Seasons of Fate (23 page)

Chapter 21

Summer

   After our announcement, things seemed to get a bit heavy, paps tried their best to snap pictures wherever we went and we did our best to smile, thankfully our story seemed to die down after a few days which we were both happy about, although the stares I received at the school seemed to be worse than before, and this time they weren
’t trying to hide it. My bump continued getting interest so I concentrated on Mase’s upcoming birthday. He had said it wasn’t a big deal but as they were our first birthdays together I wanted to make it special. Being so private meant we could avoid the spotlight so I arranged an intimate family meal at our house but made a point of inviting his family as a surprise, it had only been a few weeks since they had returned home but all agreed to make the trip for Mase.

I had just put my coat on to run some errands when the phone rang.

  
‘Hello.’

  
‘Oh hello, is this Ms Clarke?’

  
‘Ummm yes, can I help you?’

  
‘This is Mrs Philips, I’m the secretary at Lily’s school.’ Ok at this point my heart began a gallop in my chest

  
‘What’s wrong? Is Lily ok?’

  
‘Oh I’m sorry to worry you, but we will need you to come to the school right away. There’s been an incident involving some students and Lily.’

  
‘I’ll be there as soon as I can, thanks for calling.’ I hung up and immediately dialled Mase.

  
‘Hey babe, I was hoping you’d call, are you missing me like I’m missing you?’

  
‘Mase…. I just had a call from Lily’s school, they said something happened, some sort of incident with other students and I need to go in ASAP.’

  
‘Ok sweetie, don’t panic, I’ll meet you there.’

  
‘Ok, but I thought you had meetings all afternoon.’

  
‘My meetings finished, this is more important, I don’t want you speeding ok, just get there at a normal pace and I’ll see you there.’

 
‘Ok, love you.’

  
‘I love you too, bye.’ Mase hung up and I went onto autopilot grabbing my keys and getting into my car, it took me just over 10 minutes to get to the school and by the looks of the car park, it involved more students than I would like.

  
‘Ah Ms Clarke, thank you for coming.’ I looked up to see the Head but before I could say a word, Mase’s strong voice rang out behind me

  
‘Actually, it’s Mrs Stone. Hey babe, are you alright?’

  
‘Yeah. Why have you called us in?’

  
‘Well this is a conversation we should have in private.’

  
‘Excuse me. Anything you have to say to me you can say to my husband.’

  
‘Well if you’re sure, please follow me.’

We walked behind him and sat down when we reached his office

   ‘I don’t see the point in beating around the bush, we have had various complaints about Lily attending this school and today the students decided to take things a little further. It’s not something I condone which is why I think its best that you remove Lily from this school.’ I listened, but his words didn’t seem to sink in.

  
‘What? What complaints? This is the first I’m hearing of this and what exactly don’t you condone?’

  
‘Well…uhhh several parents were concerned about the press. At the time it wasn’t really an issue but now that you’re…. status has changed things have escalated.’

Oh God, my status. I was a status now, why? Because I married Mase? Or the baby? What the fuck!!!!!! I was stunned so didn
’t reply, unfortunately for Mr Turner, Mason was not as stunned as me.

  
‘So let me get this straight. You received complaints from some parents about the press, even though they weren’t interested in anybody but me, my wife and Lily, they never entered school grounds and never made any attempts to gain anything from other students is that correct?’

  
‘Well….it’s not that easy Mr Stone, we have to take all complaints seriously.’

  
‘I would expect nothing less but you haven’t at any time approached us about these so called complaints, why is that? Oh and can I ask has this occurred since we announced our marriage?’

  
‘Umm…well, I’m not sure of dates at this time.’

  
‘Bullshit, you are legally obliged to know, and you are legally obliged to inform us if any complaints are placed. Now, we’ll deal with that in a moment. I want to see our daughter and I want to see her now, and I’m going to warn you in advance, if anything has happened to her, I am going to sue this school for everything, and believe me I have the means to do it. My daughter….now, please.’

I had to admit, I felt a smugness rise to the surface, Mase just blew me away and I think I fell in love with him a bit more, and
….he was just sexy as can be

  
‘Babe, you’re drooling.’ Oh shit, I was too, giggling I said

  
‘Oh my god, remind me to say thanks in private later, I am in awe of you right now.’

  
‘Thank you, this is a walk in the park, I have dealt with dicks like this before so I’m not about to get fucked over, and I meant every word. I swear to god if Lily is hurt in any way…’ he didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before Lily ran into the room and straight into Mason’s arms ‘Princess….what happened? Tell us.’ Lily sobbed into Mason’s neck and she was shaking from head to toe.

  
‘They….grabbed me….and pushed me…’ Lily was so upset she couldn’t finish her words. Mason looked at me then turned to Mr Turner.

  
‘You’re a disgrace, how could you allow this to happen? We leave her in your hands, to teach and protect her. Unacceptable. You’ll be hearing from my solicitors.  We’re leaving, now.’

I grabbed my bag and we walked out of the office, as we approached the playground the other parents stopped their conversations to stare at us. My death glare must have said it all but it didn
’t stop the sniggers. My blood boiled, I mean she’s five, how could they be so cruel, jealous, spineless arseholes. Mason turned to address the crowd with a grin on his beautiful face.

  
‘I hope your all happy,’ everybody looked in his direction ‘I am going to literally wipe the smug smiles off all your faces, I’ll be contacting the police to deal with this matter, lets see who’s laughing then. Oh and so you all know…. I have a team at my disposal whose job it is to make your lives very, very difficult.’ with a giggle he turned and said    

  
‘Good afternoon.‘

We walked through the gates and silence followed us, I assumed everybody was too stunned or scared to say anything, but the press were happy to ask what was going on and once Mase had Lily settled in my car, he went back to give a statement, making sure he was very clear on everything that had happened, there was really no point arguing with him, Mason Stone was a force of nature and god help you if you pissed him off. This was a side of him I hadn
’t really seen, the business tycoon who played nice when he needed to but was ruthless when required. I had to admit I found this side and every other side of Mason sexy as hell, but I had to try to dampen down my current state to try to heal my daughter’s misery. I was suddenly overwhelmed by her unhappiness, tears blurred my vision but I held back the sob and watched my baby girl fall asleep.

