Billion Dollar Baby

by Imani King

  She would never forgive me. How could she? To her, I was some conniving, money-hungry liar.

  Still, I had to get her back. I couldn’t live without her.

  I tried calling her. It was the seventh time that day. I was getting desperate.

  Ring… Ring… Ring…

  My chest tightened in anticipation.

  “Please… Pick up…” I mumbled under my breath, praying for a miracle.

  Click.

  “Hello?”

  “Adele!” A flood of relief washed over me. “Please, don’t hang up the phone, I just need to talk to you.”

  She didn’t say anything, but I could hear her soft breathing through the line. She seemed to be willing to listen. Good. Hopefully, I wouldn’t blow my chance.

  “I just want to apologize for being an asshole. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I lost my temper and I know that’s no excuse, but I really hope I can make it up to you. I never intended to hurt you.”

  She was quiet for a moment.

  I wanted to say more, but at the same time, my throat felt like it had swollen shut. I feared that if I said anything else, I’d make an even bigger ass of myself. So, I just waited.

  Eventually, she sighed. “Look, Braden, I appreciate you trying to apologize, but it’s not going to be that easy. I’m going to need time.”

  “I’ll wait,” I said quickly. “As long as you need.” I tightened the grip on my phone, feeling like this was a critical moment. She could either give me a second chance or she could push me out of her life forever. “I miss you…” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

  “I miss you too…” she whispered back, her voice barely audible. She sounded like she was on the verge of crying. “But you betrayed me. I need to mull things over, to screw my head back on.”

  “I understand,” I said, feeling like this was her way of letting me down easy.

  “Why don’t we grab coffee sometime next week? You know, a neutral setting. That’ll give us the time to think and then we can talk things over.”

  “Okay. Maybe. I’ll text you if I have the time.”

  “See you then.” Without a second thought, she hung up the phone.

  I was left standing there, wondering how I would survive the week without her.

  It wasn’t easy, but somehow, I managed. I drowned myself in work and kept busy so I wouldn’t spend every waking moment thinking about her and how I had ruined the relationship.

  I texted her twice — not enough to look desperate, but enough to let her know that I was serious. A man who could hold up my end of the bargain.

  I had to set this right.

  So, I shaved, put on a nice, clean outfit, and headed to the coffee shop.

  To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I could feel my stomach twisting into knots, threatening to make me sick. I didn’t know if I’d be able to face her.

  I was first to arrive. I ordered us drinks and bagels. Unable to stand still, I started to pace, warranting a few strange looks from the baristas.

  “Are you okay?” a petite redhead asked.

  “Yeah,” I answered. “I just messed things up with my girlfriend and am meeting her here, hoping to set things straight.”

  She frowned. “That bad, huh? I’m surprised you didn’t bring her flowers, that’s what most guys do.”

  My eyes widened. Right, of course, flowers! Why hadn’t I thought of that?

  I was just about to run out the door when Adele walked in. When she turned to the side, I could see the slightest hint at a baby bump. My breath hitched in my throat, and I swallowed hard. That was my baby. Our baby.

  Our eyes locked for a moment before she looked away. Great, she couldn’t even look me in the eye anymore. I truly had become a monster.

  “Um… I ordered us drinks and a couple bagels. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “That’s fine. Did you bring my textbooks like I asked?”

  I nodded. “They’re in my car.”

  “Good, because I have some exams coming up and I really need to start studying for them.”

  “Why didn’t you just drop by the house and grab them?”

  “I couldn’t.”

  The barista placed our order on the counter. Adele grabbed her drink and headed for a table in the corner. I joined her. Neither one of us spoke a word. The tension between us was so thick that I felt like I could cut it with a knife.

  Trying to distract myself, I pulled out her bagel and handed it to her.

  She took it but didn’t bother eating it.

  I tried nibbling on it, but it felt like a boulder sliding down my throat, weighing heavily in my stomach. “So…” Unable to take the silence any longer, I broke it.

  Adele just looked at me, her eyes full of pain.

  “Do you think you’ll ever come back to the ranch? It’s not the same without you…” As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted saying them. I should have said something else – anything else. Asking her to come back was too blunt—too desperate. I was already starting off on the wrong foot.

  She ran her fingers over the lid of her cup before taking a deep breath. “I think it’s best if I just stay with my sister for a little while. With my exams coming up, it would be good for me to just focus on that for a while and not have… Other things to distract me.”

  “Oh…”

  “Yeah…”

  We fell into silence once more.

  I couldn’t take it. I needed to get this off my chest. “Adele.” I reached forward and took her hand. To my relief, she didn’t pull away. “I’m so sorry, for everything. I want you to know that I only hid the truth because I didn’t want money to overshadow my love for you—”

  Suddenly, she got out of her chair and rushed to the bathroom.

  “Adele!” I shouted in alarm before I chased after her. Luckily, the women’s bathroom was empty.

  I cringed when I heard violent retching coming from the last stall.

  “Adele?” I whispered, unable to find my voice. “Is everything okay?” I tiptoed forward, slowly pushing back the door.

