by Skye, M.
“Mom will be here soon, and Maddie and Sean are on their way. They should be here at any moment.”
After a few moments of sitting any enjoying each other’s company, Maria made her way over and sat down in front of the couple right next to Emilio. “Sweetheart, are you enjoying yourself?” she asked with a sincere smile.
“Are you kidding me? This is great and having all of you here is more than I could have asked for.”
“Oh look! Maddie made it and Sean is with her,” Alex announced and stood to greet the couple.
“Oh great! Now I finally get to meet the famous Sean,” Maria said and turned to look for them. Just as they approached the table, Maria took one look at Sean and dropped her champagne glass shattering it on the floor below.
“Mom are you okay?” Maddie screamed when she saw the vacant expression on Maria’s face.
“It can’t be,” Maria whispered and lowered herself back into her seat. “It just can’t.” While sitting there in utter disbelief, Maria began to rock herself back and forth, startling everyone at the table, including Sean himself.
It wasn’t until Emilio dropped down in front of her and grabbed her hand that she snapped out of her trance. Emilio stroked her now pale cheek. “Maria what’s wrong? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I think I have. He looks so much like… you know what just forget this ever happened,” she said and dropped her head.
Emilio scooped her up into his arms. “Let me get you out of here for a few moments.”
Meg rushed over to them. “Dad, I’m coming with you.” The look on her face displayed worry and sadness.
“No mi amor, you stay here. This is your special night. You let me take care of your mother. I promise you she will be back in a few minutes.”
“If you're not back in ten minutes, I’m coming to find you,” she replied and gave him a stern look.
“I promise,” he said and turned to walk her out towards the lobby.
“What was that all about?” Maddie asked looking confused.
“I guess Sean reminds her of someone,” Alex said and shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, that was weird,” Maddie said. “This someone must have been a creep. The way she reacted freaked me out.”
“Well, this is just great,” Sean exclaimed and threw his hands up in the air. “The first time I meet my girlfriend’s mother I remind her of some bad memory. Just my luck.”
“Sean she is just in shock right now. Once she gets to know you she is going to love you,” Maddie said with a look of reassurance on her face.
“You would have thought I crept up on her in the dark or something,” he laughed.
“Oh, I know you would never do that. You hate the dark,” Maddie said jokingly, inciting laughter from most of the other occupants of the table.
However, while everyone else found the joke funny, Aiden was replaying the conversation he had with Emily in his head. He wasn’t sure why it popped into his head, but for some reason he started to feel angry. Then it dawned on him, Emily’s attacker said something about the lights before he left her stranded in that hotel room.
Just sitting there listening to the laughter at the table was making him madder than he ever imagined possible. He didn’t want to react because he knew it wasn’t their fault. It was just the thought of someone taking advantage of the woman he was slowly falling in love with was enough to make him see red.
When Emily looked over and saw the anger in his eyes, she slid her hand over his and offered him a beautiful smile. Her smile was enough to melt his anger, and he offered her a look of appreciation. He knew she sensed something in him and would want to discuss it, but he knew she would want to wait and not ruin the special evening.
Out in the lobby, Emilio was sitting on one of the benches rocking Maria in his lap. While stroking her hair, he was whispering calming words in her ear. After about three minutes, she calmed down enough to articulate a response to her actions. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost it in there.
They probably think I’m a maniac.”
“You just worried them a little. Are you okay now?”
“I’m fine,” she said dismissively, “he just reminded me of… well never mind.”
“I know what you mean, but it couldn’t be, and we never need to discuss this again,” he said sternly.
“You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she replied and straightened her expression.
After allowing her a few minutes to collect her thoughts, Emilio finally began to speak again. “So gorgeous, are you ready to get back in there?”
“I think I am,” she smiled. “I’m glad you came out here with me.”
“You know I’m always here to take care of you,” he replied and brushed his lips across hers gently.
After all these years of separation, his kisses still had the most amazing effect on her. Before she knew it, she was kissing him passionately. She didn’t know what came over her but as soon as he his lips touched hers, insanity took over.
When he put one of his hands to the back of her neck and one around her waist to pull her closer, she let go of all of her inhibitions and deepened the kiss. Suddenly, his hands were everywhere. On her cheek, then down her back, and instantly he was holding her tightly against him.
After a few mindless moments, Emilio snapped back into reality and eased away from her slowly. “I’m sorry,” he said with a regretful look on his face. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It wasn’t your fault. I was the one who took it further than just offering comfort.”
“I should have never started it,” he said and caressed her cheek.
He pulled her up from the bench. “Maybe we should just go back in.”
“I’ll go under one condition,” she replied with a devious grin.
“And what’s that?”
She pulled his lips back to hers. “You have to save me a dance and one of these.”
He was shocked by her actions. “What has gotten into you?”
“You have,” she replied and grabbed his hand to lead him back into the party. When they arrived back inside, Maria quickly locked eyes with Meg and gave her a look that said, everything was fine.
As soon as they arrived back at the table, Maddie stood to greet them. “Mom are you okay now?” Maddie babbled. “We were so worried.”
