February, 2006, NYU
Liam waited outside Chanty’s apartment. He’d give it a shot today. She might say yes to a coffee without Zach around.
Her door opened and her brother, Philip, came out.
Liam had already walked a few feet to the door, expecting Chanty.
“Can I help you?” Philip Strindberg asked.
Liam gulped. And then he smiled, reaching out his hand. “Liam Heaton. I heard you are Chanty’s brother. We’re friends.”
2013
When Chanty looked at Liam and saw the lack of shock in his face, she instantly knew.
“You invited them, didn’t you?” she accused.
“Naturally,” he said, looking at her. A grimace appeared on his face. “Well, actually, Philip hinted it the last time we talked and I thought, ‘Why not?’. So here they are.”
Chanty lowered her voice as she spoke, “You talked to them?”
Before he could speak, Willie cried out, “Let’s go! Let’s go! Grandma!”
She closed her eyes to calm herself. This was getting too complicated. She should have known her family would meddle in her affairs.
Deep inside, she was hoping that her grandmother, Hope, wouldn’t have a heart attack if she found out about the truth.
And her grandfather! She didn’t want to think what he would do.
“Mommy!” Willie called snapped her back to the present.
“Okay,” she said aloud, more to herself than to her son. She threw Liam a piercing look before she unbuckled her belt and got out of the car to help Willie with his car seat.
Zach and Julianne were already waiting for them outside.
“We have company?” Zach asked, his eyes twinkling as he looked at Chanty.
She glared at him. “Don’t talk to me right now. I know you are in on this.”
“I’m not,” Julianne said in a hurry. “I told them it is a bad idea.”
“But I don’t remember inviting them though,” Liam said as he approached the group with keys in hand, his eyes looking behind Chanty. He grabbed Willie’s hand to take him away from Chanty as she walked to the approaching car. It stopped right behind Zach’s and the Bell couple got out looking confused.
“What’s wrong?” Angelica asked.
“Your presence?” Zach answered.
“Excuse me?” Angelica asked, her hands dramatically planted on her chest. “We were invited!”
“She actually invited herself,” Henry answered, walking over to shake Liam and Zach’s hand. He also acknowledged Willie by bending down to shake the child’s hand with a smile. “Hey there, buddy.”
“Ange,” Chanty said to her friend.
“Chanty, I just thought you need support, right, Julianne?” Angelica said, looking at her and Julianne consecutively, her eyes full of meaning.
The men must have sensed something was happening between the three of them but they didn’t mind. They started walking to the door with Willie still clutching Liam’s hand.
Chanty hated to see her child with him. It made her want to blurt out the truth. Willie would still be hurt no matter how things ended up later. Liam would still go away.
Cassandra opened the door the moment it rang and she walked past the guys and toward the ladies. Her very pregnant state wasn’t a hindrance for her to look at the guys with an arched eyebrow and her hands on her hips. “Well? What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going in?” she asked them.
Henry, Zach and Liam eyed Cassandra, Angelica and Chanty with suspicion. And at the last second, they must have realized they didn’t have to ask what they were up to now.
“Come on, buddy,” Liam told Willie as they followed Zach and Henry inside the Strindberg residence.
“What do you plan to do now?” Cassandra demanded at Chanty. “Mom is here. And so are Hope and William. What do we do?” she asked the group. “Oh, hi, Julianne. Welcome to our home. I hope you like it.”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Julianne answered with a smile, looking around the place.
“You will appreciate the back more,” Cassandra added.
“But right now, we have to talk about the situation, right?” Julianne asked.
“Yes, yes, of course!” Cassandra turned to Chanty who was still at a trance. She didn’t know what to do in front of her mother and her grandparents.
“Let’s just pretend like this is just some normal dinner,” Angelica suggested. “Really, girls, this is going to be easy.”
“Easy for the lady who always succeeds in crashing into parties by pretending she’s a Hilton, yes. But for us who are not really used to this, it is bad,” Chanty snapped.
“I’ve done it before, remember? I sat down at a dinner with your family just a day after I learned I am marrying your brother. And I spent the entire wedding with all of you believing a lie,” Cassandra told her. “You can do it too.”
“That was different. This is different. Willie will be sitting around with us!” Chanty cried out.
“Then make Willie’s presence your advantage,” Julianne said.
“What do you mean?” asked Angelica.
“Just tell everyone Willie doesn’t know the situation yet because you’re taking it slow. He just knows that Liam is your special friend. Everyone will agree that it is best to keep quiet about you and Liam around Willie.”
