by Vivian Ward
Anna’s face turned crimson. She was fuming with anger, but she knew I had her right where I wanted her. She acted like she wanted to say something but changed her mind. Instead, she stormed out of my office and out of the house. I didn’t know what was going to happen or what she was going to do. All I knew was that it wasn’t going to be good.
I walked over to Natalia and wrapped my arms around her. It was important that she knew that I was invested in her. I wanted to be with her and make things work as much as I could. I kissed her on the forehead and told her that I chose her and I didn’t care who knew.
“I know you do. You don’t have to say anything else,” she replied before burying her head in my chest and squeezing me as tight as she could.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Natalia
I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Not only did he stand up to his ex-girlfriend, the girl who was his high school sweetheart and who he planned to spend the rest of his life with, but he also told her that he was with me. Kaiden had been so concerned about people finding out about us before he was ready, but now he was telling her that he didn’t care who knew. For the first time, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he really wanted to be with me. Not only that, but he seemed proud to be with me. He didn’t see me as a lowly housekeeper like the rest of the world probably did. To him, I am just Natalia and I like it that way.
We didn’t know what was going to become of Anna’s threats. Kaiden told me that she had made many threats in the past and never followed through with them. He had to assume she was just blowing smoke in this situation as well. Still, with so many people employed under him, he wanted to cut things off at the pass. He wanted to everyone to hear things from him first just in case she actually decided to go to media.
Kaiden called a meeting and brought every member of the staff into his office. He told them everything about Anna and the threats she had made. He told them that he had a son that she had abandoned. He told everyone about how his son lives with her parents and how he goes to see him nearly every day. He told everyone about the fact that Anna had tried to extort him for a lot of money. Finally, he told everyone that he and I were in a relationship. He explained that he hadn’t hired me under the pretenses of having a relationship with him. He simply found that he enjoyed spending time with me. He let everyone know that he would be making several promotions that afternoon. He apologized for not hiring for the housekeeper position from within and promised that he would be replacing me with someone in the room. Since one person would end up being promoted, others behind them would move up as well.
I was amazed at how cool everyone was about it all. Everyone in that room was loyal to Kaiden and they weren’t going to let anything they heard about him skew their perception. Of course, he didn’t tell them about the sex club but figured he could explain that when and if the time came. Later that afternoon, Kaiden called another meeting and announced that Lupita was going to be the new housekeeper. I was so happy for her and everyone else seemed to be glad for her as well. As promised, every member of the staff was promoted to a new, better-paying position. By the time the day was over, all Kaiden had to do was hire a new gardener.
About a week later, Kaiden and I were relaxing on the couch and watching some television. He’d had his big acquisition meeting and the clients were looking over all of the paperwork before making their final decision. When the news came on, an image of Kaiden came across the screen. He was the top story with a headline of “A Scandal in Manhattan.” Anna told them everything. She told them about the sex club, their son and me. Of course, a lot of the things she said were full of lies. She told them that Kaiden had a history of going to sex clubs, often leaving her at home by herself while he satisfied his perverted desires. She also told the media that he took their son while she was experiencing postpartum depression and refused to let her see him. Finally, she told everyone that when she tried to reconcile with him so the three of them could be a family again, Kaiden threw me in her face and told her that he was sleeping with the maid and had no interest in her.
Kaiden knew that the news reports were bad. He would have to hold a press conference to give his side of the story. He also knew that he wasn’t going to have to go through it alone. I would be right by his side through all of it regardless of how bad things became. We were going to brave it out together no matter what.
The next day, Kaiden’s parents showed up at the house unannounced. They were not happy that they had to learn about me and his son, Andy, through a news report in the media. His mother looked at me and told Kaiden that she wanted to speak with him alone. He told her that anything she had to say could be said in front of me.
“Fine, she probably needs to hear what I have to say anyway. Are you trying to throw your life away Kaiden? Are you attempting to ruin everything that you’ve worked so hard for? I can’t believe that Anna was willing to give your relationship another chance and you threw it away so you could slum it with the maid.”
