Thala’s Pov
Morning came and Nestor and I arrived in the city without speaking to each other. It was tough leaving Brandon alone but I had no choice rather than to start putting my baby first. He was going to be fine, Dr. Wilson promised to keep me updated but as soon as I got inside the house, I turned on my laptop, moved to one of the rooms, and began video calling Brandon.
I was not going to wait for any updates and I had all the time in the world. I planned to spend the whole night annoying him. He thought he was not going to be seeing my face or hearing my voice but he was wrong. He popped up on my screen a little bit p*ssed
and wanted to get rid of me, but I kept talking. Nestors entered with my belongings and asked if I had picked the room.
I turned around and told him to take my belongings to the master suite. He locked his gaze on me for a brief while before carrying the bags away.
“Did you just choose my room?” Brandon enquired.
“No, I just want him to get some exercise, and I’m going to sleep in this room,” I retorted.
“Thalia, seriously???” he replied, disappointed. But I only smiled, annoying the life out of Nestor was fun. It was all his fault that Brandon and I were separated.
Brandon would have agreed if he had been on my side and agreed to bring all of the midwives and physicians I required. All he had to do was try, but he was acting as if he were my father, thinking he knew what was best for me.
The door opened and Maggie walked in, beaming, and I jumped out of bed for a big hug. “All G*d finally, how are you?” she asked.
“I’m okay, thanks and how are you?” I enquired.
Brandon’s voice said through the computer, “Hello and goodbye.”
Maggie approached the bed and waved at him in excitement. The last time she saw him, he was unconscious and we had no clue if he would ever wake up. They exchanged a few words before they both began scolding me for my lack of seriousness with the baby.
I just couldn’t get why everyone was on my case when they were fully aware that I did not intentionally neglect the pregnancy. I was taking all my vitamins and supplements but they all felt that wasn’t enough.
Nestor walked in and asked if there was anything more that he needed to take to the other room.
“Ooh, I forgot to tell you, I will actually be using this room so go and bring back everything you took to that room,” I said with a smile.
“Nestor do not do that,” Brandon yelled
“No it’s okay, the boss has given the orders,” Nestor replied in a mocking tone.
“You are a f*cking pilot and not her maid,” Brandon replied but Nestor ignored him and went on to return all my things. I could see Brandon wanted to be physically present so as to pump some sense into me but he was on the other side of the city. Nestor brought back every and again asked if I needed anything. I placed my hand on my mouth and began thinking.
“Thalia, seriously, am turning the call off,” Brandon warned.
“Brandon, remember I’m pregnant and my hormones are everywhere,” I said and an idea popped up. Brandon was the best teacher for being difficult and I was going to take a leaf off his book.
“I want lobsters, fresh lobsters, and handpicked by you,” I ordered Nestor.
“But thalia it’s nightfall, maybe he should go tomorrow,” Maggie finally got in. She never interfered in the beef with her son no matter how badly I treated her son.
“Mom it’s okay, I need the fresh air and I need to pick some things up?” Nestor replied and moved forward to kiss her forehead.
“But son, where are you going to get Lobsters at this hour?” she asked.
“Mom, I know a guy, are you staying or should I take you home?” he asked.
“I wanted to but we can’t leave Thalia alone!” Maggie replied.
“I will be back mom, I will just pick up the lobsters,” he said with a cold face aimed at me but I only smiled. I knew I was hitting the right nerves but he was busy trying to play the mature one between the two of us.
I cleared my throat, “Magie I thought you were going to be staying with us.”
Her face blushed as she walked back to the bed. “I thought Nestor had told you two,” she said.
“Told us what?” Brandon asked.
I looked in Nestor’s direction who looked very uninterested in what she was saying and looked away. Maggie looked in his direction too and decided to spill the beans herself after realizing her son was not going to talk. “Well I did not want to trouble you these past months with my personal life while you sir were battling for your life,” she said and cleared her throat.
“Just spit it out, you are making me anxious!” Brandon yelled. To be fair I was also dying to hear what she wanted to say.
“I’m engaged,” she said.
I stared over at the screen, Brandon had his mouth open in shock. I had no idea whether to congratulate her or laugh. I wondered how old she was and lucky to find love at her age. She kept quiet and waited for us to say something.
“Nestor?” Brandon called out.
“Yes, sir”
“I want a photo of the man now, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Boss, I did not think my mother’s private life was that important to you,” he replied.
“No, but your stepfather is that important to me,” he said, mockingly, causing me to burst out laughing. I knew it was impolite to laugh, but my adversary was going to have a stepfather. I hastily apologized, but laughing had built up at the back of my throat and broken forth again. Maggie averted her gaze, clearly irritated but unwilling to show it.
“Can you tell me how old this step daddy is?” Brandon inquired.
Nestor cut in, “None of your business,” and swiftly roused his mother, instructing her to collect her belongings.
“Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, my fiance and I just moved in, so I’ll only be here in the morning,” she informed.
“You’ll be resigning next,” Brandon said.
“No, Mr. Fraser,” she responded, “Wilfred and I had discussed it.”
“Well, tell Wilfred I’d like to meet him. Nestor, did you do all the background checks?” he asked.
“Congratulations Maggie, please accept our apologies for our poor manners, but Nestor having a stepfather is adorable.” I hugged her and immediately murmured something. We had no right to question her decision, and no one was ever too old for love. “Are you sure you’re okay with remaining alone?” she inquired.
“Of course, I can sleep alone in a house; why are you treating me as if I’m disabled or something?” With a phony laugh, I said. But I was pondering the roadblock that had just hit us in the back of my mind. Despite the fact that we never discussed it and I never asked her, I always felt she was the ideal candidate to be our baby’s full-time live-in nanny.
But it appeared that she was on the road of love, and I had no intention of dragging her into my mess. She thanked me when I let go of her and promised to physically introduce Wilfred to us.
She said her goodbyes and walked out with Nestor, who promised to return with fresh lobsters that he had hand-picked.
I could only smile, waiting for him to return and make fun of him. They were gone in a flash, and Brandon and I both burst out laughing; we needed it. It had been a dreadful month. I never imagined Maggie looking for love; she always came across as very strict and bereft.
Her husband, on the other hand, had died a long time before. Nestor was most likely a teenager at the time, and she opted to move on. We were thrilled for her, at least I was, but Nestor and Brandon didn’t seem to be.
“Can you imagine Nestor having a younger brother?” I couldn’t stop laughing.
Brandon responded, “I’m going to look for this Wilfred, he sounds like a homeless guy.”
“Come on, she didn’t even give us full details, how did you know?” I asked.
“Because she did not say anything about him, she knows he is homeless and she was ashamed,” he replied. I only rolled my eyes and hoped he did not just come up with a new obsession. We were all aware that his old obsession was almost or should I say closed unless Victor was busy planning to make a comeback.
Dr. Wilson popped up on the screen before I could warn him; it was time to change the filters and connect him to the machines. We were back to reality, and all I could do was sit there and watch. I noticed his mood shift, and for a brief moment, he had forgotten about his condition while we were laughing about Nestor’s situation.
I kept cracking jokes, but all he did was smile. The doctor advised him to turn off his tablet since he needed to conserve his energy, but after the doctor had vanished from view, I begged him not to.
I didn’t want him to feel lonely. I didn’t want to leave him alone in the house for that reason. Before he turned off the iPad, I started thinking of ways to cheer him up.
Then an idea popped up, “Let’s make a bet, if Winfred turns out to be a homeless guy I will give you ten thousand dollars but if you are wrong, you give me the money,” I suggested.
“That’s boring, let’s make it exciting,” he suggested with raised eyebrows. I noted the smirk on his face and knew it was something naughty.
“If he is a homeless man then we have to sleep together twice” he stated.
“J*sus Christ Brandon!”
“What?”
“Is sex the only thing in your head? I’m almost nine months and scared of pushing this baby out and the last thing in my mind is your big thing going up in me,” I yelled at him, sending him into laughter.
“And we have a bigger problem to worry about, We will not have a nanny for our baby. There is nowhere Maggie will agree and I can’t have two nannies,” I added and folded my hands.
“Finally you acknowledged that I’m bigger than Josh ” he replied but I only looked away. The laptop beeped battery low and cursed out.
“What?”
“Just switch to the phone,” he offered, but I couldn’t remember charging my phone either. I cursed again as I searched for it and discovered it dead in my backpack.
“What do we do now?” I inquired.
It has a low battery as well. Nestor was the one who knew where the charger was, I had no idea where he had put it. He was the one who packed everything. I looked over at the boxes and bags, I had no idea which bag or box the charger was in.
“Could you please contact Nestor on my behalf and inquire as to where he hid the charger?” I inquired of Brandon but received no response. I looked over at the screen, which was completely black. “No, no, no…”I sobbed. I was certain it was 2% the last time I looked at it. I didn’t have time to even say goodnight. I started looking for the laptop charger as well as the phone charger.
I began with the boxes, but as soon as I tried to lean over, I felt a sharp pain beneath my waist. I clutched my stomach fiercely, and before I could recover, I felt another one. It felt as if someone was stabbing me.
I winced in pain and attempted to walk back to the bed, but the pain hit me again, this time it knocked me to the floor. I smacked my tummy and felt the impact. I screamed in agony, yelling Nestor’s name, but then I realized that I had sent him out to fetch lobsters.
I felt something running down my thighs as I was attempting to recuperate from the discomfort. When I tried to raise my head, I saw red everywhere. I was surrounded by blood. I had no idea if my water was broken but it felt like something worse. I was supposed to be having contractions but yet the pain was concentrated below my belly and I knew something was wrong with the baby.