“Philip won’t like it,” Cassandra said. “He wanted you guys to tell Willie.”
“He’s my brother, Cass, not the boss of me. I can very well do anything I want.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll understand once you explain everything,” Cassandra assured her.
“Hey, what’s keeping you?” Zach said, his head popping out the door.
“Coming,” Angelica answered.
“Jules, let’s go. I want you to meet everyone.”
Julianne rolled her eyes but followed her fiancée anyway.
Chanty and Philip’s father was long gone, but their grandparents were still around. And the two of them together could be overwhelming to anyone who didn’t know them well. Hope, for instance, though she was too old and too frail, was energetic in so many different levels. And you could tell that by the look in her eyes. She expresses that energy in ways that would either make you feel awkward or uncomfortable. William on the other hand was a cool guy, but he could get really serious when needed. He had changed a lot when he handed down the family empire to his son who died earlier than him, and later on to Philip and Chanty. Mary, their mother, was a sweet woman but she was too protective over Chanty who had had her heart broken when Cameron left her pregnant.
But Chanty wasn’t sure how she would handle the lie in front of them. She was pretty certain they already knew about Liam being the real father of Willie when they dropped Willie off the last time they had their date. But no one said a word for Chanty made sure they left in a hurry.
This dinner was going to be a tragedy if she let her anxiety rule over her.
She had expected Liam to be uncomfortable, but he wasn’t. Chanty could see him outside in the lawn through the glass walls surrounding the living room of Cassandra and Philip’s house. The lawn was directly connected to the woods at the back where Cassandra and her husband would sometimes camp if they feel like it. And during family gatherings, a table was always set up outside in the lawn for fresh air.
Chanty could see Liam talking with William and Philip like they were discussing a normal business matter. Was she the only one who felt like this was supposed to be an awkward situation?
But she might be wrong because she saw her mother and grandmother walk toward her. They were like a pair of vultures ready to eat their prey. And she was the prey.
“Mom! Grandma!” she greeted with the best smile she could muster.
“We gave you days to at least give us an explanation. And you never did,” her mother said right away.
She wanted to ask them how they found out or who told them. It could have been Philip, but it could be other people from the office as well. Chanty looked over her shoulder where her friends were standing just a few seconds ago only to find out that she was alone. They left her to be eaten alive by these two women! Angelica was already tugging at Henry’s hand, Cassandra was touring Zach and Julianne around the house. Willie, the only person who could have rescued her at that moment, was still clutching Liam’s hand while he talked with her brother and grandfather.
“If Liam didn’t talk to us on his own…” her grandmother added, looking up at her with disappointment.
“I’m sorry, okay? But I can’t talk to you about this especially if Willie is around. He doesn’t know the truth yet.”
“We know. Liam told us,” her mother answered.
Chanty took a step back in surprise. “He did?”
“He was the one who asked us to keep this quiet for a while. He said he just found out himself. How could you have kept something big like this, Chanty? You led us to believe it was that moron Cameron.”
“And we never imagined that you and Liam had this kind of relationship before,” Hope said, shaking her head.
“I’m sorry,” was all she could come up with. She actually meant she was sorry for leading them on. And she was sorry that she couldn’t tell them the truth. Not now when everything was still so complicated. She had to sort her own thoughts first before she could make a decision on how to come clean and tell everyone the truth. And the first person to know should be Liam.
“But I’m glad it’s Liam,” her mother said.
“Me too,” Hope agreed.
Chanty groaned. They would be greatly disappointed, if not furious, once they learned of the truth. “What does grandpa think?”
“About your lie or about Liam being the father?” her grandmother asked.
“Both.”
“He is very disappointed with you. And he’s happy that it’s Liam.”
“For business, of course,” Chanty said.
“No, for Willie and you.”
Chanty choked. “Me?”
“You deserve someone like him,” Hope said with a gentle smile.
“Grandma, it’s nothing like--”
“Oh, please, stop denying it. We know you two are dating.”
“It’s for Willie!”
“I know you, Chanty,” her mother cut in. “You wouldn’t do something you don’t really think you want.”
Does she? Was her mother right?
“Please, let’s not talk about this. My friends are here, you guys are here, Willie is having a great time, and there’s food…so let’s just enjoy the night. Please?”
Both women looked at each other and sighed. “Fine,” Mary said. “But you’re not forgiven yet, Chanty.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
The three of them started to walk out the glass doors to join the group outside. Hope wound her arm around Chanty’s and whispered, “He’s hot, isn’t he? I’m really glad he’s Willie’s father.”
