by S. E. Law
But then, his next words make me gasp.
“And she looks amazing wearing nothing, or wearing just a tiny, ridiculous maid’s outfit,” he rasps, looking at Brina again. “Her curves fill out the fabric, and I’ll never forget the image of when I first saw her: down on her hands and knees on the floor, her breasts almost falling out of her top with that big, heart-shaped ass in the air.”
My head jerks up, eyes wide. He’s talking about me! What are the chances that there could be two maids on their hands and knees in his house? What are the chances that he fucked two cleaning ladies, both of whom have curly hair and lush curves?
Elliot shakes his head sadly again.
“I’ll never forget,” he says in a soft voice. “She’s amazing.”
But then, Brina interrupts.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she asks, snapping out of her stupor. “The maid? Are you insane? Or did I misunderstand, and she was merely roleplaying in a maid’s uniform?”
Elliot’s blue eyes flare and he practically hisses.
“You fucking idiot. Yes, she was the maid but there’s nothing wrong with honest work. But I get it: you’ve probably never done a day’s worth of honest work in your life, so you wouldn’t know.”
Brina merely cackles and jabs a finger into Elliot’s chest. An evil look sweeps over her perfectly proportioned features, turning it into a mask of ugliness.
“I knew it. You’ve always had a thing for the help.”
What the hell does that mean? Were my suspicions correct? Has Elliot hooked up with multiple maids over the years? Holy shit!
But the man I love grows fierce.
“Where the hell is that coming from? Because I treat the people who work for me fairly? Because I try to pay them a living wage, instead of making them scrape for pennies? What the hell is wrong with you, Brina?”
She throws her head back and cackles again.
“What’s wrong with you is that you’re a liar! I’ve never seen you with a woman before. In fact, you’ve never even mentioned having a girlfriend.”
Elliot’s expression grows dangerous.
“She exists. She’s my girlfriend. We’re just … ah, having communication issues right now.”
I nearly laugh out loud. Is that what he would call it? The polite stonewall his staff formed around him? Yeah, right.
I sink back down onto the floor. It was silly of me to think, even for a second, that Elliot loves me. He’s just as cuckoo as Brina, come to think of it. He probably has slept with a bunch of maids, and I was merely the latest in that colorful parade. But his next words jolt me from my anger.
“She was everything to me, and then all of a sudden, she was gone, okay? But I still love her. She’s mine,” he growls possessively.
Brina merely rolls her eyes, and it seems like even she’s not buying Elliot’s bullshit. She strolls to the closet and pulls out a robe before slipping the silky fabric over her curves.
“Blah, blah, whatever. Poor little rich boy. Do what you want. There are lots of guys who want a piece of this, even if you’re taking a pass,” she says, gesturing to her lush figure. “My guess is that you’re having some problems in bed. Is that true, Elliot? Are you struggling with erectile dysfunction, or god knows, low sperm count? Does the regular dosage of Viagra do nothing for you? Are you seeing a specialist? Whatever it is,” she says, yawning and going to sit by the window. “You bore me.”
At that, I sit up straight. In the two times I’ve been with Elliot, he was never limp or dysfunctional. My man is a virile alpha male, with plenty of seed and lots to spare. I can’t let her insult him like this, even if I know that she’s just baiting him. Elliot is a red-blooded American male, and he used my curves like they belonged to him.
Before I can stop myself, I pop out of the bathroom. My face is flushed, my eyes are swollen, and god knows I smell like a toilet. But my anger is overwhelming, and I point an accusatory finger at Brina.
“Don’t you say such things,” I rage in a trembling voice. “I’ll have you know that Elliot has no trouble getting it up, and he’s extremely virile. So virile in fact, that he gave me a baby!”
Suddenly, I realize what I’ve done, and the silence in the room is overwhelming. I turn bright, tear-stained eyes at my handsome lover, and shudder in fear at what will happen next. My secret is out, but will Elliot kick me to the curb? Or will he become a father to our secret baby?
