Chapter 31
May
After Lara punched her sister in the mouth and the awful woman ran away, Sophia’s water broke, and she went into labor. The comedic horror of the moment is still in my mind.
“I thought it was just back pain!”
“Yes, Sparta! Labor pain! I’m going to spank your ass after you give birth.”
“Spanking is what got us into this in the first place, Park!”
My brother smiled and kissed his fiancée. “You’re right. We should save the spanking for baby number two. I’m thinking about next year.”
Sophia gripped my hand firmly on the other side as I helped her into the senior center to wait for the ambulance. “Nope. No more for a few years.”
“But you love it when I come insi—”
“Stop!” I shouted, totally grossed out, refusing to let Jace finish.
Hours later, my niece Valentina Marie Park was born, and I was in heaven.
She was utter perfection, with a cap of dark black hair and what appeared to be Jace’s green eyes, but I couldn’t be certain.
She’s been asleep half the time. After Sophia gave birth, all the ladies and I headed home to rest, but I couldn’t resist showing up early the next day.
I just walked in a few minutes ago, eager to hold Valentina.
Knocking on the door, I hear Sophia’s clear call to come in.
Peering around the door, my eyes zero in on the new family.
Sophia looks gorgeous, tired but still beautiful.
Her short curly bob is wet, and she’s dressed in a stunning red robe.
She smiles when she sees me, lotioning her arms with what I know is her favorite lemon verbena lotion. I pause, struck for a second because it smells smoky, like a cigar. It smells familiar, and my body reacts immediately.
It’s him.
I’d know his scent anywhere. Looking around, I expect to spot the very man, brooding in the corner, but there’s only Jace, hovering over the clear plastic hospital bassinet where Valentina is wrapped up like a burrito.
He touches her soft cheek repeatedly, cooing at her, his handsome face filled with adoration.
My brain is playing tricks on me to think that Stone would be here. He’s not exactly the warm, cuddle-a-baby type, but then again, do I really know that? I know next to nothing about him, except that he makes me horny, is rude as fuck, and tattoos for a living.
“Hey.”
Jace looks up and smiles, coming over to give me a hug. He lifts me off the floor, crushing the gift bag and grocery bag in my hand.
“Put me down you idiot! You’ll crush what I brought.”
He kisses my cheek, the grin on his face infectious. “Hi aunt.”
I respond in kind. “Hi dad.”
“God, I fucking love hearing that. I’m a dad. Can you believe it, Cam? Me? A dad.”
“I can believe it. She looks just like you.”
He turns away and walks back over to the hospital bassinet and leans over it again, no longer paying me any attention.
“Has he been like this all day?” I ask, heading over to Sophia and leaning down to offer her a huge hug, mindful of her tummy, which I know is probably still tender.
“Yup.” She grins. “She’s going to wrap him around her finger and I can’t wait.”
Seeing as how my brother is two inches from Valentina’s face, talking like a two-year-old, I can see it.
“You’re here early.”
“I was itching to see her and you.” I place my gift bags gently on her lap and open them, handing her what I brought. Her squeal makes me happy.
“I fucking love you, you know that, right!?” Sophia sings songs as she greedily opens the plastic container. The smell of fresh sushi greets me, and I watch her clap enthusiastically while she looks over the colorful array of options.
“I know it’s early, but I figured you deserved a treat.”
“It’s never too early for sushi!”
“Dammit, Camryn, you stole my idea!” Jace pouts, coming over and peering down at Sophia’s substantial tray of sushi and sashimi.
Laughing, I watch as Sophia quickly mixes ginger and wasabi into her soy sauce cup with a chopstick.
“You snooze, you lose, Park.” She pops a piece in her mouth, talking around the bite. “God, I missed this.” Her eyes close in bliss, and she smiles. “Best soon to be sister-in-law in the world.”
Her statement warms my heart, and I squeeze her knee. “I’m glad you like it. I know you love flowers too, but I figured you’d get plenty of those.” Looking around, I see at least a dozen arrangements.
“Yeah.” She starts to tear up. “It’s been so nice. Everyone has been so sweet. I’m not used to it.” She sniffs and sets down her chopsticks. “And I’m crying like a little bitch about everything.” I spot her tissue box and hand her a tissue. She blows her nose loudly. “I’m a freaking mom.”
Jace takes the tissue from her hand and wipes her still-wet cheeks. “I give you flowers all the time, Sparta.”
