The Billionaire From Boston

by Simply BWWM

  “I think I’ll pass.”

  “Suit yourself. Your mom stopped by too. Wanted to see how you are doing. And Julia called your cell a few times. I finally answered by like the fifth one, and told her you would call her back when you got up.”

  “All right, I’ll call Julia real quick, then start on dinner. You hungry?”

  “Don’t worry about that babe, I already ordered something in for us.”

  “Oh, ‘kay, thanks.” I started to turn around but then thought better of it. “Hey, thank you for being so good to me, you know, these last few days. It’s made this all a little easier to know I have you with me.”

  He got up and walked around from his desk. He wrapped his arms around my waist resting his forehead on my own. “In sickness and health, okay?”

  “So you still want to?”

  “Of course! Don’t you?”

  I shrugged. “I just worry about our families and…”

  “Who cares about them? Do you want to marry me?”

  “Yes.”

  He flashed a big happy grin to this, “Good, ‘cause I do too.”

  He gave me a chaste kiss on the lips. It was the first kiss since the event. It sent a spark of fire through my body. I could see in his eyes that he could feel it too. I took a step back from him, though. I wasn’t ready for that yet. He seemed to understand.

  He grabbed my hand and kissed it. Looking up at me through his thick lashes, he whispered, “I love you.” It was less spoken and more of a movement of his lips. Those beautifully plump lips. He went to let go of my hand, obviously not expecting anything in return. I gripped his hand hard and tugged a little for him to come to me. I wrapped my arms around him again, burying my face in his chest, absorbing his warmth and smell.

  “I love you too.”

  The Final Chapter

  It had been a week since we lost the baby. It was turning into late fall now. The holidays were approaching. The wedding was now less than a month away. We had originally planned it before the big holiday rush, and before my belly was too big. I asked Edward if he wanted to change the date, to wait, but he had insisted on keeping it the same.

  Both Julia and my mother had been over almost every day to “take care of me” while Edward was at work. I don’t know what they thought I needed. I was basically recovered from everything by now. It was nice to have the company, though. Edward had insisted that I take a full two weeks off from work. Without my mom and Julia, the quiet hours in this house by myself would have driven me mad.

  I still hadn’t broached the subject of my mother’s citizenship with her. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized some of the signs in my childhood. She had never had a job. Even after the divorce with my father, she had only hustled out of the home. Mostly she did hair, corn rowing. It paid enough for us to survive on, especially since my dad wasn’t always on time with the child support.

  I hadn’t seen Vivian since her threats. She knew we were going through on the wedding, so it made me wonder if she was going to make good on her words. Edward had said he was already in contact with his friend in immigration. He said it would take time though, especially with the holidays coming up. My biggest fear would be police storming our wedding, hauling my mother off, all the while Vivian glaring with a smirk of satisfaction.

  I knew Mom would be coming over today. I had been building my courage all night and morning to bring it up to her. To at least warn her if things were going to go south for her. I wasn’t exactly sure how you start that conversation, though. “Hi Mom. How’s it going? Heard from a little bird you’re an illegal immigrant.”

  I had asked Mom to stop and pick us up some sushi for lunch. I was trying to find the silver lining in losing the baby. At least I could stand the smell of fish again. Oh, how I had missed eating sushi!

  We were eating our lunch in awkward silence. Try as I might to think of a way to bring it up, I couldn’t. It was just making things more and more awkward.

  “All right, we both know there’s something you want to say. Might as well just spit it out.”

  “You figured that much out, huh?” I said a little apologetically.

  “You’re acting like when you busted the headlight on my car and couldn’t figure out how to tell me.”

  “Well, actually, it’s not something I did. It’s something I heard about you.”

  “Me?” she gave a nervous laugh.

  “Yeah, you see, Edward’s mom isn’t all too thrilled about the wedding. Before we, you know, lost the baby, she threatened me.”

  “Threatened you with what?”

  “That she would have you deported, if I went through with it. And if I didn’t go through with it, she would get you your citizenship.”

  At first Mom was shocked. Shocked that I knew or shocked at what I was saying, I wasn’t really sure.

  “You know, the whole thing is ridiculous. I have practically lived my whole life in America.”

  “How come you never told me?”

  She shrugged at this. “You didn’t need to know.”

  “I just don’t understand how it happened. So that means Grandma was illegal too?”

  “Well, you know your grandparents met in Japan. Your Grandpa was stationed there after the war. He was in the US Air Force, but he was from Cuba.”

  “Yeah, I knew all this. I thought that’s how he got his citizenship. He did his years in the military and in return he got to be a citizen.”

  “Well it didn’t actually work out that way. I don’t even know all the details. They never told me. I did some digging and he did get an honorable discharge, but about two years early. The way it sounds is he did something wrong, they exchanged the early discharge for him to get out right then. To ‘fire’ someone in the military takes a long time. That’s time they’re paying you.”

  “So, because he didn’t finish his contract, he didn’t get his citizenship. So why not go back to Cuba or stay in Japan?”

