by Kim J. West
"I felt that! Oh fuck!” I exclaimed. “Oops, I'd better stop swearing before he's born.” I wanted to feel more of those kicks.
“Do you mind if I..." I asked, gesturing towards her belly.
"Sure."
I knelt on the floor and placed my ear on Lena’s pregnant belly. I couldn’t believe it; there was clearly someone in there and I felt him kicking around and a movement that felt like stretching. The feeling I felt was indescribable; so much joy and wonder at this miracle tucked away, somewhere inside that belly. Lena stood patiently letting me enjoy this special moment. I knew the fight we’d just had, needed to be resolved immediately.
As much as I still felt resentment about what she’d done, we had to move forward. My son; our son was far more important than our disagreements. I had been rough with her today and couldn’t imagine what a mother must feel to be threatened with having her baby taken away. How can I love my son if I can’t treat his mother right? And she’d already done all this hard work of caring for herself and our baby without my help? I stood up and gently pulled Lena into my arms.
"Baby, I'm sorry," I began softly, feeling guilt over what I’d put her through today, without taking into account what hell she must have endured, thinking she couldn’t tell me about the baby because of my family.
"No Jonathan, I'm sorry," she interrupted looking remorseful.
I shook my head. "Hear me out." I began, sitting on the couch and pulling her down into my lap and stroking her back gently. She’d told me she wasn’t on the pill, I took the risk. I failed her, then she had to deal with the aftermath alone, while I went on vacation.
"I'm sorry you've had to go through this alone. I wish I could have been there for you; caring for you, spoiling you."
"I didn't let you. I'm sorry too. I never stopped to think about what you'd want."
"Lena, you can't shut me out. I never stopped loving you. When you broke up with me, I made it clear to my parents I wasn't going to marry Ashley. I took Ashley out to dinner and told her all about you and she finally understood and she’s moving on with her life. Nothing sexual ever happened between me and her since she came back.”
"I’m sorry about telling you I was with Willis. I went out to dinner with him but I wasn't seeing him; I just said that to make you give up on us."
"The minute your mother told me you were seven months pregnant, I knew it was mine."
"Oh really? You thought I hadn't seen anybody else?"
"I made my investigations and established you weren’t together with Willis. When I got back to Atlanta from my travels, I called your mother to find out how you were and she told me you were pregnant by a boyfriend from Atlanta. I remembered that day when we made love; I didn't quite make it. I came deep inside you, baby. I pulled out when it was too late. I should have checked on you earlier, but when I saw those tabloid pictures of you with Willis after you dumped me, at first I didn’t want to face that I’d lost you. I only found out months later that nothing was happening with him.”
She sighed and shook her head.
"Well, here we are... And now, you’re being forced to be a father to a child you never wanted."
“What?” I snapped, giving her a disbelieving glare. “I can’t even begin to tell you how much I want this child, especially with you. I want you to know I never gave up on us; I was coming back for you. This baby is my chance. I can’t even say I’m sorry for knocking you up. I feel like I’ve won the lottery.”
She narrowed her eyes humorously. “The lottery? Really, Jonathan?”
“Well, for me this is winning. No matter what happens from now on, you and I will always share this,” I said, giving her belly a pat.
I was surprised to see tears beginning to drip from Lena’s eyes; I knew it’d take time for her to forgive me. I vowed in that moment to take better care of her and never let her out of my sight. She was under my protection now and I’d make everything right.
“Jonathan, I’m so sorry for doing this to you,” she sobbed. “I … I thought I was doing the right thing. I’m sorry.”
The last thing I wanted was her apology; I was equally at fault for putting her in the difficult positions that made her choose this decision.
I hugged her to me and held her close.
“Shhhh, baby. It’s done,” I whispered. “We can’t look at the past now. I mishandled some things as well. Let’s forget about everything. We have a son on the way and I don’t want to waste another moment on the past. It’s over.”
I held her to me until she raised her head and dried her eyes. Even with a tear-streaked face, Lena was the most beautiful woman in the world. Seeing her all fat with my son inside of her… it gave me a real sense of pride. And I loved her more than ever.
“Look how well you’ve done; caring for our son all by yourself,” I said, wiping away a stray tear. “Thank you; I’m in awe of you, Lena.”
“Thank you, Jonathan,” she sniffed, kissing my temple.
"Look,” I said, shifting her closer. “I'm here for a few days. I thought it would take longer to break you down, so I sent the jet back to Georgia for other errands."
"Break me down?" she asked indignantly.
"Yes, I wanted to hear it from you."
She stood up.
"Can I go home now?" she asked rolling her eyes at me in mock annoyance. "Can I be set free?"
I didn’t want her leaving me.
"Can't you stay the night?"
"I'd have to tell my dad first."
"Call him."
"Let me drive there, speak to him and get some clothes; I'll be back in an hour and a half?"
"You think I'm ever going to let you out of my sight ever again? I'll drive you. Let's go."
Chapter Sixty-Six
We arrived at her home and for the first time, I felt anxious. She’d be explaining the situation to her father and I wasn’t certain of his reaction.
