18. Chandler
18
CHANDLER
The week we get home is hectic. We got home Sunday morning and spent the day with Sophia. She was excited and had so much to tell us about her week with Aunt Kayla. I missed her so much while we were gone. I was on cloud nine when Tanya said that they would move into my apartment when they were there. Now we just needed to figure out what to do to get all of us together permanently.
I have Lisa plan for the dinner party, and Tanya and I discuss when we should tell Sophia that she’s going to be a big sister. Tanya is worried about telling people too early, but I want to shout it for everyone to hear. I know everything will be okay. We are going to have a healthy baby and there won’t be any need for worry.
“I want to make it a special moment for her.”
It’s Thursday afternoon, and Tanya didn’t even say hello when I answered her call.
“Hello to you too, beautiful. How has your day been?”
“Yeah, yeah, small talk and pleasantries. I want to make the moment we tell Soph about the baby special for her.”
I snort and rub my hand over my face.
This woman is something else.
“I agree. What were you thinking?”
She groans.
“I have no idea, but this is going to be a big change for her, and I want her to be excited. I don’t want her to feel left out or replaced.”
“Sweetheart.” My heart breaks for her. “That’s not going to happen. She is going to be so excited to have a little sister or brother, and she’s going to want to help out with everything. You don’t have to worry about her feeling replaced. She knows how much you love her.”
She sighs into the phone, and I know my words are only helping her so much.
“Have you had any idea of what to do?”
“No.”
I have to work at not chuckling at her petulant tone.
“I was planning on calling my mother today and telling her about everything. She found out through the press and isn’t happy with me, but maybe she could have some advice on this; would you like me to ask her?”
“Chandler, you’re an only child.”
I do laugh this time. “You’ve got a point, but I think she could still help.”
She’s quiet for a moment, then her voice comes through almost too soft for me to hear.
“You’re telling your mother?”
There’s no way she’s nervous.
“Yes, I should have called her as soon as I found you two, but I got caught up in the moment with everything going on.”
“Chandler, I don’t remember her. I don’t remember if we got along; I don’t even remember if she liked me.”
I can hear the stress in her voice.
“She loves you. You two got along great, but I’m sorry to say, you’re probably going to be pushed aside ‘cause now you’ve given her a grand-baby to fawn over.”
Her laugh is weak, and I can tell she is still nervous.
“We don’t have to do the dinner party tomorrow. We can cancel and just tell everyone something came up.”
“No, let’s have it. Sophia and I need to get used to being in your world and that includes the people you’re close to. Besides, we don’t want your mother finding out about the new baby in the press. She may disown you then.”
She has a point about that; I just feel bad that she’s feeling so anxious about all of this.
“If you’re sure. Are you guys still heading down tonight?”
Every time they come to me for the weekend, I can’t help but worry about Tanya. It’s a long drive, and even though she’s done it before, I wish there was something I could do so she didn’t have to be in the car for so long.
“Yeah, Kayla and I are going to pick Sophia up from school and head out from there. Are you sure you’re okay with Kayla staying with us?”
Kayla will be driving my girls to the city and staying with us so that she can be here for the dinner and Tanya has someone other than me and Soph there that she knows.
“Of course, she’s your best friend and Soph’s aunt. You need her support, and besides, I’d love to get to know her better. She’s important to you.”
I want her to feel as comfortable as possible ‘in my world’, as she calls it. I want her to see it as our world.
“Okay, well, I’ll let you get back to work, and I’ll come up with ideas on how to tell Soph so we can decide on one tonight.”
“Okay, sounds good, lo—I’ll see you later.”
I love you almost slipped out. I’ve been wanting to tell her since the moment I saw her that I love her, that I never stopped loving her.
“See you later.”
She hangs up the phone, and I want to smack myself. She just now agreed to live in the same apartment as me on the weekends; she’s nowhere near ready to hear that I love her.
I refocus myself on my work and make sure I get everything done that can’t wait for next week. I told Tanya that I was going to try harder to be there for her and Soph, and that means working less. I’m trying to do that, which includes not working on the weekends. With Sophia still in school, we don’t get to be together during the week, the least I can do is make sure I’m one hundred percent present on the weekends.
I leave work early so that I can get home before the girls do, and while I wait, I go ahead and make a call to my mother.
Here goes nothing.
I sit on the couch in my living room and hit the call button.
“Why in the world do I have to find out that my son has found the love of his life and that I have a granddaughter in the news?”
“Hey, Mom.”
She scoffs. “I don’t think so. You don’t get to be cute. You knew the press was there, and you knew that I would see the pictures. Why didn’t you at least call me then?”
