The Billionaire's Baby (The Romero Brothers, Book 5) (14 page)

“Yes!” Amber
cried out as pain shot up through her back and in her groin like no other pain
she’d experienced in her life. Oh, dear. The contractions were getting more
intense.
Any time now.
Would they do it in time? Would
the baby be born before they said their vows? Or would her child have the same
life Amber had grown up to have?

It mattered to
Amber a lot to be married to Jules before this innocent baby entered the world.
It meant the world to her baby. She really wanted to do what she felt was right
for her precious little one.

The doctor told
Amber it was time to push. She was fully dilated. The baby had its own plans.
“Okay, now push!”

Amber did just
that and she could not believe the feeling her body was going through. The
overwhelming sensation was physically demanding. Incredible.

“Do you, Jules
Romero, take Amber Johnson-Murray to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to
love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and childbirth,
and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?”

“Yes!” Jules said
lovingly, yet with conviction. He looked deeply into Amber’s eyes, his body
close with hers, supporting her. He never once looked at the minister. Jules
seemed more concerned with Amber right now.
As he should.
It was time. She was fully dilated.

“Well, by the
power vested in me by the province of Ontario, I hereby pronounce you husband
and wife and…”

The baby came
with a loud and healthy cry.

“…
a
beautiful family,” the minister continued, wiping a tear
from his eye.

Amber’s body
collapsed in relief and relaxation as the doctor held up the baby. Before the
minister could say kiss the bride, Jules had already done that. He was moved to
tears, overcome with emotion. The moment overwhelmed Amber. When she became
pregnant with her baby, she thought she would be
all alone
,
delivering alone, going through everything alone. But she was wrong. Pleasantly
wrong. She could feel the love in the room and couldn’t wait to hold her
precious miracle. Jules moved from her side momentarily because he wanted to
cut the umbilical cord.

Before long,
their little girl was resting on Amber’s chest during the bonding period, after
the nurse cleaned her up and got her ready to be with mom.

“Oh, honey, you
were amazing. You’re wonderful, Amber. You did so well,” Jules said so
sincerely, so richly with emotion and love. She felt his words reverberate in
her heart.

Jules leaned his
head to hers as he wrapped his strong arms around her and their baby. Admiring
the vision before him. His eyes were misty. She’d never seen him like this.

“I love you so
much with all my heart,” he whispered sweetly.
 
His words were choked and filled with
emotion, his dark, sexy eyes penetrating her with appreciation and admiration.
Amber felt so loved and cherished. She was choked too as she kissed her baby on
her forehead, looking at her wonderful little bundle of joy with her cute and
pouty pink lips, her adorable cheeks, and a head full of dark, healthy hair.
Most babies were born with little or no hair but not her angel.

It certainly ran
in her family. She recalled her mother telling her that she, too, had tons of
hair at birth. And Amber recalled the birth of her own baby brother.
Yep, a head full of dark, curly hair.
A blessing. It was a
family trait—and a good one at that.

Amber wished her
mother,
father and her little brother were alive to share in
her joy. But she had her own family now—an extension of her family that
passed away. Looking down on her from heaven. And little Crystal, the name she
secretly chose for her baby, was a true Romero, a legitimate child, unlike Amber.
Born to her parents in wedlock.

The minister
cleared his throat and Jules and Amber were caught off guard for a moment.

“I’m not quite
finished yet,” he said with a warm smile and turned to the witnesses in the
room then to Amber, Jules and baby. “Family and friends, I present to you for
the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jules Romero and-”

“Crystal,” Amber
called out the baby’s name as she lovingly hugged her bundle of a miracle. She
had chosen it, because like Amber, Crystal was a precious and coveted substance
from Mother Earth.

“And Crystal
Romero,” the minister said with a smile, his eyes misty with joy.
 

Clapping and
cheering erupted in the room. Jules smiled and kissed Amber and the baby on top
of her head.

Now, her daughter
would not have a humiliating blank line on her birth certificate where the
father’s name should be—like Amber had with her own birth certificate.
How awful it was for her when situations presented themselves where she had to
show it. Her daughter wouldn’t have the burden of being judged as Amber had
been.

This delivery did
not turn out the way Amber originally planned. Her wedding day did not turn out
the way Amber visualized.

Amber was both
relieved and terrified at all that had just taken place. In one swift moment her
life had been drastically transformed. She was both a mommy and a wife! Did she
just tie the knot while in
labor
?

Three months later, Amber felt as if she’d
been a mommy all her life. It was a boatload more work but what a blessed
honor
. Sleepless nights, round-the-clock feeding, diaper
changes galore. She loved her little angel to bits. She was just so…fatigued. She
stood over the kitchen counter sterilizing her baby’s bottles in the new
sterilizer Jules bought for her on one of his business trips to Paris. He
insisted that the staff help her with the work but Amber really wanted to do
certain tasks for herself.

They moved to a luxury villa near the lake adjacent
to the Romero manor and estate. Not too far from the Romero Winery and
Vineyard. The stunning view stole her breath every time she admired it. It was
a calm and serene area that gave them enough privacy yet they were still close
enough to the family’s grand main house. The house where they lived had an
adequate family size pool and a sprawling garden on the west side with views of
the hills. Amber enjoyed taking little Crystal on walks in the stroller in the
countryside with Venus and her little ones. Of all the sisters-in-law she’d
inherited by marrying Jules, Venus was the closest.

Since Crystal’s birth, Jules had been on
long business trips. Was he having second thoughts about their rushed marriage?
She tried not to let the thought settle inside her. What good would it do? It
wouldn’t change anything. No, it would just make her feel terrible.

