Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
On Sunday morning, Alex opened the door of his parents’ house in Bridgehampton to Fiona and her family. Her mother—who was taller than both Fiona and her father—had her arm looped through her husband’s.
"Happy Mother's Day," he said by way of greeting. The film crew were setting up in the house where they'd be filming later. Alex was glad to have this moment to meet Fiona's parents untapped.
“You must be Alex,” she said. “I’m Siobhan and this is my husband, Neil. We’ve heard so much about you from Fiona.”
“All good I hope,” he said, stepping back so they could enter. Her parents stepped inside and when Fiona came close to him, Bella Ann held her arms out to him.
He reached over to take the little girl, dropping a kiss on her forehead before leaning over to give Fiona a kiss. “My parents are waiting for you in the conservatory along with the film crew. With the weather the way it is today, we decided an indoor brunch would be better.”
“Of course,” Siobhan said.
Alex handed Bella Ann back to Fiona and led the way to the conservatory.
His mom and dad were waiting to meet Fiona’s parents.
When his mom had heard he was dating a fashion designer and that her mom was a famous model, she’d joked that she’d really need to get dressed up to compete this Mother’s Day.
Seeing his parents nervously standing there made him realize two things—how much he loved them for doing this for him and just how different he and Fiona were.
Was he really going to try to make this work with her?
He felt as if he was losing his focus on this relationship.
He’d thought once they had sex maybe the physical side of things wouldn’t be as demanding and he could concentrate on other parts of the relationship, but that hadn’t happened.
She’d spent the night at his place in the city after her fashion show and he’d held her tightly all night, afraid to let her go.
And now she was here and he saw they were from completely different worlds, despite his success and wealth.
His parents were dressed casually in Ralph Laurenwhile her parents looked like they’d just stepped off a jet from Milan.
Yet when he caught Siobhan looking at Fiona, he saw the same love and concern he often observed in his own mother’s eyes.
Appearances aside, perhaps they weren’t that different after all.
Willow bustled into the room and made sure that everyone was ready to be filmed. Then stepped back and said, "Action!"
“Mr. and Mrs. McCaw, these are my parents Marlene and Dan Cannon.” Alex paused, then turned to Fiona and the baby and smiled. “Mom, Dad, this is Fiona and Bella Ann.”
Their parents starting talking among themselves. His dad took Neil McCaw over to the bar to mix drinks while his mom reached for Bella Ann.
“What a pretty baby. Can I hold her?” Marlene asked.
“Yes,” Fiona said.
The two moms—Fiona’s and Alex’s—walked away, chattering happily about babies. “My mom was so worried she’d have nothing to say to your mom.”
“Mine, too,” Fiona said.
“Why?”
“People always think she’s going to be cold or aloof, so she worries how she’ll come across. Honestly, that woman has more hang-ups than I do.”
“I saw some of your hang-ups the other night,” he said. “I’m sorry I talked to the critic. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s okay. He was right, but then so were you. I really wanted him to love it and for the fashion world to think that nothing had changed for me,” she said. “But everything has.”
“Has it?”
“Yes. Even the parts of my life that I thought wouldn’t be changed,” she said.
“Have I influenced that change?” he asked, needing to know more about what she was thinking.
But what he really wanted to know was the one thing every man knew not to ask.
Did she love him? Did she see a future for them together?
Because that was what he truly wanted. He knew it and he also knew that it was only a matter of time before he had to ask her to marry him.
“A little bit. You’re changing me now and I think I’m changing you as well,” she said.
“Do you mind that?” he asked.
“I’m not sure yet.”
“I . . . I had a new idea for a video game based on your fashion show the other night,” he said.
“You’re kidding . . . what happens? Do mercenaries crash the fashion show and first-person-shoot the critics?” she asked with a laugh.
He laughed with her; pleased that she’d remembered what his other game was about. “Not exactly. I think you might be too bloodthirsty when it comes to critics to design a game involving them.”
“Perhaps,” she said, with a quick grin. “What’s the game about?”
“It’s a social media type game where the user buys a design house and uses fabrics and clothing to create a line and then sell their creations to make money. I might need your input on some of the elements.”
“I’d love to help you with it,” she said. “I like the idea of us doing things together.”
“Me, too,” he said. “I really like you, Fiona.”
She gave him one of those shrewd looks of hers. “Me, too. In fact, I—”
“Alex and Fiona, come and join us for brunch. Everything is ready,” his mom said.
Alex chafed at the interruption. He wanted to know what else Fiona was going to say. But he put his hand on the small of her back and directed her to the table. His mom smiled over at him; seeing how happy she was, he let his annoyance fade away.
