by Andromeda
"Rosalinda is not Georgianna," she says. "You can't keep judging women for what that one did. You know how Mamman would act in this..."
Yeah, I do know how she would, he thinks to himself with a smile. She would first beat the crap out of me for trying to make the mother of my child get an abortion, and then make me crawl on my hands and knees to Rosalinda and beg her forgiveness.
"It's too late anyway," Alphonse sighs. "She broke up with me. I...said some mean things to her over the last couple of days and, well...it didn't really go over well."
"Well then make it up to her," Pascal says. "Buy her a diamond ring or something."
"She's not into material stuff," Alphonse says, frowning.
"Well then..." Lucille says as she thinks. "Oh, I got an idea. Take her on vacation."
Alphonse blinks. "On vacation?"
"Yeah," she says nodding. "I'm talking full out vacation far away from here. But first, go take her to see her children. Alphonse...do you care for her?"
Alphonse sighs and slumps slightly in his chair. "Truthfully? I do, greatly. She's brought out emotions in me that I've never felt before. I used to think of women as...soulless beings after Georgianna. But ever since I've been with Rosalinda...I feel warm."
Both of his siblings nod and Lucille looks to him. "Look Alphonse, we both know you're not the most vocal out of us, but if this girl is bringing this out in you then she's special. Now you have to make her understand that."
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Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Open up, Rosalinda. I know you are in there," Alphonse calls outside the door and then he slaps himself on the forehead. Great job, Alphonse; you sound like a stalker.
For the last couple of days, he’s been playing a game with cat and mouse with Rosalinda and her friends, trying to talk to her. First, he went to Parsons to try and talk to her but they wouldn't let him inside, even though he saw her among her classmates. Then, he went to her apartment and found out that she had moved, so he then went to her friend Georgia's place and found out she too had moved. His patience was beginning to wear thin.
However, with the help of Lucille, he found out that Rosalinda had another friend, a guy named Aiden, and that she most likely would have been with. He frowned deeply when he found this out and began the drive there.
Why is she with another guy? he wondered. How could she have another man around her when she's carrying my child? I'll put a stop to this.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Rosalinda, opening the damn door!" he snaps.
The door does open, but it's not Rosalinda; instead, it's a shirtless man who Alphonse is guessing can only be Aiden.
"Who are you?" he asks rudely, even though he know who it is.
"Depends on who's asking," Aiden says, leaning on the threshold. "Are you here to take me out or...?"
Alphonso’s nose wrinkles at his words. This man is making him angry, mainly because he's shirtless and he knows Rosalinda is inside there.
"No, I'm looking for Rosalinda," he says tightly. "And I know she's in there."
"Lemme check," Aiden says, turning around and glancing around before turning back to her. "Nope, she's not here."
Not really caring about feelings, Alphonse marches in, shoving Aiden out of the way. "Rosalinda!" he yells, looking in the rooms. "Where are you? We need to talk!"
Boxes line the walls, he notices, and mentally guesses he is in the middle of moving but Alphonse does not care; he’s on a mission. A door opens in the back and Rosalinda steps out, her hair a bird's nest, her eyes sleep-glazed; she's dressed in a long t-shirt. He can see the small curve of her stomach and is secretly happy that she truly didn't do along with the abortion.
"What are you doing here, Alphonse?" she asks bitterly. "And how did you find me?"
"Doesn't matter how I did," Alphonse say, crossing her arms over. "You're not staying here. You are moving in with me."
Rosalinda’s eyebrow arches and she frowns deeply. "Says who? And why?"
"Because you are carrying my child and I'm going to take care of you," Alphonse says matter-of-factly, as if nothing has happened in the past.
"Oh, so now you care about us," Rosalinda snorts. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
Alphonse bites his tongue, "It's...the right thing to do..."
"Yeah, well I'm not buying it," she says. "Not just that, I can handle myself. I don't need you or your money. Don't let the door hit you on your way out."
