The Baby Proposal

“Yay!” Lana leaped into his arms and hugged him close. She buried her nose in his neck, drawing in the scent of his cologne. The familiar musk of her best friend drew a decidedly physical response from deep inside her that she wasn’t expecting with everything else that was going on. Her heart started racing in her chest as she held his spicy male scent in her lungs and enjoyed his arms wrapped tightly around her. No one held her like he did, and there was no one she wanted to hold her more than Kal.

Then she felt him stiffen awkwardly against her. She pulled herself out of the romantic fog she’d let herself accidentally slip into. This wasn’t the reaction of someone who was comfortable with his decision. She drew back and looked at the lines on his face that reflected conflict and shame instead of excitement and confidence. Lana needed to remember that this was all for show. It might be her innermost secret fantasy coming to life, but he was only doing this for her because it was important and they were friends, not for any other reason. She needed to save her physical reactions to him for public consumption or she’d scare him off.

“Are you really okay with this?” she asked.

“No,” he said, ever honest, “but I’m going to do it anyway. For you.”

His words nearly brought tears to her eyes. She leaned in to hug him again and spoke softly into his ear. “Thank you for being the best friend a girl could ever have. I owe you big-time.”

Kal chuckled, a low rumble that vibrated against her chest and made her want to snuggle closer to him. “Oh, you have no idea.”

The door of the room opened again and Lana pulled away from Kal to turn to Dexter. “We’re getting married,” she announced before he could change his mind.

Dexter looked at Lana, then curiously at Kal and his pained expression. “Excellent. Shall I draw up a prenup? I presume that assets won’t comingle, and everyone keeps what they have going into the union?”

“Sure,” Lana said. Part of her thought that Kal might balk at the idea of a prenuptial agreement, but she wanted him to have that protection. She didn’t want any of his stuff and she wanted to make sure he knew it. “I don’t want him getting his hands on my old-school hi-fi system.”

Kal turned to look at her. “Your what?”

“It has a turntable. Records are cool again.”

He just shook his head. “Draw something up and we’ll come back to sign it in the morning. We’ll get married tomorrow afternoon assuming the wedding pavilion at the hotel isn’t booked. That should be good enough for the judge, right?”

“The two of you married and living in that big new house...oh yeah.” Dexter nodded enthusiastically. “Then you’ll just have to put on a good show for Child Services when they come for home visits. If you can pull this off, it will make my job ten times easier.”

“Okay,” Kal said, pushing up from his seat. “We’ll see you in the morning, then.” He reached out for Lana’s hand, something he’d never done before. “Come on, honey. We’ve got a lot of plans to make if we’re going to get married tomorrow afternoon.”

Lana twisted her lips in amusement. The stiff way he said the words was proof enough that he was really uncomfortable with the situation but was too good of a friend to say no. She didn’t say anything, though. Instead she took his hand and they walked out of the attorney’s office together.

They were silent until they got back to the car. Kal had parked his F-type Jaguar convertible in the shade on the far side of the parking lot. Lana had always loved Kal’s car. It was the kind of vehicle that motor-heads fantasized about. Lana drove an old Jeep without doors, so this felt superluxurious. As she climbed in beside him and looked around this time, however, she realized they had an issue.

“Kal?”

“Yeah?” he asked as he started the engine and it roared to life.

“You drive a two-seater convertible and I drive a Jeep Wrangler without doors or a roof.”

Kal pulled the car out of the parking lot and onto the main highway. “And?”

“And...I don’t think we can put a car seat in either of those.”

“Hmm,” he said thoughtfully as they went down the highway. “You’re probably right. It’s never something that’s mattered before. I’ll have someone bring a car over. I’ll lease one for as long as we have Akela. What do you think is responsible enough? A minivan? An SUV with all the airbags? Or would you rather have a sedan of some kind?”

She hadn’t really thought that far ahead, as evidenced by this predicament. “Not a minivan. That’s all I ask. Other than that, as long as it has a backseat I can put a car seat in and will protect her from the elements, I think I’m good. Thank you.”

“No problem.” Kal looked past her toward the shopping center they were coming up on. “Since we’re discussing the ways we’re completely unprepared for marriage and parenthood, I think we need to make a pit stop.”

Lana held on as he whipped the car into the parking lot and came to a stop outside a baby supercenter. She’d only set foot in it once, to buy a baby shower gift for Mele. “I don’t know what we need yet. I’ve got to go by Mele’s apartment and see what she has.”

Kal shook his head and turned off the car. “No, you don’t. We’re getting all new stuff. Come on.”

Lana leaped out of the car and jogged to catch up with him. “Are you serious? I can’t afford to buy all new baby things.”

Kal pulled his dark sunglasses down his nose to look at her with an expression that could’ve melted a woman’s panties right off. Lana had learned early on that when he looked at her that way, it wasn’t smoldering, it was irritation.

