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“Or you could just run away with us and go into the witness protection program.” Avery smiled, bless her.
“No, I can do this. I should do this. Look at them … they’re having the time of their lives.” My eyes scanned the room, and all of the kids were having so much fun.
The waiters brought them courses of food they’d never eaten before and with wonder and a few snickers they ate like kings and queens. I was changing their lives just as I had intended. Maralis was talking to the media, making sure this made headline news, and Alec was sitting alone at our table with a big ridiculous box in front of him. Suddenly, a pang of sadness washed over me. He was just sitting there quietly eating his food. No one was talking to him, not even the media. I realized how lonely he must really be.
He was untouchable. He made so much money that most of his friends were probably on his payroll. Outside of the women he dated, I didn’t know much about his life or the people he considered dear. At that moment, though, he just seemed too distant and set apart. It made me love him a little … just seeing how isolated from the world he must be. I pushed people away … for him, they didn’t even try to come near.
“I think I’m going to go back to him.” I nodded at Alec. “Just … um,” I bit my lip. “He looks a little out of place.”
Madison and Avery glanced over, and at that moment, he turned to us. His expression seemed pained, though he smiled.
“I think you should, Kylie … just give this a shot. We’ll always be here for you,” Madison offered.
“Yeah, we can call the police at any moment,” Avery rallied.
“I’ll just take this one step at a time, that’s pretty much all I’ve got in me.”
“That’s all you need.” Madison hugged me, and Avery slapped me a high five, and I moved from the bar back to the table to be with Alec.
“Everyone is really enjoying themselves,” I said as I sat down to my pasta that hadn’t been touched. “Thank you. The kids would have never had an opportunity like this in a million years.” I tucked into my food without looking up at him.
“So are the roommates planning an ambush when I bring you to get your things later this evening?” His voice was dark and distant.
“You behave … they’ll behave,” is all I said.
“Depends on your definition of good behavior.” His smile was wicked. “Perhaps you should open the box; that might better define the parameters …” While there was still a trace of darkness in his eyes, I sensed a quiet kind of fear as well.
With my heart pounding, and my hands trembling, I smiled at him in a coy and flirtatious manner knowing that the cameras had caught me returning to my table.
“Why, Alec,” I used a flirty Southern drawl. “Whatever did you get me?”
Under his breath, he responded, “Good … you’ve decided to play along.” His smile warmed as his voice heightened enough for those around us to hear him. “Open it, love … I’m excited for you to see what’s inside.”
With my hands still shaking, I opened the big pink and blue box, not even thinking that the colors were baby colors or that he’d do something so intrusive as to publicly announce my pregnancy without my consent, but as I pulled the lid off of the box, I found inside a big yellow plush bunny holding a soft baby blanket embroidered with the words:
To Baby Morgan-Blair, Mommy and Daddy already love you!
The smile on Alec’s face was a mix of a doting father and an admiring lover. My insides liquidated, and I could scarcely breathe as I pulled the bunny out of the box. Alec unwrapped the blanket, making sure not only I but the media stationed outside, saw the inscription. Worse than the blanket announcing my pregnancy and Alec’s paternity to the world was the enormous three-carat diamond ring that circled the bunny’s left paw.
Alec drew it off of the bunny’s appendage and had the nerve to get down on one knee, in front of everyone. “I would be honored, Kylie if you would consider being my wife?”
My head spun, and the room blurred into a whirling vortex of colors, people, and cameras. Voices punctuated the disorientation with gasps and oohs and ahhs.
“Is he asking her to marry him?” one person asked.
Another chimed in, “When did they start dating?”
“Oh, my GOD! She’s pregnant with Alec Blair’s baby!” a girl squealed from the back.
I knew all the color was draining from my face. I also understood that a room full of relative strangers, Alec, and the world were waiting for my response. The whirlwind had begun, and I either had to jump into the lifeboat or drown. In the smallest voice I’d ever heard, I said “Yes,” before everything went black as I passed out on the floor.
