SEVEN

SQUEALING, THE little boy climbed onto Doris' lap, giggling mischievously.

"Hey, Sweetie!" Doris singsonged, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I tried to stop him," Annie apologized ruefully. Then she made a face at the kid. "But he's such a naughty boy."

"It's okay, Annie," Doris replied chuckling.

With a polite nod and one last funny face directed at the boy who, likewise, gave in return a bit of his own display, the petite brunette was out the door.

"Hey, Sweetie, what are you doing here?" Doris asked, stroking the little boy's head who was still giggling on her thighs.

"Oh my gosh, Mummy! I was like super duper bored, and I begged Nanny Lucy to take me to the playground. And when we got there, I saw all my friends from school, like Johnny and Sarah and Grace and Jacob! We played tag and hide-and-seek and we even got ice cream after. The ice cream shop had chocolate and vanilla and strawberry and even some fancy flavors I've never heard of before! It was such fun, and I totally didn't want it to end. Then on our way home, we decided to stop by and see you," the little cutie conveyed in excitement.

Maxwell Sean Evans was Doris' son.

The little, beautiful surprise Brad had deposited in her uterus four years ago.

Doris was carefree but not when it came to contraception. But back then, they had both admitted to fidelity and agreed to stop using condoms. Since she'd wanted the illusion of a deeper intimacy with him she'd readily agreed.

But on that day, in the shower, when she'd swiped soapy hands over her birth control patch and found out it wasn't there, panic clenched her instantaneously.

She'd craned her neck over her shoulders to look down her right hip but saw nothing except smooth skin. She'd looked over the other side, praying she might have forgotten that she'd used a different hip. But there had been no flesh-colored square residing there, either.

She hadn't been due to replace the weekly dose of birth control until the next three days and she wasn't scheduled to be without until a full week after that.

Prayers had left her lips in desperation as she'd tried to remember the last time she checked the patch.

Having it there had become such second nature that she had barely even noticed it anymore. She'd been always careful in the shower, never soaping in the region directly. She'd lost one the first month when she started using them, but she'd learned how to avoid eroding the adhesive that held the hormone dispenser in place.

She'd force her mind to bring up and scour the images from the preceding days, but the last clear impression she had of it had been a week before her flight back to Los Angeles after the Paris Fashion Week.

She was sure it couldn't have just fallen off. But the way she and Brad had touched that first time making love after their weeks-long separation, had been rough, urgent, and not at all cautious of clothing, much less an adhesive square attached to her body.

The real terror had gripped her when the test had turned out positive.

But the longer she'd thought about the fact she was carrying the baby of the man she'd loved, the more the panic and fear had worn off. After a while of contemplation and consideration, she'd decided to keep the baby.

She had surmised Brad would too.

She'd known just how much he cherished his daughter and he wouldn't hesitate to shower the same love to his son. She'd prepared to tell him about the baby along with her heartfelt proposal but before she even had the chance to...

They were over!

Doris glanced at her friend and she almost laughed.

The look on her face was one of pure shock as if she had just been hit with a bolt of lightning. Her mouth hung open slightly, and her eyes were wide and unblinking. Her eyebrows were raised high on her forehead, and her entire body seemed to be frozen in place. The expression on her face was one of disbelief as if she couldn't quite comprehend what she was seeing. It was a look that seemed to say, "This can't be real."

Doris chuckled softly. Then she turned to her son. "Uh. . . Maxie. . . Do you remember your Auntie Evy I always tell you about. . .? Well, this is your Auntie Evy," she said the last part fluttering her fingers under Evelyn's chin.

"Hi, Auntie Evy," Max said in a high-pitched voice, waving his tiny, cute hand.

"Evelyn. . . Meet my son, Maxwell."

Evelyn's face softened, and a smile began to form on her lips. She couldn't believe how anyone could be this mesmerizingly adorable.

The boy was a dark-haired, emerald-eyed beauty, his features delicate and refined. His black hair, straight and silky, cut in side swept long bangs. His eyes were a rich, deep green, flecked with gold, and framed by long, dark lashes. His skin was pale and smooth, with a natural blush to his cheeks.

Most kids his age would be all shy in a situation like this but his eyes were full of boldness, intelligence, and curiosity as he smiled looking every bit the part of an angelic child, too perfect to be of this world.

"Hi, sweetie," Evelyn whispered in a tiny voice. She was totally spellbound by him. "Oh my God! He's so beautiful." She beckoned him. "Come to Auntie."

Without hesitation, he leaped off his mother's lap and wrapped two plump arms around Evelyn's neck. Then he planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Aww!" Evelyn's heart was close to exploding. "Thank you, Sweetie."

He giggled and leaped off her lap. "Bye, Mummy. Bye, Auntie!" And just as he came he left.

"Oh my God! Doris, he is such an affectionate kid," Evelyn sputtered the moment he left.

Doris scoffed. "Don't let that cuteness fool you. He can be a little bit of a menace too."

Evelyn didn't respond but cast her a sidelong glance.

Doris shrugged, smiling. "What?"

Evelyn tucked her arms across her chest. "Care to explain why your son has Brad's eyes? What am I saying? He's the spitting image of Brad?"

"Well, that's because Brad is his father!" Doris replied in a sheepish chuckle.

