Chapter 14 #2
“Not with her. Your mom told me a little bit about her family and it seems like she has her own issues to sort out,” his dad said.
“And you’ll figure out how to move on. But your mom and I think you should raise the baby.
We will help you. Your brothers will help you.
And that child will probably help you, too. ”
Alec leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees and then his face in his hands.
Raise the baby? That’s what Scarlet wanted and he honestly had been so consumed by her rejection he hadn’t spent much time allowing himself to think about the baby.
But now that his father said it like that, he hated the thought of a Velasquez being raised by anyone else.
He wasn’t sure what he was doing but he’d figure it out.
“Okay,” he said at last. “I’m not going to pretend I know what I’m doing but I’ll let Ethan know I want custody.”
“Good. Now about the girl,” his father said, pouring two more shots of tequila. “What can we do there?”
“I don’t know, Dad,” Alec said. “She said she’s not good at relationships. Hell, I’m not a poster boy for them, either.”
“No, you’re not. Maybe you need to show her what it would mean, being in a relationship with you.”
His father had a cagey look on his face and Alec wasn’t sure what his father had in mind.
“How?”
“Your mom’s going to kill me for suggesting this, but why don’t you move to New York and make sure she knows you’re there.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to seem like a desperate loser,” Alec said.
“Don’t, then. Be there for the pregnancy and the baby. That’s it. Once she sees you, she’ll change her mind.”
“I’m not so sure. I love her but is that enough to convince her?”
His dad smacked him on the back of the head. “Dammit, Alejandro. Love is the most powerful thing in the world. You just keep loving her until she realizes she loves you back.”
“You think that will work?” he asked his father. Though he had seen firsthand how Diego and Mauricio had both won the women they loved.
“How do you think I won your mom over? She wanted a city slicker, not a horse rancher. Not even one who played polo. But I wore her down. Just kept asking her to marry me until she said yes.”
Alec shook his head. It wasn’t a bad plan, he thought. If he’d learned anything in the last six weeks, it was that his feelings for Scarlet had grown, not disappeared.
So that was it, then. He had a plan and some hope for the future.
His dad had been right about being closer to Scarlet, but not in New York.
That was her turf. He’d agree to raise the child but only if she came back here until she delivered.
That would give him the home-field advantage, and hopefully the remaining time in her pregnancy would be enough to convince her that they were stronger together.
He didn’t allow himself to lose hope. He loved her too much for that.
Scarlet wasn’t feeling it today but her film crew was due to arrive any minute.
Since the shows were all filmed six months before they aired, she’d asked the crew and the film company to keep her pregnancy under wraps.
And they agreed. She needed to figure out the situation with her child, and she needed to keep her pregnancy private to do that.
Alec still wanted them both to be involved in the baby’s life, and the longer she was carrying her child the harder it was to think of letting anyone raise the baby but Alec.
In the middle of the night she sometimes pictured herself and Alec with the baby, but then the dreams twisted into that lifeless image of Tara when she’d died.
Her partners in the subscription box business loved the idea of a wedding/bride theme, but since she was pregnant they were pushing for her to do an expectant-mother-themed one, as well.
The only problem was she didn’t want to concentrate on that.
The almost seven weeks since she’d left Cole’s Hill hadn’t been easy.
Each day she missed Alec—and how was that even possible?
She’d left friends and homes and family a million times in her life and just moved on without looking back.
Now all of a sudden she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
She had decided to communicate only through lawyers and by letter because she was afraid if she heard his voice she’d change her mind and run back to him.
And if it was just the two of them, she might risk it, but there was the baby to consider.
She put her hand on her stomach, which was definitely getting larger.
She’d taken to wearing clothes in her apartment that showed off her baby bump.
She liked the thought of the child, which was its own kind of torture.
Billie had recommended that she reconsider giving the child to Alec.
And the truth was she was reconsidering a lot.
Life wasn’t any easier now that she was back in New York.
“The film crew is here. Do you want to go down and get them?” Billie asked. “I think they want to do some outside shots.”
“Will you go for me and tell them I can’t do it today?”
“Sure, but you should probably leave the apartment. You’re going to have to at some point.”
“I know, but not yet,” she admitted. She’d been hiding away, trying to make sense of her feelings. She didn’t know what love should feel like but the way she longed for Alec, the way she missed him, made her believe this had to be something pretty close to it.
Scarlet bent down to scoop up Lulu, who was dancing around her feet. The little dog buried her face in the curve of Scarlet’s neck as Scarlet petted her.
“How about if we go for a walk in Central Park when I get back?” Billie asked. “The weather isn’t too bad today. It’s supposed to snow, which you love, and you can put a coat on so the baby bump won’t show if any paps snap a photo of you.”
She looked at her friend and assistant and saw the concern on Billie’s face. She’d also heard from Bianca, who had her baby—a little girl she’d named Aurora. Kinley, Hadley and Helena had all emailed and texted as well, just saying they missed her.
She missed them, as well.
You don’t have to miss anyone, Tara’s voice whispered through her mind. Go back to Texas.
Go back to Texas.
Was it that simple?
She stood there staring at Billie for a long minute and then nodded.
She wasn’t happy here. She knew she was due to start shooting, but for once in her life she wasn’t going to share this with the world.
Not until she won Alec back... If he’d still have her.
She was in love with him and being apart wasn’t really making her feel any better.
She had absolutely no idea how to raise a child but with Alec by her side she’d feel a lot better about trying.
“Uh, that’s a no on the park, Billie. How about if we go to Cole’s Hill instead?” Scarlet said.
“About damned time,” Billie said. “You have been miserable since you came home, and I think it’s because you love Alec.”
“I think I do, too,” Scarlet said. “Go and deal with whoever is downstairs while I call the film company to reschedule shooting and call the pilot—”
“How are you going to deal with any of that? I’m the one with the numbers,” Billie countered.
“Text them to me. Billie, I think I’m going to be a mom.”
“You are going to be a mom,” Billie said, coming over and hugging her. “And you’re going to be great. Be right back.”
Billie left the apartment and Scarlet picked up her phone and looked at the text messages. She hadn’t heard from Alec since she’d left him that night. What was she going to say?
Tell him how you feel, Tara’s voice whispered. That’s the one thing we never did in our family.
Her sister was right. It was time to do the opposite of everything that she’d learned to do in order to protect herself from being hurt. It was time to be honest about her emotions and admit she needed Alec in her life. That she wanted the family that fate had dropped in her lap.