“I’m fine sweetie. I’m sorry I scared you,” she said and hugged her. “And Sean, allow me a do over. It is nice to finally meet you,” she extended her hand for him to take.
“It’s nice to meet you as well Mrs. Cardoza,” he said and shook her hand. She didn’t know why, but that eerie feeling she had before returned, but she didn’t let it show. She decided that she was just overreacting and shrugged it off while taking her seat.
After they settled back in, Emilio decided it was time to propose a toast to the happy couple. While standing, Emilio began to clink his glass with his knife. “To my daughter whom I love very much, I couldn’t be happier with the woman you’ve become. All your life I watched you grow into a person any man would be lucky to have, but I’ve never seen a man more deserving of you than Alex. When I look at the two of you, I see a love that will last forever, and I wish you all the best. To Meg and Alex,” he said and raised his glass high.
“To Meg and Alex,” they all repeated and clunk glasses.
“Well isn’t this just the sweetest thing,” a cold and sarcastic voice said from the lobby.
“Oh no. Not now,” Aiden whispered to Emily while eying Ben angrily. “What is he doing here?”
“Here I was expecting to be the surprise guest of the evening, but it looks like we have the long lost relatives here,” he said, and laughed callously.
“Mom what are you doing? Your divorce will be final in a few hours,” Matt yelled when he saw that they were walking in hand in hand.
“Actually son, the divorce is off. Your mom came to her senses and we are back and better than ever,”
Ben snickered.
“Excuse my language, but what the hell are you thinking? You were finally rid of this bastard and now you go and drop the damn divorce. You are making a huge mistake,” Alex said bluntly.
“You sure have a lot to say for someone who doesn’t know shit about making good decisions. Take your current situation for instance. You are sitting here with this woman swearing you’re going to have such a happy life, but she doesn’t even know about your daughter. Now is that any way to start a marriage?” Ben asked while laughing sinisterly.
“Old man cut the bullshit,” Alex growled. “You know I don’t have a damn daughter.”
“I thought you’d say that,” Ben said and walked back towards the lobby. “You can come in now.”
“What the hell kind of trick is this. You are ruining the party,” Aiden yelled and marched towards Ben, preparing to escort him out. When he got close enough to see who was walking through the curtain, he stopped dead in his tracks with his mouth wide open. It was the woman from the night of the party. Here she was in the flesh holding a little girl who looked to be about five years old.
“Well, I’m waiting,” Alex yelled.
“Alex… maybe you should come here for a second,” Aiden said, in a cautionary tone.
Once he saw the look on Aiden’s face, Alex clutched Meg’s hand tighter and walked to the curtain taking her with him. When Meg saw who the woman was, her expression grew grim, and she stopped in midstride. “You,” she yelled and began to tremble.
“How do you know her?” Alex asked sounding confused.
“This is the woman from the party. The one I found in your bed,” Meg gritted through her teeth.
“This can’t be. This is some scheme he cooked up,” Alex said, and pointed in Ben's direction. “This child isn’t mine. She can’t be.”
“I’m good but not that good. I just simply found them,” Ben said, sounding amused.
“Get out! All of you,” Alex screamed.
Meg held her hand out stopping Alex from advancing. “No wait. I want to hear what she has to say. I want to hear what they all have to say,” Meg said, glaring at Ben and Melissa.
“Meg maybe we should just...”
“No stop it, Alex! I want to hear this,” she insisted.
“At least take the child out of here,” Melissa said and reached for the little girl.
“You take her to the hostess and get back here at once,” Ben yelled. When Melissa left, there was an awkward silence in the room. Meg was growing impatient and started to fiddle with her engagement ring. When Alex looked down and saw what she was doing, a sudden fear crept into him. “Baby, are you okay?” he asked with fear in his eyes.
“I’m fine. I’m just waiting for my answers,” Meg snapped. “Can we get this damn conversation started?”
“Okay, I will tell you everything,” the woman said quietly. “I was the one you saw in Alex’s bed. We got drunk and I took him home after the party. I passed out in his bed but not before we had sex. It only happened once, but that was enough, and now we have Alli. I wasn’t looking for any support from him. I could take care of her on my own, but Ben found out about her and has been supporting her since she was born.” She relayed the story quickly and barely looked up while she did so. Everyone was so blown away, the room was speechless. There wasn’t one word spoken, until Alex broke the ice.
“This is not true. I would remember if I had sex with you, and I don’t. I don’t know what you're after, but let me promise you, you're not going to get it. The only children I am ever going to have will be with this woman right here,” he said and held Meg’s hand up.
When Melissa walked back in, she looked up and saw the disappointed looks from her three children and felt horrible. She never wanted to hurt them, but she had to be honest. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry but they are telling the truth. Allison is your daughter. Yours and Bianca’s.” She reached out to touch Alex’s shoulder.
“Don’t touch me. You come in here with this asshole and this woman expecting me to believe anything out of your mouth. You have a lot of nerve.”
“I know how you feel. Trust me son, I didn’t believe it at first which is why I had a DNA test done on her.”
