One Night Stand with a Prince: Oops! I Had His Baby!

Baggage

“Wait, wait… I must have missed something. How are you married?! It was one date?” Lucy was demanding, following closely behind me as I flinted from room to room throwing items into the boxes James had miraculously gathered up and dropped at my door first thing this morning.

I’d just finished filling Lucy in on my crazy night with my secret prince, and to say she was shocked was an understatement.

“What exactly do you need me to go back over?” I asked her with a chuckle, while I glanced through the kitchen cabinets, deciding if there was anything I absolutely couldn’t live without during our stay in Lenova. It still felt like a dream that by tomorrow Charles and I would be on a plane to his father’s home country. My husband, the prince of Lenova. I don’t think I’d ever be able to think those words without my heart doing a little summer salt as James’ face popped into my mind.

“I don’t know, maybe all of it?” Lucy snarked back, rolling her eyes as she leaned back against the kitchen island. “I can’t believe he was able to back date a marriage certificate so quickly, and easily by the sound of it.”

“Apparently, money can open any door if you know the right people.” I shrugged, emptying the contents of Charles' bottle cabinet into an empty box. Bottles, pumping supplies, pacifiers and unopened formula containers clattered into it. Swiping the packing tape over the top, I grabbed the sharpie from my pocket and wrote “Feeding Supplies” on the top and picked it up to add it to the others by the door. Lucy following close behind me.

“Aren’t you afraid of what such power could mean for your future? Think about it, Jules, he could pay to have you killed and cover it up, taking Charles for himself!” My friend was exclaiming frantically.

Stacking the box I carried on top of the others by the door, I turned to face my friend with a hand on my hip and a raised eyebrow. “Do you hear yourself Lucy? This isn’t one of those stories you read, this is real life. If he wanted Charles to himself, don’t you think he’d already have had me killed and taken Charles to Lenova first thing?”

“I find it laughable that you can state this is real life, when your one-night stand, who left your virgin-self pregnant with his child by the way, then came back as a billionaire prince. If that isn’t a classic romance fantasy setting, I don’t know what is.” She stated it as a matter of fact, both of us staring at each other in all seriousness until neither of us could hold it back any longer and we collapsed into laugher.

“You’re right, this is a classic romance novel come to life.” I chuckled as we moved to the living room and sprawled out on the couch. All the furniture and decorations would stay here in my house, all I’d packed from the living room had been pictures and family photo albums. James said the castle would have everything we needed.

“Maybe a movie will be made about your life one day?” Lucy whispered in awe.

“No.” Leaning up, I caught Lucy’s eye and flashed her a warning look. “Remember? All of this must stay a secret, or else Charles' future will be in jeopardy.”

“Yes, yes, your secrets are safe with me. Promise!” The petite blonde made a show of crossing her finger over her heart before sliding it across her lips to ‘lock’ them and throwing the invisible key over her shoulder. “I’m starving after rush packing your house, what should we do for lunch?”

Before I could answer her, the doorbell rang, surprising both of us. I wasn’t expecting any visitors. Lucy pulled her phone out of her pocket, probably to look through her door dash app to see what restaurant jumped out at her, while I climbed to my feet and headed for the door.

“Whatever you decide to order, let me know, I may add something to yours.” I called to her as I reached the door, leaning up on my toes to look through the peep hole. Gasping in surprise, I backed away, watching the door as if it were capable of swinging in on its own. What was he doing here? We’d agreed to meet later this afternoon for him to officially meet Charles. James had agreed to give me time to myself to accept everything that had happened and to get things in order at home and work. He wasn’t supposed to just show up at my door without warning.

“Who is it?” Lucy asked, her bare feet padding softly on the hardwood floor as she made her way into the foyer.

“It’s him,” I said.

“Him who?” She asked, brows scrunched together in confusion before looking towards the door in shock. “Oh! Oh! You mean ‘him’ him, 'royal baby daddy' him!” Lucy squealed in excitement, rushing to the door to look through the peep hole. “Oh me, oh my, you weren’t kidding, he’s delicious.”

“You do realize I can hear you, right?” James called through the door, amusement heavy in his tone.

“Oh, and that accent.” Lucy purred, fanning her flushed cheeks with one hand as she clutched her phone to her chest in the other.