“You’re not buying it. I am.”

She suspected he might say that. “This is too much, Kal,” she complained. He simply ignored her, going into the store ahead of her. “Kal!” she finally shouted with her hands planted on her hips.

He stopped and turned around to look at her. “What is the problem?”

She narrowed her gaze at him. Women she’d had as friends over the years had asked her how she could be friends with a man as hot at Kal and not want more. While she convinced herself she didn’t want more, she used this as exhibit number one: he was stubborn as an ox. “It’s too much.”

“We’re already getting married and moving in together to pull this off. What is too much, exactly?”

She knew he was right. “I don’t want you to buy a ton of things. We might only have her for a few weeks.”

“Or we might have her for years. Either way, she needs a place to sleep, food, clothes, diapers... If it makes you happy, I’ll donate everything to charity when we’re done. It won’t go to waste, okay?”

Lana bit at her bottom lip but knew she’d lost this battle before it started. Kal wasn’t about to decorate the baby’s nursery with the thrift store finds they collected from Mele’s apartment. “Fine.”

Inside the store, Kal waved his finger at the manager standing behind the customer service desk. “We’re going to need some assistance.”

The woman came forward, polite, but curious about his forwardness. “What can I help you with, sir?”

“With everything. We’re buying it all, so I need someone to jot down what we choose as we go through the store and have it delivered to my home.”

The manager seemed flustered but grabbed a clipboard and the registry scanner and went straight to leading him up and down the aisles. Lana tried not to roll her eyes. Why Kal couldn’t just get a cart and shop like a normal person, she didn’t know.

She figured it out soon, however. There wasn’t a cart big enough. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he was going to buy everything. It took about two hours to go through the entire store. They bought a complete bedroom suite with a crib, changing table, dresser, lamp and rocking chair. They got bedding, a mobile, a car seat, a high chair, a stroller and a swing. Diaper bags, bottles, cases of baby food and diapers, medicine, shampoo...you name it. They even bought about twenty outfits and pajamas.

It was exhausting, but Lana had to admit Kal had good taste. Everything he selected was beautiful. The furniture for the nursery was a soft gray color that complemented the star and moon bedding set. It was enchanting for a baby’s room. Hopefully Akela would love all her new things as much as Lana did. She was so young, she probably couldn’t appreciate most of it, but the toys Kal purchased last would be a big hit with the baby at least.

As they finished selecting the last few things, Lana took a step back and counted her blessings. There was no way she could make any of this happen without Kal. He was an amazing friend and person. Not just for agreeing to marry her, but for all of it.

She really didn’t understand why Kal was determined to stay single. He insisted he was too busy for that sort of thing, but she didn’t believe it. He was the kind of man who could make any dream into reality. If he wanted a family, all he had to do was snap his fingers and women would line up to volunteer for the job. He was tall and muscular with a build they would clamor to run their hands over. His hair was dark and wavy, and his skin was golden brown. His smile could melt her defenses. Honestly, when he was wearing one of his expensive suits and marching around the hotel like a man on a mission, she had a hard time figuring out why she didn’t just throw herself at him.

She joked about what a pain he could be, how stubborn he was, what a playboy he was to go through women the way he did. The truth was far different. She loved Kal. He was the best thing in her life, where she didn’t have much outside of her job and her friendship with him to rave about. If she really let herself think about it, she probably would want him. It was just a ridiculous thought, so she never let herself have it.

Kal was simply too good for her. He was educated, rich, cultured and from an important family. Yes, they could be friends and even fake husband and wife, but a real relationship with a woman like her? Even if he was open to marriage, he wouldn’t choose her. She was really surprised he agreed to fake marry her considering her sister was in jail and her family was such a mess. Their friendship made it possible and she would cling to that for dear life. It was better than any romantic relationship, anyway.

It sure made dating hard, though. Where would she find a man to measure up to Kal? It was impossible, and she’d certainly tried. Over the last few years, she’d gone through a steady stream of losers. None even came close to Kal. Not only was he handsome and ridiculously rich, but he was funny, kind, thoughtful... She couldn’t have chosen a better best friend. And come tomorrow, a better husband, even if just for show. All she’d expected him to do was sign on the dotted line, hold her hand in court and act like a loving husband in public. Instead he was paying a small fortune, fully committing to making this work. All to make Lana happy.

Lana didn’t know why Kal was single, but it was easy to see why she couldn’t commit to someone else.

Three (#u7e5f3ed9-1439-5bba-819e-82231a9b6fd7)

Kal straightened the bow tie of his white tuxedo and looked himself over in the mirror. He certainly looked like a groom. He was as nervous as he imagined a groom would be. But that spark of excitement was missing. It just all felt awkward. Backward. Definitely not how he’d intended to spend his Tuesday.