The Right Mistake

by A. M. Guilliams

  His hands framed my face as he looked in my eyes and confessed, “You are anything but frigid. Those boys have no clue how to treat a woman. And I must say I’m glad. Because I’ve gotten all your pleasure. I’ve gotten to experience the look on your face as you tighten around me. Trust me, you’re absolutely amazing. Don’t think anything less of yourself.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You never have to thank me for pleasing you. It’s not a hardship,” he replied as he placed a chaste kiss on my lips.

  “What did you want to ask me?”

  Did I have a right to know about Krista this early in the game? I felt like I did. Especially if we were going to continue moving forward at warped speed.

  “About Krista. Why isn’t she in Cheyanne’s life?”

  Gage let out a sigh and rubbed his hand over his face before he began to explain.

  “Krista wanted Cheyanne when she was pregnant. Then, once she was born, things changed. She would let her cry for long periods of time without calming her. I’d gotten several calls from neighbors to come home due to the baby crying, and I’d find Krista staring out the window or doing her nails while the baby wailed from the other room. I tried to get her help, but she wouldn’t have it. The day I came home from work to find the baby crying and Krista nowhere in sight was the day I’d had enough. I filed for an emergency hearing and told Krista we were through when she came home that night. She left without a word. Not even caring about our daughter who was in the other room sound asleep.”

  Wow. Just wow. Who did that to their child?

  “Did she ever get help?”

  “She went to the doctor, but there wasn’t anything wrong with her. We suspected postpartum depression, but that wasn’t the case. She simply didn’t care. It was like a switch flipped in her brain and she just stopped caring about her.”

  I’d never understand how people didn’t care about a child. Hell, I’d only been in her life for a little over a week and I loved her to pieces.

  “I hope she doesn’t do the same thing to this new baby,” I replied as I rubbed my hand up and down his arm.

  “It’s not mine. In case you were wondering. I haven’t touched her since before we found out she was pregnant with Cheyanne.”

  “It barely crossed my mind. Once you said so at the park, I believed you.”

  “Good.”

  “I’m sorry she did that to you, but mostly I’m sorry for Cheyanne. What will you tell her when she asks about her mom?”

  “I don’t have a clue. She hasn’t asked yet, but I’m sure it’s coming. She just started going to daycare three days a week for four hours each day to get interaction with other children. It’s bound to come up sooner rather than later.”

  “We’ll get through it together.”

  “I’m so damn happy you said we,” he replied. Just as he leaned in for a kiss, we heard Cheyanne call out for her Daddy through the baby monitor.

  Gage and I quickly got dressed before she could make her way down the hall to his room.

  Just as the door opened, we both were buttoning our pants.

  “There you are, Daddy,” she said as she bound into the room, her bows swinging side to side, and she ran across the room into Gage’s arms.

  “You found me, kiddo,” he laughed as he picked her up and tossed her into the air before catching her. He reached out for my hand once he had her settled on his waist, and in that moment, I felt as if we were truly a family.

  Chapter 14

  The next day at work passed all too quickly and before I knew it, lunchtime had arrived. After this weekend, I decided Gage deserved to know I was serious about continuing our marriage, so I told my boss I may have to take an extended lunch and set out to find a way to show him how invested I was in making this marriage work.

  An hour and a half later, I’d arrived back at the office with everything I’d need to show Gage what he meant to me.

  “Good afternoon, Millie.” I beamed as I walked past her desk.

  “Someone sure is a lucky woman,” she said as I smiled over at her.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You’ve got a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for you at your desk.”

  I couldn’t hide the way the smile spread across my face and the way my cheeks heated with knowing who’d sent them.

  “I didn’t know you were married though,” she said just as I started to walk away.

  How would she know that?

  “Did you read the card?”

  “I know I shouldn’t have, but it was calling my name,” she replied as she looked away with a guilty expression on her face.

  “No worries. And yes, I got married a couple of weeks ago,” I admitted. The cat would really be out of the bag now, but I didn’t care. I was proud to call myself Gage’s wife, and tonight I was showing him just how much.

  Walking into my office, the aroma of the flowers assaulted my senses as I took in the sight of the beautiful arrangement of white roses and calla lilies.

  How did he know these were my favorite flowers?

  Good guess I guess.

  I pulled the card out from the center of the arrangement and sat down in my chair. Pulling it out of the envelope, I read:

  Thank you for an amazing weekend.

  Xoxo,

  Your husband

  I shook my head at his thoughtfulness and pinned the card proudly on the cork board along with other important mementos that I had scattered across the board. Birthday cards from the girls, pictures of us at various places, and now a nice memory to remind me how special that husband of mine really was.

  Picking up my phone from the desk, I texted Gage to thank him for the flowers and tell him how beautiful they were. He responded ten minutes later as I was typing out a response to an email from a client.

  Gage: Not as beautiful as you.

  He was a smooth talker that was for sure, but that didn’t stop the smile at seeing his compliment. They were still hard to hear sometimes, but he had quickly integrated himself into my heart, and my mind was following its lead.

  Me: I have a surprise for you later.

  Gage: Does this surprise include you spending the night in my bed?

