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“From the smile on your face, I’m guessing my gifts were well received?” I ask. When all she does is smile in response, I continue, “Can we talk?”
“Ummm… sure…” She steps out of the way and I enter. I see the teddy bear sitting in the corner of her foyer. We walk into the rose garden that is now her living room and situate ourselves on the couch.
As I sit, I disturb a bouquet of flowers that have been placed on the armrest and they fall into my lap. I pick the flowers up and push them off to the side and look around the room.
“Now that I see all the flowers in one place I am realizing that perhaps I went a little overboard.”
“No, you didn’t,” Paige says a little too eagerly.
I smile and scooch closer on the couchand take her hands in mine. I lift them to my lips and places a kiss on the back of each.
“Paige, first of all, I want you to know that I love you. I’m so sorry about everything I did. You did not deserve any of it. I know I fucked up and you don’t have to forgive me, but still, I am asking you to.”
She pulls her hands from mine and wraps them around her midsection. “I can’t lie, all of this is pretty impressive.” She looks around the room. “But there are still so many issues that need to be resolved, and I’m not sure that we can resolve them.”
“Like what? Tell me exactly what it is that worries you and I’ll address it.”
“Well, your ex-wife, Felicity. She seems difficult. Which is evidenced by the fact that she kept your child from you for almost 2 years. When I met her, she didn’t hide that she doesn’t like me. I don’t want to have to deal with any baby mama drama. I’ve seen how that unfolds in other people’s lives, and it really isn’t anything that I want to deal with.”
“That’s fair. Felicity isn’t exactly the easiest person to get along with and I will have to co-parent with her, but that doesn’t mean she will be in our lives a whole bunch. She and I just signed a custody agreement that is ironclad. Basically, we’ve agreed on how we want to raise TJ. In the agreement it says any disagreements will be handled either in mediation or in court. Our interactions will be limited to pickups and drop offs and a meeting every other month to update each other on TJ’s development. That’s going to be the extent of it, and even if somehow Felicity finds a way to disrespect you, I will handle that immediately. I simply will not allow it. You mean too much to me for me to let her attack you.”
“In the abstract that sounds good, but if we get backtogether, I will be playing some sort of a parental role in her son’s life. Is she going to be okay with that?”
“Well, she will have to be. In the agreement we established that she has to accept whoever I choose to partner with and vice versa. So she may not like it, but she’ll just have to deal.”
She’s silent in thought, so I add, “Also, about me keeping TJ’s existence from you, I want to apologize for that again. I know it was wrong, and I promise I was going to tell you, I just didn’t know how. So I kept kicking the can down the road. I was a jackass for doing it and I hope you can forgive me.”
She takes a deep breath. “I’ve thought a lot about that and I have forgiven you. Although I was angry when all this came out, in the intervening time I have been able to empathize with you. It couldn’t have been an easy thing for you to cope with.”
I take her hands again and kiss them once more. “Thank you.”
“But that doesn’t mean everything is hunky-dory now. My biggest issue is the kind of parent you will be to our child. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t want to get back together with you, but the only thing giving me pause right now is what a family with the three of us would look like. First of all, there’s how you reacted when you were told about the baby. You insinuated that I had gotten pregnant on purpose.”
“That was stupid. All I can say is that I was reeling and saying all sorts of nonsense.”
She shakes her head. “Even if I can get over that, there’s also your lifestyle to contend with. It’s true that you and I work insane hours, but I intend to take a step back when the baby comes. I would imagine that youwill continue working the way you do. What does that look like for us? Especially when you factor in TJ because he’s going to take up a bit of your time as well.”
“Paige, my work will never be as important to me as you or my children. I’ve had an amazing life up until now and have a built an empire I can be proud of. Before all of this happened, I was even thinking about taking a step back. This has just come along and forced the conversation.”
“So what? You’re thinking about retiring?”
“No, but I have been thinking about bringing someone else in, an executive, to handle more of the day-to-day affairs of my company. That will give me more time to spend with you and the kids.”
“Do you really mean that? Because if I’m going to be a single parent, I would like to know upfront. I have no interest in having a partner, and still operating like a single parent.”
“I can promise you that that will not happen. I have every intention of being as hands-on as I possibly can. I had given up hope on ever being a parent, which is something I’ve always wanted. However, now that it’s going to happen I’m so excited for what lies ahead. I just hope that you and I can forge a way through all this together.”
My hand goes to her cheek and my thumb rubs back-and-forth along her cheekbone.
We stare into each other’s eyes. I hope she can see how genuine I am.
Her breath hitches as I moves closer and take her lips in a kiss.
When she softens in my arms, I pull away briefly and whisper, “Please, give me another chance. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Holding my eyes, she nods.
A huge smile seizes my face and I go back in for another kiss. This time my hands go to her back and I pull her body against mine.
