Baby Duties: A BWWM Pregnancy Romance Novel E-Book

Nina Ford

• Herausgeber: Nina Ford
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Being a father takes more than just showing face... Mya Morrison is a devoted college student in her early 20s with all the maturity of a woman twice her age. She has a reputation among her peers for being meticulous and putting her studies above all else, but that isn't to say she's immune to the occasional mess up... And mess up she does. The summer before her senior year of college, Mya falls pregnant by her longtime boyfriend, a gorgeous goofball by the name of Shane O'Connor. Shane is Mya's polar opposite and the very definition of a slacker, but the two have always been able to set aside their differences for the sake of their relationship... That is until now. From the moment Mya's pregnancy becomes impossible to hide, it becomes painfully apparent to her that the man she so loves isn't ready to be a father. It's an epiphany that leaves her reeling, and she's still struggling to come to terms with it when she comes into the acquaintance of a mysterious man who changes everything... Will Mya and Shane be able to stick it out for the sake of their unborn child? Who is this new man and what will his presence mean for the couple? You'll have to read to find out... Baby Duties is a 50,000 word BWWM pregnancy novel about two young people overcoming odds for the sake of their child. It's a standalone romance with no cheating and a guaranteed happy ending. Reader discretion is advised due to scenes of a light sexual nature.

Leseprobe

Baby Duties

A BWWM

Pregnancy Romance

Novel

By Nina Ford

Copyright 2016 Nina Ford

All Rights Reserved

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are strictly coincidental. This book may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without the expressed permission of the author. Exception is made in the case of brief quotations used in published reviews.

Table of contents

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

Chapter four

Chapter five

Chapter six

Chapter seven

Chapter eight

Chapter nine

Chapter ten

Chapter eleven

Chapter twelve

Chapter thirteen

Chapter fourteen

Chapter fifteen

Chapter sixteen

Chapter seventeen

Chapter eighteen

Chapter nineteen

Chapter twenty

Chapter twenty-one

Chapter twenty-two

Chapter twenty-three

Chapter twenty-four

Chapter twenty-five

Chapter twenty-six

Chapter twenty-seven

Chapter twenty-eight

Chapter twenty-nine

Epilogue

Contact

Mailing List

Chapter one

“Professor Shelton, would you mind taking a look at this specimen?” Mya called out to her biology professor and waited for him to come over to assist her.

Everyone else in the lab was working quietly in groups of two or three, but Mya preferred to work independently. She didn’t like to entrust the quality of her work in other people, and the last lab partner she had spent the entire hour staring at her belly.

“It’s off by about a millimeter,” Professor Shelton said as he looked into Mya’s microscope.

“I thought it might be, but I wasn’t sure,” Mya replied.

“Well, that’s precisely why I encourage students to work in pairs. It helps to have a fresh set of eyes on things sometimes.”

“Thanks, but I really do prefer to work alone.”

“Well that’s fine for this lab, but you will need a partner for this upcoming assignment.”

Time was on Mya’s side that day, as class had just come to an end. Professor Shelton would not have time to stick Mya with anyone that day and for that she was eternally grateful.

Mya gathered her belongings and said a silent prayer that she would be able to make it across campus to her next class without anyone asking how she was doing or how she felt.

The past year had been a nauseating rollercoaster for Mya. She and her close friend Shane had fallen in love and started dating only to end up pregnant at the tender age of twenty-two, and the stress of impending parenthood ended up drawing the new couple apart just as fast.

In the end, Mya was left to make one of the hardest decisions of her life on her own. Which was why after a lot of careful contemplation, she buried her sudden longing to become a mother and made the difficult yet selfless decision to give her baby up for adoption as soon as it was born. Of course, the problem with that was that every time the baby moved, she thought about it. Every time someone asked her how she was, she thought about it. And every time she saw HIM…she thought about it.

“Hey Mya, how are you feel…ouch!” Owen fell stone silent when his long-time best friend Porsha elbowed him in the ribcage.

“Hey guys,” Mya greeted as she entered the science building. She was on her way to her noon Organic Chemistry lecture.

“Don’t ask her that! How many times do we have to tell you? Just act like nothing is different with her,” Mya overheard Porsha scold Owen as she passed them to enter the lecture hall.

“And exactly how am I supposed to do that?” Owen retorted. “Just look at her. She's huge. It’s not exactly easy to ignore.”

“What’s not easy to ignore?” Shane asked as he approached his friends.

“Owen’s cologne,” Porsha’s best friend Veronica rushed to say, “He smells like he burnt his underwear in the dryer.”

“Well that’s better than what he usually smells like,” Shane joked as he walked into the lecture hall shortly after Mya had taken her seat.

“And what about that?” Owen questioned once Shane was out of earshot. “I hate feeling like I have to choose between them.”

