Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 197

*Shelby*

**One Week Later**

“I don’t see why I have to go in to get my b***d pressure checked again. I’m feeling so much better,” I said, shifting on the paper-covered exam table. After so many doctor visits, I was tired of hearing the sound of the paper under me and the smell of the office. I didn’t want to be there.

Michael raised an eyebrow at me. “They just want to make sure you and the babies are doing well. With the scare we had in France, can you really blame them for wanting to keep an eye on you?”

I sighed, knowing he was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it. The truth was that I didn’t want to be there for fear that my preeclampsia had gotten worse instead of better. If my b***d pressure didn’t start dropping, then I might even be put on bed rest, the very idea of which made me stir crazy. I had a hard enough time being still as it was.

“We’ve changed a lot of my schedule since France. I’m sure everything has gone back to normal,” I said, clutching the end of the exam table. I needed that to be true. I needed everything to be okay.

“I hope so, too,” Michael said with an understanding smile.

A soft knock sounded on the door, and Dr. Adams’ face appeared in the open doorway.

“Hey Shelby, how’s everything going? Have you had any concerns since the last time I saw you?” she asked, taking a seat on the rolling stool next to the bed.

“No concerns so far. I’ve been doing my best to take it easy,” I said.

“Have you reduced your stress?” she asked, looking at me questioningly.

I snorted. Stress had a way of finding us no matter how hard we tried to avoid it.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Dr. Adams said. “What about the diet plan I gave you?”

“I have followed that to a T. I even have Michael doing it with me,” I said with a smile.

“Good to hear,” Dr. Adams said, grabbing the b***d pressure cuff off the wall. “We’ll just check to make sure you’re still in a good range.”

Dr. Adams wrapped the cuff around my arm with a loud crunch of the velcro. The cuff tightened around my arm, and I tried to steady my breathing. I didn’t need my b***d pressure to be higher because I was anxious about it.

I watched Dr. Adams’ face for any indication of her thoughts. My heart sped up as I noticed her eyebrows knitting together.

“Not good news?” I asked nervously.

Dr. Adams sighed, slinging her stethoscope back around her neck. “Well, it isn’t in the danger zone yet, but it’s definitely headed in that direction. If you want to avoid bed rest, we have to get these numbers down. That means that you need to avoid all stress. Absolutely no stress at all. Zero,” Dr. Adams said, looking at me intently.

I laughed nervously. “I can’t seem to help it. Stress just finds me. It isn’t as if this is a typical pregnancy. I don’t know any woman who has avoided stress after finding out she may be pregnant with a child that may not even be hers.”

I took a deep breath and swallowed the anger that was bubbling up in my chest. That wasn’t even half of the stress I had to deal with, but I didn’t want to go into how Micheal’s ex had just turned up dead, possibly murdered. My doctor had to think we were crazy enough without all of that information.

“I know that this situation is anything but normal, but we’re talking about your health as well as your babies’. They’re depending on you. You need to find a way to keep yourself as calm as possible. Find anything that relaxes you, and run with it. Just take it as easy as possible,” Dr. Adams said gently.

“We’ll do whatever we need to do,” Michael said, putting a hand over mine. I hadn’t even noticed that he had gotten up to stand next to me. “I’ll do my best to make sure that she takes it easy,” he continued.

The rest of the appointment was a blur of questions, and I felt utterly exhausted as Micheal held the car door open for me and offered me his hand to help me inside.

“Do you want to stop for some lunch on the way home? I can run in and get some takeout for us. We could stop at that little sandwich shop you love and get you that strawberry salad you had a craving for yesterday,” Michael said as he slipped into the driver’s seat and put the key in the ignition.

“I just want to go home,” I said, trying my best to keep the tears from falling. I had been so sure that my preeclampsia had not progressed. I had been so careful with what I ate, even though I knew deep down that I had not taken it as easy as I could have.

“Everything will be okay,” Michael said softly, pulling out of the doctor’s office parking lot. He didn’t push me into talking about it. He just reached out and squeezed my thigh as we drove away.

