by Tina Martin
“Yeah. I am.”
“Okay. Have it your way.” She sat down and sipped on apple juice while he got busy frying eggs and cooking the bacon.
Shortly thereafter he presented her with a plate. “For you my love.”
“I’m impressed,” she said. “The eggs aren’t even burnt.”
“I’ve seen my old housekeeper cook enough times to know my way around the kitchen. Beatrice isn’t aware of this, but I know the ingredients to her famous clam chowder.”
“Do you?”
“Sure do,” he said taking a seat next to Eden with his plate. “One day, I’ll make some for you to prove it.”
Eden grinned. “Sure you will, Dilvan.”
Since he was in a good mood this morning, thank God, Eden saw an opportunity to finally make Dilvan aware of their new addition. Still tense about it, she took a sip of apple juice then just decided to go for it.
“Dilvan, I have to tell you something.”
Dilvan had just finished the last of his eggs and was wiping his mouth. “What is it, Eden?”
“Okay, let me just say first that I think this will be good for us and I know we’re both busy with our respective careers and—”
“Eden, you’re stalling. Just say what you have to say.”
“Okay. Um…”
“Sweetheart, why do you look so scared?” Dilvan asked. “Talk to me. What is it?”
Eden closed her eyes briefly to collect herself then said, “I’m pregnant.”
Dilvan frowned, looking at her like he hadn’t comprehended what she’d said. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. What did you say?”
“You heard me. I’m pregnant. We’re pregnant.”
Silence fell upon the kitchen as the mood suddenly shifted. Dilvan could only look at Eden with the most shocked and terrified look she’d ever seen on his face. Tears formed in her eyes. “Dilvan, say something. Say you’re happy and you want this baby and that—that you love me. Say any—no—say all of those things. Please.”
Dilvan stood up and said nothing as he walked out of the kitchen, leaving Eden sitting there alone with a hand on her heaving chest and heavy heart after her fear had been confirmed. Dilvan didn’t want a baby. If he did, he wouldn’t have walked out without acknowledging what she’d said. As she sat there crying tears, she heard the front door close. Not only had he left the kitchen – he was so disturbed and maybe even disappointed, he had to leave the house. More tears sprang out of her eyes as she sat there, not knowing what to do next.
Chapter 11
-*- Preston and Tamera -*-
Preston preferred to fly. Tamera insisted upon driving, stating how they could stop at different restaurants on the way. Said it would be an adventure. But Preston made a valid point about getting there sooner by flight and thus, they’d have more time to spend with the family. She agreed.
Halfway through the flight after they both had a serving of complimentary wine, Preston looked over at her as she stared out of the window. He smiled. Happy. He’d found this beautiful woman because of a bad review she wrote about his sister’s restaurant. Otherwise, their paths may have never crossed.
“Tamera.”
She pulled her attention away from the view to look at him, her eyes tracing his mustache before she met his gaze. “Yes?”
“Do you miss being home?”
“We just left, Preston. Jeez,” she’s quipped.
He cracked a smile.
“I know what you mean. I do miss being with the family sometimes, but it’s okay.”
“Maybe it is now,” Preston said taking her hand into his, “But once we have children, I think you’d want to be close to your family.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. When that time comes, I’m sure we’ll figure out what’s best for us and our family. We’ve built our lives in Charlotte and it’s not a requirement to have a relative nearby when we have babies.”
“You’re absolutely right. But, I’m putting myself in your shoes—thinking about how you would feel if we had a baby right now and you had no family there to support you.”
“I’ll have you wouldn’t I? Or will you be so busy with work, I’d be a single mother?”
“Wow,” Preston said. The conversation had escalated quickly and he was just trying to get her feelings on the matter. “All I want is to have a conversation with you and you take it there.”
“And you haven’t answered me.”
“Tamera, I told you there’s nothing more important to me than you. Of course, I’ll be there when we have children. I want to be a part of my children’s lives.”
Easier said than done, Tamera thought as she turned to look out the window again. What if she had babies and she became the overworked housewife instead of the blissfully happy wife and mother? She worked for herself so she wouldn’t necessarily have to hire a sitter. Well, she would need someone there if she was on the phone with a sponsor or trying to concentrate while typing her notes.
“Did you hear me?” Preston asked.
She looked back at him again. “Yes, Preston. I heard you.” What she wondered was had he heard himself? While talking about having children was nice and all, actually having them would be a different story especially for a man like him. Granted the majority of the work would fall on her, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have to allocate a good chunk of his time to focus on the children. Or, would he rather write, edit and manage all aspects of Charlotte Magazine? If he couldn’t get his schedule in order now to spend quality time with her, how would he do it with the addition of children?
Chapter 12
-*- Heshan, Prasad and Dilvan -*-
Just when he was suspecting something was off with Dilvan – well, off more than the norm – Heshan got a phone call from Dilvan requesting they meet up at the bar. Heshan had asked Prasad to tag along, too. They were to meet at 6:30 p.m.
Heshan was there.
Prasad was there.
Dilvan, the ‘meeting organizer’ wasn’t and it was nearly seven o’clock.
