An Heir At Any Price: The Billionaire's Obsession - Contemporary Romance (20 page)

“Is this my son?” he asked. He was
holding the ultrasound picture and he had a look of pure awe on his
face. I had to smile; it was a beautiful thing no matter how angry
I’d been at him.

“Yes, that’s him,” I said.

He sat back down and stared at the
picture. Finally he said, “It really is a miracle, isn’t
it?”

“Yes, it is,” I agreed.

“Seeing this picture puts so many
things into perspective, just like that. Is that
strange?”

“No, I don’t think so, anyways. It had
the same effect on me. It does every time I look at it.”

“He’s beautiful.”

I laughed, “Yes, he is,” I agreed
again.

He looked at it again and took a deep
breath. Then he said, “I got a little carried away with the sob
story before. I’m sorry. I’ve never talked about that part of my
life to anyone before.” He looked embarrassed, like he’d said too
much. I was glad that he was opening up.

“Don’t be sorry,” I told him. “I’m the
one that has been begging you to open up. I know it’s not easy and
I appreciate it. I also want you to know that what you tell me
tonight won’t be used against you at all, even if we did have to go
to court. You have a lot on your plate, and I wouldn’t doubt that
talking to someone about it would help you work through some of it
that is still unresolved.”

He nodded, and his attitude seemed to
be softening. I’m sure it had much more to do with the baby’s
picture than it did with me.

“I’ve kept my emotions in check for a
very long time. The closest I’ve come to letting them out in years
was with you. I think that’s where the whole getting drunk thing
came from. I was feeling things again and I didn’t know how to deal
with it. I just wanted to be numb. Before you it was with my son.
At least the boy I thought was my son. I let myself feel the love
and the awe. He was so amazing…I’m sure that he still is. I still
miss him.” I could see the love in Aiden’s eyes when he talked
about that little boy. It made me feel even guiltier for wanting to
take this one from him. “The woman who professed to love me and
supposedly wanted to spend the rest of her life with me lied. She
let me believe he was mine, she let me fall in love with him and
then she took him away. Her cheating wasn’t even as much of a
violation as that was. I could live with her falling in love with
someone else if she had told me that. But instead she snuck around,
and only to keep from getting caught, she let me believe the baby
was mine. When I found out you were pregnant and you had left
without telling me, that’s exactly where my mind went. I saw red,
all those boxes in my head opened at once and I felt so many things
again. The only one that didn’t hurt was the rage, so I settled on
that. I was sure that the woman I’d started caring for deeply had
done the same thing to me as she had.”

“I’m sorry; I should have talked to
you. I was afraid and confused. I also had no idea that you cared
for me, Aiden. Every night after we had…our baby-making session,
you left me alone, like you couldn’t bear to have to wake up next
to me every day.”

“I left because waking up next to you
every day was only going to intensify what I was feeling for you
and I looked at that as dangerous. I was afraid that if I allowed
myself to be vulnerable to you, you might take advantage of me and
break my heart.”

“Aiden, you can’t go through life with
a wall around your heart, not just from me but from anything that
causes you to have a real feeling. If you do, and you never let
anyone in, you’ll never truly be happy.”

“I know that, Holly. I try to tell
myself that I need to be more open to love…but look where you are,
and why. You left me, rather than stay and talk, or stay and fight.
I have to be worth at least that much before I would be willing to
let you inside any walls.”

“You’re right. I already knew that
running was wrong, but I did that emotionally, and once it was
done, I didn’t know how to undo it. I’ve ached for you every day
since, and I’ve regretted what a mess we both made of
things.”

“We’re both a hot mess, aren’t we?” he
said. I don’t know why, but that made me laugh, long and hard. He
joined me and it felt like a lighter mood had fallen across the
room.

“Yes, we are,” I told him when I
stopped laughing. “But, we don’t have to be. Now that we know
what’s wrong, we can work on fixing it. It’s similar to my mom with
her alcoholism…you have to admit there is a problem and then work
on understanding it and go from there. I could even move back to
the city, if you would agree…”

“No, Holly!” he said.

I felt like he stabbed me in the
heart. Had I misunderstood? I thought he was leading towards us
working something out, “So you plan to take me to court?” I
asked.

“No,” he said, again. “I plan for you
and me to figure out a schedule for our baby like adults, and this
time, I don’t expect you to be the one to change your life to do
that.”

I could feel the tears stinging my
eyes. That was the first time he’d called the baby “ours” I was so
happy that; I missed what he said next, “What? I’m
sorry?”

“I asked if you might consider giving
me another chance where your feelings for me are concerned, unless
you’ve replaced those all with anger or disgust because of my
behavior.”

“Um…yes, I’d love that, both things. I
promise to talk to you, and be honest with you. No more running
away.”

“And I will do my best to stop trying
to control every situation, and to voice how I’m feeling. It’s
going to take me some time. This is how I’ve been for a long while
now. I think that it will make me less stressed if I can accomplish
it. Having to win all the time puts a lot of pressure on a
person.”

“I understand. I hope you’ll trust me
first. I already love this baby, and I care deeply for you. I want
us to be a family more than anything in the world.”

“So do I,” he said, pulling me in
close. I closed my eyes as he kissed me and as my lips parted; I
could feel in my heart that a whole new life was opening up to us
all.

When we came up for air, Aiden said,
“I forgot one important thing, the contract.”

Confused again, and still somewhat
light-headed from the kiss I said, “The contract? But I thought we
were going to do this together?”

