by Nicki Night
“To save face.”
Bill tilted his head. “You can say that.” He leaned forward. “Ethan, you are my son. I never wanted you to feel any different than your brothers and sister.”
“Yet, I always did.”
Bill dropped his head but lifted it back up. “I’m sorry.”
“I guess none of us are perfect, are we?”
It took a moment, but Bill finally nodded in agreement. “What made you bring this up now?”
“It’s the right time.” Ethan paused and considered his words. He knew that what he was about to say would hit his father hard. “Zoe is pregnant. She’s no fling to me. No careless affair. I care about her—a lot. I want you to know and respect that.”
Silence expanded between them.
Ethan was glad to get that off his chest. “We can talk more later. Right now, I have to go.”
“Of course.” Bill sighed, sat back and took another sip of his scotch.
Ethan wasn’t sure how Bill was taking the news. His response didn’t offer much in the way of how he felt.
“Thanks, Dad.” Ethan held his hand out to his father.
Bill took it, but instead of shaking his hand, he got up and hugged Ethan. “I love you, son.”
“I love you, too, Dad.”
“And I respect your decision.”
Ethan felt lighter than he had in days, possibly years. He left his father and headed straight for Zoe’s house. There would be no covering up the fact that she was having his baby.
There was so much he’d suspected about the situation between his parents and his biological father but hadn’t had confirmed until now. Many times he had tried to convince himself that none of it mattered. But it did, especially now that he was going to be a father himself.
He’d made several attempts to speak to his mother about it over the years, but it always seemed too difficult for her. Ethan hated the sadness that consumed her when he broached the subject. That trip he’d made to Robert’s home as a young man had left him broken. When Robert had refused to speak to him, Ethan had taken on the armor of rejection. Though Bill had never really treated him differently than his siblings, knowing that he wasn’t his biological father had still made Ethan feel like an outsider.
Bill didn’t have to accept him, but he had. So Ethan felt obligated to be as little a burden to him as possible. That was where his desire to please his dad had come from.
How could Ethan have known that was an orchestrated arrangement? He sympathized with his mother. Somehow, he’d understood even as a teen the guilt that had taken hold of her. Until today, his mother was the only person he had spoken to about this.
These questions had lingered for years. However, becoming a father made it necessary to finally seek answers and Ethan was glad that he had. Knowing helped him understand himself. He needed that going into fatherhood.
He reached Zoe’s house just as the sun was setting. She opened the door and stepped aside to let him in. Lifting on her toes, she greeted him with a cordial kiss on the cheek. It wasn’t the passionate greeting he’d grown accustomed to, but it was warmer than the distant space they’d settled into over the past few days.
“I have some things I need to tell you,” Ethan said. He took Zoe by the hand, led her to the living room and sat her down. He was pulling back the curtain on his own truth.
Twenty-Five
Zoe couldn’t believe what Ethan has just told her. She didn’t even know how to respond. She guessed it was her own fault for thinking that the Blackwells were flawless just because they were wealthy. They were just like any other family. Perhaps even just like hers. She could see the pain in Ethan’s eyes as he revealed family secrets that had plagued him for years. She also saw his relief in getting the information out in the open.
Zoe just listened as he spoke, not wanting to interrupt him. When he stopped, she waited several more moments to make sure he didn’t have anything else to say. Then she hugged him.
She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in tight, fighting back tears. He held her just as tight. They stayed that way, holding on to each other as if their lives depended on it. The embrace felt like therapy.
“So what now?” she said when she finally pulled away.
“If you’ll have me,” he began, “I say we proudly raise our baby. Stay in this together.”
Ethan’s words made her heart smile. But to make sure the air was truly clear of secrets, Zoe had some of her own to share.
“There are things that I should also tell you,” she began.
“Tell me.”
So Zoe told Ethan her truth, sharing the story of her own father walking out on her family when she and Shena were kids. The difference was, she’d never seen her father again. They’d received word that he’d died as a result of a work accident when she was in college. Unlike with Ethan, there’d been no kind of reconciliation. Zoe also shared Shena’s condition with him and finally told him about how she’d thought she would never be able to have children.
“So we’re having a miracle baby?”
Zoe threw her head back and laughed. “Yes.” When their laughter died down, she continued, “We’re a tight, loving bunch—my mom, my sister and me. We have our issues, our share of struggles. My family means the world to me. And I’m not ashamed of them.”
“You shouldn’t be.” Ethan ran the back of his finger down her cheek.
“I guess the lesson here is that none of us are perfect,” Zoe said.
“And I want to be imperfect with you.” He kissed her. “And our baby. When I said I loved you the other night, I meant it.”
Zoe blinked. Tears tickled her eyes. She’d realized how much she cared for Ethan in his absence. They’d spent months together, day and night. Ethan made her feel like no man had ever made her feel before. Being tough and trying to protect her heart and her child, she’d tried to fight those feelings. But when he’d said those words that night, she’d realized that she loved him, too.
“I love you, too, Ethan.”
He grabbed her, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply.
When he let go, Zoe touched her stomach, gazing down at it. “I still can’t believe it. I’m hardly showing but I can’t wait to feel my child.”