“You don’t think he forgot about it, do you?” Prasad asked Heshan.
“He better not had. It was his idea.” Heshan drank more of his beer.
“I wonder what he wants,” Prasad said. “He never asks to meet us anywhere.”
“Well, he asked me to meet him. He has no clue you’re here. And as for him not meeting us anywhere, we did tell him we’d be there for him whenever he needed us to be.”
“I know, but he’s never requested a meeting before, so I thought everything would continue on as normal.” Prasad glanced at his phone. “Whatever it is, it must be important.”
“I imagine so.” Heshan glanced at his watch. “Let’s give him a few more minutes.”
“Yep,” Prasad said looking up at the flat screen mounted on the wall behind the bar.
“How have you and Lalita been doing?”
“Good. I took her out last night…had a little time to ourselves to talk. She wants a job of some sort. I think she’s getting bored staying at home now. Plus, she sees the women in our family working. Mother’s got the restaurants, Gabrielle is running the pastry shop with her father, Charity has the school and Eden is busy running her cleaning service. Lalita says she wants something she can be passionate about.”
“Like what?”
“That’s the problem—she doesn’t know. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no need for her to work. I’ve always provided for the family. It’s like…why get a job and create all of this extra stress for yourself unnecessarily? The last thing I want is for her to figure out what her passion is then pursue that while trying to balance home life with the challenges of a new job—a passion—that she doesn’t even need.”
Heshan chuckled slightly.
“What? Am I cracking jokes here?” Prasad asked with a straight face.
“Sorry, bruh…didn’t mean to laugh. I feel your pain—I really do—but you can’t tell your wife she doesn’t deserve to have
a passion. You should want her to have something of her own to be proud of. Now, with that being said, there should be a balance between work and home. That’s something I think Charity lacks because she’s always thinking about the school and how to make it better. Don’t get me wrong—I love how driven she is. She has mother’s work ethic but I think there are times when she needs to slow down.”
“Actually, mom could stand to slow down a bit,” Prasad said. “She’s been going nonstop. Dad tries to make her chill out but she’s constantly doing something. When was the last time she and dad went on an actual vacation? And now she’s busy planning this elaborate reunion. It seems to me like she stays busy intentionally or it could be a distraction from the bipolar.”
“Could be. Eden used to tell me how sporadic Dilvan became in a matter of hours but that was because he wasn’t taking any medication. She said he’d be napping, then wake up with a cheerful attitude and go out and buy a load of stuff.” Heshan sighed.
“Do you think that’s why mother is constantly on the go? I bet she’s not taking her medication either.”
“My guess would be, no, she isn’t,” Heshan said.
“Let’s talk to dad about it this weekend,” Prasad suggested.
“Talk to dad about what?” Dilvan asked, walking up behind them.
“Hey, Dilvan,” Heshan said. “Long time, no see.”
“What’s up, Dilvan?” Prasad asked, scooting over so Dilvan could take the stool between him and Heshan.
“We didn’t think you were going to make it,” Heshan said.
“My bad. I just pulled up fifteen minutes ago, sitting in the parking lot arguing with my agent. She wants me to take a bum deal. I declined it, but she’s insisting I take the gig.”
“What don’t you like about it?” Prasad asked.
“The 75K they’re offering.”
Prasad whistled. “That’s a pretty penny, man. Are you sure you want to turn that down?”
“I do, and actually, I’m thinking about firing Len.”
Heshan chuckled. “See, that’s the problem with you spoiled millionaires. You look at 75K like it’s seventy-five dollars.”
“You’re one to talk,” Prasad said. “You’ve turned down deals in your day.”
“Yeah, I have,” Heshan said, then drank more beer. “So, what’s going on, Dilvan? I know you didn’t ask us here to complain about money.”
“No. I asked you here, Heshan, and I see you got Prasad to tag along.”
“Ay, why not?” Heshan said. “We’re brothers. Anything you can say in front of me, you can say in front of Prasad, right?”
“Right,” Dilvan said. “Well, anyway, Eden’s pregnant.”
“Congratulations!” Heshan said.
Before Prasad could offer up his own congratulations, Dilvan said, “No. I don’t want to be congratulated. This is horrible. I don’t want a baby.”
Prasad frowned. He took Dilvan’s words as a personal insult. He had children – children who he loved dearly. Children he’d give his life for, and Dilvan was pouting about not wanting a baby? Seriously? “What do you mean you don’t want the baby? Are you kidding me?”
“Okay, let me rephrase since y’all getting all bent out of shape. I don’t want a screwed-up bipolar baby like me. I don’t want my son or daughter walking around on this planet not knowing whether they’re coming or going. Some days, I’m up. Most days, I’m down. Why would I want that for my child?”
“But if Eden’s pregnant, what can you do about it now?” Heshan asked. “It makes no sense to sit here complaining about it. This is life, Dilvan. You gotta roll with it.”
Dilvan hung his head.
“When did you find out about the baby?” Heshan asked.
“This morning. I got up in a good mood, cooked breakfast and she just sprung it on me.”
“What did you say when she told you?”
“Nothing,” Dilvan responded.