  Adele was hunched over the toilet, throwing up.

  Immediately, I crossed over to her, taking her hair in my hand and keeping it out of her face. Gently, I rubbed her back, trying to find the words to say something but all I could do was watch in horror as she dry-heaved, her whole body shaking.

  Eventually, she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. She looked up at me, her skin pale and pulled tightly over her face.

  Gently, I helped her onto her feet, pinning her close to my body. “What was all that about?”

  “Morning sickness.” she said with a grimace. “Been happening lately. Apparently I’m one of the lucky few who has it start after ten weeks.” She pulled away from me and took in a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She laughed slightly, and then she groaned.

  I kept holding onto her elbow just in case. “Do you want to go back and sit down?”

  “No. I thought I’d be ready to talk, but I’m not.”

  I nodded. “Okay, I won’t push it. But I want you to know that I want to keep taking care of you, whatever you decide to do.”

  “Can you just drive me back to my sister’s place?”

  “You didn’t drive?”

  “No, my sister dropped me off. I was planning to do a bit of shopping, but I don’t feel up to it anymore. I just want to lay down.”

  “Okay.” I helped her out of the coffee shop and into my car. “Do you want me to recline the seat back?”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  I hesitated, feeling like there was more I could do to help her. After a few moments, she looked at me, silently questioning why I was still standing there.

  This got me moving again. I closed her door, rounded to the driver’s side, and got in. “I’ll drive slow, okay?”

  She nodded, leaning her head back, and closin
g her eyes.

  For a while, I managed to keep my mouth shut, but the silence was driving me insane. “Adele… You know I still love you, right?”

  She didn’t say anything.

  “I’ll move Heaven and Earth if it means being with you again… I’ll prove my honesty and worth. I’ll be the man you deserve. I’ll do anything you want me to.” I looked over at her, but her eyes were closed. “I can understand if you don’t want me anymore, but you need to know that I’ll still support the baby. Our child will never lack anything, I promise you that.” I was ranting at this point, spilling the words out of my soul in a desperate attempt to reconcile. I had no idea whether it was working or not. “I—”

  “Braden, stop.” Adele sat up in her seat before looking over at me. “I love you too. I always will.” She reached over and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. “And… believe it or not, I can still see a future for us.”

  My heart skipped a beat. Did this mean she was going to forgive me? I started to smile, but there was a bleak expression on her face. I hadn’t reached the light at the end of the tunnel just yet.

  “But… this…” She made a circular motion with her hand. “… has rocked me.” She let go of my hand and placed it back on her knee, rubbing it in contemplation. I knew she was choosing her words very, very carefully. Adele had always been level-headed like that. I envied her. “Your family has always been cruel to me, especially your grandfather. And I’m sorry, but the contingency in the will really freaks me out. I don’t know if I can accept it just yet.”

  “Okay. I can understand that.”

  “I think I just need a bit more time to wrap my head around all this.”

  I nodded. “I can wait.”

  Chapter 20

  Adele

  “Are you ready?” Dahlia knocked on the bathroom door.

  “Give me a minute,” I called out. I listened to her receding footsteps before turning back to the toilet, my fingers tight around the rim.

  For the last two weeks, I felt like my mornings had consisted of nothing but nausea and sickness. I was getting tired of it. Just thinking about it sent another wave through my system. I leaned forward, retching. The contents of my breakfast came spilling out.

  I felt horrible.

  My body shook and a cold sweat traveled down my temples. I had spoken to my doctor and he said this was normal in the early stages of pregnancy, but I never expected it to be this bad.

  “Fuck…” I whispered to myself, sinking to the floor, taking in deep breaths through my nose. Maybe if I brought up how bad things were getting, the doctor could give me something—anything.

  “Adele?”

  “I’m coming, I’m coming.” I finally got to my feet. I stood in front of the mirror and frowned. I looked like a mess.

  “Are you alright?” The doorknob rattled as Dahlia opened the door. “You aren’t sick again… are you?” She peeked her head inside the room, spotting the mess I had forgotten to flush.

  “You really need to have a word with your doctor. This can’t be normal.” She held her nose, crossed the room, and flushed the toilet.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, embarrassed. “I’m fine.”

  She pursed her lips together and placed a hand on her hip. “Adele. You gave Braden a hard time about lying to you and yet here you are, lying to your dear sister.”

  I sighed. “I really am fine.”

  “If you say so. I’ll be in the car. Don’t take too long, okay?”

  I nodded.

  She hesitated a moment before finally leaving me alone.

  I splashed my face with water which seemed to help a little. At least I didn’t look so ghostly pale anymore. Taking my brush, I ran it through my hair, trying to make it look a little more presentable, but it remained disobedient. I could fight it all I want, but it wasn’t going to do what I wanted it to. It was like each strand had its own opinion. Oh well. It wasn’t like I was going to meet the president. I was going to have a friendly little chat with Braden. At the ranch.

  Somehow, however, that seemed even more nerve-racking than meeting the president.