“That’s enough mother. First of all, I’m not slumming it with anyone. She’s not the maid. Her name is Natalia and I would appreciate it if you referred to her as that from now on. She is an amazing person and I’m crazy about her. I’m going to be with her and nothing you or anyone else could possibly say or do is going to change my mind. As far as Anna goes, she’s gone crazy mom. You haven’t bothered to ask me for my side of the story. You’re just going on what you’ve heard, assuming that everything she’s said is true. Well, guess what? It’s not. Her smear campaign was full of lies. She’s been blackmailing me and trying to extort me for a long time now. It wasn’t until I put an end to it that she pulled this. I told her I wasn’t going to give her another dime and suddenly all this stuff is leaked to the media. It’s not a coincidence mom. This was planned all along.”
His mom didn’t have anything else to say at that point. She seemed to be caught between wanting to believe him and wanting to spew more hatred in my direction. All she could do was give me a dirty look before leaving the room to going to speak with her husband. Before long, the two of them decided that it would be best for them to leave before someone said something they regretted. However, on the way out the door, Kaiden’s mom turned around and gave Kaiden a hug.
“I’m sorry you’re going through this. Everything will turn out okay. Hopefully the next time I come up, you can take me to meet my grandson.”
It was nice to hear her say that and it was good to know that there was some hope left for her and Kaiden. Even if she was never able to accept me, it was important that she and Kaiden be able to have a relationship. That was something I was never going to stand in the way of.
Once we were alone again, Kaiden pulled me aside and took me into his office. “Natalia, are you sure this is what you really want? Are you sure that you can handle being in the middle of all this drama?”
“I’m sure. I’m here with you and for you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good. Then I think the better question is whether or not you are ready to start our lives together. Would you consider moving in permanently?”
“Well, I’ve slept here every night so I practically live here anyway but sure, let’s make it official.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear. Come on, let’s go pick up Andy. It’s time to bring him home.”
EPILOGUE
Kaiden
It’s been four years since Anna leaked all of my dirty laundry to the media. She was sure that all the information she provided was going to ruin me and completely sink my company. While what she said in public did do some damage to my reputation and credibility, I had a lot of people around me who supported me loudly and publicly. This outpouring of support from those who loved me the most, which included everyone from my cook to Anna’s parents, meant more to me than any of them will ever know.
Anna didn’t fare so well. She had her name out there and received a lot of sympathy once she decided to drag my name through the mud. For severa
l weeks, all I kept hearing was that I was a giant piece of shit who ran from his responsibilities. It wasn’t until I called a press conference and read a prepared statement that told my side of the story that people began to understand. It quickly became apparent to everyone who was dragging my name through the mud and that I had been doing my best to take care of my son while she ran off on me. True, I still had to deal with the sex club scandal but I wrote that off to poor decisions. I noted that it wasn’t until I met Natalia that my outlook on life started to change. I told the media that once she was in my life, I didn’t have to turn to those dark areas for love and affection.
Last week, I decided to sell my company. Not because I no longer wanted it because I love the company that I built. I decided to sell it because I wanted to enjoy as much time as I can with my family. We decided to have a dual celebration to mark the end of one journey and the beginning of another.
Natalia came walking out of the kitchen carrying the most adorable birthday cake I’d ever seen. Since I was going to be taking an early retirement, Natalia decided that she wanted to learn how to make incredible cakes that she could sell. She was a fast learner and before long, she was making nicer cakes than I’ve ever seen in a bakery. Since she started her business a little over a year ago, she has made cakes for birthdays, weddings, first communions, holiday parties and anything else you can think of. This cake wasn’t going to be for sale, though. This cake was already reserved for someone special.
As Natalia came walking towards me, I stepped in front of her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. I took the cake out of her hands.
“Let me help you with that,” I said. “You shouldn’t be overexerting yourself like this. You’re in no condition to be carrying a big heavy cake around like this.”
I put the cake on the counter before reaching over and placing my hand on her stomach. Almost instantly, I could feel the baby kick. This would be our second child and I couldn’t wait to meet the little boy or girl inside of there.
Picking the cake back up off the counter, I had Natalia hold the screen door open as I made my way outside to where Neomi, our daughter, was celebrating her third birthday. Seated right next to her was Andy, who was going on and on about how he would be starting first grade in a few weeks. He likes being the big brother and is super excited that there is going to be another baby to play with soon. He’s always been a big help and I think there are big things in store for him as he gets older.
