Lost and Found (46 page)

"How did you find out, Mother? Was it Claudia or Caleb?"

"It sounds like you three have been too busy arguing to
waste any time on calling me. Mother's always have their
ways of finding things out. Isn't that right, Olivia?"

I nod my head, because I'm too tired to do more than that.
Cash comes and stands on the other side of my bed and
grabs my hand. I look up at him and he looks a little calmer,
but worried. I can't get it out of my head what all he said to
me and I can't look at him, so I look to the other side and Amelia is still standing there with concern in her eyes.

"Do you need anything, Sweetheart? How long do you have
to stay in here?"

"I have no idea, I just woke up. I haven't even seen the Dr.
yet."

Claudia spoke up.
"Her doctor said that she's dehydrated and exhausted, and will keep her for 24 hours for observation and when she
wakes up we need to go get her, because she wants to do an
ultrasound." Amelia's eyes lit up.

"Well, go get her! I would love to see my grandbabies. I
bet we will be able to hear their heartbeats too! Wouldn't
that be great, Olivia?"
Yes, it would and I couldn't think of anything better at the
moment than some reassurance that they were doing
alright.

A few minutes later, the Dr. comes in and starts the
ultrasound and all five of us are looking at the screen.
When she showed us the babies, I couldn't take my eyes off
of the screen. They were so beautiful.

I didn't dare look at Cash, because I wouldn't be able to
stand it if he couldn't look at them and see them for what
they were. Babies. Our babies.

I started crying when she turned the volume up so that we
could hear their strong heartbeats and Cash squeezed my
hand, but I still couldn't look at him. She printed pictures for
all of us and told us that if we wanted to know the sex of
the babies, she could do that in another four weeks, and left.
I hear Cash clear his throat, as if he wants to say something.

"Well everyone, Liv is doing great and the babies are doing
great, so I think we need to let her get some rest. I'm going
to stay here with her, so you all should go home and get
some rest. Mom? I think Liv and I should be the ones to tell
the children about this, so just hold off on that, conversation
okay?"

"No." Did I just say that?

“No? No what, Liv?" I finally look at him and he seems
calmer and not as worried.

"No, as in I want to be alone. You can go home too." I
can tell that I just hurt his feelings, but I don't care.

“Liv, sweetheart it’s okay. I understand that I hurt you, but
you don't need to stay up here by yourself. What if you
need some help or something?"

"I can stay up here with you, Liv. Cash is right; you
shouldn't be here all alone."

I don't feel like having an “I hate Cash” bash all night, so I
don't want her here either. I shake my head and glare at
both of them. Amelia smiles and pats my hand.

"I would like for all of you to leave right now, so that I can
talk to Olivia, alone. Now, Cash! Claudia? You too,
Dear."
Cash doesn't know what else to do, so he just leans down
and kisses me on the cheek and leaves with them. When they leave, Amelia goes to shut the door, so that we could
have some privacy.

I'm bawling before she comes back to the bed. She must
have sensed why I wanted to be alone, because she sat down on the bed and pulled me into her arms and just let me cry.

"There, there, now. You just let it all out. From what I've
heard, you've had a pretty rough night."

I couldn't stop crying and I've never wanted to pick up the
phone and have my parents come see me more than
anything in the world. Having Amelia here like this was the
next best thing. I pull back from her, because I couldn't
figure out how she found out and I don't know why, but I
was curious.

"How did you find out if none of them called you?" She
blushed, as if she had been caught doing something wrong.

"If I tell you, you can't breathe a word of it, okay?" I
nodded my head. "Lucas called me."

"Lucas? As in Lucas, Lucas?"

"Yes. That Lucas. He saw the security guard take that
vulgar girl out of the building and he heard enough to know
that it had involved you, so he went to check on all of you to
make sure that everyone was alright and he heard how all
of you had gone upstairs. So, he went up to Cash's office
and heard yelling and he heard what all you were talking
about from the hallway. He's the one that called 911,
because the three of them were screaming at each other and
weren’t reacting fast enough. Cash doesn't know this, but
Lucas has been my mole, or shall I say friend for a lot
longer than Cash has known him.
Trust me, don't think badly of me or him, but it helped when
that evil witch was taking care of my grandbabies. She
tried to bully Carmen and Lucas, but she couldn't bully me.
So, that’s my source. Are you still going to keep it a
secret for me?"

"Yes, there's no reason to tell anyone. Who knows? I might
need him myself in the near future to be my mole, when I
leave and Cash looks for another nanny."

"So, is that it? You're leaving? Just like that?"

"Just like that? Did Lucas tell you what all was said? Cash
pretty much left it to one of us leaving, so I don't know. I
can't leave Gideon and Eden. They're my babies too! Why does your son have to be such an arrogant ass? I can't even
look at him, because I feel like he's ripped my heart out!"

