by Ciara Cole
This time, when he took her hand, Tia didn’t tug hers away. Johnathan felt a jolt when he realized his sudden ease with expressing affection. Holding hands, showing concern for every frown on Tia’s face . . . he couldn’t remember feeling this attached in a relationship. Was he getting way too sentimental and needed to slow down?
“No. Work is fine. I’m just . . . there’s something I need to sort out. And it has to be this week.”
“It’s not about work. So, it’s personal,” Johnathan stated plainly. “And you’re not going to give me exact details.”
Tia sighed deeply. “I’ve already told you. I’ll sort it out. I might find out I got worried over nothing and then got you worried too.”
She surprised him by leaning close and kissing his cheek. “But thank you for being concerned about me. Now let’s get down and start on this project because wasting even a minute can turn it into a high-stress situation.”
***
Right then, Tia was already facing a high-stress situation.
Her period was late by at least two months. She knew she should get a pregnancy test, especially since she’d noticed certain changes in her body. Her nipples seemed darker, she felt more and more tired, and there were those constant abdominal cramps of late. Oh, and she may or may not have some bulge in her tummy—or maybe it was just bloating?
She just couldn’t acknowledge that she’d been dumb enough to get pregnant.
But with the new merger and acquisitions transaction that she had to close with Johnathan, Tia easily got swept up in work and kept postponing going for a checkup or at least taking a home pregnancy test.
It was two weeks until the deadline for the M&A that was worth over a billion dollars. Johnathan and Tia were working with both internal and external teams of experts to ensure they fulfilled every prerequisite.
“Once we’ve structured the deal to cover each major element, we can be sure to make this a success,” Johnathan said from the head of the conference table where he was seated with Tia and a few of their team experts. “Tia, which areas are left to plan out?”
She quickly rustled through her papers. “So far, we’ve set up the shareholdings, taxation, and operations. All that’s left is to conduct negotiations between the two companies, and that’s later this week.”
“That’s our final vital step before we move to signing and initiating the necessary integration of both firms,” Johnathan said, looking around the table. “The real test will begin then, and that’s where I’ll need you guys to formulate the critical tasks needed to ensure no complications arise in future. Any thoughts to add, Tia?”
Tia could suddenly feel Johnathan’s words begin to swim together in her head. She couldn’t understand why she seemed unable to respond even when he called her name again and gave her a deeply concerned look.
Everyone else turned to stare at her, and she struggled to think.
Oh, no. Somehow, the more she strained her mind to focus, the woozier she felt. In panic, she shot to her feet. Only, her body moved more like in extreme slow motion, her flailing hands toppling her papers, tablet, and phone to the floor.
“Tia!”
Johnathan’s voice reached her as if she were falling fathoms beneath a viscous element, and she couldn’t struggle free and reach him. Help me, she evinced through mute lips as she slid to a heap on the floor, eyes closing to the sea of faces staring at her widely in shock.
***
Tia woke up in a hospital, and beside her, Johnathan sat holding her hand and giving her an encouraging smile. He told her she’d fainted from exhaustion, but that the nurse would soon come in to take some tests.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said gently. “I didn’t realize how hard you’ve been pushing yourself. I feel like it’s all my fault.”
His temple creased in concern and he raised her knuckles to his lips in a kiss.
Tia had a funny feeling about everything and could hardly say a word. Even when the nurse came in, it was hard answering questions. Tia could feel guilt creeping more and more up her spine, and when the nurse finally left after taking the tests, Tia knew it was only a matter of time before she knew her fate.
“Johnathan, maybe you should head back to the office,” Tia said somewhat unsteadily. “We can’t both be absent when we’re the ones put in charge of the M&A deal . . .”
“You think I care about that right now? You’re lying in hospital and I’m supposed to just leave you here? Is that how insensitive you think I am?”
Johnathan sounded hurt, and Tia sighed, resigning herself to the inevitable. Minutes later, the nurse returned with a beaming smile to inform them both she was pregnant.
Tia didn’t even need to look at Johnathan’s face to know he was in another state of shock.
Little did she know that her life would be a series of one shock after another, and it was only just beginning.
The nurse went on to inform them that as luck would have it, the doctor had room to let them take a scan even if they didn’t have an appointment. “He’s taken a special interest in the case and would like you both to have detailed answers to set your minds totally at ease.”
Tia couldn’t help but wonder at the extra effort, and she figured news of the Fox name must travel fast. She just wasn’t sure how everyone assumed they were a couple and that Johnathan was the father. Not that he’d tried to deny it, but then, he wasn’t exactly saying much since the nurse dropped the first major news.
Under an hour later, they’d prepped Tia for the fetal scan. So far, it had all still felt like she was in someone else’s life. This couldn’t be happening to her.
Even when the doctor found the first, second, and third heartbeat, it still seemed surreal. How . . .? She wasn’t just pregnant, but with triplets?
The doctor was acting like it was a major breakthrough. Tia was freaking out internally, and she couldn’t even look around to find Johnathan. A warm hand was clasped around hers, but for a moment or two, it felt somewhat uncomfortably tight before it relaxed again.
