I Had To Change

I laughed a little, getting out of my chair to walk over and give her a hug. She meant well, even if I didn't give a flip about any baby shower. In fact, she was the only one—aside from our friends—who had been on our side from the start.

"You put the reception together despite all this," I said, watching her eyes.

She lifted her chin. "Yes. The fight I got from wanting to celebrate your marriage was the reason I ended up forcing Jefferson to tell me what was going on. I'm only sorry any of the Hewitt was there at all." She blew out an angry breath, seething in her chair. "It took me a while after that before I could even look at Jefferson, but I love him. He made a terrible mistake, but he takes up too much space in my heart not to forgive him."

I nodded. "I understand."

She placed her hands around mine. "We'll get this fixed. Nicholas will know what to do."

After getting her calmed down and taking my seat again, I decided to ask what had been in the back of my mind for a while.

"Before, when Nicholas was talking to me, you seemed surprised when he mentioned the name Willis. Why was that?"

Jefferson rubbed his face with his hand and nodded. "Yes, it's the oddest thing. Of course, I was aware Rosemary married him and divorced him... both rather quickly, but I hadn't heard that name in a long time. Back then, Simon would refer to him as 'The Maggot' or some other equally derogatory term. But Nicholas mentioning his name triggered a memory from just a couple of months ago."

He drummed his fingers on the tablecloth, a behavior I'd seen Nicholas do from time to time when he was deep in thought.

"I was at Simon's house, walking to his office, and heard him talking to someone on the phone. He was shouting, and I had no idea who he was angry with, but I hovered outside until he finished. I don't think he had any idea I was out there." He waved his hand. "Anyway, he said something to the effect of you owe me, Willis... see that it's done and you'll get paid."

Nicholas was frowning, and I imagined the wheels turning in his head.

I squeezed his hand until he turned toward me. "Do you think it's possible? Did Simon put him up to it?"

"Up to what?" Jefferson asked. Nicholas stared at me, anger flickering in his eyes as he told them what we both suspected. "Simon paid Hector to follow Willow. That son-of-a-bitch was behind it all."

He went on to tell his parents everything that had happened with Hector. The stalking, the pictures, the confrontation. He even mentioned the therapist, which segued right into Rosemary.

"I haven't told your mother," Jefferson interrupted. "She doesn't know what Rosemary did to you in San Rafael. Geoffrey told me…"

Nicholas sighed, and I felt the same exhaustion that was written over his face. Even though it was better everything was out in the open now, it was still tiring and mentally draining to pour it all out at once.

I rubbed his leg and turned toward Jefferson. "I think it's best if you two discuss that later. In private. While Rosemary did some horrendous things back then to hurt Nicholas, she's now become another player trying to come between us. Another thing we wanted to talk about tonight was her current behavior."

I filled them in on Rosemary sending me threatening mail, her confronting me at my reception, and her trying to extract information about me and Nicholas through his secretary and lawyer.

"Like father, like daughter," Clara said.

Jefferson looked almost ill, sitting there in silence. He didn't say a word, but I hoped he felt awful about all his attempts to push Rosemary and Nicholas together.

"I feel like I have enough dirt on both Simon and Rosemary to force them both to back off and leave us all alone," Nicholas said, before looking at his father. "What do you think?"

"I just don't know. He's ruthless, but he's also secretive. Maybe he could be persuaded to back off if we told him we were willing to go public with everything." He took a deep breath. "But we'd have to really be willing to. He'll try and call our bluff."

Nicholas nodded. "Here's what we're going to do. You keep on acting normal with him. In the meantime, I want you to send me every single bit of information you can remember back when this first started. Who were the people he introduced you to? I need names, dates, amounts, and anything you can remember. I'm going to end this once and for all."

I hoped he was right.

.

Nicholas and I were too tired to do anything else when we returned that night. We simply stripped down to our underwear and fell into bed. With his arms around me, I fell asleep quickly.

We saved our talking for the next morning. I'd never been happier for a Sunday morning, not having anywhere to be except with Nicholas. It was thundering and stormy outside, a perfect day for snuggling.

"Good morning, beautiful."

I smiled, hearing my favorite voice rumbling in my ear, and hugged him tighter, nuzzling my face in his neck. "Morning."

His hand brushed through my hair, then down my back. "How are you feeling?"

"Baby-wise or about last night?"

He chuckled, his chest vibrating as I lay on top of him. "Either. Both."

I propped myself up on my elbow so I could see him. "Baby-wise, fine. I think I must have lucked out on the whole morning sickness bit." I trailed my fingers over his lips. "About last night, I guess I'm just happy it's all out there now."

"Me, too."

"You know what else?"

He kissed my finger and smiled. "What?"

"You amaze me. You had every right to lash out and be angry at your father when he told you what he did, but you didn't do that. I sat there watching you, the way you accepted and looked beyond the actions to the reasons behind them... I don't know. It seems silly to say I was proud of you. It's more than that. I admire you. You took another blow, but were so strong." I leaned in, kissing him. "I just love you."

He closed his eyes, but his smile got bigger. "It's because of you, really."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Your birthday... when I lost it and did that to you." He swallowed and looked at me again. "It scared me. I know I get crazy sometimes, but after I pushed you away like that... It frightened me enough that I had to change. You had every right to hate me, to leave me. I don't know what I would have done if you'd left."

The thunder crashed outside and the lights flickered. I let out a nervous giggle and burrowed my face in his neck again. "I think that was a sign we wouldn't be the only ones upset if I ever left."

He laughed and rolled us over, pressing me down into the mattress. I loved the warmth of his body covering mine. He peppered kisses along my neck and shoulders, working his way down to my stomach. It tickled when his lips brushed over my skin, slowly trailing around my belly button.

He stilled, resting his head and watching his hand rub over my stomach. "Do you know how much I love you? Do you know how much I love your mommy?"

My heart skipped a beat when I realized he was talking to our baby. I brushed my fingers through his hair, realizing I loved him more than I thought possible. It was the sweetest sight, even though we both knew it was too early for our baby to actually hear us.

"I may not be the best dad in the world, but I'm going to try. I promise to always be there for you, no matter what. I promise to make sure you know I love you. That you always come first in my life."

Tears fell from my eyes as I listened to him, saying the things to our child I knew he wished he'd heard from his father for so long.

"You are the best gift I have ever received."

I sobbed at that, and Nicholas made his way back up, kissing my tears away. I wrapped my arms around his neck, keeping him as close as possible. "Don't cry."

I laughed. "They're good tears. I promise." I squeezed him as hard as I could. "And you are going to be the best dad in the world. I have no doubt."

He held me and kissed me until my eyes were dry again.

"Nicholas?"

"Hmm?"