Locked in Marriage 2: Here Comes Baby

Chapter Nineteen

He walked up to the portrait of Henry VIII and ran his finger on the gold frame. His finger was completely covered in dust, but when he looked at the area he had cleaned off, the gold shined like the sun. He walked around the room and it looked like a forgotten ballroom. The floor was hard as he walked across it, but the windows were completely covered. He grabbed the heavy window coverings and pulled them down. When they had fallen to the floor from the first window the room began to breathe. As he continued to pull down the rest of the coverings the room came to life. The light danced across the room and Colton was amazed at how beautiful it was.

He kicked all of the coverings into a pile and took all of the white sheets off of the furniture in the room and threw them on top of the pile. He wanted to clean up the house, it had fallen into disrepair and disuse since he had taken it over and he wanted to make it as picturesque as he knew it could be. He left the room and shut the double doors behind him and began to walk to the dining room. He assumed dinner would be ready by now and he was starving.

“Arthur,” he said walking down a hallway. Arthur turned around immediately and walked towards Colton. “I was upstairs and there is a ballroom up there that has paintings of the monarchs of England. It looks as if it hasn’t been touched in twenty years.”

“Oh yes, I know of the room you are speaking of,” Arthur said nodding in understanding.

“I want it to be completely fixed up and cleaned. I want it dusted by tomorrow morning,” Colton said to him.

“Of course sir,” Arthur said. “Dinner is ready. It has been served in the dining room.”

“Thank you Arthur,” Colton said to him clapping him on the back. Arthur nodded and left in the opposite direction as Colton went up the back stairway and walked into the dining room. Everyone was already sitting down and Kayla had already filled his plate with food. He sat down at the head of the table and kissed Kayla’s cheek before they began to eat.

“May we eat?” Giovanna asked staring at her brother. The power balance in the family had shifted; where their father had been the one to hold the influence and dominance in the family, Colton had now taken that position. Everyone stared at him; he was the head, he was the patriarch now.

“Yes,” he said simply as they began to dig in. They ate in complete silence as usual and they finished up quite quickly. Giovanna disappeared almost immediately as did Byron and Anna.

“Where did you go?” Kayla asked as she pushed her plate away from her; she was stuffed.

“Just walked around the house,” Colton said simply shrugging. Kayla didn’t push the matter; she knew it was difficult for all of them to be back here.

“I’m going to bed because I am exhausted from traveling,” Kayla said as she stood up. “Are you coming?”

“I’ll be up in a bit,” he said staring at the food. She nodded and kissed the top of his head and then left. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already 10 o’clock. How did they manage to eat so late? The staff began to clear the table and Colton got up to get out of their way. He walked up to Giovanna’s room, he knew it was hard for her to be here, and yet here she was supporting him and Kayla. He knocked lightly on the door, but she didn’t answer. He opened the door slowly and he could see her lying in her bed. He knew she wasn’t sleeping, but she pretended to be asleep.

“I know you aren’t sleeping,” he said as he walked into her room. She rolled over and looked at him. He could see her in the light from the hallway and saw the innocent little girl he missed so much. They stared at each other for a few soundless minutes, before Colton turned to leave. 

“I love you,” she said as he began to shut the door. He smiled to himself; how long he had waited to hear her say that again.

“I love you.” He shut the door and walked back to his own room. Kayla was already fast asleep and Colton changed before getting into bed next to her.

Colton was exhausted; Kayla was snoring and taking over the bed and he had nowhere to sleep. He wanted to sleep next to her because he didn’t want to miss a thing. He grabbed his iPad and decided if he couldn’t sleep he might as well do some work. He turned it on and turned the brightness down so Kayla could continue to sleep. Kayla was sleeping on her left side and Colton managed to squeeze himself beside her. His head fit perfectly beside her belly and he put his knees up so he could work on his iPad. This way he would be able to work, lie next to his wife, and feel his baby moving, breathing, and living beside him.

When Colton woke the next morning Dylan and his family was already at the house. Nicole and Ella were playing outside and Dylan was sitting in the small sitting room. Colton walked into the room and Dylan jumped to greet his best friend.

“My buddy, how are you?” he said excitedly as they hugged each other.

“I am well, how are you?” Colton asked back letting go of his friend.

“Couldn’t be happier.” They sat and Colton ate some breakfast before the two of them went outside to see everyone.

“What has happened to you buddy?” Dylan asked as they stood in the dining room watching everyone outside.

“What do you mean?” Colton asked furrowing his brow. He didn’t think he had changed that much.

“Look at you bro, you’re now the top dog at your company, a married man, and a baby on the way. You haven’t run off or divorced the girl; you haven’t cheated on her or anything. You became the guy you never thought you would ever become,” Dylan said looking at him. Colton stood there staring at his best friend thinking about what he had said. It was true; he never thought he would ever be married so young, or with someone like Kayla. They were completely opposite and yet they managed to make it work. They managed to fall in love and he knew he could never be with someone else.

“I don’t want to be like my father,” he finally said.

“What do you mean? Your mom and dad loved each other,” Dylan asked confused.

“Yeah they did, very much so. But I never saw it and my siblings never saw it. We were in the dark the whole time until dad’s friends ousted him. Then we grilled him about it and he finally caved. I don’t want to be emotionally distant from my children or from wife. I want to be able to kiss her in the morning before I go to work and kiss her when I come home and kiss her before bed,” Colton said finally realizing he would never be like his father.

“You changed bro, but for the better,” Dylan said holding his hand out for Colton. He grabbed it and Dylan pulled him for a hug. Colton hugged him tightly and then they let go of each other again. They walked out of the house and began to walk down the garden to where everyone was sitting.  He saw Kayla standing there talking with Nicole, Giovanna, and Anna. She was laughing and smiling and Colton loved seeing her so happy. It was his goal to make her happy for the rest of his life. This was just the beginning of their happy life together.