Forever Box Set

by Wendy Louise

  “Yes baby girl, it is,” he replies tightly.

  Madeline stands, squares off her shoulders and looks between Nanny and I. She turns on her heel and heads down the hallway to the right of the room.

  Grant moves to follow her but I put my hand up motioning for him to stop. “Let me go after her. If anyone understands how she’s feeling right now, it’s me.”

  Nanny and Grant nod silently and I make my way in the same direction I saw Madeline go.

  I end up down a long corridor with many doors. I can hear her crying behind one of them, so I knock tentatively hoping that she will open it for me. “Madeline it’s only me. Can we talk?”

  The door opens slowly revealing Madeline with a tear-soaked face looking lost. Gone is the spoilt brat and the little-girl-lost is in her place. I instinctively wrap my arms around her and pull her to my chest. She doesn’t fight me; she just continues to sob into my chest. She knows that I’m the only person that can fully understand how she feels.

  After a few minutes she pulls back and looks in to my eyes. “How long have you known?”

  “Only a few days. Nanny told me. She thought it was important for us to know the truth after she had the stroke. She was scared that she would die without us knowing what had happened,” I explain.

  Madeline nods and cries quietly. “How could they have done this to us? I mean my whole life I’ve wanted a mother. My father, sorry our father, has given me a great life and so much love, but something was always missing. To find out now that I have a mother who is alive, along with a twin brother, and that Nanny is my grandmother, it’s a little much to take in.”

  “Did Grant tell you that your mother had died?” I ask. I can’t call him our father out loud yet, it still doesn’t sit right with me.

  “No, he just said that she didn’t want to be part of our lives. I didn’t want to try and find her in case she rejected me when I did, so I’ve never tried.” She drops her face in to her hands and starts to cry again.

  “Well let me tell you Madeline, you didn’t miss anything by not being with our mother. If you ask me, you got the good end of the bargain.”

  She lifts her face to mine. “What do you mean? I love the fact that Elizabeth Drake is my mother. I’ve always liked her; we’ve always had so much to talk about when we’ve seen one another over the years. I’ve always felt a connection to her, now I know why.”

  There it is - the fact that Madeline is most definitely our mother’s daughter. They are so alike in many ways. I’ve always thought that.

  I decide not to say any more to her about our mother. They can work on their demons together; I want nothing to do with that. My relationship with my mother is so far gone, that I couldn’t really care less.

  “Ethan - how is this going to affect us? What will happen when people find out? What if the media find out about it, imagine the tabloids,” her eyes looked panicked all of a sudden.

  “Calm down Madeline, no one knows any of this except for the four of us. This has to be kept private. We’re going to have to speak to our mother too. I don’t plan on telling anyone yet until we’ve sorted all this out. They’ve managed to keep it out of the tabloids for 23 years; I can’t see why we can’t continue to keep it quiet.”

  She nods.

  “C’mon,” I say, “… let’s head back out to speak with Nanny and Grant.”

  Madeline takes a deep breath and stands to follow me out the door. Before we make our way out to the hallway she stops and taps me on the shoulder. I turn to look at her. “Ethan, I’m glad I have a brother,” she says.

  This is the first time I’ve ever seen a genuine warm smile on Madeline’s face in the whole time I’ve known her. With all the bravado and grit she normally displays, there is obviously a lost girl inside of her that needed to know more about her family, just as I did.

  I smile at her. “I’m glad to have a sister too.”

  She smiles and I notice the dimple on her cheek. It’s in the same place as mine. It’s incredible the similarities you pick up on when things are staring you right in the face.

  Nanny and Grant are sitting talking when we return to the room. Grant stands and opens his arms to Madeline. She immediately walks in to them, returning the embrace. I can hear him whispering apologies to her over and over. Nanny is looking to me with a sad smile, acknowledging that I didn’t get the same upbringing as my sister.

  No wonder Nanny spent all her time with me giving me all the love that my mother didn’t, she knew what Madeline was getting from my father.