  Me: If you’re lucky.

  Gage: I’m feeling pretty lucky today.

  Me: Good. See you after I go home to pack a bag.

  Gage: Maybe you should pack more than one night’s worth of clothes.

  Me: Why would I do that?

  Gage: Because I don’t want you to leave. I like seeing you in my home.

  As in leave ever or just for a few nights? Things had progressed at a rapid rate thus far in our relationship, but were we ready for that huge leap?

  Me: ????

  I couldn’t form the words to ask the question that I wanted to know the answers to. I was too fearful of getting a rejection yet again, so I refrained from giving him a reason for that to ever happen.

  Gage: We’ll talk more tonight. I have a feeling you’ll love what I have to say. And if you don’t, I’ll just have to persuade you into seeing my point of view.

  Me: I look forward to tonight then.

  Could five o’clock hurry up and get here? I wanted to know what Gage wanted to talk to me about, and I wanted to show him that I was all in. I wasn’t folding this hand in the slightest.

  The time seemed to creep by as my work day came to a close. I had just shut off my computer and was about to leave for the day when my phone rang. I decided to ignore the call while it went off in my bag so I could leave as soon as possible. Only the ringtone sounded almost immediately after the prior one ended.

  Checking the screen, I noticed it was Gage and answered promptly, assuming that something had come up and we’d have to change our plans.

  I heard Cheyanne screaming in the background, and Gage sounded frantic.

  “Is everything okay? Why’s she screaming like that?” I said as I grabbed my purse and laptop bag and rushed out of my office to the elevator.
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  “She’s having a meltdown. Something happened at preschool today, and she’s been like this since my mom picked her up. Can you hold off on going to your place and come straight here? She keeps screaming ReRe and telling me she wants you here?”

  My heart broke hearing her screams in the background and crumbled knowing I was the one she wanted instead of her daddy.

  “I’ll be there as fast as I can. I can just go over there later. Not a problem at all. Will she let you put the phone to her ear?”

  Maybe I could calm her down long enough for me to get there.

  I heard Gage asking her to take the phone and explaining it was me on the other end. Her cries became muffled as she started to calm almost instantly at hearing my name.

  “Hello,” she said, hiccupping through the phone.

  “Hi, sweetie. I’m sorry you had a bad day. I’m leaving work now and will be there in a few minutes. Can you calm down until I get there and then I’ll try to make it all better okay?” I softly spoke, hoping my words were enough for her to stop her meltdown.

  “Otay,” she said, sniffling.

  “Thank you. I don’t know what you said, but she’s not screaming so I’m taking that as a win. Drive safe. And, Avery,” Gage said as he let out a sigh of relief.

  “Yeah,” I replied as the elevator door opened and I walked inside.

  “Thank you.”

  I could tell in the way he said it, that something major must’ve happened for her to react the way she was.

  “It’s nothing. I’ll be there soon. Hopefully, she calms down more until I get there.”

  “See you soon,” he said before we ended the call.

  The drive seemed to take forever, but I finally made it to his complex. I swear everyone wanted to drive slower than molasses, but it was probably just me being in a hurry.

  I arrived at Gage’s penthouse and rushed inside to hear no screaming. I sat down my bags on the kitchen island and then walked down the hallway to find him and Cheyanne sitting on her bed reading a book. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and she was still sniffling a little.

  “Hi there,” I said as I kicked off my flats and walked over, sitting down on the other side of the bed. Cheyanne now laid between us as Gage continued to read her the story. Once he was finished he sat down the book, and I took the time to run my fingers through her hair and kiss the top of her head.

  “Did you have a bad day today?” I settled her head on my chest, and I wrapped my arm around her.

  She nodded and burrowed her face into my side.

  “Do you want to tell me about it so I can fix it?”

  “You can’t,” she whispered without looking up at me.

  “I can try if you let me know what happened.”

  I looked over at Gage, and for the first time I could tell his heart was breaking on the inside at whatever happened to Cheyanne today.

  “Sooner rather than later,” he said as he looked at me then down to Cheyanne.

  It took a moment for the meaning of his words to register, but when they did I knew exactly what had happened today.

  “Did someone pick on you?” I asked, trying to coax her into opening up.

  “Yeah.”

  “What did he or she say to upset you?”

  “I have no mommy.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Gage and I didn’t discuss how he would go about explaining this to her, and I didn’t feel it was my place to say something that he might not want me to say.

  “Why would he say that?”

  “Cause we talk about our mommies and daddies today, and I only talk about my daddy. He ask why and I said told him I don’t have a mommy. I tell him I have a ReRe. Now he say I not special since I has no mommy.”

  Poor baby. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked up at me. Looking over at Gage, I tried to plead with my eyes on where we should go from here. But I did feel special enough that she included me in that conversation.

  “Yes, you do have me. I’m not going anywhere. Is that what you want to call me? ReRe?” I asked as I sat her on my lap so she could look at me and be more comfortable while we talked.

  Her eyes darted back and forth between Gage and me like she was wagering on what she wanted to say next.

  “How do you feel about Avery?” Gage asked, finally chiming into the conversation.