The guilt I’ve been feeling over not contacting her grabs hold of my chest so hard that I try and rub at my chest to ease it.
“I got caught up in the moment; I just wanted to keep them to myself for a while. I wanted to make sure it was all real.”
I can hear her sigh, and I don’t want to make her feel guilty as well.
“There is also something else that the news didn’t mention and that only a few people know about.”
“You can’t tell me that baby girl isn’t yours. She looks just like you did at that age.”
I smile at the thought. I love that she looks so much like me.
“No, the reason Tanya disappeared is because she was in a car accident and has been dealing with amnesia. She hasn’t known who I am for the past nine years. She still technically doesn’t, but we’ve been getting to know each other.”
Mom is quiet on the other side of the phone.
“Mom? You okay?”
A small sniffle comes through the phone before she speaks.
“I misjudged her; I thought she left you.”
Most people did.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I should have listened to you more when you told us that something had happened.”
The only person who believed me when I said Tanya didn’t leave me was my dad. I had many long conversations with him over the years.
“I know, Mom. It’s okay. I understand. Everyone thought that she left me.”
“I’m not everyone; I’m your mother and I should have listened to you.”
I can’t help but chuckle, my mother is fiercely protective, even when it comes to herself.
“Mom, I promise I understand, everything pointed to her leaving, besides, now we don’t have to worry about any of that. I’ve got her back and also a beautiful daughter.”
She sniffles again, louder this time.
“I can’t believe I’m a grandma!”
She starts blubbering, and I can’t help but laugh. I honestly think that she is more excited to be a grandmother than the fact that Tanya is back.
She’s going to lose her mind when she finds out about the baby.
“Mom, I’ve got to go. They are going to be here soon, but I wanted to extend an invite to you and Dad to join us for a dinner party tomorrow. We want to reintroduce her to everyone close to us, and I want you to meet Sophia.”
More sniffles and she clears her throat.
“Of course we’ll be there. I can’t wait to meet her.”
We say goodbye, and I’m in higher spirits, talking with my parents always puts me in a good mood. I put my phone down on the coffee table in front of me and sit for a moment, just taking everything in.
Tanya, Sophia, and Kayla should be here soon. They took the drive here slowly so Tanya wouldn’t get too anxious while in the car. I want to take the three of them out for dinner, to just relax and have fun tonight. Between the drive here and tomorrow’s dinner, I know Tanya is going to be exhausted. The only things I want to focus on are telling Sophia about the baby and making sure Tanya is comfortable and relaxed for tomorrow. I have to admit, though, that I’m nervous to be around Kayla all weekend. She means a lot to both Sophia and Tanya, and I want her to approve of me.
For the first time in almost ten years, I feel like my life is back on track and everything is going the way it should be, it’s going perfect, and I can’t wait to tell everyone I love.
They get to the house about five thirty, and I’m still on the couch watching TV.
“Daddy!”
Sophia comes running into the living room and jumps onto the couch next to me. She bounces up and down, and I see the giant rainbow color lollipop in her hand. I quickly grab it from her.
“Hey there, bouncy. Be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She giggles, and I stare at her, I’ve never seen her like this.
“She may be on a sugar high because I may have let her pick out two different pieces of candy on the way here.”
I turn to see Tanya standing behind the couch, and she looks both ashamed and completely stressed out. A smile spreads across my face, and she glares at me.
“Daddy, Mommy said that when we got here you had a secret to tell me. I want to know the secret.”
I look between the two.
“Is this the secret we talked about over the phone today?”
Tanya nods when I look back over at her, and I can feel the excitement building in me.
“Did you come up with a way to do it?”
Another nod. I jump up and walk around the couch to her side to quietly whisper to her.
“What are we going to do?”
She smiles at me and shakes her head.
“Sophia, go to your room so we can get it ready; I’ll call you when you can come out.”
She jumps off the couch and takes off down the hall to her room, the door slams shut followed by her muffled yell.
“Sorry!”
Tanya snorts and bends to pick up her purse from where she placed in on the floor.
“Where’s Kayla?”
“Since we haven’t sold the apartment yet, I told her she could stay there this weekend as long as she pulls her weight as a best friend tomorrow during the dinner.”
She starts to walk over to the dining table, but I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her to me, kissing her softly on the lips.
“I missed you. I got used to seeing you for a whole week.”
Her smile is soft as she wraps her arms around my neck, her purse bumping my back.
“I missed you too. My bed has been lonely.”
Groaning, I bury my face in her neck and just breathe her in.
A muffled little voice makes us laugh and pull apart.
“Are you done?!”
