Page 33 of Off-Limits Silver Fox Billionaire

I was quiet the entire time while she checked Samuel’s teeth, then she scribbled down notes in a file and looked at me again. “Everything looks great. Samuel is healthy and he just needs to keep up with his oral hygiene for now. I’ll schedule his next appointment, but it’s just for usual checks, nothing major.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Since the appointment didn’t take a lot of time, I decided to deliver on my promise of Mcdonald's, so I drove Samuel to the closest one and ordered him a kids meal of chicken nuggets and frys.

We were walking out of the store when I spotted a familiar face at the entrance.

“Brianna?” the lady called even before I could recall her name or where I had seen her before. “It’s you right? Bree Dell,” she continued.

“Hi….” I said, dragging out my reply while searching my mind for her name.

“It’s Hailey,” she introduced herself as she widened her hands for a hug and laughed. “You don’t remember me? Hailey Holmes? We went to culinary school together in Brookfield… Remember now?”

“Oh right….” I said as it finally dawned on me where I had seen her before. “How are you?” we hugged again, then stepped away from the entrance so we didn’t block the path for other customers.

“I’m great,” she answered in the same stoked voice. “I’m visiting Hawaii with my family, and my kids wouldn’t stop screaming for McDonald's, so I caved and here we are. Is that your son?” Hailey bent over to say hello to Samuel. “He’s so cute, and you’re carrying another child?” she continued.

I laughed. “He’s my brother,” I replied to her with a wide smile.

Her lips formed an ‘O’ and her shock was evident but she didn’t say anything. I remembered now why I couldn’t remember Hailey’s name at first. even though we went to culinary school together; we were never close, and I didn’t like to spend too much time around her because she was quite nosy.

“But you’re expecting,” she continued.

“No, I’m not,” I replied with the same pleasant smile.

She gasped again. “My bad … You look a lot different than the last time I saw you, so … I’m really sorry, I hope I didn’t overstep.”

“It’s alright,” I told her.

“It’s been a long time since we last saw each other. I should get your contact. Maybe we can hang out sometime before I leave Hawaii.”

She reached into her bag for her phone while rambling on, and I frowned a little because she had made comments about me being pregnant twice now.

Hailey handed me her phone and I keyed in my contact before plastering on another wide smile to match hers. “I’ll see you around, dear,” she said to me, then came in for another hug again before waving at Samuel who held his Mcdonald's pack tight in one hand and used his free hand to cling to mine.

“See you around, Hailey.”

When she entered the store, I rolled my eyes, released an exasperated sigh, then led Samuel to the car so we could head home.

Later that evening while Samuel played in the living room with his toys, I kept thinking about Hailey’s comment.Did I really look pregnant?

I couldn’t get the words out of my head even though I didn’t think it was possible that I could be pregnant. “I’m not late yet,” I whispered to myself after mentally calculating my period.

The thoughts wouldn’t get away from my head anyway, so when my dad returned that evening, I drove into town again and stopped by a grocery store to grab a pregnancy test.

That night, in the comfort of my bathroom, I peed on the stick, then held my breath and set a timer for 3 minutes. I was still holding my breath when I checked to see the result.

My chest exploded with a heavy thud when I saw two pink lines on the test, and it felt like my whole world came to a grinding halt in that second.

No, this can’t be happening.

I swallowed hard because a lump had formed in my throat, and the heavy thud of my heart against my ribcage caused the pain I felt to increase.

Without thinking, I raced out of the bathroom, slipped on my shoes and headed out of my room with speed.

“Hey, what’s happening?” my dad asked when I raced down the stairs and hurried towards the door. “Where are you going?”

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