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“I’m sure they will appreciate that, in the years to come.”
“I guess we will see.”
No you will see, Aileen thought to herself. I won’t be there. I will be in a separate home with them when it’s not your weekends or holidays. She tried not to feel bitter and wasn’t sure why she thought she had a right to think that way. This hadn’t been anything either of them planned and they would each have to just do the best they could with the cards they’d been dealt.
“You know, if you need help expanding your house to accommodate the children, I can help you with that,” he said, turning away from the rendering on his screen for a moment.
Aileen was surprised that he would say something like that in front of Hannah, but she didn’t seem to even notice. In her position, maybe that was part of the job, not to see or hear anything and certainly not to repeat anything. There was a reason that Yakov paid his staff very well. They were paid for their discretion and now that he was leader, she supposed he had less to lose if someone caught on to their situation.
“What? Oh, no. The house I’m in doesn’t belong to me. I’m only leasing it for a year and it’s not nearly big enough. I’ve begun turning the spare bedroom into a study, but I’ll have to scrap that and make a nursery instead. It’s not huge, but it is big enough to accommodate babies. As soon as the lease is up, I’ll have to just find a much larger place.”
Yakov seemed to contemplate this for a moment, but said nothing. He went back to his screen and began moving some things around on the iPad. Hannah brought over Aileen’s breakfast and she began eating while he continued to work by her side. She was almost finished when he stood and excused himself.
“I’ll be out and about most of the day. I’ve a lot of things to get done in a short amount of time in order to take over leadership. I’ve asked the guards to come on duty in shifts to cover the house 24/7, so don’t be surprised if you see them out and about on the grounds. Hannah and Ruby will also be rotating their shifts with a third staff member I’m hiring to make sure one of them is always here in case you need them to prepare something for you.”
“Is all that necessary? I mean, the house is gated, and I can make myself a sandwich.”
“Yes. It is now,” he replied, walking away without further explanation.CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURAileen used the day to go to her house and access what she’d need to do there to get ready for the children. It would be harder to accomplish things once her waist began to really expand and it was harder to move about. She called Grant and told him that she wouldn’t be needing the shelves, after all. Not now, perhaps not ever.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s fine. My plans have just changed a bit. I’ll be doing something else with the room for now.”
She hesitated for a moment, unable to truly confide her needs to him, then decided to lie.
“Do you make cribs?”
“Cribs? Like baby cribs?”
“Yes.”
“Sure, I can make cribs. If you go on our website, there are samples. I have one or two already made you could get. Are you expecting?”
“Yes, but I’m going to need like six or so. I’m not sure how many just yet. How long does it take to make them?”
“Not long if you choose from one of the designs on the site and don’t want something specially made. Are you planning on having a whole litter?”
It was a bad idea to tell him anything more than she had to. She was barely pregnant and he knew that by the nature of her mostly still flat tummy. She might be a little pudgy by some standards, but she had an hourglass figure that hid her increased girth even when not pregnant.
“I’ve decided to stay home with the baby and open up a daycare just for infants. I’ll need the room set up to accommodate more than one child and a nanny.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of babies. Okay, well, we can do that for you. When would you need them?”
“I want to get started right away, so the sooner, the better.”
“Well, get on the website and look at the plans. The link is on the card I left with you. Do you still have it?”
“I do.”
“Okay. Just look at what you need and give me a call back. I will get started on them right away.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks.”
Aileen ended the call and opened an internet tab, typing in the address from the card she had pinned on her message board nearby. She had never looked on it before, having selected the other furniture she had bought directly from their showroom in the city. There were some really gorgeous items there, everything from simple eloquence to designer items with intricate carvings. She opened the page that led to baby furniture and scanned through the items available. There were at least a dozen designs to choose from. She chose eight of them that were on the smaller side and fairly simple, but of quality oak.