   The following day Mase kept to his word and spoke to his solicitors, business advisors, publicists, and of course made an appointment for the police to come to the house to discuss the situation with the school. I couldn’t seem to get my head around what was happening and just lagged behind while he made all the decisions regarding Lily. I was grateful but also a little hurt that I wasn’t able to be more for her, I mean I’m her mother and I was lost, how was I supposed to deal with the situation. Instead I held my tongue and Mason led the way.

  
‘Babe….your awfully quiet, is everything ok? I mean are you pissed at me?’ My eyes bulged, what the hell was he talking about.

  
‘Huh? Why would you think that?’

  
‘You just seem, I don’t know….like you’re lost.’

  
‘I’m sorry,’ tears threatened ‘I feel like I should be doing more, but I don’t know what to do. I’ve never had to do anything like this, Lily has always been so carefree and happy even with everything she was born into, and I’m….I guess I am lost. Its not you, I promise. I’m so grateful that you’ve taken the lead, I don’t think I could have.’ At this point my tears spilled over, Mason pulled me to him so quickly.

  
‘Shuh love. You don’t need to feel this way, we’re a partnership, and we do things together. I don’t want you worrying about anything, just try to relax. I have everything under control, you just need to concentrate on the baby ok.’

  
‘Yeah… I know. I’m sorry I’m a stupid mess,’ his sweet laugh had me smiling.

  
‘Your not stupid babe, you’re pregnant, hormonal and a concerned mother, but I promise you Lily is fine. I’ve arranged a tutor for the immediate future, it may be better for the next few months, she’ll get the schooling she deserves, you won’t need to worry about her getting hurt and I wont need to worry about you being out in public while I’m not around.’

He really was amazing and had thought everything through. I let out a sigh of relief.

   ‘Thank you sweetie, your right.’ I hugged him as tightly as I could considering the huge belly in-between us, our son decided to make his presence known by kicking out hitting Mase in the ribs.

  
‘Oooffff, he’s packing a hell of a kick, does he do that a lot? I mean to you, cause if he does, babe you should lay down more often. That hurt.’

  
‘Yea, but its fine, it helps me feel connected to him.’ With another hug we called it a night, curling up next to Mason made me feel safe and warm, and eventually all the stress of the day melted away and I drifted to sleep.

Chapter 22

Summer

   After a few weeks, Lily seemed to settle back into a routine. It was different but it worked for her and she was happy again. September flew by and before I knew it, we were celebrating mine and Mason
’s birthdays. We didn’t do much apart from a family dinner but it’s what we wanted. I asked him not to get me a gift but Mase being Mase still had to give me something so he handed me a beautifully wrapped picture frame with a photograph of the three of us from Central Park, It was one of the first pictures we had taken together and I loved it, in return I gave Mason what I knew he’d wanted from the first moment he and Lily had met, adoption papers, wrapped in a red bow. Seeing his glassy eyes take in the papers and then the look of pure love he gave Lily was all I could have ever asked for. I guess when I wanted to I could get things done, it just took a really good solicitor who loved to look after their multi millionaire client. I took care of everything and two weeks later Lily became Lily Louise Stone, and again we celebrated as a family. 

   Before I knew it, Halloween arrived and I was dressing Lily in a Cinderella costume ready for trick or treating, although Mase had hand picked which houses to call on, Lily was excited and understood why we couldn’t venture too far. I was 7 months pregnant and wobbling everywhere but I insisted on going out to watch my baby trick or treat for the first time with her daddy. We made it around the local houses with little issue, and the smile on Lily’s face was worth the ache in my feet from walking. When we arrived home, Lily ran straight to her room to change, I strolled into the kitchen and Mase took a call walking into his office. Not knowing how long he would be I climbed the stairs to Lily’s room.

  
‘Baby, are you ready for bed?’

  
‘Yes mummy, Can you read me a story?’

  
‘Ok, snuggle down.’ I began the story of Goldilocks and when I looked back up Lily was fast asleep. I kissed her forehead and quietly left. Walking into our bedroom, which was empty, I quickly got ready for bed, by the time I had brushed my teeth Mason walked in looking perplexed.

  
‘Babe? What’s wrong?’

  
‘I just had a call from my business managers back home, they’ve called a meeting which I have to attend, I’m not happy about it but unfortunately I can’t miss it.’

  
‘That’s ok, how long will you be gone?’

  
‘Just a few days but I hadn’t planned on leaving you so close to the baby coming.’

  
‘Sweetie, the baby’s not due for a couple more months, you’ll be back before you know it. Don’t worry.’ I giggled and tried to reassure him but the crease in his forehead showed me how concerned he was.

  
‘Hey, how about I take your mind off it?’ He seemed to stop breathing and just like that he leaned down and kissed me like he couldn’t get enough. I melted into him and we drifted down onto the bed. I took my time exploring his body, there was no rush, just the feel of him all around me. His fingers did magical things to my over sensitive skin, and together we claimed the pleasure we were both seeking. I wasn’t sure what to call it but this lovemaking was different, so intimate on a level we had never had before, it wasn’t better than any other time but something seemed to have changed making all our movements so much more beautiful. I wasn’t even sure if that was the right word to use, but my heart felt like it wanted to explode with the love rushing forward for my amazing husband. I never knew things could get better but that night they did.