When we entered the house, her father was coming towards the front hallway where we’d stood earlier.
“Dad,” she began. “You’ve met Jonathan, of course.”
She was clearly nervous.
“I guess I should tell you he’s the father of my baby…” she trailed off.
Her father just raised his eyebrows and nodded in acknowledgement that he’d heard what she said, all the while looking at me with an expression bordering on hostility.
“Dad, I’m spending the night at Jonathan’s place, so I’m just going upstairs to get my things.”
With that, she headed upstairs, leaving me alone with her father. We stood in awkward silence for a minute.
“Come with me,” he said at last, heading towards what appeared to be his private den. The room contained a couple of couches, trophies and awards along one wall and books along another. Glass double doors opened onto an inner courtyard with a patch of green grass and pot plants at each corner. I waited to be offered a seat; the offer didn’t come. Instead, he turned, locked the door, put the key in his pocket, then came towards where I stood. Immediately, I was on red alert; this was not going to be good.
“I did some research online after you’d left with my daughter,” he began, folding his arms across his chest, a stance I matched.
“You were her boss, weren’t you?”
Fuck. “Yes, sir, I was.”
“So is that a nasty habit you have? Sleeping with your staff?”
“No sir.”
He muttered a curse under his breath, then began rolling up his sleeves, in a manner I perceived as preparation to attack. I looked anxiously towards the locked door. Why the hell was Lena taking so long? It’d be the height of bad manners to fuck up her dad. I decided to alter my aloof posture and sat down on the edge of the couch’s armrest, hoping it’d dissipate the tension in the room.
“Sir, can I just say something,” I began, noting the palpable hostility between us. “I’m in love with your daughter. I fell in love with her the moment I met her--”
He cut me off.
“Are you the one responsible for the bad state she was in, when she arrived from Atlanta?”
“I believe I was Mr. Williams and I’m here to take full responsibility for everything, sir.”
He edged closer to me. Fuck; he’d deliberately closed off my escape route by locking us in; I watched closely for any sudden moves, not quite sure how far I’d have to go to disable any physical attack.
“Do you know what it’s like feeling helpless as a father, seeing your only daughter in that state?”
He didn’t wait for my answer.
“I swear, if you ever make my daughter upset like that, you will have me to deal with and I’ll tear you apart with my bare hands,” he snarled angrily.
“I hear you, sir. I just wish Lena would have let me take care of her; she ran away from me and wanted nothing to do with me—“
“Let me put it to you this way,” he began, interrupting me again. “If my daughter pulls a knife and stabs you with it, do you know whose fault it is? Yours. Is that clear?”
I couldn’t resist. “Crystal.”
He looked at me sharply. “Are you trying to be funny?”
“I wouldn’t dare, sir. I would feel the same if it was my daughter.”
“I’m glad we understand each other.”
Another awkward silence followed, but I was relieved to see he’d calmed down somewhat. I stood and approached him.
“Sir, it’s probably a little awkward to bring this up right now when you’re so angry; but I’d like to ask Lena to marry me.”
He looked momentarily taken aback, then quickly recovered. “Why? Because she’s pregnant?”
“No, because the day she left me months ago I was going to ask her to be my wife. I will not be separated from my child and I want a second chance with her.”
He was speechless for a moment. “Well, that decision is entirely up to her.”
“So I have your blessing to ask her?”
“Yes, you have my blessing,” he said begrudgingly. “But you know very well that Lena is stubborn; just like her mother. Good luck.”
“Thank you, sir. Right now I’m just excited to be a father.”
His face lit up. “And I’ll be a grandfather soon!” he exclaimed, his face breaking out into a wide smile. “Now that we got the housekeeping out of the way, I think we could both drink to the baby, don’t you think? I’ll be right back.”
With that, he unlocked the door and walked out. I breathed a sigh of relief, more or less certain he wasn’t coming back with a gun. It seemed like this baby was already a peacemaker; he’d ended my hostility with both Lena and her father.
Mr. Williams came back holding two whisky glasses and a bottle of what appeared to be Chivas Regal; an expensive European brand I was familiar with. I made a mental note to send a him a case sometime. He poured us a tot each, offered me a glass then raised his hand in a toast.
“To my grandson, my daughter and perhaps my future son in law.”
I raised my glass then tossed it back, smiling at the unexpected end of what had begun as a very difficult meeting.
Just then Lena appeared, looking pretty and refreshed, carrying her overnight bag staring at our empty glasses.
We said our goodbyes and headed out to the car.
"What was that about?" she asked as soon as we took off.
"I guess he finds me more charming than you do," I laughed.
***
After I settled Lena in the living room, I excused myself to make a few calls and headed to the master suite. The first person I dialed was my father. After our usual greetings I decided to cut straight to the chase.
“Dad, as you know I’m in California. I wanted you to be the first to know that Lena and I are expecting a baby.”
I heard the phone drop, then a mumbled conversation on the other end. My mother came on the line.
“Jonathan, darling. What is going on? I can’t understand what your father is saying. Who is expecting a baby?”