She turns to leave, but he grabs her arm gently and pulls her back. "Rosalinda, please..." he says slowly. "I'm trying to do the right thing."
"Well, it's too late for that; you tried to get me to kill this baby,” she hisses.
"I know, and I'm sorry for that,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Please...let me show you that I...care."
Rosalinda’s jaw tightens and she glares at him, “Oh?”
"I also want to take you on vacation," he continues. "And...before we go, I will take you to see your family. I want to meet your children.”
Rosalinda’s jaw tightens as she takes this all in, listening to him. "I guess..." she says slowly. "But you are not in my good graces so easily."
"I wouldn't expect it," Alphonse says. "I have...hurt you and want to make it up to you."
Rosalinda nods and then looks down at his hand grasping her arm; slowly, he lets it go.
"So...will you move into my home?" he asks softly. "If only...until the child is born?"
Her hand goes to her stomach and she sighs. "I don’t exactly have a choice, do I?”
“Not really…” Alphonse says, a wry smile curling his lips. “But I would want you to be willing.”
“Fine,” she says simply.
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"Ok, that's the last box," Aiden later says as he helps Rosalinda put her things into her car. "You sure you want to do this?"
She sighs and leans against the car. "The only reason I'm doing this is because I want what's best for my child, which is it. If it wasn't for this baby, I'd have kicked him to the curb a long time ago."
Aiden smiles. "You are such a spit fire, Rose."
She shrugs. "What can I say? It's just the way I am."
Aiden laughs. "Yeah, I know. Well, you better get on the road before Mr. high and mighty gets impatient."
"Yeah, I better go," she says getting in her car. "See you later?"
"Yeah, text me; maybe we can tempt Gigi to come out of her room."
Rosalinda sighs as she begins to drive to Alphonse's house. After her miscarriage—Rosalinda refuses to call it an abortion—Georgia has locked herself in her room, not talking to anyone, and everyone is really beginning to worry about her. Gabriel cut her off from everything, kicked her out of apartment, and took all her money. She has been broken. All she can hear from the room is quiet sobs, and sometimes she hears crashing inside. She doesn’t know what is going inside there, but it breaks her heart.
Rosalinda wants to kick Gabriel's ass for what he did, dumping her as if she's nothing more than trash. She told Georgia that man was no good, that he was just using her, but she refused to listen to me. Georgia has always wanted love, always went out of her way to find it, but...she's sometimes looked in the wrong places.
Her dear friend also is a bit naive in certain things, this being one of them. She has always been praised for her beauty, always loving attention. She knows that when Gabriel told her that he loved her, she thought he meant it; but Rosalinda could look at that fool and tell he doesn't have a truth bone in his body, and now her best friend is broken—maybe beyond repair.
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Rosalinda has never been to Alphonse's house before and when she pulls up to it, she has to do a double take. It's huge, seemingly made of white stone. The layout and form remind her of a French chateau now that she thinks of it. Pulling up to the driveway, she sees Alphonse standing on the front porch, a bouquet of red roses in his hands. Rosalinda arche
s an eyebrow as she gets out of the car. He's never brought her flowers before, unless he wanted something...
"Welcome to my home," he says, holding the flowers out to her.
Slowly, Rosalinda takes them, bringing the roses up to her nose and inhaling their scent. "Thank...you?" she says uncertainty.
"You must be tired," he says, taking her arm. "Come in at once."
Dragging her literally into the house, Rosalinda’s eyes widen at the gold and white marble floor as well as the crystal chandelier that hangs from the ceiling.
"My home has 10 bedrooms," Alphonse boasts, leading her on a tour through the house. "As well as 10.5 bathrooms, a game room, a pool, and an office."
"That's...very nice," she says, still greatly uncertain as he drags her through the house, showing her room after room. "Why such a big house?"
"It's more like a family manor," he says with a shrug. "My brother and sister sometimes stay over, but not always."
Rosalinda remembers his brother and sister, Pascal and Lucille. Pascal still gives her a bit of the creeps, but she knows that he has a good heart.
