9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Braxton Halford was a gorgeous man. I had a hard time taking my eyes off him as he flitted around Mel’s kitchen like he belonged there. My new bestie caught me far too many times and nudged me with an elbow before laughing at my expense.

“You have a little,” she pointed to my mouth and then mimed wiping drool from her own.

“Oh, hush!”

His light brown hair was neatly trimmed, though longer on top than Rich’s had been. He sported a five o-clock shadow on his jaw, like it was his job to almost grow a beard, but not quite. Then there was that body. Oh, my hormones! They were running in overdrive as my imagination ran wild about what it would be like if he wrapped his arms around me. If his powerful body was draped over mine…”

He winked.

“Shit,” I huffed quietly as Mel laughed again.

A cocky smirk danced across his face as he turned back to chopping something. I couldn’t even tell what the man was so busy making because I’d been more attentive of his form than what he was handling. I supposed it was more like I’d been lost in a daydream about him handling me.

“You’re too much,” Mel teased as she stood up and went to grab some more lemon water from the fridge.

“I swear to you, pregnancy is doing funny things to my brain,” I insisted.

“Yeah, it’s called hormones.” She waggled her brows at me while filling our glasses. “The horny kind,” she whispered.

I couldn’t help it. I threw my head back and laughed. She wasn’t wrong and dammit there was no denying what had me all flushed and panting after her best friend who, oddly enough, might just be her baby daddy.

“I love that,” Brax said as he turned to face us.

“What exactly?”

“That you two can laugh and joke with one another despite the messy situation.” He grinned at us before turning back to what he was doing.

“It is messy, though,” I admitted.

Braxton jerked his shoulder up in a half-assed shrug. “Could be worse. You could have been a conniving bitch who knew he was married with kids and Mel could have been the evil, embittered wife waiting to take you down at every turn.”

Mel and I turned to one another. “If you could call being cheated on lucky, I guess we did win the lottery of situations.”

She nodded. “I could do without the pregnancy heartburn, but otherwise I’d have to agree.”

“Do you think you would be up to doing this one day at my house? Well, not the condo, but my mom’s house. She would like to meet you, too.”

“Oh, my word! Aviva, I didn’t even think to invite your mother along. I’m so sorry.” It was refreshing that my new friend was genuinely worked up over leaving my mother out. Considering my lover, her husband, hadn’t given even a single kind thought toward my mother whenever I brought her up. That should have been a major red flag for me, and I was disappointed that I was only now understanding how bright red that particular flag had been.

I waved away her concern. “No, it’s fine. I think your kids meeting me is enough. There was no need to add another person just yet.” I glanced at Brax. “You’re welcome to come, too.”

He chuckled and Mel followed suit.

I decided to own my shit. “My mom may be loyal to her husband, even though he passed away, and she might have had a stroke, but even she can appreciate some eye candy cooking in the kitchen.  If you vacuum, she might just be willing to beg my father for forgiveness once she meets him in the afterlife.”

“He does vacuum. Mrs. Acker might have met her match,” Mel teased as she threw a lemon seed at Brax.

“At least I know where I stand with this one,” he said as he hitched his thumb over his shoulder at me. “I can’t believe I’ve turned into nothing more than pretty window dressing over brunch.”

Mel cackled as my cheeks flamed.

“If we’re being honest, I don’t know you well enough for you to be much more. I’ll let you know if we can upgrade your position from window dressing to chef after I taste whatever you’re making over there.”

“So, you want to taste my goods?” He winked at me again after throwing that innuendo out. Mel slapped my thigh and nearly doubled over laughing.

“He cooks like a dream.”

“Thanks, Mel.”

It was weird. I expected him to throw the playful and flirty banter her way, but they really did get on more like a close family than two people who might be having a baby together.

“Mom! Is she here yet?” A boy of about ten or so asked as he came barreling into the room.

“Slow down, Gav,” Mel warned her son. He stopped and his eyes immediately found mine. It was startling to see him. The children had been there that day at the office, but I hadn’t really looked too closely. It was obvious that he was his father’s son. Poor Mel would have to stare at the face of her cheating husband every day for the rest of her life because her son was an exact replica of Rich. I hoped, for his sake, that his personality ended up coming from his mother rather than his father.