8
Elliot
That’s it. I grab Kaylee by her elbow and march her out of the room, down the stairs, and into the driveway. People can see and hear us from here, but I don’t care anymore.
“What the fuck?” I shout. “What the fuck was that?”
Her chin juts out.
“What was what?” she says obstinately.
I glare at her.
“Are you fucking kidding me? What was all that about? Were you in the bathroom the entire time? And do we have a baby together?”
Her gaze grows shuttered, and she crosses her arms over her chest.
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
I stare at her, disbelieving.
“Do you realize how important this is? Do we have a baby together or not?”
Finally, she turns to look at me, although her expression still isn’t giving anything away.
“We do. We have a son named Ezra.”
At that, my knees buckle and I almost fall to the floor. I catch myself on the hood of a car parked nearby, and my vision literally goes dark for a moment. I have a son! One whom I have never met.
Suddenly, possessiveness flows through my veins. I grab her elbow and march her to my sedan.
“What are you doing?” she says. Her voice sounds strong, but I can hear the underlying quaver. “You can’t just kidnap me.”
I unlock the door and practically shove her into the front seat.
“You’re taking me to see my son. NOW.”
Kaylee hears the utter determination in my voice, and nods slightly.
“We live in Monroe Trailer Park.”
Grimly, I nod and slam the car door shut before getting in the other side and leaving Brina’s place with a squeal of tires.
We sit there in a tense silence for a few minutes. She’s refusing to talk to me, and I’m so incensed that I can’t talk. My fingers grip the steering wheel until the knuckles are white. I stare straight ahead at the road, battling the rage surging in my chest.
“When were you going to tell me?” I rasp, finally managing to speak.
She won’t look at me. That beautiful profile is turned away, staring at the scenery. After a long pause, she deigns to answer.
“I wasn’t,” she says flatly. “You ghosted me, Elliot. I wasn’t going to tell you about Ezra ever because I couldn’t find you.”
My head whips around to stare at her.
“Did you hear my conversation with Brina back there? I’ve been looking for a goddamn year! Where the hell have you been?”
She stares back at me with just as much fury in her chocolate brown gaze.
“I’ve been right here in Millbrook, having your baby, in case you haven’t figured that out! I’ve been pregnant, as big as a whale, and pretty impossible to miss, if you ask me. You’re the one who froze me out.”
This time, I try to digest her words.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did,” she counters. “Why didn’t you call me back? I left so many messages.”
I stare at her for a moment.
“I never got any messages. Besides, why didn’t you call me back? I left you so many messages.”
This is getting weirder and weirder. It’s like we live on the same planet, but were totally unable to communicate.
“Why didn’t you email me then?” she demands.
I roll my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.
“Because I’m not a stalker. I’m not a total dipshit. If a girl isn’t returning my calls, I’m not exactly going to beg her over email too.”
Kaylee shakes her head.
“But you didn’t call.” Suddenly, her eyes go wide. “Holy crap. I think I know what happened.”
I snatch a quick glance at her, still going eight-five miles on the freeway.
“What? What happened?”
Kaylee looks down at her hands. I take the opportunity to glance at her figure. Her breasts are larger now, probably from feeding my son, and her hips are wide but sassy. The maid’s uniform is utterly alluring on the curvy girl, and my fingers itch to stroke her lush assets.
“I didn’t know you tried to call me,” she finally says. “I never got your messages.”
I snort.
“How is that even possible? I must have left you a hundred voicemails, and it’s the right number. I was hearing your voice in the message.”
She looks down again, suddenly appearing very sad and defeated.
“Yeah, I get it. It’s just … my mom, she started … well, she started dealing pot on her own that weekend. She and her boyfriend were always into that kind of stuff, but her boyfriend usually handles the business side. I think they might have broken up, temporarily at least, and she started taking customer orders on her own. Using my phone.”
