“Okay, so… you two are her birth parents?”
“Yes,” Cynthia responded for the both of them.
“And what was the reason for giving her up? Unstable home life? Money issues?” her eyes drifted to Coop’s tattoos. “Drug problems?”
“No,” Cynthia replied defensively, “nothing like that. Just—well I was young, and I was off to law school, and we were having problems so… I don’t know. It was just bad timing.” She could feel her face getting red. s
“Okay, no problem, no judgments here, I’ve seen it all,” she made some notes on her pad.
“So you two are married now?”
“No,” it was Coop’s turn to answer now, “no, we’re…”
“Engaged? I see you’re wearing a ring,” Nadia smiled encouragingly.
“Well no, I’m… I’m married to someone else, but...” Cynthia let go of Coop’s hand, “we’re having problems.” Cynthia regretted that answer as soon as it was out of her mouth.
Nadia paused, seeing if Cynthia was going to continue, then made a note on her pad. Cynthia was boiling hot. She was mad now. She could see the kind of picture their answers were painting. A couple who found the timing of a child inconvenient and gave her up because it was best for them, not because it was best for the child. Now they were reunited in an irresponsible affair. And while these observations were factually accurate, they didn’t tell the full story.
“Look,” Cynthia started, “I know how this sounds. We… we’ve messed up. We’ve made mistakes. I get it. I look like some selfish young mother who didn’t want to sacrifice her own education to deal with a child. And now I’m trying to live out some fantasy by having an affair with the guy who knocked me up. But listen, please. You have to understand that there’s so much more to our story. We were meant to be a family all along. We fell off track but we’re finally starting to get the hang of things. My marriage is over, and Coop and I, we…” Cynthia froze. She knew what she was going to say, but…
“And once it’s all finalized we’re going to get married,” Coop chimed in, picking up Cynthia’s hand and squeezing it.
“We are?” Cynthia smiled and let out a quick nervous laugh.
“Do you want to?” Coop asked.
“Well, yes, of course,” she laughed again, “I just never imagined being asked like this.”
Coop stood up and knelt before her on the worn tile of the hospital’s waiting room. His eyes were shining under the florescent lights.
“Cynthia Holland,” he said, suddenly very formal and nervous, “I don’t know. Honestly I have nothing planned. But will you marry me?”
“David Cooper,” she said, taking his hand, “I thought you’d never ask,” she smiled softly at the absurdity of it all. She leaned in to kiss him.
“Here,” Cynthia and David snapped their heads in Nadia’s direction. They had forgotten for a moment that she was there with them. She was holding out a tiny wire ring with a pearl on it. Coop took the ring and held Cynthia’s hand. He took off her giant diamond and replaced it with the tiny piece of costume jewelry that Nadia had provided. It stopped at her knuckle, too small to go on any further.
“I see a lot in my line of work,” Nadia’s voice was shaking. She put a hand on her chest. “I like to think that I’ve gotten pretty good at reading people, reading situations, seeing what makes up a good family, you know. And despite certain circumstances, you guys definitely have it.”
“Thank you,” Cynthia breathed, she was excited to have what she had known all along be recognized by someone else. She held Coop’s hand and for the first time in the last few days, she truly thought things would turn out alright. Nadia stood up and gathered her notes and papers.
“So, now I’ll meet with hospital staff and their lawyers. I’ll make my recommendations. We’ll have to see if the parents left any sort of will or have any family. Here’s my card. And if you could fill out these forms for me in the meantime, that’d be great. But I’ll tell you this, it’s always great to see a child end up with her birth parents,” she said as she dumped a packet on the table and dropped a pen on top of it.
“Wait we’re, we’re definitely… she’s ours?” Cynthia managed to get the words out before bursting into happy tears.
“Oh yes, I thought someone had told you already. Results are in. She’s yours.”
Cynthia stood up and Coop met her with a bear hug. She buried her face in his shoulder and let herself cry, laugh, and scream. Finally, after everything they’d been through, it was good to have one thing move in the right direction.
“Just one more thing,” Nadia said, putting her hand out. “I’m sorry but I need that ring back. I’m sorry, really, but it’s my sister’s, I borrowed it and I got caught up in the moment, but it’s not mine, so…” She trailed off and shrugged.
“Oh,” Cynthia was caught by surprise, “sure. Yeah, no problem,” Cynthia slipped the ring off and handed it back to Nadia, who smiled and walked further into the hospital.
Cynthia read through the forms and filled out what she could. She was having a hard time focusing after everything that had transpired in the past hour.
After another thirty restless minutes, the doctor they had run into in the hallway emerged into the waiting room. He had some gray in his hair, but was a surprisingly young man.
“I’m Dr. Kittan, one of the surgeons here. You can come with me.”
Dr. Kittan started down the hall at a quick walk. He spoke without looking at them. A lot of the terminology flew over their heads, but they were able to pick up on the important parts.