“This is Aviva Acker,” Mel introduced. “Avi, this is my son, Gavin.”

“Aviva?” He asked. “How did you get a name like that?”

“How did you get a name like Gavin?” I playfully threw the question back at him.

He tilted his head to the side and studied me before grinning widely. “My parents gave it to me.”

“What a coincidence! My parents gave me my name, too!”

His smile never dropped as he glanced from me to his mom and then to Braxton for approval. “Better watch out, Gav. Avi and your mom aren’t above ganging up on people. They have the baby emotions in common right now.”

“Aw man,” Gavin turned back to me, his eyes immediately lowered to check out my belly. “I thought your baby was coming in September?”

“That’s correct,” I answered him and watched as his eyes floated over to his mother’s belly.

“Boy!” Mel called, and I could hear the humor in her tone. “I’ve already had two children. That means my tummy grows bigger much quicker than Avi’s does.”

“Sorry, Mom,” he quickly apologized for whatever slight he may have given her.

Mel rolled her eyes at him. “Typical boy. It’s okay to be curious, Gav. Just be respectful, too.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Gavin turned back to me, and his tone wasn’t as nice as he asked his next question. “So, you’re my dad’s girlfriend?”

I shook my head. “No,” I started to say.

“We talked about that, Gav.” Surprisingly, it was Braxton who stepped in.

“I know, but…”

“Nope. No buts. Aviva didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m sorry,” I told the mini version of Rich. “I’m so sorry, honey. If I had known about your mom and you and your sister, I never would have dated your dad.”

He shrugged and blew out a heavy breath. “It’s okay. At least this way, the little babies will have someone else to play with. I’ll protect them, but they’ll have more fun playing together.”

Oh, my heart.

Tissues were thrust in front of Mel and me. I looked up through watery eyes to see Brax smiling at us. “Damn hormones,” he said before turning back to the stove.

Mel’s daughter was still missing in action, and it made me wonder if the 8-year-old was having a harder time with understanding everything that was going on. I couldn’t imagine being in Mel’s position and having to tell my children that their father got another woman pregnant and that they were expecting two siblings from two different mothers.

Just about the time Brax finished up what he was making, Mel’s daughter finally appeared. Whereas her son had been the spitting image of Rich, their little girl was Mel’s younger doppelgänger.

“Mommy,” the little blonde beauty pouted as she came into the room. Her shoulders stiffened when she noticed me sitting there, but she didn’t turn her full attention to me. Instead, she made sure to keep her eyes locked onto her mother the entire time she walked across the kitchen. It felt as though something was stuck in my throat and I couldn’t swallow it for the life of me. It was a mistake for me to be here.

These poor children. They didn’t understand. How could they? I barely understood everything that happened over the past year. It made me want to strangle their father for being so callous and such a cowardly, assholish fool. It might not have been as bad if they’d stayed 600 miles away and we never had to know about one another – or at least the children would never have had to find out about me. This seemed a bit like torture, though, and it was directed at the wrong person.

“Gwennie, can you say hello to our guest?”

The little girl shook her head, sending blonde ringlets bobbing across her shoulders. My heart was breaking into pieces inside my body. A strong arm wrapped around my shoulders and tugged me into a warm chest. Braxton’s kindness astounded me. I was no one to him and still, he could tell that this was hard on me, too. His offered support without being prompted nearly made me cry for different reasons.

“Gwen, Miss Aviva is mommy’s friend. It’s rude not to say hello and introduce yourself.” When the girl tucked her head further between her mother’s belly and arm, Mel leaned down and spoke in a softer voice. “Your brother introduced himself to Miss Aviva.” That caused the girl to pick her head up and look for him. When their eyes met, hers narrowed as if accusing him of being the traitor she obviously saw him as. If it wasn’t such a heartbreaking moment, I’d have laughed at the sheer will to put him in his place with just a look.

The boy shrugged his shoulders as if her look didn’t bother him. “Mom’s not mad at her, so why should we be? She didn’t know about us. Dad lied to her, too.”

The little girl finally swiveled her head from her brother over to where I was sitting. She sucked in a shocked breath. “Uncle Brax, what are you doing?”

“I’m giving Avi a hug because you being mad at her is making her sad.”

“Well, she stole my daddy away, so she made me sad first.”

