“Of course, I’ll come. Shall I bring pastries?”
Clemence gave a groan of delight. “Oh yes please…and strong coffee. Very strong. One won’t hurt me or the baby.”
Sofia chuckled. “You got it. Give me a half hour.”
It wasn’t until she was at Clemence’s door that she remembered she’d left her cellphone charging at the hotel. She knocked at Clemence’s door.
“Sofia? It’s open…ahh…”
Frowning, Sofia pushed her way in to see Clemence bending over the back of a chair, groaning. Sofia put the coffee and bag of pastries down and rushed to her friend. “Clem, what is it?”
“Baby…it’s coming…”
Oh god… “I’ll call the ambulance.”
Clemence grabbed her arm. “No, it’s too late…god… oww, oww, oww, I can feel it coming, Sofia…please help me…”
Somehow, although her heart was pounding out of her chest, Sofia got Clemence to sit on a floor, while she grabbed towels and hot water. Clemence was pulling up her maternity dress, soaked with amniotic fluid as Sofia, her hands washed, knelt down. Now wasn’t the time for shyness, she thought, and helped Clemence ease out of her underwear. With a shock, Sofia could see the top of the baby’s head already, and panic must have shown in her eyes.
“I though…the first time…labor was supposed to be hours long,” Clemence gasped, clutching Sofia’s arm.
“Well, honey, we don’t have hours, so time to buckle up.” Sofia tried to remember what she had seen about giving birth from television shows. “Now, do you feel like you need to push?”
Clemence nodded and Sofia took a deep breath in. “Okay, then, so, hold my hands, and brace yourself against the couch back and push down as hard as you can. One, two, three…push! Come on, Clem, harder!”
Clemence gave a long drawn out scream as she bore down, and Sofia saw the baby’s head move a centimeter. She let go of Clemence’s hands for a moment and checked to see if she could help. The baby’s head was covered in goo but Sofia didn’t think about it. “Okay, so take a few deep breaths and when the need comes again, we’re going to go with it. The baby’s head is most definitely engaged,” she grinned up at Clemence. “I can see the crown of her head and so I reckon we’re almost home.”
“Trust Ivo’s baby to be early,” Clemence grumbled and Sofia giggled.
“Right? Okay, sweetheart, you okay? Let’s try and go for another one, okay? Grip my hands.”
As Clemence pushed, she almost Sofia’s hands under the stress of it but Sofia braced herself, then let go as the baby’s head moved significantly. She eased it out a little, not even slightly phased by the fact she was touching another woman’s vagina. It seemed such a natural, organic situation. Clemence pushed twice more, collapsing exhausted then the baby’s head was out. Sofia supported the head, sliding a towel under Clemence as for the final time, Clemence pushed and Peony Brochu Zacca slid out into the world. Sofia handed her to her mother, both woman crying with happiness now. Clemence cradled her daughter to her chest, kissing her. Sofia wiped the baby’s head for her, marveling at how tiny and perfect she was. Her little cheeks were plump, her little mouth opened in a wide yawn.
“Oh, you’re tired?” Her mother joked, smiling through her tears. Sofia kissed the top of the baby’s head then Clemence’s cheek.
“You did it, Clem…you did it.”
Clemence leaned her head against Sofia’s. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, Sofia, what would I have done without you?”
Sofia wiped her tears away with her fingers. “You? Clem, you’re Wonder Woman, you would have been fine. I’ll go sterilize some scissors and I’ll take care of the umbilical cord.”
Clemence pressed her lips to her daughter’s head. “I feel like I need to push again.”
For a moment, Sofia panicked then relaxed. “That’s probably just the afterbirth. We’ll deal with that then I think we need to get you to hospital.”
A few hours later, Clemence and Peony were safely installed in a private room in the best maternity hospital in Paris and Sofia was trying to call Ivo. She kept getting voicemail but she asked him to call her back immediately. She didn’t want to tell him his daughter had been born over voicemail.