“The roads are icy this time of year. It’s dangerous out there. It looks like the family’s car was t-boned by a truck that lost control coming down a hill. The driver, Mr. Robison, was killed on impact. Tara and Mrs. Robison were transported here. Unfortunately, the extent of Mrs. Robison’s injuries was too great. The team in the field did everything they could but she didn’t make it out of the ambulance. Tara got lucky. The bulk of the impact hit the front left side of the car, and she was sitting in the back on the right side. She hit her head pretty hard and had some minor, superficial lacerations. In a normal patient, neither would be fatal. But, we couldn’t get her to stop bleeding, and we couldn’t figure out why. That’s where you came in. The information you gave us helped us save her life.
“So, she’s asleep right now. We had her under heavy sedation and of course she’s still working off the effects of the anesthesia. She hasn’t met with the social worker or anything, but I don’t think there’s any harm in you taking a look at her while she’s out. It’s the least we can do.”
Dr. Kittan stopped walking and held a door open. Cynthia saw the outline of a little girl under the blankets. She walked in slowly and sat on the very edge of the bed, trying her best not to disturb her. Gently, she picked up her hand and looked at it in hers. She had dreamed of this moment for so long. She ran her fingers through her hair. It was matted with blood. Coop stood awkwardly at the edge of the bed.
“Can you get me a washcloth? Something from the bathroom?”
Coop came back from the in-room bathroom with a wad of wet paper towels. Cynthia carefully squeezed the excess water onto Tara’s hair and gently began to work the dried blood out. She wanted to do everything she could. She wished she could have healed the cuts under her bandages and eased the pain that was waiting for her when she woke up. After a few minutes, Cynthia turned around and looked at Coop. He was still standing at the end of the bed with his hands in his pockets.
“Come here,” she said quietly, holding her hand out to him. He came forward and took it.
“I just… I feel like…” he trailed off. He didn’t have to finish; Cynthia knew what he was thinking. The past few days had been almost an out of body experience for both of them. At least Cynthia had more preparation than he had; she had known they had a child out in the world somewhere. Coop had never considered that. Within a matter of a few short days, he had to come to grips with the
fact that he was a father and that he had missed the chance to be in his child’s life for the last six years. Then, he was faced with the possibility of losing that child forever. Now, standing in front of her, he had no idea how to act.
“Come here,” Cynthia said again, reaching further for his hand. He slowly took it out of his front pocket and allowed himself to be pulled forward. Cynthia laid his hand onto Tara’s. His hand was nearly twice the size of hers.
They sat there for a few minutes, saying nothing. They sniffled a bit and wiped some tears away. Eventually, a nurse returned to the room. It was someone they hadn’t seen before; they didn’t recognize her. She quietly asked that they leave. They hesitantly obliged.
Cynthia knew that it was inappropriate that they were there. What would they say if Tara woke up? She would be scared. She would want know where her parents were. How would they explain that? And how would they explain why they were there?
It was curious, though, that no next of kin had arrived at the hospital yet. It had been hours since the accident, and no one from Clive or Bunny’s family had come for them or Tara. Cynthia asked the nurse as they walked back to the waiting room.
“Were you able to get in touch with any relatives?”
“No, unfortunately, the poor thing. The police are still looking, but we haven’t found anyone to call yet.”
This news encouraged Cynthia. It was selfish, of course, but maybe this meant there was a chance for her and Coop to take custody. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, so she didn’t let herself linger on that thought for too long.
They drove for a few minutes in silence, before Coop broke the ice.
“So, where are we going?” He asked. Cynthia laughed. She hadn’t thought of that.
“Your place, I guess. If that’s ok with you, of course.”
“Of course,” Coop replied, taking her hand in his and kissing it softly.
Coop slowed down when they hit their street.
“Hey,” he nudged Cynthia, who had closed her eyes, “there’s a truck at your place.”
Cynthia sat up and looked out the window. There was a moving van in front of her house. Clearly, Glen hadn’t wasted any time.
“And I didn’t think he had it in him,” she said, shaking her head, “I wonder what he had to pay them to work through the night like this.”
Cynthia couldn’t care less where her things ended up. All she needed was Coop. They continued down the street and pulled into Coop’s driveway. They both went inside and collapsed into bed, still dressed. Coop was asleep within minutes. Cynthia stayed awake a bit longer. She had no idea what the future held, and she was sure it wouldn’t be easy. But, deep down, something was telling her that it would all be worth it, that the best was yet to come.
Chapter 6: Two Years Later
Cynthia stood behind the tall wooden doors of the church. She had worried that this moment would be less exciting because it was her second wedding, but thankfully she couldn’t have been more wrong. She had never been happier or more excited in her life.
If it were up to Coop, they wouldn’t have waited two years to do this. But, despite an iron clad prenuptial agreement, Glen refused to make things easy.
She took a deep breath and took hold of her father’s arm.
“Mommy! How do I look?” Tara spun in a circle, showing off white beaded dress. Cynthia smiled instantly, as she did every time Tara called her Mom. Coop and Cynthia were awarded custody of her a few days after she was released from the hospital, but it still had taken her almost a year to call them Mom and Dad.
