by Tasha Blue
“Thank you for seeing me today and for helping to work through this with me. I really appreciate that.” She gave him a nod and he gave her a little bow.
“It’s absolutely my pleasure,” he answered.
She turned and walked toward the door. Just as she reached it, she stopped and turned to look over her shoulder at him. “I would be glad to have you in the delivery room if you want to be there.” She surprised herself saying it, but the thought had crossed her mind, and even though it was a sudden and unexpected thought, she knew the moment that she thought it that she meant it. She would be glad if he could be there when the twins were born. She knew somehow that it would mean just as much to him as it did to her.
He stared at her for a moment. Trying not to stammer his answer as she pushed the surprise from the forefront of his mind, he nodded and answered enthusiastically, “Really? Yes! Definitely, I would love to be there! I didn’t ask that before because I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome in the delivery room, but if you’re all right with it, I would definitely be glad to be there and experience the twins being born! Thank you!” He was nearly glowing with pride and happiness, and he felt as if he was floating a foot off the ground.
“Thank you so much for coming in and talking to me today!” he called out as she walked out of the office. He couldn’t begin to imagine why Cara would have gotten the contract and the deal mixed up and wrong; she almost never made a mistake, but he thought to himself that Jamaica had been right. If she hadn’t made the mistake, Jamaica never would have come into the office, and she never would have talked to him, or invited him into the delivery room for the birth of the babies, and she would have just walked away and never helped him to raise the little ones during their first two years of life. He had thought to himself that he was going to have a long conversation with Cara when she got back into the office, but after reflecting upon all the good that came of her error, he realized that it was probably best just to let it go. He didn’t see much point in calling her out for her very rare error when it had done so much good in his life, in Jamaica’s life, and in the life of their babies.
***
As it happened, neither of them had to wait too long for the babies to come. Jamaica went into labor a week later, which the obstetrician told her could happen, as with multiple births they almost never went to full term.
Penny took Jamaica to the hospital and Henry met them there, almost beating them to the delivery room by ten minutes. His best friend David and David’s wife Marina showed up a short while later, and everyone waited as the labor progressed and the time drew nearer. Henry’s mother Georgia came, and sat with them all, as the long minutes passed.
Jamaica and Henry were only polite with each other in the delivery room until her first big contraction hit her hard and she cried out in pain. He rushed to her and took her hand in his, holding it tightly, calling for the nurse to bring in someone to give Jamaica some kind of anesthetic or drug to help take the edge off.
She was given an epidural, and the pain subsided, but by that time both Henry and she felt as if they were in the experience together and they were relying on each other to get through it. He never let go of her hand, except to give her ice chips and coax her through the contractions and the waiting, until she was finally fully dilated and the babies were born.
Their daughter came first, and their son second, less than ten minutes later. Henry and Jamaica both cried at the birth of their children, holding each other and holding the babies. He cut both of the cords for the little ones, and in no time they were each nursing from her and looking around the strange new world that they found themselves in.
Henry could only stare and watch in wonder at the mystifying beauty of new life in his children and in the woman who had carried them and brought them bravely into the world, nourishing them with food and love.
It was the most profound experience in both of their lives, and they were each well aware of it, thanking each other over and over for sharing the opportunity together.
She was resting and recovering in her private room when an older woman came into the room with a big grin on her face. She looked tired and as if she didn’t feel too well, but she also looked as if she might not have been happier in her life.
The woman walked up to Jamaica’s bedside and reached for her hand. “I’m Henry’s mother, my name is Georgia. You must be Jamaica.”
Jamaica did her best to try to sit up, but Georgia stopped her. “Oh honey, please don’t worry about that. You just lay there and relax. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve just been through. You rest. I wanted to come and meet you, and see the babies. I didn’t think I was ever going to see grandbabies, but I told Henry how much it meant to me to have them, and he found a way to make it happen. Now, I grant you this is the strangest most unconventional way I’ve ever heard of anyone having babies, but I’m so glad that he did, and I’m especially glad that it was you who helped us to have them. I’ve heard good things about you, and I can see already that they are true. Thank you, Jamaica, thank you for giving us the best gift that either of us has ever had.”
She leaned over and kissed Jamaica’s cheek, and Jamaica grinned and kissed her back on the cheek.
“It was my pleasure, Georgia,” she replied. “Please, call me Jami. I’ll tell you, this experience has been the greatest in my life, and I’m so grateful that I was chosen for it and that I took it. You’re right about it being strange, but it’s also one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Georgia was thrilled to hear it, and went to the small bassinets in the room, picking up the babies one at a time and holding them, talking to them, and introducing herself to them. Jamaica loved to see her doing it.
“Why were you so anxious for him to have babies?” Jamaica asked. “I was told that time was really of the essence for this birth, but no one told me why.”
