Stork

by Mardria Portuondo

  “Victoria? Vic?” I brushed her hair from her face. “I...I don’t know...what did I just do? Oh God...Victoria?”

  She was inconsolable. I held her to me and rocked with her as she cried. I felt the heat of my own tears running down my face and my world was just falling apart. How could I have hurt sweet Victoria? I should be loving and protecting her, not hurting her.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “Lea.”

  “Yes, baby. What can I do?”

  “Leave me alone.”

  “Vic…”

  “Please.”

  I got up and walked away then returned and picked up the baby monitor that had fallen to the floor. I left her there, upon her request, and went to my room. I sat on the bed and did what I had not done in two months, I cried for my mother. I was in so much pain. Self-inflicted pain. I got a family. It found me; just fell in my lap and all I had to do was stand up to Rachel and say I was sorry for hurting her but this is my wife and Kaci is our daughter so I have to choose my family. That should not have been difficult because she was who I really wanted. Victoria and I would be happy right now and planning our future together.

  I had absolutely no idea how I was ever going to get out of this mess because how do I prove to Victoria that our marriage is real and important to me? I had no clue where to begin...then after what I just did to her, I had no authority to even call her name. I wiped my eyes and got up to check on Kaci then returned to bed. I wanted to go check on Victoria, but I was scared to go back in her space after she begged me to leave her alone. But, I would feel even worse if I left her there and she was not OK. I got out of bed and made my way to the sun room where I had left her; there she was in the same position. She looked up and saw me.

  “Lea…,” she cried and held out her hands to me.

  I rushed to her and held her in my arms as she cried and I was happy with my decision to return. I helped her to her feet and walked with her out of the room, past her bedroom and up the stairs to mine. I pulled back the covers and guided her in. She did not object. I got a wet wash rag and cleaned her face and removed the torn top then dressed her in a set of my pajamas. When she was settled I climbed in beside her and brought my hand between her legs.

  “Does it hurt? Should I make a warm bath or…?”

  “No...no I’m fine…”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Just hold me.”

  “I can do that. Come here, babe. Let me hold you.”

  I held her tightly in my arms and was grateful that the crying had stopped. I kissed her forehead and inhale her delicious scent. I now knew how stupid I was for not defending and protecting our love the way I should have. I was grateful that she fought for us and not allow me to cause us more pain by having Rachel living here with us. It would have been a colossal mistake. Victoria and Kaci were the best thing that ever happened to me and I needed to show them in the difficult times as well.

  “I love you, Victoria,” I whispered but she was already asleep.

  Kaci woke up a few times during the night but Victoria was out cold. She could have been tired from taking care of our baby all day while I mourned for hurting Rachel. Added to that was her crying so much earlier in the night. It was a really rough couple of days for her and I decided that I was going to take care of her today. I would check in with Jill to babysit or asked Daisy who had been begging for a chance with Kaci. I got up and went downstairs for two cups of coffee for us and took them back to our bedroom. She was awake, sitting up with her back against the pillows.

  “Good morning, my love. I have coffee.”

  “Thank you.”

  I handed the cup to her and kissed her forehead.

  “Do you have class today? I was hoping for us to do something special, just you and me.”

  “That's sounds nice but... I don't know...I’m not in the mood. Sorry I didn't help out last night with Kaci.”

  “No. Don't be. She was fine. You had a rough day and needed to rest.”

  “Have you heard from Rachel?”

  “I called her last night to see if she was OK. She seemed fine and not planning to waste any time moving on with her life. I have not spoken to her since.”

  “Are you planning on seeing her?”

  “No.”

  “Don't lie to me.”

  “Victoria, you fought for us when I was confused between the two situations. You stood up and defended our family when I should have. You saved us from a lot of pain and sadness. Thank you. I’ve got it from here.”

  “I was so scared,” she cried.

  “I know, sweetheart. I am sorry I let you down.”

  “You didn't let me down...it was a difficult situation for you. When she wanted me to leave, you told her I was your wife... that must have been hard. Then when she hit me...I thought you were going to kill her,” she laughed, “for a second I thought of protecting her from you.”

  I laughed too. Not wanting to missed the opportunity to lighten the mood.

  “I couldn't believe she did that. That was where she lost the fight. She brought out the tiger in you,” I laughed and kissed her lips.

  “Am I a tiger?” she smiled raising one eyebrow.

  “A very dangerous tiger,” I said taking her coffee from her hand and placing it in the side table. “A very dangerous, sexy tiger.”