  “Love her,” she said without hesitation.

  How could a little three-year-old girl melt my heart so fast and quickly as she did?

  “I love you too, sweetie,” I admitted to her for the first time aloud.

  “Remember how in the movie Cinderella she married her prince and lived happily ever after?” Gage asked her, leaving me wondering where he was headed with this line of questioning.

  “Yeah,” she said with excitement as she bounced in my lap.

  “How would you like it if I told you that Avery found her prince?”

  Confident now was he?

  “She has?” She put her head down, disappointment apparent on her face.

  “She sure has. Would you like it if I told you that I was Avery’s prince?”

  “You are? Does that mean you get married?”

  “We are married, kiddo. We were just letting you get used to the idea of Avery being in our lives.”

  “You live wif us now?”

  Out of the mouths of babes. Kids were way too smart and picked up on everything. And she hadn’t missed a beat.

  “Would that be okay with you?”

  “Yeah. You do my hair and dress up wif me,” she said as she wrapped her little hands around my neck and squeezed tight.

  “I can do that.”

  “Does that settle it then? You’ll move in with us now?” Gage asked as I rubbed my hand up and down Cheyanne’s back. Her little arms hadn’t let me go, and I didn’t think she would any time soon.

  “You use some crazy tactics, yet I just can’t refuse. I’ll move in with you,” I told him with a smile on my face and happiness in my heart.

  “Yay!” Cheyanne screeched and let go of my neck.

  “Does that mean you my mommy now?”

  And that did it. Tears filled my eyes, and I couldn’t refrain them from seeping down my face. In just a matter of two short weeks, I’d gotten everything I’d wanted out of life.

  “Is that what you want, sweetie?”

  “Yeah. I want chou to be my mommy,” Cheyanne admitted without a care in the world. Her eyes didn’t leave mine as she waited for me to give her an answer.

  “I’d be happy and honored to be your mommy,” I admitted then looked over at Gage to see if he agreed with me. I hoped that I didn’t step on his toes since we couldn’t exactly discuss if he was okay with any of this.

  I could tell he didn’t object as he had tears in his eyes as well.

  “Would you like to come to my house with me to pack some things?” I asked Cheyanne since I figured she wouldn’t let me out of her sight any time soon.

  “Yes, Mommy,” she said, testing out how it sounded for her to call me by that title.

  My heart swelled and beat a little faster than normal as I heard her call me mommy with such pride in her voice.

  “Let’s go get your shoes on, and we can go.” She scurried off the bed and sat on the floor beside her bed to put her shoes on her feet.

  Gage slid over next to me on her bed and pulled me to his side.

  “You okay with all of this? I know you said you wanted slow.”

  “I thought I did, but surprisingly, this all feels right. Are you okay with everything? We didn’t get a chance to discuss anything before I agreed to what she wanted,” I asked, hoping like hell he wasn’t mad.

  “I was just worried how you’d react with it thrown at you that way. If you’re okay, then I’m perfectly happy right now. My girls being happy are my number one priority.”

  “Your girls. I like the sound of that.” Way more than I thought I would.

  “You ready to go, kiddo?” Gage asked Chey
anne after he kissed me on the cheek and slid off the bed.

  “Yep. Come on, Mommy. We hafta go get your stuff so you stay here foreber.” Cheyanne beamed. She seemed to be completely on board and ready for the next step in our lives. Me moving into their space.

  “Alrighty then. Lets go.” I gleamed as we all walked to the door and set to the task of packing what I’d need until the apartment could be cleared out.

  I didn’t know where we would go from here, but I was ready for whatever came.

  Chapter 15

  Cheyanne was adorable as she helped me pack my bags. She commented on every dress that I pulled from the closet, telling me how pretty each one was. She tried on each pair of my shoes, making sure she let me know which ones she approved of and which ones she thought weren’t pretty, causing Gage and me to chuckle at each and every antic she provided.

  By eight that evening, I had a good portion of my clothes packed in three different suitcases and my toiletries all packed in two carry-on bags. Cheyanne walked in between the us until we made it to Gage’s SUV, and we managed to load all the luggage into his vehicle without incident.

  “Who wants pizza?” Gage asked after we had Cheyanne buckled into her seat and we were seated in the front seats.

  “Me,” Cheyanne shouted from behind us.

  Gage grabbed my hand and linked our fingers together, pulling my hand to his mouth so he could kiss my fingers as he drove out of the parking deck.

  We had the pizza ordered and picked up within the next fifteen minutes. Cheyanne sat in the back humming to herself and bouncing her head up and down for the rest of the drive. Her mood drastically improved from earlier when I heard her screaming through the phone. I thought to myself how happy she made me earlier and how excited I was that I could be the one to make her happy.

  “What are you over there smiling at?” Gage asked just as he turned into the parking deck for his complex.

  “Just how crazy happy I am right now.”

  “Crazy happy looks good on you.” He grinned over at me after he parked the vehicle.

  He assisted me in getting dinner and Cheyanne up to his penthouse and then went down to retrieve the two suitcases that he couldn’t grab on the first trip.