I nodded, then stared out the window the rest of the way home.

Michael rushed to my side and opened my door for me as soon as we pulled up to the townhouse. He was apparently going to make sure I did as little as possible, not even opening my own door if I didn’t have to. I grabbed his hand and let him help me get out of the car.

As we were walking up to the front door, my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I quickly answered it, seeing that it was a possible client I had been emailing back and forth for weeks.

“Hello, Jonathan. What can I do for you?” I said into my phone.

Michael gave me a quizzical look before turning around and unlocking the front door. I ignored him and walked into the house, sitting down on the sofa to finish my conversation. Michael stayed silent but took a seat across from me, watching me closely as I talked on the phone.

Jonathan gave me all of the details of the struggles he had been going through with his ex-wife for the last three years. He had two little boys that meant the world to him, but his ex-wife was making it increasingly difficult for him to see them, even going as far as purposely missing Jonathan’s scheduled visitation with the boys. She had recently gotten remarried and didn’t want to have to deal with shared custody anymore.

“Great, Jonathan. Just send those documents to my email, and I’ll look everything over. I know that custody battles can be excruciating, but I think you have a very strong case. I’ll let you know what I come up with in a few days,” I said, ending the call.

“Custody battle?” Michael asked as soon as the phone left my ear. “Did you just take on another case?”

“Yeah, I’ve been sending emails back and forth with this client for weeks. He’s been struggling with this custody battle for years. I guess he finally got tired of his lawyer not doing enough. He wants me as a consultant on his case,” I answered.

“Do you really think you should be taking on new clients right now?” Michael asked, raising his eyebrow at me.

“It’s not like I’m taking on his entire case. He’s just hiring me to advise him on the next steps to take,” I said defensively. I didn’t see how talking on the phone and doing light research was going to put me in jeopardy.

“Did you not hear what the doctor just told us?” Michael asked, looking exasperated.

“Yes, I heard her. I need to keep being careful with my diet and avoid stress,” I said, keeping my voice steady.

“Shelby, your work is anything but relaxing,” he said, gesturing to my phone, which was already buzzing with incoming emails. “I thought that maybe this appointment would’ve been a wake-up call that you need to step back even more.”

“Are you kidding me right now?” I asked pointedly. “You promised me that if we had kids, I wouldn’t be expected to give up my career. You know how important my career is to me. I worked so hard to get to where I am, and I am not going to give it up to be a stay-at-home mom, Michael.”

He put his hands up in mock surrender, “Wow, that’s not even close to what I was getting at, Shelby. You only have a few more months until you deliver the babies. I’m not asking you to give up your career, and you know that. I’m only suggesting that maybe you take some time away so you can take care of yourself and our children. A few months, that’s it.”

I took a deep breath before responding, “I need my work. I’ll go crazy if I have to sit in this house with nothing to do until the babies get here.”

The truth was, I’d always needed my work. Whether it was preparing for school or a new case, the routine had always helped ground me. I need that more than even in our current situation.

“I understand that. I just thought maybe you could find some hobbies that would be more relaxing than dealing with stressful legal battles,” Micheal said gently, clearly not wanting to upset me.

“What am I supposed to do, Michael? Sit at home and knit all day?” I asked sarcastically.

I knew I was being over dramatic and sensitive, but the thought of losing all control over my life was just too much. My work was the only thing left that was truly mine, and I had already given up my job at Stockton and Associates when Ryan took over. What more was I going to have to walk away from?

“I’m just trying to keep you and the babies safe,” Michael said softly. “I just want you to be happy.”

“Then let me work,” I said harshly.

Michael nodded silently before standing.

“Okay, I won’t say anything more about it,” he said, defeated. “I’m going to go make you something to eat.”

Michael walked to the kitchen without waiting for me to respond, and I instantly felt guilty for how harsh I had been. He was just as worried as I was about our babies. He just dealt with it in a different way. My anxiety was coming out as anger.

Damn pregnancy hormones.