When Clemence was asleep, Sofia went back to her apartment to grab the bag she had packed for the hospital visit. She took a detour back to her and Ivo’s hotel room to grab her cellphone, and as she made her way back onto the street, she heard someone calling her. She turned and smiled. “Hey, Felix, how are you?”
Felix smiled at her. “All the better for seeing you.” He nodded at the bag. “Going somewhere?”
“Oh, no, it’s not my bag. I’m taking it to the hospital. Ivo’s daughter was born earlier today so I’m just helping out.”
“Okay…” He looked confused. “I’m sorry, did you say your husband’s child was born?” His eyes dropped to her flat belly and Sofia giggled.
“Wow, long story. But yes, Ivo’s daughter was born and she’s gorgeous. Look, I do have to get back to the hospital but it was really good seeing you.”
“Listen,” he took the bag from her, “Let me help you grab a cab and maybe I could take you for coffee afterwards.”
Sofia shrugged. “Okay.” She was so wired she would find it difficult to rest anyway, and she liked Felix – or Grant’s – company. She was also a little freaked that Ivo hadn’t called her back yet; she needed to vent to someone about everything that had happened.
Clemence and Peony were both asleep as Sofia crept back into their room, so she put the bag down and closed the door behind her as she stepped back into the hallway. “Both out like a light. Let’s go to the cafeteria.”
Felix bought them both a coffee, and insisted on getting Sofia some food. “You look like you’re about to drop, sweetheart.”
She grinned at him as he brought her some soup and a sandwich. “You’re a good guy, Felix…look, I have to come clean about something.”
“What’s that?”
She looked guiltily at him. “When I was at your place, I was in your kitchen. Your passport was on the side.”
He grinned at her. “Snooping?”
“A little. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Look, yes, Grant is my real name. Felix is the name I write under and the name I tell people who I don’t know to call me. But, I think we are friends by now. So, hello, I’m Grant Christo.”
She laughed, shaking his hand. “Sofia Amory Zacca. That’s a mouthful.”
“So, where’s the hubby?” Grant said, sipping his coffee and Sofia’s smile faded.
“Los Angeles. His mother passed away last week unexpectedly, and he had the funeral and what with his dad…it’s been a trying time.”
“And now his kid is here too?”
Sofia nodded. “Clemence - that’s Ivo’s ex-girlfriend – went into labor early and we couldn’t get her to the hospital before the baby was born. So, we toughed it out together – or rather she toughed it out – I was along for the ride.”
Grant blinked. “Wow. Wow. So, you helped the woman who was having your husband’s baby give birth?”
Sofia laughed. “When you put it like that, it does sound bizarre, but yes. Clemence is a friend, and I was happy to do it.” She thought back over the birth. “Now that I think about it, it was pretty mind-blowing, but at the time, you just get on with it.”
“So, you’re a step-mother now?”
Sofia laughed softly. “I guess I am. Wow.” She looked at her phone then. “Now, if only I could get Ivo to pick up his damn phone, I could tell him he has a daughter.”
Grant nodded, not saying anything. He and Sofia sat in companionable silence while she finished her food. “Thank you for this,” she said, “You were right, I needed it.”
“You look like you could use some rest too. How about I take you back to your hotel?”
Sofia was tired, she realized, more than she thought. “I’ll leave a note for Clemence first. I don’t want her wa
king to think I’ve abandoned her.”
Grant watched her scribble a note and then kiss the sleeping woman on the forehead gently, as to not wake her. Sofia Amory was a remarkable woman, he mused. To show that much love to the woman who had borne her husband’s baby - it showed compassion way beyond her years. If I were a different man, I would think it a shame to kill her and take all that goodness out of the world…but I’m not that man. Her loveliness, her beauty, her kindness just makes it all the more fun. Will she beg me for death? I do hope so…
It amused him to be walking and chatting so easily with her, when all the time he was thinking of how much he would enjoy stabbing her to death, seeing her eyes open wide with the shock and the agonizing pain as his knife drove deep inside her lovely body. He could barely keep himself from touching her, and when, inadvertently, his skin would touch hers, he felt as if a million bombs had exploded inside of him. The only thing that concerned him was that she seemed too happy, too content. He wanted to cause her torment, pain, anguish. Guilt. Yes, yes, that was a good one…with Ivo away, and he, Grant being here, maybe he could make her uneasy…just a little flirtation at first, easily explainable. Then ramp it up to the point where she became uneasy…god, he loved playing games and when the target was as sweet as Sofia…
Her cell phone rang and she breathed a sigh of relief. “At last. Excuse me, Fel…Grant, it’s Ivo.”
