Chapter 8
CHAPTER
EIGHT
ADELINE
ONE MONTH LATER
“This wasn’t necessary,” I say to my mom as she flits around my parents’ modest three-bedroom house, making sure everything looks presentable. “I mean, Damon’s family is—”
“I know, Adeline. They’re wealthy, but I didn’t see them planning the shower.” She takes out the dips and places them on the table. “Not to mention, you’re both trying to keep this from the media, so it’s not like I could rent a place.”
I grab a carrot and dunk it in my mom’s special dip that I love. “I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.”
She sits in the chair next to mine. “That’s understandable. This is all very unconventional.”
“Please don’t say it.” I can’t bear for her to tell me again how it’s nice to get to know a person before having their baby.
“I’m not. But having a baby is stressful. Merging families is stressful. There are a lot of changes coming your way, and I think he has a lot of growing up to do.”
“Mom…”
“Give the boy a break, Marge. He’s a professional athlete. He didn’t get there being lazy,” my dad chimes in from his recliner.
“Okay. Okay.” She holds her hands up in front of her. “I’m going to leave my opinions to myself. He did impress me at the doctor’s appointment. But I would’ve thought you might bring him around more over the last month.” She gives me her mom look.
“We’re both busy.” I shift in my seat to try to get more comfortable.
She looks down her nose at me. “It’s his offseason.”
“And need I remind you that we’re having a baby together, but we’re not a couple?
I can’t very well tell him to come to Sunday dinner.
He hasn’t missed a doctor’s appointment.
He’s taken over all the payments my insurance isn’t covering.
He came with me when I registered for this baby shower.
” I refrain from mentioning that he had not one clue what we needed and looked disinterested until we reached the toy area.
“Yeah. I just don’t know how you’re going to make it work.”
My shoulders sink. Then the doorbell rings, and I say a small prayer of thanks for the end to this conversation.
“I’ll get it.” I get off the stool and walk to the front door—waddle is more like it.
I open the door to find Damon standing there alone.
“They’re getting out of the car now, but I wanted to apologize ahead of time,” he says rapidly.
“What? Why?”
“My dad demanded we come early so we could all have a sit-down. You, your parents, me, and my parents.”
I cross my arms. “What are we, like, fifteen?”
“Exactly.” He rolls his eyes.
“Damon, I raised you better than this. Why’d you just rush off—oh…
” A blonde woman turns the corner of the house onto the pathway and comes into view.
She has a long gray wool coat belted around her slim waist, slacks, and heels.
Beautiful diamond earrings hang off her ears, and her makeup is subtle but perfectly applied. “Adeline?”
I place my hand over my stomach and my cotton dress that I bought at a store she’s probably never been inside in her life. “Hi.”
Damon places his arm around my waist, standing at my side. “Mom, this is Adeline. Adeline, this is my mom, Heather.”
His mom’s smile never falters as I hold out my hand.
She shoos it away, wrapping me in a hug.
“I’m so happy to meet you.” She pulls back and studies me.
“You’re one of the lucky ones, only holding the weight in your belly.
” She drops my arms. “Damon had me as big as a house. My legs were swollen, it was horrible.”
I didn’t realize until I got pregnant how many people feel the need to comment on your body and your weight without being asked.
“Jesus Christ, you two.” A man who is the spitting image of Damon but a couple decades older comes around the corner.
“We could present as a family.” He wears a button-down shirt tucked into his slacks with a belt and a sweater over it, his long coat open.
He’s an attractive man for his age, which probably means Damon will continue to be blessed with his good looks.
“Come meet Adeline.” Heather’s eyes never stray from me, but neither does her welcoming smile.
“Adeline.” He nods and holds out his hand. “I’m Stanley.”
“You can call him Stan,” Heather offers, and I’m pretty sure Stanley growls.
We shake hands.
“Nice to meet you,” he says, and I hope that’s a good sign.
“Please come in.” I step back but fumble on a shoe behind me. Damon is there, catching me before I fall over. “Thanks,” I say, looking up at him.
“Oh, you must be Marge.” Heather breaks the distance and hugs my mom the same way she did me.
“My mom can be a bit much,” Damon whispers.
“She’s very nice.” I shut the door. “Can I take your coat, Mr. Siska?”
“Sure.” He takes his arms out of the coat, but Damon grabs it before I can.
“Mom, coat?” He waits for her.
Heather continues to talk to my mom while taking off her coat. She’s wearing a white silk top with taupe slacks that taper at the ankle. Her high heels make her tower over my mom, but she still looks short compared to her son and husband.
“I’m sorry our other son, Oliver, couldn’t make it, but he said he was sending a gift,” Heather says.
“That my parents probably bought,” Damon whispers in my ear. He hasn’t told me much about his parents or his brother.
After all the introductions are made, Mr. Siska points at the dining room table. “Can we all sit a moment?”
My mom looks at me, and I shrug. We head over to the table, each family standing on either side of the table. I really do feel as if I’m sixteen and pregnant, and our parents are going to tell us exactly how this is going to go.
“Can I get either of you something to drink?” my mom asks.
“I’ll have iced tea, please,” Heather says.
“Do you have some scotch?” Stanley asks.
Both Heather and Damon look at his dad.
“Fine, iced tea is good for me too,” he says.
“No, I’ve got some scotch,” my dad says, going to the locked cabinet in our kitchen. My parents aren’t big drinkers, and if they do, it’s usually beer or wine.
