Once she was home, she began to pamper herself and get ready for the date that actually wasn’t a date, but more of a dinner event to discuss the future with the father of her unborn child. She wasn’t exactly sure when life had gotten so complicated, but somewhere down the line apparently it had.
She was surprised by how uncomfortable her feet were when she tried to put on a pair of heels, but after closer inspection, she realized they were swollen. She quickly looked up swollen feet on the internet and the connection to pregnancy. She figured that not being able to wear heels was yet another thing she would have to deal with for the next few months until the child was born. As she looked for another pair of shoes to wear, she heard the doorbell and cursed, realizing it was Charles. She glanced in the mirror before she went to answer it and she felt a little happy about her appearance, even if she still didn’t have a pair of shoes.
She went to press the buzzer to allow Charles up and then unlocked the door so that she could go back to finding a pair of flats.
“Julia?” Charles called out upon entering her apartment.
“In the back.” She called to him, wincing when she bumped her head against some stray shoe boxes in the back of her closest.
She heard shuffling behind her and then she eased out of her spot in the closet and came face to face with an amused Charles.
“You know, you shouldn’t leave the door open,” he said, nodding toward the direction of her front door.
“I figured it would be easier than you breaking in.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Well, still I’d prefer if the mother of my child was left unharmed.” Then they both paused, taking in that sentence.
She was the mother of his child. They were actually doing this. She felt panic begin to rise within her because despite everything, it was still so surreal.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said finally, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence.
He nodded, trying to ignore his wording faux pas.
“So, where are we going for dinner?” she asked, grabbing the nearest pair of cute sandals she could see, since she didn’t want him to think she was a crazed shoe person and took forever to get ready.
“I was thinking you could choose.” He smiled at her warmly.
“Oh! Okay.” She said, surprised.
“I just figured since we were having a serious talk, maybe you wanted to pick somewhere you were comfortable with.”
“Sure. I know the perfect place.”
He nodded and they began to walk toward the front door, both more nervous than they were ever likely to admit. He led her down to his car and they climbed in to go to the restaurant. She gave him directions and they drove through the dark city mostly in silence, since both of them didn’t know how to bring up the topic they actually needed to talk about: the baby. Instead of talking, they remained silent, each trying to figure out how to broach the topic without offending anyone. But their nerves got in the way and they both chose to remain silent instead of taking that leap together.
Julia figured they would have time to talk at the restaurant and Charles had never been in this situation, so he figured the best thing to do would allow Julia to take the reins. It still didn’t help with the nerves, though and both of them hoped by the time they were seated, the tension would’ve dissolved by then.
***
The restaurant Julia had picked wasn’t a romantic one, by any means. She had decided instead to go for a noisy Italian restaurant where they wouldn’t be overheard and they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable if there were stunted silences. She wanted a place that would distract them if things became too awkward, since a lot of the patrons that went to Mama Santos’ were of varying backgrounds, which created great people-watching time.
Plus, she was also craving some gnocchi and this was the best place to have it.
When they arrived at the restaurant, it was already bustling with families of all shapes and sizes. She looked around the restaurant, hoping to see a free table, and sighed when there weren’t any.
“Do you come here often?” Charles asked curiously, as they went up to the hostess stand.
Before Julia could respond, the hostess lit up. “Julia! Darling! Where have you been for the past few weeks? We’ve missed you! And who is this handsome man you are bringing here as…hopefully your date?” the woman asked, winking at Julia.
Julia blushed crimson and Charles laughed beside her.
“I take it you do come here a lot, he said, nudging her.
“The people are the best. And the food is just as good.” Julia said trying to tone down her blush so that she resembled a normal person instead of a tomato.
“Good to hear, darling!” the woman gushed, putting a hand on her arm and grabbing two menus.
“I’ll take you outside. It’s not as loud.” The woman said before Julia could even think to protest. She didn’t want quiet, she wanted loud. “Plus it’s more romantic,” the woman added, winking at her and making Charles laugh some more.
Julia blushed again a bright red as the woman led them out onto the patio.
“I hope you enjoy.” The hostess winked them and then took off to go help at the hostess stand.
Julia frowned, seeing only a few other couples on the patio before turning to their own table. She blinked in surprise when she saw Charles had pulled out her seat for her.
“Oh! Thanks.” She sat down and put her purse under her chair.
“You’re welcome.” He slid into the seat across from her.
They both stared at each other before Charles decided to break the silence. “So you come here often?” he asked playing with the silverware on the table.
“Yeah, yeah. Um…a few times a month.”
“That’s neat. So you know what’s good here?” he asked picking up the menu.
“Honestly, everything is great. I’m partial to the gnocchi, but that’s just me.” She glanced at her menu. She figured she might as well get a salad too. Since she rarely got a salad, she knew she’d actually have to look at the menu.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, beginning to look through his menu.