  Eventually, I left the bathroom and joined Dahlia in the car.

  “Took you long enough.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  She put the car into drive and eased out of the driveway. For the first few minutes we didn’t say anything. I was surprised because I expected her to start bombarding me with questions.

  I spoke too soon.

  “So how are you feeling?”

  “About?”

  “Oh, come on, you know. Braden.”

  “To be honest, I’m still on the fence. I just don’t know. Part of me wants to forgive him and go back to the way things were before, but at the same time, there’s something holding me back.”

  Dahlia raised an eyebrow in question. “Do you know what that something is?”

  I sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, Braden says that he’ll provide for me and I think that’s part of it. You know I’ve always been independent. I’ve never really relied on anyone before. It’s hard for me to make myself vulnerable like that.”

  “You aren’t making yourself vulnerable. Braden is supposed to take care of you. You’re caring his child.”

  “I know. But I want it to be more than that. I don’t want him to support me just because he feels obligated to do so. I want him to do it because he wants to. Because he loves me.”

  “Do you doubt his love?” Dahlia asked, turning the corner onto the road that would eventually arrive at Braden’s ranch. I knew that I’d have to face him sooner or later, but I still wished Dahlia would drive a little slower. I needed more time to process the raging emotions inside of me. One second, it seemed I had everything figured out and then things would just get all jumbled up again. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Honestly, I had no idea what I was supposed to do or how I was supposed to feel.

  “I don’t know,” I whispered, more to myself than to her. I wrung my fingers together. “It’s just… if he loves me as much as he says he does, why would he lie to me? That’s what I can’t understand.”

  Dahlia smiled knowingly. “He was scared. He thought you’d take things the wrong way and he had a point, you did storm out after he told you about the money.”

  “Only because he lied to me!”

  “Hey, I’m not trying to take his side or anything. I’m just saying he might not be totally at fault.”

  I frowned. “He still should’ve told me the truth.”

  “You’re right. But I still think Braden is a good guy. He made you very happy. At his birthday party you were practically glowing. I know you might be hurt by what he did, but I think it would be a mistake to let him go. You love him and you shouldn’t let that love die. So, what if he made a bad choice, we all make one every once in a while.”

  I bit my lip, contemplating her words. While she did have a point, doubt still lingered in my mind. “What if he keeps making bad decisions? What if this keeps happening? What then? I can’t keep getting my heart broken because he’s too afraid to tell me the truth. A relationship doesn’t work like that. We have to be honest with each other.”

  “Well, didn’t he promise you that he’d be honest from this point forward? If it was me, I’d give him a second chance.”

  “If I remember correctly, you were the one trying to get me not to date him when I first considered getting back together with him.”

  She laughed. “You’re right, but you weren’t head over heels in love with him yet. I can see it in your eyes, Adele. You love that man and you’re meant to be with him. I just know it.”

  I sighed. “But what about the money?”

  “What about it?”

  “I’m sure it’ll come with strings attached and I don’t know if I can deal with that right now.”

  “Oh, come on, you can’t be serious. His grandfather is on death’s doorstep.”

  “How do you know tha
t?” I asked, feeling like my sister always knew everything that happened in town. Even in high school, she was the command station for all the latest details on relationships, scandals, and juicy pieces of gossip.

  “One of my co-workers volunteers at the hospital. She knows you’re dating Braden so she’s kept me in the know.”

  “And how come you haven’t told me this until now?”

  “I didn’t think you wanted updates. I thought you hated the guy.”

  “I do!”

  “Anyway, he’s going to kick the bucket soon. So I’m fairly certain that there won’t be any strings attached if the guy dies soon after the baby is born.”

  “Morbid much?”

  She shrugged. “I’m just being realistic here. Are you really going to turn down the money?”

  I thought about Braden and his struggling finances. I thought about the ranch. I didn’t exactly know how much Braden was in line to inherit, but I knew it would help, whatever it was. It would probably provide us with the income we needed to support the baby and our dream of turning the farm into a profitable business.

  Suddenly, Dahlia jerked on the wheel. “Oops, sorry, a squirrel ran in front of the car.”

  My stomach felt like it had been left behind on the road. My brain rattled in my skull. I blinked, the world spinning around. Nausea threatened to overwhelm me.

  I leaned forward, breathing in deep. God, if I got sick in Dahlia’s car, she was going to kill me.

  “So, what are you going to do?” She asked after a few moments of silence. Dahlia was the kind of person who hated it when things got quiet.

  I straightened out and closed my eyes. My fists were clenched, nails digging into my palms. I was doing everything I could to keep myself stable. Maybe talking would help to distract me a bit. It seemed to be working a few minutes ago.

  “I’m going to try and work things out with Braden. It’ll take time, but I still see a future for us.”

  “And the money?”

  “I’m not sure if I should take it.”

  “You’re nuts, you know that?” She looked over at me, but doing so got the car to drift away from the lane. When she looked up, her eyes widened and she quickly jerked the wheel to get back into place.