“I know,” Porsha agreed, “I’m always having to censor myself when I talk. Can’t talk about Mya to Shane, can’t talk about Shane to Mya – it sucks.”

“And meanwhile, there’s this precious little baby on the way that they both need to be talking about...”

The three friends turned and looked into the lecture hall at the subjects of their conversation. Mya was seated toward the front of the class with her laptop open and her hand absentmindedly resting atop her belly. Meanwhile, Shane was seated to the far left in a row slightly behind Mya’s with his head tilted to one side and his eyes locked firmly to the back of her head.

She looks bigger this week, Shane ruminated, I wonder if that’s normal? Aunt Karen said I was a big baby...I wonder if our baby will be big too?

“Why don’t you go over and talk to her?” Owen asked as he took his usual seat beside Shane.

“Why? She made her decision. It's not like there's anything I can do about it. Her body, her choice, right? Besides, she’s perfectly fine with the whole solo thing. Trust me.”

Owen shook his head. “Man, do you hear yourself? Do you really think she’s enjoying being pregnant? And in college, no less? She's literally watching her glory days pass her by.”

Shane looked over at Mya and watched as she rubbed her hand across the back of her neck. It was a gesture that she always used when she was working very hard and getting very little rest.

As Mya rotated her head and shoulders to stretch her muscles, she caught sight of Shane watching her and froze. They held each other's gaze for only a moment before she let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.

“That girl doesn’t have a forgiving bone in her body,” Shane continued, “She hates me for doing this to her and I can't keep bending over backwards trying to change that.”

“Can’t, or wont?” Owen asked just as their professor entered to start the class.

Thank God, Shane thought as he watched the older gentleman get settled at his podium. Had he been forced to answer that question, he wasn't sure what he would say.

Chapter two

“This next assignment will require you to work in groups. It will take several weeks to complete, so I will explain it today and give you some lab time each week to work on it. That said, you will need to work on it outside of class as well. Now, Ms. Morrison, we need to…”

Professor Shelton was interrupted in mid-sentence by the presence of a tall young man with dark wavy hair, a beautiful tan complexion, and the looks of old Hollywood royalty.

As Professor Shelton read over the note that accompanied the young man, the girls in the lab began to exchange glances that were full of raised eyebrows, winks, and whispers.

“Alright, class, this is Brenton Archibald and he will be joining our program as a transfer from UCLA. Welcome, Brenton.”

“Actually, I prefer to be called Brent if that’s cool with you.” Brent directed his comments at Professor Shelton, but his grey eyes remained steadied on none other than one very uncomfortable Mya Morrison.

“Not a problem, Brent. Why don’t you take a seat over there between Veronica and Porsha and we will see what we can do about getting you up to speed.” Professor Shelton gestured across the room.

Veronica couldn’t have been happier as she scooted her chair over to make room for Brent, who removed his leather backpack and sat down next to her as he returned the huge grin that was spread across her and Porsha’s faces.

As the class continued, Brent noticed that the answers to most of the questions that Professor Shelton was asking seemed to come from the back of the room. Curiosity finally got the better of him as he turned to see the face of the girl with the encyclopedic knowledge of nucleic acids.

Mya’s head was down when Brent turned to look at her for a second time since he’d entered the lab, but he could tell that she had a beautiful head of long midnight black curls, and that she wore glasses – a trait that he had always found strangely attractive in women.

Brent had been a fan of smart, pretty women for as far back as he could remember. In high school, while his friends drooled over the cheerleaders, he got his kicks with the brains and beauty of the girls who partook in drama club and student council.

That, in summary, was Mya Morrison.

As if she sensed Brent’s eyes on her, Mya looked up and met his gaze. She hadn’t been paying much attention when he was introduced to the class so she just smiled politely and went back to her work.

“Who’s that gorgeous girl in the back?” Brent asked Veronica.

“Who?” Veronica asked as she turned to look.

“Her, with the glasses.”

“You mean Mya?” Veronica balked. She felt a bit ashamed at her surprise at someone describing Mya as gorgeous, but considering Mya’s current condition, could she really be blamed for that?”

“Yeah, is she like the resident science whiz or something?”

“Um, more like the resident everything whiz. I have a few other classes with her and I don't think I've ever seen her get less than a 95 on anything.”

“Really?” Brent raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t wait for class to end so that he could introduce himself to this girl who had more than piqued his interest.

“Before we finish for the day,” Professor Shelton began, “We need to find a lab partner for Ms. Morrison here. Would anyone like to volunteer?”

The room fell silent as no one volunteered to be paired with Mya. Even though it would have meant an A for sure, the guys in the lab didn’t want to work with her because she was such a perfectionist that they knew they wouldn’t be able to goof off, and the girls were all hoping that they would instead be paired with the hot new addition their class.