"Sweetheart, I have an idea. Gideon has one more week of
Christmas break before he goes back to school. Why don't
you go see your parents for the week and I'll keep the kids.
I bet it would do you some good to go home and visit them, and I bet they would love the surprise. Maybe a week away and some distance can help you clear your head."

That is a great idea, but I can't just go see them at their
house. I just can't bear to run into anyone that I used to
know there. I bet they would meet me halfway through and it would be like a vacation. I definitely have the money to treat my parents.

"Yes. That is a great idea and I could get plenty of rest
and not deal with any drama. It sounds wonderful! Thank
you, Amelia! But will you not tell them? I'd rather tell them
myself. Well, leave them a note anyway."

"Haha. That will teach them! Okay, Dear. I'm going to
let you rest and just shoot me a text if you don't mind when
you leave and when you get there, so I'll know you're
alright. Don't worry about Cash waiting outside, because I'll
make sure he goes home. I love you, Olivia." She leans back
down and gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too. Thank you so much for all that you've done
for me."

"Oh, it's nothing; I have already claimed you as my
daughter, so no worries, Sweetie. Goodnight."

Yes. I need to see my parents. I know they're going to be
upset with me for not telling them about my pregnancy, but
they'll get over it, because they do love me unconditionally and I know they'll be excited and happy that they're going to be grandparents again.

As far as Cash goes, he needs to work on himself while
I'm gone. I can't fix him and his insecurities. I refuse to
have him look at me with pity just waiting for my so called death to happen when I deliver the twins. Maybe this week
away from each other will help him too.

********************

I woke up the next morning, begging my doctor to release
me so that I could get away from everyone, so I could
think and rest. Since the fluids they had given me had put
me back to where I was supposed to have been, I promised
her that if I had any problems I would run to the nearest
hospital, so she cleared me to leave and to fly on the plane to meet my parents.

They were the first ones I called that morning, telling them
that I missed them and was sorry that I didn't get to see
them over the holidays and that if they would fly out and
meet me halfway, I would spend the week with them. It
took everything I had not to break down and cry during the
conversation. I know my mother could sense that
something was wrong, but she didn't hesitate to buy their plane tickets so that they could be on the earliest flight out, so we would arrive at the airport the same time.

I left Cash and Claudia a note addressed to both of them,
telling them that I had to get away for a while to think. That
was it, short and sweet and to the point. I left it with the
nurse to give them for when they showed up.

I texted Amelia, letting her know that I was going to see my
parents and where I would be, but to not tell anyone where I
was and that I would be back by Sunday of the next week
for the children. She told me not to worry and for me to rest.

My first stop was to the nearest Walmart to buy some
clothes to wear, because all I had with me was the gown I
had worn to the New Year’s Eve party. Trust me, I got a lot
of looks while I was in there, but I really didn't care. I was
on a mission to get out of town and I didn't want anyone
trying to change my mind.

Before I boarded my flight, my cell phone finally started
blowing up with calls and texts from Cash and Claudia. I
hit the ignore button and turned it off. Neither one of them
could say anything to change my mind about taking a break
from everything for a few days.

Yes. I am furious at him, but more heart broken than
anything and I realize that all that Claudia did was what I
asked her to do. She defended me to Cash, but she also
announced it to the world and I didn't want him finding out
like that. I just can't let her get into my head and I do not
want to hear anything negative about Cash. I heard enough
negativity from him last night to last a lifetime and I didn't
want to rehash everything.

I started crying as soon as I sat down in my seat in the first
class section of the plane. I couldn't handle dealing with the
public sitting in coach and wanted to be as alone as I
possibly could. I normally don't splurge on anything like a
first class ticket, but honestly, I didn't care about anything
but seeing my parents and longing for their hugs.

My flight landed a few minutes before theirs did and I was
waiting for them in the baggage claim area when I saw
them. My heart skipped an extra beat and I took off running
towards them and jumped into my dad’s arms like I was a
little girl all over again, and he had the power to take all of
my pain away.

My mother started crying and was patting me on the back and kept asking me what was wrong and I just told her that
I had missed them so much, and that I was fine now since I was with them. Dad went to get us a rental car to take us to
the resort that I booked for the three of us, while Mom and I
stood outside waiting for him to pick us up.

"Honey? I know something's wrong. Do you want to talk
about it? You're so skinny, have you been eating enough?"
Oh, if only she knew how soon I was going to balloon up all
over.

"Mom, I can't talk about it right now, okay? Can we go get
something to eat before we go to the resort and we can talk
then? I'm starving!"

"That's fine honey, but I need to know what's going on
when you feel like talking. I'm so worried about you.
You're not acting like yourself."

"I know, Mom. I feel better now, though, since I'm with you
and Dad. I've missed you both so much!"

I leap towards her and give her another hug and she hugs
me back. This is what I've been missing the most! It
feels so safe and secure in my mother’s arms, hoping that she can make everything all better.