Adani's POV
The world felt still as my mind tried to piece things and everything together.
"Please excuse me," I said and got up from the table. I made my way to the outdoor patio by the pool.
"Adani, are you alright?" Ricardo asked following after me.
"This is all too much. I thought I knew all there is to know about my mom. Turns out she has a whole other child she never once spoke about. That information didn't even slip from her mouth, not once, until now!" I voiced.
"I know it's.."
"No. No, you don't know. How cold-hearted can a mother be to just bury that knowledge, wasn't it playing on her conscience?"
"I'm not proud of what I did, Adani," came my mother's voice. She stepped up to the patio.
"What did you do?" I questioned.
"I gave her up for adoption," mom answered, "I made certain she was given to a great family and they were able to provide for her in the ways I couldn't."
"You kept me and gave up my sister."
"I wasn't in a position to take care of you both. I wasn't financially and mentally stable for take care of two babies at the same time. I had nothing and no one."
"But you kept me."
"Because you.."
"What?"
"Adani, you were sick. You had countless seizures as a baby. Each one worse than the one before. It was best for you to remain in my care so I kept you. As you grew, the seizures subsided but you would have panic attacks, similar like earlier in the dinning room."
"You kept me out of pity, was your plan to give me up for adoption too?"
"No. I wanted to keep one of you, and I kept you."
I scoffed.
"Adani, if it's my place, I think your mom did what was best for her and you and your sister. Instead of providing an inadequate lifestyle for her children, she made one of the toughest decisions a parent, a mom, has to do," Ricardo consoled.
"Why you never told me?" I asked her next.
"I didn't know how to tell you. Not a day goes by and I don't think about her and what she's doing."
"Did you keep in touch with her so-called parents, at least?"
"Don't do that, Adani, but yes, I did. Until she became eighteen, went off to college and didn't return back to the family."
"And that didn't spark an urge to try to find her? They probably treated her like shit and she couldn't wait to get away from them!"
"We'll find her, Adani," mom said. She took me in for an embrace and I allowed it.
~
After returning indoors, everyone else were waiting at the entrance.
"Ricardo, thank you for dinner," Derick said.
"I thought we were going to celebrate something," Mrs. Parriston said, "But I can understand why the mood was wreck," she finished with her eyes in my direction.
"Actually, I can still make my announcement," Ricardo answered and he turned towards me. He kissed my forehead then got down on one knee.
OMG! OMG! IS HE DOING WHAT I THINK HE'S DOING?
He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small jewelry box. He popped it open.
"Adani Prime," he started, "The moment you stepped into my office, you ignited a flame in me. Just daydreaming about your smile makes me happy. I never thought something so simple was all I needed. That's when it dawned on me that I love you. I'm in love with you and I don't want another day to go by having to refer to you as 'my girlfriend'. I want you to be my fianceé, then my wife. Will you marry me?"
Tears of happiness.. finally, I was crying with happiness, slipped from my eyes.
"Yes. Yes, I'll marry you. I love you," I responded. Ricardo slipped the beautiful and very sparkling diamond ring on my finger.
"I cannot believe this! You're proposing to her already and it took forever for you to put a ring on my finger!?" Penelope cut in with her bitterness.
"Congratulations," Adonna said and eyed Penelope with exasperation.
"Congratulations," Derick, Mavielle, Rockett, my mom and my sperm donor complimented afterwards.
Mrs. Parriston was steaming but she didn't say a word.
"Now that that is done, I have some boundaries to establish," Ricardo said. He took me into a side hug, "Adani is now my fianceé. She's the woman I love and intend to spend the rest of my life with. Penelope, you're forbidden from ever stepping at the entrance gate to mine and Adani's home."
"Ricardo!" Mrs. Parriston started.
"Mother, you just hold on, I'm going to you!" he responded with a sharp tone.
Playtime was over!
"Penelope, you and I are over. Now, if you want to continue being friends with my mother, that's on you. But don't you dare think you'll ever be in my good graces. Hand over the ring I paid your father for."
"No. I wouldn't. You proposed to me first!" she answered.
"HAND IT OVER!" Ricardo commanded in a tone that shook the room. Like a scolded puppy, Penelope came over and handed Ricardo the engagement ring. He pocketed it and informed her to leave which she complied to without hesitation, then turned his attention to his mother.
"Now, Mother. I love you. You're my mom, but if you can't accept Adani, then you and I will forever have problems. You wouldn't be allowed through those doors until you respect her and acknowledges that I love her. All that hatred, bitterness, insults and racist attacks, it stops! Pick a side. Are you accepting or not?"
All eyes were on Mrs. Parriston.
"Fine. I'll accept her," she answered.
"Good," Ricardo said. Beth came into the room with a bottle of champagne and flutes. She congratulated me and handed me the first glass.
We toast, drank and ended the evening in a polite manner.
~
The next week, I was in the kitchen with Mavielle.
"I still can't believe we're engage," I said and looked at my ring.
"Dreams do come true," Mavielle quoted.
"What's even more surprising is Mrs. Parriston. She's coming over and is taking me to lunch. She even said she has something very important to tell me."
"You're trusting her awfully quickly, don't you think?"
"My guard is up, trust me. I know she's not going to accept me. She just doesn't want to lose her son and his respect."
"Same thing I thought. She'll act nice, treat you, butter you up then strike."
"I'm here," Mrs. Parriston said and stepped into the kitchen, "Hello, Adani."
"Ahh, so you do know her name," Mavielle said. I hit her with the please don't start expression before I took my leave with Mrs. Parriston.
Smoke drove us to a restaurant and stayed at a respectable distance as my own personal bodyguard.
~
"Adani, how are you?" Mrs. Parriston asked as we took our seats and opened the menu.
"I'm great. And you?" I asked back.
"Likewise. Look, I know I've been a pain in the ass but I wish to close that chapter and look forward to being the best mother in law I can be."
"I would like nothing more."
"I wanted to do something for you. To show you how much I'm sorry. I've located your sister."
I gasped in surprise. I watched as she reach for a folder and handed it to me. My heart raced as I open it.
I flipped through the pages and paused at a picture.
Her picture.
"Shell-shock, aren't you, you've met your sister and you didn't even know it."
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A/N
Yayy! I'm back!
My Christmas holiday was amazing and I hope yours were as well.
🥰 I have so much in store for 2023. Let's get DTC to 100k reads 💯🖤