Authors: C A Vincent
“She’s a fully-trained paralegal,” Mager argued. “Cassie, honey. Don’t throw pebbles at your brother. No, he did not ‘start it’. Behave, or you’ll get a time-out.” They waited to see if Cassie would test her father’s threat. When she saw them both watching, the six year-old decided she’d better listen.
“You do well with them,” Herman said quietly. “Does Jacob still cry for his mom at night?” Mager shook his head, his jaw setting. He hated talking about Eileen. After everything Justin had done and given up for her, she’d gone and left him for a professional surfer. Every now and again, Herman saw pictures of the deserter and her man-whore on the cover of sports magazines, their beaming, airbrushed smiles glaring up at everyone.
“Where the heck is she?” Mager asked, checking his watch and effectively changing the subject. “Alicia is never late.”
“Have you seen her lately?” Herman asked. “She’s lovelier than ever.” Justin choked on his sip of water.
“What?” he croaked. “You – You’re not – ”
“Oh God no, son. She’s young enough to be my daughter. Besides, there’s only room in my heart for my Maggie, God rest her soul. I simply appreciate the beauty of a woman who’s carrying and nurturing a new life. A pregnant woman could have the face of a dog and I would still find her beautiful,” he explained. He was saved from hearing Justin’s indignant response by the trilling of the man’s cell phone.
“Hello? – Alicia! Where – What? – No, you can’t – It’s too soon. Are you – Okay, okay. Calm down. We’ll be right there. – Yes, Alicia. We’re on our way. Calm down. Breathe. Are you breathing? – Good. We’re on our way.”
“She’s in labor?” Herman asked. Then, realizing he’d asked an obviously redundant question, he grunted. He hated redundant questions. “All right then. You better get going.”
Mager was a bundle of nerves as he buckled Cassie and Jacob into their car seats. He kept muttering, “Too soon. It’s too soon.” One would think he was the papa, the way he was carrying on. He wasn’t though, and maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Herman liked Mager, but found
him to be too emotional. Like now, for instance. He was practically tearing up, he was so worried.
Grow some balls, man!
Herman thought as Mager pulled out and drove the second half of his horseshoe driveway. As he turned back toward the house, he stopped short, debating following in his own car. It
was
too soon. By almost two months. He shook his head. Mager would call, all hysterical and bawling, if anything went awry. Besides, Alicia had the best OBGYN in the city at her beck and call. He’d made sure of it. With one of his patented grunts, he headed to the back yard to clean up the lunch dishes. The menial task would help him keep both his hands and mind busy.
* *
“What took you so long?” Justin snapped. A contraction chose that moment to rip through her, so when she answered, her tone was much harsher than she’d intended.
“Another dead-air call, okay? God this hurts! Will you just go?”
“Was it the same number as last time? The one that got your hopes up about Nate?” Justin asked. Alicia shook her head, moaning.
“I don’t know. I didn’t look. I had other things – ”
“You better not get your hopes up again, Alicia. Not now, when you’re having a baby,” Justin snapped. “It’s not healthy for either of you if you get worked up.”
“Operative words, Justin. ‘Having a baby.’ Drive, damn you!” she yelled. Another contraction made her swear and two little voices piped up from the back seat.
“Don’t swear, Auntie. It’s rude,” they said. Alicia struggled for composure as the pain peaked and held for several seconds before ever-so-slowly easing.
“Sorry,” she breathed. Thankfully, Justin finally put the minivan into gear and was backing out of the driveway. His words stuck with her as she silently prayed for him to actually do the speed limit for a change. He tended to be over-cautious whenever his kids were in the vehicle.
What if it was Nate calling? She didn’t get many hang-ups. Her number was unlisted. And the one Justin was referring to did have a U.S. area code. Alicia kicked herself mentally for not checking the number out this time. She’d been too preoccupied with getting ready to go to the hospital. Silent tears of pain and misery rolled down her face as she clutched the door and the seat, another contraction pulling her stomach muscles ever tighter.
Much to her relief, Justin put the petal to the metal and got her to the hospital in record time. Even still, she had time to remember the call he’d brought up. It was shortly after she was made to face the fact she was pregnant rather than fighting a prolonged tropical flu and, for the first time since arriving home, she was sleeping soundly.
It was the day Eileen left and a distraught Justin woke her from a deep, deep sleep. Dazed and muzzy-headed she told him she’d be over as soon as she could shower and wake up. No sooner was she in the shower than the phone rang again. Thinking Justin was calling back, she ran for it. It was Judge Michaels. He wanted her to pick him up on her way to Justin’s so they could both offer their support.
No sooner was she back in the shower again than the blasted phone rang a third time. This time, when she ran for it, she slipped in the puddles she’d made previously and slammed her foot against the bathroom wall. In horrible pain, she was gasping and whimpering when she finally managed to stop the incessant ringing.
… ‘Hello?’ she answered, struggling to keep from crying. The last thing she needed was for Justin to drive to her house in his distraught state, just because he was worried about her.
When no one answered, she checked her Caller ID. The number was completely unfamiliar. ‘Hello?’ she said again. By now the pain was radiating up into her ankle and it was all she could do to keep from sobbing. In the next moment, the line went dead.
She’d broken three toes running for that third call so it stuck with her. Add to that the fact the area code was for Florida, and it was no wonder she got her hopes up. When she tried to call it back the next day, however, the number was no longer in service. She was so upset, she couldn’t bring herself to be there for Justin, Cassie and Jordan. She simply sat at home crying and writing letter after repetitive letter.
“Do not go back to my house,” Alicia growled a little while later as Justin and the kids were ushered out of her room. “I’ll check my own damn Caller ID. Do you hear me?” At first, he glowered at her mulishly. Then, when another contraction hit and she cried out a strangled, “Please!” he gave in. With a sigh of relief, she let a nurse help her into the worn polka-dot hospital gown.
