Was it Good for You Too? (29 page)

The twisted fiend didn't even try to deny it. Instead, he glared at her with a hatred he never tried to conceal.

“You. Make. Me. Sick!” she snarled.

“Your actions put my granddaughter right where I want her—back where she belongs,” he proclaimed with relish. “You defiled your marriage and dishonored my son, who made the grave mistake of marrying a woman who was not only beneath him, but a whore as well.”

Tailan backed away from him, disgusted. She opened her mouth to respond, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neena timidly descending the stairs with a dour faced woman following. Neena's normally jubilant manner was subdued. Eerily so. The bruises on her olive skin shone like a spotlight on the horrors she had endured.

“What have you done to her?” Tailan gasped and ran over to her baby.

“What we have a right to do,” he roared. “Discipline her so she knows her place.”

Tailan charged over to Adesh and shoved him hard against the wall. She pressed her elbow into his throat, nearly cutting off his supply of oxygen. “You
ever
lay a hand on my child again … and so help me God, I will slit your throat!”

Those nearby blanched at the coarse language. She stormed over to Neena and the female escort. When the woman wouldn't release Neena, Tailan snatched the woman out of the way and collected her child in her arms.

Tailan shot a murderous look over to Adesh, whose eyes were wide with fright, but quickly morphed into anger.

She stepped toward the door, but with Adesh's signal to the men standing nearby, they blocked her exit.

“Move,” she commanded. “Or this will not be a pleasant evening for any of us.”

At that moment she was grateful, so very grateful, that Anna Germaine had made good on her promise to send her for Martial Arts classes. Tailan never had the opportunity to achieve higher than a brown belt, but at the moment, belts didn't matter—skill and the ability to throw a punch and take a punch did.

“You put your hands on me!!!” Adesh growled, shaking a fist in her direction.

She placed Neena behind her, ready to take up a fighting stance. “You put your hands on my daughter. So we're even. And you will never have any opportunity to hurt her again.”

To this Adesh choked out a bitter laugh that cause of slither of unease to slither up her spine. “But my dear, thanks to your
mistake
you will have no say in the matter.”

Chapter 35

“Calm down, Tailan,” Amir pleaded as he paced after her.

“He beat her!” she cried and flung her hands towards the upstairs bedroom. “You saw the marks on her body!”

“Sweetheart, please calm down,” Amir pleaded. His heart was breaking. The horrors for his little girl had already begun.

Tailan whirled on him with eyes streaming with tears.

“You know that's not right.
We
have never laid a hand to her,” she reminded him. “And she knows how to behave. And you
know
that!”

Amir carefully eased closer to Tailan and let her get it out.

“She's a good girl,” she whispered into the wall of his chest. “She's a good baby.”

After a moment, he escorted her to the kitchen and sat her down. He prepared a cup of tea to settle her nerves. Amir helped her with the first sip because her hands were still shaking. “Adesh was angry and tried to hold us captive when I tried to leave with Neena,” she said.

Amir stiffened with anger.

“For the first time, the women finally spoke up. They defied their husbands and moved them out of the way so we could go. Every single woman said something. I have never seen anything like it.”

Amir's eyebrow shot up, he gripped her arms. “
The women
?! My
mother
?!!”

Tailan nodded, giving him a wan smile. “She had the strongest voice. She told Adesh to end this foolishness, end his bitterness, or she would leave with me and take every single one of the women with her.”

His jaw dropped and when Tailan saw it, she tried to smile and finally succeeded.

“Ease your fears, my love,” he whispered, placing a hand on her cheek. “This will be over soon.”

Tailan set her cup down and stared up at him.

He pulled out a folder and placed it on the table.

“What's this?” she asked.

Amir fought for a calm that was hard to feel. His next words were agonizing to form.

He closed his hand over hers. “My family has sealed my fate,” he started. “But I cannot allow what happened to Dhara and to my mother to ever happen to Neena or Dhara's children.” Amir pushed the folder forward. “I have added a codicil to our pending divorce decree.”

Tailan snatched up the folder and flipped it open.

“Amir … no,” she said, raking a gaze over the words again and again. “You can't do this! You
can't
—I won't let you.”

“All it requires is your signature.”

“There has to be another way,” Tailan continued.

Amir rose from the table and said, “The madness of my family's obsession with tradition and purity will end with me.” He turned to her and explained, “I will not continue the line. My new wife will never have children sired by me. If I must sacrifice my happiness, then I will extract my pound of flesh for the arrogance of my family.” He returned to the table and gathered her face in his hands. “I love you, Tailan. If you cannot be the mother of my children, then no one will be the mother of my children.”

“Amir, please.”

“I will see her. I will be there,” he forged on. “But she will be where she is safe and nurtured and loved—she will be with you.” He kissed her forehead and added, “Dhara's children will be delivered to me soon. But I ask that you allow them to be our children.”

“Of course,” she whispered. “Whatever you need.”

“They will be my focus,” he said, stroking a hand across her face. “We will help heal them like you healed me. And I will keep them safe from my family's influence. At least, I have that written promise from them in order to agree to marry Roshni. But this,” he gestured to the document she held, “protects Neena from both my family and Esha's and puts her firmly in the care of the person I trust.”

Tailan read the document again, practically hyperventilating as she did. Suddenly
s
he pressed her forehead to his as their falling tears blended together.

“I love you so much, Amir,” Tailan sobbed.

“I love you forever, Tailan,” Amir added as he eased her around to face the codicil. He handed her a pen, and she trembled with hesitation. She clenched her fist and hurriedly added her signature.

Tailan shoved the pieces of paper across the table and embraced him with a fierceness that spoke of how much she meant those words.

Soothingly, he added, “It is done. Our divorce will be submitted as final when the adoption is finalized. You will have sole custody of Devi, Neena, and the twins.”