“Mother, Lena and I are having a baby in a couple of months.”
“But… you broke up and haven’t seen each other for months,” she sputtered. How can you be sure this baby is yours?”
“Mother, do you really want me to go into intricate detail? It’s mine, ok?”
“How far along is she?”
“Over seven months.”
“Oh my goodness,” she shrieked.“That is ridiculous. Don’t you want to wait until she has the baby—“
“No mother. Don’t start. I had to get my people to track Lena down; she wanted nothing to do with me and she was going to raise my child on her own. You know I can’t let that happen. I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
“You’re marrying her? Darling, we need to talk about this first before you do anything rash.”
“The decision is already made, mother. I’m counting on your and dad’s support for my decision, okay?”
There was silence on the other end of the line. My father came back on.
“Son, perhaps we should meet and talk as a family. This unexpected news is a shock to your mother and I. Come back to Georgia with your err… fiancée. I’ll talk to your mother.”
“Thanks, dad.”
After I ended the call, I quickly got into my cell phone’s internet browser and searched, “can you have sex while pregnant”. I certainly hoped the results of my quick research would be favorable because I was already exhilarated by the idea of making love to my pregnant girlfriend. After a quick scan of the results I was satisfied; no harm; only benefits apparently.
It was time for me to ask Lena to marry me. Just as well I’d been wearing her ring around my neck for months. It wasn’t going to be the most thoroughly planned, epic proposal but I didn’t want to wait. I quickly dismissed the thought that she might reject me. I was going to do everything I could to make her agree. From that moment, Lena was going to be under my protection and nothing would stand in the way of her becoming my wife. That reminded me, I needed to return an earlier missed call from Khan. He answered on the second ring.
“Khan, you have news for me?”
“Carter, I tried calling you earlier. For an investment of $300 million dollars worth a twenty percent share, you have been awarded the rights you requested up to a maximum of three players, although they felt your request was unprecedented.”
I looked towards the living room, where I could see Lena pacing with a look of worry on her pretty face.
“Confirm I have firing rights?” I demanded, heading towards my woman.
“Confirmed.”
“In that case, conclude. I’ll be in Atlanta in a few days to finalize.” I ended the call as I approached Lena, glad knowing the threat of Willis Green and his delusional fantasies of getting Lena back was now under my control. Now that he worked for me, I would end his career and wreck his life if he ever tried to interfere with my family.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
I interrupted her thoughts.
“I can see you thinking, Lena. I don't want you to over-think anything. We have to finish our talk."
"I'm really trying."
"I know. I've just come off the phone with my parents,” I continued. “I don't really care what they think, but I know you care. I told them everything and that I'm having a baby with you. They are quite shocked but have invited us back to Georgia to talk things through, if you want to go. If you don’t, I'm happy too."
She shrugged weakly. “Well, I hope they can cope with this revelation,” she said wistfully.
It was time.
I stepped forward and knelt on one knee before her, taking her hands into mine.
"Lena,” I began confidently. “We are having a baby. I want to be in my son's life without a doubt. I don't want to share custody; I don't want my son to grow up being apart from either of us. My son must wake up in the same home as me every day.”
I reached around the back of my neck to unclasp my gold chain where I’d been keeping Lena’s engagement ring. It wa
s a white gold ring with a halo of white diamonds surrounding the solitary black diamond in the centre. Cascading all around the ring were more white diamonds. I was nervous about her response to it.
"I've been wearing this around my neck for months,” I explained as I showed it to her. She gasped in awe; I knew she liked it.
“It’s beautiful, Jonathan. Why were you wearing it around your neck?”
“I didn't want to not have it if I ever got the opportunity to ask you to be my wife. I've already asked your father and he gave me his blessing."
"What?" she exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes. He threatened me first, then we shared a toast."
"Don't I get a say?"
"I'm asking you now."
I could feel her shaking; perhaps from surprise at the proposal. But I also began to sense her pulling back, possibly about to reject me. I wasn’t going to allow this to happen.
"I can see you talking yourself out of this," I said standing up. "I'm not letting you get away from me; not this time. I'm going to do whatever it takes to convince you to say yes to me."
I took her by the hand and led her towards the bedroom. As I pulled off my T-shirt, I heard Lena gasp in surprise.
“Jonathan, why is your body cut like that?” she asked, looking at my stomach. I knew I’d been working out far more than ever just to stay sane since she broke things off, so my body had undergone radical changes and was far more ripped than usual.
“Without you keeping me on my toes with your insatiable appetite, I’ve had nothing else to do in my free time, to take my mind off you, baby.”
She ran her fingers along the deep ridges of my abs, while I looked at her thinking of all the things I wanted to do to her. I knew I’d have to be gentle but I couldn’t wait to see her naked and examine all the new curves the pregnancy had brought.
I toed off my shoes leaving my jeans on, then pulled her close to me. I pulled her shirt over her head and was surprised to see her breasts had at least doubled, possibly tripled in size. She wouldn’t have implants while pregnant, I thought.