“Hey no problem, look I’ll give you privacy.”
He moved away from her and decided to check his own messages. Tamara had sent him a photograph and when Grant saw it, he almost laughed out loud. Tamara was good, he had to give it to her. The gall of her, getting a picture of her, naked kissing Ivo Zacca at his own mother’s wake. You win this round, Tamara. He wondered how she would use the photograph. He glanced back to where Sofia was sitting, smiling, chatting on the phone, imparting the news of the child’s birth to her husband. The picture would destroy her for sure, but he wondered if Tamara could be persuaded to sit on it for a while. If Ivo didn’t tell Sofia about it, the long it was held over his head, the more cracks would appear in the trust between Ivo and Sofia.
When they finally took Sofia, what better than for her to think that she had nobody, no-one she could call for help? What if they destroyed her security so that, in the end, she had no hope of being rescued? Grant Christo liked that idea very much. Very much…
And he knew exactly where to start. He called Tamara back and explained his plan and she started to laugh. “You really are a twisted fuck but that’s why I like you.”
“So, you think you could do what I asked? Really?”
Tamara laughed darkly. “It would be my absolute pleasure, believe me. Let’s bring the whole house down.”
And Grant smiled.
Part Four
Chapter Thirty
Ivo flew back to Paris the next day, leaving Walter behind. His father was still reeling from Adria’s death but at least in L.A. he had his friends around him. He told Ivo he would come over to meet the baby soon, and hugged him fiercely. “I’m so proud of you, Ivo, so very proud.”
Sofia ran into his arms as he came through passport control and he picked her up and twirled her around, his lips fierce against hers. “God, I have missed you.”
“Me too, baby, me too.”
They went back to their hotel. “Clemence is sleeping a lot since the birth so the hospital said visiting hours only, but I’m sure they’ll let you in, being the daddy.”
“Later,” he said as he dumped his suitcase in their bedroom and pulled her into his arms. “First, I need a long hot shower, and you…”
Sofia giggled as he began to pull her clothes off and soon they were naked, under the hot spray of the shower, and Sofia was taking his cock into her mouth, trailing the tip of her tongue along his shaft as he massaged his fingers into her hair and gave a long shudder of pleasure. She sucked and licked and flicked her tongue around the tip of his cock until she felt him shudder, then he picked her up easily and thrust into her as her legs clamped around his waist. They fucked hard against the cool tile wall, almost slipping, and laughing, kissing, before he tumbled her onto the floor of the bathroom and thrust hard inside of her, pinning her hands to the floor.
“God, I love you,” she said breathlessly, then arched her back, moaning as she came. Ivo was almost frenzied in his desire for her, taking her nipples into his mouth, staying locked inside her until his cock grew hard again and he began to fuck her even harder this time, his intensity thrilling her, his gorgeous green eyes locked into hers. She was totally his in this moment and her love for him was an overwhelming thing. He gave a long groan as he came, shooting thick streams of creamy cum into her belly. Every nerve ending on her body was on fire as Ivo pulled out then moved down to take her clit into his mouth, making her scream with desire and pleasure. Lights exploded in her vision as she came for the third and final time, then they both collapsed, panting, exhausted, she rolled into his arms and he held her tightly. “I love you, Sofia Amory, and don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. I’m yours.”
“And I’m yours, for all time,” she pressed her lips to his, “for all time.”
A few hours later, Sofia got to see him hold his daughter for the first time and it only made her love him more. She shared a grin with Clemence as Ivo took Peony into his arms, his eyes wide and wondering. “I think she has your eyes, Ivo,” Clemence said gently, “And your dark hair.”
“She’s so beautiful.” Ivo sounded awestruck and Sofia laughed.