She nodded and the table fell silent as they picked out what they would like to eat. Before either of them tried to make conversation, a waiter appeared next to their table with a nervous expression and a pad and pencil.
“I’m Wilber, I’ll be taking care of you this evening,” he said nervously.
Julia smiled and looked over at Charles who was looking at the selection of wines.
“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked, looking over at them and waiting for them to order something. He was poised with a pencil and his pad.
“Sure. I’ll have a water with lemon,” Julia said and then looked over at Charles.
“And I’ll just have a scotch on the rocks,” Charles said, putting down the wine list.
The waiter nodded, “Any appetizers or would you like a few minutes?”
“Fried ravioli.” Julia ordered quickly. She had a craving for that as well.
“Coming right up,” the waiter said, smiling at them and then making his way toward the doors that headed to the kitchen.
“I was going to order wine. I had forgotten about your…condition,” Charles said sheepishly.
She smiled sadly. “I know, wine is one of the finer things I miss.” She pouted slightly at the knowledge she still had a ways to go before she could drink anything alcoholic.
“So, I guess we should talk about that.” He waved to her stomach.
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” She covered her stomach self-consciously.
“So how many months along are you?”
“I’m about fifteen weeks along.”
He nodded, taking in that information.
“I want to apologize again for that night. I mean, I really do like you, I just didn’t want to put you in a forced situation.” He said uncomfortable.
She shrugged and gave him a smal
l smile. “Well, we’re in an uncomfortable situation now and I guess we need to deal with that. I like you a lot too, Charles, but I’m really not sure how any of this is going to work. I mean, do we have shared custody? Do we get to know each other and hope it works out for the best? And what about this Ball and Alpha stuff? What are we going to do about all of this?” she asked, twisting her napkin in her lap nervously. “It’s just all so new and…different. I don’t know…I mean, it’s scary.” She stuttered, trying to get a hold on her emotions.
She had been holding them back for so long. She was sure if they continued talking about this, she would break. She hadn’t dealt with anything about the pregnancy, it was all about wondering if Charles was going to be involved. Now that they were talking about his involvement she didn’t know how to handle anything else.
She was scared and she had no idea what to do. She knew that Charles was scared and he had no idea what to do, either. It was all a very tense situation and neither of them knew how to handle it, which made navigating the waters even more detrimental.
“I’m just really scared about all of this,” she said finally.
“I know what you mean. I never thought that this would happen. I mean, I’ve always been so careful but I think I was just distracted,” he said quietly, looking up to meet her eyes.
“Distracted? By what?” she asked, confused.
“By you. You were so nice and sweet that night. And then I think we just got carried away. I suppose the alcohol didn’t help either. I like spending time with you, I just…I didn’t want to make you come and help me maintain my Alpha status for my pack.” He was looking away and toward something over her shoulder.
“I think it’s a little too late for that, but how about we start over? Maybe we can work through everything now. We both like each other, obviously, and now it’s time that we figure everything out.”
“Right, I agree.” He nodded eagerly.
“So how does this Alpha thing work? I mean do I come live with you? Do I stay in my apartment? How does this work?” she asked curiously.
He opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when the waiter brought them their appetizer and their drinks. They each ordered their main course and then they dug into the food before he began to answer her question.
“It’s not as complicated as people think. Basically, I took over as Alpha when my father died. It’s a generational thing, but after a year of being Alpha, someone has the authority to duel him for Alpha status, but only if they have not found a mate and produced a child. Since you're pregnant with my child, you're considered to be my mate and, well the child part is obvious,” he said, smiling slightly.
“Right. So the guy who answered the door when I came to visit is the guy who wants to duel you for Alpha status.”
“Right. That’s Bradley and we’ve always…well, it’s complicated between us. He was adopted into the pack when he was young and my father took him under his wing. My father and I didn’t have the best relationship and Bradley made it even worse between us, especially as my father’s death approached. I think Bradley thought he would be made Alpha because of their relationship, but since I’m the blood son, I was obviously the Alpha.”
“So Bradley wants to take this away from you?” she asked just to clarify.
“Right. See, no one really follows the rules of the mate and the child. Bradley just wants to bring up how I’m not a fit member to lead the pack. Everyone had honestly forgotten until he brought it up in one of our monthly meetings.” He rolled his eyes as his mind replayed the night of those events.
“Monthly meetings?” she asked surprised.
He nodded. “Yeah, we have meetings with other pack leaders so that we can keep a good relationship with all of the surrounding packs.”
“Alright, so after a year as a leader – sorry, Alpha – this guy, Bradley is threatening to duel you for leadership because you haven’t settled down,” she said, summarizing everything she had just learned.
“Pretty much,” he said, taking the last piece of ravioli.
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, well life isn’t fair and all that jazz.”
“Still, there must be some rule that overrides that,” she said, frowning.