  Grant releases Madeline and turns to me. “Ethan, can we talk alone for a moment?”

  I look to Nanny and she nods to me to go ahead. “Madeline and I will talk some more, you two go.”

  I follow my father down the hallway into what looks like a study. He sits behind the desk and takes out a key that opens a large drawer on his side of the desk.

  “Please sit,” he says.

  He pulls out a pile of black bound books and places them on top of his desk. He rests his elbows on to them and directs his attention to me.

  “Ethan I know this has all been a lot to take in. I want you to know that I fought for you before you were even born. I never wanted to leave you alone with Elizabeth; I wanted you and Madeline to be together. I wanted both of you. Your mother was adamant about the arrangement, and me being young and stupid, agreed to it. My biggest regret in life is leaving you behind and never having the chance to know you, to watch you grow up and to experience all your firsts. I know that my mother shouldn’t have told you everything, but I understand why she did, she loves you so much.”

  He sits back further in his chair, rocking it slightly.

  “I don’t for one second regret that you know everything now. I want the chance to get to know my son. I want to know everything about you, what you love, what you hate, your ambitions, your goals, everything. I know that I may not have any right to any of those things, but I want you to see that I never once forgot about you. I thought of you every day.”

  With that he opens the books on his desk.

  Each one contains clippings and photos of me.

  From the media reports when I was born, to the latest articles showing Ava and I out and about. I flip through each book and it’s like watching my life play out in pictures before my eyes. He hasn’t missed anything except for getting to know me. I don’t really know what to make of it.

  “I… I’m not sure what to say. I mean this has all come as a big shock and I’m a little overwhelmed to see all of this. I could have really done with a loving parent in my life, so knowing I had one from afar is not really helping right now.”

  Grant has a pained look on his face. “Look son...” Son! “…I know that Elizabeth was very self-absorbed, but I loved your mother, and she loved me. You were both born from love, even if it doesn’t seem that way. I know I have no right to claim you now, and I have no expectations that you will want to be part of my life, but I pray to God that you will be. I want to know you so badly.”

  I nod. I don’t really know what type of relationship I do or don’t want to have with him. I’ve never had a father, not even a father figure. The men my mother dated never stayed around long enough.

  Grant stands. “That’s probably enough for me to leave you thinking about tonight hey?” he smiles. “I’ll leave it with you Ethan, but just know that I’m here, whenever you need me and it would be a privilege for me to get to know you.”

  I return his smile and shake his hand. I don’t call him Dad and I don’t call him Grant. I don’t call him anything, because I don’t know what to call him.

  We make our way back out to the main room where Nanny and Madeline are laughing. Madeline has of course met Nanny before, most recently when she came to visit the studio, but I wonder what she must think now knowing that Nanny Grace is her grandmother. It’s a lot to take in.

  I’m so tired. I just need to get Nanny home and crawl in to my bed. “Ready to go Nanny?”
/>   She nods and we all rise.

  We make plans to speak with my mother the following weekend. It’s my job to set the whole thing up of course. We’ve decided to all have lunch or dinner at the mansion, no paparazzi, and complete privacy. My mother is going to hit the roof when she finds out that we all know, so we need to be well away from the public eye when that happens.

  I give Madeline and Grant a tight smile. Nanny gives them both a kiss on the cheek and we make our exit.

  Once buckled in to the car Nanny turns to me. “Are you okay sweetheart?”

  Am I okay?

  Surprisingly yes I am. That all went a lot better than I thought it would. Poor Madeline probably has a sleepless night ahead of her, just like I did when I found out. Her mind is bound to be going a mile a minute. I’ll have to make an effort to see her at the studio tomorrow to make sure she is okay.

  After all, she is my sister.

  My sister!

  My insides warm at that.

  Sure she can be a total spoilt bitch, but she’s my sister, I have a sister! It’s my job to look out for her and protect her.

