Family Business (L&B Sequel) (EDITING)

|28| No Matter What Pt 2.

Shayy calmed Nigel's nervous down for the most part. She still had her tricks and he was at ease. She sat in the cafe with him sipping her coffee as he played over his. She was hella relaxed and awake. Her night with her husband was wonderful. She did the best she could but there was no throwing his mind completely off this mystery child.

She looked around the place to see if she saw any faces that looked similar to his. He wasn't paying much attention, just deep in thought. She didn't bother him. She decided to continue looking. The cafe was so busy and full of life, early in the morning. She looked in the face of every coffee drinker and bagel eater. She looked through all the faces of the teenagers but none seemed to look like Nigel or Maria.

It wasn't until she scanned over near the door did she see a girl who looked lost. She stared at her and felt like a younger Natasha was looking around. Long brown hair, beautiful grey eyes like Nigel and tan skin that seemed to match her daughter and husband. That had to be the girl. She tapped Nigel on the shoulder and pointed towards the door. He turned around in his chair and froze. After a few seconds, she made direct eye contact with Nigel and her eyes widened. She ran out the door.

Nigel got up and rushed out to catch up to her. Shayy grabbed their things and was out the door behind them. Nigel was running through the traffic of people trying to catch up with the girl. She was moving quickly.

"Wait!" He yelled when she ran down an alley. She stopped in her tracks. There was no way out. "Why are you running?"

"I...I...I'm not ready for this." She began crying. "There's no way you're my father. You're like rich and famous for your business." She said through tears. "And her...your wife. You guys are like millionaires." She pointed to Shayy who was behind him.

"We have to take a DNA test to prove that. You look just like my daughter. Your eyes.. you look like me."

"You'd actually be willing to take me into your life? The poor girl who was abused in her home only to find out she wasn't a biological child, you would want that in your life?" She cried. "I'm nothing. I have nothing."

"Let's get the test done and then we can figure things out from there, okay?" He reasoned with her. She looked so terrified that it broke his heart. He could only hope she was his, that way he could take care of her from then on out. He wanted to show her what I was like to be loved by the entire family.

*

*

Time stood still as they sat in the clinic waiting for the DNA test results. Mariana paced the floors. Shayy held on to Nigel to comfort him. This was seriously nerve wrecking for them all. Nigel had expressed his concern that he hoped Mariana was his. He wanted her to not go through the rest of her life worrying. Shayy completely understood. Her husband was tough but he was such a loving person. She admired that in him. She looked at him and kissed the corner of his mouth. He side eyed her with a smile. She returned it and looked over at Mariana.

The doctor finally walked back into the hall, looking through the test results. They all stood and waited for him to speak. He had no expression on his face. Nigel didn't realize his grip on Shayy's shoulder would leave prints. She didn't say anything, though.

"Mr. Rodriguez, according to these results, Mariana James is 99.9% yours." The doctor handed Nigel the results. Shayy smiled and looked over at Mariana who was wide-eyed. Nigel's lip was damn near on the ground.

"Wow. I have another child." He smiled with relief.

"Yes sir. Best of luck to you two." The doctor left.

"You're mine. Now, if you're willing to be apart of our life, you can. I don't want you to be out there feeling like you have no one. I'm your dad and I have no problem helping you with anything."

"You even get another mom if you want." Shayy added. Nigel pulled her closer to him. He was appreciative of that. "If not, fine but as long as you're apart of this family, I'll be here for you too."

"Thank you..." She responded. "I don't know what the proper protocol is."

"Well, let's go get some lunch, we can discuss this over lunch. What's your favorite place?" Nigel asked.

"Anywhere you want." Shayy added.

"I like Olive Garden." She responded.

"Let's go." Nigel said. She stepped up next to them and he put his arms around her shoulders. "I'm seriously going to be here for everything you need. I don't want you stressing anything."

"Okay..." She said sounding unsure.

They had lunch together and discussed her graduation and college, her living status, financial things, her life with her adoptive parents and current friends. Nigel wanted to know everything about his little girl. There was eighteen years that he missed out on. He would put in time to get to know her and make sure she was comfortable.

She was cautious when talking for the most part but after awhile, she opened up. She'd been through a lot and wanted them to know what happened with her adoptive parents.

"It started when I was about twelve, right before my period started. He'd come in my room late at night to lie with me. He'd brush my hair and caress my face. As the weeks progressed, he started caressing in more intimate spots and.. I'm sorry..." She shook her head. "He eventually started forcing me to perform oral on him and then he began having sex with me. My mom at the time didn't believe it until a doctor confirmed that I was pregnant at fifteen. They made me get an abortion and started treating me shittier. I got a job and started saving up. Soon after, my best friend's dad, a lawyer, helped me get emancipated. I moved out, graduated here in Atlanta and I'm hoping that I get into a good college after I explore for a year."

"I could really kill those people." Nigel said. "That highly upsets me." He was completely pissed off. He didn't even acknowledge the college talk.

"Me too. But, that'll land us in jail. So, let's not. It's fine. I now look at it all as something that helped me want to become a better person. My current girlfriend says I've changed a lot over the last couple of years."

"Oh, you have a girlfriend?" Shayy asked.

"Yeah...uh, does that bother you guys?" She asked.

"Not at all. We love our kids no matter the sexuality. As long as you're happy and safe with that person."

"Yeah, well, Mish is great. Met her about three years ago online and she just moved out to Atlanta. She's been great. I hope you guys like her."

"We'll we can't wait to meet her. We know it's all sudden but whenever you're ready to fly out and visit the rest of the family, you can. We have additional rooms in the house, you can make one yours for sure. Your girlfriend can come too." Shayy said.

"Cool. I mean, this is all crazy but I could definitely take the time that I'll be spending off this next year to get to know you guys."

"Why don't you do that? That'd be great. If you want, no pressure, you can move in. I mean take the time to get to know us. If you like it around us, the room is up for grabs, we could get you a job, you could even look at schools there. But, this is totally up to you. We just want you to know that we'll be supportive of whatever." Nigel said.

"Okay, we'll check it out. See how it goes." She smiled a little. She still felt uneasy but they seemed harmless. She just didn't want to go through another abusive family.