Lethal Affair by Noelle Hart

enjoyed the scrumptious buffet
whilst catching up on their only child's life.
    Kylie was nervous and exhausted. She'd
tossed and turned all night as dreams of wicked clowns with
bursting balloons had assaulted her, and then when those had
finally abated, other more sensual dreams had taken their place.
Horny, indeed.
    Problem was, it had been Will Delaney
holding her in a sweaty embrace and not Drew. She'd woken both
aroused and vaguely upset. She guessed raging hormones were at the
base of it and realized that her choice of dream lovers was
something she couldn't control.
    Bigger problem: how were her parents
going to take the news of her pregnancy?
    Rita, a mature, slightly plump version
of her daughter, laid a hand over Kylie's. Her motherly radar was
in perfect working order. “What's wrong, baby? Something's
troubling you. No, don't try to pretend I'm not right.”
    Joe, mild-mannered but nobody's fool,
accepted coffee from a meandering waitress and chimed in, “I see it
too, angel. Something on your mind?”
    Kylie put her hands up. “Got me. No
sliding anything past the two of you.”
    They gazed at her
patiently.
    “ It's best if I cut to the
heart of the matter. Mom, Dad, I'm pregnant.”
    Joe's cup clattered into its saucer
while Rita's eyes went wide. She was the first to recover. “You
just dropped a bomb!”
    Kylie waited for the explosion and
wasn't disappointed.
    “ Who's the father?” demanded
Joe, turning red in the face.
    Kylie braced herself for a possibly
heartbreaking conversation. “His name is Drew Hammond. He works for
an accounting firm.”
    “ You mean Hammond, Chase and
Waters? They do our accounting.”
    That shook her a little. She hadn't
known that. “He's Stanley Hammond's son.”
    “ I know of Stanley Hammond,”
said Joe, his color diffusing back to normal. “He's the senior
partner. It's a reputable firm or we wouldn't let them touch our
books. I wasn't even aware he had a son.”
    Rita tapped her water glass with her
fork. “Hello? Are you two through discussing accounting yet? Can we
move on to something a little more titillating, like say, the fact
that our daughter is pregnant?”
    “ Take it easy, Rita. Kylie,
how long have you been seeing this young man?”
    “ About four months.
He's...”
    “ That's all?” interrupted
Rita. “That's not long enough to really know a person. How did this
happen?”
    Kylie rolled her eyes. “The usual way,
Mom.”
    Joe stared above her head as his mind
went there and then quickly diverted.
    Rita soldiered on. “Didn't you use
protection? I thought you were on the pill.”
    “ I went off it, Mom. Had to
give my body a break.”
    “ This was an accident. Oh
sweetie, have you told him yet? What was his reaction?”
    “ He wants to marry
me.”
    Another bomb. It had its effect as
they both sat back in their chairs as though the situation might
contaminate them.
    Rita found her voice while Joe gaped.
“What did you say?”
    Kylie shrugged. “I told him I would
think about it.”
    Joe fixed her with an
intense stare. “Let's look at the facts. You got pregnant by way of
an accident, and
the father wants to take responsibility. He's got a decent job and
you obviously like him or you wouldn't be in this particular
predicament. The real question is, are you going to give him the
opportunity to do right by the child?” When she made a face, “Now
Kylie, life is full of twists and turns and we raised you to roll
with them. A baby is a big deal. A child needs family, and we can
provide this child with just that. Your mother and I will pay for
the wedding.”
    Kylie had let him rally but now she
took back control. “I said I need time to get know Drew better. I'm
not even sure if I love him. There will be no wedding just yet and
regardless of how this turns out I'll do the right thing for the
baby. One thing's for sure; I'm keeping it no matter what. Not the
kid's fault if it was created haphazardly, so the kid will have a
good life.