As Lucy relived her girlish fantasies of prince charming riding in on a white horse, and James laughed at my friend’s antics, I rolled my eyes and pushed Lucy back towards the living room before pulling the door open. Despite steeling myself to be prepared for him, the moment the door swung open, and his beautiful blue eyes met mine, my stomach dropped, and my heart stuttered before coming to life with a vengeance. Those eyes should be illegal. Hell, that smile should be too, and his hair… Damn, just throw the entire man in the slammer to save women’s hearts everywhere. It was the only logical solution.

“Hello Julianna.” His velvety voice slid across my skin, raising goosebumps along my arms and neck. Sinful, and completely unfair, no man should hold such power. The fact that he was titled, and filthy rich, was too much. Maybe he was the devil… it’s the only thought that made sense. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“Excuse me?” I asked absently, blinking as I tried to pull my mind from the gutter it seemed pretty determined to drown itself in.

“You look as if you are deep in thought.” There was that sexy half-smile again, one corner of his mouth tilted up showing the flash of a dimple in his cheek. How had I never noticed that before?

Maybe because you’ve only ever been around him three times. The first instance you were rushing to get away from a terribly embarrassing situation. The second, you were confused as hell as to how he was in the cereal isle of the grocery store you frequented after not being able to find him for over a year. Last but not least, the third you were more focused on the fact that you wanted to replay the first meeting. I thought, chastising myself. And now we were married.

“I was just thinking you may be the devil, or at have least made a deal with him.” I answered honestly, crossing my arms as I leaned against the door jam, taking my visual fill of my new husband as he chuckled at my words.

“And why, pray tell, would you think that?” James asked, swiping his black suit jacket to the side as he slipped his hands into his pockets, and man if the vision he created wasn’t one to make a woman drool.

“I was just thinking, it’s unfair that you are as handsome as you are, and richer than Croesus, but it’s positively devilish that you are also a prince. Just all seems too good to be true.” Shrugging my shoulders, I stepped back out of the door way and waved him inside.

“What about Prince William? Or Prince Harry? Did they both make deals with the devil as well?” He asked, stepping inside and turning to close the door behind him.

“Oh no. Sure they have their titles and their accents, but they are no you.” I joked, glancing over in time to see the same half smile and dimple shinning through.

“I am a bit older than they are.”

“Yes, but that just adds to my case, because you are older and yet, that salt and pepper hair just makes you that much more attractive.” Arguing back as we stepped into the living room.

“She’s right, you give off major DILF vibes.” Lucy agreed from her spot on the couch where she was absently scrolling through restaurants to order from.

“Well, thank you very much Miss-.” James trailed off, flashing my friend one of those heart-stopping smiles that made my insides melt.

“Lucy, nice to meet you.” Blushing at the attention, Lucy glued her eyes back to her phone screen, and I completely understood that feeling.

“How is the packing coming along?” James asked, looking towards the pile of boxes in the foyer.

“Well, it’s coming.” I grumbled, “Slowly but surely. Lucy was helping me all morning while Izzy took Charles to the park. He’s too little to play but he loves nature walks.” James hid his emotions well, but I thought I’d see a little upset over the introduction with his son being put off longer, but instead he seemed unsurprised. “They should be back soon. Lucy and I were just about to order some lunch. Hungry?”

“Famished actually, I skipped breakfast to try and get my business in town finished as quickly as possible so we can leave as soon as you are ready. Let me get lunch, the least I can do after putting you through all of this. I’ll have someone pick up something. Any allergies?” Before me or Lucy could say anything, James had his phone in his hand, thumbs flashing along the keyboard as he fired a text off to someone.

“No, no allergies for either of us.” I answered softly. In seconds he was done, the phone slipped back into his pocket. “So, no guards today?”

“They’re outside.” He answered shortly, but something about the way he spoke had alarms going off inside my head.

“Are guards something I will need to get used to?” I asked, moving towards a shelf in the corner that held pictures of Charles and my parents. Picking them up, I moved to pack them away in the box.

“You will hardly notice.” James answered, matter of fact, his eyes scanning the picture frames laid out on various surfaces. I put them all out in rows to help me decide which ones I’d take and which ones I’d leave in storage.

“I think I’d notice huge, hulking bodyguards following me everywhere, James.” I chuckled softly, picking up a few of the frames to wrap in newspaper for their journey across the ocean.