“And both his parents will always be there for him.”
Ethan’s words touched her, but she couldn’t resist. “His? Who said it will be a boy?” she teased.
“Boy, girl or frog. It doesn’t matter to me. I’ll be there. If it’s a frog, we’ll build a pond in the backyard and make sure it’s got a nice pad. Get it?”
Zoe swatted Ethan playfully for the silly pun. She tried not to laugh but did anyway. “Whose backyard are we building this lush lily pad in?”
“Ours!” Ethan declared. “We’re in this thing together, right?”
Zoe looked at him with a raised brow. “Don’t feel obligated to stick around because you knocked me up,” she teased. Ethan’s mouth dropped open. “As long as you’ll have me,” she said with a smile.
He smiled back. “I think I’d like to keep you around for a while.”
Zoe laughed again and Ethan kissed her right in the middle of it. He pulled her close.
“We have to tell our families,” he said, still holding Zoe in his arms.”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“And we have to do it together,” he added.
“Hmm. Yeah.” Her mother and sister would be ecstatic. But despite what she now knew, she wasn’t looking forward to having the conversation with Ethan’s parents.
They kissed again. Ethan’s lips on hers felt like healing to her soul.
He pulled back long enough to say breathlessly, “I’ve missed you.”
Immediately she felt her body respond. “Show me how much.” She let seduction sparkle in her eyes. She craved wh
at she’d missed about him.
Ethan picked her up, carried her to bed, laid her down and showed her just how much he’d missed her.
* * *
Zoe had made it to twelve weeks. She sat in Dr. Brown’s waiting room with Ethan at her side, holding her hand. There was so much about the moment that filled her up. She looked at the ceiling and blinked. She insisted on containing her emotions.
“Zoe Baldwin,” the nurse called.
“That’s me.” She and Ethan rose and followed the nurse to an examination room.
Zoe watched him take in all the equipment in the room, still holding her hand. “Babe,” she said at last. “I can’t put on this gown if you don’t let go of my hand.”
“Oh. Right.” He let go of her hand.
She laughed. Ethan had exhibited this nervous energy ever since he’d picked her up for the appointment. She thought it was cute. Zoe stepped out of her clothes and into the paper gown. Dr. Brown tapped lightly on the door just as Zoe slid onto the examination table.
“Come in.”
“Good morning!” Dr. Brown’s cheerful tone rang through the small room. She held her hand out to Ethan.
“I’m the proud dad,” he said.
Zoe rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Good morning, Dr. Brown. This is my boyfriend, Ethan Blackwell.”
“Nice to meet you, proud Dad.” Dr. Brown shook his hand. “Have you ever seen an ultrasound before?”
“No. Never. I don’t even know what that is,” Ethan admitted.
Zoe smiled at his curious nature. She loved him more than she knew was possible.
“Well, you’ll learn all about it today,” Dr. Brown said.
For the rest of the quick visit, Zoe watched Ethan take everything in with a sense of awe. His face lit up at the grayscale images of their baby moving around in her belly. He seemed enthralled at the thunderous sounds emanating from the sonogram. And at the end, when Dr. Brown cleaned the gel from Zoe’s belly and left the room, Ethan wrapped his arms around Zoe before she could even get dressed.
“We’re having a baby,” he said as if the reality of it all had just sunk in.
His excitement warmed her heart. “And now we’ve been cleared to share the news.” That thought made her anxious but happy.
He kissed her, and she giggled and melted into his embrace. She hadn’t imagined ever having a man like Ethan and certainly had never imagined having his child.
Twenty-Six
Zoe was nervous. She could hardly take in the beautiful drive leading up to Ethan’s parents’ home. They’d passed several lavish estates and finally turned into a private driveway that was so inconspicuous she would have passed right by it if she hadn’t been in the car with Ethan.
An expansive and sophisticated Colonial stretched out before them as they drove closer. The beige brick made the home look stately yet welcoming. Zoe gasped. She couldn’t believe this was where they lived. By the time Ethan came to a stop, her leg was bouncing. She didn’t know how the nervous energy would manifest next.
“Oh, my this is lovely,” said Zoe’s mother, Laura, from the back seat.
“Wow! It’s huge,” Shena said. She was having a good day. Zoe was happy about that.
Ethan exited the car and helped Laura and Shena out before taking Zoe’s hand and leading her to the double entry doors.
The door opened before he could ring the bell.
“Hey, baby!” A short, caramel-skinned woman with salt-and-pepper hair opened the door and embraced him.
“Hey, Ma.” Ethan hugged her and kissed her forehead. “This is Zoe.” He presented her to his mother. “Zoe, this is my beautiful mother, Lydia.”
“Let me see this gorgeous young woman.” Lydia moved Ethan aside to take Zoe in. She scanned her from head to toe, then turned to Ethan with an approving nod. “You know how to pick ’em, babe!” Her laugh was more like a cackle. It was infectious, causing Zoe, Ethan, her mother and her sister to all laugh with her. Zoe liked her already.
“It’s good meeting you, Mrs. Blackwell.”
