James.Four months of being in Japan had taught me many things, and one of those things was that even the smallest of jobs can make you important to the people around you. I had taken on the maintenance job that Sue's father once had with ease, and because I had, the tenants in the building were forever grateful.Which meant they were constantly trying to feed me, and with my understanding of the language being minimal, I accepted so that I wasn't rude.The last thing I expected after a long day of work, though, was to have my phone ring in the wee hours of the morning with Neal's voice on the other end."A daughter?" I whispered softly as the news slowly woke me up."Yeah, she just had her. We didn't think she would have the baby till next week, but her water broke a few hours ago, and then it was a mad rush to the hospital."I was overjoyed to hear the news, but still hesitant on the situation between Neal and I. We weren't exactly on good terms. Neal still didn't like
Becca.Forty-eight hours after having Dahlia, I was finally able to make my way back home. I had never been so happy to walk through the large glass front double doors into the relaxed comfort of my New Zealand home. Boxes still lined the areas in some places where I hadn't had the time to unpack, but it didn't matter to me. At the end of the day, it was still my home, and with every moment I spent here, I knew things would get better."Welcome home, my sweet, Dahlia," I whispered to the tiny sleeping baby in my arms."Everything is set up for her," Neal said softly from behind me as he brought in my bags from the car. "I also managed to hang the thing you wanted on her bedroom wall."A spark of joy ran through me as I turned down the hallway towards the nursery. It was joined with my bedroom, and as soon as I slid back the bar-style door, my breath was taken away. The soft cream walls were accented with tons of leaves and flowers, and even Dahlia's name, engraved with
Neal.The moment that I had picked Becca up from the hospital and seen Dalia in her arms, my heart swelled with pride and excitement at being able to bring the both of them home. However, the last thing that I expected was the moment that we got home for Becca to be swooped away by Layla, who was explaining everything that she had done while Becca had been gone.And to top everything off, somebody had decided to send her a package, and I knew very well who that somebody was, and seeing how excited she got over what they sent reminded me of what my place actually was.According to Allegra, I was jealous, and for the most part, I damn sure was. I was the one putting all the time and effort in, and even though she was nothing but grateful and showed me nothing but compassion, I couldn't get over the fact that I wasn't him.Dalia should have been my daughter. She should have been all mine. And Lord knows that every time Becca and I did sleep together back then, part of me pra
Neal.The moment I had hung up with James, I gripped my phone tightly in my hand and stared out at the ocean, trying to calm my nerves. Rage attempted to fill the voids of my heart as I thought about how James intruded upon my relationship with Becca.I knew for a fact that even though James was supposed to technically be dead, if he really wanted to come back into Becca and the child's life, he would do so. And I was going to have to step up my game to protect her.Pinching the bridge of my nose, I closed my eyes, inhaling the sweet smell of the salty air just in time for Allegra's voice to come from the distance behind me, causing me to turn and look over my shoulder."Neal, what are you doing out here?" Her question was not misplaced. It was quite odd for me to be out here, considering Becca had only just gotten back with the baby, and I had been talking nonstop about spending time with them. "I just needed a moment to make a long-distance phone call."Cocking her
James.To think, a year ago, I was planning my retirement and looking for things to do with my future outside of my business—now I was a father again. The argument with Neal wasn't one that I had wanted any time of day, and the way he tried to dismiss my intentions irritated me.I was the child's father. Dahlia… my sweet baby girl was without her father.I didn't like it. Not one f*cking bit."Les, my mother wanted to know if you wanted to come to dinner tonight." Sue's voice pulled me from my irritation, and taking a deep breath, I turned to face her. I had been trying to work on the list of shit to do in this building when I spoke to Neal, and now the list seemed to fade away."Thank you for the offer Sue, but I have a lot I need to take care of today. Perhaps over the weekend." I hated turning down the old woman. She had been nothing but kind to me since I had been here, and by the look on Sue's face, I could see that she was disappointed. Part of me wondered if she
James.The moment that my feet touched down in Italy, I couldn't understand why it was that I hadn't come back sooner. The Italian countryside was absolutely beautiful, and I fell in love with it many years ago, but never returned because of how busy my life was.Now that I was here, though, I was looking forward to trying to get my life back on track. Ronaldo said that he needed me to help him with his business, and I wasn't sure exactly what that entailed since he had been so vague, but I had a feeling that it had something to do with the former business that I owned, as well as other stuff.As soon as we stepped out of the plane, a car was waiting for us on the tarmac. Following Ronaldo, I made our way to the vehicle, and as soon as we were in, it was off out of the airport, headed straight for our family home."I will go ahead and let you know that there will be a small family gathering this evening. You know how the family is. Everybody will want to see you since it's b
