22. Charlie #2
I set the phone face down, pushing away the image of her reading my message alone in her kitchen.
Sanjay enters after knocking, his usual hurricane of energy despite the early hour. "Good morning. What do we have going on this morning?" He drops into a chair across from me, carefully pushing aside a stack of reports to set down his coffee.
I don't look up from my screen. "Did you review the contractor bids for Chicago?"
"Yes, and I drafted the responses like you asked. Also finalized the hiring plan for the managerial staff." He leans forward. "What else do you need done?"
My answer is cut short by Angela's voice on the intercom. "Mr. Astor, your sister is on line one. She says it's important and she tried you on your cell but you didn’t pick up."
I frown. Jane rarely calls me at work. "I should take this."
Sanjay stands. "I'll get the conference room ready for the real estate team.”
After he leaves I take a deep breath and pick up the phone. "Jane, what's up?"
"Well, good morning to you too, big brother." Jane's voice carries its usual warmth tinged with sisterly sarcasm. "I know you're busy running your coffee empire, but I thought I'd check in."
"Just busy morning. Everything okay?"
"With me, yes. With you? I'm not so sure." Her tone shifts, a sign she's moving from pleasantries to the real reason for her call. "Have you seen Tess this week?"
I lean back in my chair, guilt tightening my chest. "We had dinner Tuesday."
"Yes. I heard you were on your phone the entire time dealing with some coffee crisis in Colombia."
"Bolivia," I correct automatically. "And it was important."
"More important than how Tess is feeling? More important than her doctor calling yesterday with concerns about her iron levels?"
My stomach drops. "What? She didn't tell me about that."
"Maybe because you've been unavailable."
I close my eyes, the weight of my avoidance sinking in. "I've been swamped with work."
"Bullshit." Jane's voice cuts sharp and clean across the line. "You're hiding. I've watched you do this for years. Whenever something scares you, you disappear into work. Dad taught you that trick, and it's the worst habit you picked up from him."
The comparison to our father stings more than she knows. "That's not fair."
"You know what's not fair? Tess going through this shock alone. Tess worrying about how to adjust her performance schedule around a twin pregnancy by herself. Tess trying to reach you and getting your voicemail."
"I haven’t been—" I check my call log. She's right. I haven't picked up Tess's calls in three days, just responded with texts. "Shit."
"Listen to me, Charlie." Jane's voice softens slightly. "I know you're scared. Anyone would be. But Tess is terrified too, and she doesn't have the luxury of burying herself in work to avoid it. Those babies are growing inside her right now, whether you're ready or not."
The truth of her words hits me with physical force. "I don't know how to do this, Jane."
"No one does. Parenting doesn't come with a manual. But you show up. You figure it out together."
"It's not just the babies," I admit, the words tumbling out now. "It's Tess. It's us. We barely know each other, really. We started as a fake relationship, for fuck’s sake. And now we're having twins? It's insane."
"Grow up, Charlie," Jane says, her voice firm but not unkind. "You have an amazing opportunity in front of you and I don't want you to fuck it up. Those babies need a father who shows up. And Tess needs a partner, not another child to worry about."
Her words land like a slap. "That's harsh."
"It's the truth. Look, I'm not saying cancel your business plans or abandon your ambitions. I'm saying make room for what matters most. Because in twenty years, you won't remember the Chicago opening or the quarterly projections. You'll remember the first time you held your children."
I'm silent, letting her words sink in.
"She wants to be with you, you know," Jane says quietly. "God knows why, but she does. And I think you want to be with her too, when you're not busy running away from your feelings."
I open my mouth to deny it, but nothing comes out. Because she's right.
"I don't know how to balance all of this," I confess.
"You're smart, Charlie. You run a multi-million dollar company. I'm pretty sure you can figure out how to be a father and a CEO."
After we hang up, I sit motionless, Jane's words replaying in my head. The conference room phone lights up—the real estate team has arrived—but I don't move. Instead, I pick up my cell phone and look at my last text to Tess. The dismissive words stare back at me accusingly.
I pull up her contact and press call instead of text. She answers on the second ring.
"Hi. Everything okay?"
The surprise in her voice when I actually call instead of text is another indictment of my behavior. "No," I answer honestly. "Everything's not okay. But I want it to be."
"What do you mean?" Her voice is cautious.
"I've been an ass this week. I've been avoiding you, avoiding us, avoiding everything that scares me by burying myself in work." I pause, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry."
The silence on the other end stretches long enough that I wonder if she's hung up.
"Tess?"
"I'm here." Her voice is soft. "I just didn't expect...thank you for saying that."
"I need to do more than say it. I need to show you. Cancel that dinner rain check. I'm coming over tonight, and I'm turning my phone off. We have a lot to talk about." I take a deep breath. "Including why you didn't tell me about your iron levels."
She sighs. "I didn't want to bother you when you were so busy."
The words twist in my chest like a knife. "That changes now. Everything about us—about me—changes now."
"I'd like that," she says, a cautious hope in her voice.
"I'll be there at six. With actual groceries to cook you a real meal." I pause, then add, "I miss you."
"I miss you too."
When we hang up, I sit straighter in my chair, a plan forming.
For the first time since hearing the word "twins," I feel something besides panic—a flickering sense of determination.
I don't know how to be a father, especially not to twins.
But I do know how to show up. And that, according to Jane, is where everything begins.