New Beginnings (9 page)

“I’m sure it will be.” But, if Carline was going to be at the party then Stephen will be as well. Shit! The last time I found out I was pregnant I had that run-in with Stephen that effectively ended my pregnancy the same day I found out about it. I just took the pregnancy test this morning. Without thinking, my hands covered my abdomen protectively.
I promise you, little one, that I will protect you.

“Hey, is everything all right?” He rested a hand over my hands as they covered my abdomen. The gesture brought tears to my eyes. “Do you feel okay?” he asked, voice full of concern.

I quickly pulled myself together. “I’m fine. Just a little nervous.” I smiled weakly at him.

“It’ll be all right, sweetness,” he assured me again.

We pulled up to the grand entrance of the Fairmont Olympic. A hotel employee, who seemed to be waiting patiently for our arrival, rushed up to Xavier, and eagerly escorted us to the Garden Room.

The room was split into three levels, with three stairs separating each level. Round tables that could seat six were on each level. They were beautifully decorated with red linen tablecloths and gold place settings. Red rose arrangements with twigs of holly and pine complete with pinecones were placed in the middle of all the tables.

A gentleman dressed in a black tuxedo approached us. He introduced himself to Xavier as the piano player for the evening. I glanced around the room until I located the piano set up in a far corner. There was no dance floor that I could see so clearly there would be no dancing.

A few hotel employees were busy throughout the room checking all the place settings making sure that everything was how it should be. Two gentlemen, also dressed in black tuxedos, made their way to the open bar on the back wall.

Xavier led me to the upper level of the room where a table for six was set up near the floor-to-ceiling Palladian windows. Four huge trees in planters were decorated with white twinkle lights. A huge Christmas tree with the same lights was set up behind our table.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Xavier asked.

Shit. I hadn’t thought about that. There would be no alcohol for me given that I now knew I was pregnant, but I didn’t want Xavier to know just yet. How the hell was I going to pull this off?

“You know, my stomach is still a little queasy from nerves. Can you just get me a sparkling cranberry juice?”

Xavier frowned at me for a moment. “Sure, sweetness.”

Whew. I breathed a sigh of relief as he walked off. As I sat at the table, I glanced around the beautiful room, which was wonderfully decorated for the holiday. A few moments later, Xavier returned with my drink.

“Well, what do you think?” He gestured at the room before us.

“I think all that is missing is some snow and Santa,” I replied.

“I can’t do anything about the snow, but Santa will be arriving in a bit.” He smirked at me. “I have someone who comes dressed as Santa every year. He’ll hand out presents to my employee’s children,” he said.

“Wow. I love how you think of everything.”

“Now tell me something. What do think about this room in general?”

I looked around the room with wide eyes. “I think it’s beautiful. I love the indoor gardens that are weaved throughout the room. And these Palladian windows are absolutely gorgeous,” I said, as I glanced at the windows behind me.

“What do you think about this room for something like a wedding?” he asked carefully.

My wide eyes scanned the room as my mouth dropped open. It took me several seconds to compose myself. “I think …” I focused back on Xavier. A small smile played on his lips. His blue eyes sparkled with excitement. “I think this room would be perfect for a wedding.” I smiled widely at him. “Is it big enough though?”

“Sure, I think so. How many people are you planning on inviting?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to keep it small. Family, close friends. I know we haven’t really discussed it. I’ve been married before. I want our wedding to be whatever you want it to be.”

“Ella, that’s sweet. But it’s a day for the bride, not the groom. I want our wedding to be whatever you want it to be. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s big, small, or we elope. All that matters to me is being able to hear you say I do.”

I smiled widely at him this time instead of allowing myself to panic.

Guests started arriving for the party. “We’ll need to finish this conversation another time,” I said.

The next two hours were a flurry of introductions. Xavier escorted me around the room stopping at each table to introduce me to everyone. Of course, I recognized his personal assistant, Patrick, and his receptionist, Carmen, both of whom were with their girlfriend and boyfriend respectively.

It was awkward when I was introduced to Carline’s parents especially after the incident that transpired between Carline’s brother and Renatta, which resulted in Renatta spending a night in the hospital with a minor concussion.

Her parents were not what I was expecting. Her father was a tall, thin man with snow-white hair and bright hazel eyes. He carried himself with a very sure, confident air about him, but he was not arrogant or pompous. Her mother, who was as tall as Carline with the same flat, brown eyes, also had that confident air about her. They were seated at our table along with Stewart and Marissa.

Carline and Stephen arrived, but they steered clear of our table until after the meal. Even then, they only approached so Carline could say hello to her parents. Stephen stood several feet back shooting daggers at Stewart and Marissa. I avoided any direct eye contact with him. Xavier’s arm was wrapped around me possessively the entire time.

When I excused myself to go to the ladies room, Marissa followed along. Usually, having her tag along totally annoyed the hell out of me, but given that I just found out I was pregnant this morning, I welcomed her presence.

As I was standing at the sink washing my hands, Carline entered the restroom. Her eyes rested on Marissa waiting by the door before they focused on me. As she approached, Marissa pushed off the wall. I gently shook my head at her.

Carline’s cold eyes shot me a noxious look. “Adding stalking to your list of things to do now?”

“Good evening to you too, Carline. It’s so nice to see that you are back to your usual bitchy self. What happened to the nice and polite Carline you were so willing to show us at the last function we met at?” I raised my brows and pursed my lips at her.

“That Carline disappeared the minute your fiancé falsely accused Stephen of stalking you. It turns out you are the one stalking.” She placed her fists on her hips.

“I’m stalking Stephen?” I asked incredulously. “I have no idea what you’re getting at.”

