I grabbed the bottle of wine from the ice bucket and a glass and poured myself some and then sat down.
“I’m glad you made it,” my mother said. “We have a lot to talk about.”
My mother didn’t believe or practice small talk. If there was something she wanted to talk about, she dove straight into it.
“Starting with your child!” My father boomed. “Congratulations, son!” He grinned and stared at me proudly.
“It’s not the ideal way to do it, but I’m sure we can arrange a quick wedding,” my mother said. “I suggested it to Abigail and she’s fine with it.”
“I’ll have a sister,” Mary squealed.
“It’s about time our kids had cousins,” Richard said.
I shook my head in disbelief. Damn Abigail! If she thought that she could coerce me into a marriage by getting my family to pile on the pressure, she didn’t know me very well.
“I’m not marrying Abigail and she’s not pregnant with my child. She lied to you.”
Silence descended in the room.
“Why would she do that?” My mother asked.
I shrugged. “That’s something you’re going to have to ask her.”
“Are you sure son?” my father said.
“A hundred percent.”
“Well then, we can forget about that,” he said, surprising me as well as everyone else.
“James,” my mother said but before she could continue my father interrupted.
“If Alex says, he is not the father, then I believe him and so should you. I’m done interfering in his life. He’s an adult and we’ll respect his decisions from now on.”
I stared at my father, stunned.
“Fine,” mother said, the words clearly forced out.
I can’t explain how it felt to have my father finally recognize that I was a man capable of my own decisions. “But I do have some news which I know will please you.” I turned to my mother.
“Do you remember when I came back home after Charlotte and I parted ways?”
“Yes,” she said.
“She called the house and you spoke to her, right?”
She shifted in her seat and looked visibly uncomfortable. “She said she wanted to talk to you but I didn’t want her to cause you any more pain.”
“That was not your decision to make mother,” I said. “It was mine.” I met everyone’s gaze before returning to my mother. “She called because she was pregnant with my son. She wanted to let me know.”
“Oh God,” my mother cried out and covered her mouth with her hand. For a moment I felt sorry for her but her stubbornness and refusal to accept Charlotte had cost us a lot of lost time and I wanted her to know the impact that not informing me had.
“His name is Kayden and he’s almost sixteen months old.” I couldn’t keep the smile from my face.
“Oh Alex, that’s wonderful,” my sister said. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
“Do you think Charlotte will let us see him?” my mother said in a voice that tugged at my heartstrings.
“Tell her we know we’ve made mistakes in the past and we’d like to rectify that,” my father said in a gruff voice.
It was the closest to an apology he would offer but it was good enough.
“Charlotte has gone through a lot in the last couple of years” I told the whole story and ended with the scheduled eye surgery the coming week. My mother and Mary dabbed at their eyes.
I told my father about my decision to move to Woodfield.
“Why don’t you open a branch of James and Alex Turner LLP in Cleveland?” he asked.
“Really?” I said, unable to believe what I was hearing. I hadn’t dared to believe that my father would want to continue working with me when I left the firm.
He stood up and so did I. He offered his hand and I gripped it. “To a successful partnership.”
“To a successful partnership.”
“This calls for more than wine,” my mother said. “I’ll go and get a bottle of champagne.”
Charlotte
A knock came on the door as I was cleaning up the kitchen, the only chance I had after Kayden napped. I frowned. It was rare to get an unexpected guest. It was Thursday, so it couldn’t possibly be Alex who was still in New York. Besides, Alex never knocked, after all, he was living with us.
I dried my hands on my apron as I moved to the front door. Woodfield was safe and I can’t remember ever checking the peep hole before opening the door. I flung it open. A dark haired, obviously from the city woman, stood there smiling at me.
“Hi,” she said. “You must be Charlotte.”
My vision was bad but I recognized people I’d met before. I had never seen the woman before. “Have we met?”
“No we haven’t, but I’ve heard of you and am sure you have heard of me. My name is Abigail. I just flew in from New York.”
My blood turned to ice. New York meant Alex. She had a connection to Alex and that’s how she knew me. I fisted my hands to keep them from trembling.