The Billionaire Accidental Son

Hannah's POV

At 4:12 in the morning, after three years of IVF treatments and two miscarriages, my son finally came into the world with a loud cry.

The sound filled the whole delivery room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. I pushed myself up from the pillow even though my body was shaking and covered in sweat. The nurse lifted a small red baby above the sheet and placed him carefully on my chest.

"Seven pounds, two ounces, and he has strong lungs," she said with a smile. "Congratulations, Mommy. He's beautiful, and he's loud enough for everyone on this floor to hear him."

His hair was dark and thick. His tiny hands moved in the air. The moment his skin touched mine, I forgot every painful injection and every embryo that never grew. All I could see was my son Leo.

"Hi, baby. Mommy is here. I'm right here, and I waited so long for you," I whispered as I touched his cheek with one finger. Tears ran down my face and onto his skin. He became quiet against me right away.

Brett stood next to the bed holding up his phone and recording everything.

"Look at that face. Our miracle baby," he said with a big grin while looking at the screen. "After all those years of trying and all those doctors telling us maybe next time, here he is, healthy and loud. Say hello to I*******m, Hannah."

He leaned down and kissed my forehead while keeping the phone in a good position so it could catch the kiss.

"Welcome to the world, Leo Ashcroft. Mom and baby are doing great," he told his followers. Then he stopped the recording, took our son from my arms, and held him in a slightly awkward way until the nurse adjusted his arm. "That's my boy."

For one perfect moment, I truly believed that nothing bad could ever happen to us again.

By noon, so many flowers from Brett's business partners filled the room that they blocked half the window. My mother-in-law sent white roses and then walked in right behind them wearing an expensive cream-colored coat. From the day I married Brett, Diane Ashcroft had never hugged me without her body becoming stiff.

Even so, I sat up straighter in the bed. "Diane, thank you for coming."

She gave me a short nod and walked straight over to the bassinet where Leo was sleeping.

Brett stood up from the chair. "Mom, meet your grandson. Isn't he perfect?"

Diane bent over Leo and looked at him carefully. Her eyes moved from his forehead to his nose and then to his dark hair. Her mouth became a straight line.

"He doesn't look like an Ashcroft," she said as she stood up straight again. "All the Ashcrofts have light-colored hair and fair skin."

The nurse stopped writing in her notes.

"Babies change a lot in the first few weeks," I said and forced myself to laugh. "His hair color could be completely different by the time he turns one."

Diane touched one of her pearl earrings. "Maybe. But genetics are interesting, aren't they?"

Brett laughed, but the sound came a second too late. "Mom, come on. He was born two weeks early, and he already has more hair than I had when I was six months old. That's all it is."

While he spoke, his eyes stayed on Leo's dark hair.

"Has the pediatrician said anything about his coloring?" Diane asked.

I held the bedsheet tightly with both hands. "No. Why would he?"

"I'm only asking, Hannah. Someone in this family should ask these questions."

"Then please stop," I said in a sharp voice.

Diane looked straight at me, and her eyes became cold. "Excuse me?"

"I gave birth only eight hours ago. I spent three years getting injections and dealing with failed attempts. I lost two babies before this one, and I was so scared that I didn't buy him a single piece of clothing until I was in my third trimester. Please do not stand over his bassinet and suggest that my son is a mistake just because of his hair color."

Brett moved Leo to his other arm. "Hannah, calm down. Mom didn't mean anything bad. You're exhausted because you gave birth this morning, and you're hearing things she never said. Today is supposed to be a happy day."

Diane picked up her handbag. "Of course I didn't mean anything bad. I simply believe we should ask questions before this family spends millions of dollars raising a child who might not even be ours." She kissed Brett on the cheek, completely ignored me, and walked out of the room.

I waited for my husband to defend me.

Instead, he rocked Leo gently and said in a quiet voice, "You know how my mother is."

"Yes, I know," I answered. "And you never stand up to her."

The room became quiet after Brett left to go home and get a few things. Leo drank milk from my breast under the soft light of the bedside lamp. His hair looked almost black in that light. I brushed it softly with my thumb.

"Don't listen to Grandma, baby. You are perfect. You are mine. And nobody has the right to tell you anything different."

But Diane's words kept repeating in my mind, and I started thinking about the morning at Brightwater Fertility Clinic when they placed the embryo inside me.

That morning I arrived holding Brett's hand tightly while he complained about a work conference call. He kissed my cheek and left, promising he would come back in time. The clinic smelled like cleaning products and burnt coffee. I was lying on the table and looking up at the ceiling when a young lab technician walked in carrying my file.

She had pale skin and a small scar next to her eyebrow. Her hands in the gloves were shaking as she checked the papers.

"Mrs. Ashcroft? Can you please confirm your full name and date of birth for me?"

I told her. She looked at the band on my wrist, then at the file, and then at the file again.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"No, everything is fine," she said very quickly. She would not look me in the eyes.

Back then I thought she was just nervous. All I wanted was a baby, so I didn't ask any more questions.

Now I could not stop wondering why her hands had been shaking that day.

Brett came back into the room with his jacket hanging over one shoulder. He leaned over the bed, but once again his eyes went down to Leo's hair.

I pulled Leo closer to my body. "Brett, you don't believe what your mother said, do you? You don't really think there is something wrong with our baby."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not going to talk about this tonight, Hannah. It has been a long day, and I have barely slept since yesterday."

"I haven't slept either. I just need to know that you trust me. I cannot fight your mother and you at the same time, especially when I can barely stand up yet."

He looked at me for several seconds and then reached for his phone. "I trust you. Get some sleep."

He sat down in the armchair and turned his body away from us. The light from the phone screen made his face look blue. That same phone had recorded Leo's first cry.

I stayed awake with Leo held close against me. For the first time since he was born, I felt afraid. My husband had started looking at our son as if he was searching for proof of something wrong.

Two weeks after Leo was born, about forty guests and many blue balloons filled the living room of the Ashcroft house for his welcome-home party. I wore a light blue dress and used makeup to hide how tired I looked.

Leo slept against my chest while Brett's friends congratulated him on having a son. Everyone took photos and called Leo a miracle, and for about one hour I almost believed them.

Brett was talking with some investors when Diane walked into the middle of the room holding a sealed white envelope. All the conversations stopped. My heart started beating very hard.

Diane put the envelope into Brett's hand and turned to face the guests with a bright smile.

"I thought it was time we settled a small family matter. Open it, darling. Families like ours test everything."