  “We did stay in Japan for a while. He worked as a civilian on the bases there. Then he got a job working at the shipyard here in Seattle. We moved here on his working visa. We were supposed to go back after he retired. Back where, I have no idea. But my parents never did. I didn’t know about any of this till I was older.”

  “So, are you a Japanese citizen then?”

  “I guess. I’m not really sure. Honestly we moved to America when I was four. I have lived here my whole life. I don’t even remember Japan.”

  “So why not ever get your citizenship when you were married to dad?”

  “I had planned to. We weren’t married long enough, though.”

  “I thought you guys were together for like eight years?”

  “Yeah, but we were only married the last two of them.”

  “What? I was six when you guys got divorced.”

  “Well we were dating, got pregnant, then a few years after you were born we decided to get married. Really it was just a last ditch effort to save the relationship.”

  “And you never told him?”

  “Luckily not.”

  “I don’t understand. Why not remarry? Find someone else and get your citizenship?”

  “You were my top priority, Nevaeh. I couldn’t let anyone else know. What if they deported me and then you were given to your dad? I couldn’t let that happen. He was a good man, at one time. But when he drank, he was a whole different person. At first it was a rare thing. Then it was turning into every week, then almost every day. The violence was getting worse and worse. I had to get us out of there. I could never trust him to take care of you.”

  This whole time she had been living this secret, all to protect me. I needed a minute to process it all.

  “The fact is, Vivian knows and is planning on using it against me.”

  “Maybe if I talk to her. Explain the situation.”

  “She doesn’t care about any of that. She just doesn’t want to see me with Edward.”

  “Well, you said she has known for
the last few weeks, right? She hasn’t said or done anything yet, so maybe she won’t.”

  “Or maybe she’s waiting till she can do it in a big public way, say like at a wedding.”

  “Mother’s love for children go deep, but no one is that terrible.”

  I wasn’t sure I agreed with that. “Anyway, I told Edward. He’s working with someone he knows at immigration to fix the problem, without you having to be deported. The problem is, it’s going to take a while. Maybe even up to a year. I don’t know if we have that long with Vivian. I just wanted to tell you I know, I guess. And that I’m trying.”

  “Honey, you don’t need to take care of me.” She smoothed my hair down and pulled it behind my ear. She had been doing that to me my whole life. It was a soothing comfort.

  “I know, but just in case things do go wrong…”

  “Don’t worry about me. You have enough on your plate right now. It will all work out. And if that means I get deported, then fine. I’ve always known the day might come.”

  “Well, I’m going to have Edward give you the information for the person he’s talking to anyway. That way, if something does come up, you can at least say you’re already on it and point them to whoever that person is.”

  “You don’t know.”

  “Naw, I haven’t asked yet. He just said it was an old friend.”

  *

  I was in the elevator on my way up to the firm. I still had a few more days before I had to return to work. I knew that Edward was meeting with his friend. I wanted to surprise him with lunch. Just a little appreciation for all that he was doing for my mom. I also kept forgetting to ask him who his friend was. I was a little curious to meet him myself.

  I had told Edward everything my mother had said to me. I’m sure he had relayed the situation. I felt like if it came from me, maybe it would have more meaning. Maybe he would get the job done quicker. Like before the wedding.

  Monica, his receptionist, met me just outside Edwards’s office.

  “I’m sorry Miss Lookhart, but Mr. Kinkade is in the middle of a meeting right now.” She was almost worried to see me there. Which was a little confusing.

  “It’s all right, Monica. He’s expecting me.”

  “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind waiting out here until his meeting is over?”

  Now I was really interested in why she was so insistent that I don’t go in. “It’s okay. He knows I’m coming. I’m meeting him here for this appointment.”

  Now she was extremely confused. “Are you sure? He told me not to let anyone in. No matter who it is.”

  “I’m sure,” I said as I walked past her. I thought about knocking first. I decided not to and just opened the doors. The sight I saw before me was not at all what I expected. It knocked the wind out of me.

  He wasn’t at the conference table, like he normally was for meetings. Not even at the couch on the other side of the room. He was sitting at his desk. On his desk was a long lean blonde in a short skirt. I walked in just as she was caressing his face with her hand. I felt like I had seen her before. It took a second before it clicked. She was the girlfriend from his social media.

  Edward pushed her hand down just as he heard me enter the room. He stood awkwardly. She stood too. She looked down guiltily like she knew she had been caught. A million thoughts were running through my head. Had he been with her this whole time? Was this talk of helping my mother just a ruse to sneak off with her? It made sense. I would never expect it.

  “Nevaeh, I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Well, I wanted to surprise you with some lunch, but I guess you’re already busy,” I said, eyeing her. He looked over at her then back to me. It was like it just hit him what I had walked in on.

  “This isn’t want you think,” he said hands raised in defense. “Kate is the friend I was telling you about. She works for immigration.”

  Kate gave me a weak smile. Her face was easy to read, and it’s a kid’s whose hand had been caught in the cookie jar. Seems to me it was exactly what I was thinking it was.

