by Tara Brent
Callum’s face lights up at the thought of a present. I knew I wasn’t allowed to bring anything expensive, Tiffiny had insisted. I hand him a small plain bag with no-fuss wrapping. He tears at the paper and pulls out a child’s cape.
“Mommy, it has Batman on the back, look! Can I wear it?”
“I don’t see why not,” I say before Tiffany has a chance to say otherwise.
Callum runs off with his cape flowing up behind him. It does look a little out of place with the suit he’s wearing but he doesn’t seem to care. I shrug my shoulders when Tiffany scowls over at me. I should tread more carefully if I want this work.
At least the others stand around smiling too, as Callum plays out his Batman fantasy.
“Shall we take our seats?” Mia calls out. “Callum, come over and meet your cousin, Lily. We’ll put her pushchair by you so you can speak with her when she wakes up.
“I never had a cousin before,” he tells Mia, and she looks at him fondly, telling him that he’s got one now. Not only that but she'll make a great playmate when she gets older.
“Does she like Minecraft?” Callum blurts out enthusiastically, making everyone in the room bursts out with laughter.
I take my seat on the other side of Callum, so we can chat as father and son. Tiffany places herself well away from us. I’m not sure why but I accept her decision, after all, she has way more parenting experience than I do.
To me, my son looks more like me than he does his mom, I’m glad to say. His hair is thick and dark and his eyes are deep brown, the same as mine. He’s a sweet boy and his mom’s taught him good manners. I begin to wonder what input I will have on his life from now on. There are many questions to be answered, but for now, I want to enjoy him and learn all about his little growing character.
Lily wakes up so Callum and I pull silly faces at her. He’s pretty good at it, far better than me. He’ll make a great cousin for Lily. Tiffany's watching us from a distance and I'm okay with that. At least she's giving Callum and me some space to get to know each other.
The family gathering is coming to a close and Tiffany approaches me to collect Callum.
“Mommy, I like having a daddy,” Callum informs her. “He’s funny.”
She raises her eyebrows in disbelief.
“I can be funny,” I tell her, mirroring her raised brows. “Sometimes I make mommy laugh too.”
“Why aren’t you coming home with us?” Callum asks.
“Daddy has to go to work,” Tiffany is quick to step in and answer him.
“Mommy’s always at work but it’s okay ‘cos I go to school now,” he says. “Did you know I’m at school, daddy?”
“I did and I would love to come and pick you up from school one day if that's okay with mommy of course?” I tell him.
I’m excited to get involved in everything he does. A part of me doesn’t want to separate from him. Being with him for this short time has given me a whole new perspective on life.
“Can Daddy come to dinner tomorrow after his work, mommy?” Callum asks.
“I would love to,” I'm quick to answer before his mom can say no. I could see the doubt in her eyes, so I decided for her. “Then we can have that chat we keep meaning to have,” I try and placate her.
These are the two most important people in the world to me, and I want to be with them every possible moment I can manage. She smiles and agrees. Then far too soon they leave and I feel a little bereft. Tomorrow cannot come soon enough.
Chapter 20
Cloak and Denim
“Grandma’s cooking a special dinner for daddy tonight,” Callum shouts as he runs up to me upon arriving home from my day shift.
“Good thing, little buddy,” I say encouragingly, but the nerves screwing up my tummy make food the last thing on my mind.
I don’t know why, but every day I see Calvin it feels almost like the first day. This Italian guy has captured my heart and soul. I hope now that he doesn’t break it.
While I’m drying down after my shower, I hear the doorbell ring. That’s got to be him. Glancing at my bedside clock I see he’s a little early. Does that mean he’s as keen to see me as I am to see him? Stop it, Tiffany? It's about Callum, not you, I remind myself.
What to wear, that's the dilemma. It can’t be anything too sexy, my son is at this dinner, as is my mom. A pair of denims should do it, and a loose-fitting shirt. Casual is good, so long as it shows my figure off.