Brent looked around and noticed Mya in the back with her chin resting in her hand looking very annoyed at the whole process.

“Professor Shelton, I said I don’t mind working alone.” Mya raised her hand to end the agony.

“And I said that everyone needs a partner, so who’s it gonna be? You've got two choices here, people. Either volunteer or be drafted.”

“I’ll work with her,” Brent spoke up to the surprise of Mya and the disappointment of the other girls.

“You’ll be sorry,” some fraternity brother behind Brent whispered.

“Yeah, somehow I doubt that.” Brent smiled and leaned back in his chair.

Chapter three

Brent spotted Mya sitting in the study lounge as he passed by her on his way to lunch. After class Veronica and Porsha whisked him away and made it their mission to show him around campus and introduce him to everyone. He had missed his chance to talk to her then, but he fully intended on making it up to her now.

“Hey, is this your lunch period?”

“Yup,” Mya answered after looking up briefly to see who was talking to her.

“So why no food? And please don’t say your dieting – I hate when girls say that.”

“Not dieting, just don’t have an appetite. Was there something you wanted?”

“Nah, just thought I'd introduce myself. You know, since we’re lab partners now.”

“Actually, I’m glad you mentioned that. There's something you should know: If you don’t give one hundred percent on this project, I will have no problem snatching your name off the coursework and telling Professor Shelton that I did the whole thing on my own.”

“And just what would make you think that I wouldn’t give one hundred percent?” Brent asked amused by Mya’s spunk.

Mya smacked her lips. “Please, I saw the way the girls in class acted when you came in. It was like you were the second coming of something. I, however, am nothing like them, so don't expect me to let you slack off just because you’re charming.”

“Well it's definitely nice to know you think I’m charming, but you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. You can't just assume that because a bunch of silly girls think I’m cute that I’m some sort of slacker. And just so you know, I have never gotten anything less than a 90 on anything in my life, so….”

“Well I’ve never gotten anything less than a 95 on anything, so you’ll have to step your game up,” Mya said as she returned to her studying.

“You’re on. So why don’t you come to the caf and show me what’s good?”

“I’ll pass. I have a deadline this afternoon and the smell of that place would hit me before I even made it through the door.”

Brent looked confused by this. “Man, is it really that bad?”

“No, it's just that there aren’t too many places that I can go nowadays that don’t make me want to puke.”

Brent began to think that Mya was the carrier of some strange tropical disease until she stood up to gather her things. He realized then that he had never seen her standing until that very moment. And while any other time his eyes would have been attempting to scan her feminine form, it was her round protruding belly that caught his eye and held his gaze.

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” Mya responded as she noticed that Brent’s eyes had become fixated on her midriff. “Yes I’m six months pregnant, no I don’t know what I’m having, and no I’m not still with the baby’s father. Yes, it’s hard, I feel like crap most of the time, and no, I'm not keeping it. Does that answer all your questions?”

“Um…. I guess.” Brent hesitated. “But I don't get it. You're like…this brilliant rocket scientist in training. How’d you manage to end up pregnant?”

Mya took offense to that. “Um, what type of science was it they taught at UCLA?”

“I know how,” Brent corrected. “I just mean that smart girls like you don’t usually find themselves in situations like this.”

“Well maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Because I am a smart girl. I just happened to have fallen in love, had sex, and ended up pregnant. So unless you think my condition is going to interfere with the completion of this project, I don’t think you have anything else to worry about. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a thesis to write.”

“Mya, wait!” Brent called after her as she started to leave. He caught up with her and added, “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You? Upset me? Please, I don’t even know you. If walking through campus just to be greeted by constant whispers and stares from a bunch of people I've known for years doesn’t upset me, why should a few harsh words from you?”

Mya’s spoke calmly, but the look on her face and the way she kept shuffling around her papers and textbooks showed she was anything but.

“Okay, well I guess I should get going then...”

“Bye,” Mya said without looking up.

Brent exited the study lounge with haste and walked down the hall with a flood of emotion rushing through his brain. Here was this smart, pretty, interesting girl that he wanted to get to know better, and she was pregnant with another guy’s baby. That was a red flag to run in the opposite direction if he ever saw one.

Chapter four

Porsha and Veronica motioned to Brent as he entered the caf. They had been sure to save him a seat and were beginning to get disappointed when it seemed that he would not be making an appearance.

“Hey, you didn’t have to save me a spot,” Brent said as he took his place between the two girls.

“Sure we did.” Porsha grinned. “We couldn’t have you sitting all alone on your first day.”

“So how do you like it here so far? Is it pretty different from California?”

“It’s cool I guess. Different, but in a good way.”

