Chapter 23 - The Whole Truth.

There were children in the house.
Two little girls in pigtails and a little boy in Xavier's arms. He looked so natural with the kids and Amelia was amused. The girls stopped and stared at her while she walked towards them. She gave them a little smile and they ran off giggling.

Xavier turned and smiled at Amelia.

"Just in time for breakfast. Good morning."

"Good morning." Amelia answered begrudgingly as she walked to the dining table where the table had been prepared. Nana was already seated with a newspaper in her hand. She had her reading glasses on.

"Good morning Nana!"

Amelia called out cheerfully as she slipped in one of the seats next to her.

"Oh! Good morning Amelia! How are you doing? Did you sleep well?"

"I did. Thank you."

"I saw Xavier sleeping in the guest room last night, is everything alright?"

The old woman asked with concern as she placed her wrinkly hand on top of hers.

"Yes, it is. It was just a little argument. We're fine."

"Are you sure?" Nana asked with doubt in her eyes and Amelia smiled.

"We are!"

She turned to Xavier with a smile.

"Who are these kids Xavier. They're so cute."

"Oh! That's Erica and Fiona and the one in my arms is Kyle. They're my aunt's kids. They spend time with me and Nana when I'm around."

"That's great! Hi Erica! Hi Fiona! My name is Amelia."

She said to the little girls who just glanced at each other and giggled more.

"Are they eating breakfast with us? Come! Come sit."

Amelia helped the two little girls into seats of their own and Xavier settled in a seat next to her with a three year old Kyle in his hands.

"Are you okay?'

He whispered and Amelia chose to ignore him. Nana looked a bit concerned.

"Soon you two will have your own kids running around the house. I can't wait!"

She said happily and Amelia glanced at Xavier who grimaced a little.

"Maybe later. We don't really plan on having kids right away."

Amelia answered as she dug into her breakfast, leaving Nana to stare at Xavier with a look of confusion.

"Oh Nana! Amelia doesn't really mean that, she's excited about having kids, she's just a little scared of the process. I have to slowly ease her into it."

Xavier countered and Nana smiled.

"You know, I've always wanted kids for Xavier. It's been my wish for quite a long time to hold my great grand child in my arms."

"I'm afraid cancer might take me away before that."

Nana sighed in resignation and Xavier gave Amelia a look.

"Oh Nana! Don't think like that. Of course you'll live to carry your great grand child."

Amelia urged but Nana didn't look like she believed her.

"It's just that, I don't have that much time left..."

Amelia walked to Nana's side and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Don't you worry. You'll definitely stay long enough for your wish to come true."

Amelia couldn't make any promises, she glanced at Xavier and she found the same faraway look in his eyes too. They were both lying, their relationship was fraught with problems and delay and it was too unstable to add a child to the mix. And with the look Xavier had on his face, he was thinking the same thing.

But they didn't want Nana to worry, so they fed her with false hope.

Xavier was good with children, a surprising quality that Amelia had not expected him to have. He was a billionaire, a CEO, an only child and in his late twenties, she didn't expect him to have any experience raising children.
But he was gentle with the kids. The kids naturally looked up to him to ask questions and he easily gave into their demands. He fed the little boy Kyle in his arms with expert ease and he talked to Erica and Fiona about school and cartoons.

After the quiet breakfast, Nana retired back into her room to finish her crossword puzzle and Amelia and Xavier took the kids to a guest room that was fully equipped with toys. In fact, it looked like more of a play room than a bedroom.

He briefly left to take a call and Amelia was left alone with the kids. She found some drawing paper and crayons and she found a way to engage the kids. Together with the kids on the large mat they all drew funny animals and shapes even the smallest Kyle was very interested.

Xavier came back a moment later and joined them.

"Hey, can we talk?"

He asked and she glanced at him.

"Who will watch the kids?"

She asked as she helped Erica pick out the proper colours for her giraffe.

"Savannah will take over."

Xavier said as he pointed to a small plump woman in a uniform.

"Oh hi! Nice to meet you." Amelia saved as she waved at the young woman

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Black"

As Xavier led Amelia back into their room, she wondered what exactly he wanted to talk about as she folded her arms. She was already having fun with the kids, she found their company refreshing.