Mom looks at me with surprise when she sees I've let my hair down. I shrug as I pass her, and she smiles ruefully as she continues her cooking. Calvin loves my hair so he's getting a full eyeful of it tonight.
“Smells delicious, as always, mom,” I say because that always cheers her up. She loves caring for me and my son.
Entering the living room I put on a cheerful face.
“Hi, Calvin. I see your son has greeted you already,” I say, watching him attempting to put the Batman cloak over Callum’s head. “He won’t leave that cloak alone. You even take it to bed, don’t you, baby?”
Calvin looks up and smiles, “You look nice, denim always did suit you and I love it when your hair's down."
That was the compliment I sought, and that was what I got. It makes me feel pleased with myself that he noticed all the little efforts I put into presenting myself to him.
Dinner goes well, Calvin alternated his attention between Callum, me and mom, just like the gentleman he is. He was as charming as I remembered. Afterward, Calvin and Callum sit around the TV and play Minecraft. Callum is over the moon to have someone to play with, he was always cajoling me to join him but I could never get the hang of it. They are so engrossed in the game they would probably play all night. I have to say, they look good together. I know Calvin is going to make a great dad. That was never my worry. In the end, I have to break up their little party and mom takes Callum off for his bath. He promises us that he’ll come back down to give us a goodnight kiss.
And, at last, we're alone.
“Look, I’m just going to say this straight up because I'm fed up with not getting to tell you something. I've been trying to tell you something for the last few days,” he tells me, now looking serious.
“Oh, okay, what’s so urgent?”
“I am very wealthy, Tiffany. That boat is mine. I own many houses in many cities around the globe. I’m president of a huge conglomerate of businesses. My family owns vineyards in Italy, and Nico owns huge cattle ranches. There! I’ve spit it out at last.”
“Come on, Calvin, you don’t have to do this. I know you've done well so you don't need to exaggerate your wealth to impress me. You’ve been successful and I’m pleased for you. Callum will accept you no matter what you're like. Though he’d probably prefer you to be a superhero if you ask my opinion. Next, you’ll be telling me you own a private jet!”
“I do,” he replies, still looking very serious at me. “I’m not fantasizing, Tiffany. I have lived the life of erm...a jet-set playboy, for want of a better expression. I want us to be open and honest with each other.”
As the information sinks in, I look back at him dumbfounded. He is being deadly serious. I can’t speak as my throat clenches up it's so dry, or is there a huge lump in there, I don’t know. I’m completely thrown at the thought of what Calvin's telling me.
“You...you can’t put this on Callum,” I stutter, suddenly all my fears returning. “I mean, he’s lived a simple life in comparison. You can’t do this to us, Calvin!”
Standing up I nervously pace the floor. If he wanted he could hire the best lawyers and take my baby away from me.
“Don’t put what on you, Tiffany? Why should this make any difference?” He asks me.
“You know it will, Calvin. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been putting off telling me, would you?”
Callum comes flying into the room. He jumps on his father and I watch on, nervously. My mom looks at me and she knows something has upset me.
“Come for dinner again, daddy,” Callum
yells out giddily, as his father swings him around. “Will you have dinner with me all the time now?”
“Come along young man, time for that bed,” mom raises her voice to get over the squealing noises he’s making. “You’ve got kindergarten tomorrow, so save all that energy.”
I look at her to thank her for taking him away so quickly.
As soon as he’s out of the room I tell Calvin he should go now.
“I have to take this in, Calvin. What did you expect I would do with this news? Jump up and down with glee? Do you think your money can buy your son?"
“Please, Tiffany, let me have my say and then, I promise, I will leave.”
Dark Cloud Ahead
“I've matured a lot since we first met, Tiffany. That’s how I managed to achieve all this. I’m not telling you so I can brag about it all; I’m telling you so you know who and what I am,” I plead.
