Chapter 26

Oliver

“So, we’ll be there at around seven?” I suggested, and Neil nodded.

“We’re looking forward to having you,” he agreed. “It better not best not go down like last time.”

“Hey, I can’t promise anything.” I held my hands up defensively. “Talk to Jennifer, not me.”

He shook his head and stretched.

“See the two of you on Saturday?”

“Yeah, you will.”

I nodded and ducked out, glancing down the corridor to check that no one followed me. Then, I headed down to Mona’s office. It was still felt strange to be visiting her there, even though it had been months now.

It had been a while since I was last down here. She didn’t like to remind people at work we were together, as she felt it took away some of her legitimacy. Though, it didn’t bother her enough to keep her from accepting a promotion to a higher up position than anyone could have expected so soon after starting at the company.

It had nothing to do with me, even though she still didn’t believe it. After coming out about our relationship, it had been executively decided that her continuing to work as my assistant would be something of a liability, so she was moved to cover the maternity leave for the assistant of Tanya Grey, our head of marketing. Soon enough, she had worked her way up the system and impressed everyone enough that she landed a position of her own.

She was an executive advertising assistant, which basically meant she helped put together most of our ad campaigns and chose the companies and artists we worked with. She was killing it so far, and I made sure the position would be open to her when she was returned from her own maternity leave, which she always seemed to be putting off no matter how many times I suggested she take it easy already.

She was reluctant, and I couldn’t say I blamed her. She was doing so well, soaring so high, why would she want to take a step back now when this was everything she’d worked so hard for?

I knocked on her door and stuck my head inside. She glanced up from what she was doing and smiled when she laid eyes on me. I loved being the focus of her smile, the center of her universe.

“Mind if I disturb you?” I asked, leaning half way in the door.

“Not at all,” she said gesturing for me to come in. “I could use a break.”

I sat down, and she got to her feet to close the door behind me. I sprang up to take care of it for her, brushing her back in the direction of her seat.

“I don’t want you standing up when you don’t have to,” I fussed. “Relax. Take the weight off your feet. It won’t kill you.”

“Neither will closing a door,” she remarked, laughing, but she did as I asked.

I knew she was perfectly capable of looking after herself, but that didn’t matter. Every time she did anything even vaguely strenuous, all I could think about was the stress it must be putting on the baby.

She was getting big, too. Five months gone and her stomach pushed straight out from her torso like a watermelon.

“You know, I didn’t think the first office clothes I was going to treat myself to would be maternity wear,” she remarked as she saw where my eyes were dawdling.

I grinned and shook my head.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” I apologized. “Can I…?”

I reached my hands out, and she swung her chair around so I could reach her bump. I placed my hands on it lightly, remembering the very first time I’d done it, standing outside the restaurant all those months ago, just minutes after she’d told me she was pregnant and we decided we wanted to go ahead with it.

It felt like so long ago now. So much had happened since then, but I still treasured that memory. Just like I treasured all my memories with her, and would treasure the memories we made with the baby as well.

“You ready for tonight?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I sighed. “I’m not good at this kind of stuff. You know that.”

“I do, but you’re going to have to learn to be,” she teased. “When I’m running this department-”

“If,” I reminded her. “It’s not set in stone yet.”

“Oh, yeah?”

She cocked an eyebrow and gestured around.

“I got this far, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but you’ll have to take at least a little time off for the baby,” I teased.

“Just to have him or her, and then I’m back at work,” she reminded me, covering my hands with her’s. “You’re house-husbanding, remember?”

“I know, I know,” I faux-sighed as if it hadn’t been all my idea in the first place.

It had taken a couple months of wrangling to figure it out, but we finally decided on me staying at home to look after the baby the first few months. It wasn’t like we were short on money, and besides, I could do with the time off. She was the one building her career from the ground up, and that wouldn’t jive too well if she took time off now to raise our child.

I knew a few people at the office who thought I was crazy for agreeing to something like that but fuck it. It was none of their business in the first place, and honestly, at my age, the thought of taking some time away from work to do nothing but spend time with my new baby was pretty damn attractive.

“You know, Mom called again today.” She rolled her eyes, good-naturedly. “I know she means well, but damn, can that woman talk.”