“Nothing?” Prasad asked.
Dilvan shook his head. “No. I got up and left. I couldn’t say anything.”
“Dang man,” Heshan said. “Your wife tells you she’s pregnant and your reaction is to walk out of the room?”
“I didn’t know what else to do. What was I supposed to say when I don’t want the baby?”
“Come on, man,” Heshan said trying to reason with his brother. “You want your child.”
“I don’t want a child to grow up like I did. I wouldn’t wish this disorder on anyone. Why would I want a child to have it?”
“First off, you’re supposed to love your kids no matter what they have or don’t have,” Prasad said. “And you don’t know if your child would have bipolar or not. I don’t have it. Heshan doesn’t have it.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the reminder,” Dilvan said curtly.
“I can only imagine what Eden must be thinking right about now,” Heshan said. “Have you talked to her since this morning?”
“No.”
Heshan shook his head. “How far along is she?”
Dilvan shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay, I’m trying to keep a level head but your nonchalance is troubling to me,” Heshan warned. “Have you taken your medicine today?”
“Yeah. I took it. Maybe it’s worn off by now,” he said sharply.
“Do you not care about Eden and her feelings?” Prasad asked.
“Of course, I do.”
“And how do you know she wanted anyone to know about the baby right now considering the first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage?”
Dang. He hadn’t thought about that. He was so absorbed in his own feelings, he wasn’t thinking about what must have been going through Eden’s mind. The miscarriage was hard on her. It was hard on him, too, to see her in so much distress. Now, they had a second chance to bring life into the world, and he was acting like a selfish brat.
“How far along is she?” Prasad wanted to know.
“I’m not sure how far along she is. I told you I left so—”
“You didn’t ask?” Heshan questioned.
“How many times do I have to tell you I left the house?” he said, exasperated. “I didn’t ask any questions. I got up and walked out.”
“Wow,” Prasad said. “How could a so-called man leave his wife like that?”
“Are y’all going to judge me or help me? You say you’ll be there for me when I need help, but when I come to you, I get the third, fourth and fifth degrees.”
“I’m not trying to come down on you, Dilvan,” Heshan said, “But as your older brother, I do think it’s my duty to let you know your wife is supposed to take priority in your life and you should treat her with the utmost respect, love and care. How does walking out on your wife when she tells you she’s pregnant equate to showing love and care?”
“It doesn’t,” Dilvan finally manned up to admit. He sighed. “I was so focused on the baby being like me that I didn’t take the time to consider how Eden felt about anything. I’m so stupid.”
“You’re not stupid,” Prasad said.
“Yeah, just go talk to her,” Heshan said.
Dilvan stood up and said, “She probably doesn’t want to hear anything I have to say now, but I’ll give it a shot.”
“And you should really be happy about the baby,” Prasad said. “Children are gifts from God.”
Dilvan nodded, then continued on out of the bar.
Chapter 13
-*- Eden -*-
She didn’t know where Dilvan was. She didn’t care where he was. The only thing on Eden’s mind was taking care of her baby. Alone, unfortunately. While she had suspected Dilvan would be a little thrown off base by the news of her pregnancy, she didn’t expect the reaction she got – for him to walk out on her like she told him she was pregnant with another man’s baby. The baby was his, and he knew that but didn’t want it. And if he didn’t want the baby, he didn’t want her.
Sitting out in front of Charity’s house debating on if she should go inside or just ca
ll her on the phone to save face, she rubbed her temples trying to understand the scope of what was happening. How could Dilvan not want their baby? Didn’t that violate some moral code of decency?
She took her phone from the center console and decided that calling Charity might be the better option. Charity already knew about the pregnancy, but it would still be embarrassing to tell her about Dilvan’s reaction. Charity wasn’t a fan of Dilvan from jump. Before they married, she’d told Eden about Dilvan and his shady past. Called him a psycho, a maniac and anything else negative that you can say about a person you don’t like. But Eden chose to see past all those things and listened to her heart instead of her sister. She saw the good in Dilvan, but this circumstance was just too bad to see any good in.
She sighed heavily and took her phone in her hands again, pressing Charity’s name in her contact list, then placed the call on speakerphone.
“Hey, Eden,” Charity answered. “Did you tell him?”
Did you tell him? Oh, she told him alright…
How was she supposed to explain his reaction to her sister in a way that made sense? How would she have Dilvan’s back this time? She couldn’t, she realized. There was no talking her way out of this one. Right now, she wasn’t talking, period. She couldn’t find the words to say anything. Tears formed in her eyes and she sniffled while Charity listened.
“Eden, are you crying?”
“I’ll call you back, Charity,” Eden told her.
“No, don’t hang up. What happened? Talk to me.”
She sniffled again and tried to collect herself but was having a hard time doing so.
“That’s it…I’m going to kill him,” Charity snapped. She suspected the source of her sister’s tears was Dilvan.
“Charity, this is my problem, okay. Not yours.”
“You’re my sister. That means it is my problem.”
“But you don’t know what the problem is yet?”
“Um…you’re married to Dilvan Alexander. I do know what the problem is, now what did he do? Did he put his hands on you?”