Why does it feel all wrong? I know this woman so well, yet I’ve been dreading telling her about the real me. For some reason, I knew she’d be uneasy about my wealth. Tiffany is from a family who have struggled to make ends meet all their lives. I was already from a reasonably well off family, in comparison. I’ve never known poverty or hardship.
“You remember when you used to tease me because I told you I went to a private school in Italy? Well, I can’t be ashamed of that Tiffany. That’s who I am. I want those things for my children too.”
“Oh, I see!” she says sternly as she turns to face me with her arms crossed. “You suddenly appear in our lives again and think you can make all the decisions for my son?”
“He’s my son too!” I say equally sternly back at her.
We’re both cautious of raising our voices because of our little man upstairs, but she's testing my patience.
“I haven’t done anything wrong here, Tiffany,” I plead again.
“Back to that, is it!" She hisses at me. “I suppose you’ll hold it against me forever that I kept him from you. Do you wonder why?”
“That’s hardly fair, I never accused you of anything. This is not going how I planned it to go, but you have to know, who I am” I say in my defense. “Hell, Tiffany, you don’t even have to work, so you could spend your whole time with our son.”
Oh no, I shouldn’t have said that...
“What!” Here it comes, she’s not happy with my statement. “How dare you? I’ve worked hard to get where I am. No-one handed me anything on a silver platter. Did it ever occur to you that I like my work?”
“I meant if you didn’t want to." Christ! This is hard work! "Please Tiffany, don’t hold all this against me. I’m trying very hard to please you, but you put so many obstacles in my way.”
“My son is not to be bought, and neither am I,” she says in a cruel tone.
“I don’t want to buy you! All I want is to be a father to my son. That’s it.”
“You can’t come out of nowhere and expect to make all the decisions about his future, Calvin. That’s my job,” she tells me.
“Look,” I put up my hands up in surrender. “This discussion isn’t going well, I can see that. I had to tell you but I’ve gone about it all wrong. I wanted you to accept me for what I am. Instead, you treat me as if being wealthy is a bad thing. It’s not, Tiffany. But, I tell you one thing for sure, I am having some say in the future of our son. You can’t keep that from me anymore.”
I can’t stay in this house one more moment. This woman knows how to infuriate me. I’m considered one of the toughest business negotiators in my industry. People treat me with the respect that I deserve, but this, this is beyond anything I can deal with. I can’t simply end her contract or put sanctions on her, as I would in a business deal. Handling this woman is more than my skills can handle.
“I will leave, before you throw me out,” I tell her, as I can see she’s seething. “This is not about you or me, Tiffany. It’s about Callum.”
Her beautiful face looks at me in contorted anger. Even angry I want to take her in my arms and tell her that everything will be okay. Though in reality if I go anywhere near her she’ll most likely attack me like a protective she-wolf.
“I have made all the decisions quite well so far, thank you very much. And yes, please do leave or I will throw you out.”
It was better not to say anything else. It’s clear that she can’t see through my wealth but why should I be ashamed of it? I too have worked hard to be where I am today. I’m too mad with her to continue the conversation anyway.
“I am in his life to stay,” I add, though I know I shouldn’t have.
She has to know that I will not give him up because his mother doesn’t approve of my lifestyle.
We part ways with a terrible dark cloud hanging over us.
Chapter 21
Men!
“Hi, Ali. I haven’t heard from you in a while so I thought I’d call you seeing as you’re too busy to call me,” I say to my best friend. I’m desperately in need of someone to talk to.
“I know, Tiffy,” she replies, and I hear a tinge of guilt in her voice. I can also hear the distinctive sound of a hammer on metal in the background, so I know she’s at work. “Nico takes up all my time. I’m telling you, I’m head over heels for that guy. He’s my cowboy, that’s for sure.”
“I’m glad one of us is happy,” I say, kicking myself for spoiling her moment.
“I know, I heard all about your little fracas last night. I can pop round tonight if you like?”