“You still think she’s going to be on the phone to me every day about the baby?”

“Not even about the baby,” she said. “Just in general. You know how much she loves you.”

“How could she not?” I shot back.

“You’re lucky. I can’t imagine there are many other forty-something dudes who could knock up her daughter and still stay in her good books.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how we pulled that one off,” I admitted, and I was telling the truth.

I’d dreaded meeting Mona’s family, given the circumstances of how we’d gotten together and the accelerated pace of our relationship, but when we drove down there a couple months ago, I found her whole family to be kind and welcoming.

Yes, it had taken her father a little while to get over the fact I was nearly the same age as him, but soon enough, he had given up on the jokes and seemed to get over it. Her mother, though she got me to swear I would never tell Mona, told me if I hadn’t made her daughter so happy, she would have kicked me to the curb so fast my head would have been spinning. She also let me know she’d be keeping an eye on me as long as Mona and I were together. She had to admit, though, that anyone dating her daughter would have faced the same treatment, so I didn’t think too much of it.

Eventually, her mother and I became good friends, thanks to our shared love of classic cars and old movies, and Mona had a hard time having a conversation with her without being asked if she could talk to me, too. Honestly, I was open to hearing any tips and tricks on parenting because I had no clue where to begin.

Mona met my family, too, though that went a little less smoothly. They were aware of the Jeannie affair, and I guess they saw this relationship as nothing more than an extension of that. She was about three months into the pregnancy when she met them and already starting to show, so it wasn't as if we could pretend like it was nothing serious.

There was no arguing that both of us were in this for the long haul, like it or not, and I suspected that maybe my family thought she was trying to pin me down with a baby to get a hold of my money. And I was too doe-eyed and in love to see what she was doing. It took a lot of convincing to assure them that wasn’t the case, but we got there in the end.

My family was a lot less expressive than hers, so the most we saw from any of them indicating their approval was a tight smile or a pat on the back every now and then. I would take it, though, as long as they would agree to be a part of my our child’s life when the time came.

While they might not have approved of Mona and me, they were beyond excited at the thought of having a little one in the family. It would be my parents’ first grandchild, and I knew no matter how much they disapproved, they were ridiculously excited at the thought of having a baby in the family.

“I should probably get back to work,” sighed Mona. “I’ve got so much to put together for the launch tonight, I don’t want to get distracted.”

“I’ll see you at home?” I suggested, leaning over to plant a kiss on her temple.

She closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, smiling softly, and nodded.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” she agreed and fluttered her fingers at me as I made my way out the door.

I closed it behind me and paused for a moment. It seemed absurd to me that I could be this happy, this content. I spent my whole life chasing down this business, chasing down women, chasing down anything I thought would make me happy, even if only for a split second. I poured all my time and effort into hunting down a lifestyle I convinced myself suited the kind of person I was – booze, women, and success, success, success.

All of that left me feeling empty, as though there was something fundamentally missing in my life, something I had never been able to put my finger on, because who wouldn’t want to live the life I had built? Who wouldn’t want to have a half-dozen gorgeous, successful, brilliant women on speed-dial at any given time? Who wouldn’t want to run an enormous business like this one that came with all the perks and rewards that Artemis offered? Who wouldn’t want to spend their days working alongside their best friend?

I convinced myself that I was happy like that, but looking back, I knew I wasn’t. I had never truly been happy before Mona. Everything was a façade.

A warmth, deep in my soul, started as soon as we settled down together. I spent so long chasing after the life I thought I should have instead of taking the time to think about what kind of life I really wanted. Now, it seemed like this one with Mona, where I would get to spend as much time as possible at home with our child, was about the best one I could think of.

I headed back to my office and finished off my work for the day. I wanted to have plenty of time to get ready for the launch tonight. Truth be told, I was finding it harder and harder to find the motivation to stay late in the office these days.

Before, I had myself convinced that was the best thing for me to do because time at the office translated into financial success. None of that was as important anymore, though, and I found myself craving the comfort of the apartment I shared with Mona.

She moved into my old place briefly, but it soon became clear that it wasn’t a practical place to raise a baby. So, I took my savings and spent a good chunk of it on a stunning townhouse for the three of us, not far from the city center.