I stare at her, hardly believing my ears.
“Your mom is a drug dealer?”
She smiles at me wanly.
“Yeah, it seems a lot of people use drugs in Millbrook, don’t they? Well, at least my mom and Brina do.”
I shake my head, unable to process this information.
“You were letting your mom use your phone to deal drugs? Are you fucking kidding me?”
Kaylee’s not even offended. She merely shrugs her shoulders and looks out the window again.
“You don’t know where I’m from, Elliot,” she says. “The trailer park is in my blood, and a lot of things happen there that would shock a rich man like you. So yes, my mom deals drugs. Coralie has been into it for a long time now, and yes, she used my phone to talk with her customers. She probably deleted all of my messages, and never told me about them because that’s the way she is. I’m sorry, okay?”
I’m so shocked that I can’t even speak. I’ve heard of bad parenting before, but not this bad. Suddenly, a thought hits me.
“Do you use drugs as well?”
Kaylee’s denial is swift.
“No, never. In fact, I can’t even stand the smell of pot, and now that I have Ezra, I’m doubly careful. I make them work out of Humphrey’s trailer, so your son has never been exposed to anything, I swear.”
That makes my heart accelerate so fast that it’s almost painful. My foot presses down on the gas, and we’re now moving at a hundred miles down the road on our way to Monroe Trailer Park.
“Please drive slower,” Kaylee says in a quiet voice next to me. “I don’t want to get in a car crash, and for Ezra to lose both his mother and his father.”
That makes me ease up off the gas, but my mind is in turmoil. The woman I love is in danger. My son is in danger. I have to get them out now.
With that, we speed down the road until the sign for Monroe comes up. Then I pull into the trailer park.
“Where?” I bark.
“Down this aisle on the right, and we’re the second from the last on the left,” she directs me. Kaylee is right. Monroe is not a nice place. The trailers themselves are dingy and dilapidated with screen windows hanging off their hinges, and lots of peeling paint. A few dogs run here and there, and the denizens that I see look like they’ve known better days. A few burp as we drive past, their fingers wrapped around paper-bag covered cans.
“Here,” says Kaylee as I pull the car to a stop. We’re in front of a particularly sad-looking trailer. It’s a dirty yellow color, although it looks like it once could have been white. It’s elevated on cinder blocks, and the window frames are rusted and ancient. The only cheery part is a small bouquet of daisies pinned to the front door. Even that looks a bit dried out, I have to say.
I make to get out of the car, but before I can step foot outside, Kaylee puts a hand on my arm. Electricity passes through me at her touch, and I turn to swiftly look at her.
“I want to warn you that my mom’s a strange person. Coralie has never been what we call “presentable,” so don’t be alarmed.”
I snort.
“Trust me, I can handle it.”
Kaylee merely shakes her head as we both get out of the car, and I can tell that she doesn’t believe me. However, the most important thing is for me to meet my son right now, and I won’t let anything stand in my way.
9
Elliot
To my surprise, Kaylee leads me around the back to a different trailer.
“Kaylee,” I warn. “I want to see Ezra now. No bullshit.”
She pins me with a look.
“I know, but I can’t leave Ezra with my mom. I leave him with Miss Ellie, our neighbor, who watches Ezra for me when I’m at work. She’s older and retired, and she’s raised six kids of her own. I trust her a hell of a lot more than I trust Coralie.”
I nod tightly.
“If you trust her, then I trust her, too.”
“Thank you.”
We walk to the next trailer over, and Kaylee knocks. My heart’s in my throat, and tears literally come to my eyes. I have a son. A little boy made of mine and Kaylee’s passion. I’m trembling a bit, and suddenly, my knees feel weak once again.
An older woman answers the door with a worn, wrinkled face and a kindly smile.
“Kaylee! You’re back early, honey. Ezra and I were just enjoying some tummy time. Look, Ezzie, it’s Mommy! Aren’t you excited to see Mommy?”
