Unexpected Gift(20)
Molly spits her tea out, spraying it all over the expensive wood. She sits stunned with tea dripping from her chin, and I have to hold myself back from swiping the drop off with my fingers. She looks too cute for words right now. I don’t blame her for being surprised. I knew Brandon did well being a cardiothoracic surgeon, but damn, good for him. “I’m so sorry. Uh, sorry. I’m lost for words. Wow. A million?” she seems flustered as she soaks up the tea off the table with a napkin.
“That happens more than you think. No worries. I keep cleaner in here now.” Mr. Newton says
“Handy.” She sits, smoothing her dress over her backside, to make sure it isn’t bunched.
The old man hides a smirk by clicking his tongue. “It is, isn’t it? Anyway, he is giving you five hundred thousand dollars, Ms. Lowell to help start a new life for Posie. He knew you had a job, but he wanted to be able to help. He also said don’t argue with him.” He raises his bushy brows at her.
“Of course not.” Her voice barely a whisper as she gestures her mouth shut, locking it and throwing away the key.
I guess she knows better than to argue about money.
“Perfect, if both of you will sign, please.”
My feelings aren’t hurt that he didn’t give me money. I have plenty of it, like he did. I assume that is why he gave all of it to his little girl and Molly. I agree with him on that. There will be no fuss from me. We sign the paper again, and this time, he has two envelopes in his hands. “They are both letters to you, from Mr. Lowell. I ask that you read those in the privacy of your own home.”
We nod and my mind whirls back to the second year of medical school. When I see my name on the front of the envelope in the neat, uppercase handwriting he had, I remembered the first time I saw perfection like that. I asked to borrow his notes, and I was stunned to silence. Instead of writing them, I copied them on a printer and studied for biology like that.
I place the envelope in my briefcase, getting back to the present. Posie starts to fuss, letting out a loud cry. I try rocking her again, but she isn’t having it. “Oh, it’s okay. Uncle Caden is here. It’s alright, pretty girl,” I coo, maneuvering her against my shoulder. I pat her back to try to see if she needs to burp, but it just makes her cry even more.
“She’s hungry.” Molly digs in the diaper bag and produces a bottle. She rolls it in her hands, trying to warm the liquid. She squirts a bit on the inside of her wrist to make sure it isn’t too cold. “Here you’ll need a burping rag.” She lays it on my shoulder, and her hand lingers there for a bit. A second too long, really.
I like it, but I’m probably reading into things. The exhaustion and stuff is causing me to see and feel things I usually wouldn’t. That has to be it. “Thanks.”
She sits back down and pushes her hair back behind her ears. “Yeah, it’s no problem at all. Really.”
Her cheeks are flushed, and so is her chest, her breathing changes as I watch her chest rise and fall. Her breasts push against the material of her dress, showing the tops of the milk-colored flesh. Posie lets out another wail before I get my act together and give her the bottle. “There you go. It’s good, huh?” she suckles the nipple of the bottle.
“You guys will work well together,” Mr. Newton says. “I don’t think Brandon had anything to worry about.”
“If you only knew,” Molly mumbles.
I don’t know what makes me do it, but I shoot her a wink. Her blush deepens a bit, trailing down her neck. She squirms, and that’s when I noticed, I make her flustered. I know she hates it when she shows how people affect her, but she is awful at hiding it.
Again, I’m probably reading into things.
“You don’t think you will be able to do what Mr. Lowell asked of you?” He sits back, folding his hands on the table.
“I mean, we will. Of course, since it is what Brandon wants, but other than that, we won’t speak to each other much,” I say, never taking my eyes off the cutest little girl in the entire world. I dread the day she gets older. I’ll have to run off so many boys.
“Is that right?” Molly asks, and the way her voice slows has me lifting my head from Posie to stare at her angry gaze.
“I just assumed we wouldn’t. We don’t talk much now.”
Molly huffs, spinning the chair to face me. “We have a reason to speak now. We are going to be sharing Posie. Practically like divorced parents. I want to know everything she does. If she coughs. Has a fever. Does something cute. Her first steps. Whatever. I want to know it all. This isn’t going to be us separately living our lives and only speaking because of Posie. If you can’t deal with that, then we are going to have to talk to this lawyer about you only visiting.”
Oh, that gets my blood boiling. “You would do that? You would take me to court to fight for me to only get her sometimes? Are you fucking kidding me?” I make sure to keep my tone even, so I didn’t scare Posie. I cover her ears, too. I don’t want her to hear too much.
“I will do what I see is best. If you aren’t willing to play an active part in this and be a team, then I want her. You can call and schedule a visit.”
I want to say so many things. Things I can’t say because of Posie’s innocent ears. “You can forget that. I want the time that Brandon deemed mine. So, what is it, Mr. Newton?” I narrow my gaze at Molly. “You must be kidding yourself if you think I’d just roll over and let you take her.”