CHAPTER 19

Mrs. Swiss walked them all to Doctor's Tom office and asked that the good doctor excuse them. "If you don't mind, I'll like to see these two first before having that conversation." She told the doctor who had been about to put in a word.

"Your role in all these doesn't go unnoticed." She added as the man took his leave. She sat down and asked both Evan and Jason to do the same. The ease with which she became accustomed to the office made Evan snicker. Her mother had always been one to take control of every situation. And her father had let her. Though strong and fierce as a lawyer, as a father, he let her mother do whatever she liked.

Mrs. Swiss had assumed the role of God in their lives. She dictated what they wear, who they visit, what case her father shouldn't handle, what course the kids study in school. It was exhausting. Growing up, she had been intrigued by it. Especially when other kids talk about their home, it was usually in reverse.

They would complain about how their dad ruined dinner, how he wouldn't let them visit whom. And each time she asked where their mother was, the response was usually interesting.

"Oh, mother has no say in all these." Was usually the response. But most of their moms were stay home moms.

They did nothing. Hers was sophisticated and a lawyer. So, she had concluded her mother being a lawyer too made the difference. Then the divorce happened, and for all its worth, she knew it was mother's fault. And so, she began to rebel. While her dad and Adriana did their mother's bidding, she did the very opposite, which was why even now, she stood fuming while her mother sat down and commanded her to take a seat.

Swiss looked at the defiant look on her youngest face and shook her head. Whatever she did to this one, she wouldn't give her a breathing space. She was a woman who was feared and respected everywhere. Her family name alone commanded respect. But all that amounted to nothing with Evan. The only being she couldn't control was her youngest daughter, who at every chance tried to make sure she notices she couldn't be toiled with. Even now, she wouldn't sit when she offered them a seat. Jason Valdez also seems to loot around her.

Regardless, she accessed both of them through hooded eyes and decided to say what she had in mind. The idea of becoming a baby mama was preposterous. She had raised her kids better than this.

"So, Mr. Valdez. What on earth did you think you mean to force this on my daughter. When Logan told me about this outrageous idea, he never mentioned the man. I had assumed it was some strange, irresponsible brute..."

"Mother." Evan cautioned, then added, "He didn't force anything on me."

Ignoring her, she continued, "Imagine my surprise to find out yesterday that it was you. My family has been in business with yours for ages back. One would think you'd extend the courtesy by running this through the proper channel. You can't just walk around with plans to impregnate my daughter because...."

"Mother!" Evan said, hitting the table. "Look, this isn't the 19th century. I wanted to do this. And he's not impregnating me. Not in that sense."

"But you will be carrying his child. How is that not impregnating?" She stood up too, too angry to care that her feet were hurting from standing all day at work, waiting for the information she had requested about her daughter.

"If you wanted a child, why didn't you go through the proper channel? Why this?" She rubbed her head stiffly. "I forbid you."

Evan blushed at the way her mother was handling it. It was embarrassing. She better gets her facts right then. "Before you forbid anything, mother." She added the last piece slowly, "You should know that I am carrying the child already."

Mrs. Swiss looked taken aback momentarily. The look on her face, it looked like she was going to faint after all. As she stumbled back, Jason was beside her in a quick stride. He helped her back to her seat. "Is she right?" Mrs. Swiss asked, looking at the man holding her. His nod provoked her. She pushed his hands off her.

"Yes, ma'am. It's been done." Standing a few feet away from her, Jason confirmed, "And if it's any consolation, I'm deeply sorry about everything. If I had known you felt this strongly about it, I would have backed out. I don't want you having issues with your daughter over my family's affair." He looked at Evan. "Doing this was a great gift bestowed on me." He smiled sadly before turning back to Mrs. Swiss, "If you will excuse me."

Evan ran after him, "Jason?" When he stopped, she told him, "Look, my mother and I have never seen eye to eye over anything. This..." She spreads her hands. "It's not what is eating at her."

"I still wish you'd told me her reservations. I'd have tried getting her blessing or so."

"Her what?"

"Look, I need to go. Okay. I'll see you." And he was gone. She watched him leave sadly. Something about his stride told her he was upset.

CHAPTER 20

He didn't call all through the week. Neither did he call when she went to confirm the pregnancy. She had been elated when Doctor Tom confirmed her pregnancy. Excitedly, she called him to give him the good news. He didn't pick her call. Something about what her mother had said must have gotten to him. She felt sad. And to think she would be in Miami. She walked into Adriana's home a little sad.

"Hello." She greeted Noah, who had come to open the door. She forced a smile. "You're home today."

Noah hugged her warmly. "Yes. With the twins. Adriana dumped them with me. I've been ducking bullets all day. Hey, duck!" He shouted a little too late. Ethan fired a rubber bullet that stuck to her arm.

"You have to pretend you're in pain. You've just been shot on the hand." Evan laughed, then quickly held her hand and squeezed her face as the little shooter ran in.

"Gotcha!" Yelled the little boy excitedly. "Liz, it's Linne." He called to his sister, who came running out. It was a trick. He hides behind the door. As his twin came out, he shot her on the head. "And she dies." He jumped up excited.

"Oh." Elizabeth said, pretending to fall. Her brother took that as defeat and moved closer. She then shot him in the chest, "And we both die." She laughed, getting him.

Evangeline applauded them. "Well played, guys. Who taught you all these tricks." Both kids pointed at their father, and she laughed. Turning to Noah, she praised him, "You are good with them."

"I try to. They are the best thing that's happened to me in a while. I lost most of my family..." He stopped talking. Whatever he had been about to say, he let it go as he set out the table. "I was about serving lunch. You hungry?"