My heart leaps in my throat at the sight of the little boy in her arms. He’s my mirror image, down to the cleft in our chins and the wide tilt to our eyes.
“Goo!” he says in welcome, beaming at both of us. “Ga!”
“Oh, my little boy,” coos Kaylee, pulling him into her arms. “Mommy missed you,” she says, pressing a kiss to his downy head. “Any time away from Ezra is too long! Did you have a good day, sweet boy?”
He merely smiles at us toothlessly again.
“Goo-goo! Barr.”
We all laugh, and suddenly, I’m entranced by the vision before me. The woman I love stands here, with our baby in her arms. A shaft of light falls from the heavens to wreathe them in gold, and my heart contracts once, painfully. This is my family, and I have to do everything I can to protect them.
“Thank you, Miss Ellie,” Kaylee murmurs. “I appreciate you taking him on such short notice. Oh, and by the way … this is Ezra’s father.”
The old woman turns to look at me through narrowed eyes. Her gaze isn’t very kind, and I can imagine what she’s heard about me.
“I didn’t know,” I blurt out. “I had no idea I had a child, I swear. I came as soon as I could.”
Miss Ellie purses her lips and looks back at Kaylee.
“This true, child?”
Kaylee blushes and bounces Ezra up and down on her hip, making the baby coo once more.
“Yes, it seems that we had a misunderstanding that led to a lot of miscommunication. But we’re working on it, and it’ll get straightened out.”
Miss Ellie looks at me again, as if assessing my fitness to be a father and lover.
“Well then, we’ll be watching your next steps, young man,” she warns, stepping back into her trailer. “I love Kaylee and Ezra as if they’re my own, so you best beware.”
I nod respectfully.
“Of course, Miss Ellie. I absolutely understand, and thank you.”
The older woman steps back into her trailer, leaving us alone in the sunshine. I turn once again to look at my son, this miracle made of the love between me and Kaylee. She sees the astonished look on my face, and smiles gently.
“He’s wonderful, isn’t he?” she asks in a voice filled with emotion. “We made him, Elliot. You and I.”
Suddenly, I don’t care anymore. I don’t care about mixed me
ssages, about pot dealing, about her crazy mother, or that crazy bitch Brina. All I care about is Kaylee and my son, and if this has to take place in the middle of a trailer park, then so be it.
“I love you,” I say in a low voice filled with emotion. “I need to be with you, Kaylee. I love you, and I love our son, and I don’t care about what’s happened in the past. I want you to come live with me, and for us to be a family.”
Kaylee doesn’t look at me at first.
“But why didn’t you answer the phone when I called?” she finally asks in a trembling voice, still refusing to look at me. Instead, she focuses her gaze on our son’s cherubic face, although I see her eyes are bright with unshed tears. “Why didn’t you pick up, even once?”
I take my cell phone out of my pocket.
“It’s new,” I say gently. “I accidentally ran over my old phone, and it was crushed. I had to get a new one, and in the meantime, I used a call-forwarding service.”
She stares at me, and the tears in her eyes almost break my heart.
“For two weeks?”
“For two weeks,” I nod. “Then, I fired the call service after I realized they were incompetent. All that time, I was trying to call you, but your insane mother usurped your phone for her own purposes.”
Kaylee sniffles a bit, and balances Ezra in one arm to wipe at her tears.
“It’s kind of crazy, isn’t it? All these wacky turns of bad luck?”
Tentatively, I reach forward with one hand to stroke her cheek. She goes still under my touch, but then looks at me with her eyes full of tears. Our son babbles in the background, and suddenly, everything falls away except for this woman and our child together.
“It’s more than kind of crazy, sweetheart. It’s absolutely mind-blowingly fucked-up-in-a-big-way type of crazy. But what matters is that we’ve found each other, and we’re here now. I love you Kaylee, and I’m serious when I say I want to be with you and our son. You mean more to me than anything in the world, and I want to take care of you.”