Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 198

*Shelby*

A soft knock sounded on the bedroom door. I was just getting up for the day, and the sound echoed through the bedroom, startling me. It was so out of place in our home. Michael wouldn’t knock on our bedroom door.

I reached over to his side of the bed and found it empty. He must have already gotten up for the day, but why would he feel the need to knock before entering his own room?

I grabbed my robe off the floor and slipped it on over my night dress. My stomach was swollen enough now that it no longer wrapped nicely around my silhouette. Instead, it parted around my stomach, draping on each side. I gently eased open the bedroom door to find a woman I had never met standing on the other side, holding a tray in her hands.

“I’m so sorry to wake you, Mrs. Astor, but I didn’t want your breakfast to get cold,” the woman said.

“I’m confused,” I said, not moving to let her into my room. “Who are you?”

“I’m your new housemaid, Jenny Alder. Your husband hired me to help you during your pregnancy,” the woman said with a bright smile.

“I wasn’t aware that my husband hired a new maid,” I said, still not moving.

We had decided to keep the staff at the townhouse to a minimum. I was uncomfortable having people in my house all the time. I never felt like I could truly relax with the staff there, and I felt like I could take care of myself. Michael, however, had grown up with house staff and barely seemed to notice they were there.

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Astor. I didn’t know that you weren’t made aware,” Jenny said, her cheeks coloring a soft shade of pink.

“It’s not your fault,” I said, feeling sorry for the woman. She was in no way to blame, and I didn’t want to put her in an impossible position. I stepped sideways and opened the door for her to come in.

“Where would you like me to put this?” Jenny asked, but I noticed she purposely avoided eye contact with me.

“Um, just on the nightstand,” I said, gesturing toward the bed.

Jenny quickly set the tray down and exited my room without another word. She shut the door softly behind her, smiling at me as it shut. I lifted the lid on the tray and uncovered a steaming omelet and a large helping of fruit.

My stomach growled at the smell of the food, but I ignored it, placing the metal cover back over the plate. I marched down the hall toward Michael’s office. On my way there, I passed not one but two other maids cleaning different parts of the house, each one smiling and offering a quiet, “Good morning, Mrs. Astor.”

By the time I reached his office, I was fuming. Michael was sitting at his desk, an empty plate at his side which had likely held a similar omelet to mine.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked in an angry tone.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Michael asked, worry in his eyes. “Is there something wrong with the babies?”

“No, there’s nothing wrong with the babies. I want to know who all of these people are in our house. Did you hire servants without even asking me first?” I yelled. I couldn’t help it, I was so tired of being treated like I was fragile.

Michael stood up and shut the door to the office.

“Shelby, I just wanted to take some weight off you. You’re supposed to take it easy, and I’m trying to help make sure that you do that,” Michael said, gently trying to calm me down.

I took a deep breath, knowing that this couldn’t be good for my b***d pressure. Michael put a gentle hand on my back and led me to the small leather sofa in his office.

“I thought we had agreed that we weren’t going to bring on staff here at the townhouse. You agreed that so much of our lives were out in the public eye, and we needed a place that was entirely our own. I thought you understood that I can’t feel comfortable living like this,” I said, trying to keep my temper from rising.

“I just thought that it would help you. Just for a little while, until the babies are born,” Michael said. “I understand that you want your privacy, but I don’t feel like you’re giving me many options here. You refuse to take it easy with work. This was the only thing I could think of to make you take it easy,” Michael said, his tone becoming more firm as he spoke.

“You don’t get to make these kinds of decisions on your own anymore, Michael,” I said, blowing out an angry breath. “We’re supposed to be a team. This is where I have to put my foot down. I don’t want any house staff. I just can’t live like that.”

“You won’t even consider keeping them on until you have the babies? You could stay in bed, get the rest that you need, and be completely taken care of. The chef has strict instructions on your diet to help keep the preeclampsia under control, and the maids will take care of all of the housework,” Michael said, pleading with me to take the help.