Tanya walks over to the table and sets her purse down.
“Almost!”
I lean back on the table and cross my arms.
“So, what are we doing to tell her?”
She pulls a small box out of her purse and places it on the table, gesturing with her hands toward it.
“This. I looked it up on Pinterest and got the idea. Inside of it is a pink and blue cupcake with a little sign on it that says Best Big Sister and confetti around it, and I got a card that says, ‘promoted to big sister,’ and I figure you can write something in it for us both.”
She pulls the card out and hands it to me. It’s a cute little pink card, the front says Promoted to Big Sister, like Tanya said, and when you open it, there is a sweet cartoon picture of a little girl holding the hand of a baby.
I grab a pen I can see sticking out of her purse and sit down to write in it.
Sophia,
You are going to be the best big sister. There is no one like you , and Mommy and Daddy will always love you so much.
Love , Daddy and Mommy
Tanya reads it over my shoulder and nods.
“Okay, ready?”
She nods and sets the box and card on the table in front of one of the chairs while I call out to Soph.
“Come on out, Soph!”
The door to her bedroom flies open, and she comes tearing through the apartment. I point her to the chair, and she sits, bouncing while she waits for us to give her the go ahead to open the box.
“Go ahead.”
She snatches the box first, and Tanya has to show her how to open it. Her brows furrow at the cupcake.
“Best Big Sister? I’m not a big sister?”
Before either of us can respond, her eyes light up.
“Am I going to be a big sister?!”
That’s a good sign.
“You are.”
I hand her the card, and she opens it and reads it slowly. Her reading has gotten better, but it still takes her some time to read something.
“I’m going to be a big sister!”
She gets down from the chair and starts jumping up and down. Tanya and I laugh, and I can see her sigh of relief. I laugh as Sophia jumps about the room, and that feeling that my life is exactly as it should be hits me again.
I’m relieved that she’s so happy about this. She stops jumping around and turns to look at us.
“Is it a girl or boy?”
Tanya sits down on one of the chairs and pulls her to her lap.
“We don’t know yet. The baby is too little, and it’s too early for us to tell.”
I sit in a chair next to them and turn it to face them.
“Wanna know another secret, though?” Sophia turns quickly to face me.
“Yeah.”
I smile at her and whisper.
“Daddy already knows what the baby is.”
She gasps and covers her mouth.
“What is it?” she whispers like it’s the biggest secret ever.
“A boy.”
“Wait a minute. Daddy does not know what the baby is, this is just what he wants it to be. It could be a girl.”
She looks between us, and I smile at Tanya.
“I agree with Daddy. It’s a boy.”
She says it with so much conviction I laugh, and Tanya just rolls her eyes.
Life is perfect.
Yesterday, after Tanya and I told Sophia about the baby, the three of us spent the afternoon together until it was time for our reservation at my favorite pizza place. Tanya seemed a lot more relaxed with Kayla around, and I loved to see her that way. It was nice to get to know Kayla more, and all through dinner, I could see the bond the three of them had developed over the years.
It made me feel more comfortable about the dinner tonight. As the time for people to show gets closer and closer, I can tell Tanya gets more and more tense.
The three of them are downstairs in the other apartment, getting ready, while I’m up here in my apartment getting dressed and waiting for the guests to arrive. It’s going to be a small dinner, only about ten of us or so. The four of us, my parents, Josh, Victoria, and her parents. I’m not sure how Tanya is going to feel about Victoria being here, but I knew that if I invited the DeWitts, then she would be coming too. Her parents and mine are close, and I have to keep the peace. I have a feeling that even if I made a point to not invite her, she would show up anyway.
I make my way down the hallway to the living room while I roll up my shirt sleeves, and I can hear Sophia’s voice. The three of them are sitting on the couch, wearing dresses and ready for dinner when I get to the end of the hallway.
“You three look nice. Everyone ready?”
They all nod, and I hold my arm up to Tanya. “Help me out?”
She stands and I meet her halfway behind the couch so she can roll my sleeve up to my elbow for me. We stand close, and as she works on my sleeves, I stare down at her beautiful face. She’s got her hair up, some wispy pieces falling around her face. Her makeup is light, and she’s wearing a black dress that comes to mid thigh on her and has short sleeves and a square neckline that shows off all of her perfect curves.
“You look stunning, baby.”
She smiles up at me as she finishes with my sleeve, and I can’t help but lean in and kiss her nose.
“You clean up pretty well yourself.”
I chuckle at her cuteness. I hope that even with everyone coming tonight, she will be able to keep this easygoing attitude. It makes me realize that I need to warn her about Victoria. They didn’t seem to have the best reaction to each other at the gala, and to be honest, they didn’t really get along before the accident either.