At the side table, Frank and Eva were enjoying a glass of lemonade while they talked with my parents. My mother and father had made a complete turnaround in how they looked at things. I can pinpoint exactly where it happened. It was the weekend I took them both to meet Andy. They both fell in love with him right away and they’ve made it their mission to be the greatest grandparents they can be. They’ve also accepted that Natalia is the love of my life. The three of them get along just fine and there is no longer any tension when the three of them are together. In fact, my parents sold their home so they could live closer to us in order to help us with the kids whenever we need it. It’s been nice.
All in all, Natalia coming to work for me was the best thing that could have happened. The woman who was once my employee is now my best friend and soul mate. We have a perfectly happy family and things will only get better from here.
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Chapter 1: Blake
For the past year, I have been looking forward to this day. Today I am finally going to become a father. I can hardly contain myself as Tasha labors in the birthing room with my precious son, Carter Luke Adams. She and I agreed early on, when we signed the contract, that I would not be allowed in the room when she gave birth. It has definitely been the longest week of my life. As I impatiently wait in the waiting room to meet my baby, another gentleman walked in and sat opposite of me. His face matched mine in that his forehead was wrinkled, his eyes weary and he was fidgety. When he took his seat, he nodded at me, offering a nervous smile.
“How’s it going?” he asked, glancing at the large clock on the wall. The time was 10:06 AM. I didn’t have to look at it to know because I had been checking it every minute since about 9 AM when the nurse showed me to the waiting area.
“Eh, it’s been a long morning. Waiting for my son to be born.” My voice trembled slightly. I’ve never been this nervous in my entire life.
“That’s cool. My wife’s having a boy, too.” He unzipped his jacket and folded it neatly on his lap.
“Oh, it’s not my wife.” That was certain. There was no way I was ever going to get married again. When my wife died, I promised myself I would never endure that again—losing a spouse, that is. Our marriage was blissful, the kind one can only hope to have, except I did have it. She was the whole reason I was here.
“Is it your girlfriend?”
“Not even close. She’s my surrogate mother.”
“Your who?” The man had obviously never heard the term before judging, by the way, his face twisted, and his neck craned, trying to figure out what I was talking about.
“A surrogate. I paid her to have a baby for me.”
“Bro, that’s crazy man. What do you mean you paid her to have a baby?”
It’s okay. At this point, I’d explained it enough times that his response seemed normal to me. The look of shock on people’s faces never ceased to amaze me. You’d think in this day and age, most everyone would have at least heard of a surrogate mother.
“It’s a long story.”
“Nah, dude, you gotta tell me now. I got time. My wife’s been having the Braxton something for the last two weeks. The doctors are sure it’s still false labor, but they’re observing her in case it’s not. When the nurse checked her, she was only at two centimeters.”
I peered up at the clock again. It was now 10:09 AM. “I’m thirsty. You want to go to the cafeteria to get a soda with me, and I’ll tell you on the way?”
“Sure man. This story sounds good.”
Walking towards the elevator, I started telling him why I was here. The steel elevator doors slid open before we stepped inside the car.
“So what’s your story?” he asked.
I sighed. “Oh, where do I begin? Let’s see, my wife and I dearly wanted to start a family together. She wanted it more than anything in the world. We were married for 13 years when we started trying. After a year of no luck—”
“That’s crazy, yo. My wife and I were trying not to have a baby when she got pregnant.”
“Consider yourself lucky then. Like I was saying, after a year of trying, she finally went to the doctor to see if she could get some answers as to why she still wasn’t pregnant. She was worried that one of us had a problem or something. Ultimately, they found out that she wasn’t getting pregnant because she had cancer.”
“Aw man, I’m so sorry to hear that. What kind did she have? If you don’t mind me asking.”<
br />
I shook my head. I’d told the story at least a dozen times before. “I don’t mind at all. It was a few years ago. She had cervical cancer that had metastasized to other parts of her body. When they caught it, they said she had less than six months to live.” I looked at his face; he was genuinely concerned as he leaned in and nodded at me to continue. “Before she died, she still wanted to give me a child, so she had her eggs harvested.”
“But how’d you get to the point where you’re paying a chick to have your baby?”
“A couple of years after she died, I started searching for a surrogate mother—a woman who could carry the baby that I would conceive with my wife.” His face twisted as he tried to follow the story. I can tell that he’s not getting it. In a lowered voice, I said, “They combined my sperm with my wife’s egg in a petri dish and inserted it into the woman who’s giving birth right now.”
“Dude! That’s insane!” His face was in complete awe; he didn’t know what to think. “What’s your name man?”