She cleared her throat and continued, "You know how you asked why I disappeared? Well, Maxwell was part of the reason I disappeared. After I and Brad ended our relationship, I totally lost it, mentally and emotionally. I went through a lot that I couldn't even recognize myself. I decided I needed a fresh start, away from everything. . . and everyone. And here I came."

Evelyn shook her head, disappointed. "I can't believe all these were happening to you and you kept from me," she whispered. Hurt. "What happened to always being by each other's side? What happened to shouldering each other's burden?"

"I'm sorry. I was going to reach out to you but I kept procrastinating. And then days turned to weeks and weeks turned months and months turned into years. And before I knew it, I totally lost the confidence to face you or anyone who knew me," Doris patted her friend's thigh. "I'm so so sorry."

Evelyn drew in a long breath. "I understand. But you still should have reached me. I was really scared, you know. I thought something terrible had happened to you and no one knew. I was this close to putting out a missing person banner on every highway all over the world."

Doris raised an eyebrow at that last part.

"Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating but I was sincerely scared," she added hastily. Then more slowly she asked, "Does Brad know about his son?"

Doris groaned. Annoyed. "Don't even get me started, Evy," she spat. "You know how I'm always the bigger person, trying to make up first, never allowing trivial things to bother me, and just letting them go?"

Evelyn blinked, angled her head to one side, and raised her well-carved dark brows. "You are. . .?"

Doris frowned. "Listen to me!"

"Okay, go on."

"He was here just yesterday..."

"He was here?"

"Yeah!"

"What for?"

"He was the lawyer sent by Laurent Baudelaire to mediate the dispute between his delinquent son and our. . ."

Evelyn inhaled sharply. "Wait. . . Laurent Baudelaire? Chairman of Baudelaire Hotels?" She interrupted, straightening in her seat.

Doris nodded. "Yeah. . ."

"Oh, right! I think I know now. The buzz of that matter was so out of this world."

"Well, that's the power of my PR team. . ." Doris replied with a smug smile and then she frowned instantly, letting out a groan saturated with frustration. "Oh, come on, Evy! Stop interrupting me. I'm trying to vent my "Brad situation" here."

Evelyn put her hands in the air in surrender. "Okay, okay! My apologies, Ma'am. Go on."

"I asked him to meet up with me. Not because I'm interested in him or because I think he has gotten a lot hotter. . ."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

Evelyn laughed scoffingly. "Okay, I believe you." But she sounded the opposite of what she said. "Continue."

"Anyway, I asked him to meet to tell him about our son and that ass—" She drew in a deep breath. "That man stood me up. ME! Can you even believe that?"

Evelyn nodded. "Mm-hmm! I can. We're talking about Brad here. The frost-hearted lord himself."

Doris growled furiously. "Ugh! The more I think about it the more pissed I get. How could he stand me up? And he didn't even have the decency to call and at least make an excuse for himself." She thumped her thigh with a fist. "I'm so not going to let him get away with this."

"What are you going to do then?" Evelyn threw the question casually. Just about one-tenth curious.

But when she saw Doris' lips, slowly stretching out into a wicked grin, she felt concerned. . . FOR BRAD!

"Doris. . . What evil are you scheming in that head of yours?"

"You know the ultimate revenge anyone can have on their Ex? Make them fall in love with you all over again and then dump them in the cruelest way ever," she declared. "Though he wasn't previously in love with me, but that's what I'm going to do. And, at the same time, drive him nuts for good measure."

Evelyn squinted her eyes. "Although I doubt that won't work out and I think you're just using this as an excuse to get close to him. . . Good luck."

Doris splayed her fingers on her chest. "Thank you."

Evelyn trembled in laughter.

They had so much to catch up on, so much they'd missed out on each other's lives those past four years and they did not hesitate to talk, laugh and cry about them. They spoke for so long that they forgot there was something called Time.

Evelyn stared teary eyes at her Doris. "Oh! Dee, I've missed your ranting and raving," she breathed, breaking out in tears. "Don't you dare disappear on me ever again!"

Doris scanned her face. "What has Jason done to you? When did you turn into a crybaby? I'm the crybaby, remember? Stop stealing my thunder."

"Shut up!" Evelyn sniffled. "Come here, fool."

And they were in each other arms for like the eighth time that day.

When they detangled from the embrace, Evelyn rose to her feet. "As much as I don't want this to end..." she admitted. "I have to go back to Jason and the twins. I'm sure they miss me by now."

Doris straightened. "Oh, yeah! Of course. We don't want to keep your driver waiting too."

Evelyn scoffed. "What driver? I rode here myself, honey."

"Oh, wow! You can drive now?"

"Yup! A lot of things have changed since the last time we saw each other and defeating my fear of driving is one of them," Evelyn responded with flair.

Twenty minutes later, they were both in the packing space next to Evelyn's car, already loathing the fact they were about to separate again.

Sapphire eyes sparkling, Evelyn grasped Doris' hands and gave them a cheerful squeeze. "We have a lot to discuss. Let's do this again."

"Of course."

And just when she was halfway in the driver's seat, Evelyn pulled her head back out. "Oh, by the way. . ." she yelled. "Does this mean you're going back to LA?

"Oh, I am." Doris grinned diabolically. "I most definitely am!"