For Our Son: A BWWM Parenting Romance For Adults (17 page)
Read For Our Son: A BWWM Parenting Romance For Adults Online
Authors: Nia Anderson
There was an awkward silence before Morgan realized that Mrs. Thompson
was waiting for her to respond. "Uh…I wasn’t aware that Grace was going
through anything."
Mrs. Thompson removed a crumpled up drugstore bag from her purse. Morgan
knew what was in the bag before she looked inside.
"Should I be worried?" Mrs. Thompson asked with concern.
Morgan shook her head. "No…"
"Good. Because Grace isn’t even dating anyone and I’d hate to think
my daughter was out there, casually…well, you know."
"Actually, those are mine. I asked Grace to hang on to them for me.
I've been staying with my mom until the move and she would have freaked had she
found them.” Morgan made up the story as she was speaking.
"And why do you need them?" Mrs. Thompson’s eyes traveled to Morgan’s
torso.
"Oh, no, I’m not pregnant!" Morgan laughed. "Did you know
that I volunteer down at the youth center?"
"No, I didn’t know that."
"Yeah, well one of the girls came to me in confidence. She thought
she was pregnant so I told her I’d bring her a pregnancy test, but she didn’t
end up needing it."
Mrs. Thompson looked skeptical. But she was beyond relieved to hear that
the tests weren’t Grace’s.
"I think your mom would have been understanding of that,” Mrs. Thompson
said.
Morgan shrugged. "I didn’t want to chance it. I knew she would
worry…kind of like how you are now."
Mrs. Thompson laughed and nodded. "I was worried. I was so afraid
we were going to have to revisit what happened to Grace in high school…and all
this business that was going on with Matthew recently…and the time that she
spent alone with Ryan…I guess I just assumed the worst."
"It’s understandable." Morgan again glanced nervously out
towards the terrace. Through the small window she saw that Ryan and Grace were
standing very close to one another. "Can I get you something to drink
or…"
"So Grace isn’t here?" her mother asked.
"Yeah, she’s around here somewhere. Let me go get her." Morgan
turned towards the back of the apartment. She thought she’d be able to distance
herself from Mrs. Thompson and warn Grace that her mother was there, but no
such luck. Mrs. Thompson was fresh on her heels.
"You know, it’s going to be weird having her so close to home but
not having her
at
home…" Mrs. Thompson’s sentence ended abruptly as
she looked through the window and saw her daughter engaged in one of the most
passionate lip-locks she had ever witnessed not on a movie screen. And who was
that she was kissing…Ryan Stewart?!?!
Morgan shrugged when Grace’s mother turned and looked to her for an
explanation. Grace had told Morgan that she wasn’t sure where she stood with Ryan
so Morgan wasn’t in a position to provide any insight on the relationship.
Grace seemed to sense her mother’s presence. She saw her through the
window, and with her hand joined with Ryan’s, she walked into the apartment as
if she had nothing to hide.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" she asked when she re-entered
the apartment.
"I brought a few things by,” her mother answered. She gestured
towards the table and when she saw the expression on Grace’s face at the sight
of the drugstore bag, she knew Morgan had lied. It was obvious that the
contents of the bag belonged to Grace. "I was just leaving. Grace, can you
walk me out?"
"Uh…sure." Grace exchanged a nervous glance with Morgan and Ryan
before walking with her mother outside.
"So…Ryan again?" her mother asked once they were alone.
"Yeah." Grace nodded. It was difficult to refrain from
grinning, but she didn’t want her mother to think of her as a lovesick
school-girl.
"Grace…" Her mother closed her eyes as she thought of how she
was going to phrase her words. "Daddy and I have just gotten used to the
idea of you not going to law school…don't do this to us, okay?"
"Do what?"
"Don’t throw your entire future away, Grace. Not over some
boy."
"Mom, I know how you feel, but I’m not a kid anymore. I’m six
months younger than you were when you married dad."
"Times were different then."
"Yeah, well you once told me that you know you were going to marry
Daddy after your first date."
"We’re talking about you, not me."
"I know. And I’m telling you that you have nothing to worry
about."
"Grace, I just brought a bag over here containing two pregnancy
tests. You expect me not to worry?"
"Yes."
Grace and her mother stared at each other for seemingly an eternity.
"So you and Ryan are talking about marriage? It’s that
serious?" her mother finally asked.