  She laughed and the sound I loved to hear filled the room. She found my lips and her hand went under my cami and slid up my side. As I was about to take off my top, the doorbell rang.

  “Oh God I hate those two,” I said in frustration.

  “Honey, don't say that. They are just checking in on us because they know Rachel was coming back last night. Come on,” she said and took my hand.

  CHAPTER 10

  We opened the door and both Stewart and Jill walked in timidly looking around for Rachel.

  “Good morning you too. Did you spend the night together?” I asked.

  “On the phone. We played out all the possible scenarios of Rachel's return. Where is she?” Jill whispered.

  “She is not here,” I said. “Please have a seat.” I pointed to the sofa.

  They sat across from us taking quick glances at each other as Victoria and I sat across from them holding hands.

  “What brings you by?” Victoria asked.

  “Just checking in...if everybody is OK.”

  “We are fine, thank you for coming,” I said and I could see they were just dying to hear but Victoria and I gave them nothing, waiting for them to crack.

  “Well... that's... that's good. So…” Stewart stuttered.

  “So that's all you are going to give us?” Jill interrupted Stewart.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “What the fuck happened yesterday?! Where is Rachel? Did you kill her? Did she move out? Did she…”

  Both Victoria and I burst into laughter as Jill was all but stomping her feet to get answers.

  “OK, Jill. I'm sorry. I know you both were worried,” I said. “Victoria threw Rachel out.”

  Both of them became a statue trying to process what they just heard.

  “Come again,” Stewart said.

  “You heard right. Rachel came realized that the baby was still here and Victoria was staying here, so she wanted them out and threatened to call the police. I told her she could not do that because Victoria and I were married…”

  “Holy shit! What did she say about that?”

  “She was shocked as you could imagine. I felt horrible about the situation she came home to. I know you both don't like her but it was not fair that she left her home and came back to such devastating news. So I started to see how we could all take a step back and wait for time to pass so we could figure it out. Victoria was having none of that and told her that she was my wife and owned half of the house and if she didn't leave in an hour she was going to call the police.”

  “Up top!” Stewart raised his hand for a high-five
.

  “Stewart! This is not a joke. People were hurt here. All three of us were. It would be nice if both of you take off that stupid grin off your faces and show some sympathy for the situation,” I said angrily because I did not want to treat Rachel like that when she didn't deserve it.

  “It was a difficult situation you guys,” Victoria added.

  Stewart looked at Jill and Jill shook her head in objection. I was not sure what that was about but Stewart did not obey.

  “Lea,” the first time he called me by that name, “you are my boss and I love you dearly, and I may not have a job after I say what I have to say, but I cannot share in your sadness over the situation. I want to shout and scream in celebration and pat myself on the back for seeing Victoria for the first time and saying, that is the woman I want for my boss; that's who she should have in her life. Rachel loved you, I will admit to that, but she was a liar…”

  “Stewart!” I shouted.

  “I knew she loved you because she stayed with you and she treated you well, but she never gave up her past life. You knowingly dated a notorious sex addict, but you thought she dropped it all for you. She didn't. For the past two years she had been with you, she had slept with possibly...over twenty women and I am not counting the number she had in the past three months in China. She loved you, but she could not change her ways. So excuse me for praying every day that you would fall in love with Victoria. Yes, I am happy she is out of your life. Thank you Victoria for kicking her ass to the curb,” he said then turn to me with my mouth wide open and said, “you can fire me now.”

  Jill was holding her head in her hand because clearly she knew about this and they were keeping it a secret.

  “Stewart, yes, I am going to fire you but before I do, how did you come to that conclusion about Rachel?”

  “One day when you were at the office and was not feeling well, you could not decide what to eat so my friend told me about this new place where they made vegetable dishes and I should try the vegetable pot pie. When I went there, I saw Rachel having lunch with this redhead but I thought it might be business or just a friend so I place my order. When I was leaving, I looked back at her and saw them kissing, so I paid to have her followed. You remember the check you signed for the security company and I told you it was to have a tracking device on your car?”

  “Yes.”

  “I lied. It was to have Rachel followed. I have photos.”

  “You knew about this?” I asked Jill.

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn't you say something? Why did you leave me with her knowing what she was doing?”

  “She made you happy,” Jill said, “and she really loved you and took good care of you. It was better to have her than for us to take her away and leave you with no one. But now that you have a choice, of course we prefer Victoria in your life. Why do you think we have been pushing so much for the wedding and...Lea, Stewart did everything. He worked tirelessly, begging and bribing other people to get Victoria cemented in your life. The wedding, the adoption, the car for Victoria, the health insurance; he pulled all sort of strings to get them to happen as quickly as they did. So think again before you fire him.”