“Oh, sweetie,” I cried and then buried my face in my palms to hide the onslaught of tears. Brax squeezed tighter on my shoulders before he left me to go kneel down in front of Mel’s little girl.

“You love your daddy, and no one here ever wants you to stop,” he started to explain. “No matter how badly adults mess up with one another, that doesn’t change how they feel about their kids. You know that, right?”

I peeked between my fingers and saw a watery image of the two as she nodded her head in understanding. “Your dad is still in your life. He still loves you very much and it is okay for you to love him right back.” She nodded again, even though it hadn’t been a question. “Miss Avi is not the reason your daddy doesn’t live in this house with you. Your dad is the one who made the decisions to lie to both your mom and Avi. Neither one of them is to blame for your dad not being here.”

“Then I should be mad at Daddy, not loving him.”

Brax shook his head. “We can be angry with people and still love them, sweetheart. It’s okay to be mad at your dad, but it isn’t okay for you to be mean to Miss Aviva. She did nothing wrong, and you know what?”

“What?”

“Lots of people are being mean to her where she works because they thought, like you, that she was a bad person who tried to take your dad away. They’ve called her names and said very bad things to her, and she didn’t even know your dad was married or had children. She thought she was dating a man she planned to marry and have her own children with. It’s not her fault that she was lied to, but everyone has been very mean to her. Do you think that’s fair?”

The little girl shook her head as I continued to quietly sob. “Me either. That’s why your mom and brother, and you and me are all going to be extra nice to Avi. She needs some friends right now. That baby she has in her belly will be your brother or sister and Avi will always be their mom. Do you think your brother or sister would like it if we hated Avi?”

“No!” She cried out.

“Do you think that brother or sister would want to be around you if you hate their mom?”

“No,” she whimpered.

“Then what do we need to do?”

Braxton continued to kneel down on her level as she thought for a few minutes. Then the little girl leaned forward and moved around Brax to make her way to me. She tapped my knee and then poked her lip out as if seeing my tears was going to make her cry.

“I’m sorry I was mean to you. Please don’t make my sister hate me.” Well, it was obvious which gender she wanted her sibling to be. I shook my head at the little girl though.

“I would never do that,” I insisted. “I’m so sorry that your heart is hurting and that I am part of the reason, but I would never, ever be mean to you. I would never hurt you, your brother, or your mom and I wouldn’t dare tell this baby anything but good things about their big sister and brother.”

“And Uncle Brax,” she added for me.

“And Brax,” I offered with a watery smile.

“Okay, how about we all get settled and eat this food that Brax made for us before it gets cold?” Mel said, taking the heat off her daughter and me. The sweet little girl reached up and patted my slightly pooched-out belly and smiled up at me. I leaned in and planted a quick kiss on the top of her head.

“Thank you for being my friend,” I whispered to her.

“Thank you for giving me a sister,” she said.

“No pressure or anything,” Brax teased and all of us adults laughed.

I supposed that was as good a time as any to let them know that Gwen would be getting what she wanted. “You know what?”

“What?” She asked shyly.

“You are having a little sister. The doctor told me already and now you get to know, too.”

“Oh my God!” She squealed in excitement. “Mommy, did you hear that? I’ll have a sister and I can dress her up and put little bows in her hair and push her around in a stroller.”

“Hmm,” Mel hummed in amusement. “Somehow I didn’t hear all that, but I’m happy to see you so excited about your baby sister.” Mel winked at me. “She’s not a baby doll though. You will have to be really careful with her when Miss Aviva lets you hold her.”

Suddenly she turned worried eyes back on me. “You will let me hold her, right? You won’t be mad because I was mean?”

“Oh, sweetie, I could never be mad at you. Of course, you will get to hold your sister. She’s yours and your brother’s to love and protect. You know what the best part is?”

“What?” Wonder filled her voice as she did.

“She’s going to love you right back for all your lives.”

The biggest, sweetest grin sprouted on her face as Brax came over and put his hand on my shoulder. “Ladies, I think we better eat soon.” As if on cue, my stomach grumbled in response, and everyone laughed again. That laughter worked some kind of magic because I felt lighter than I had in a while, as if some of the heavy stress I’d been carrying just melted away amidst the giggles of this quirky, oddly strung together family we had become.