“Nice meeting you, honey. Come on in here.” She held out her arms. Zoe stepped into her embrace.
“And you must be her mother,” Lydia said after hugging Zoe. “I see where she gets her looks from.”
Laura snickered. “Yes! You’re looking pretty good yourself, young lady.” Lydia had brought out the playful side of Laura, something Zoe hadn’t seen in a while. She liked Lydia even more. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lydia. My name is Laura. And this—” she turned around “—is my other daughter, Shena.”
“The pleasure is mine.” Lydia hugged Laura and Shena in turn. She ushered them all inside. Zoe gaped in awe at an elegant set of stairs winding its way up to the second floor. She had only seen homes like this in movies.
“Hey, Zoe!” Carter rounded the corner. He hugged her.
A tall gentleman who looked just like Ethan appeared just behind Carter. Zoe assumed he was their older brother, Lincoln. After him came a pretty, curvy woman with two kids at her legs. The way she lovingly clung to Lincoln gave Zoe the impression that she was probably his significant other. The huge diamond on her finger let her know that she was his wife.
Almost the entire family was gathered in the large two-story foyer, including Ethan’s sister, Ivy. Lydia led the greetings, introducing everyone from both families. They all passed around hugs.
Bill was the last to enter the foyer. His brawny stature was intimidating, and his deep voice boomed when he spoke. Zoe found herself holding her breath when he approached her.
Zoe lifted her head to meet his gaze when he stood before her. She wouldn’t stand down. Seconds ticked by and silence settled around them. Zoe was keenly aware that all eyes were on them.
Bill cracked first. A small smiled eased at the corners of his lips and he narrowed one eye at her. She tried to hold her smile back and narrowed an eye back at him.
“Come here, young lady.” He opened his arms wide. Zoe stepped in. His bear hug felt like the warmth of a summer day and she hugged him back.
“You don’t scare me, old man,” she teased.
Everyone laughed, and Bill released her. “Welcome to our home. We need you back on the Blackwell team,” he said right away. “We can feel the impact of your departure already.”
“Dad!” Ethan scolded.
“All right, all right. No business talk today.” Bill leaned down closer to Zoe’s ear and pretended to whisper. “We can talk about that later. I’ll pay you more than Ethan did.”
Laughter filled the grand home once again.
Lydia and Ivy led them to a large room with glass doors overlooking a spacious yard. Even with the barren trees and no flowers in bloom, the yard still seemed meticulously manicured. The men went out on the deck, the winter mild enough for jackets only. Lincoln’s children ran around on the grass while the ladies talked inside.
Lydia handed out mimosas. “It’s Sunday, so why not call it a brunch, and what’s a brunch without mimosas,” she said. “Enjoy. Our meal will be ready shortly.”
Laura happily accepted. Zoe and Shena politely declined. Shena had been so much better at trying to stay well. Zoe was so proud of her sister.
“I heard you made quite an impact helping to grow your territory, Zoe,” Lydia said. “Kudos to you.” She held her flute in the air.
“Thank you, Ms. Lydia. We had a great leader and an amazing team.”
“Oh, don’t be modest, honey. I understand it was all you. Take your credit. It’s a poor dog that can’t wag its own tail.”
“Oh. Well. Okay. Yes, ma’am. And thank you.” Zoe chuckled.
Lydia winked at Laura before saying to Zoe, “I also understand that you overheard my husband say some things that weren’t so nice.”
Zoe paused as her glass was on its way to her mouth.
“Don’t worry about him,” Lydia went on. “He means well. Sometimes he forgets he came from a little town in South Carolina that most people never heard of. The day we met, he called me a sassy city girl. I told him he was nothing but a country bumpkin. It was love at first sight! Ha!” Lydia’s laugh was sharp and jovial.
“Our first apartment could fit in this room.” Lydia looked around. “But we made it work. We hit Wall Street with a strong sense of determination and an even stronger desire to make enough money to call our own shots. It took a little hard work, lots of struggle and even more luck. We climbed that corporate ladder together and set out to start our own business. I got out of the industry a few years ago. Finance can be grueling. I was over it.” Lydia took a sip. “So don’t let him fool you. He’s a good man who wants the best for his children. He just needs to be reminded about where he came from every now and then.”
A thin older woman entered the room. “Brunch is served.”
“Thank you, Melanie,” Lydia said. She walked over to the sliding doors, tapped and waved the men in. “Let’s eat!”
The family gathered at a table large enough to fit all of them. Bill said grace and everyone dug into the delicious food. By the end of the meal, they had all eased into comfortable conversation.
Carter lifted his wineglass. “Let me be the first to say congratulations to Ethan for winning the competition. I have to give your team credit for building an incredible base out here on Long Island. You deserve your new position.”
“Thanks,” Ethan said with pride.
“Cheers!” the rest of the family chimed in.
“I’m proud of you, son,” Bill added. “Congrats to the new vice president of Blackwell Wealth Management.”
“Speech!” Ivy clinked her glass with a knife.
“All I have to say is,” Ethan said dramatically, “Carter, where are my new irons?”