  “He had a responsibility to let me know what was going on so yes he is fired. How could you sit on information like that and plotting my life behind my back when you had no right to? You are an employee and I expected you to stay behind that line. How dare you! And as for you, you are no longer my friend…”

  “Lea, we were doing what was best for you.”

  “What's best for me is honesty!” I shouted. I was so upset...but mostly embarrassed that I had no idea what was going on with Rachel and more so that I had hurt Victoria trying to defend someone who didn't deserve it. “You are fired and you are not welcome here anymore.”

  “Stewart, you are not fired and Jill you are welcomed here anytime,” Victoria said.

  “Victoria, what are you doing?”

  “You always act on emotions that you don't take time to process the information you are given. He didn't have to do shit! All he had to do is collect his salary and do as you say. He was looking out for your interest. Even when he clearly didn't like her, he didn't say anything because you were happy. It has never been about him; it is about you. You know that. But this is who you are. You get upset and say and do things then after you get a moment to yourself, the regrets start. I don't want to have to comfort you through your sorrow for firing the best person you have ever had in your life so unfire him right now!”

  “You are not fired, Stewart.”

  “And apologize to your friend.”

  “I'm sorry, Jill.”

  “Thank you. I know what it is like to have no one to cover my ass so be grateful that you do. And I would like to know that if I did something nice in your best interest, that you look at my intentions and not divorce me.”

  “I'm not going to divorce you,” I said.

  “That's good to know. Come here,” Victoria said and opened her arms.

  “Holy shit! Did you see this Stewart?” Jill burst into laughter. “The big bad wolf has found her cooler.”

  “Baby, please make them leave,” I begged Victoria.

  “Guys, you are not helping. I am going to have my wife fed and settled so please come back later.”

  “Of course,” they said and got to their feet.

  “Boss? Are we good?” Stewart wanted to know.

  “Get lost.”

  “Lea!” Victoria scolded.

  “Yes! Yes, we are good,” I quickly responded.

  They left and I laid on my wife's breasts. It was so comfortable there and we stayed in that position until we heard Kaci's cry over the monitor.

  “We need breakfast,” I said as we climbed the stairs. “I should have let those two babysit so that I could take you out.”

  “Not today. I want us to sit and have a plan. Besides, I kinda just want to spend the day in your arms with our baby.”

  “That's good for me,” I smiled as I picked Kaci up from her crib.

  Victoria prepared her bath while I picked out an outfit for her.

  “Babe, I feel so stupid for trying to protect Rachel at your expense.”

  “Honey, don't beat yourself up over that. You didn't know. And don't think I don't understand. It is not like you and I met and fell in love and got married. It was an arrangement that turned into love. I am not even sure at what point I fell in love with you. I just one day realized I was. It all worked out in the end so we can move on.”

  “Not quite. I need to confront her with those pictures,” I said as I removed Kaci's clothes for her bath.

  “No, you are not going near her. She is gone, so leave her alone.”

  “I can't have her thinking that she got away with what she did and felt like I was the one who did her wrong and she walked away. I need to look in her face and tell her that I made the right choice.”

  “How about we do half of that? You send her the pictures in an email or text and tell her you made the right choice. I don’t want you going to see her.”

  “OK. That could work,” I smiled. “Then we will have breakfast...or brunch, and take Kaci for a walk. We could sit by the pool and relax.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” she turned her pretty eyes away from the baby she was washing and looked at me. “I love you.”

  “Love you too, Vic.”

  I whispered a silent prayer to my mother and told her if she was responsible for that baby at my doorstep and leading Victoria to me, that was her most brilliant move yet. I felt so painfully happy and blessed to have her and Kaci in my life. I would never make the mistake I did last night again because my number one job was to keep them safe and happy. I vowed to always protect them. They were my family and it was my responsibility to ensure that it is nurtured and that we all succeed.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “How lucky I am.”

  “You are lucky? You had everything including a corporate g
irlfriend. I was pregnant and alone with nowhere to live, now look at me with a hot wife who will ensure that I never go to bed hungry. Talk about luck,” she laughed as she placed Kaci on the changing table to get her moisturized and dressed.

  I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her.

  “What if I take you from behind?” I whispered in her ear. “I could get on my knees and eat you while…”

  Kaci screamed out clearly objecting to anything that was going to delay her milk.