Bryan, who was lying on the bed beside Sonia who was seated, watched her as she worked on her laptop and flashed her a smile when she caught him staring at her.
"You're supposed to be rehearsing your lines not watching me," she reminded him.
"You're more interesting than the lines, fiancée," Bryan said, and Sonia giggled.
"When do you think your body is going to start changing to accommodate our munchkin?" Bryan asked curiously and Sonia raised a brow.
"Why? So you can make sure you're not here to see me grow fat and ugly?" She asked, and he grinned.
"I don't think you could ever be fat and ugly," Bryan said as he moved closer to her so he could place his hand on her flat abdomen.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the changes. I read that your boobs grow fuller when you're pregnant and…"
"Really? I never knew you preferred large boobs. So my boobs are too small for you?" Sonia cut in with a raised brow.
"I can't wait to see your belly grow rounder too. I suppose I prefer bigger abdomens. Your abdomen is too flat for me," Bryan said dryly, and Sonia eyed him.
"Are you trying to avoid my question by playing smart?" She asked, and Bryan nodded.
"Yes, I am. You seem to be in the mood to pick a fight with me when all I want to do is assure you that you'd always be the most beautiful woman in the world in my eyes," Bryan said as he set aside her laptop, and Sonia shook her head in amusement.
"You're distracting me," she complained even though she was enjoying the attention.
"Yes. I want us to take a break from work. We have been busy for hours. Why don't we give our baby a name?" Bryan asked as he kissed her belly.
"Isn't it too early for that? We don't even know the gender yet," Sonia pointed out.
"Not the real name. Let's pick a gender neutral pet name we can call our baby," Bryan suggested again, and Sonia shrugged.
"Alright. Do you have any in mind?" She asked curiously.
"What about Bryson?" Bryan asked with a grin and Sonia laughed softly.
"That is a masculine name," she said with a shake of her head.
"But we don't mean it like the masculine name itself. It's just a mix of both our names since the baby is a product of both our genes," Bryan countered.
"Okay. What about Ryso? I took out the first and last letter of Bryson," Sonia said, and Bryan thought about if for a moment before giving her a nod.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I think that will do. So, you will be called, Ryso," Bryan said to Sonia's abdomen as he kissed it again making Sonia giggle.
Bryan sat up when his phone started ringing and he picked it up when he saw it was a call from Matt.
"Hey! What's up?" He asked once the call connected.
"I was wondering if I could come over and spend the night? And maybe we can spend some time together playing games seeing as you would be getting married soon," Matt said, and Bryan narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Is everything alright?"
"Sure. I just need a change of environment for tonight," Matt said, and Bryan sighed.
"Alright. I will give Tom a call and get back to you," Bryan said and hung up.
"What did he say?" Sonia asked curiously.
"He wants to come over to spend the night here," Bryan explained and Sonia raised a brow.
"Why? Do you think maybe he's aware that Candace is coming over to spend the night hence the sudden request?" Sonia asked, and Bryan grinned.
"She is spending the night here?"
"Yes. I told you I was meeting with girls tonight, remember?" Sonia asked and Bryan nodded.
"I thought you were referring to just Jade and Lucy. Matt probably knows Candace will be here hence he wants to sleepover. The sly bastard!" Bryan said with a chuckle.
"I wonder if Candace knows that Matt is coming over," Sonia said thoughtfully.
"Let's just pretend we don't know anything. Don't say a word to Candace," Bryan said as he dialed Tom's line.
Tom who was laughing at something Lucy said as they ate their ice cream received Bryan's call the moment his phone rang.
"Is everything alright?" Tom asked with concern.
"Yes. I'm sorry to bother you. I want to invite Matt over tonight. Do you mind if he spends the night here?" Bryan asked politely.
"He is welcome to stay," Tom assured him before hanging up.
"Tom says he is welcome to stay," Bryan told Sonia and she grinned.
"I wonder what those two plan to do tonight. I believe they will be sneaking down the hallway to each other's bedroom in the middle of the night," Sonia said, and Bryan chuckled.
"Let's not ask any questions and let them believe we've been fooled, okay?" Bryan said and Sonia nodded in agreement.
Away from there, just as Tom and Lucy got into the car after their ice cream date, Lucy's phone began to ring and she took it out of her handbag to see it was Evelyn who was calling.
Why was she calling? Had she heard from her father-in-law already? Lucy mused as she turned to Tom.
"It's your mom," she informed him before receiving the call.
"Hello, Lucy! How are you doing dear?" Evelyn asked pleasantly the moment the call connected.
"I'm fine. How are you and Desmond?" Lucy asked, and Evelyn smiled.
"We are fine. Are you alone? Can you talk right now? There is something really important I want us to discuss," Evelyn said, and Lucy raises a brow as she glanced at Tom who was yet to start the car and was staring at her.
