“How am I supposed to trust you now?” I ask. “You didn’t tell me about any of this. You didn’t even give me a say in what was happening.”
“I know, and I am sorry for that. But honestly, Chad, would you have wanted this?”
“I don’t know what I would have wanted because you completely silenced my ability to have a voice in the matter. What did you think that you were going to do by quitting? Have these babies all on your own and hide them from me? It doesn’t matter whether I wanted this or not, I still deserved to know about it before now. We could have been talking about this forweeksand instead—well, just look at you. How far along are you anyways? I don’t know a goddamn thing about what is going on because you have kept me in the dark!”
At this point, I am shouting and trying not to. I don’t want to argue with her but the way that Seraphine has handled this is all wrong.
“I decided right away that I was going to keep the baby, babies, with or without you,” she says, now looking angry herself. “And it doesn’t matter if you trust me or not. I will raise them on my own because you have made it very clear that you don’t want any part of this.”
“What?”
There’s no way that she could have possibly known that before today. I didn’t even know that she was pregnant until today. She’s projecting whatever assumptions about me or gossip she has heard about me, instead of giving me a chance. And that only makes me even madder.
“Fine,” I grumble. “Since you obviously have this all figured out without me, then tell me what your great plan is. You just quit your job. How in the hell are you going to be able to support yourself andtwobabies? What about insurance? How do you plan to pay for all this?”
“I’m going to leave Asheville.”
My stomach bottoms out when I hear her say that.
“I have grandparents that can put me up and help me with the babies until I can get back on my feet and find work.”
“And what about your art? What about your dream of wanting your own little art gallery here in this artisan village nestled in the mountains? Didn’t you say this is what you wanted here? Are you really just going to throw that all away?”
“Yes, if I have to. I am going to need help. But since you brought it up, I am also going to need money, and my grandparents certainly don’t have the means to provide for two brand-new babies either. So how about this—you give me enough money to cover all of my medical expenses during my pregnancy and the first few months of the babies’ lives, and in exchange, I will relieve you of all responsibility. You and Lilly can go on with your lives as if this never happened. We both know that you can afford it, and I’m not asking for anything more than what me and the babies will need.”
I amhurt. Insulted.
I have been called a lot of things as a billionaire and accused of being out of touch with regular people and regular lives, but I have never been more offended than I am right now as Seraphine attempts to barter money in exchange for freedom from fatherhood. I don’t even know what to say in response to her proposal.
“I will take care of everything,” she goes on as if she doesn’t even need to wait for an answer from me. “I’ll raise them well and tell them good things about their father. You can go back to focusing on Lilly and rebuilding your lives here after your loss.”
“And what are you going to tell them when they are old enough to ask why I’m not a part of their lives?”
“I don’t know,” she says. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
“You really are something else,” I hiss at her. “You think that you are so independent, so bullheaded and stubborn that you can disregard my involvement without even bothering to ask me what it is that I want or whatIthink is best for the babies that I fathered.”
I can feel myself getting more and more furious by the moment and I know that I need to leave. If I don’t get up and leave right now, then I am going to end up letting my frustration overwhelm me and I am going to say something that I will be sorry for.
“Fine,” I say as I stand up and reach into my pocket. I slam down a blank check on the table and grab a pen sticking out of a nearby cup to sign it with. “There you go. Have whatever you want.”
After that, I storm out of the little cottage, slamming the door so hard that the entire place shakes and leave Seraphine sitting there with a blank check to cash. I don’t even care what amount she writes on it. I’m starting to realize thatcaringwas my first mistake.
When I get back home, I still cannot erase the anger on my face.
“What’s wrong?” Lilly asks when she sees me come in. “Did something happen?”
I don’t want to lie to her. She’s old enough to be told the truth, and I know that she is getting sick of me sheltering her as I try to overcompensate for her mother’s death. But I can’t tell her all of this. Seraphine might have successfully shaken up my whole world and pulled the ground out from under me, but I will not have the same thing done to Lilly.
So, I tell herhalfof the truth—the only half that she actually needs to know.
“Seraphine is leaving,” I say, knowing that Lilly is going to be upset by that news since she has grown so fond of her. She needs to know at least that much though, because she will soon wonder why Seraphine has disappeared. I don’t tell her the part about the babies though.
“What? Dad, you need to go after her! Stop her from leaving!”
“It’s not my choice, Lillybean. Seraphine is a grown woman, and she can do whatever she wants. It’s not like she is actually a part of our family. She doesn’t owe any responsibility to us.”
“But youloveher.”