  I turn to Nanny and smile a real genuine smile. “Yes Nanny, I’m good. I love you.”

  “I love you too my sweet, sweet boy,” she says as she takes my free hand and holds it tightly.

  She nods and smiles the first peaceful smile I have seen on her face since this whole thing started.

  I put the car into drive and look out the window at the house that is home to my father and sister - my family.

  What The!

  My eyes flutter open as I feel a trail of kisses running across my collar bone. I smile and turn my neck allowing Ethan better access.

  “Good morning,” I say with a sigh as Ethan trails kisses up my chin and over my cheek.

  His baby blues meet mine and he gives me one of those breathtaking smiles, showing off those dimples and perfect white teeth. “Every morning waking up to you is a good morning,” he responds.

  I roll to my side, entwining our legs and wrapping my arms around his waist. “I couldn’t agree more,” I reply, running my tongue over the light stubble on his chin.

  Ethan sighs and rolls me on to my back, hovering over me. He places a light kiss on the tip of my nose and asks, “What do you want to do this morning? We don’t have to be at the studio until this afternoon.”

  I offer up my lips for a kiss which he gladly gives me. “I think I’d like to stay right where we are for the time being,” I suggest, raising my hips towards him.

  “Oh Miss Lucas, I think that can be arranged,” he says with a salacious grin.

  He lowers his head and slowly kisses across my top lip and then my bottom, licking his way in between them both, until his tongue is dancing with mine and our breathing is getting ragged.

  As he works his mouth against mine, I run my hands down his back until I meet the elastic of his boxers. I let my fingers trail the length of it until I run them underneath the fabric and rake my nails over his toned backside. I feel the evidence of Ethan’s arousal against my flesh so I start to move the fabric down until he kicks it off.

  He pulls back to remove my singlet top in record time and immediately continues to kiss across the top of my body until the pad of his tongue is running over my nipple, sending intense pulses of electricity to all the right places. Without giving the other side attention, he slowly makes his way down my body using hands and lips and teeth, until he reaches my pink lace boy-shorts. He tucks his thumbs in to them and starts to remove them slowly.

  “You have entirely too many clothes on,” he murmurs against my skin.

  He stares lustfully at the skin he has just revealed before dropping his head to run his tongue up the inside of my thigh. My head falls back in to the pillow as he moves higher, right to the apex of my thighs where I’m desperate for him. With the first sweep of his tongue I groan and that seems to set him alight. He kisses and licks until I can no longer take it and I shatter in to millions of teeny-tiny pieces.

  He pulls back with a look of complete satisfaction, watching me come back down to earth. Before I have fully re-entered the land of the living, he slowly enters me.

  We both sigh as he starts to push in and then pull back fully, setting up a slow, punishing rhythm that makes my blood sing. He drops his forehead to mine and stares in to my eyes as he rocks in to me, “I love you Ava,” he says, as he increases the pace.

  I manage to choke out, “I love you too,” before he grabs my right leg and bends it back against my chest, opening me further to his crushing rhythm, and allowing him to drive deeper.

  Sweat coats our skin as we keep it up, both of us chasing release but not wanting to give in to it, because that would mean we have to stop.

  When I feel the second orgasm rolling through me, Ethan calls my name and let’s go too, releasing in to me and breathing heavily until he finishes. He rolls us, and I place my head on to his chest, listening to his heart beat as it slows back down to a regular pace.

  “I can’t get enough of you,” Ethan says as he tickles his fingers lightly over my back.

  I giggle. “Me too.”

  “As much as I would love to lie here with you all day, I’m hungry,” Ethan says. “I’m going to grab a shower and then we can have breakfast. Join me?” He stretches his hand towards me.

  I stretch and feel the tightness in my limbs, no doubt caused from the marathon session of lovemaking we had last night. “Give me a minute and I’ll follow you. My body still needs to wake up.”