Grace shook her head. "Ryan and I haven’t even begun to discuss
that. We’re just reconnecting. And I know I’m nowhere near ready for marriage.
But I also know that when I am ready, I definitely want him as the main
contender."
A clearing of the throat was heard. Grace and her mother turned around
to find Ryan standing there with a garbage bag in his hand.
"Sorry, Morgan told me to make myself useful." He pointed to
the bag.
"It’s okay. I’ve got to get going." Grace’s mother went over
to Grace and gave her a hug and a kiss. She hesitated, but then, as if on
second thought, she leaned over and gave Ryan a quick hug. "I’ll be
talking to you, Grace,” she said as she walked away.
"Bye Mom." Grace and Ryan stood side by side as they watched
Mrs. Thompson depart.
"Well, that was awkward." Ryan turned to Grace and smiled.
"What’d she want to talk to you about?"
"Oh you know…life, responsibility…pregnancy tests." Grace
smiled back.
"Are we in trouble?"
"No. We’re adults now, Ryan. There's no more getting in trouble."
Ryan walked the short journey to the garbage dump. When he returned to
where Grace was standing, he noticed how weary she looked. But she looked happy
just the same.
"What are you thinking?" Ryan asked her.
"Just about my mom. How she will always think of me as her little
girl no matter how old I get,”Grace said. “Kinda like how Matthew will always
be a little boy in my mind."
"
Our
little boy,” Ryan corrected her.
"Yeah.
Our
little boy." Grace smiled up at Ryan as he
put his arm around her and led her back towards the apartment.
Ryan had no plans to tell Grace that he’d heard her comments to her
mother regarding marriage. He was relieved to hear that Grace wasn’t ready for
that step…almost as relieved as he was to hear that he was her "main
contender". For he knew in his heart of hearts that she was definitely
his.
THE END.
Thank you for taking the time to read my first BWWM romance. It is my sincere
hope that you enjoyed it. If you’d like to contact me for any reason, you can
do so by emailing me at:
[email protected]
.
Also, be sure to stay tuned for more of my
books.
Best wishes,
Nia Anderson
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Please continue
reading for a free bonus book by BWWM author Amara Edwards. It’s called
The
Family Life
and you can check out the details on Amazon by
clicking here
. If you’ve already read
this book, please disregard this notice.
The
Family
Life
A BWWM
Single Parent
Pregnancy Romance
For Adults
By Amara Edwards
Copyright 2016 Amara Edwards
BWWM Midnight Reads
All Rights Reserved
This novella is a work of fiction. Any
similarities to real people, places, or events are strictly coincidental. This
book may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without the expressed
permission of the author.
Erica’s eyes
scanned the empty foyer with its neutral walls and flawless mahogany flooring.
She wanted to leave the house move-in ready for its new owners, and with a
little elbow grease she managed to do just that. Letting out a sigh of
exhaustion, Erica walked into the equally pristine living room and let her mind
wander to her younger years.
Moving across the
country and leaving her family behind was one of the hardest things Erica had
ever done, but she knew that paving a fresh start for herself was for the best.
As soon as she received her acceptance letter from Howard, Erica whizzed
through her exams, quickly wrapped up high school, and dove headfirst into the
next chapter of her life.
That summer, Erica
started working full-time at a local pharmacy in order to save up for her
college textbooks. She also accepted an unpaid internship at the marketing firm
her father managed in order to get some experience under her belt. There, she
was put in charge of assisting the firm’s paralegal, a dowdy woman who was more
than grateful for the help everyday from 5 p.m. onward.
That entire summer,
Erica got home very late and was always the first to arrive at work every
morning. She saw less and less of her childhood friends as a result, but she
figured that too was probably for the best. All they made her think of was
Griffin, which inevitably got her thinking about the baby they’d lost during
their junior year of high school.
Of all the
tragedies Erica had overcome during her more rebellious years, that one was
probably the hardest.
Shaking off the
memory, Erica moved away from the window and walked slowly into the kitchen.
Once there, she ran her fingers along the shining granite countertop and
allowed her mind to once again wander.
A few weeks before
Erica left for college, her parents rewarded her hard work and dedication by
taking her on a weeklong vacation to Jamaica. For seven blissful days, the
family of three bonded, relaxed in the sun, and allowed all their worries to
fall to the wayside. When all was said and done, Erica came back tanned, well
rested, and ready to dive into her latest challenge: post-secondary education.
