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What the hell did I expect from Roman after Eliza’s bombshell? Penny thought caustically. A phone call? A visit? A card? Roman knew where she lived. He had her phone number programmed into his device—or he had, once upon a time. Eerily enough, she hadn’t heard a peep. She’d tentatively reached out to him with a text, asking if they could meet, which he had ignored.
She couldn’t entirely blame him. Roman should have been the first person to know about the baby, but Penny hadn’t gotten the chance to tell him. She’d barely come to terms with the little pink line herself. Later that day, she’d found herself at an event inside her baby daddy’s ex-wife’s house—an event that had triggered catastrophic consequences. Judging by the silent treatment, Penny surmised that Roman wasn’t pleased with the news.
Still, Penny’s heart lurched every time her email notification dinged. Her breath stuttered at the jingle of her ringtone. Latent, desperate hope lived inside her, a hope that Roman would show up at her door with a bouquet of roses and demand they be a family.
Yeah, right, Penny scoffed. A family. She let out a harsh laugh. There was no such thing. Roman already had a family with his wife. The only family Penny’s child would ever know was a broken one. Her son or daughter deserved a father, and her baby wouldn’t have one by no fault of his own.
Penny had inherited all the burdens of being a wife without the benefits of having a husband. She had the child, the responsibilities. She’d need to cook and clean and secure a stable job. She’d need to provide insurance and childcare and love for this baby, yet she had nobody to turn to for support. A single wife, she thought caustically. That was exactly what she was.
But was it really all Roman’s fault? Was the baby his? According to Penny’s calculations, she’d slept with Ryan during the start of her fertile window. By the end of it, she’d fallen into bed with Roman. Still, the baby must belong to Roman by sheer sperm volume. They’d slept together more times than Penny could count. It had to be his.
That didn’t stop Penny from wondering if she owed Ryan a heads-up about her pregnancy. There wasn’t exactly a handbook that laid out right and wrong for this situation. Penny was so far in the wrong that right was a distant shooting star.
And even if she did tell him, what would she say? There is a tiny chance this baby is yours, but I also had loads of sex with our acting instructor, so statistically, it’s probably his.
Penny harrumphed at her own idiocy and stomped past Lucky smoking on the front steps. A baby doesn’t belong here—the mantra repeated in Penny’s head.
“That’s unhealthy,” she snapped at her landlord. “You’re going to die of cancer.”
_______________________________
The parking meters shut off promptly at 10:00 p.m. on the street outside Roman’s studio. Penny arrived at 9:52 and sat diligently in her car, waiting with the engine running, until 10:01. Now that she had a baby on the way, she had to conserve every cent. She owed it to her child.
Once the meter winked to sleep, Penny slid from behind the wheel and picked her way toward Roman’s studio. Armed only with desperation, she strode in, hands balled into fists. Most of the students had already left, giving the studio a ghostly, disconcerting feel.
Roman was still inside. Penny had hunted until she’d spotted his car parked on the street—the vintage one he’d been driving as of late—because she’d needed to be sure. She’d come this far and had let herself get this riled up. There was no way she was bowing out now. As she hauled herself into the lobby, she noted Roman’s office door was closed.
Penny inched toward it, pausing as she rested a hand against the wood. A hot sizzle flashed down her spine as she remembered being pressed against the other side in a whirlwind of lust. Back when she believed her life with Roman was going somewhere, somewhere beautiful. Now, everything felt hollow—preemptively so maybe, but she couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that the end was near.
She raised a fist and knocked on the door. When Roman didn’t answer immediately, she impatiently twisted the knob, pushed it open, and stepped into the room. Penny let the moment wash over her fully, taking a second to digest it all as she stood before him.
For the first time in a long while, Penny felt calm and in control. When she rested her hand over her belly, her confidence grew bolder. She was no longer fighting for herself and her stupid dreams. She was fighting for the innocent babe that would be born to a young, broke, unwed mother. He or she deserved better.
“Penny.” Roman leaned back in his chair. “I expected you’d come.”
He wore those studious glasses that made him look like a smart, creative, empathetic professor. The same glasses that had made Penny fall deeper in lust with him the first time she’d stepped into his office. Now, she wondered if it was all a ruse.
“I should have told you sooner,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
Penny’s lips parted in surprise. “The baby.”
Roman sighed as if disappointed in his pupil. “Are you sure the baby is mine?”
“Chances are pretty damn good. I’ll let you do the math.”
“You told me you were on birth control.”
She sucked in a breath. She’d prepared for all sorts of responses from Roman, but the one thing she hadn’t anticipated was blame. “Look, I apologize for the way you found out. That was wrong. I hadn’t planned on saying anything to Eliza and the other girls, but it just came out. I was in shock.”
“You were in shock?”
“It doesn’t sound like you believe me,” Penny said. “And if you’re insinuating that I was trying to trick you into getting me pregnant, you’re very, very wrong. I might have loved you, but I’m not that stupid.”
“You’re either very, very smart or very, very stupid. Otherwise, how do you explain showing up at my house, for my wife’s book club, to look me in the eye while she announces your pregnancy?” Roman pursed his lips. “What do you want from me?”
“You don’t get it, do you? I don’t want anything at all. I’m just here, informing you about the baby. I should have done it sooner, but this is the hand we have been dealt. I’m sorry. The ball is now in your court.”
