"Fuck you." I flinched at the sudden viciousness that resided in Joe's voice. He turned to me. "What did he try to do, Preston? Did he try to pay you to go away?"
I didn't think now, or maybe ever, would be a good time to tell him the full truth, so I just nodded.
"Well then, that's it. Preston, I need to speak to you about something important. Father, you can leave now, or I'll have you arrested. Don't think I don't know enough people who would do it."
“You might know people, but you know very well, I do, too. How do you think I knew where to find you and your piece of ass?”
His father brushed off the pieces of check that covered his suit coat and strutted out the door without another word. His arrogance knew no bounds, it seemed.
As soon as he was gone, Joe pulled me into a long comforting hug and asked me, “Did he hurt you? Scare you?”
I shook my head and kept my grip tight around his neck. “No, I’m fine. When he basically called me a gold-digging slut, I told him to leave or I would call the cops. Then he put the check on the table and told me I could write any amount up to half a million. At that point, I was half a second from calling nine-one-one.”
Joe untangled himself from my hug and took me to the sofa. We got into our comfy positions with my head on his shoulder and his arms holding me tight. When we were comfortable and relaxed, he started talking.
“I learned some interesting things today, and I want to be honest with you. First, let me preface this by saying I see our future going forward as a couple for the long haul. You’re my mate. Every day I’m near you, I feel our bond growing. The baby might have something to do with it, but I don't think so. I think I was meant for you. So understand that I’m not trying to make you choose anything right now.”
This whole conversation was at one point sweet and the next ominous.
“Just tell me what’s going on, please.”
Joe hugged me tight. “Well, the short version is that my trust is mine and mine alone. My father never has and never will have contact with it, even though he convinced me he did. I also found out I can add the baby to the trust as a beneficiary as soon as we have the birth information. We need to discuss a lot of things, but the most relevant is that if you and I marry, I can add you to the trust as soon as we perform the ceremony. What’s interesting is what happens once the marriage is final. The ancillary trust that funneled money into the business will be immediately closed. There will be no more money for my father or the business. He’ll have to keep the business flush with his own hard work. Not my money.”
There was a lot to unpack there, but as I closed my eyes, I cut to the chase. “So if you and I get married, then it’ll stick it to your asshole old man?”
Joe laughed, and I felt the rumble against my cheek where I had settled on his chest. “That pretty much sums it up, yes.”
In my half-asleep state, my filter was at zero fucks left to give, so I just spoke what was in my heart before I fell asleep.
“Find somebody to do it in my backyard, buy me a gorgeous ring, rub my feet when they start to hurt, and add our baby to the trust. If you do all those things, I’ll marry you, Joseph Langford, and I promise to be there for you in any way I can.
10
JOE
“Do you hear it?”
The whirring sound filling the room had a distinct steady rhythm to it. Tears formed in my eyes, and I made no attempt to hide them. “That’s our baby’s heartbeat?”
The doctor smiled and moved the monitor to another spot, and a different, slightly higher sound filled the room. “And this is your other baby’s.”
Preston and I stared at each other, eyes wide and mouths open. Preston was the first one to get his shit together enough to speak
“Another baby? As in twins?”
The doctor took the monitor off his belly, wiped the gel away, and motioned that he could sit up. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s unusual, but it does happen. Your cycle had become so sluggish it seemed like you had stopped altogether. That’s why all the tests indicated the end of your ability to conceive. But evidently, when your cycle clicked back on, you released two eggs this time and both were fertilized. Congratulations, you’re having twins!”
Preston’s tears of joy matched mine, but I was still having a hard time processing them. A few months ago, I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do with my life. Now I had a soon-to-be husband, a trust I needed to decide what to do with, and twins on the way. I set aside the trouble with my father for the moment. I had an idea of what to do about that, but it could wait. Today was a celebration.
“Thank you, doctor. We really appreciate you seeing us today. I mean, it’s Thanksgiving and all, and we thought we’d have to go to the ER and take our chances that they could diagnose what was causing his abdominal pain.”
He walked us out to the reception area and reassured me once again. “Like I told Preston on the phone. It’s my fault you haven’t been able to come in for your first appointment yet. Every time he was scheduled, a baby decided to have a difficult delivery, and I would have to cancel. I knew from your voicemail that you were concerned, and since I would have to come in today anyway for something else, it was no trouble. I’m not even charging you.” He winked and opened the front door for us.
As we walked out, I asked one more time, “So the abdominal pains are fine, right? I know you told us they were, but I just want to make sure.”
His kind smile settled my nerves as much as his reassuring words did. “It’s completely normal, even more so in this situation. Preston is growing not one but two babies in a teeny tiny space. His body will have to grow and stretch while the babies grow. That pain is his body stretching to accommodate those little bodies getting bigger. So think of it like this, every time you feel those stretching aches, it means your babies are healthy and growing like they should.”
With waves of goodbye, I drove Preston home. It was our home now, not just his. I’d finally moved in last week and let go of my lease. Stan had moved into my old place the next day since he’d said he liked the place and had been looking for a while. He had also told me something interesting that I couldn’t wait to tell Preston.