“We are,” he said. He picked up the
stack of legal papers and tore them into shreds. Then he threw the
shreds into the air like confetti and pulled me in for another deep
kiss. It felt like New Year’s Eve in Times Square.

Chapter
Eighteen

~

AIDEN

The air was warm, but not so hot as to
be uncomfortable. The tall palms swayed in the light breeze and the
sun streamed down through the green fronds. The sand was damp and
cool beneath my bare feet. I wore a comfortable pair of beach
shorts and a shirt that would have made any surfer proud. The boat
ride out had been one big, fun party with all of my favorite people
aboard. I was thirty years old and about to have everything I’d
ever desired.

I stood nervously at the altar that
was made of flowers and seashells. Holly and her mother had built
it, with the shells they’d found on their many excursions to the
beach. The baby loved the beach and Holly told me all the time that
he was going to be some kind of seaman when he grew up. I didn’t
know about that, but I did know that our little man was going to
have every advantage and more importantly an abundance of love. He
could be anything he wanted and I would love him all the
same.

I glanced again along the aisle made
of flower petals. Holly had wanted everything to be natural and
organic. Her friends and her had set it all up and today was the
first I’d seen of it. They had done a beautiful job, I felt like I
was standing in the center of paradise. Right now though, I was
waiting for my own paradise to walk down that aisle, and it seemed
like it was taking forever. I have to admit that although I’ve come
a long way, I still had some residual abandonment issues. I tried
not to, but for a second I let my head go back to that dark place,
the one where Cecile left me and took the baby with her. I held my
breath and closed my eyes and reminded myself that Holly wasn’t
going to do that. We had worked through our issues. Nonetheless I
was nervous until at last I heard the sounds of soft music and I
looked up to see Holly’s mother being escorted down the aisle by
Myra’s husband. Mrs. Valentine was beaming. I think today was a day
that she had at one point given up on ever being able to attend,
and here she was, a vital part of it. Myra’s husband was a good guy
and we had become close. As the father of four little ones, he’d
also been a great resource for me when it came to taking care of my
own.

Next, Rose came down the aisle on the
arm of a friend of mine who was one of the ushers. Rose was a nice
lady, and she had finally left that mean man she lived with. Holly
and I helped her get set up in her own place and not long after
that, we heard a rumor that she was dating none other than grumpy
old Joe. None of the staff at the café would confirm or deny it,
but from the way they looked at each other when Holly and I had
them over for dinner and Joe’s sudden change from an old grump to a
virtual picture of sunshine, I’d say it was a safe bet.

Myra came next, escorted by my best
man. I had thought long and hard about who I would ask. But it was
always obvious who it should be. This man was much older and very
distinguished looking. His hair was still mostly dark with just a
touch of gray at the temples. He had dark eyes that seemed to dance
when he smiled. He looked as happy as Holly’s mother to be here,
I’m sure it’s a day he thought he’d never see as well. His name is
Gregory Scott and he is my grandfather. The story of how we came
together after so many years of bad blood is a long one, but let me
just say that the woman who is about to become my bride was
instrumental in bringing a family together.

Finally, with all the bit players in
place, the wedding march was struck up and a white carriage covered
with white flowers and lace was pushed down the aisle by Joe, who
actually cleaned up very well. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and
khaki shorts and he was barefoot like me. Inside the carriage was
Eric, mine and Holly’s son and the light of my life. Next to his
mother, he was the best thing that ever happened to me. I couldn’t
even look at him without my chest puffing up with pride. He was
beautiful and smart…at one year old he was already walking and he
said “Da Da” at nine months. I cried that day almost as much as I
did the day he was born. He was trying to climb out of the carriage
now and my grandfather went and took him. The old man’s smile lit
up the entire island when he looked at the sweet little
boy.

Holly had asked Joe to walk her down
the aisle. That brought him to tears. One of the reasons I’d picked
her almost two years ago to be the mother of my child was the way
that everyone around her seemed to fall in love with her. They all
loved her in different ways, Joe like a father, Rose and Myra like
a sister. But, because of that I should have known that I wouldn’t
be able to resist either no matter how hard I tried, and most of
the time I can’t even remember why I did try. I regretted all of
that wasted time. This past year had been the happiest of my life.
I had gotten into therapy, reluctantly, but because Holly asked me
to. I learned things about myself that I never knew, things that
surprised me. Most of all, I learned how to forget the past and
move on, knowing that because one person had hurt me before it
didn’t mean the next one would do the same.

I looked at her now on Joe’s arm. She
was wearing an off-white sundress with a wreath of beautiful
flowers in her pretty dark hair that hung in curls to her
shoulders. She was so beautiful, she took my breath away. I wasn’t
a big believer in the supernatural, but sometimes I couldn’t help
but wonder if it were fate that had led me to that café the first
time I’d gone in there and saw Holly. I look at her now and I feel
like we were destined to be here together. I can’t even imagine
being anywhere else.

HOLLY

As I walked down the aisle towards my
destiny I thought back over the past two years. Two years ago I was
a lonely, miserable woman. I had no self-confidence and very little
hope for the future. My mother was drinking heavily and I was in
full-blown enabler mode. I did everything for her and it had taken
me a long time to realize that had been a big part of why she
continued to do what she did. I’d gotten so used to my situation
that I got to the point of needing her to be sick in order to
validate my own life. I didn’t know that until recently. I’d
started going to some of her AA meetings so as a family, we can
make sure history never repeated itself.