“You did what?” Bianca yelled. “How in the hell could you do a DNA test on my daughter without my consent?”
“I know you didn’t expect me to just believe any tramp off the street. I had to be sure before I let you bring her into my son’s life,” Melissa said in an authoritative tone.
“How did you do it without me?” Alex asked.
“You donate blood remember, I just used one of your samples and tested Allison’s against it. Here are the papers,” she said and reached inside her purse.
When Alex snatched the papers and looked them over, his angry facial expression turned into a look of defeat. The papers said that he was without a doubt the father of this little girl he knew nothing about. The realization was enough to make him lose his balance. When he started to topple, Aiden rushed over and stabilized him.
“Man you don’t look so hot. Let’s get you to a seat,” Aiden said, and ushered him to the nearest table.
“I can’t believe this. How could I have fathered a child and have no memory of it? I didn’t even recognize Bianca when I saw her. Could I have possibly been that out of it?” Alex rambled.
“I thought for sure you didn’t sleep with her. When I found you, you still had all of your clothes on. I assumed you two just passed out, I didn’t know how wrong I was. I’m sorry, this was all my fault for taking you to that party.”
“I can’t believe this! It makes no sense, but she is my child,” he said, and showed Aiden the papers.
“This is crazy. Meg is going to be devastated by this,” Aiden said sadly.
“Meg… Aiden what am I going to do? She will never stand for this. I’m going to lose her for good this time, and I wouldn’t even blame her if she walked out on me at this point. I deserve it for what I’ve done. Now that I know that child is mine I have to be a part of her life. I would never abandon my own daughter, but what does that mean for me and Meg? I don’t want to give her up.”
“You might not have to,” Aiden replied, when he looked up and saw Meg walking towards them. Right as she approached, Aiden walked away, but not before giving her a reassuring smile.
When she sat down next to him, her expression was unreadable, which sent a wave of fear right thought Alex. After a few moments of silence, she finally began to speak. “Maybe we should ask all the guests to leave. I don’t feel like partying right now.”
“Are you sure? This was your special night and I don’t want it to end this way,” he replied.
“This is far from over. We have a lot to discuss and things to decide, but I want to be at home when I discuss them,” she said in a calm, even tone. After that, he heard her talking, but the words were a blur. To say her calm demeanor was confusing to him was an understatement. He was thrown by how composed she was. He expected her to be livid, but instead she was there thinking of how to send the guests off without adding to the already embarrassing situation.
Listening to her suggest several explanations to offer their guests made him realize once again why he was so in love with her. Here she was putting him first in what had to be one of the most embarrassing moments of her life. As if sensing their need to be alone, Maria appeared standing in front of them with all the answers.
“I gathered your sisters and had them end the party,” she smiled nervously. “I hope that wasn’t out of line.”
“No mom, it was perfect. Thank you so much,” Meg said and stood out of her seat, embracing Maria. She took comfort in her mother’s warm embrace and felt a moment of temporary relief.
“Darling, I think you should go home. I know you and Alex have a lot to talk about. Don’t worry about things here we will shut everything down,” Maria offered warmly.
Meg decided to take Maria’s help and extended her hand to Alex for him to lead h
er out to the car. As they made their way outside, Meg looked ahead and saw Bianca making her way back inside from the lobby and stopped right in front of her. “Is there some number for Alex to reach you tomorrow afternoon?” Meg asked, throwing off everyone within hearing distance. After a momentary hesitation, Bianca took out a pen and paper and jotted down her number and reached out to place it in Meg’s hand. “He will be in touch about seeing Allison. You can see how all this comes as a shock to us, but I can assure you he will be a part of her life now that he knows about her,” Meg said and smiled.
“I would like that. I hope you will be a part of her life as well,” Bianca replied, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
“We must be going, but we will be in touch,” Meg said, and walked away hand in hand with Alex.
On the car ride home, Alex was trying to keep his eyes on the road, but he was having the most difficult time. His perfect life was crumbling before his eyes. Everything he had worked so hard to accomplish suddenly meant nothing.
He now had a child that he didn’t even know and a beautiful fiancée that couldn’t even look him in the eye. She had been avoiding his gaze for the past ten minutes. Although he wanted to address things, he hadn’t found the words yet.
Every time he opened his mouth silence befell him. If there was an explanation, he couldn’t remember. How could he possibly explain himself to her? She was wonderful throughout the whole ordeal, but how would he convince her to stay after this latest disaster?
Chapter 7
Broken Dreams
Meg was sitting in their room on the bed facing the wall when Alex finally found her. When they arrived back at the house from the disastrous party, she took off and left him in the driveway parking the car. She jumped out before it stopped and shot into the house before he could even voice any concern. He knew the facade she was trying to keep up was slowly cracking around her.
She had been strong in front of Bianca and everyone else, but he knew the arrival of an illegitimate child was breaking her heart. They had always planned to have kids together, and now he had ruined that dream for her. While he made his way into the dark room, he just looked at her still frame, she never moved once. He knew at that moment that everything she was holding in was about to burst out and her anger would be aimed right at him.