Her tears broke his heart, but they also gave him hope.

“My mother actually threatened my father?”

“She most certainly did!”

Amir laughed as they walked upstairs to Neena's bedroom to comfort her and help her get ready for bed.

Epilogue

The next few months spun by. Once the divorce was finalized, Delvin was insistent Tailan marry him immediately. She couldn't do it. Not because she didn't want to, but because she was solely focused on smoothing the way for Amir's nieces to adjust to America. The children were leery of every adult except her when they arrived. With her, Lali and Bela relaxed and sometimes even smiled. Soon things changed so that when Neena and Devi were present, the twins morphed into rambunctious, playful little girls again.

Tailan had seen so much horror inflicted upon small children in the course of her life. Thoughts of how she was not able to protect her cousins drove her to be a fierce protector of the children she cared about. Amir's family learned that ugly lesson the hard way.

When word spread that Tailan had sole custody of both of her children and Amir's nieces, his family went berserk. However, there was nothing they could do. When Adesh tried to use the legal system to steal her child away, Amir's mother found the courage to drop a few words in his ear, “I will tell them
everything
.”

Soon after, Amir received a sizable inheritance that Adesh had kept from him for all these years. All because it originated from Kamal. Amir immediately enrolled in medical school and set out to fulfill his dreams.

They never discussed the details of the conversation, but Tailan conceded
just
a bit. Lali, Bela, Neena, and Devi would visit Amir's family compound once a week and during special ceremonies related to their culture. But no one there was ever allowed to exclude any of the children from any event, speak harshly to them, mistreat or belittle them. No one could touch them in anger or as a form of discipline. It there was any infraction of this rule, the nanny and bodyguards who would be accompanying them
every time
would crack skulls first and ask questions later.

* * *

When the families settled into a routine that worked for both households, Tailan finally felt like she could breathe and give Delvin a date when they would get married. The girls were flourishing. Jason and Ariel were adapting well to their extended family. Anna, Delvin's mother, received joyful news that her body was responding much better to her cancer treatments. Delvin and his father had been right. Anna fought tooth and nail to have more time with all her grandchildren.

“You all really took that be fruitful and multiply thing seriously, eh?” Anna teased. But everyone knew they were her reason to live and get better.

Amir and his new bride were slowly adjusting to each other. Delvin was at least entertaining the thought of doing more films now that his mother was better and he was free of his diabolical wife.

Delvin and Amir had eventually found a respectful medium. They took a private meeting without her, and she nearly had a heart attack. She thought there would be bloodshed for sure, but they emerged from Delvin's office shaking hands.

“We cleared the air,” Delvin said as she approached them. “We both agree that we love you, but nothing comes before our children.”

“I see why he was hard to shake from your heart, Tailan,” Amir said, with a seeming admiration for Delvin in his voice as he kissed her goodbye and collected Lali and Bela to take home.

Tailan looked after him in stunned silence. Then she shifted her gaze to Delvin, who smiled and pretended to button his lips.

One week after that milestone conference, Tailan had quite a scare. She almost fell back into the bath tub she got so dizzy. “Oh, no,” she gasped as she tried to level herself down on the edge of the tub. She waited for the room to stop spinning. Ten minutes later, she rushed to her bedroom and grabbed her cell phone and clicked on the calendar app.

Damn!

* * *

The pregnancy test flashed positive like a neon sign three hours later. It told Tailan what her body already knew.

She cancelled all of her appointments at work and made a mad dash to the family practitioner since her OB-GYN couldn't fit in an emergency appointment.

“Those over-the-counter tests are spot on accurate in most cases,” Dr. Taylor confirmed. “Our test says the same thing. I'll do a blood draw and a quick ultrasound too.”

Tailan absorbed those words as she reflected on her first pregnancy. “I had major complications with my first time,” she said.

“I'm reviewing your chart, and I see that. We'll start earlier monitoring due to your high-risk history.” Dr. Taylor gestured to the spot behind them. “Lie back on the table.”

She did, but she held her breath for a spell.

Dr. Taylor started the ultrasound and paused, frowning at something.

Frantic, Tailan blurted, “What is it? What's wrong with my baby?”

She turned to her. “Well, you're pregnant all right, but you're not
just
pregnant—you're
very
pregnant. This little guy has been camping out in your lower back. That's why you don't have a baby bump yet.”

Well that explained why her lower back ached all the time. She thought it was the way Delvin had been handling his business—combining some of the techniques he had learned the night the three of them were together. She had been amazed, but mostly realized Delvin had upped his game because he didn't want her to miss Amir for that reason.

“Is the baby okay?” she asked.

“The baby looks real good from what I can see. Take a look.”

Tailan craned her head toward the screen and saw a tiny fetus sucking its thumb. Seconds later, she burst into tears.

“Now, now Tailan,” Dr. Taylor soothed. “The baby is doing well. From these images, this little guy is holding his own.”

“His?” Her eyes snapped up. “It's a boy?”

The doctor nodded.

“I'm having a little boy,” she sniffled. “Jason will be so pleased to have another man in the house.” She chuckled then asked, “When am I due?”

“A lot sooner than you think,” Dr. Taylor replied. “Tailan, these images reflect a fetus well into the second trimester. From the length of the baby, I'd guess you're at least five and a half months pregnant, closer to six.”

“Oh my God,” Tailan gasped.

That puts the time of conception around…

* * *

Tailan called a private meeting with Amir and Delvin. The mistakes of the past compelled her to take a different path this time.

“The last few months have been hard on all of us,” she confessed. “And yet, we have managed to pull off a miracle and stay together as a family—albeit a very forward-thinking family. But through all the challenges, we, as the adults of this little tribe of ours, have weathered the storms, made peace, and put all of our children first.”