“If your parents had convinced you to pull away from me, I would have begged you to reconsider.”

“I would
never
push you away.”

“That is good to hear because my experience with begging not to be left behind has not been so successful.”

Suddenly, she heard exactly what he was saying and her heart filled with an aching, all-consuming love while her eyes filled with tears. “You will never have to beg me not to leave you, Zephyr. Never. I promise. I would give up anything in my life before I would give you up. My business. My reputation. My family. My friends. Anything.”

“You mean that.”

“Yes.”

“I, too, would give up anything to be with you.” There was such truth and feeling in his words, she could not breathe. “I love you, Piper.”

“You don’t mean that.” But he did.

She could see it in every line of his face, in the dark depths

of his eyes, and hear it in every word that spilled from his lips. Yet even as one part of her was doing cartwheels because he loved her, another was questioning it, doubting this happiness could truly be hers.

“Have I ever lied to you?”

“No, but you said—”

“I would have begged you to stay.”

“I’m pregnant with your child.”

“A wonderful bonus to be sure, but
you
are the prize, Piper Nikos. I thought my emotions had been encased in stone, but your joy in life, your inner and outer beauty, your love, they are the diamond drill bits needed to break through.”

Tears slid hotly down her cheeks, but she did not rub them away. “You’re getting poetic.”

“Neo says that happens when you fall in love.”

“I can’t imagine it with him.”

“You don’t need to. I am the only Greek tycoon you need to be concerned with. Ever.”

She wanted to laugh, but her throat was too thick with her joyful tears. “You’re certainly the only man, Greek or otherwise, that I love.”

“And you are the only woman I love, have ever loved or ever will love with all my heart.” He kissed her, sealing the words between them like a vow.

When the kiss ended, he held her close, his hands caressing her like he was giving himself proof that she really was there. “I am sorry it took me so long to realize what I felt for you was love. I do not know how long it might have taken if
I had not overheard your parents trying to talk you out of being with me.”

“You mean that conversation actually had something positive come from it?”

“If you consider me realizing I would beg you to stay if I had to and then subsequently coming to terms with what that willingness meant, then yes.”

“I guess I can forgive them completely now.”

He laughed and so did she.

“I can’t wait to tell them you love me.”

“I want to do it.”

“Okay.” She kissed him softly. “But tell me again, first.”

And he did. Over and over, until every tiny shadow in her heart was filled with the light of their love.

Zephyr stood at the front of the church, Neo at his side, just as he had been for every life-altering moment since they met in the orphanage in Athens.