Stanley sits at the end of the table as if he’s the head of the household. He’s intimidating, I’ll give him that. From what I read online, the Siskas are old money. Stanley’s family was big in the steel business, affording them the life they now live.
My dad finds a bottle of scotch, and I smile to myself as he pours two glasses and sits back down. Damon sits with his mother on one side, and I sit with my mother on the other side.
His dad sips his scotch and sits up straight.
“My son and my wife are going to be upset with me for bringing these items up today, but I’m a believer that once you get the business out of the way and everyone is on the same page, it’s easier to enjoy yourself.
Which is why I wanted to show up before the shower started. ”
Damon looks at me with an apology in his eyes.
“Adeline, you seem like a fine person, but you’re a stranger to us.”
“Stanley,” Heather says through gritted teeth, still managing a smile.
“I would have demanded a paternity test, but Damon says you’ve had one and the baby is his.
The fact that you’re carrying a Siska heir means a few things.
First is that a trust fund will be set up as soon as he or she is born.
It will be in the child’s name only, and the only people who will have access to manage it will be Heather, Damon, and myself. ”
“Dad…” Again, Damon’s eyes find mine.
“My son doesn’t like to discuss these things because he’s made his own money, but let’s be clear, he has a trust fund as well that’s been available since he was twenty-five.
He’s fortunate to have made money doing what he loves, but it also makes him naive to the fact that people would try to slide into our family to get a piece of our pie. ”
“Stanley!” Heather appears mortified.
“Dad,” Damon practically growls.
“Excuse me,” my dad says, putting up his hand. “Are you suggesting that my daughter purposely got pregnant by Damon for your family’s money?”
Stanley shakes his head. “No, my point is that my son doesn’t know the lengths people have gone to over the years.
Right now, I am the patriarch of my family, which means I’m in the position of being the protector.
” He turns to me, and I try to muster up a smile.
“Now I think you’re a very sweet girl, and upon meeting you and hearing everything Damon had to say about you, I’m thankful it’s you who will bear Damon’s offspring.
God knows the women he’s been seen with over the years could’ve been a hell of a lot worse.
Which is why I want to also offer you the benefits of being in the Siska circle. ”
“Can’t this wait until the baby is born?” Damon asks.
I wonder how much of what his father is going to tell me he already knows.
“No harm in getting the idea out there. Adeline, you can leave teaching and raise the baby full-time. I know Heather loved being a stay-at-home mom. Although we had nannies too, and Damon will tell you how much he loved Miss Jillian. Or maybe as he or she gets older, you’ll want to consider boarding school like we did with our youngest, Oliver. ”
Heather slouches in her chair, practically burying her head in her iced tea. Damon’s back is straight, and his eyes look murderous as he gazes on at his father.
“You want me to quit my job?” I choke out.
My mom places her hand over mine in a show of support. I’m actually surprised she hasn’t been more vocal during this entire exchange.
“No. You do what you want.” He shakes his head. “But it won’t be easy raising the child with Damon’s schedule. We’re happy to offer nanny services if you’d rather continue to work.”
“I can handle all this, and anyway, it’s between Adeline and me,” Damon says.
His dad exhales a deep breath, seeming annoyed and exhausted that Damon keeps trying to circumvent this conversation. Have they had this fight before? I wouldn’t know because he’s told me nothing about his family.
Sure, I knew they had old money. The articles from when he was drafted said he didn’t need the million-dollar contracts.
Reporters even dug up how much he would be given when he reached twenty-five.
When I read it all, I felt bad for Damon that people knew so much about him without really knowing him.
“Damon thinks he knows what needs to be done in this situation, but the truth is, if he’d listened to me, he wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.
” He raises his hand at Damon when he opens his mouth.
“That doesn’t mean Heather and I aren’t happy about the baby, but I think we can all agree that it’s not ideal.
” He sips the scotch. At least he didn’t turn his nose up at my dad for his selection of alcohol. “Please, let me know what you think.”
I take a moment to order my thoughts before I end up yelling and crying from frustration as I flee the room. Stanley Siska wouldn’t respect someone like that, and like it or not, this man is going to be in my child’s life.
“First of all, I didn’t know about the Siska money when I slept with Damon.
Sure, he’s a professional football player and well-known enough that I’d seen his jerseys worn by a lot of students in my school, so I knew he had his own money.
But I didn’t plan on getting pregnant. In fact, he’s about the last person a woman would choose to be the father of their baby.
Not for any reason except that he’s a Peter Pan and not nearly ready to settle down. ”
His dad nods and looks at his son.
When I see the hurt flash across Damon’s face, I wish I hadn’t said that.
I have to force myself to continue. “But so far, he’s been responsible.
He hasn’t missed one doctor’s appointment.
He asks me what I need every time he sees me.
He’s concerned about my health. All of that makes me think I don’t know the real Damon Siska.
Even now, I see him barely able to contain himself in that chair, respecting you enough not to yell at you for coming into my family’s house and holding court as if it’s your own.
I don’t expect anything from your family.
Should you choose to give the baby a trust fund and I not have any control of it, so be it.
I don’t care. But I’m not going to quit my job.
I can be a mother and a teacher at the same time.
I don’t need anything from the Siska family except a loving father and grandparents. ”
His dad leans back in the chair and finishes off his scotch, then a slow smile forms on his lips before he busts out laughing. “Welcome to the family, Adeline.”