* *
“I don’t want a c-section,” Alicia snapped. “Can’t you turn them?”
“Not without the risk of wrapping their necks in the umbilical chords. The ultrasound we just did doesn’t give me warm, fuzzy feelings, Alicia. And number two’s heart rate is way too fast. He’s going into distress. They need to come out. Now.”
Before Alicia could argue further, Dr. Carson stood and told the nurse to get her prepped for surgery. After that, everything was a whirl of activity and she never did get the chance to voice her worries about the epidural paralysing her or the higher risk of blood clots due to surgery. She’d done her homework, researched everything, probably too much, but it was her right to be prepared.
Is it also your right to be a big-assed chicken?
the voice in her head asked. It had never really left her after Trinidad, though heaven knew she wanted it to. Unfortunately, it was ever-present and it poked, prodded and goaded her into saying, and often doing, things she normally wouldn’t consider saying or doing.
Like refusing the money Phillip left her in his will. The voice told her time and again she’d be an idiot not to take it, no matter how wrong she felt it was. With a baby – neither she nor the voice knew she was having twins at the time – on the way, she would need every penny. Especially since she’d used up the majority of her severance money to live on during the three months she’d been without a job.
She argued, of course, telling it that Nate would step up, once he knew. The problem was, he didn’t know and it was now time to bring the twins into the world via a means and method she really hadn’t been counting on using. With tears of frustration streaming down her face, she stared at the ceiling as she was wheeled toward the operating room.
“Let’s go, ladies and gentleman,” the head nurse called out as she walked quickly beside the gurney. “Let’s get these babies delivered. Fifth set of twins today. A new record.”
The nurse’s declaration distracted Alicia from her misery, and not because of the high number of twins born, but because Justin and his children were right outside the doors to the off-limits area. She just managed to catch sight of his jaw hitting the floor as her gurney was steered into the operating room.
Damn it anyway!
she thought to herself as the fetal monitor was strapped to the top of her belly.
Now they’re going to nag me even harder.
From the very day she learned she was pregnant to just as recently as yesterday, she’d been trying to contact Nate. Letter after letter. Call after call. Email after email. At first, the
problem was “The number you are calling has been disconnected” recordings and “Undeliverable” email notifications. Then, when she started using snail-mail and still received no response, she became angry.
To make matters worse, Nate’s personal secretary had a hate-on for her. Whenever Alicia called, the woman, Marjorie, was downright nasty toward her. And if Marjorie wasn’t there to answer, the call went to voicemail, which likely was immediately deleted upon being listened to.
If not for Judge Michaels and Justin, she would have given up trying to contact Nate at least two months ago. She was tired of waiting and wanting. Sure, her babies had a right to know who their father was, but that could always come later, when they were older. Hers wouldn’t be the first kids in the world to grow up fatherless.
Now however, with the knowledge of twins coming, Justin would call the judge and a private investigator would be hired. The judge was a staunch believer in parents stepping up the plate and accepting their responsibilities. He felt that even if Nate wasn’t interested in being a dad, he should at least help support her. This meant the peaceful, ordered life she was living would be turned upside down and inside-out. Desperate to prevent the catastrophe, she signalled a nurse and begged her to get a message to Justin.
“Just tell him I said ‘Don’t tell’. He’ll understand,” she warbled. The nurse, who was clearly thinking she was just being over-emotional because of the sudden change in delivery methods looked like she was going to refuse to be her messenger. In that moment, Alicia felt a surge of panic and dread fill her. She quelled it by becoming angry.
“Fine then! I’ll do it myself!” she snarled, pushing herself into a sitting position. In a flash a half-dozen hands were on her, pushing her back down onto the operating table. It was a damn good thing too, because she was just about to roll onto the floor. She envisioned herself landing with a horrible splat while everyone yelled at her for being so disruptive and stupid.
Alicia managed to ignore their angry remarks and uncalled for name-calling only because the nurse she’d given her message to was hightailing it out of the OR. It looked like Justin would hear her plea after all.
“Are you really sure about this?” Nate asked. Liz heaved an exaggerated sigh. He knew it was exaggerated because she was smiling radiantly up at him. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her look more beautiful. Not even Linda, the cop who’d posed as a pilates instructor to help catch Jared, had made her this happy.
“I’m supposed to be the one with the nerves,” she teased.
“And you’re not. Perhaps that’s my point. Maybe you’re too – ” Liz cut him off. There was now a frown creasing her forehead. Nate felt like a shit for upsetting her on her wedding day. He just couldn’t help thinking her relationship with Dimitri was too rushed, too untested.
“Don’t say it, Nate. A person can’t be ‘too happy’. He takes care of me. More importantly, he makes me face my demons. The difference between you and Dimitri is that he’s right there with me when I do it. Even though you tried to be, I never really felt you were. Please don’t be upset. I don’t blame you. We just didn’t – connect. Not even in the beginning, when it was good. So please, please, just be happy for me.”
Nate nodded. Liz was right, as always. Dimitri did take care of her. And it was clear to anyone who saw them together that he was as madly and hopelessly in love with her as she was with him. And when it came right down to it, a four-month dating-slash-courting period was a hell of a lot longer than he would have had with Alicia, had she not up and left the way she had.
“And don’t think about
her
,” Liz added. “It’s your own damn stubborn fault she’s still hanging over your head and heart the way she is. How many times have I told you to go find her, only to have you say things like, ‘She doesn’t want me. Why should I waste the time and money?’ or ‘Her loss’, when even I know you lost something too. You forget. I saw the two of you together. The two of you
fit
. You – ”