It was close enough to work that the commute wasn’t too terrible for Mona, but far enough away that I felt I was actually putting some space between me and the office when I returned to it in the evening. I had to admit, it was beyond fun putting the place together, finding ways our personal styles jived with each other’s to create something that was utterly and completely our own.

We set up the nursery in bright, gender-neutral yellow, as we didn’t know the sex of the baby yet and didn’t want to. We decorated the walls with a mixture of my minimalist art and her quirky, modern paintings.

We weren’t far from Neil and Jennifer, and we found ourselves around at their place at least once a week for dinner. I knew Neil was glad I’d finally settled down, as it meant we actually saw a little more of each other. We were no longer squeezing in time between the many women I had on the go.

Neil and I met back in college, where we got on so well because we were at similar points in our lives, and had similar goals. Now the same thing was happening again. It made me happy we were becoming close again.

I turned off my computer after sending out the last of my emails and took a step away from the desk to look out the window. It would be strange not coming here every day, but it was exciting. I never thought I would be able to say that and mean it.

I couldn’t believe how much my life had changed since she walked into it, barely ten months ago now. The nights were getting shorter, and I was reminded that only a year ago, I’d been dealing with the Jeannie fiasco. After all that I swore to myself and anyone who would listen that I would never, ever, ever date someone who worked for me again.

And now here I was.

I grinned to myself as I left the office to walk back to our place. I was getting a lot more exercise these days in preparation for the amount of time, effort, and energy I was going to have to devote to raising our baby. I had already committed myself to the late-night feedings so Mona would be rested for work, and I figured now was as good a time as any to get fit. After all I’d been saying I would for years. As an added bonus, it made our sex life that much better, as I was more flexible and could bend into unlikely positions, as well as picking her up so I could fuck her standing up.

In fact, only a few days before, we’d had a pre-work quickie against the refrigerator, and even now, I could hear her desperate little moans in my ear. Yeah, that was a good one, but then again, they were all good.

I arrived back at our place and went to the fridge to grab some leftovers, then upstairs to choose a suit for tonight.

I looked forward to a time when I would be able to hang up my suit jackets and wear more casual outfits., even though I knew Mona loved me in my suits.

Not that I would have a whole lot of time to think about fashion while I was running around after a little one. At least, that’s what Mona’s mom kept warning me.

I got dressed slowly, taking my time, doing up the buttons carefully, one-by-one, and pulling out a jacket I knew would go perfectly with the gray shirt I’d chosen for the occasion.

I always put the effort in when it came to stuff like this because I knew it meant a lot to Mona. She carefully planned every detail of these events to make them seem effortless and run smoothly, and the least I could do in return was put my glad rags on.

Besides, she liked me in a suit. It brought us back to the days when she was my assistant. I had been her boss, and we came up with some very enticing role play, when the urge to relive those days struck.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I had never felt this content in my life before. Even though the Masterson group signing on with the company led to more work than I’d ever had before, it didn’t matter because we had laid all the groundwork for the future of the company ahead of time.

I didn’t know why I waited this long to take some time off. The place wouldn’t fall apart without me. We had a great team. It was a strong ship.

Besides I wouldn’t be far away. That’s what I kept telling myself and my family – Mona, Neil, anyone who thought I was sacrificing an enormous part of myself to do this.

I couldn’t believe, at this time in human history, that a man leaving work to look after a baby was such a big deal, but it was. I couldn’t have given less of a damn. I was finally going after what made me truly happy.

I rolled my shoulders back, ran my fingers through my hair, and grinned at myself. Yeah, I was looking pretty good, and I was looking forward to going out tonight with Mona on my arm. She was the start of it all, my true beginning, and I would never forget that.

I pulled open the top drawer of my wardrobe and rummaged under my socks to pull out a small, square box.

Popping it open, I looked at the diamond ring glittering inside and felt my stomach flip with nervousness and excitement.

Suddenly, I heard the door open downstairs.

“Oli?” Mona called from the bottom of the stairs and I quickly closed up the box and stuffed it back in the drawer.

“Up here!” I called back and smiled as I heard her footsteps hurrying their way up the stairs.