"It's about us." He said as he finally led her into their room.

"What about us?"

Amelia asked as she collapsed on the bed.

"Well, I have a lot of explaining to do, as regards what happened with Daphne."

"You don't risky have to explain. I don't want you to feel obligated to do it."

"I have to. I want to."

He begged as he sat next to her.

"Okay. Explain it to me."

Xavier sighed. He moved closer to Amelia as he stared into her pretty violet eyes. Her hair was in a high bun that he didn't like. He liked when her hair tumbled down her back. He also liked staring at her face without makeup. He liked trying to count how many freckles she had on her cheeks. She looked perfect without even trying. Wearing plain shorts and a white T shirt, she looked about as simple as an average girl, but she was anything but that.

He remembered when he first saw her, he had a lot of mixed feelings about her. The fact that they had a one night stand too had made him look at her differently. He didn't think she would be the girl he had a one night stand with when her father introduced him to her.

The few times he had met her, they had both been young, too young to remember how they would have looked like in the future. But his father was an acquaintance of hers. And he considered the option of marrying her without even remembering how she looked like.

Her father had been very convincing and Xavier decided that he was going to make his decision when he saw her. He had not been planning to propose when he saw her. In fact, he didn't really know why he had slipped the ring in his pocket.

The moment he found out she was the girl from the club, the girl whom he had one wild passionate night with that he failed to forget, he proposed right away.

"I met Daphne four years after my parents died. She came in as a friend and she comforted me, I was going through a rough time. I didn't date her until a year later. Yes, I loved her. I did. She loved me in her own way and I was always there for her. I thought she was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Nobody else could comfort me like she did."

"When Nana found out she had cancer late last year, I was scared I was going to lose her. She was my only family. You must understand, I wasn't close to the rest of my family then. My parents were sort of loners, they created a cocoon for themselves and they rarely let anyone in. So, it affected their relationship with their family. Nana was the only family I was close to after that. She has lived with us ever since I was born."

"When I found out she had cancer, I was devastated, I didn't want to lose her too. She asked for only one thing. She wanted to see me happy before she died. She wanted to see me married to the woman of my dreams having kids of my own. It was the only thing she wanted. Daphne and I were having problems then, but I still asked her to marry me. She refused."

Amelia's eyes widened.

"I thought she loved you?"

Xavier shrugged.

"She knew I was desperate. Although we had our issues, she said no and I respected her decision. I talked to a few of my father's acquaintances about it, I wanted to know if they had marriageable daughters."

Xavier turned to Amelia with a grim look.

"That was how I met your father."

"He came to me, desperate and in need of money. But I knew your parents and they had a reputation for always running into debts. I was sceptical, but your father already heard that I was searching for a wife and he proposed a deal."

"Wait! Are you saying that my father offered me in exchange for money?"

Amelia asked with wide eyes and Xavier nodded.

"I  thought.... You knew..."

He stuttered.

"No! I had no idea! What did he say? What were his exact words!"

Amelia demanded and Xavier shrugged.

"He wanted me to help him with money, in fact he was offering to sell his almost bankrupt company to me all in return for you. He also had run into debts worth millions. He said you were willing and young. And you would make a good wife. He basically listed all your good qualities and he said that he would never speak a word about it. I was very intrigued. I had been looking for a discreet way around it and your father was not only offering you, but also a promise to keep quiet about it. I was desperate enough to take it."

"Xavier... Do you realise what you're saying?"

Amelia said with the shock of Xavier's words running through her system.

"Yes and you can call your parents to confirm. He told me that you were willing to do it."

"I had no fucking idea! That day you proposed, that was when they told me about it!"

"And they told me that you wouldn't help them with their money problems unless you married me."

Amelia cried out as she looked at him in utter bewilderment. Xavier looked equally confused.

"You father was the one who offered. If he didn't, I would have still found a way to help him."

"How much? How much did you give him?"

"Amelia..."

Xavier started but Amelia was having none of it. Her parents had lied to her. They twisted the entire story, making it seem as if Xavier had asked for her in exchange of helping with their debts.

All for the money??

"Xavier, please. How much did you pay them to marry me?"

"Ten million dollars."