The Billionaire's Obsession

Chapter 20 - The Announcement

Two months ago I had a serious talk with a woman who promised to steal my boyfriend away from me. Now I was looking at photos of her together with Chase while she was wearing a freaking engagement ring. She sure moved on quite fast and I do mean quite fast! It only took her two months to date the guy and make him propose to her. Somehow I doubted this was actually true love. Chris was sitting beside me on the couch and thank god the pictures didn't affect him at all. I had been afraid he'd break down that he actually seemed relieved, maybe he was glad she was really in his past and he could move forward as well.

"I'm glad she moved on." Chris told me, putting the tablet on the table, "So I can assume she backed off completely?"

"Yes, we haven't heard from her since. We haven't seen her at the events Nick had to attend either, so I think we can honestly say that she moved on."

He reached for his drink, "That's good." He offered me a sip, but I declined.

"Water is fine for me." I smiled at him.

"When are you guys finally going to tell us?"

I noticed the way his eyes flickered to my stomach and back to my eyes. He knew. Probably all our friends knew, but we still kept quiet about it. It was hard to stay quiet about it, Nick just wanted to announce it when everyone was around. Chris had been in Tokyo for the last couple of weeks, so we waited. We had a dinner planned tonight and Nick mentioned that he wanted to announce the news to everyone during dinner. So I couldn't tell Chris anything right now. It wouldn't be fair toward our other friends.

"So how was Tokyo?" I asked trying to change the subject, not so subtly I might add.

"Busy." His smirk told me that he was amused by my sudden change of subject, "But that's what we wanted, so that's a good sign. The club is getting more popular and we attract more known DJ's who like to play, so it's going well."

"So you were working the whole time?"

"Are you trying to ask me nicely if I'm seeing someone?" He asked amused.

"Yes, I was trying to ask nicely if you are seeing someone." I confirmed, "So did you meet a nice girl in Tokyo?" I asked curiously.

He took another sip from his drink, it looked like he needed to think really hard about that question. It shouldn't have been a hard question to answer. It was either a yes or a no. Chris taking his time with this question made me wonder if he had been dating more than just one girl. He had the right to since he was single now, but I just wished he would not turn out like Brandon before he met his girlfriend Sasha.

"I met a nice girl." He said after a while, staring at his glass, "A Japanese girl. The early twenties, she works at the hotel I was staying in."

"But?"

"I don't know." He swirled the liquid around his glass, "Now that I'm single again I like to take my time to find the right girl for me. Is that weird?"

"No, you're afraid to open up again to someone. Take your time to get to know her."

He patted my knee, "Not everyone is as lucky as you and Nick are. Most people need more time together before they realize that the person they're seeing is the one you want to spend the rest of your life with."

Chris was right about that. My relationship with Nick was rare, it could have gone seriously wrong considering how fast we moved. We just knew that this thing between us was more than just a fling. We were lucky and we both knew it.

Nick called us all to the table so we took a seat, watching Nick and Evan glare at each other before they raised their glasses at us.

"Thank you all for making the time to have dinner with us tonight." Nick started, smiling when we all cheered him on, "Emily and I-" He gestured for me to join him at the head of the table and held my hand in his when I stood beside him, "Have an announcement to make. We both know you all know exactly what we're going to say, but we wanted to share this with all the people in our lives who we hold close to our heart." He turned to me and kissed my temple, making me grin wider, "Emily and I are expecting a child." He grinned when our friends raised their glasses congratulating us, "She is four months along now, so in about five months we can introduce you to our baby boy, Matthew Evan Woods."

"Wait you're naming your baby after me?" Evan asked he had to take a seat when Nick mentioned that he had an announcement to make.

Nick and I both shared a smile, "You're the one who gave us a push when we both needed it." I told Evan who grinned, knowing what we meant by that, "So we wouldn't be here if you hadn't pushed us to go after what we wanted."

Evan raised his glass to us, "Naming your first born after me, I'll drink to that."

Nick took a seat at the head of the table and I sat at his right, while Evan sat at his left. Everyone we adored was present tonight. Brandon and his girlfriend Sasha, Chris and of course Evan. They were now our family and it felt amazing to share our happiness with them.

"Just to be clear, when you came back from Tokyo and I spun you around-" Brandon narrowed his eyes at me, "You were sick because you were already pregnant, right?"

"Yes, and I really did have a jetlag."

Sasha smiled, "So are you two ever going to get married?"

Nick and I shared a look. We had discussed marriage, but it was not a big deal to us. We might go to city hall after Matthew is born, but we would only take our two witnesses with us. After that, we might have a small party at home, nothing huge.

"Maybe." I shrugged, "We might get married after Matthew is born."

"So how are you going to do this with Matthew?" Sasha asked curiously.

Nick took my hand in his, "I arranged everything with my lawyer on that part. Matthew is my son-" He turned to look at me, "And Emily is my girl, so of course everything which is mine is also theirs." He glanced back at Sasha, "So we don't need marriage to settle that. Everything is taken care off."

"In a way, you two are already married then," Chris added.

"Yes, now let's eat," I announced, wanting to enjoy the pasta Chris had made for us.

It was an amazing night and I loved spending time with the people who were close to us. Evan always lightening the mood with his stories and his rivalry with Nick. Chris being the mature one and always handling the situation with calmness. He was easy to like and definitely easy to talk to. Not to mention I could listen to him all day just talking and of course, my Brandon who always had been there for me. He was family to me and I was glad we could get over our little hurdle.

***

"That was amazing." Nick wrapped his arms around me from behind and met my gaze in the mirror, "Wish we could have dinner with everyone more often." I tried to kiss Nick's cheek but he playfully moved aside, trying to keep me facing the mirror, "What?" I whispered, staring at our reflection again.

He gently placed his hand on my very small bump, "I never imagined that I'd have a family of my own. Looking at us now though, I can't imagine my life without you or our baby."

I placed my hand on top of his, "I'm never letting you go, Nick." I told him, holding his gaze in the mirror, "I can't imagine my life without you or our baby either." I spun around, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, "Thank you for loving me, protecting me and sharing your life with me." I smiled when he leaned in to kiss me.

Nick pulled away, caressing my cheek with the back of his hand, "You're so precious to me Emily. You can't even imagine how much I love you, what I would do for you." He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly pressed against his body.

I would never grow tired of the feeling Nick gave me when he held me so tightly in his arms, I could barely breathe. It made me feel how much he loved me, how much he cared for me. Nick's familiar scent surrounding me made me feel safe and at home. In his arms, I felt home and I was grateful that I met this man and for him to share his life with me. He is my Nick and I'm his Emily. Everyone says Nick is obsessed with me, that it wasn't healthy how much he needed me, but I didn't care. They didn't know that it was the same for me.