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 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
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.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
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.Tally's house was a dream home—literally.Her father had built it from a dream he'd had, or so he'd told us when we were young girls.Looking at it now, I believed it.Little did I know that, in this house, all of my dreams would start to come true....Five years had gone by since the last time I came to Miami. Pulling up to Tally's house felt just like it had been so many times before. I had spent so many summers in this home, coming here was like greeting an old friend. The mansion had tall, white, towering columns lining the porch, accenting the huge archways over the doors. The architecture was unique to Tally's father's taste, which made sense since he had dreamed it up. The difference now was the roof had been redone in Mediterranean terracotta shingles, and the landscaping was completely different, now with an Italian flare. Mr. Valentino had even added a white marble fountain to the front yard that featured a goddess being worshiped.He had really outdone himse
Going out with Tally had been more of a headache than I wanted it to be. What started out with dinner turned into an all-nighter at a local club. The stench of stale cigarettes littered my clothing from earlier in the night, as well as, the few droplets of puke Tally had managed to get on me when I was holding her hair.It shouldn't have been much of a surprise how the evening turned out. Yet, once again, I was left to babysit her while she dabbled in the fun. I wasn't the party girl Tally had become, and even though she knew that, she still tried to drag me around. Sometimes I wondered if that was simply a way to make sure she had a designated driver or if she genuinely enjoyed my company.By the time we had arrived back at her home, the lights were off, and it was dark. Tally's drunken form was unable to carry herself up the stairs, which meant that it had been my job to do so.Lucky me!After I had gotten Tally undressed and in bed, and a hot shower had washed away the re
James."Daniel, as you can see, there are numerous ways we can better help you profit from your industry if you use our company. Our importing and exporting section far surpasses that of our competitors."I watched as the CEO of Citadel Furnishing thought about my proposal. I had spent months trying to close this deal, and with weeks of back and forth, I knew without a doubt I had this in the bag.A smile lined the man's face as he nodded. "Let's do it," he replied, holding out his hand, which I quickly shook. "I look forward to our future business together. If you wait just a moment, I will have Evette bring in the paperwork for you to sign, and then we will have someone take you on a tour of the docks so you can see our company at its finest."Evette brought in the paperwork, Daniel signed it, and then I sent him off for the promised tour.Once he was gone, I reached for my phone which had gone off a few different times during my meeting. Tally. The girl was a p