He shrugged again and leaned back in his chair. “It doesn’t matter now. The ball is supposed to be when I announce if I have a mate and a child on the way so that the pack knows I’m taking it seriously. This is when Bradley can back down, but he also has the option of continuing to threaten me. The thing is, if he wins, he gets to claim you and the child as well,” Charles explained, sipping at his scotch.
“Wait, what?” she asked, staring at him as if she had never seen him before. “What did you just say?” she asked again, leaning forward, wanting to make sure what he had said was correct.
“He can claim you if he wins. But he’s not going to win and he’s not going to claim you,” Charles said as if that settled the matter.
“But what if he does? I didn’t like that guy at all! How am I supposed to be with him?” she asked appalled.
“First of all, he’s not going to win. Second of all, you aren’t going to be with him and third of all, this is why I didn’t want to get you involved in the first place. I didn’t want to force this type of thing on you. I’m sorry.” He ducked his head in guilt and avoided her gaze.
“This is so sexist.” She mumbled in annoyance.
He shrugged and offered her a small smile. “It’s the way of my world. Listen, I'm sorry about all of this. The only person who knows anything is my right hand man, Stuart, so if you still want to back out of this, you can. I’ll be able to take on Bradley, I just don’t want to force you into anything.”
“What happens if I don’t want to be involved?”
“Then I won’t be allowed to see the child or have a relationship with it.” The words hung in the air around them and neither of them could shake the weight of their meaning. If that was the case, then Julia knew she wasn’t going to allow this man to give up seeing his child just because she was frightened. If he was so determined that he was going to beat this Bradley guy, then she would stand by his side.
“Alright. I’ll do it. I’ll go to this ball and you’ll win and Bradley won’t ever bother us again.” She said with a solid nod.
He grinned and reached over the table to take her hand. “That’s the spirit.” He surprised both of them by picking her hand up and giving it a light kiss.
They smiled at each other, both feeling lighter than they had since they had both sat down to talk. It seemed like everything was beginning to come together and they couldn’t be more grateful. Julia was happy that she was getting to know Charles, and Charles was happy that Julia was going along with his way of life.
The dinner was a nice affair with both Julia and Charles able to open up to one another. Julia felt herself falling more in love with Charles and Charles felt himself growing more in love with Julia. By the end of the night, they were both happy with the direction their relationship was going in, and Charles promised that everything would be perfect for the Ball that weekend.
The Final Chapter
Julia felt nervous as she got ready for the Ball on Saturday night. She had picked out some things to wear at her favorite boutique, and although she had to get a bigger size than she would normally wear, she still thought she looked pretty damn good in the dress she chose. She’d decided on a midnight blue chiffon dress that flowed down to the floor. She had picked out a pair of trendy sandals, gold jewelry that she hadn’t worn in a very long time and last, but not least, she had decided to put her hair up in a loose bun with an array of curls hanging down from it.
She spent most of the day getting ready for the night by painting her nails, doing makeup, and shaving in places she hadn’t shaved for quite some time. She was nervous about showing up at the Ball, especially because everyone would want to meet her. And she was nervous – although she tried not to think about it too much – about
whether or not Charles would win the duel. She had no idea what to expect for that night, but she did know that it was going to be a life-changing night.
She was scared she’d end up in the clutches of Bradley, but what she was most afraid of was that she would end up getting exactly what she wanted, a life with Charles. She was fearful of all the changes that were going on and the small possibility that maybe he was only interested in her because she held his destiny in her womb. Maybe he only wanted her to come to the Ball because it showed everyone he was settling down, albeit with a woman who he barely knew.
She had no idea what to expect and that scared her most of all. What if something terrible happened at the Ball, like Charles actually died, and Bradley took over. She couldn’t even fathom Bradley and her together. He had struck her as being dangerous and someone she would not want to spend a large time around, let alone married to.
She tried to get rid of all of these thoughts going around in her head as she finished getting ready, but it was close to impossible. All of the “what-ifs” and “coulds” were swirling around her brain until she felt dizzy with all of the possibilities that the night could bring.
She tried to calm herself down by reminding herself that everything would be okay. She knew everything was going to be okay, but her overly creative imagination was making her wonder what was going to happen if it wasn’t okay.
She finished getting ready and then made her way down to her car to set off for the Ball. It was a pretty long drive to the mansion, so she turned up the music so she wouldn’t have to think about the night’s events. When she arrived at the mansion she was in awe about what she was seeing. She had yet to be in the mansion.
She sat in the car gaping up at the huge mansion and taking in the many cars that were in the driveway. She sat in a long line for valet parking and she wondered exactly how rich Charles was. Was he the one who owned the house or was that someone else? Was he really as rich as the mansion led her to believe, or was there something she was missing? She couldn’t get over how monstrous the mansion was and how beautifully decorated the gardens around the house were decorated. Eventually it was her turn for valet parking and she handed the man her keys before going up the stone steps and into the mansion.
The Panther's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance Page 19