“Do you remember meeting Victoria at the art gallery?”
She grimaces, and I take it as a bad sign for what’s to come later.
“The woman who was convinced you went there for her? The one who couldn’t keep her hands off of you? The one who knows me and was less than thrilled to see me after disappearing for nine years?”
This isn’t going to end well.
“Uh, yeah. That one. She’s coming tonight. I invited her and her parents.”
Tanya freezes before looking up at me and raising an eyebrow.
“You invited her? Why?”
She drops her hands from my arm and takes a step back.
“I had to. I told you her parents and mine are close, and I couldn’t just invite them.”
She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, the guests arrive. I hear my mother’s voice coming from the entry, she’s never been one to wait for admittance.
“Sounds like they’re here. Are you ready?”
The tense look fades from her face, and she turns pale and looks worried.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m going to be here the entire time, and everything is going to be okay. You’ll see. Everyone wants to see you, and I want you to get to know the people who were important to us before.”
I lean in closer to her and lower my voice.
“And we get to tell everyone about our little boy.”
Some color returns to her face as she rolls her eyes.
“Or girl. I’m telling you, if you keep it up, the baby is going to come out a girl, and you’ll have to eat your words.”
I smile at her, but everyone enters the room before I can say more.
“Chandler, honey, where’s my granddaughter?”
“Hi, Mom.”
I smirk at Tanya and turn to look for Sophia, who is curled into her aunt’s side looking nervous.
“Come here, sweetheart.”
Sophia gets up and slowly comes to Tanya and I. Tanya gives her a reassuring smile and holds her hand out to her. She kneels down to speak with her, and I head over to our guests.
“Hello everyone, come on in.”
I’m hoping that while they were on their way up that Mom caught them up on everything about Tanya. She walks over to my side and kisses my cheek.
“I let them all know that she doesn’t know who any of them are.”
Relief floods me. I can always count on my mom to make things better.
“Thank you. I know she’s nervous enough as it is.” I hug her quickly, then turn to everyone else.
My eyes land on Victoria first, and the person’s arm she is hanging on to makes me tense.
“Damien.”
I have no idea what he is doing here, and I don’t care, I just want him gone.
“Chandler.” He smirks at me like he knows I’m not going to make a scene.
Mom places her hand on my arm to try and get me to calm down.
“I didn’t know you two knew each other, Chandler. He is Victoria’s date for tonight. She didn’t feel comfortable coming on her own.”
I bet she didn’t.
Looking between the two, I can’t help the feeling that this whole thing was planned. Victoria smiles sweetly at me and snuggles closer into Damien’s side. I walk over and kiss her cheek quickly before turning to her parents.
“Uncle Brandon, Aunt Sarah. It’s so good to see you two.”
I shake Mr. Dewitt’s hand and kiss his wife’s cheek.
“Please, everyone, come on in.” I wave my hand for them to walk further into the room. I go to Tanya’s side and squeeze her around the waist.
“You all know Tanya. This is Tanya’s best friend, Kayla. Tanya these are my parents Darla and Jimmy, Victoria and Damien you know, and these are her parents, Brandon and Sarah. And this...”
I reach over and pick Sophia up, I know she’s probably too big for this, but as long as I’m able to, I’ll hold her in my arms.
“This is Sophia. Our daughter.”
She smiles shyly at everyone and clings to me. Everyone just stares at her, Victoria and Damien the only ones who have met her. Mom sniffles and then takes a tentative step forward.
“Hello, sweetheart. Do you know you look just like your daddy did at your age? So beautiful.”
Sophia blushes, making Mom and Aunt Sarah gush.
“Oh, what a sweetheart.”
I notice Mom’s eyes keep darting over to Tanya, and I know she’s dying to talk to her, but she doesn’t want to overstep.
“How are you, Tanya?”
She shuffles from foot to foot. “I’m well. Would anyone like a drink?”
Everyone responds in kind, and I tell them to sit as she and Kayla go to the kitchen to get the drinks from Lisa.
“It’s so good to see her. I know she doesn’t know who we are, but still.”
Uncle Brandon pats his wife’s knee as they sit.
“Hey! The party can start, I’ve arrived!”
Josh’s voice arrives before his body does, and I find that I’m annoyed with him. I haven’t talked to him since our argument over Tanya’s amnesia. I sent him a simple text to invite him to tonight’s dinner, and he replied with a thumbs up emoji.
He walks into the room and immediately goes to charm the women.
“Hello, ladies; how is everyone doing?”