Erica’s first year
at Howard was not unlike most students living on campus. Right from the start,
she was exposed to a very different way of life than the one she was accustomed
to back home. Here, people actually wanted to be around her for
her
–
not because she was the infamous Griffin Fitzpatrick’s girlfriend. She was
invited to cookouts, football games, house parties, and the like. And the best
part was – not one person was aware of the rocky past she’d left behind in San
Francisco.
It was during her
first week on campus that Erica met Jade. The girls differed in the sense that
Jade was boy crazy and sociable, whereas Erica was a bookworm who preferred
spending most nights in, but they managed to overcome these differences and
were nearly inseparable by the end of their freshman year.
Appearance wise,
Jade was petite with dark cocoa skin, short black hair, and huge brown eyes.
Erica, on the other hand, had more of a rich caramel complexion and medium
length brown hair that brought out her inquiring hazel eyes. She was also quite
curvaceous. While they were both stunning women on their own, together they
were a force to be reckoned with. In fact, they made such a pretty picture that
men often gave them admiring looks – looks that Jade reveled in and Erica
ignored.
Four years later,
both woman graduated magna cum laude and went on to attend the same graduate
school preceding their undergraduate education. There, Erica pursued a master’s
degree in business marketing, and Jade put all her energy into studying family
law.
It was at a pre-law
party shortly after her twenty-fifth birthday that Erica met Robert. Smiling to
herself in the here and now, she recalled the exact moment she first saw him
and remembered how blown away she was by his natural good looks and impressive
height. After giving him a shy smile, he quickly took the cue and approached
her, and the rest was history. The pair took to each other almost immediately,
and they spent the rest of the night and every night after that getting to know
each other on a more personal level.
Off of face value
alone, Robert was everything Erica thought she was looking for in a man.
Handsome, sophisticated, and athletic were just a few fitting words that
described him, but Erica knew there was more to him than his smooth chocolate
skin, rock hard body, and sharp brown eyes. Beneath the surface was an
intellectual, cultured, well-traveled man who began to slowly wear away the
protective armor she’d so long ago constructed around her heart.
After dating Robert
for less than a year, Erica decided to take their relationship to the next
level by sharing her body with him. He was a very patient man who respected her
to the fullest, and he always made it abundantly clear that he understood the
reasons behind her hesitation to rush into sex. Thus, it came as no surprise to
Erica their subsequent physical relationship was amazing, but she always
remembered to protect herself.
Come hell or high
water, the mistake of her youth would not affect her again.
With Jade and
Robert by her side, Erica enjoyed her last few months of graduate school to the
fullest despite the mountain of assignments, thesis papers, and conferences
that occupied the brunt of her time. The day after she graduated, Robert
finally popped the question. They were taking a walk through the park soaking
up summers first few rays of sunshine when he suddenly stopped walking and
dropped down onto one knee in front of her. Pulling a small velvet box out of
his jacket pocket, he flipped it open to reveal a breathtaking diamond princess
ring and asked Erica to do him the honor of becoming his bride.
Surprised and more
than a little apprehensive, Erica accepted the proposal and made the plunge
into the next chapter of life despite her reservations. Shortly after the
wedding, she accepted a job offer at one of D.C.’s top marketing firms as head
of their advertising sector, and for awhile, everything was peachy. It wasn't
until the dust began to settle that the first sign of trouble reared its ugly
head.
From an outsider’s
perspective, Erica and Robert were perfect for each other. Her friends never
stopped gushing about what a wonderful man she’d managed to snag, but Erica was
ambivalent. As amazing as Robert was, it didn't change the fact that she felt
like she was living a lie. As a result, she often found herself picking petty
fights with him, of which she rarely ever apologized for even if she was
blatantly in the wrong.
Erica knew that
Robert wanted the marriage to work, but it was all one sided. As much as she
loved him as a person, the glaring issue was that she wasn't
in
love
with him. Thus, the divorce was amicable and both parties signed the release
forms with a sense of relief. Jade was steadfast in her belief that Erica was a
fool to let someone like Robert go, but what was done was done.
Now standing in
what used to be their kitchen, Erica looked out the back window and knew it was
time to move on. Robert had long since moved out and was now living in a
bachelor pad somewhere upstate. As for her, she’d received a stellar
recommendation from her boss and was set to start working at the San Francisco
division of her company in just three weeks’ time as manager of their
food-marketing division.