Becca.For days, I lived in a house with hushed whispers and stolen conversations. Neal had been acting beyond odd lately, and even Allegra, who tried to smile and play off Neal's behavior, was being odd. I wasn't sure what it was about the situation that set me off entirely, but I knew for sure it had something to do with the phone calls Neal kept getting."Hey, so I was thinking that maybe we could take the kids down to the beach today," echoed into my ear, and as I turned my gaze from where I had been watching Neal, I smiled at her."Yeah, that sounds great. Why don't you go ahead and get little man situated, and then I will find out from Allegra and Neal if they want to join us?"Nodding her head, the nanny quickly disappeared from sight, and as I sat there, turning my gaze back to where Neal was standing, I continued to contemplate what it was that was bothering him so much. This had been a big move for all of us, and with my father going to be here in just a few da
Neal.I wasn't what Becca was looking for, but I should have expected her to no longer feel the way she had. For months, I'd put her ahead of everything in my life, and when I finally thought things were going well, it was ripped away from me. There was no end to the pain I felt in my life, and I thought it may have been a punishment from fate I was willing to accept.Stepping out the front door, I made my way towards my two seater sports car and climbed in. The moment that the door closed, I slammed my hands against the steering wheel repeatedly out of anger. "F*ck!" All I wanted to do was to allow James to know his kid, and in the process of all this bullshit, I had lost her. Lost her in more ways than one, and even though every part of me wanted to storm in there and remind her who she belonged to, I couldn't.She didn't want me.Realizing that I had forgotten my keys, I groaned in frustration and climbed back out of the car to fetch them. Thank god that my head was at
Becca.I didn't need to push much longer until the baby was born. I let out a sigh of relief as a lot of pressure was released as the doctor announced the head was out. I was almost done pushing. Out came the shoulders, and then the doctor was able to pull the baby out. She lifted the baby up and smiled, studying the baby for a moment. "It's a boy!" she said, causing the room to erupt into cheers. I gave a very quiet cheer of my own, my body completely exhausted. I closed my eyes, tears still spilling down my cheeks. I was still worried about how healthy he was, though, since he had come so early. "The baby is healthy, even if a bit underweight. He'll get meat on his bones in no time," the doctor assured me, reaching over to hand the baby to me. Putting a few clips into place, the doctor handed James a pair of scissors, and he cut the umbilical cord. Then, she began the process of helping me pass the afterbirth while the nurses prepared to clean our son up while
Becca.Several months had passed since our honeymoon, and things had been going wonderfully. The baby was developing very healthily, and they were going to be on the way soon. I was tired as I sat on the couch, reading up on some news. The progress with Guatemala went very well. I had made contact with locals who were going to make sure everything ran smoothly and children would be getting what they needed. The thought made me smile. Children deserved wonderful lives. The kids were just put to bed about an hour ago. 8:00 PM was too early for me to go to bed quite yet, but I was feeling tired. Still, I needed a snack, as my cravings were intensifying lately by quite a bit. I walked up to the fridge and rummaged through it, pulling out a jar of pickles and giving a satisfied sigh. I grabbed a plate, taking out several to munch on while I watched television. Maybe this would help me wake up a little bit. I wanted to wait until James got home. He was busy worki
Allegra."I have made a list of reputable centers that we can look into," I said to Layla, leaning on her as we stared at a laptop on the table. At the moment, we were looking into adopting, though not right this instant. We wanted to do a lot of research first. Not to mention, Layla wanted to get another cat so Onyx had a playmate, and they'd need to adapt to our apartment first. The idea of adoption was a prospect both of us adored. Giving a child a loving home would be a wonderful thing. Layla pointed to the screen, saying softly, "I've heard about that one. Good things, thankfully. I think we should be open-minded about teens." She frowned sadly, closing her eyes. "They are often overlooked.""I agree," I said. "They may be a large responsibility, as teenagers can be rowdy, but I'm confident we can handle it. Can't be worse than being captured by the Russian mob," I said with a chuckle. Layla winced but gave a half-smile. "You still think about that, huh