Tia knew she’d begun hyperventilating from the way the doctor hurried to calm her, and with the help of the nurse, he wheeled her out to her room. By then, she’d given into her enveloping weakness, simply closing her eyes and dissolving away from the chaos of emotions threatening to topple her.
***
This time, when Tia woke up and found herself alone in the hospital room, she didn’t feel the least surprised. She remembered exactly everything that happened earlier, including the incredible news about carrying three embryos inside her.
Did the world somehow turn upside down before she woke up this morning? She’d dressed for work, planned for the countless meetings, and then suddenly, during one of them, she’d collapsed in front of everyone.
Now, the one person she needed beside her was gone. Hours after it happened, Tia could still replay the vague, shadowy images she'd seen from between her quivering lids as she’d hovered on the edge of unconsciousness . . . of Jonathan’s fingers completely slipping from hers as the nurses wheeled her away from the exam room.
Had she imagined that horrified look on his face, her last glimpse of him before she let fatigue and mental wreckage send her into a faint?
The doctor insisted that Tia forget anything about getting back to work for now, as she couldn’t keep collapsing the way she did. He wanted her under observation for at least one more day.
Tia couldn’t even argue. She thought of the big merger & acquisition project and how many people were depending on its success. But most of all, she was feeling dazed by the actuality that she was about to be a mother who would, possibly, bring three offspring to the world at one go.
She felt she might faint yet again.
She also felt like crying and punching someone, preferably Johnathan, because it was clear to see that he’d run and left her. Wasn’t that what he was known to do?
Tia wasn’t going to call him. She wasn’t going to care about him, like he obvi
ously didn’t care for her. She was a mere sex object to him, and it was bad enough that she got pregnant, but now that he knew he might be tied down with three babies . . .
She wouldn’t be surprised if he were long gone, taking the first flight that would get him as far away as possible.
If Tia wanted to be honest, she couldn’t really blame Johnathan if he did. For the past three months, he’d kept to his decision to take up his place as head of Fox Company in New York. But he wouldn’t stick around if he thought it all came with a baby mama and three unplanned tots.
Chances were, he would never even want to see her again. Maybe he’d even think she’d planned it all to trap him. Tia decided she’d only be a fool if she waited around, hoping Johnathan would come back to stay . . . to hold her tight and tell her everything was going to be okay.
That would be like a fairytale, and truth be told, Tia had never really had much luck with those.
Forcing out several deep breaths, Tia closed her eyes and laid her head back on her pillows. Her hands rested protectively on her abdomen, and suddenly, she felt utterly calm.
Maybe calmer than she’d felt for the whole year since starting a new job and trying to make her impact . . . but here was impact, right here. Motherhood, and she couldn’t wait to experience it—even if she had to do it alone.
Chapter Eleven
Johnathan couldn’t even remember how he got here, in his old home where he grew up. The mansion never seemed so secluded and abandoned.
It was the family house and had countless rooms, but now they were all empty. The best times he could remember in this house were when his dad was alive and the whole place had felt like home.
That was fifteen years ago, and everything had changed. Johnathan and Theo had their own lives and different homes around the city and the world. There was nothing to bring them back here except during Christmas holidays when everyone came together and tried to make things seem normal for a few days. But that was if his mother even bothered to show up. She hadn’t shown for holidays in six years.
Johnathan’s mind was a blank, and he moved from room to room as if hoping the familiar setting would aid his mental disorientation to zero down. If only he . . .
“Johnathan? What are you doing here?”
Johnathan stiffened at the shock in his mother’s voice. He swiveled around, and even when he saw her standing in the arched doorway, he still almost didn’t believe it. His mother was home? She never came home.
“Mother, what . . . I can’t believe it’s you.”
He hadn’t seen his mother in over a year. They spoke every few months on the phone, but she was always vague about just where she was. She always chose the most far-flung places to take up residence for months at a time, just apart. Johnathan had become so used to it, and seeing her now was like a whole layer of delusion added to his current freak-out situation.
“It is me,” she said with a smile. His mother was tiny, barely over five feet, but she had that presence that magnified when she spoke in her clear, modulated take-charge mode.
“Are you okay?” she asked as she walked up to her younger son. She looked up into his face, and he couldn’t hide the turmoil that stormed his eyes.
“Mom, I can’t believe you’re here,” he said. “I was just about going crazy. Stuff is just going out of control right now and I’m just—”
“Honey,” she said soothingly, her small hand on his face. “It’s okay. I’m here now. It’s as if . . . I think I knew. Somehow, I sensed something, and before I knew it, I was on a plane and just thought, go home. I felt like you’ll need me.”
She shrugged and added on a chuckle, "For some reason, I guessed it wouldn't be Theo. Well . . . because Theo never really needed anyone and just had to grow up so fast. But you—I always felt like I let you down. Your big brother spoiled you and gave you everything as if to make up for the fact that it felt like you had lost both of your parents because I hid away for so long. I don't . . . I can't keep hiding."