“I can’t believe he told his family about our argument!” I complain.
“They’re a close-knit family those Italians. You notice how all the men are so fucking handsome, and hot and sexy?”
“Haha...You always manage to bring sex into a conversation,” and she does as well. “Yes, they are, and bloody infuriating to-boot. Oh wait, I’ve got another call coming in. Speak later. Love you, bye.”
“Tiffany, it’s Calvin here,” his voice comes over my phone.
I give a quiet little hi, but I’m not sure how to read him lately, so I’ll let him take the lead.
“I’d like to take Callum out,” he says, straight to the point.
“I’m on day shifts so it’s a bit awkward this week. Unless you can wait for next mid-week when I have a few days off,” I say, being all matter-of-fact too.
In my heart I want to tell him how sorry I am and can we make it up to each other, in bed. But, when it comes to my son I’m unable to play the meek role.
“No, I meant on my own,” he comes back at me and then gives me a blunt silence.
“Oh, I never thought of that.” Though why am I surprised? “It’s too soon for that. Callum doesn’t know you well enough yet.”
“Only because you won’t let me into his life. I don’t want to take it so slow. I’m his father and the sooner I can play that role, the better. Don’t you agree?”
“No, Calvin. I don’t agree,” I tell him. “We have to take this slow for Callum’s sake.”
“Don’t force me to do this the legal way, Tiffany. I want to see my son much more often than you're allowing. Plus, we don’t need an escort every time.”
“Right now, Calvin, I make the decisions. If you don’t like it then tough!” I shout down the phone as anger takes hold of my brain.
A hospital visitor passes me by on the corridor and looks at me oddly. It's a reminder of where I am, so I turn around and head towards the staff room. Not that I want to continue this conversation. How dare he make such demands?
“I’m going to pick up my son from kindergarten today, so I'm letting you know.”
“You can’t do that, Calvin!” I yell, hyperventilating.
“Can’t do what? Can’t make up five years of my son’s life. Calm down, Tiffany, I’m not running off with my son. You need to know that you’ll be seeing a lot more of me, so get used to the idea.”
With that, he cut me off. There I am, standing in the room with steam coming out of my ears like a rabid bull in a cartoon. I know in my hear
t that what he’s saying is right. He does deserve some time with Callum, and my son needs his father. That’s not the point. This man is making demands and that’s what I don’t like. I’ve always been independent and no one ever pushes me around. My dad taught me that.
When I finally manage to cool down and my breathing returns to normal, I call mom so she can let the school know. As I'm having a good old moan at her, she agrees with him and takes Calvin’s side! Not only that, he's already called her and they had a long chat about it.
Am I going nuts? It feels like the whole world is against me. That man has a lot to answer for and I intend on telling him so the next time I see him. Men!
Taking a deep breath I calm myself, open the staff room door and head down the corridor to my next patient.
A Wink and an Ice Cream
Watching my son in the school playground fills me with pride. That’s my boy and I want to shout it from the rooftops and let everyone know. First I have to get his mother on my side. When I called her this morning, I omitted to tell her that I’d already spoken with her mom, I felt it best to keep that to myself. We had chatted a while her mom and me. She helped to see that the best thing to do was to put my foot down with Tiffany.
Her mom was pleased to speak with me. She explained that Tiffany's not been the same since her father passed away a few years ago, and I can relate to that. When I saw her flush red with anger the other night, I knew I had to have a change of tactics. I was doing more harm than good by showing her my soft side. So, from now on I’m going to be firmer with Tiffany. I have my rights too. I didn’t get where I am in the business world by being weak. She's the only person in the entire world who can get to my soft side. Not anymore, Miss Miller.
“Daddy!” Callum calls out as he runs to me with a tall woman in tow.
“It’s so lovely to meet Callum’s daddy,” she says, holding out long fingers with painted fingernails.
Wow! I’m sure my teachers were nowhere near as attractive as this one. She's quite a stunner.
