Chapter 13
The four-hour drive home from Vegas was interspersed with silence and discussions on how to handle their relationship going forward. Sometimes all Claire wanted was to put the top down and watch the contemplative scenery go by. Sometimes, like after they stopped to buy gas, it was better to put it up and figure out where they were going to live – because it would be cramped in his apartment, and that was before the baby was born.
At least they had a little time to find a place of their own. Jake promised to get his real estate agent on that as soon as they were back in town. Until then, Claire could tentatively move into his apartment while they searched.
By the time they reached LA, they decided to start ripping off the Band-Aids. The Finn house was the first to be hit by Hurricane Carter, since it was closer than Carmen’s villa, and they were not telling Arthur yet.
Gloria would be a hard enough sell, but Claire figured her own mother had a right to know everything.
“How was your sojourn to Ve…” Gloria stopped greeting her daughter from the dining room as soon as she noticed Jake trailing in behind Claire. God give me strength. I’m going to need it. “What happened? Are you all right?”
Claire was taken aback before she entered the dining room. “What do you mean?”
Although Jake and Claire did not touch, their closeness must have broadcasted something unsavory to Gloria. “Has something happened with Arthur?”
The newlyweds exchanged glances. “Not to our knowledge,” Jake said. He held out his hand. “Pleasure to formally meet you, by the way. I’m Jake… Arthur’s son.”
“Yes, I remember.” Gloria removed her reading glasses and lightly shook his hand. “We met at the engagement party.”
“Yes. Well…” Had Jake forgotten? My mother wasn’t on his radar that day. Not only did Jake have no idea that he would soon be so closely related to Gloria Finn-Mathias, but by the time he met her, he might have already stuck it in her daughter and created her granddaughter.
“I thought maybe something had happened for Jake to bring you by.”
Claire sighed. It was now or never. “Something has happened, Mom. A couple of things, but not what you’re thinking.”
Gloria’s face paled. She knows, doesn’t she?
“You might want to sit down.” Claire demonstrated by pulling out one of the chairs and motioning for her husband to do the same.
A few pregnant pauses commenced. Every time either Gloria or Claire opened their mouths, they interrupted the other, and soon they were in a series of impasses that frustrated Gloria and only put off the inevitable for Claire. Jake sat patiently beside his wife. They had decided it was best for her to take the lead when talking to Gloria. He could lead the charge with his own parents, although Claire was less worried about Carmen than she was about…
“I did go to Vegas, Mom.” She had told Gloria that she was going with “a friend” to “blow off some wedding planning steam.” Well, she had. Quite impetuously. “With Jake. He’s the friend.”
Gloria was still pale.
Claire and Jake had yet to purchase wedding rings. They only had the cheap rings that came with their wedding chapel package, but Claire couldn’t stand to wear it when her fingers fluctuated in size all day. Nor did Jake wear his. One more thing for us to do. Claire couldn’t even coyly show off a wedding ring to confirm her mother’s fears.
“Claire Finn, I swear to God…”
That admonishing tone made Claire do something she had not planned on. She took Jake’s hand and attempted to siphon strength out of his body.
“We went there to get married.”
The room was devoid of words. Yet heavy breaths, thumping hearts, and clacking nails against the dining room table littered the air-conditioned dining room. Claire thought her mother might keel over in shock.
But she wasn’t shocked, was she?
“You’re pregnant.” Gloria refused to look in Jake’s direction – until she sent him a scathing, accusatory look. “It’s his.”
Claire said nothing. Why bother, when her mother was right?
“I knew it.” Gloria slammed her hand against the table. “I fucking knew you were pregnant, but I wasn’t about to butt into your life unless you dragged me into it. Well, here we are.” The floral arrangement at the end of the table rattled with Gloria’s next ragged breath. “I simply didn’t expect it to be Arthur’s son who was the father. I thought it was Arthur… or some boy toy you were fooling around with on the side. I figured if you kept it, it must be Arthur’s. You wouldn’t be that stupid to keep a baby that wasn’t his!”
Jake narrowed his eyes at his mother-in-law. “I can assure you that your daughter and I did not plan things this way.”
“No. Stupidity of this caliber is not often planned, is it? Now, tell me, does Arthur have any idea that you’re running around with his grandbaby in your womb?”
“No.”
Gloria muttered, “The man is such an ignorant fool that he probably doesn’t even know you’re pregnant.” Then, louder, “You should’ve passed it off as his! What is this mess you’re in? You’re supposed to be marrying the man who is now your father-in-law!”
“I couldn’t do that.” Claire meant both, but she focused on one thing. “I’ve never slept with Arthur.”
“You fool.” Gloria shot Jake a heated look. He was willing to throw one right back at her. “What in the world do you get out of this? It wasn’t enough for you to knock-up my daughter… you had to go and ruin her life on top of it?”
“Mrs. Finn, I…”
“You should’ve had an abortion instead of ruining everything.”
Claire was too shocked to say anything. Never, ever had she heard her mother say something so callous!
“Mrs. Finn.” Jake rose from his seat, hand still holding his wife’s, his grip only faltering for a second. “I know this is a shock, considering my relation to your daughter’s former fiancé, but I can assure you that this was not a wild and crazy whim of ours. Claire made the decision to go through with motherhood. I…” He looked down at his wife, who couldn’t help but smile with bolstered confidence. “I made the decision to have this family with her. I know you don’t know me from Adam. I intend to fix that in the coming months. You’ll think of me as your son by the time your grandchild is born.”
