Chapter Sixteen
They were married on one of the terraces with the ocean behind them. The judge performed a quick, straightforward ceremony while the Silvas acted as their witnesses. Mara held Julia until the baby began to fuss. Agustin swept in and took Julia from Mara as he said his I do.
It felt symbolic, in a way. They were not just promising themselves to each other under the law, but they were also promising themselves to the children they would now share.
Perhaps he had not planned on marriage and a family, but Felipe’s death had brought forth the idea of marriage, and then Julia’s existence had introduced children. Agustin liked the way these things seemed to round out his life.
He was not sure he had ever felt quite so settled, quite so sure.
It felt somewhat similar to inheriting Sosten earlier than he’d imagined.
He was prepared. He knew what he wanted from the opportunity.
It would require dedication and hard work and feeling a little out of his element at times, but he could only truly be out of his element if he allowed himself to be.
He was not a young man anymore. So he had more skill, more determination this time around. And he would use everything he was and everything he had to ensure his and Felipe’s children were given everything.
But what of his bride?
He had left her in the kitchen with the Silvas while he attended to paying the judge and seeing him and the doctor off to the airstrip. Mara was still in the kitchen when he returned, sitting at the table with Julia in her lap while Senora Silva fussed over them both.
It was a very domestic scene, and he was not used to domesticity in this way…
kitchens and babies and low, pleasant conversation.
Even as a child, his family dinners had consisted of dressing up, eating a luxuriously prepared meal in the formal dining room and learning how to behave in the world they would one day be ushered into.
The schools he’d gone to had reinforced such ideals: how to behave in ballrooms and boardrooms, though he’d always been more adept in a business setting. He’d learned how to conduct himself in the ways of the wealthy and powerful.
He had never really considered that in any tangible way, except to wonder how he and Felipe had learned such different lessons from such an upbringing. But now…he looked at Mara and wondered.
She would have been brought up very differently.
Before the island, he hadn’t known much of her background, aside from what had been on her résumé and what she’d shared in her job interview.
That she had earned scholarships that allowed her to attend university, that she had worked her way up from low-level administrative jobs to all-encompassing assistant positions.
He’d appreciated the grit and tenacity, in terms of what it would mean for her to be an excellent assistant. He had not considered it from a personal perspective as he did so now, with more pieces of her background in place.
What must it have been like to scrape and scramble for every penny?
To be so determined to make it in a world she likely knew very little about.
He now knew she had five brothers and sisters, some that she had taken care of as babies, but he did not know anything about them, what she meant to them and vice versa.
He knew she had parents but nothing of them.
Except she had said she’d grown up without a father for half her childhood.
He could not imagine his life without his father’s strict, heavy expectations and guiding hand.
The man had been a dichotomy, certainly, but…
there. Always there. The only one who’d seen him for his strengths, not his weaknesses.
While Felipe and his mother had seen Agustin as aloof, cold, incomprehensible, their father had seen him for the success he would be.
What had Mara’s upbringing been like to shape her into a woman who never made a misstep? At least not one he’d seen.
She was a marvel, and he knew that he would never regret this. No matter what happened, she was the right choice for this moment.
Even if her contract was insulting. Most of it had been assurances about keeping him tied to the children. As if he would ever abandon them in such a way. She should know the man he was better than that.
Did it hurt that she did not? There seemed to be a physical pain in his chest that could only be described as some kind of hurt. But this was nothing new, was it? She simply misunderstood him as everyone did. Perhaps he hadn’t realized it until this moment, but at least he’d realized it.
No one ever really understood him. Everyone saw him as something a little…other. Even his father—who hadn’t looked at him like some alien form like his mother and brother had—hadn’t known quite what to do with Agustin’s resistance to certain predatory business practices.
So Agustin had learned to keep to himself, do what needed to be done and live with any and all consequences. He did not get bent out of shape about that which he could not change.
He simply bent everything else to his will.
