Peter smiled out his home office window and watched the leaves gently fall. He had taken to working from home now. Fibbing to his staff, he told everyone at work that he'd been sick for 2 weeks and that after he had gotten better, his doctor told him he needed to rest and work less. So, everyone at work had plowed along without him and when he returned, virtually, they just tolerated however much work he wanted to put in. He was the CEO after all.
Julie had been at his vacation home and had been his for 4 months now. Her belly pleasantly started to push forward with his child and he kept telling her to dress in tight fitting shirts. His heart leapt every time he saw her growing stomach, he couldn't help it. He was thrilled and in disbelief that he had finally naturally conceived a child.
He also couldn't have been happier having Julie to in his own all to himself. They had sex nearly every day, Julie usually needed a few commands but then would comply with everything he wanted to do. She also smiled and seemed to enjoy it and Peter took a lavish amount of time making sure she'd be happy and comfortable both in and out of bed.
He furnished her with an entirely new wardrobe with more expensive clothes than she had ever had before. He bought her books that she said she was interested in, he bought a piano after she said she enjoyed playing, he even got her a video game console after she mentioned fond memories of playing certain games as a kid. The one thing he had said no to was her continuing school - even with online classes. She had started begging him but he shut it down quickly.
"No classes, love." He had told her. "At least not for now. School and classes are demanding and stressful and so is being pregnant and I don't want any undue stress on you and our baby."
Julie also seemed to make it through the trials of her first trimester pretty well. She had thrown up a couple of times but hadn't been sick every day. For a while she was nauseated frequently but seemed to find tricks that helped her; having snacks at certain times of day helped and certain food like those ginger candies every pregnant woman seems to have also helped.
Peter had been nervous at first about what to do about the baby's development and Julie's medical check-ups. He had no intention of neglecting her health and especially didn't want to jeopardize the health of the baby but he was very nervous about taking Julie anywhere off the property. "What if she's seen and recognized? What if she actually runs away once we're in town? What if she tells the doctor I'm holding her here?" Thoughts ran through his head as worry creeped up.
After several days researching, Peter concluded the best path forward was to have everyone come to Julie at his house. That way Peter could screen the companies and people before they met Julie and he could control the environment. All he had to do was be very clear in his commands to her: "You will go through all the check-ups and do what the doctor tells you. You will deny any abuse or feelings of not being safe and will never tell any provider that I've take you and kept you here."
So, they moved forward like that, with quick checkups being completed in the home, Peter could be present for all of them. Not only to play the role of doting new father (which wasn't an act at all for Peter) but to also control any potential slip ups by Julie and supervise her. She'd gotten her blood drawn a few times (so far everything is normal) and even had a portable ultrasound. Peter had been beyond thrilled and proud to learn they were having a boy.
"My son!" Peter couldn't help reminding himself as he smiled. His thoughts occasionally drifted to Edna, the fortune teller that started this whole mess. He didn't know if he believed in any of that stuff but he couldn't deny what she had told him was becoming true. Her words and warning still rang in his head though, "Keep her close until the baby comes."
So far, keeping Julie close wasn't too much of a problem. Peter came back to reality and realized it was the end of his workday. He logged off his computer and wandered through the house, intent on find Julie.
He wandered into his library and saw her, curled up on a small but comfortable couch, a light loosely knit blanket thrown over her legs. She was intently reading the book and hadn't yet noticed him walk in. She wore a tight pink T shirt that showed a small but growing bump and soft yoga pant that showed every curve Peter wanted to see.