  “I’d better go. It’s nice to meet you, Nevaeh.”

  She walked out the room before Edward could stop her. It was making him look guiltier by the second.

  I crossed my arms and stared him down. I was sick of being played by this guy. Had he just been playing me all along?

  “Look, just come in and we can talk. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not what it looks like.”

  “Really? Because it looks like you were having a nice lunch date with your ex-girlfriend. Or was she ever really your ex-girlfriend?”

  “Yes, Nevaeh, she is my ex.” He sounded almost exasperated. “I didn’t tell you it was her helping me because I knew what you would think. I didn’t want to make things harder or more stressful on you.”

  “And so you thought keeping it a secret was a better choice. That is assuming that your little story is true.”

  “We can’t keep doing this, Vay. If we’re going to make this work, we need to trust each other. I need you to trust me.”

  “But you didn’t trust me enough to tell me who your friend is.”

  “You’re right, I’m sorry. I should have told you. I just… we’ve both just had a lot of stuff right now. I didn’t want to put anything else on your plate. I wanted to take care of this for you.”

  He was putting his arms around me, trying to pull me into his embrace. I took a step back. I didn’t want physical contact with him right now. I didn’t want to cloud this rage I was feeling.

  “I need time to think, okay?”

  “Okay.” He dropped his hands and took a step back too. He looked like a sullen child shoving his hands in his pockets. “Will you at least be home when I get off work?”

  I gave him a non-committal shrug.

  “Please, Vay.”

  “Okay.”

  I managed to make it home holding onto my rage. The back of my mind was racing with thoughts. Should I trust him? Should I believe him? Should I even be here when he gets home just to give him a chance to pump me up with more lies?

  But then I wondered why even bother. There was no baby, he could have just kicked me to the curb if he had been with this other girl the whole time. I wanted to give him that second chance, my trust, but so much was screaming at me that I could just turn into that dumb girl who followed the asshole blindly.

  When I got out of the elevator to our apartment there was a package in the foyer. I took it in and opened it. If I had any wind left inside me, it was gone now. The package was a small urn. I remember Edward mentioning something about burial arrangements. I couldn’t bring myself to think of it at the time.

  It was a beautiful, small, grey vase-like case. Clean line. On the front was a small plaque that read, “Baby boy, always in our hearts.” Enclosed in the box was a note from the nurses and doctor that night at the hospital, all expressing their condolences. In the note was a single picture. It was my baby. He was wrapped up in a hospital blanket with a blue beanie on his head. It was a close-up of his face with one little hand peeking out from the blanket. He looked so peaceful, like he was sleeping. It was heart-wrenching. At the same time, I was so grateful that someone had thought to do this for us. Now I could always have a picture of him, to remember him.

  My emotions were getting the best of me. I set down the urn but took the picture with me. I was going to go lay down and think through everything. I stopped at the guest room door. It still had its “do not open” sign on it. I ripped it off and opened the door.

  The room was completely set up as a nursery. The walls painted a soft blue color with little white puffs of clouds. The far wall had a mural of a countryside with a farm. The crib was made with country checkered patterns and a little tractor pillow sat to one side. The mobile above it was of different little farm animals. There was a rocking chair with its own little book shelf. It was already filled with many books.

  I was overwhelmed by it all. I sat down on the ground to take it in. I not
iced a little bedside table with a tractor lamp. It matched the little pillow in the crib. Next to it was an empty frame. It was also themed and read “our little farmer.” Next to that was a framed picture of Edward and me. I recognized it as a picture he had taken a few weeks ago. We had both been goofing off with the camera. I gingerly took down the empty frame and put in the picture the hospital had given me.

  I held it to my chest, letting go of all the sorrow I had left in me. If I could will him back to me, I would. I was feeling the loss all over again when my crying was halted by someone at the door. I was facing into the room so I didn’t know who it was, but I was fairly certain.

  “Edward, I just need to be alone right now, okay? Just give me a little time.”

  “Actually, it’s me.” I didn’t have to turn around to know that it was Vivian’s voice.

  *

  I really couldn’t take that crap right now. I turned around and gave her a death stare. I wanted my message to be clear—she wasn’t welcome here.

  “I found this out front.” She was holding the little urn. She slid it onto the small table next to the picture of Edward and me. She picked up the frame and looked at it for a minute before setting it down. She touched the urn again. “I wish I could have seen him.”

  I could hear the pain laced in her voice. I debated just kicking her out, but I wasn’t heartless. I handed her the picture in my hand. She held it for a few moments, even brushed her fingers against his cheek. She set it back down and blinked back a few tears. I was shocked to see her so emotional. I figured she had come to gloat or threaten me some more.

  “I was hoping to catch you before Edward got home. I wanted to talk to you about… something.”

  “I can’t imagine that you have anything to say that would be worth hearing at this moment.”

  “I deserve that. I have been very cruel to you. If you will just give me a chance to explain.” She motioned for me to follow her out into the living room.

  We sat down on the couch and I waited tentatively. She gave a big sigh. “I’ve never told this to anyone. Not even Hank.”