Johnathan realized that the same went for him. He hadn't been much better than his mom in the past few years, skipping from one fantasy capital to the next, having a good time. It was as if he'd been running from himself, and maybe, hiding from what he could be. Was it too late to make a change now that his life had suddenly hit its biggest challenge yet?
He let out a ragged sigh, the enormity of the present suddenly coming back. And yet, his mother being there right this moment did seem like a light in the dark tunnel. She gave that warm, ready smile, and through that frail exterior of her tiny stature, there shone such strength that somehow flowed to Johnathan.
She said, "Now tell me all that's happened."
***
The door to her hospital room opened, and Tia didn't look up as she finished putting on her earrings and straightening her top from where she sat on the corner of the bed. "I'm almost ready, Sis. You have the car parked outside?" she asked, thinking it was her sister, Wendy. Wendy was supposed to come pick her up now that she'd been discharged.
She finally noticed the silence and turned to the figure standing just inside the door.
Intense light brown eyes held hers. Tia stiffened, studying Johnathan's face. She never thought she'd see him again.
She jumped to her feet and pointed angrily at the door.
"You're not supposed to be here. You should leave," she said, forcing calm authority in her voice.
"Tia, let's just . . ." He sighed and shook his head in self-recrimination. "Look, I'm sorry. I lost it for a second and things just went berserk in my head. Don't be mad, okay? It's—"
"You left me! I was all alone and scared in this cold, friendless hospital with no one who cared. No one to tell me it was going to be okay. Now you come back a whole day later expecting what? Forgiveness? Encouragement?"
She huffed and glared even harder. "Well guess what? I'm not going to welcome you back with open arms, pat your back, and soothe your emotions because you're not a child. So just go. You acted exactly in character, and I'm not even going to spoil my day talking to you a moment more."
She picked up her bag and made to storm past him, but he gently grabbed her elbow.
Her eyes flew up to his, and there was something different there, burning hot and scalding her core. Her nipples pinched tight beneath her blouse and she drew in a sharp breath. How could she feel any kind of desire for him after the way he’d hurt her?
It had been painful, deep down, to reject him and say the things she just had. She'd spent last night trying to filter her mind and heart to figure out her next step. But the moment she felt Johnathan's touch, Tia lost sense and her whole being was cluttered all over again.
She flinched when Johnathan suddenly snatched her body to his. The next instant, he pressed his lips hard on hers, holding her tightly in his arms. Tia kissed him back, like she knew she would, even as she told herself not to.
He tore his lips away. Those molten brown orbs stared down at her, searing with more than just lust, but something Tia couldn't define.
She lifted her hand to his face, but he snatched her wrist, immobilizing her. Their chests rose and fell rapidly, yet in sync. She wasn't sure what to do next. She could see a torn soul who, in fact, needed her support, yet Tia was still unsure she should grant him that.
It was a matter of her stand. Whether to be his woman and cushion him from reality or whether she could be her own woman, holding strong and knowing she deserved someone she could count on and trust in any situation.
"Johnathan." She spoke up first, well aware that her mouth made the decision before her mind could. "I don't care why you left or what happened since then. But seeing you this way is not helping me. I know deep down you're very sweet and have a good heart. From the start, we had this weird connection that was inevitable. That doesn't mean we have a future, and I've made my peace with that."
"Good for you, but it just so happens that I don't share your view," Johnathan muttered. "Why don't you say what you
really meant to say? That I ruined your life, got you suddenly facing so many issues you never planned for? I just spoke to the doctor and he told me that because the multiple pregnancy is high-risk, you have to slow down for a few weeks—and possibly for the duration of the pregnancy."
Tia threw up her hands expressively. "Okay, yeah, I'm really pissed off about that. I had all of these goals, and now, they're all crumbling down in smoke. I'm forced to step down from the biggest project of my life because I still need to rest up or I'll just collapse again, and this time, I might actually lose a baby or even all of them."
"That's never going to happen. If you're worried about the project, I will make sure it's completed successfully. You've already done most of the ground work, remember? The deal will go through, and Theo wouldn't have to blame you or anyone for messing it up. I promise. So just focus on getting better and keeping safe. That's all I want. For you—all of you—to be safe."
He placed his hand on her stomach and Tia felt torn.
Suddenly, her sister, Wendy, stood in the open doorway. She looked from Tia to Johnathan but refrained from commenting on his presence. She turned to Tia and asked, "You ready? Mom's expecting me to bring you straight home."
"Just a minute and I'll be right with you." Tia gave her a calm smile to reassure her sister before Wendy backed away and disappeared down the passage, but not before giving Johnathan one final level look.
Tia sighed and made herself face Johnathan. "I'll be with my family for a few days. I suggest you don't try to contact me. Let's talk sometime, but for now, I don't need any bad energy. I understand your intentions, your promises, but I don't need them. They don't mean anything to me. Not anymore."
Tia saw his hurt look but made her heart ignore it. Thankfully, when she brushed past him, Johnathan didn't hold her back this time. She just hoped he'd listen and realize that this was the best way. The only way.
***
Johnathan knew Tia was right. She didn't need words.
He wasn't going to give up on them though. That was one option he wasn't ready for.