On the plus side, when he was around, Jules
was the doting daddy doing everything to make life good for his daughter. Yes,
Jules was right about blood being thicker than water, yet love is thicker than
blood. It was as if Crystal was his biological child. He practically worshipped
his little daughter—
their
little daughter. Gosh, the thought still tickled Amber to realize that she was
a mommy. She was somebody’s mother. And she was Jules Romero’s wife. Amber had
lost her own family and suffered cruelty at the hand of others she had trusted
but now—as if the universe had shifted things around for her, she felt a
bit insecure and hoped this marriage would work out and last.

Amber continued to wash the remaining
dishes in the sink. She didn’t want to let negative thoughts dampen her mood.

 
Crystal just had her evening feeding and
was sound asleep.
 
At three months, Amber’s
little angel was finally sleeping for longer stretches, like six or seven hours
at a time, which meant more sleep for Amber, too. It was so hard for her to be
intimate with Jules because of the exhaustion she’d experienced with the
changes her body had gone through but she was feeling more revitalized these
days.

Jules was out of town on business with his
brother Dion on an expansion deal in the Mediterranean but would be back
sometime that night. Business never ended for the Romero men. It was something
that Amber had gotten used to quickly and it helped to have her caring sisters-in-law
for support, too.
Especially Venus who was already her friend
pre-Romeros.

Amber could hardly wait to see Jules!
Hopefully, they could start getting close again. Especially now that Crystal
was sleeping through the night. She wished he would stay in town more.

Her body was back to its normal size and
back in shape—even her tummy was flatter again after so many weeks of
giving birth, especially thanks to Jules and his ownership of one of the
country’s largest healthcare facilities,
R.M
. Fitness
Centers. She had also enrolled in one of the Family Center’s Mom and Tots
program to meet with other young mommies. Venus had joined her with little son,
Christopher-Daniel, while her older son, Tristan, was at preschool. It all
worked out to be good timing.

The telephone rang and Amber picked up the
cordless handset that rested on the marble stone countertop by the sink.

“Hi, Mrs. Romero,” Venus teased her.

“Hi, yourself, Mrs. Romero,” Amber bantered
back.

“How are you feeling today?”

“Much better,” Amber responded, stifling a
yawn. Then her stomach did that lurching flip flop all over again. Her heart
fluttered in her chest. “Well, almost better,” she corrected, her voice
trailing off.

“Almost better?” Venus sounded puzzled.
“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.” Amber sighed heavily as she
continued to scrub around the sink. Why was she feeling this way? She should be
the happiest woman on the Earth. She was happily married to the hottest,
sexiest man alive, in her own humble opinion, and he showered her with love and
affection.
 
 

“I just feel like I’ve rushed into
everything. The whole marriage thing after having Crystal.”
And I have a sinking feeling Jules feels the
same way, too.

“But, Amber, it’s what you wanted.”

“I know. I just hope it’s what Jules wanted,
too.”

“Well, why do you say that?”

“Well, he’s been conveniently busy with
business since we tied the knot. I hope he’s not having second thoughts.”

“Oh, Amber, you know the Romeros—all
work and very little play. Jules just launched the Family Center franchise and
then he’s working with Dion on the international expansion of the business
college. You know the Romeros have a lot of business interests. There’s no
slowing down now.”

“I know. I guess I’m feeling overwhelmed.
And I feel terrible for feeling that way. I should be so grateful.”

“Aw, Amber, don’t feel that way. Trust me.
I know you feel the guilt thing. Your life is nothing more than sleep, wake,
feed baby, change baby, sleep, wake and repeat, right?” Venus said warmly.
“It’s the joys of early motherhood, girl. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to
take some time for
yourself
. And there’s nothing wrong
with wanting time alone with Jules once in a blue moon. Trust me, it’s healthy
for the marriage.”

Marriage? What marriage? Well, talk about a
“shot gun” wedding. Amber practically forced him to push the date of their
nuptials earlier than intended—like when she was “pushing” her little
angel into the world.

“Why don’t you let me babysit for you while
you and Jules spend a weekend together?”

“Oh, Venus, I can’t ask you to do that!”

“Why not? And you didn’t ask, I offered! Shelly
did the same for me when Christopher-Daniel was born. It was a life-changer.
Trust me. I didn’t realize how much we were drifting apart after Daniel was
born with my exhaustion and hormonal imbalances. This is a time to really bond
with your baby but not forget to cater to your own needs and your husband. It’s
not like you’ll be gone for long.”

Just the thought of being away from Crystal
and leaving her in someone else’s care terrified Amber. Crystal was her little
baby. She was all Amber really had in this world—next to being married to
Jules, of course. But she was so fiercely protective of her child. That was
just it. When Jules had tried, between his visits, to get sexual with her, she
was feeling so groggy from the sleepless nights not to mention that her body
hadn’t quite snapped back into shape until recently, that she was always too tired
to really do anything. But now, Crystal, thank heavens, was sleeping through
the night and Jules was going to be back in town more. But he seemed to be emotionally
distant at times. Something was bothering him and she couldn’t quite pinpoint
it.

“What about your aunt? She could babysit,
too.”

“Um. I don’t think so, Venus.”

“Why not?” Venus paused before answering
her own question. “Oh. Never mind.”

“Exactly. She’s a sweetheart. I mean, she
really tries but she’s not exactly motherly material. I mean, seriously, she
barely likes me. Besides, Jules wasn’t all too happy when she visited last
month. The way she held Crystal.” Amber shook her head at the thought, and her
stomach clenched. “Well, let’s just say that Jules is just as protective as I
am over Crystal and he took Crystal from Aunt Mavis’s hands so fast it wasn’t
even funny.” A small grin touched her lips at the
memory,
knowing Crystal was safe but the way Jules had reacted when they were all in
the study. It was quite a sight to see.