My Son (6 page)

Kelly
had thrown back her head, angry at the way she had behaved.  God she thought to herself, what must he think of her, before defiantly raising her chin and deciding that she didn’t care what he thought of her, she wasn’t one of those women who literally threw herself in front of him.  Groaning with an even greater sense of shame it had flashed across her mind that she had just done exactly that.

Marc had left her room mo
re shaken than he realised.  His reaction had thrown him, not so much her actions, but the burning desire that she had enflamed in him.  Seeing her lain there her whole body swathed in the folds of the bath robe had caused him to feel a longing he had pushed down with difficulty and when she had reached up and pulled him towards her, he had almost crumbled.  When their lips had touched, it had been all he could do to not kiss her back more deeply.  He had stopped himself, because this woman was different from all others, she was the closest thing to a mother his beloved Max had. Normally he would have wooed her with gifts and flowers, but Kelly Brown was not one of the normal women he pursued, she was hands off.  However, he realised grimly that he still felt that whoever she had been dreaming of was a lucky man, a very lucky man.

Fifteen minutes after Marc had woken her, and still embarrassed at what had happened Kelly
had finally descended the stairs.  Not sure where she was going, she was glad to hear the sound of laughter emanating from one of the room she had been shown earlier, and pushing open the door, she found herself in the kitchen.  Mrs Green was placing delicious smelling food onto a large pine table on which were laid out two settings, Marc sat at one and she guessed the other was for her.  Sitting in a high chair laughing and giggling with pleasure was Max, already changed and ready for bed, and from the smell of clean baby, she guessed that he had already been bathed.

He was now drinking from a bottle of milk, in between being tickled and fussed over by the two other people in the room

It had been Mrs Green who had spotted her first

“There you are, feeling better”
she had asked kindly smiling over at the younger woman

Kelly
had smiled back warmly nodding, but had kept her eyes averted from Marc, still embarrassed by what had happened earlier.

“Much better, thank you”
she had smiled

At the sound of her voice Max had started looking around excitedl
y making little mamam noises, while his arms had reached out for her.

Giving a small laugh,
she had moved over to the boy and lifted him from his chair.  Max had hugged her, his small arms reaching round her neck, while she made joke strangled noises much to his amusement, catching a knowing look between the other two, not totally sure of its meaning.

“He has been washed, fed and played with with
in an inch of his life” Marc had said softly his voice full of humour, and his casual tone had helped Kelly to relax and to push the earlier incident to the back of her mind.

As if on queue Max
had began to yawn, his head cuddling into her neck and his eyes starting to flutter shut, as his small hands had slowly dropped to his side his body becoming heavy.  Holding him tighter to her she had smiled gently

“Has someone been having a good time” she
had cood softly “and now needs his bed”

Mrs Green came over and dropping a small kiss on his hand
had whispered “Dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes if you want to put him down”

As she went to leave, Marc
had handed her a walkie talkie type device.

“T
here is a baby monitor up there, just switch it on and you should be able to hear him on this”

Taking it
with a smile she had then left with Max and as she had placed him in the cot, he had already been asleep, Kelly standing for several minutes over his bed watching him.  His small mouth was so determinedly set when he slept; and with a smile to herself she had finally known where he got that from.  Long eyelashes brushed against his beautiful skin and as she did every night, she wondered at how perfect he was

Reaching over and turn
ing on the monitor positioned close to the cot, Kelly had leant over and gently dropped a kiss on his small forehead

“Good night sweetheart” she
had whispered “love you” before silently leaving the room and turning on the hand held monitor.

Down
stairs Marc had frowned as he had listened to her on his device.

When she
returned to the kitchen it was only Marc left, Mrs Green having put the food on the table and left.  Kelly was surprised that she was not joining them and if the truth be told a little uncomfortable at being left alone with him.

“Oh, w
here is everyone” she had asked in surprise, looking at the wonderful spread before her.

“
Beth likes to eat early.  Lets her watch her programs”, he had answered a note of mischief in his voice

Kelly
sat down opposite him as Marc told her to help herself.

“I hope you don’t mind eating here” he
had said “It’s just that when nobody is here we always eat in the kitchen, more comfortable”

Kelly
had given him a small smile.  So he thought she was no one, well there was nothing like letting somebody know where they stood from the word go.  However, she was glad that they were eating in the kitchen, a room which was far friendlier than the large grand dining room they had viewed earlier.

“You
have a beautiful home” she said helping herself to a generous portion of the deliciously smelling lasagne and fresh salad.

“Thank you” he
had answered “My family have lived in this villa for many generations… we like it”

He
had watched as she began eating.  “Are you hungry” he asked in amusement as she had laughed nodding her head as her mouth was so full she couldn’t answer.

“It’s nice to see a woman who eats a meal rather than picks at it”.