"This is my room," Alphonse says, stopping in front of huge master bedroom. "As well as yours."
Rosalinda blinks in surprise. "My room?"
"Yes," he says nodding. "You will be sleeping with me."
Rosalinda’s face twists in fury. "Like hell I will! Alphonse, there is no way I'm doing that!"
Alphonse frowns. "Why not? You are living in my house."
"Doesn't mean that I'm going to sleep in the same bed as you,” she snaps. “I demand my own room."
Rosalinda scowls at him and then he pinches the bridge of his nose, muttering in French. "Fine," he finally says after several moments. "You can have your own room."
Taking her arm again, he drags her to a room almost as big as his own. It's plain with a king size bed with plain covers, two dressers, a large body mirror, two vanities, a walk-in closet and door that she’s guessing leads to a bathroom.
"Will this suffice?" he asks.
She can tell he's still peeved about her wanting a separate bedroom and she smirks to herself. She doesn’t care.
"It will do," she purrs.
"Good," he says, putting his hands behind his back. a habit he has, a thing that she’s noticed that he does when he is nervous in order to make himself seem taller and more in command. After a couple moments, he clears his throat. "How...how far along are you? If you don't mind me asking."
"About four months," she says. "Maybe five. It's small though..."
"And...this is not normal with babies?" he asks.
"Not really..." she says, tucking a hair behind her ear. "Look Alphonse, if we are going to make this work then we have to set up some ground rules."
"Such as?" he asks.
"Such as...giving me some space," she says. "And stop acting so stiff around me. I'm a go with the flow kinda girl, ok?"
Alphonse nods stiffly in understanding. "Ok..."
"Also, if you want to be there for the child, then you should come to my doctors' appointments," she says gently.
"I will," he says. "Anything else?"
"When is our...vacation?" she asks.
"When is your next break?" he asks.
Rosalinda frowns as she tries to think. "Well...Christmas break will be coming within 5 weeks. Do you want to go then?"
Alphonse nods. "Christmas it is then."
Chapter Thirteen
Alphonse stands behind the shopping cart in Whole Foods, waiting for Rosalinda to pick the kinds of chips that she wants to freaking eat. They’ve been in this aisle for the last 30 minutes and he’s been waiting for her to hurry up and pick chips. She is stuck between salt and vinegar kettle and jalapeno poppers. Alphonse has no idea what a jalapeno popper is, but Rosalinda loves them.
"I don't know what to pick..." she says, looking at the bags.
"Just pick one," he grumbles. "They can't be that different!"
"You'd think that," she says. "I don't know, I want the jalapeno popper...but I can always buy those for real rather than a chip. I can't buy salt and vinegar and eat that."
"Why don't you just get the salt and vinegar chips and we can buy some poppers or whatever you call them," he suggests, anything to get out of the store.
She smiles. "Sounds perfect! But then I'll need ice cream and lemonade to wash it down with...
Got damnit! he roars in his mind. What the hell is with women and these cravings?!
Alphonse buys her ice cream and lemonade and promises to buy her some poppers. As she munches on them, the spicy but also cheesy smell filling his car, she reaches over and turns on the radio. A song that he’s never heard before in Spanish begins to blast through her speakers. Her face brightens up with delight and she begins to sing along with it.
"Esto esta como, como pa, como pa', como pa' rumbiar
Pa' bailarlo caliente, de espalda y de frente
Nos favorece el sol, un bronceado y el calor
No puede estar mejor!
Zu-zu-zumba!
Subela y bajala y por debajo pasala
Suelta la cadera y mueve todo lo que tienes ahí
Sigue, siguelo así que el party no tiene fin
Activao, brinca la casa candela gasta las suelas
Funde esa tela, si que me paso que?
Suena, la rumba es buena que hay muchas nenas
Mira la escena que..."
Alphonse can’t help but chuckle to himself as she dances along to the music in her seat, belting out the lyrics at the top of her lungs.
Why have I never noticed how wonderful she is before? she wonders to herself.