Becca."This place is beautiful," I said, looking around the fancy restaurant in Florence and letting out a happy sigh. Vines practically dripped from the ceiling, making it feel as though we were in a romantic movie. My life was similar enough to one, at this point! Mariano and Neal sat together across the table from James and I, all smiles and warm energy as well. They sipped wine and nodded, agreeing with my observation about the atmosphere. I took a sip of water myself, always mindful of the baby."This is the place where we met!" Mariano exclaimed with excitement. "When I first laid my eyes on Neal, I knew a prince had entered the establishment. A handsome one that made me swoon in my seat," he said. He winked at Neal, and the other man blushed. I giggled, gushing, "You two are so cute! I'm so happy for you. It really does look like you connected, which is wonderful. Just like a storybook!" Mariano nodded, his grin only widening at the idea. This place had a
James. "Look at how wonderful and huge they are, James!" Becca exclaimed, causing me to smile. It was the day after our first engagement on the beach, and I was happy to relax. At the moment, we were looking at some giant tortoises with a deep sense of awe.She was right; they were the size of side tables. A guide handed Becca some lettuce, which she held out to the tortoise. She squealed with delight as the animal took a leaf from her and began munching, causing my smile to widen even further. I was so happy to be able to relax. Security had reported nothing odd happening, and they seemed to be having a ball as well. I was relieved, though I shouldn't have expected anything bad to happen. Not like the Cartwrights tracked our every move. At least, I hoped not. I shook that thought out of my mind as Becca continued to give a ton of attention to the tortoises. One of the security men walked over with a camera in his hand, beaming at us. "Let's get some pictures of
Becca.This was it. The perfect honeymoon, the one where James and I would have the time of our lives. I was thrilled, my heart singing even as I looked out the window of the airplane we were taking. With the money I had, we were able to charter a private jet. Even after all these months, I'd never completely gotten used to always being able to afford the best of everything. The staff was very kind, including the flight attendants who catered to our every need. Our money came with a lot of advantages. I tried not to think about that too much, though. It made me feel guilty.Rather, when my worries became too heavy, I reminded myself of the charity that I was starting off. I realized I couldn't physically go to Guatemala, but with my wealth, I reached out to locals for the best ways to run a charity for kids there. The representative I spoke with had been wonderfully helpful, and it made me beyond happy that I could still help while not being there. I had decided I
James."This is going to be such a wonderful trip, James!" Becca exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me. I smiled, returning the hug and holding her close. When she pulled away, I gave her a tender kiss.At the moment, we were sitting in the living room of the compound with a laptop open on the table showing all the activities we could do in Seychelles. The pictures of beautiful, pristine beaches with shining sand and deep blue water got me excited, too."I think we should see the tortoises and dolphins," Becca said, giving a smile. "The kids are going to love those pictures. Someday, we need to take them with us, to a kid-friendly area." No doubt she would be paying attention to that during our honeymoon. "That is an excellent idea, my love," I said to her, giving her another squeeze. We exchanged another kiss as she continued to scroll through the pictures and destinations. Thankfully, the trip was taken care of flight-wise and hotel-wise. Having money was
Neal.A few weeks had passed since I met Mariano, and the strong sense of attraction I had to both his looks and personality had not faded. In fact, we were hitting it off even harder now, and I couldn't be happier. Thankfully, I was brave enough to call Becca and say I wanted to visit as a friend. I meant it this time. There was no ulterior motive, not that there had been one, to begin with. She may have been stuck in my head a little, but that wasn't an issue anymore. After some hesitation, she agreed to see me. Likely because I wanted to introduce her to Mariano, which put her at ease for me not actually being after her anymore. I accepted that she was with James. Mariano and I were sharing lunch before heading out. I gazed into his eyes, my own full of adoration for the man. "We're really hitting it off, aren't we?" I chuckled, breaking the silence that had formed between us as we ate sandwiches. Mariano winked, saying, "I think we are, yes. I am thrill
James.Still feeling beyond happy about the news of the baby still being healthy, I walked over to the fridge to get myself a quick snack before meeting with Giovani. Becca was dripping with joy, which made me relieved, to say the least. She had no idea what was going on in the background, and I didn't want her to, either. She shouldn't suffer the stress of anything anymore. My wife was looking forward to a wonderful life with our expanding family, and I wouldn't let worry settle in her mind. At least, despite the stress on my end, we were going to have our honeymoon soon. The kids were happy, and that's all I could ask for. Speaking of which, I stopped into the nursery for a visit before heading off to discuss things with my cousin. Alessandro was playing around with a few cars and stuffed animals. Dahlia sat in front of him, doing the same, making happy cooing noises threaded in with a few words. When they saw me, they let out squeals of happiness and hobbled o