Gloria wasn’t as aggressive as Jake when she stood, but she was as determined to have her point made. “You two have utterly gobsmacked me with this… news. Forgive me if I am not leaping in joy.”
Claire released her husband’s hand. “You knew I was pregnant?”
“I had my suspicions. The way you behaved, ate, and dressed even in this weather… a mother knows, Claire.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“Soon you will understand what I mean. Sounds like you’ll be a mother before any of us know it. Good luck.”
“Mom…” Claire rounded the table. She hadn’t felt this needy for her mother’s affections since she was a little girl, wondering why Gloria had to be so closed-off in a city already full of standoffish personalities. “Please don’t do this. I know you’re in shock, but I’m gonna need you.”
Gloria remained resolute in her silence until she finally caved, hand hitting her forehead and elbow smacking against the table. “My little girl, married and with child. Well, Mr. Carter,” she shot Jake yet another look, “at least you’re making an honest woman out of her. I rather wish you hadn’t, though. Would’ve been much easier to clean up.”
Jake didn’t flinch. “We’ll clean things up ourselves. Including with our father – and the press.”
“First, I want you two to tell me where you’re even living. Because we do not have room here.”
“I have my own apartment downtown,” Jake was quick to say. “I admit it’s very small for a long-term solution. We’ll have our own place by the time the baby is born. You have my word.”
“Jake is quite successful on his own in Hollywood,” Claire explained. “Don’t worry about me, Mom. Our baby is going to be well taken care of, even if Arthur is not involved.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.” Gloria snaked her arms around her daughter’s midsection, her ear placed directly upon her grandchild’s home.
Claire couldn’t begin to guess what her mother was worried about. Probably because there were any number of candidates, and each one in turn frightened Claire to her core.
***
The newlyweds had a much different reception at Carmen’s villa. When they approached the door with that bedraggled, travel-worn look, Carmen instantly knew what had happened and welcomed Jake and Claire into her arms. She insisted that they stay overnight.
A few hours passed before Claire realized her new mother-in-law was distracting her from the reality of tomorrow. I’m grateful for it, though. The evening was like a fun, candlelit Thanksgiving dinner with intimate family. Carmen brought out photo albums from her childhood in Peru, Jake’s babyhood, and her travels around the world. She also imparted more wisdom about childbirth and rearing than Gloria ever would in the years to come.
“I know Jacob pretends he’s not from my side,” she shot her son a half-bemused look from across the salon, “but you should give your baby a good, strong name. My father Roberto would be honored to know his first grandchild from me was named after him.”
“We’re not naming the baby Roberto, Mom,” Jake announced from the bookshelf. He was searching for an old recipe book that his childhood chef had used – he harbored fantasies of hiring a chef good enough to replicate the meals of his nostalgia. “Besides, it might be a girl, and all the women in your family are Maria this and Maria that. Including you.”
“My name is Carmen Maria, not Maria Carmen. That was my own grandmother.”
“I think Maria is a lovely name,” Claire said.
“Of course you do, because it is.”
“We’re not naming it Roberto or Maria.”
“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Claire closed the album she perused.
Carmen also had invaluable tips about managing motherhood, marriage to a famous producer, and maintaining one’s own acting career. It had helped that she had been in the peak of her own career when she married Arthur, whereas Claire barely had a career to speak of, but Carmen spoke as if Claire were an A-list superstar who walked the red carpet of every event.
Claire was amid writing down, “Have a personal assistant for domestic matters, and one for professional,” when Juanita the maid hustled into the salon with a dire look.
“On the TV right now… all over the internet!” she announced in Spanish. “Ms. Dominguez, you have to look!”
That was when she remembered that Jake and Claire were present. Juanita’s face was whiter than Gloria’s after finding out that her daughter had a shotgun marriage.
Jake pulled out his phone. Carmen thanked Juanita for her concern, but did not turn to the nearest screen. Neither did Claire.
She was too busy having a bad feeling.
“Holy shit.” Jake approached his wife and handed her his phone. “You won’t believe it.”
Claire could guess what might be on her husband’s news app. After all, the first thing to pop into her head once everyone started losing theirs was that Arthur was somehow involved.
He was.
“Dozens of Women Accuse Big Hollywood Executive of Sexual Misconduct – On Twitter.”
Claire looked up. “I thought they were waiting to file and then go to the press?”
“Keep reading. It looks like one of the women dropped out due to some unrelated issue and decided to take her grievances straight to social media. All the women backing her up have nothing to do with the lawsuit. Either they declined joining in, or not even the likes of Ophelia knew about them.”
“Oh my God.” No matter how much Claire scrolled, she couldn’t reach the end of the accusations. They kept coming, mostly from women she had never heard of before, as well as the occasional B-list actress who insisted that something similar had happened to them years ago. One even claimed that Arthur had threatened to blacklist her as recently as that past Christmas. All of it over a role she wanted! “He hasn’t even tried contacting me.”
“Nor me.”
Carmen finally checked her phone. “Oh, look. The bastard sent me a message.”
“Is this your doing, you jealous bitch?” Arthur had so succinctly texted his ex-wife. “I’ll have your fucking head if it’s true!”
Carmen filed it under “For the lawyer” and put her phone down. “He always was such a charmer.”