He’d find out what Fiona had on her mind later when they were alone. Right now he wanted to enjoy this celebration of Mother’s Day with the women who were important in his life. He knew that things were far from solid between him and Fiona, but he couldn’t help feeling that they were getting there.
He was definitely going to ask her to marry him and despite his not knowing how to be a father, he knew he would be a good one to Bella Ann because he loved her.
He couldn’t imagine his life without Fiona and Bella Ann in it and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that they stayed with him.
Filming ended after the meal and the crew left them alone.
Fiona had been trying all day to tell Alex that she loved him.
It had taken her no time at all to realize that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him when he came to her defense at the fashion show the other night. But that was just one of the reasons.
She also admitted that she fell a little in love with him when he told her he didn’t know how to be a parent. And in the quiet of the night when he’d held her he had whispered that he was afraid to care too much for her and Bella Ann in case he lost them both.
She’d accepted the offer of a ride home from him so they could be alone. Just their little family, she thought. Alex had gone out and purchased a Porsche Cayenne because he’d said he was going to need a bigger car as long as they were together.
“Brunch was so nice today,” she said to keep from blurting out her feelings. “Your mom is really sweet. I can tell she’s ready for you to settle down. She told me that you have resisted her best matchmaking efforts.”
“Well, she is definitely not a professional like Mona at Matchmakers, Inc. Seemed to me her only criterion for my potential mate was that she was female and the daughter of a friend.”
Fiona laughed, but inside she wondered what Marlene really thought about her. She was definitely not the girl next door and never had been. Her life had been chaotic—after-school activities had been replaced by photo shoots and midweek jaunts to Paris or Milan.
“I am female so I have that going for me,” she said.
“You have everything going for you,” he said. “You aren’t at all the woman I pictured in my future and yet at the same time you’ve become the only woman I can see myself with.”
She reached over and caressed his thigh while he was driving. It was late afternoon and the traffic wasn’t too bad. It felt so safe in the car with him. She realized that there was a level of competency to everything that Alex did. He was confident in all his abilities.
“Me, too. I didn’t expect you to be the man for me,” she said almost to herself.
“Believe me, I’m perfectly aware of that,” he said. “What changed your mind?”
She pretended to think about it because she really didn’t have an answer.
He was just so right for Bella Ann—even her mother had said that he would make a good father to her daughter.
But that was for Bella and not for her. Fiona didn’t know what made him right for her. She wasn’t too sure he was “right.”
“I don’t know.”
He glanced over at her and then back at the road. “What do you mean by that?”
She shrugged, but then realized he couldn’t see the gesture. “I’m not sure what I mean. I only know that you’ll be a good father to my daughter and that was the most important criterion for me when I went to the matchmaker.”
“Aren’t we good together?” he asked.
“We are. We are more than compatible in bed. That was on my list,” she said.
“Mine, too,” he acknowledged. “Is it my sense of style?”
“Well, you are a little conservative, but that suits you, so I wouldn’t change that.”
“What is it then?”
Suddenly she realized that she was afraid she wasn’t enough for Alex.
That the problems she saw all had to do with her and not him.
Could she be as good at parenting as he would be?
She knew he’d only get better at it. Could she find a way to fit into his life as easily as he had fit into hers?
She didn’t think so. She barely understood what he did.
“It’s me,” she said.
He cursed and started to slow the car as traffic got heavier while they changed highways to head toward Brooklyn and her home there.
“Is this one of those ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ talks?” he asked her.
“No. It really is me. You’ve found a way to make all the little details of my life work with yours. I don’t know if I can do that for you. I’m not sure I understand enough about your job to talk about it at a dinner party.”
“You’ll do fine,” he said, pulling to a stop in front of her newly renovated brownstone in Park Slope. “Is that really your only concern?”
“Yes, I think it is,” she said.
He leaned across the seat and kissed her softly and surely. “That’s nothing. I don’t socialize that much. You and Bella are the most important things to me. As long as I have the two of you, I’ll be great.”
She wanted to believe him, but she knew she hadn’t been enough for Gio and he’d left her and the baby.
And they’d had everything in common. She reached into the backseat and unfastened Bella’s safety belt.
Alex got out of the car and came around to open her door before getting Bella out of her seat in back. He handed the baby to her.
“I don’t know how to convince you,” he said.
“I don’t know if you can,” she admitted. She started walking toward her front door while Alex finished removing the car seat.
As Alex brought the rest of the baby’s stuff in and put it on the hallway floor, Fiona knew she was losing him and that she should say something to make him stay with her. But she didn’t want to be a mistake for Alex or to make an even bigger one for Bella Ann.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what this is really all about, but I think you’re wrong.”
She didn’t say anything and just stared at her for another minute. “Fine. I guess I’ll see you at the next taped date.”
“Yes.”
He walked out the door and she knew that nothing would ever be the same between them again.