The Perfect Stranger

Chapter Twenty

I was both excited and nervous for Alex to get home today. I kept glancing out our large front windows for his car to appear in the driveway. The sun was already pretty low which meant he was due home at any time. I'd made a special dinner for him, baked chicken, vegetables, salad, bread, wine - the works. I sent Claude home after he was done washing my dishes and instructing me when I got nervous, but everything had been made by me.

I heard a car door slam and like an excited puppy, skipped to the front door. I peered out the window and watched my handsome husband-to-be walk up the steps. His jacket was unbuttoned and opened as he walked against the wind, briefcase in hand, looking deliciously serious and handsome. I loved seeing him come home from work and unwind, relax from being the Prime Minister's Son to Alex - my fiance.

He opened the front door and looked surprised to see me waiting for him. "Hi," he said, smiling. He kissed me, his free hand at the small of my back, bringing me closer to him.

"Hi," I replied, smiling up at him as he pulled away. He set his briefcase by the door and took his suit jacket off, hanging it on our coat rack.

The past few weeks had blurred by, with all of our furniture shopping and wedding planning that we had accomplished. Most of the time it was me shopping alone or with Tatiana since Alex worked during the week, but he would accompany me into the city to go to Ikea and wander around for three weekends in a row, before putting his foot down for tomorrow. We had almost every room furnished (except for our future children's rooms, we had decided to keep those bare or use them for storage for the time being) but it was only the essential pieces. It was the paintings, and decorations I was after now. Those would take time, Alex reassured. As for our wedding planning, I had met with our planner a few times since we last saw her at our venue. We met with our florist and our caterer and had video chatted with Lauren to check on her progress.

"It smells amazing in here," Alex said, looking into the dining room at the table, set with our china and the food set out in an array Claude had done for me. "Did Claude do this?" He moved into the dining room.

"Well, he set the table and did the plating, but I cooked everything," I said proudly.

He turned back to me with a grin on his face. "You did this?" He asked. I nodded. He wrapped me in a hug and kissed the top of my head. "You're so cute," he laughed. "Thank you. This looks amazing. Let me change out of my work clothes, and we can eat."

"Okay," I said happily.

"So what is the occasion?" Alex asked after he'd changed and come back downstairs. He pulled my chair out for me and helped me sit at the table before going to his seat.

"Let's eat and I'll tell you."

Alex stood next to his chair, a smile on his face. "Sofia..." he said softly. "Are you pregnant?"

I choked on my wine as I sipped on it. I held the glass up and gestured with my eyes towards it. "No, Alex, I'm not pregnant."

His face fell a bit and he sat down. "Oh, okay."

We were quiet for a few seconds. "Sorry," I told him, feeling awkward. I felt like my news was ruined.

"You don't need to be sorry," Alex said. "I just thought..."

"It's okay. I can kind of see how you thought that." I managed a soft smile, looking up at him through my eyelashes. "But I won't surprise you when I find out I'm pregnant. You'll probably there as I take the test." I laughed.

"Maybe you should surprise me for the second one," Alex said.

"You really want to be surprised with a pregnancy announcement, huh?" I joked.