“Grandma!”
Hope chuckled. “Don’t deny it, dear. You know it’s true.”
Chanty was thankful that Liam was more in control the whole night. He acted so cool like nothing changed. And it eased everyone. He was supposed to be the one who should be making a big deal out of everything but he didn’t. Because of that, Chanty was spared of her grandfather’s sermon.
Willie, on the other hand, never left Liam’s side. He was just like how Philip was when their father was still alive. He followed Liam like a shadow and Liam never ignored him. He was very aware of Willie’s presence that one would even think they had never gone a day without each other since Willie was born.
Angelica, Cassandra and Julianne stopped Chanty when she tried to take Willie away from Liam.
“Don’t deprive him of this, Chanty,” Cassandra said seriously.
“Your child needs someone he can consider his father,” Angelica added.
“But Liam’s not his father,” she hissed under her breath.
“All your son knows is that Liam is a special person in his mother’s life. That means a lot to him. Liam knows what he’s doing. He won’t blurt out being Willie’s father without your permission.”
Chanty sighed. “I should have made him believe me when I tried to tell him the truth,” she groaned.
“He wouldn’t have believed you anyway,” Julianne said. “I think he believed what he wanted to believe.”
“I agree,” Angelica uttered, sipping her wine. “He has always liked you. And something happened between you two in the past, enough for him to believe everything.”
Chanty didn’t answer. She just watched Liam and Willie as the former cradled her son in his lap while talking to the other men.
The following day, Liam dropped by her house to have breakfast as he had promised last night. Willie immediately flew to him.
“Hey, you have to sit on your chair. Liam’s getting tired of carrying you around,” Chanty told her son.
“It’s alright,” Liam said, sitting down. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Bacon and eggs. You want something else?”
Liam looked at Willie inquiringly. Then he bent down and asked aloud, “Is mommy a good cook?”
Willie smiled and nodded his head vigorously. “Better than Aunt Cass!”
Liam chuckled. He stared at Chanty, his eyes utterly amused and happy. “I’ll have whatever’s available.”
Cassandra called just right after they dropped Willie at daycare since the sitter was not available.
“You need to help me with something,” her sister-in-law said.
“What about?”
“I need to shop for materials for the baby’s room.”
“Where’s Philip?”
“He said he’s not coming. He wants the room to be done by some decorator we don’t even know. Can you believe that? I’ll buy paints, wood and other materials for the room later. You have to come with me. Ange and Julianne already said yes.”
Chanty looked at Liam beside her in the car. “Yes, of course, I’ll come with. But are you aware that you are very much pregnant right now? You cannot possible saw and drill woods right now, Cass.”
“Philip will be doing those things. He can’t do anything ones the materials are in. I’ll pick you up by five.”
“You know Henry told us not to drive!”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.”
“I’ll drive you guys,” Liam volunteered.
Cassandra heard him and said, “Great! I’ll get a taxi from here to your office.”
“You don’t have to do it,” Chanty said as she dropped her phone back in her bag. “We can go get a taxi.”
“That’s okay. I’ll just drop you guys off.”
Liam drove them to the hardware store and left to get Willie from the daycare.
“It’s weird to see you with someone that is almost your husband,” Angelica commented.
“Don’t mention it,” Chanty snapped, putting on her sunglasses. “Can we grab some coffee before we do this?”
“Of course,” Cassandra said. “I’ll text Julianne. Zach’s driving her here.”
“Tell her he can’t come with us,” Angelica ordered.
The three of them were having a nice, quiet afternoon over coffee while waiting for Julianne outside the coffee shop. The sun was hot so they sat under a big umbrella wearing their sunglasses.
“I can’t believe this bitch,” Angelica uttered all of a sudden, catching Cassandra and Chanty’s attention. “Of all places!”
“What?” they both asked.
Angelica tilted her head to the right. “Beth the bitch.”
“What?!” Cassandra and Chanty cried at the same time, whirling around their chairs to look.
And there she was, wearing a floral dress with her hair bounding behind her as she neared. Beth was looking smug as she approached the three ladies.
The last time the three of them had an encounter with the bitch, they won the fight. And they knew she was coming for a payback.
“Get ready for rumble, ladies,” Angelica warned as she straightened in her chair, squaring her shoulders. “Oh my God, I haven’t been doing this for a long time. This is going to be fun.”
“Me too,” Chanty answered as she crossed her leg over the other and turned on her chair to face the approaching enemy.
“I am so ready for this, pregnant or not,” Cassandra added, flipping her blond hair back.