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“Marriage is not easy,” her mother said.
Cristina sank down at the table and watched her mother play with Wyatt.
“But the two of you loved one another. Blake has not mentioned the word. In fact, he gave me a prenup to sign last night. Mind you, he hasn’t asked me to marry him, but he wanted me to sign a prenup,” she said, the hurt washing over her once again.
“Do you love him?”
This was the part she didn’t want to admit to. The reason last night hurt so much was because this morning she realized she loved him and she would have signed a blank piece of paper if he had said he loved her. But he didn’t.
“Yes,” she said. “All I wanted was for him to tell me he loved me. I don’t want him marrying me because of Wyatt. I want him to love me and want to be with me.”
Her mother nodded. “I can understand that.”
“Mom, this isn’t the first time he hurt me. We met one night at a bar. We clicked instantly. We laughed, we had fun, we danced, and then we went home together. That’s something I don’t do. But I felt such a connection with him that I didn’t want the night to end.” She took a deep breath. “We used several condoms, but one of them must not have held together that night. In the morning, when I awoke he was gone. No note, no good-bye, nothing. It was like the man disappeared off the face of the earth. Six weeks later, I realized I was pregnant.”
She took a sip of her coffee. “Sure, I could have found him, but I wanted him to come to me. I wanted that night to mean as much to him as it meant to me. He admits he was scared and he ran, but still now, he’s not even bothering to ask me to marry him, but just giving me a prenup to sign. No, just no.”
They sat there for a moment in silence.
“Maybe he doesn’t know how to say the word. Some men have a hard time admitting when they care for someone. He’s given you a car, set up a college fund for Wyatt, and is giving you child support. It’s obvious he’s a good person. If you married him, you wouldn’t have to worry about reporters or your job. You’d be able to stay home and raise Wyatt.”
The baby reached up and patted her on the cheek and squealed.
“Yes, I said your name,” she said gazing down at her grandson.
“But what about my need to have a husband who loves me? Isn’t that important? Don’t I deserve a man who wants to spend the rest of his life with me?”
With a sigh, her mother stared at her.
“I understand your need. But your life with Blake would be so much easier. And maybe he would grow to love you.”
“No,” Cristina said defiantly. “I’m not going to accept anything less than what I want, because in five years, I’d be miserable, and then I would want a divorce and I would take some of his money. No, I get what I want – a man who loves me, or I walk away.”
Her mother shook her head. “Damn it, Cristina, you need to think about this in a practical logical way, not an emotional one. The man has a lot of money. Your life and Wyatt’s could be very good.”
Suddenly she realized that the only person who could have contacted Blake was her mother. But how had she found out that he was the father?
“Did you send him the letter saying he had a child that he didn’t know about?”
Her mother sighed. “I watched you struggling to take care of Wyatt, work a full-time job, and make ends meet. He has money. Already he’s made a difference in your life. He needed to know he had a son.”
Cold rage filled Cristina. “How did you learn that Blake was his father?”
Her mother sighed. “I tricked Lauren into telling me. I acted like I knew and eventually she said his name. She thought you had told me.”
This day couldn’t get worse. Her mother had been the one to contact Blake.
“Don’t you think I would have told him if I wanted him to know?”
Her mother shook her head and sighed while Cristina felt her blood pressure rising. Anger filled her and she wanted to scream at her but knew that would only frighten Wyatt.
“You needed help. I’m not always going to be here to help you. This way, I knew you would have someone you could contact if I was not here.”
“Are you dying?”
“No, but I’m getting older,” her mother said.
Cristina stood, grabbed her purse, and lifted Wyatt off her mother’s lap. “This was why I didn’t tell you the father’s name because I feared you would take things into your own hands and contact the father. And you did exactly what I feared.”