Henry’s mother turned toward Jamaica, holding one of the babies in her arms and her face grew sad and serious. “Well, my dear, it was time sensitive because I have cancer, and the doctors have given me a short lease on life from here forward. I wanted to see my grandchildren, and Henry was about as far from a relationship as a man could be, and I knew that if I didn’t push him, I was going to pass away from this world without ever seeing my grandbabies. It was so important to me. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you agreed to this and made it happen. You really have done so much more good than you will ever know. You’ve given me one of the greatest blessings of my life, and I cannot ever thank you enough for that.”
Jamaica watched her in silence and felt the sting of tears at the back of her eyes. She forced a smile onto her face as she watched the older woman slowly swaying and rocking the babies, cooing to them, talking to them, and loving them just as much as she knew that she and Henry did. It was a profound and powerful experience for her, and she was even more glad that she had accepted the job and given life to the babies.
The little truth that Georgia had chosen to speak to her about Henry being so far from a relationship stuck in the back of her mind and she wondered again why it was that Henry was alone and not with some woman who could be his wife and the mother of his children.
Georgia stayed long after Jamaica fell asleep, and when Jamaica awoke a long while later, she saw that Georgia was gone and Henry was in the room with her, sleeping in another bed in his clothes as the babies slept in their bassinets in between the two of them.
She rested in her room and recovered for two days after the birth. The babies were declared healthy and fit to go home, and after the second day, they were all taken to Henry’s massive house by the sea.
Jamaica had never seen anything like it in her life, and she could not have been more amazed, especially because she was going to be living in the house. She was shown the entire home, but then she was taken to a section of it where she would have her own room and bathroom, and even a reading and sitting room with a firep
lace and shelves fully lined with books.
She commented on the art all over the house, and Georgia was pleased to hear that she had a degree in arts, and that she taught it at a private school.
“What kind of art do you do on your own?” Georgia asked her as they sat at a table and talked over coffee.
Jamaica smiled. She loved to talk art, and she was finding quickly that Georgia was the same way. “I do lots of different styles of painting and drawing. I sculpt a little, and it’s something that I really enjoy. There are so many ways to express ourselves through art, and there is really no end of materials or styles that we can use to create anything we like.”
“Is your work up anywhere that people could see it?” Georgia asked with keen interest in her tone.
“No, not really. I mean, I have some pieces up at the school where I teach, but nothing anywhere else. I do want to have an art show sometime, but I feel like that might be a long way off,” she admitted with a smile and a slightly sad heart. She had wanted it for a long while, but it just seemed that it wasn’t likely to happen.
Georgia winked at her. “Well, you never know. It may happen at some point; you having your art at a show somewhere.” She tilted her head a little. “I would like to come to the school and see it sometime if you’d be all right with that.”
Jamaica felt a thrill shiver through her. “Oh! I’d love that, thank you!” She grinned at Georgia and felt again that she had managed to discover a very good friend that would be close to her for years and years to come, if not her whole life.
It was strange for Jamaica to try to learn how to fit into her new home. She had never even visited any place that had staff serving a family, and though it was a small staff of people, there were people who waited on her around the house and a cook who prepared all the meals for the family.
She discovered the cook on accident one morning when she made her way to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. The cook, an older man named Franz, had been shocked to see her in the kitchen, and though he backed off quietly when he discovered who she was, he was obviously displeased when she began to poke around in the kitchen, pulling out frying pans and taking food out of the refrigerator.
The maid walked in and saw what was happening and went to find Henry to tell him. He walked into the kitchen at about the same time that Franz was about to pass out from stress that anyone was in his kitchen and using it the way that Jamaica was, and that Jamaica was irritated that there was someone trying desperately to stop her from something as simple and easy as walking into a kitchen and preparing her own breakfast.
Looking from one of them to the other he could easily see that the situation would need to be diffused, and he smiled kindly at Franz and asked him to take the morning off, and promised him that he would have his kitchen back in good working order in no time, or at least by lunch time. Franz left them in the kitchen in a huff, and Henry turned to look at Jamaica, who was holding eggs and a container of milk in her hands.
“Do you know what you’re doing in here?” he asked with a tongue-in-cheek smile.
She nodded and raised one eyebrow. “Do you know what I’m doing in here?” she asked pointedly. He looked at her in confusion.
“What do you mean?” he queried.
“I mean, do you know what I’m doing? Do you know what I’m cooking?” she asked, giving him a sweet and friendly smile.
He shook his head slowly. He’d been caught. One of the few things that he had no knowledge of was cooking.
“Do you know how to cook anything?” she asked, seemingly reading his mind.
He shook his head again. “Not really, no,” he admitted quietly.
“Well then, come here please, and I’ll be glad to show you.” She tipped her head toward the stove and his eyes grew wide and glazed over slightly. “Come on! You can do this. I promise.” She laughed lightly and it made him smile.
