CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
Not that he wasn’t a good man. In fact, he was probably a better man than Julian. It was just that they’d had some tense exchanges over the years.
“Do you think you might be able to come to the wedding?” she asked.
“It depends on when it is, and how things are going here.”
“We haven’t settled on the exact date yet, but probably within the next month,” Angela said. “And I’d love to have you there with us. It’s just going to be small. Family and a few friends.”
Though Julian hadn’t enjoyed attending weddings over the years—and sadly, that included his own—he found he wanted to be there for Angela’s. Maybe it was something he could work towards.
“I’ll see how it goes,” Julian said, not wanting to make a promise, though he really did hope to be there.
“Did you want to see Kiara?”
“See her?” Julian asked. “Is she here?”
Angela nodded. “She’s with Jude and the other security team members in the waiting area.”
“Yes, I’d like to see her.” He glanced over at Dr. Carlisle. “Would that be okay?”
The doctor hesitated, then gave a nod. “I think that would be fine.”
“I can go get her,” Angela offered.
“We’ll have Marcus bring her,” the doctor said. “And we’ll give them a bit of privacy.”
Angela gave Julian another hug. “I hope to see you again soon.”
“Julian,” his dad said, holding out his hand. “We’ll talk again.”
Though he took Duncan’s hand and gave it a firm shake, Julian still had mixed feelings about the man. Even more mixed than he’d already had. He didn’t know if that would ever not be the case.
Once they’d left the office, Julian pressed his palms against his jeans. He wasn’t sure why he was nervous about seeing Kiara, but he was.
Would she be as understanding and forgiving as Angela had been? Though what he’d done hadn’t impacted Kiara, it had impacted someone she loved very much. She might have a different outlook on things than Angela.
When the door swung open again, Kiara came into the room, and the man with her shut the door behind her, leaving just the two of them in the quiet of the office.
“Hey!” She gave him a smile as she walked toward him. The smile faded as she got closer. “You look terrible.”
Julian lifted his brows at her and gave a huff of laughter. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t mean anything bad by it,” she said, lifting her hand to cup his cheek briefly. “Just that you look really tired.”
“I am,” he admitted. “Between getting sober and now all of this, I haven’t been sleeping well.”
“How did things go with Angie?”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“I figured she wanted to come here to tell you she forgave you.”
“Yes, she did. Does that surprise you?”
“Not at all,” Kiara said. “That’s the sort of person Angie is.”
Julian put his hands into his pockets. “How do you feel about what I did?”
“I’m not angry with you,” Kiara said as she crossed her arms loosely. “It’s not really my place to forgive you. Plus, I’m kind of selfish in this situation.”
“What do you mean?”
Kiara lowered her gaze to the floor. “If you hadn’t done what you did, Angie never would have come into my life.
” She looked back up at him. “And I needed her in order to survive the way my life was growing up. In a harsh and unloving world, she brought a gentleness and love that I desperately needed.”
“And you protected her in exchange,” Julian observed.
Kiara nodded. “Yes. She gave me something I needed, so the least I could do was give her what she needed. And I’ll always give her that. I love her, and I’m grateful that she’s in my life.”
“She’s stronger than I thought she was,” Julian observed, as he gestured to the chairs by Dr. Carlisle’s desk.
After they were seated, Kiara said, “I would say a lot of that strength has come from her becoming a Christian.”
“Really?”
Kiara nodded. “She gained some sort of confidence after she made that decision. Not that she takes on everything without fear or apprehension. It was just that she somehow finds the strength somewhere to tackle those difficult situations head-on.”
“I’m grateful she offered forgiveness when she didn’t have to.”
“I think the only people she might struggle to forgive are Jim and maybe Sandra. But even then, she’d try.”
Julian was fine talking about Angela. But given their limited time, he wanted to know how Kiara was doing. How the baby was doing.
“How are you feeling these days?” he asked.
Her hand went to her stomach. “I have good and bad moments, but the good are gradually becoming more than the bad.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Have you felt him move yet?”
“No, not yet,” she said. “Or at least not that I’ve recognized as movement. Given I’m dealing with nausea, I might be missing his early kicks.”
“I’m sure there will come a time when you’ll know for certain.”
“Definitely.” Grinning, she got to her feet and turned sideways. She smoothed her blouse against her stomach. “The growing belly is a pretty good indication that he’s getting bigger.”
Julian stared at the slight swelling of her stomach. Though she hadn’t been thin prior to getting pregnant, it was still clear that the bump was from the pregnancy.
Leaning forward, he reached out but then stopped himself. They didn’t have the type of marriage where he could touch her growing belly without permission.
But then Kiara moved closer to him, took his hand, and placed it on her belly. “You won’t feel any movements, but feel how firm it is. It’s kind of weird.”
It was, but in a good way. In an amazing way. That was his son growing inside her. Julian might never have planned to have children. But now that he knew he was going to become a parent someday soon, he was glad, in a way, that the choice had been taken from him.
As he stared at his hand, splayed across Kiara’s belly, Julian knew that he owed his son a sober father.
Kiara would probably have their son most of the time, but Julian resolved to be a good dad and to be there as often as he could be.
Maybe it was time to take Duncan up on the offer to build a place for himself on the estate.
There was a light knock on the door, then the doctor poked his head in. “You need to finish up soon, Julian.”
Julian nodded as he moved his hand from Kiara’s stomach. “Just give us a couple more minutes.” As the door shut again, Julian got to his feet. “Thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it.”
Kiara smiled. “I’m glad I could be here. When Angie said she wanted me to come with her, I had no problem agreeing.”
He was glad for everything that had transpired over the past hour. It helped him focus on what was important.
Together, they walked to the door and left the office. Dr Carlisle was waiting in the hallway. “We can go to the waiting area so you can say goodbye to your family.”
When they reached the room, Julian saw his dad sitting with Elizabeth, while Jude had his arm around Angela where they sat. All of them stood up as he and Kiara walked into the room.
“Thank you again for coming,” Julian said, addressing his comments mainly to Angela. “I really appreciate it.”
Angela came over to Julian and gave him another hug. “I’m glad I could come. I’ll be praying for you, and I hope to see you at the wedding.”
“I’ll try my best to be there.” Julian gave her a light squeeze, then let her go.
Next, he took the hand Jude held out to him and gave it a firm shake.
“I’ll be praying for you as well,” Jude said, his expression serious.
“Thank you.”
“Take care of yourself, son,” Duncan said as he approached him with Elizabeth at his side. “I apologize again for my reaction yesterday. I understand it might take you time to forgive me, but I hope we can have a conversation again in the near future.”
Julian took the hand he offered and nodded. He still had mixed feelings about his interaction with Duncan the previous day, but hopefully Dr. Carlisle would be able to help him work through it before they had that conversation.
As the others walked toward the exit, Julian turned to Kiara. When she moved closer to him with her arms open, he didn’t hesitate to gather her close. He held her for a long moment, then released her.
“Here,” she said as she stepped back. He looked down to see that she was holding out an envelope. “I wrote it not knowing if I’d see you, but you might as well read it.”
“Thanks.” Julian took it with a smile. “I’ll write you back. I promise.”
“I look forward to it.”
As he watched them walk through the door, Julian felt a sense of… calm. The despair that had been filling him had receded, but it wasn’t completely gone. He knew he still had a lot of work to do, but after the visit from Angela and Kiara, he felt like he had the motivation to do the hard work.