  He kisses me on the lips and jumps out of bed, making his way to his bathroom. My eyes follow that gorgeous body all the way through the bathroom door, taking in every muscle and plane.

  I roll to the side, willing my body to make its way out of the bed when Ethan’s iphone starts to vibrate on the bedside table, indicating a text message. I stretch across the mattress to reach it, checking to see who needs him. The home screen shows Madeline’s name. The message simply reads:

  Thanks for Tues night. Need to talk when u get to work. BTW, Does Ava know about us?

  My skin starts to prickle and I feel a bubble of nausea rise in my stomach. Ethan told me he was busy with Nanny on Tuesday night. That’s the night he cancelled dinner. He blew me off to spend time with Madeline? That just doesn’t seem like him. My heart and my brain can’t compute this.

  Dread settles in my stomach like a rock.

  I look back down at the text message, staring at me from the screen like it’s taunting me. Why does she refer to them as an us? I thought Ethan and I were an us.

  I feel sick and I feel stupid, and I just want to get away from here as quickly as possible. I don’t want to believe that Ethan has been cheating on me with Madeline, but really what else could a message like that mean?

  I’m devastated that Ethan would do this to me. Knowing my history and what Cole did, I can’t believe he would be so heartless.

  I want to stay and confront him, but my flight instincts have kicked in and all I can think about is getting away from here and hiding from whatever the truth in that text is. I gather my bag and dress quickly.

  I tie my hair back in to a ponytail and slip on my shoes before leaving through the patio door as quickly as I can. I manage to hold off the tears until I’ve made my way around the side of the house and out the main gate.

  Then they hit me full force.

  I call a cab on my iphone and wait around the corner from Ethan’s in the side street so he won’t see me if he tries to find me.

  I knew something like this would happen.

  I knew I wouldn’t be enough for him and really, what was I thinking? I’ve been living in la la land with him since this all started.

  I’m stupid.

  So, very, very stupid.

  The cab pulls up and I jump in as quickly as I can. I give the cabbie my address, pull on my oversized sunglasses and settle back in to the seat, allowing the tears to fall. My heart is breaking and I’m furious at myself for gettin
g myself in this situation. I knew better, but I still went ahead and fell for him.

  As we are pulling up outside my apartment my phone starts to ring with Ethan’s ring tone. I send it to voice-mail and pay the cab driver.

  As I enter the apartment, Olivia is on her mobile. “No she’s not here… calm down Ethan…..what misunderstanding?” Olivia turns and sees me but I quickly place my index finger over my lips, and shake my head side to side, asking her not to tell him that I’m here.

  She nods slightly, with a worried look in her eyes. “I’ll have her call you when she comes home,” Olivia lies, staring at me pointedly. She hangs up, places her hands on her hips and moves towards me.

  “Care to tell me what that was all about?” she asks. “Ethan said he came out of the shower and you were gone, no goodbye, no nothing. He said something about his phone being on your pillow and a text message from Madeline? He’s frantic Ava.”

  I start to cry and my sister immediately envelopes me in a hug. “Come on, let’s sit,” she says.

  “Tell me,” she urges.

  I take a deep breath and explain to Liv what I read in the text message.

  “Well I can understand why you’re upset. I’m sure there’s an explanation though. He sounded pretty upset on the phone, and just kept saying it was all a misunderstanding.”

  I look at my sister. “Really Liv, what else could I read in to a message like that? It’s pretty damn clear.”

  I run my hands over my face. “How stupid could I have been to have thought that I was good enough for him? I don’t fit in to his world Liv; I should have listened to my instincts all along. Madeline is a much better fit for him. I’m furious with myself for falling for him and furious with him for doing this to me.”

  Liv scoffs. “You don’t mean that Ava, you’re a bigger catch than her any day. You never give yourself enough credit. You’re stunning and beautiful, inside and out, and Ethan knows that. Madeline is a bitch and we both know it. I wouldn’t want her anywhere near Ethan, and to be honest I can’t imagine that he would either.”