He stepped toward her and she began to direct him around the kitchen, asking him to bring bowls and spoons and spatulas, and a wide array of things as they began to put a good breakfast together.
Henry learned how to make coffee, how to cook bacon and eggs, how to mix and cook pancakes and how to use the toaster, although he did burn the first two pieces of toast, but he adamantly blamed the cook on that, pointing out that the heat dial on the toaster was set too high.
Jamaica laughed at him and took her time showing him each part of what they did that morning, enjoying being with him, talking and laughing with him, and creating what turned out to be one of the best meals that she had ever eaten, though he said that it was certainly not one of the best that he had ever had. She only laughed at him, but they sat together at a small table in the breakfast alcove and ate everything that they had cooked together.
It felt to them both that their friendship was growing stronger, and they found joy and comfort in it, much more than they had ever imagined that they would. She admitted to him how strange it was for her to have anyone waiting on her, and he shared that it was strange for him to not only have a woman living in his home, but one who was so independent as she was. They agreed that change was bound to happen as they both came from such different places, and that the changes were good, and were part of the growth that they were both going to go through in their new lifestyle.
The days began to pass and Cara came often. She seemed to try to make herself close and available to Jamaica, and it felt to Jamaica fairly early on that she didn’t know what she would do without Cara. She hadn’t expected it, but she was glad to have the other woman’s support, encouragement, and advice.
A month after the babies had come home, a welcoming party was arranged for friends and family of both Henry and Jamaica. She felt nervous about it, because she knew that she would not only be meeting people who had known Henry all of his life, but who also moved in wealthy social circles, and she was worried that she would feel out of place and simple among them.
She expressed her concerns to Cara, trusting in her to help find a way to alleviate her fears and worries. She wanted the party to go well not only for the babies, but for Henry and Georgia as well. She would be representing their family, and she was adamant that she would present a respectable image to anyone meeting her for the first time at the party.
Cara took her shopping and helped her to select a dress that Cara swore to her would be perfect for it. Jamaica wasn’t sure, as she stood in front of a three-way mirror at the dress store, turning and looking at her reflection, but Cara assured her that it was ideal. They bought the dress, and on the day of the party Jamaica stepped into it and looked in the mirror again.
It was a satin dress that hugged her form without showing off too much of it, and was finished at the back with a sheer white sweeping cape that hooked at the shoulders and fell to the floor, following behind her for about a foot.
She frowned, feeling that she was perhaps going a bit too far with it, but she remembered Cara’s words in the shop, telling her over and over that she had to get it and that it was perfect for the event and for Jamaica.
Jamaica went into the party, which was filled with guests all there to see and celebrate the babies, wearing her new gown. It took no more than a cursory sweeping look at all of the guests for her to realize that she was far too overdressed, and she felt enormously overdone.
All of the guests were in day dresses or slacks, and there she stood among them in white satin and a cape and five-inch white satin heels with diamond décor across them. Everyone stared when they saw her, and for a horrible moment she wished that she could fall right into a hole in the floor, but a moment after that, Henry seemed to materialize out of thin air, right at her side, and he took her hand in his and walked with her into the room, telling her quietly that she looked stunning, almost like an angel, and he was glad to have her at his side.
He was so glad that he kept her at his side during the entire party and Jamaica noticed that Cara left the event early. She was going to ask her why she had helped h
er to choose a dress that was so out of place, but she didn’t get the chance before the other woman was gone.
Henry was indeed glad to have her at his side. He saw that she was overdone, and he knew that there must have been some mistake made somewhere, by someone who had been advising Jamaica. He knew that she would not have ever been to anything like the party that they had hosted before, and he found himself admiring her bravery and strength as she held her head high and moved among the guests, introducing herself and talking with him, eventually making every one of them smile and fall in love with her. He smiled himself, thinking the same thing. She was easy to fall for.
Chapter8
Cara saw Jamaica coming down the stairs toward the main level of the house one morning and stopped her. She smiled and touched Jamaica’s shoulder, wrapping her arm around Jamaica and seeming to confide in her.
“Good morning! Don’t you look lovely!” Cara began. She leaned in close to Jamaica’s ear and lowered her voice. “Listen, I know you’re really busy, but Henry has a business friend in the library, but he’s running a little late and he won’t be here for a few minutes to meet with him. I know you’re really busy, but if you wouldn’t mind just… stepping inside the library and spending a few minutes with him until Henry can join him, I just know he’d appreciate that so much. Would you mind terribly?” Cara pleaded with her, eyes wide and voice light.
Jamaica saw an opportunity to give Henry some help. She felt that he had already done so much for her, and she wanted to give that back to him at every chance and in just about any way that she could.
She brightened when she heard what Cara told her, and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, of course! I’d be so glad to help. Should I go in now?” She lifted her eyes to meet Cara’s.
“Yes definitely, go ahead and go in right now!” Cara urged her with a smile and a squeeze of her shoulders.