“Cut the shit, Ella. Stephen told me he caught you following him down Second Avenue Monday after I left Xavier’s office.”

He told her what? I gaped at her, but quickly recovered. “Hmm, you mean the day you were escorted from Xavier’s office?” I sneered at her. “I hate to break it to you Carline, but he was the one stalking me. If he told you otherwise then clearly you are more brainwashed by his bullshit than I realized. One day you’ll wake up just like I did and Lisa did. Hopefully before it’s not too late.”

“Not too late for what?” she demanded.

“Before it’s not too late to save yourself. I don’t know what little game you two are playing, but I will destroy you just like I will Stephen if you both continue down this destructive path,” I said scornfully. Automatically, my maternal instincts kicked in as my hand wandered down to my abdomen and rested there protectively. Carline’s eyes widened at the gesture. Marissa didn’t miss it either. She frowned at me as her mouth hung open. I quickly wiped my hands on my dress trying to play it off as nothing.

“You’re pregnant,” Carline said in a derisive tone as she pointed at my stomach.

“I think not,” I said quickly. “If you’ll remember correctly Stephen ended that little dream not too long ago. Now if you’ll excuse me I think I’ve wasted enough time on you,” I said disdainfully.

As soon as I walked passed Carline, Marissa grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the restroom. She stopped in the hall a few feet from the restroom. “Ella, are you pregnant?” she asked incredulously.

“Of course not,” I quickly replied. I hated lying to her, but there was no way I was telling her before Xavier. She studied my face for several seconds before she wordlessly escorted me back to the party.

Whew, that was close. There were fourteen days until Christmas Eve. At this rate, I wasn’t going to make it that far before my secret was revealed accidentally. I had to be more careful.

Fortunately, Xavier didn’t question how long I had been gone, because he knew Marissa had been with me. Nevertheless, relief washed over his tense face as soon as he spotted us entering the room.

As the party came to a close, Xavier had the children gather around the one Christmas tree in anticipation of the arrival of Santa. The ear-to-ear grin on his beautiful face as he watched the children stare in awe as Santa arrived brought tears to my eyes. If he behaved like this with his employee’s children, how was he going to react with his own child?

If I hadn’t already known that having a baby was a possibility for us, this scene would have torn me apart. I would have been in anguish over seeing the joy on his face knowing that I couldn’t give him the children he deserved. But that wasn’t the case, and I consciously had to avoid touching my abdomen in any way so as not to reveal my little secret. When he made eye contact with me, he blew me a kiss. I smiled widely and winked in response.

Following the party, we climbed into the back of the limo. I kicked my heels off and collapsed into Xavier’s side. “That was a wonderful Christmas party. Everyone seemed to have a really good time especially the children.” I looked up at him. “Your Santa was quite convincing. The smiles on the children’s faces were priceless.”

“If you think that was good, just wait. Some day, when we have our own children, I’m going to have Santa arrive in a sleigh pulled by real reindeer.” He gave me a glorious smile I couldn’t help but return. That day was going to come sooner than he realized.

Sunday morning brought some unexpected news. Over breakfast, Xavier received a call from his security guy. Carline and Stephen had left for New York for the holidays and were not expected back until after the New Year.

“Does this mean you’ll relax a little with Marissa?” I asked cautiously.

“Is it really so horrible having her around?”

“No, but I have this awesome new vehicle that this really cute rich guy gave me and I’ve hardly been able to drive it,” I said teasingly.

Xavier shook his head and chuckled. “Really cute rich guy, huh?”

“Mmm hmmm,” I replied looking at him intently.

He was quiet for several seconds then let out a deep sigh. “Okay. I don’t feel entirely comfortable with it, but promise me you won’t go off anywhere alone. I haven’t been able to confirm yet if Stephen is still having you followed.”

I beamed at him. “I promise, baby. Thank you.” I grabbed his face and kissed him.

“We haven’t really discussed the holidays,” he said between sips of coffee. “Would you like to spend them with your parents?”

I wouldn’t mind seeing my parents, but Gabriel was all the family Xavier had. “Do you really want to go to New Jersey? What about your brother?”

“Gabe and Tiffany usually go to a warmer climate for the holidays,” he said without looking at me.

“Oh. So what do you normally do?” Did I really want to know?

Xavier was quiet for a few minutes. “It depends. Sometimes I go with my brother and other times I go to Mt. Baker,” he said quietly.

“Alone?” I asked hesitantly.

He paused for a moment. “No, Ella. Not alone,” he said quietly.

“I’m sorry. Of course you weren’t alone.” I did my best to sound apologetic. I was surprised to notice that the flair of jealousy that usually accompanies thoughts of Xavier with other women didn’t happen.

“I have friends who I usually go to Mt. Baker with that enjoy snowmobiling. There are other things to do like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It’s beautiful in the snow.”

“Well, you just flew my parents out for Thanksgiving, but I’ll check with them and see if they would like to come out for Christmas as well. I really don’t want to go to New Jersey. Not now that we knew Stephen and Carline were there.” And I knew Xavier would definitely have me shadowed by Marissa.

“What about Tom and Renatta? If your parents want to stay home, do you think they would be up to joining us at say Mt. Baker or somewhere like it?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll check with Renatta tomorrow and get back to you. Okay?”

“Sure, sweetness.”

My stomach roiled. I fought back the nausea. “I have a headache. I’m going to lay down for a bit,” I said softly.

“Are you sure you’re all right? No alcohol last night, and you’ve barely touched your breakfast this morning.” He gave me a concerned look.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just have a horrible headache for whatever reason. Hormones maybe. That time of the month must be coming.”