"Is it urgent? I'm on my way home right now. If it is not very urgent I will call you back after I get home," Lucy said and Evelyn nodded.
"That's fine. I will like it to be between the two of us. I don't want Tom to know about it," Evelyn added.
"Alright," Lucy said before hanging up.
"What did she want?" Tom asked curiously.
"She hasn't said yet. I will find out when we get home. But she did say she didn't want you to know about it," Lucy said, and Tom shook his head.
He hoped for his mother's sake that she wasn't trying to stir any more trouble.
"You will tell me whatever she says, won't you?" He asked, and she smiled.
"Sure," Lucy assured him as he started the car and they headed home.
They both couldn't help wondering what it was Evelyn wanted to say to Lucy. While Tom was wondering if it was possible that his mother was calling to speak with Lucy because she had heard from his grandfather, Lucy on the other hand was wondering if it was about the conversation they had the last time about marriage.
They drove in comfortable silence until they got to the house, and Lucy dialed Evelyn's line once they walked into the bedroom and she kicked off her shoes.
"Lucy? Can you talk now?" Evelyn asked the moment she received Lucy's call.
"Yes. What did you want us to talk about?" She asked curiously as she placed on call on speaker for Tom to hear.
Evelyn cleared her throat, "We heard from Tom about the child as well as the DNA paternity test and result," Evelyn started, and Lucy raised a brow.
"I know you are aware of it since he told us he told you about it even before confiding in us," Evelyn said and Lucy frowned while Tom came to sit beside her after taking off his clothes and leaving on just his underwear.
"Yes, I am aware," Lucy said patiently as she waited for Evelyn to get to what she wanted to say.
"I was wondering if you know the identity of the lady behind all this," Evelyn said cautiously.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Yes, I do. Why?" Lucy asked in confusion.
Evelyn cleared her throat, "I don't think we should let her go scot-free after trying to deceive Tom. Tom might not want to deal with her, but as the ladies in Tom's life I don't think we should let this go," Evelyn said and Lucy smiled.
"I agree with you. I thought Tom was too lenient with the people behind this. What do you suggest we do to her?" Lucy asked, and Evelyn beamed a happy smile while Tom raised a brow, wondering what Lucy was up to.
"I don't want you to get involved in case Tom finds out about this. I wouldn't want to be the cause of any problems between you two. All I need is for you to tell me the name of the lady," Evelyn said and Lucy considered it for a moment.
A part of her was tempted to say Evelyn Hank was the name of the lady, but another part of her wanted Evelyn to dig into Kimberly Moore and find out for herself her role in what had happened.
"Her name is Kimberly Moore," Lucy said and Evelyn frowned.
"Kimberly Moore?" She asked in confusion since she knew exactly who that was.
She had worked long enough for Lawrence Hank to know his relationship with the Moore family. She even remembered Lawrence talking about matchmaking Kimberly and Tom years ago but Desmond had been adamantly against it.
She also remembered that Lawrence had visited the Moores just last week after their family dinner.
Evelyn frowned, "Are you certain that is her name?"
"Yes. Do you know her?" Lucy asked innocently.
"Uhm, I will look into it. I believe there is a mistake somewhere," Evelyn said before hanging up.
"She knows Kimberly," Tom said and Lucy nodded.
"She does. I would love to see what she will do after she realizes what happened," Lucy said as she rose to take off her clothes.
Tom held her hand and pulled her to himself so that she was standing in front of him while he remained seated, and his hands went around her waist as he looked up at her.
"Are you mad at her?" Tom asked with a concerned frown.
"I'm not. But that doesn't mean you should be so okay with what she did. I think it's time we need to set some healthy boundaries in our relationship. That's a concept I don't think your family understands yet. No offense," Lucy said, and Tom raised a brow.
"What does that mean?"
"Are you asking me what healthy boundaries mean?" Lucy asked with a grin and Tom chuckled.
"I'm not trying to judge you or anything. All I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't let my family meddle in our relationship in the manner your family does whether or not they have our best interest at heart. I don't think you should let yours do so either. I think when it comes to your family you are just too tolerant," Lucy said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Tom nodded, "You are right. And that's the reason I left this to you, remember?" He asked, and she scowled.
"And here I was thinking you left it to me because you wanted me to be the one your family sees as the bad person," Lucy said and he chuckled.
"No one would dare see you as the bad person. And maybe you're just who they need to teach them how not to meddle in other people's business," Tom said, and Lucy kissed the top of his nose.
"When she calls you after finding out the truth about Kimberly and your grandfather, make sure you let her know it's no longer okay for her to meddle in our relationship going forward," Lucy said and Tom nodded.
"Yes, milady. Now let's get you out of those clothes so we can freshen up together," Tom said as he rose to help her undress.