The Billionaire Boss's Baby

The Right Decision

"Wha--" Amara tried to find the words. Was her babies' father actually standing there?

"What are you doing here?" she finally forced out as she leaned against the door.

Joshua shrugged with one shoulder. "I thought I'd come see my children."

Amara's eyebrows drew together as Joshua entered the house. She almost hadn't even noticed that he was already on his way to the living room.

Following him, she asked, "What are you doing?"

Joshua paused when he saw the two bassinets. "Is this them?"

"No, I just grabbed two off of street," Amara said dryly. 

She crossed her arms as Joshua gave her a look.

"You seem to be more sarcastic since giving birth," Joshua snarked. "Hormones, maybe?"

Amara shrugged. "Could be. Or it could be the lack of sleep and time to myself. Or it could just be that I'm not worried about losing my job anymore, so I don't mind calling you out as the jerk I know you are."

Joshua twisted his lips, but said nothing. Amara had never seen him at a loss for words. But one thing she had seen, was the way his blue eyes were shining now. He was up to something.

"Let's discuss business, shall we?" he said.

Amara stiffened. Was he going to offer her job back? Probably not after what she had just said to him. She didn't care. She was going to turn him down if he did.

"Picture this, your children having their best life," Joshua started. "They get two parents, a large house, rooms they don't have to share with anyone, and basically anything else they want. Not to mention, they become the heir and heiress to the company. They basically get the best things life can offer them, and you can come visit too."

"Hold on, let me get this straight," Amara said. She was fuming inside. "You want to take my children away from me?"

"Our children," Joshua said. "I think they would be better off with me anyway."

"What about Nicole?"

"We've talked about how things would work. Turns out she likes the idea of being the rich stepmom," Joshua said. He glanced down at the babies. "So, what do you think?"

Amara couldn't even pretend to be interested. After this whole time, after she had been alone throughout the entire pregnancy, after all the denials--he had the audacity to even visit? Up until now, he hadn't even acknowledged that they were his.

"They're not yours," Amara said suddenly.

Joshua raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

She shrugged. "You said it yourself. There's no way they're yours."

Joshua stared as she continued, "You and Nicole 'went away' around the time I got pregnant. Even though you were on a break at the time, but who am I to judge? I told you there was no way that I had slept with anyone else. But these things just don't happen to you."

Joshua set his jaw. "I know what you're doing," he stated.

"How are you supposed to explain this to the public?"

"I can rebuild my reputation," Joshua said, stepping toward her. "I have all I want. These kids are nothing without me."

Amara was burning with anger, but she wasn't about to step down. "To you, they're nothing. To me, they're everything. And you've just shown me that I don't need you in my life the way I thought I did." She nodded toward the babies. "And neither do they." 

There was a pause. Joshua let out a breath. Amara couldn't believe she had said that, but she didn't regret it one bit.

"I'm trying to help you," Joshua stated. "I'm trying to ease the burden. If you don't want me to take both, then I'll only take one with me. Would that make it things easier?"

"You're just trying to ease your conscience," Amara said. "I don't know what happened after the wedding, but I do know a few people are looking for other jobs and your little henchman, Chantelle, told me everything you said to her. So no, I don't want you going anywhere near my kids--or taking them anywhere--and I would appreciate it if you would get out of my house."

With that, Joshua watched Amara for a moment, then exited the living room. Once he made it to the door, he turned back to the mother of his kids.

"You're making a big mistake here, Amara," he said firmly.

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to live with that," Amara said. She knew it came out cold, but she didn't care.

Joshua left with a stony glare, but said nothing more. Amara shut it firmly, and let out an exasperated sigh. After a minute, she entered the living room again and approached the bassinets.

Joel was awake, and so was Abigail. They both looked up at her as if they knew what had just happened. Amara was sure that, if they could talk, they would be asking her what the heck had just happened. 

"That was your dad," Amara said quietly. "He thinks he can give you a better life than I can."

She knelt beside them. "I'm sorry if it was wrong of me to send him away. Kids need two loving parents. But if I were to send you two with him, you wouldn't have any love at all. He can give you material things, but no one can love you guys more than I can."

As she thought over her decision, peace seemed to settle inside. She had made the right decision when she chose to keep the twins. She made the right decision to keep the babies away from Joshua. 

"It took a lot for me to carry you, it's going to take even more to raise you," Amara whispered. "But I wouldn't trade it for anything."

She only hoped she could keep making the right decisions.

THE END