My Wife's Baby Page 14

  ***

  Brad was silent for a while after the police officers left. He saw them off to the door and closed it after they walked out of the house. Then he stood leaning on the door, with his eyes closed.

  Alana tensed when the eyes opened and settled on her.

  He walked to where she sat on the sofa and knelt before her. She knew what he wanted to say and steeled herself to hear it. But when he said it, she still couldn’t stop the dam from bursting. It had been broken for days now and keeping the tears back was hard.

  “I thought you cheated on me,” Brad looked contrite. “I didn’t believe you.” The pain etched on his face was breaking her already broken heart. She could tell, he was beginning to blame himself.

  At least they knew now. They knew what alluded them. She thanked the heavens silently that Brad hadn’t even been interested in seeing the video to confirm the policemen’s claims. They didn’t need that image in their minds. He had believed them right away when they told him she was raped by Fred. He hadn’t really disbelieved her all this time. He had only wanted an explanation for the circumstance, and she hadn’t been able to provide it till now.

  “I’m sorry baby, I’m sorry. I should have trusted you, trusted our love for each other.” His eyes glistened.

  “It’s okay baby, it’s not your fault.” She spread her arms apart. He stepped into her embrace. She could feel the wetness from his tears on her shoulders.

  “I should have known better; you would have never been unfaithful.”

  “How could you?”

  “I should have, oh God Lanie, I’m so sorry. I’ll kill him, I thought you cheated on me. We lost an entire year.” He sounded contrite.

  “No you won’t babe; we have Aaryn and Rhea to think about. Their daddy can’t be in jail.”

  He didn’t say anything. No matter what Alana said, he would deal with Fred. He might not kill him, but he would ensure that he got a taste of his own medicine. “I should have known. I should have been here.”

  “You’re here now babe, we’ll get over this.”

  “Can you ever forgive me Alana? For deserting you and for deserting our family?”

  “There’s nothing to forgive my love, as long as you promise to never leave me again. I need you like I need air.”

  He kissed her then, unleashing his sorrows and then his promises to her and to their family.

  “I will never leave you again.”

  That declaration warmed her insides. It made her smile in spite of herself. Here was the man she knew and loved. The man who would tear apart the rock of Gibraltar if that was what it took to save her.

  ***

  They slept in the same bed that night.

  She lay with her head on his chest and his arms around her. They stayed that way for a long time, battling with so many thoughts. Sleep came much later than they hoped it would. And before it came, they talked about different things.

  “I shouldn’t have approached Greg,” she said.

  “You did it for me,” he replied. That anger that kept hold of him for days now, started to ebb away. She was only looking out for him.

  “But you didn’t like it.”

  “Yeah. I thought…”

  “Don’t ever think that again in your life, I swear I’d never. I would never even consider being unfaithful to you.” She lifted her head and kissed his chest. “You are so possessive.”

  “I know. It’s not my fault.”

  “Whose fault is it then?”

  “Yours. You are so precious to me that it’s impossible to not to be overprotective when it comes to you.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Yes.”

  Brad had called Johnson earlier to tell him about what had transpired with the police and he immediately offered to keep Aaryn for the night. His wife was excited to have her, since they had no children of their own yet although they had been trying for a while now. When her mom came by earlier, she asked her to keep Rhea for the night at her place, so that she and Brad would have a chance to talk. Her mom happily obliged since she wanted them to work on their marriage.

  Alana struggled with the idea at first, but then she came clean and told Brad about the hotel room incident, how she had initially thought Greg took advantage of her, but then found out that he wasn’t the father through the early DNA test.

  Brad just listened as she spoke, with no interruptions. By the time she was finished with her story, his eyes were filled with tears.

  “I should have been here.”

  “Brad, you didn’t know. I didn’t even know!”

  “What ever happened with him after that?” He was referring to Greg.

  “He told me to lose his number, and I haven’t heard from him since.”

  Brad was silent for a moment. “Good.”

  Brad then inhaled slowly and begun to tell Alana about Olivia. He mentioned everything that happened during the trial. When he started about his recent stay in Mississippi, he felt when her body stiffen. He felt the wetness of her tears on his shirt when he mentioned the kiss.

  “I’m so sorry Lanie-” he said, his voice was raspy, “I don’t want to cause you anymore pain. Can you ever forgive me?”

  She remained silent for a while, going over everything Brad had just told her. She felt numb. Alana realized how close they both came to being lost to each other. Her heart lurched a bit at the realization. Thank God everything worked out. She took three deep breaths and decided that if Brad can forgive her for what happened with Greg, then she can forgive him for Olivia.

  “Brad I just need to know one thing,” she paused and held her breath, “do you have feelings for this woman?”

  “Of course not babe. You have rendered me incapable of loving any woman except you.” Brad responded fiercely.

  She smiled smugly at his declaration.

  “Then I forgive you. I don’t want to talk about Greg or Olivia ever again.”

  “You have no objections from me.”

  “I missed you.” Alana finally responded. She snuggled closer to him, never wanting to be away from him again.