But as he stared at Mara, smiling down at the baby, he knew she would not bend to his will. So perhaps…perhaps they would have to bend to each other’s. Even if she did not understand him.
Julia was the first to spot him. She made one of her squealing noises, her mouth opening into a smile. There was something about it that squeezed his heart into a vise every time, and he might have stepped away from it, but he saw Felipe in her. He saw hope in her.
“My mother will arrive tomorrow morning,” he announced, moving into the kitchen.
“We will give her a few days here with Julia before the news breaks.” He took the babbling baby into his arms. “We will tell her of our news, and we will work on our media plan for when we return to the mainland next week.”
Mara frowned slightly, tapped her phone on the table and looked at the screen. “I have not heard from your mother’s assistant. Should I reach out to coordinate her arrival?”
“Miguel is handling everything for this trip,” Agustin replied, referring to his mother’s assistant. “You needn’t worry over anything. It is handled.”
“But it is my job. A job which I intend to continue, regardless of my condition or our marriage. I have no expectation that I will leave my position,” she said very firmly.
A bit of an overreaction all in all. Like she was itching for a fight. Or just expecting the worst of him.
“Nor do I,” he replied equitably, trying to think about the facts over his feelings.
“But you will need to take a leave when you have the baby, and you will need to scale back your hours in order to help care for the children, I assume. If you are wanting to continue to work full-time after your maternity leave, this is certainly a discussion we will have and decide together how that will look. For the children.”
She blinked at him, once again as if taken aback. As if she’d expected him to behave as some kind of inflexible ogre, when even as her boss and only her boss, he’d never been that.
“We are partners now, mi esposa. You will need to stop treating me like your enemy.”
She eyed him and gave him a little nod, but he did not feel like that was any true agreement.
They returned to the mainland together. It was such a strange thing—sharing the plane with not staff but family. Julia and Senora Delgado.
Mara had never felt uncomfortable around Agustin’s mother, and even the past few days at the castle hadn’t been totally awkward.
The woman was so happy to have a piece of her late son, she’d simply doted on Julia and spent a lot of time crying.
She had vowed to be the best grandmother in the world, though based on the examples she gave, this best seemed to mean lavish the children with presents, not necessarily spend time with them.
Mara had been able to act like an assistant more than a daughter-in-law, a role she shined in. This plane ride was more odd though. They were all together in the cabin, but Agustin had busied himself with work and left Mara in charge of entertaining both his mother and his child.
It should feel like work. She always knew what to do as Agustin’s assistant to provide people what they wanted or needed, but it simply felt awkward.
Then again, she’d never been pregnant with Agustin’s child around his mother before. She hadn’t announced any disapproval, but perhaps Mara was just continually bracing herself for it.
Maybe it wouldn’t come from Senora Delgado, but it would come from someone eventually. She needed to be ready. Because as much as she’d rather avoid such things, she had two children to protect now. They would always come first, and she would always protect them above any and everything.
This was the vow she’d made to herself when she said I do to Agustin. Nothing about love or cherishing. Just that she was doing this for their children.
Julia began to fuss, likely having some trouble with her ears on the descent. Mara got to her feet to bounce the baby in an effort to soothe but wasn’t having any success, and the bouncing was making her feel a little sick.
Before she could ask Agustin’s mother to take the baby—something she was reluctant to do as Senora Delgado had refused to hold her yet on account of the expensive fabrics she wore and the sticky nature of babies—Agustin moved over.
He had his phone balanced between shoulder and ear, and still he easily plucked Julia into his arms and began to pace the cabin with her.
Senora Delgado sighed, her eyes following her son. “I never dreamed he would build a family for himself. I thought, much like his father, Sosten was the only thing he needed. And unlike his father, he would be smart enough not to tie himself down with one woman and children.”
Mara could only stare at the woman and echo what she’d just said. Surely she was misunderstanding. “Smart enough?”