He kisses them each on the cheek and shakes my dad’s and Uncle Brandon’s hands, ignoring Damien, who just laughs. He gets to Sophia, who has stuck to my side, and she stops him in his tracks when she asks, “Why do you kiss everyone?”
He blinks in surprise as my dad and I laugh.
“Well, sweetheart, it’s the way that gentlemen greet a pretty lady.”
She gives him a doubtful look and shakes her head.
“No, thank you.”
God, I love my kid.
Dad laughs louder, and Sophia lets out a small giggle in return. Josh rolls his eyes.
“She’s definitely your daughter.”
“Don’t feel bad, Joshua; she didn’t want me to kiss her hand the first time I met her either, if it makes you feel better.”
Josh grunts. “It doesn’t, she shouldn’t want you to touch her.”
Tanya and Kayla walk back into the room, each carrying a tray with drinks on it. Josh straightens and goes tense at the sight of Tanya, and I don’t like the reaction. They hand out the drinks, and when Tanya turns to greet Josh, she pauses as a confused look takes over her face.
“Hello.”
She holds the tray in front of her, and Josh just nods at her.
“Josh.” He faces me when I call his name, and it breaks whatever weird spell took over him.
Lisa comes out of the kitchen and announces that dinner is ready. Everyone moves to the dining room, and as we sit around the table, I look at Tanya to see if she’s ready. She gives me a small nod, and once everyone is settled, I stand back up and grab my drink.
“So, there is another reason that we wanted to have this dinner with you all. We have news we would like to share with you.”
Tanya is sitting next to me, and I reach over to take her hand in mine, smiling down at her; she gives me a weak one back, and I want to ask her what’s wrong, but everyone is waiting for the news. I stare at her another moment, then turn back to the table.
“We’re having another baby.”
Mom gasps and Aunt Sarah covers her mouth.
“That’s great news, son. Definitely a boy this time; I can tell.”
I point at Dad, and Tanya lets out a startled laugh that makes everyone else laugh too.
“He is definitely your son; he has been saying the same thing.”
Dad smiles at Tanya, a fond fatherly smile. I know this is hard for him; they had a close relationship before everything happened. I sit back down, and the table comes alive as everyone starts talking about babies. Sophia even joins in some, and I’m really happy to see everyone including her. Even with Damien here, I don’t think my mood could be ruined.
Lisa serves a delicious dinner with salad and baked chicken. Sitting there with every person in my life who is important to me, my beautiful daughter and her mother next to me, a child on the way, it all seems so surreal. Everyone is done eating, and I’m just sitting back, enjoying the view of everyone around the table.
“Why don’t we move to the living room? I have some gifts for someone.”
Mom winks at Sophia, and she perks up in interest, rushing out of the dining room ahead of everyone.
We all follow, and as we are walking through the threshold, I reach back and take hold of Tanya’s hand. She smiles at me, but again, it’s off.
“Hey, you okay?”
“I’m fine; just a bit of a headache. You go out there. I’m going to run to the restroom.”
I study her face. Something is off, and I can’t figure out what, but I just kiss her head and go to the living room with everyone else. Something has been off with her all day, and I’m worried that maybe this dinner was too much.
“So, Chandler, have you decided to give up and give me the Delaney client?”
I glare at Damien. “Now is not the time for business. The only reason you are still here is because Victoria invited you.”
I’ve done my best all night to ignore him, and if he starts something now, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to handle it. He looks like he’s about to say something, but Mom interrupts him.
“Here you go, sweetie!”
We all turn to watch Sophia open the gifts my parents brought her, and I see Josh out of the corner of my eye, sneaking off down the hall. I’m distracted as I watch the way he just went. It’s in the same direction Tanya went, and the fact that he didn’t say anything and seemingly didn’t want anyone to know, makes me nervous.
It takes ten minutes for them both to emerge from the hallway. Josh looks angry and Tanya looks pale. I get up and rush over to them as Josh puts on a happy fake smile.
“Hey, man. Congrats on the new baby, and I guess on the first one too.”
He slaps me on the back and walks past me, too quickly for me to say anything. I turn to Tanya, and she avoids my eyes.
“What did he say to you?”
“Nothing, we just ran into each other at the door of the bathroom.”
“Then why are you so pale?”
I cup her face in my hands, and she smiles at me as she takes hold of my wrists.
“I’m fine; just tired and the headache. Don’t worry; let’s go back out there.”
She kisses my palm and walks past me as well. I follow behind her and keep an eye on her the rest of the night. Something is off with her, but I don’t know what it is, and I don’t want to make her uncomfortable in front of everyone.
I will find out what Josh said to her, though. I know he said something.