“There are a lot of cute girls here, I wonder if your girlfriend would be jealous?” Porsha fished for information.

Brent smiled as he caught on to her tactics. “Well she might, you know, if I had one. But I don’t, so I think I’m safe.”

“But speaking of cute girls, how well do you two know Mya?”

Veronica and Porsha exchanged looks as they contemplated how much information they should share about Mya.

“Well we’ve been really good friends with her since freshman year. She’s like, the smartest girl on campus,” Porsha began.

“Oh definitely, really smart,” Veronica jumped in.

“Okay, I got that part. I guess I’m just wondering how she balances all the stuff she does at school with being six months pregnant.”

“That’s just Mya. She doesn’t do anything unless she can do it well. Honestly, it seems like she’s become even more driven since she got pregnant.”

“Yeah, it’s almost like she’s trying to prove something to everyone,” Porsha added.

“And what about the baby’s father? Where does he fit into all of this?”

“They aren’t together anymore, so right now he doesn’t fit anywhere.”

Brent nodded as he took in all the information that the women were relaying to him.

“Why so many questions about Mya, anyway?” Veronica had to finally ask. The anticipation was killing her.

“I don’t know.” Brent shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich. “She’s my lab partner for Shelton so I just wanted to know a little more about her, that’s all.”

Veronica and Porsha nodded, but neither one of them were buying it.

By the end of the day, the campus was abuzz about the gorgeous new guy and which girl would be lucky enough to catch his eye.

“I don’t get it. The dude has been here for like, six hours and he already has every chick on campus jockeying for his attention. I’m single, I’m attractive, and I would appreciate a little attention thrown my way,” Owen complained as he walked alongside Porsha and Veronica to his next class.

Porsha laughed. “Don't worry, O,” she soothed, “Veronica and I have a feeling he’s already got his sights set on one girl in particular.”

“I knew it. It's Michelle Conrad, isn't it? New guys always try to go for her until they get close enough to smell her breath. Can you say hal-i-tos-is?”

“Nope,” Veronica piped in, “You actually couldn't be more off. Believe it or not, Mr. Brent Archibald has his eyes set on none other than our very own Mya Morrison.”

Owen got quiet as he searched his friends faces for a punch line.

“You’re joking, right? Because if you’re not, this is going to mean major trouble. I mean…did he actually say that he liked Mya?”

“No, but he was asking a lot of questions about her. Oh, and he called her pretty. Twice,” Veronica answered.

“This is crazy,” Owen continued. “She’s like... nine months pregnant.”

“Six months pregnant,” Porsha corrected, “And honestly, I kind of see what he means. There's just something about the way she’s been looking lately. She’s glowing, her hair is shiny, and her eyes have this sparkle to them…”

“Yeah, and that's all good and well, but come on. Am I seriously the only one thinking about Shane’s feelings about this?”

“Oh please,” Veronica said with a roll of her eyes, “Mya deserves to be happy, and if Shane can’t grow up enough to be the one to do it, then more power to Brent. I like a man who goes for what he wants. The world needs more men like him.”

Owen shook his head as he neared in on the mathematics hall. “Mark my words,” he warned the woman as he entered, “Nothing good can come of this.”

Chapter five

For the next three days, Brent walked past the study lounge on his way to lunch, and everyday, there was Mya – always alone and never eating.

“Knock, knock.” Brent banged his knuckles lightly against her table to get her attention.

“Hey,” Mya said without looking up at him. She was forty pages into her thesis and she had no intention on stopping anytime soon.

Brent ignored the rude manner in which Mya greeted him. “Not eating again today?” he observed.

“Did you want something?” Mya avoided answering the question.

“I just wanted to see if maybe we could work on the project some, you know – if you’re not busy.”

For this, Mya closed her laptop and finally looked up at him. “That…is actually a pretty good idea. I'd love to get a jumpstart on that before the weekend.”

“Okay then, um…do you mind if I eat while we work? I won’t get anything gross or smelly, I promise.”

“Gross and smelly to you, and gross and smelly to me, maybe two different things,” Mya answered.

“Okay, then how does chicken soup sound?”

“That sounds safe.”

“Cool. I’ll be right back.”

Brent left the lounge and made his way into the caf, where he unknowingly found himself in line right in front of Shane.

“I’ll have a large cup of chicken soup.” Brent put in his request as he filled his tray with packets of saltines.

“You pretty fond of crackers?” Shane joked when he noticed the abundance of them on Brent’s tray.

“Oh, these? Nah, they're actually for a friend who’s feeling a bit under the weather.”

“Gotta be a girl,” Shane responded.

“Yeah, I think she could really use some company right now. Thing is, she's pretty stubborn, so I’m trying to look out for her without letting her know that I’m looking out for her.”

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