“Beautiful honey. And what about me?”
“You are the most amazing bride I’ve ever seen!” She smiled and took her place at the front of the procession.
The doors opened and Cynthia saw Coop, waiting at the altar. He looked amazing in his black tux, with his hair slicked back. He gave a little wave to his daughter and his bride.
“Are you ready?” She asked her daughter.
“Yes,” Tara replied, holding up a basket of flower petals, “are you?”
“You have no idea,” Cynthia laughed, thinking excitedly of the bright future in front of them, “you have no idea.”
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The King’s Brother
Caroline Lake
The King’s Brother
Copyright 2016 by Caroline Lake
First electronic publication: September 2016
All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Warning: Due to mature subject matter, such as explicit sexual situations and coarse language, this story is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18. All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older, and all acts of a sexual nature are consensual.
The King’s Brother
Chapter 1
Light streamed in through the window, creeping across the sheets that draped across her body. She had watched it crawl closer to the tips of her fingers, not bothering to get up as the sun rose. It was the inevitable knock on the heavy wood of her door that had her sitting up finally, sighing softly. Soft, brown curls dusted down across her cheeks and bounced gently as she moved to sit up and adjust the light material of her night clothes. The swell of her chest had attempted to fall free overnight.
“Come, I am awake.”
As soft as the strains of her voice were, it carried across the room in a way that had the door clicking and shuffling open. Grey eyes gleamed at her through the scant opening and then a mouse of a girl was stepping through, dropping her gaze as she did so.
“Your Highness, the King… grows impatient…” The poor girl seemed uncomfortable with her message.
“Help me into my dress, Tia. Do take all the time you need, my husband could use a dose of patience… don’t you think?” She smiled as she stood, feet delicately dropping to the stone floor. Her voice was pitched with playfulness, amusement, of course. After all, the Queen couldn’t have anything truly awful to say about the King… could she?
Never.
“Of course, your Highness… Is there a particular gown you would like this morning?”
Her own head tipped, curls tumbling over a shoulder as she moved to sit at her mirror and untangle the locks. “The blue one…” The handmaiden hadn’t moved an inch until she’d gotten her answer, but then she was moving to find the dress.
“Ah… which… your grace?”
“Dark blue with the silver flowers around the neckline?”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t long before she was swathed in folds of cerulean fabric, curls braided and pinned back away from her face to reveal delicate cheek bones, a soft jaw line, and the glittering sapphire of her eyes. Blue really was her color, it did much and more for her eyes. Her fingers smoothed down the bodice of her dress as she peered in her mirror, a breath sucked in so that her tiny waist shrunk more and her chest filled the bejeweled neckline.
“If I may say so, your grace, you look beautiful.” The handmaiden’s voice was soft and meek, but heard well in the quiet of her room.
“Yes…” It was a quiet, thoughtful answer of agreement as she eyed her own reflection. Then she was moving to leave the room, down the stone hallways of the castle, but she paused before entering their smalle
r dining hall. Her eyes closed for a moment and she drew in a fortifying breath, fingers curling at her sides. One of the last things her mother had told her before her marriage had been to make sure that King Harold believed she was entirely devoted to him. Regardless of how happy she was to be there.
Perhaps she should have been happy… she was a Queen. Who wouldn’t be happy to be Queen?
She could still hear her mother’s words, “many would kill to be in the position you are.”
As many times as those words had echoed in her thoughts, she could not help but think that she would kill to get out of the position she was in. But that was a treasonous thought, wasn’t it? Not something that could be voiced aloud right then… or at any point in time. In the castle the walls had ears and eyes that no doubt reported back to the King.
As she walked into the room and took her seat, she smiled ever so softly at her husband. Her gaze lingered over every feature of his face as though trying to memorize each wrinkle and curve of skin. To any outsiders the look might look loving, adoring even, but the truth of the matter was that she was noticing everything that displeased her. While it was true there was no slouch to his shoulders nor a grey hair on his head… it seemed like even the way he spoke displeased her.
His hair was lank and brown, face rounded and soft, eyes an uninteresting brown. One after the other his features were ticked off the list in her head. There was a paunch to his belly and a dopy look to his face. She really wondered if he had the slightest clue how uninterested in him she was. He seemed flattered enough with the way she gave him a once over. The fool. He ought to have been dressed in motley.
“Hm?” The noise came from her, he’d asked her something but she hadn’t the faintest clue what. She hadn’t exactly been paying attention.
“My brother Jeffrey will be joining us; I had asked if you remembered him from our wedding. Of course there were so very many people there it would hardly be surprising if you did not remember him entirely…” He continued speaking even after she’d looked away, thoughts drifting back to that awful night that she’d had to endure. Before the day had been done she had consumed enough wine that it was entirely a blur.
Romance: The College Bad Boy: A Young Adult Romance Page 53