“Well, look at her parentage.” she said, “She could hardly be anything less than gorgeous.”
Clemence squeezed Sofia’s hand. “And she looks like a Peony, doesn’t she?”
“She does.”
Clemence looked at Sofia for a long moment, an unreadable expression in her eyes and for a second, Sofia thought she probably wanted a moment alone with Ivo and the baby. “I’ll go get us some coffee.”
“No, wait.” Clemence grabbed her hand. “We are a family, Sofia. The four of us. A strange arrangement, yes, but we are family. You helped bring Peony into the world and I…Ivo…I would like to name her Peony Sofia Brochu Zacca. I thought about naming her Peony Adria, but I think your mother’s name should go to your and Sofia’s daughter.”
Sofia felt tears prick her eyes. “Oh, Clem…” Ivo grinned at them both and nodded.
“It’s perfect. Peony Sofia…I love it.”
Sofia suddenly giggled. “Peony Zacca sounds a little like Peanut Butter.”
Clemence laughed while Ivo rolled his eyes. “No, it doesn’t, you lunatic.”
“Peanut is a good nickname though.”
Clemence grinned. “Oh, by the way, your friend sent me the most gorgeous bunch of flowers.”
“Which friend?”
“Grant Christo? Apparently, he accompanied you here yesterday? He says the baby is gorgeous and congratulations.”
Ivo’s eyes narrowed a little. “You brought your writer friend here?”
Sofia shrugged. “I bumped into him while I was running around getting Clem’s bag and stuff. He said he’d come – it was nice, he made me actually sit down for a while and eat something.”
“So, he met my daughter before I did?”
For the first time, Sofia noticed an edge to Ivo’s voice. She fixed him with a steady look. “He looked at her. He didn’t touch or hold or wake her. He wasn’t even close to her crib. He looked in, is all, Ivo.”
Ivo’s face was tight but he gave her a quick nod. Clemence glanced at Sofia. Sofia felt irked – she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Hey, how was the funeral? Is your Dad okay?”
Sofia shot a grateful look at Clemence. Ivo nodded. “He’s okay. Still reeling, but I suppose we all are at everything that’s happened. Especially you, little Princess.” He nuzzled his nose to the baby’s and Sofia felt her irritation slip away.
It was clear, however, on the ride home in the taxi, that Ivo was still pissed about Grant C
hristo. “I just don’t get why you had to bring him to the hospital.”
Sofia sighed. “He offered and I was exhausted. I had just helped deliver your child, Ivo.” She looked out of the cab window. It was raining again and the streetlamps had come on in the gloom.
“Do you see him a lot?”
Sofia ignored the question. Why was he being like this? It wasn’t like Ivo to act so jealous. Even taking into account the stress of recent events, he was being unreasonable.
At the hotel, Ivo went to run a bath and Sofia went to the kitchen to fix a sandwich without asking him if he wanted one. She was spreading butter on the bread when she felt his arms slip around her. “I’m sorry,” he murmured into her ear. “I guess I’m a little cranky. Mom’s funeral was a strain and… some other stuff went on, and then hearing about Little Peanut…I’m a mess.”
She turned in his arms, studying his expression. There was no malice, or anger in it. She stroked his hair back from his face, smoothing the line between his eyes. “There is, nor will there ever be, anyone for me except you, Ivo.”
He nodded. “Nor for me, either. I love you. I’m sorry if I got a little jealous.”
She pressed her lips to his. “You’re forgiven.”
He tangled his fingers in her hair. “Come join me in the tub.”
Sofia felt the tension in her bones seep away in the warm water, and suddenly she felt very sleepy. She lay back against Ivo’s chest as he moved the soap over her breasts, her belly, between her legs. “You know, in all the stuff, we forgot something. Our apartment is ready for us to move into. Well, once we get it furnished.”
Ivo nuzzled her ear, nipping at the lobe. “I could always hire an interior designer to do it.”
Sofia made a face. “Only if I can work with her, or him, or it won’t be personal to us. I’d love to make sure it reflects both of us.”
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