Kelly had laughed as he too piled his plate high “well I’m glad I’m not alone” she had returned seeing his mouth twist in amusement

“How was Max” she
had asked watching as his dark eyes had softened

“He was wonderful.......a
lthough, I think you are going to find plenty of volunteer baby sitters,” he had chuckled “He seems to have made every female in the place gooey eyed”

Kelly had
smiled before adding

“Just the females huh”

Flashing her one of those devastating smiles, which made her catch her breath, he had added “Well….” Before his tone had become so serious

“I couldn’t imagine life without him now, he is so perfect”

A small frown crossed his handsome face

“I still don’t understand why Trudy didn’t tell me
though” a small hint of sadness in his voice

Kelly
had bit her lip

“I know why
” she had said softly seeing as he had looked at her in surprise

“
But you said…”

Nodding her head Kelly
had continued

“Trudy kept a diary.  After you left that second morning I decided to read them to see if they would tell me why she had lied”

He looked at her with keen interest as she had continued

“Apparently she walked in on you one day while you were on the phone to somebody”

He had frowned

“And..”

“And you were telling them that you would keep the baby.  You were threatening to set your lawyers on them to make sure you got the baby.  Trudy was going to tell you, but got frightened.  She thought that you would use your lawyers to take Max from her”

Marc had looked over at her, his expression
one of pained hurt

“I would never…”
he had begun, frowning as he tried to remember the event, before sudden realisation had crossed his face as he had groaned

“She heard me? I never knew she was there
” He had looked at Kelly

“An ex girlfriend of mine
had phoned to say that she was pregnant and demanding a lot of money to “deal” with the problem and keep quiet”

A look of disgust had crossed his features

“I told her that if she was really pregnant then I wanted the baby and that I would make sure that my child was born”

Hesitating he
had continued

“I didn’t know
Trudy was there…..I would never have taken Max from her……..we would have worked something out” he had said softly with a sigh as he had looked down thoughtfully

“All that time I missed with Max because of some misunderstanding” his voice heavy with regret

The two had sat in silence for a few moments before Kelly had spoken softly

“What happened to the
woman’s baby” she had asked as he had looked strangely at her

“There was no
baby; she was trying to get money from me”

“
Oh” was the only thing Kelly could manage, as he had sighed, a heavy sound

“Unfortunately there have been some cases in which ex girlfriends have tried to extort money by claiming
amongst other things that they are pregnant.  I normally let my lawyers deal with them….but she got me on the phone..and…” he had trailed off not finishing the sentence

“You never had your lawyers contact me” Kelly
had said softly, seeing as Marc had frowned

“When I read the letter from your lawyer it was different.  I knew Trudy” He looked up at her with a smile

“She was a wonderful woman” he had said softly as Kelly had bit her lip smiling sadly back at him

“….and there was no demand for money.  Something about that letter
just rang true.. So I came over to Glasgow to see for myself”

He looked up
smiling

“I’m glad I did.  Max is wonderful.  I never knew I could ever feel that way about another human being”

Kelly had given a return smile nodding

“He does have that effect on people” she
had said gently

“I didn’t know Marc” she
had finally said looking him in the eye

“I truly thought you knew”

Marc noticed how brightly her eyes sparkled.  Those wonderful blue pools of light which seemed to mirror her every emotion, and right now there was an honesty in them which made him swallow hard.

“I know” he replied

Suddenly feeling the need to break the air which now hung over the two of them he produced a bottle of red wine, decanting it with practiced ease, before pouring them both a large glass.

“A toast” he said
raising his glass “To Trudy”.  She had raised her glass in approval. 

The rest of the meal went quickly, the two of them spending an enjoyable hour talking and eating.  They seemed
very relaxed together, the earlier event long forgotten, no doubt helped Kelly thought by the wine which seemed to flow easily.  She had found him to be an enjoyable companion, and found herself listening intently to the many stories he told her about growing up in the villa.  He had seemed to enjoy her company too as they were able to laugh and argue together until they both forgot the time.

As they
sat back, unable to finish the wonderful meal, they had both automatically began to clear the table together. 

“Would you like to
sit outside for a while” he had asked while pouring her another drink.  Kelly had nodded and together they had moved out to one of the large porches partially covered from the night air.  By now the sky was completely black, with stars twinkling down at them from the clear sky, all quiet except from the high pitched buzzing of the cicadas’

He
had spoken first, his voice more serious

“I got the results back from the lab”
he had told her softly

Kelly
had looked down at her drink remembering the visit they had made to the clinic in which swabs had been taken from Max’s cheek to confirm paternity

“They came back positive” he
had said a small note of happiness evident in his voice as Kelly had taken a large sip of her wine

“I thought they might” she said before adding “He is your double”

Marc had given
her a small smile, silence falling between them once more for a few seconds

Changing the subject he
had said

“His birthday is
in two days” seeing as Kelly nodded

“
Yes his first” she had added with pride

“I thought we should do something special, what do you think”

Kelly had sat silently for a few seconds, thinking before looking back at him

“He loves animals, do they have a petting zoo nearby”