"I love this song," she says, her voice high. “It’s called Limbo, by Daddy Yankee.”
"I...I'm glad you like it," he stammers.
Alphonse wants to kick himself. He always turns into a stammering fool when he’s around her. He knows she wants to take things slow in order to make it work for the child, but...there is something inside him that wants so much more...
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Rosalinda looks at herself in the mirror, her five-month belly looking back at her. Who would have thought that things with Alphonse would actually be going a bit well? He's far from being in my good graces, but...there is something there between us.
Alphonse has been trying to be nice to her in several ways. He has been coming to the doctors' appointments, though he's quickly becoming the bane of them. He asks a thousand and one questions about the child and about her. He picks out all the worst things that can happen to them and asks how to fix them, even though she’s not even having the symptoms of anything he's asking about.
At night, she sometimes wakes up to him standing over her bed, watching her sleep. She almost stabbed him the first time he did it, seeing as she keeps a knife and pepper spray under her pillow; when she realized it was him, she calmed down but cursed him out in Spanish, calling him a jack ass and an idiot. After a couple times of it, she’s learned to just roll over and ignore him. If he thinks that it’s going to be this easy to forgive him for trying not just once, but twice to get me to get rid of the child within me, and now all of a sudden he wants to play daddy? No way.
Most of the time, she has been ignoring him as well as working on her studies, but he's always there pressing her, trying to get her to open up to him and talk more. At dinner, he tries to start conversations but she quickly shut him down, and sometimes she takes her plate to her room.
She will not forgive him so easily; after what he's done...after he tried to get her to get rid of the child, she refuses to cave in so easily. She has been told she can hold a grudge and it is the truth. You mess with her family or her friends and she will make you wish you were never born.
However, she will give him the benefit of the doubt; he is trying hard in order to win her favor, buying her whatever she wants, getting up in the middle of the night to buy her ice cream when the craving comes upon me. She’s just not ready to let him
back into her heart, though.
A couple of weeks later, her eyes widen as she looks at the plantation house in front of them. "This place is huge..." she whispers in shock.
"It better be worth the $90,000 a month I pay her," Alphonse grumbles as he helps her out of the car.
Rosalinda blinks. "Wait a second...this is..." she punches him in the shoulder. "Damn you!"
Alphonse grunts and rubs his arm. "What was that for?"
"You said we were picking up Lukas for the weekend!" she snaps. "Not visiting your ex!"
"We are picking up Lukas for the weekend," Alphonse says calmly. "We just...have to get through Georgianna first." He rubs his arm. "Was the punch really necessary?"
"Better be glad it was my fist and not my foot," she snarls.
"Well, you've been getting moody,” he remarks.
"You'd be moody too if you were pregnant,” she snaps right back.
"Well, I'm glad I'm not," he says. "Now, listen...Rosalinda, please, no matter what she tries, promise me that you won't fight."
"Me?" she asks, pretending to be shocked. "What makes you think I'd do such a thing?"
"I'm serious, Rosalinda," he says firmly. "You have the child to think about."
"You'd just love for me to have an accident and then you'd kick me out, wouldn't you?" she asks bitterly. "Then all your problems would be over."
Alphonse grips her arms tightly and pulls her close to him, so close she can smell the mint on his breath. "Don't ever joke about such a thing," he says through gritted teeth. "I told you that I want that child."
"But not me?" she asks, already knowing the answer. He clenches his jaw and she nods. "Yeah, there it is. Let me go right now."
Alphonse lets her go but she can see it's with great reluctance and instead turns around, walking up the stairs. When they get to the top, he rings the doorbell and when it opens, Rosalinda sees a model. That's the only way she can describe Georgianna is as a model with her blue eyes, milk-white skin and golden blond hair.
Georgianna’s eyes look from Alphonse to Rosalinda, and then to her belly. Absentmindedly, the young woman wraps an arm around it and shoots the older one a withering glare; Georgianna does nothing but smirk at her.