His Assistant ✅

35. Unexpected Conversations

Work is incredibly boring today. Maya had her usual, annual check-up which left the office feeling empty. I keep checking my cell, making sure she hasn't called or texted but nothing appears which shouldn't shock me. My fiancée was an independent woman who pretended to need me to make me feel better. I put my phone back down and sigh, returning to my work until my phone rings.

I press the speaker button and ask Penny what it is she needs. "There's a visitor for you in the lobby. Says his name is Shawn." My blood runs cold. I only knew one man named Shawn and he happened to be the man that helped raise the woman I'm spending the rest of my life with. A man who explicitly told me not to propose to his daughter. We hadn't heard from him since our engagement and I figured it was because he had the same thoughts as his vocal counterpart.

"Let him in." I reply and within seconds the door is opening and Shawn is walking in wearing a pair of jeans and a red flannel. "Shawn. Hi." I stand to greet him as he moves towards my desk. "What can I do for you today?" His eyes travel over to his daughter's desk that lies across from mine, his lips pursing into a thin line.

"Where's Maya?"

I clear my throat. "She's uh at a doctor's appointment. Just a routine check-up." My phone buzzes then with a text from Maya. I want to know what she needs but I can't bring myself to pick up my phone in front of her father. "Is there something I can do for you?" I ask again.

He comes to sit in front of my desk and I take that as my cue to sit as well. "Remember when you asked for my blessing to marry Maya?" I nod my head because I remembered it well but after Maya told me that she didn't need the blessing, admittedly I moved on from thinking I'd ever get it and proposed anyway. "Do you remember what I said?"

I nod once more. "I do but all due respect sir, she's a grown woman and she can answer a question without your permission."

"Right" he replies curtly. "So, she knows then? That I said no."

"I told her as soon as we left that afternoon. She told me that she loved me, that we were adults who could make our own decisions and that while your blessing would be preferred, it wasn't a requirement. I told you that I loved her. I told you I was going to ask her. I gave you a chance to accept that."

He sits up straighter. "You do realize that all I asked of you was to wait a year or two in order to make sure you were ready-."

"I didn't need another year. Hell, I didn't need another second. Waiting as long as I did felt like waiting for rain in a damn drought. She's the love of my life and I refuse to waste a single second with her. Now, really, did you come here to lecture me like a petulant child or do you have a purpose for bothering me at my place of work?"

"Josh." Suddenly, the door opens and Maya is standing in the doorway. "Oh. You're still here" she says, staring at her dad as I stand up to greet her properly. Her eyes flicker towards me. "Penny called me and told me that my dad was here. Are you okay?" she asks worriedly. I smile, leaning down to kiss her.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" I ask as we pull apart, my hand lingering on her waist.

"Mhm" she hums, looking past me towards her father. "What is he doing here?"

"He has ears" Shawn says, standing up to join us. "And he's here because he was hoping that he'd convince the two of you to press pause on all of this. I mean, you're a partner now?" he exclaims, pointing to her desk. "And engaged. What's next? Don't tell me he's already managed to knock you up" he says, staring pointedly at his daughter.

Maya shrugs. "What if he had?" My heart drops. Not because I don't want children but because she's on the pill for a reason. Marriage and then babies.

"What?" I murmur, looking down at Maya, speechless.

"Answer me this dad, do you want to read a news article about your grandchildren being born or be at the hospital, holding them in your arms. Because yes, I'm a partner at this foundation and yes, I'm Josh's fiancée and while I'm not pregnant" she says, looking at me reassuringly. "I am planning to be sooner rather than later. And I'm happy. So incredibly happy and you can understand and support that, or not. It's up to you."

And for the second time this week I'm left in awe of the woman I'm lucky to call mine.

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Shawn leaves soon after that. He doesn't suddenly agree with our decisions but unlike his wife, he's reasonable and open to working things out which I know is something that is truly important to my fiancée even if she won't admit it out loud. Too many men have let her down in her life, she needed Shawn to break that cycle.

"So, how was the doctor today?" I ask while Maya and I sit on the couch with dinner in front of us. The girls were upstairs finishing up some last minute packing which allowed us to have some alone time not locked in our bedroom. So, we made frozen pizza, grabbed the wine and cuddled up in front of the television.

"Oh. It was fine" she shrugs, chuckling softly as she recalls the pregnancy ruse she pulled today. "It was kind of weird though. In all my years of going to the OB, I never had to answer yes when they asked if I could be pregnant." I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. She hadn't been a virgin when we met...not that she had slept around but still, she'd been with a man before.

"How?" I ask confusedly. She purses her lips, wiping grease from them with a napkin before responding.

"I'd had sex before we met but never as frequently. At most, Caleb and I had sex twice a month" she shrugs making my eyes widen. "When I'd go to the doctor the timing just never lined up for me to answer yes. Until today" she chuckles. "And let me tell you, there's a sort of panic that starts when you're sitting in that chair waiting for your doctor to read the results of that damn test."

"I can imagine it's a lot like the panic I felt today when you implied the results were positive" I reply, taking another piece of pizza from the plate in front of me. "Not that I don't want to have kids. I think I've made my stance on that perfectly clear."

"Oh trust me, you have" she chuckles, grabbing her wine glass and taking a long sip. "But I like the idea of having you to myself for a bit" she adds as her lips quirk into a grin. "And really, there's no rush. My doctor assured me that after I wean off the pill it should only take a couple months for me to start ovulating again and furthermore we have like ten-ish years before I even hit the high risk category."

My eyes widen as explains this so nonchalantly, while all I can focus on is-. "You asked your doctor about kids? O-our kids?"

She furrows her eyebrows, looking at me as if I've suddenly lost my mind. "Of course I did. We've been talking about kids a lot lately and while I'd like a bit of a longer engagement, after that, when we're married I want us to start a family. And we've already established that you feel the same so-."

"How many kids?" I ask, excitement welling up inside me like it always did when we discussed our lives together.

She laughs. "Let's start with one and see what happens. Mkay?"

"Fine" I grumble, sad to see my game end. "But for the record, you're going to be an incredible mom."

She smiles, leaning in closer. "Maybe, but there'll be no better dad than you" she says before closing the small gap between us and pressing her lips to mine.