  “I’m sorry.” He placed soft kisses all over her face.

  “Did you miss me too?”

  “Terribly. It felt like being deprived of air.”

  “Good. Next time you’ll twice about not believing me,” she said, teasing him.

  “My God babe, I don’t ever want to be mad at you again.”

  “Don’t ever leave me again, no matter what.”

  “No matter what.” He placed a kiss on her lips. Making an internal vow to himself and to their love.

  “We should always talk things out.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  She pinched him.

  “Ouch.”

  She pinched him again.

  “Aw. What was that for?”

  “Address me properly.”

  “Yes baby. Yes Lanie. My sexy chocolate bar.”

  “My spaghetti.”

  “My queen.”

  “My king.”

  She kissed him. “I love you.”

  “I’m in love with you baby.”

  Two years later…

  Alana was in pain and nothing seemed to help ease it at that moment. Brad had rubbed her back, her stomach and her legs. But nothing worked. This labor was taking its toll on her… she couldn’t remember her first two pregnancies being this painful. She supposed that what her sisters said was in fact true; having babies in your 30s was no walk in the park.

  “I think it’s a boy this time,” Brad said proudly as he walked into her hospital room. His smile was bright although his eyes were worried.

  “It better be; I’m done after this one.” Her face crunched up as another contraction came over her. She felt her body tremble. She couldn’t stand it any longer.

  Brad walked up to her bed and placed a kiss on her forehead. “If you say so,” he said slyly. “I hate odd numbers, we’ll have to even it out.”

  If she had enough st
rength, she would throw a pillow at his head. At this moment though, she couldn’t be bothered. The pain she felt took precedence over everything else. “Babe did you find a doctor? Nurse? I need the epidural. I can’t take this pain anymore.” She did the breathing exercises she learned in Lamaze class.

  She thought back to the two years that passed since they found out about the assault. At first, she didn’t think she needed to, but Brad finally convinced her to go see a rape therapist. The once a week session helped her overcome a lot of the emotions she felt. She went to a new dentist for the first time alone only recently. After the assault, Brad and Johnson had made it their duty to accompany her to any doctor visits.

  She no longer believed that the assault was her fault. She recently learned that Fred committed suicide in prison. Good riddance. Fred did what he did because he was a predator. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Her family, though shocked and angry at first, rallied around her to offer their support. They reminded themselves every day that something good came out of that despicable act. She couldn’t imagine her life without her baby Rhea, who was now walking around and bossing everyone around. She was simply the sweetest little girl and they loved her. Brad treated her equally to Aaryn and Rhea loved her daddy more than she did her mommy. Alana didn’t mind that either; she was just glad that her daughter was faring well.

  The next contraction threatened to become her undoing. The doctors finally rushed in and checked her.

  “Mrs. Saunders, I’m sorry but it’s too late for the epidural.”

  “No, it can’t be. I want the drugs. Please doctor I need those drugs.”

  “You’ll be fine Alana,” the doctor responded. “It will be time to push soon.”

  Two hours later, she held her son in her arms. She was tired but she felt complete. She looked up at her husband, who was laying in the hospital bed with her.

  “So, Mr. Saunders,” she started formally, a twinkle in her eyes, “What name have you come up with for your son?”

  He kissed her on her cheek and gently took his son from her arms. He looked down at his son in wonder and pride. His eyes glistening.

  “What do you think about Wren?”

  “Wren Saunders,” she said, testing it out. “I love it babe.” She placed a kiss on her husband’s lips.

  Brad looked down at his son and said, “Welcome to the world, Wren Blake Saunders.” As if understanding what they said, their son opened his eyes, and Alana held her breath when she realized her son had inherited her husband’s grayish-blue eyes. Her heart expanded.

  The door to the room opened and their two girls ran in. Rhea with her head of curly hair, loose about her face and Aaryn with her wavy hair slicked back in a ponytail. Brad handed his son back to Alana. He then carefully lifted his girls onto the bed to have a better look at their brother.

  “Girls,” said Alana, “Meet you baby brother Wren.”

  Both girls attempted to climb a bit closer for a better look. They both placed kisses on his cheeks.

  Rhea looked at Brad and said, “Daddy up!”

  “Happy to oblige my love.” He picked her up from the bed and carried her across his shoulder.

  Alana looked at the scene before her and she couldn’t be happier. Her family was complete.

  One Last Thing…

  I hope that you enjoyed Brad and Alana’s story and will leave a review or rating on Amazon. I can’t thank you enough for taking time out of your busy life to read my story. I want to show you my appreciation by doing a giveaway. I have two $15 Amazon gift cards up for grabs. All you have to do to win is:

  Download a copy of My Wife’s Baby. If you bought the book, screenshot the email or if you have kindle unlimited screenshot this page.

  Like my Facebook author page: @NiomieRoland

  Post your screenshot on my Facebook author page.

  Two winners will be chosen at random and they will be announced on July 31, 2019 on my Facebook page.