Locking the front
door for the very last time, Erica took one last look at the street she had
called home for the past two years and smiled. D.C. would always hold both good
and bad memories for her. The good were her college years, Jade, the beginning
of her relationship Robert, this street, and the cities wonderful people and
scenery. The only ugly memory would be the divorce, which she was now ready to
admit was mostly her fault.
Taking a deep
breath, Erica jumped inside her shiny sport car and hit the freeway. She
calculated that it would take her approximately three days to get from D.C. to
San Francisco if she only stopped for meals, sleep, and gas. Her parents had
begged her to fly home instead of making the long trek by car, but Erica knew
she needed the time to clear her head and get herself ready for the next
chapter of her life. She was, after all, a newly single woman with a very
bright future ahead of her. Smiling to herself, she thought,
San Francisco
here I come.
Looking down at his watch, Griffin realized with haste that he only had
about fifteen minutes to make it to his daughter’s day care center and then to
set. Scooping her up from the porch, he rushed to lock his front door and
walked to his car. His mind was focused on the day ahead of him, and he
mentally made sure he hadn’t forgotten anything crucial.
While opening the car door, Griffin heard a piercing, ‘Daddy!’, escape
from his four-year-old daughter’s mouth. With an instant smile, he looked down
at the bundle of energy glued to his side and answered, “What is it
honey?"
Grabbing her father by the ears, Avery looked him squarely in the eyes
and squealed, "You’re not listening to me!” before climbing inside the
car.
After buckling her into her car seat, Griffin responded truthfully,
"I was listening to you, Sweets. You were talking about how you were
excited to see the black bears at the zoo."
Satisfied that her father had indeed heard her, Avery resumed her chatter
about all the animals she would be encountering at the local zoo her day care
class would be visiting that day.
Pulling away from the curb, Griffin listened to Avery speak as he steered
the car in the direction of her day care. Taking a moment to look up at her
through his rearview mirror, he felt a small smile spring to his lips as he
silently recounted the chaotic sequence of events that had led up to her birth.
After graduating high school, Griffin attended the University of San
Francisco and pursued an dual degree in theatre and television production. His
four years there were carefree and filled to the brim with fun. Determined to
put the tumultuous events of his past behind him, he studied hard, but he
played
even harder.
Just like in high school, Griffin made a handful of loyal friends right
off the bat without even trying, but for the most part he hung out with his
childhood best friend Evan. Together, the pair partied like it was going out of
style, and parting for Evan and Griffin meant heavy drinking and sampling as
many women as possible.
College was far from the high point of Griffin’s life though. As soon as
he graduated, he took six months off to backpack across Europe on the cheap.
This entailed sleeping in hostels, sampling cheap wine and beer, touring
whatever major landmarks he happened to stumble upon, and getting acquainted
with his fair share of foreign women. As a result, he returned home a relaxed
and happy man ready to dive headfirst into the world of the working class.
Within three months of returning home, Griffin landed a job as a TV
producer’s gofer at a local cable company where the pay was low, but the
experience – priceless. He loved it so much there that leaving after the first
year to pursue higher paid endeavors proved difficult for him, but the
dwindling state of his savings account made it a necessary evil. Thus, he
accepted a better paying but far more stressful job at an independent film
company. It wasn't all bad though. Within two years of taking the job, Griffin
produced two San Francisco based movies, both of which received much acclaim
within the independent film circuit.
Life for Griffin was becoming increasingly more exciting, but little did
he know, the excitement had only just begun…
Griffin met Toni when she auditioned for the part of leading lady in one
of his latest projects – a run-of-the-mill daytime soap series by the name of
‘Red Street’. Toni was an exceptional actress with a ton of passion and a flare
for the dramatic, and though she didn't land the lead role, she did manage to
snag a supporting one that had a contract lasting six months.
Much to Griffin’s surprise, those six months resulted in a brutally
passionate affair between him and Toni. Soon, everyone on set was aware of what
was developing between the two, but no one seemed to care so long as it didn't
interfere with the show.
From their first “date” onward, the couple was consumed with adoration
for each other, but the connection between them was based purely on physical
attraction. They had very little in common outside of the bedroom, and they
almost never talked about themselves or their goals and dreams in life. Even
so, Griffin figured it was probably for the best. As much as he liked Toni, he
was simply too invested in his career to consider settling down with her. Thus,
their arrangement came to an abrupt end as soon as her contract on Red Street
ended.