“You hired a chef too?” I asked. “How many people did you hire?”

“Well, the chef, three maids, and another driver,” Michael admitted.

I sighed deeply and rubbed my temples.

“I can’t deal with this right now. I need to get to work on Jonathan’s case. There is so much more paperwork than I first anticipated, and it seems as though this case is going to take a lot more time than I expected,” I said, pushing myself off the couch and onto my feet.

“Shelby,” Michael said pleadingly, rising with me.

“I know what it sounds like,” I said, kicking myself for making the case sound stressful. “But it’s not too much for me.”

“I know that you can handle it, Shelby. I just wonder if it’s the best thing for you to be working on right now. You have so many lawyer friends. Maybe you could refer this case to someone else for the time being.”

“I’m not going to give up my career…” I said, taking a big breath to make my case again. “When the kids get here, are you going to want me to give up everything I’ve worked so hard for? Are you going to want me to choose the kids over my career?”

Michael lifted his hands up to stop me before saying, “I’m not asking you to give up anything, Shelby. I just want you to take care of yourself. I don’t want to fight about this with you. I’m just saying that maybe you should think about what kind of harm this could cause.”

“I need my work,” I said firmly. “It helps me. I can’t sit in bed all day with nothing to do. I’ll go crazy.”

Michael only nodded and didn’t try to argue with me anymore. He just sighed deeply.

“Look, I know I haven’t handled all of this in the way you would have liked me to. I should have asked before bringing on any staff. I’m just trying to do something productive because, honestly, I feel so damn guilty about causing all of this. I can’t stand knowing that I’m the cause of all of it,” Michael admitted.

This admission completely took me by surprise.

“What do you mean you feel guilty?” I asked him, confused.

“Shelby, all of the stress that has been put on you over the past few months has been because of me. Marmie was trying to get a payout from me. That’s why you’re dealing with the stress that one of the babies may not be your own. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had to go to a fertility clinic in the first place. If you had just found someone other than me, you wouldn’t have had your life in danger because of my psychotic half-brother. All of the stress in your life is my fault,” Michael said.

Realization hit me at that moment. Here I was, worried that Michael wanted me to be someone I wasn’t when really he was just trying to fix what he thought he’d caused. I lowered myself back onto the couch next to him.

“Michael, I don’t blame you for any of this,” I said, softly setting my hand on his thigh.

“Well, maybe you should. I blame myself for all of it,” he said, laying his hand over mind and staring at the floor.

“Well, I don’t. I know that our life has been a bit of a roller coaster,” I said.

Michael snorted at my comment.

“Okay, that might be a bit of an understatement,” I said with a little laugh. “Our life together has been a complete whirlwind, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I wouldn’t trade you for anything. You’re worth it.”

Michael finally looked up at me and pushed a lock of my hair back behind my ear. He looked over every inch of my face as if he alone could catch a glimpse of the stress he was so scared of.

“I love you, Shelby.”

“I love you, too,” I said softly.

Michael brushed gentle k****s against my cheeks until he found my lips. With slow determination, he kissed me until I was breathless. He pulled back to look at me, worry still lingering in his eyes.

“I’ll reassign the staff today,” Michael said, kissing me softly.

“Thank you,” I said, leaning my forehead against his.

“Will you promise me one thing?”

“What is it?”

“I can’t have you overdoing it and getting hurt. Will you please call your friends and ask them for some help? If I can’t be here, and you don’t want to keep the staff, I need to know that you’re safe,” Michael said.

“I’ll call them this afternoon,” I responded.

Micheal kissed me again before helping me return to our room. As soon as he left, I pulled the tray onto my lap. I took a bite of the omelet and barely contained an embarrassing m**n from escaping my lips. Even though it was cold, the omelet was the best thing I had tasted in weeks.

I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to Michael.

“Maybe we should keep the chef on the townhouse staff for a while.”

I didn’t want to be taken care of, but Michael was right, I needed help. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I would have to rely on other people to make it through this pregnancy.