“I know, but I’m having sex with you. I never thought I could have kids you know? And here I am. I’m a freaking mom, Camryn.”
“And you’re going to be great.”
“Damn right. I love her so fucking much.” Sophia stares at Jace as he picks up Valentina, rocking the baby. She sniffs again, picking back up her chopsticks, offering me a watery smile. “So how’s it going? We didn’t get a chance to talk about everything.”
‘Everything,’ meaning how it’s going with the gallery and my father.
The last time we really talked about my life was the day we had Christmas brunch at my father’s house with her, Jace, and Adam.
As soon as I sat down, my father’s expression turned sour.
The sting of his words still burns. “All the wasted time and funds. To pursue something that has no meaning.” Sophia’s comforting touch on my knee was all that kept me from breaking down in tears. Our recent brunch was no better.
I wasn’t expecting much from him, and he delivered, ignoring me even as I invited him and Adam to the grand opening of my studio this July.
My father didn’t say a word, and Adam harshly told me he would come and visit whenever it was ready.
I knew Adam’s anger wasn’t directed at me, but at our father and his silence.
Either way, I felt caught in the middle, unable to eat, my stomach tense the entire time.
Oddly enough, it was the smell of Stone’s jacket and the feel of his ring between my breasts that calmed me down.
Sighing, I finally answer Sophia. “It wasn’t the worst brunch, but you know how it is. I’m used to him ignoring me.”
“I wish I could knock some sense into him.”
“Well you’ve done more than you know. At least now Adam comes around and my father keeps the worst of his comments to himself.”
“Doesn’t matter. I just can’t get over it.
All his children are wildly successful in their own way.
Adam is killing it as CEO of Park Industries.
” She chews furiously, pointing toward Jace by the window with a chopstick.
The man is now humming to his daughter. “Jace is thriving. His work is genius-level.”
Jace lifts his head, beaming with pride. “How long until I can make love to you again?”
Sophia winks at him and then turns back to me, pointing. “And you’re living your dream. I know you’re going to succeed. You are too stubborn not to. He acts like you guys are failing. It’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen.”
Sophia is one of the few women my father genuinely respects. She’s brash and tells him to shut the fuck up more often than not. I miss having her as a buffer between my father and me.
Adam’s method with Tae Park is to bristle and ice him out.
Jace jokes and otherwise pretends to humor my father’s dictates while doing the opposite.
Sophia challenges telling him the unvarnished truth.
But me? I just sit there feeling a whirlwind of emotions that I know stem from my childhood.
Hating him and the perfection I thought I had to achieve to make him see me, be proud of me.
For years, during my time in boarding school, I made a plan to become a top surgeon.
One of the best, so he would finally accept me, but it didn’t work out, and I craved my art too much, hating every second spent in medical school.
“It’s just his way,” I reply, trying to shrug off the disappointment. “Has he been to see the baby yet?”
“He’s coming by later. With his nurse,” she adds, rolling her eyes.
“I’ll bet he hates that.”
Jace responds without looking up from Valentina. “You know it. The bastard hates to look weak, but he has no choice. Chemo is kicking his obstinate ass.”
The small part of me that still loves my father aches for what he’s going through. He’s so sick, and as much as I wish he would let me in, I know he never will. He’s too emotionless to care what I think or how I feel.
The sound of the baby fussing makes me look up as Jace cuddles his new daughter. He brings her over to Sophia. Sophia removes the sushi, setting it on the rolling table next to her. She sanitizes, reaching out for her daughter.
“Hi, love. Are you hungry?”
Jace helps settle her onto Sophia’s chest, while Sophia bares her breast. Valentina roots around, and Sophia winces when she latches.
“Ow. Jesus, little girl. So greedy.”
“She takes after her dad when it comes to your tits, Sparta.”
“Oh my god.” I lean away from him as he bends down to Sophia, nuzzling her neck. “You are so weird.”
“Don’t traumatize your sister, Park. Go get me something cute from the gift store.”
He lifts his head. “You know how expensive those things are?”
“And you’re rich.” Sophia raises an eyebrow. “I want to talk to Cam alone.”
“Why?”
“I swear to god, will you go? Make sure whatever you buy is expensive. I just pushed out your 8 lb daughter.”
“I already said thank you.”
“Keep the thanks coming. Go.”
I turn my back when Jace holds her face gently and kisses her passionately, softly.
“I’ll thank you until my dying day. I love you.”
Sophia’s soft I love you reaches my ears, and again I feel the pang of envy.