“Did you notice the two men who’ve been staking out your street for the past week? Or the man who followed Izzy to the park with Charles?” My hands paused at his words, and I turned to face him slowly, my jaw dropping open in shock.

“You’ve had us watched?” I exclaimed in disbelief. Mostly I was surprised that I had been watched and followed for days and never noticed. Secondly, I couldn’t believe he’d ordered such a thing. I would have expected him to show some kind of regret, but he looked completely unbothered at having confessed he’d basically had me and our son stalked.

“Of course. The moment I knew you had my child, I had to insure you were safe. I hired a private company until I could get into town, then my own men took over the job.” I was speechless, which seemed to finally have some effect on James as he stepped forward and placed a hand carefully on my arm, his eyes meeting mine. “Julianna, I’m third in line for my countries throne, and I’m worth more money than you understand. Money I made through some less than savory means. I have made enemies over the years, enemies that if they knew I had a son would not hesitate to try and use him against me.”

While the action of having us watched still unnerved me, I had to admit that James was right in his call. I hadn’t considered that my son's life might be in danger because of his paternity. Before I could express that I understood why he’d done it, James’ phone dinged. Slipping it from his pocket, he read the message, his lips pressing into a thin line.

“Are you seeing someone, Julianna?” James’s voice was quiet, but there was a deadly steel there. What had that message said?

“No, of course not. I never have time to go out.” I answered honestly, looking at Lucy in confusion.

“She’s telling the truth. I’ve encouraged her to date, but she’s refused every time.” My friend backed me up, clicking her own phone off, the current drama too intense to ignore.

“Then why is there a man attempting to approach your house who claims to be your boyfriend?” My husband demanded, his bright blue eyes moving to capture my own before flashing back to his phone, thumbs flying across the keyboard.

“I have no idea.” I stammered, as confused as Lucy looked. I hadn’t so much as spoken to a man in any way except for things related to work. There was absolutely no reason for a man to be her claiming to be my boyfriend.

“I guess we will find out who he is then. My guards are letting him approach now.” Before he was done speaking, Lucy was racing around us, flying across the floor for the front door to get a first glance at the man claiming to have a relationship with me, through the peek hole. James and I followed her into the foyer, though now the tension between us was less s****l and more hostile in nature.

“Oh my god, Julianna, I know that if you had a boyfriend you’d have told me, but damn girl, where are all of these gorgeous men coming to claim your heart crawling out from? Because I want one of my own!” Lucy was practically drooling as she stood on her tip toes to press one eye to the tiny hole in the door. A knock sounded and Lucy danced back, but instead of moving to let me get to the door she cracked it open just enough for the person on the other side to get a glimpse of her face. “Hello there, can I help you?”

“Only if you can bring Julianna Ortega to the door.” A masculine voice stated rather rudely, a voice that I faintly recognized.

“Well, that was rude.” Lucy huffed, “How do you know Jules?”

“Not that it is any of your business, but she’s my girlfriend. We worked in New York together before she relocated here for work.” The man on the other side of the door stated brashly.

New York, girlfriend… It couldn’t be.

“Funny, she’s never mentioned you.” Lucy quipped back, still refusing to open the door any further.

“We had a bit of a falling out before her move. I’ve come to apologize.” His voice grew soft, with a sigh he continued. “I wasn’t trying to be rude before, I’ve just been worried and want to speak with her, please, is she home?”

“Funny you waited over a year to apologize and try to win her back.” I could kiss Lucy for her defense of my heart, she really was the best of friends despite our short acquaintance.

“It’s personal.” He said shortly. “Is she home or not?”

“It’s okay, Lucy, I’ve got this.” James said when it was apparent I was too frozen in place to take charge of the situation. As Lucy moved away from the door, James took her place, and though he opened the door a little further, it remained closed enough to hide me from view. “May I ask what your business is with my wife?”

“Wife?” The man demanded, “Julianna isn’t married. If she was, I’d know.”

“Don’t believe me, ask her yourself.” Without warning, James threw the front door open, the early afternoon sun bathing me in blinding light.

Blinking, my vision began to regulate to reveal none other than Joshua standing on my doorstep, just feet from my royal husband. s**t, my life really was a hallmark movie.