"Starving." She replied, rubbing her stomach, unconscious of the act. She had been so sad earlier she had skipped her meal.

Noah shook his head. Women and their acts. The baby was barely even planted, and Evan was acting all preggy already. "What's with the Tommy-rubbing?" He teased. Turning to the twins, he said, "Kids, go wash up and come for lunch."

"Okay, dad." they chorused and ran out. While they did, Evan helped set the table. "You made this?" Evan asked, tasting the food. Then taking another spoonful, she added. "It's so delicious."

"I got that delivered." Noah smiled sheepishly. "Only thing I did was mix it up with some whipped cream I learnt back in the days."

"Wow... it's tasty." She complimented him.

******

While her family was having lunch, Adriana walked happily into her mother's office to drop the file Noah had worked on all night. They had scheduled a meeting since Noah was home, and the twins would be in safe company. She walked in to find her mother in deep conversation with someone on the phone.

"I can't meet with him." Her mother eyed her suspiciously then moved farther away from her. Instinctively, she followed her.

"Look, I hate that you're bugging me all the time. I have nothing to say to your boss." She disconnected the call and turned to find her daughter right behind her.

"Let me guess. That was Jason on the phone." When she shrugged nonchalantly, Adriana's heart sank. "Why are you always sabotaging her happiness?" She shrieked. "That young woman has been through enough already. Thanks to you. Must you make this difficult for her too?"

"Sabotage? That's a strong word. And shouldn't you use that for Mr. Valdez? From where I'm standing, he did just that with my daughter's future."

"He hasn't been able to contact Evan ever since you talked him down at the hospital. He might have been feeling guilty apparently for not going through the right channel as you said." The smile on her mother's face made her step away from her mother, with a sad look plastered on. "It's been done already. You might as well accept it."

"I will not accept this." Mrs. Swiss replied stubbornly.

"What you don't know is how miserable it's making your child." Adriana said, dropping the file on her mother's table and walked out angrily. "To think I ditched lunch for this." She muttered and decided she'd rather be home than be here. Mother was being plain impossible. Evangeline wouldn't be happy with this.

"We were supposed to have a meeting." Mrs. Swiss called after her.

"The meeting can wait." She shot back.

Mrs. Swiss shrugged. Her daughter would come around. She may not understand now why she was doing this, but she had to. Someone had to.

She opened the file and sat straighter. Something didn't feel right. "Did Ad see this before bringing it to me?" She picked her phone to call her daughter. Adriana wasn't going to choose. Not after what just happened. She probably thinks it was because of their earlier banter she was calling

CHAPTER 21

"I hope I have a bowl too from the tasty." Adriana said, walking into the dining room. Her hands were full of groceries, and her face had a fake smile plastered on for her sister's sake. "I was planning to cook." She kissed Noah, who noticed the off smile but said nothing when she shook her head.

"Not here, not now." She whispered in his ears and said out loud. "Thanks, babe."

The twins were back in few minutes, looking clean. "Mom!" They shrieked, sighting their mother. They ran to their mother, who struggled to drop the groceries so she could hug them just in time. Their dad set their table, and the twins each sat down to enjoy a big bowl of macaroni cheese.

After the meal, the twins with their dad went out. The ladies stayed behind to clean up. Adriana didn't let her sister lift a finger. She set out to do the whole thing herself after propping the expecting mother on a couch. She gave her a magazine and turned the TV on. Evan let her do all the setting up without saying a word.

Nothing was interesting about lying down doing nothing. The pregnancy hadn't even been long gone yet. "I can do the dishes, you know." She complained, standing up. "I don't think the doctor said I shouldn't do a thing. I'll die of laziness at this rate." She was beside Adriana, who had already started to wash. "Let me, please." She reached for the extra sponge and proceeding to do the washing.

"Okay, but you don't move or rush." Adriana dropped her own sponge then went to get a chair. "Here, Sit."

Evan chuckled, "You're something else. Thank God you're a woman and not a man. You'd have spoiled your spouse rotten."

"It's probably because I know how it feels. I was dizzy a couple of times in my early trimester. Noah was so sweet. He did all the chores."

"I wish Jason was that excited. He hasn't called ever since that encounter with mother."

"He might have a lot to do." Adriana thought about the widower and the call she had overhead earlier. He was probably feeling guilty about it all. She couldn't tell her sister that. Instead, she said, "Or he's sad about his late wife. He wanted this with her, so I heard."

She remembered how sad it was each time she saw people who had been expecting, like her, suddenly get pregnant while she couldn't. The feeling was overwhelming terribly. Several times she couldn't step out for fear of seeing a pregnant woman and crying for hers. Jason Valdez had lost his wife for this very reason. It didn't feel right to blame him if he isn't in the euphoria of the moment. While her sister looked radiant and intoxicated, he might be overwhelmed and stuck to reliving painful memories of his wife. Folks around here claims they had loved each other dearly. "It might be his late wife. Did you reach out to him?" Jason Valdez, she was sure, would have a lot going on right now.

"I did. He wouldn't pick my call."

"Give him some time. He'll come around." Seeing her sister so sad, she changed the topic. "How do you feel, though? Excited?"

"I am. It's early yet, but I feel strange. I think my mind is trying to wrap itself around the concept that I have another being growing in me. Was this how you felt with the twins." She passed her a plate so she could rinse and place it on the rack to dry.

"Yes. Later, it becomes more than just a feeling. Your body wraps itself around it. The feeling is so exhilarating."

*******

For a while, Jason Valdez stood staring at his developers' team heads. The six looked down disappointed. He knew that was all an act. The moment he exited the room, they had scream down the roof and say mean words about him. But that didn't matter right now. All that matters were he had employed the best of them.

Each team head had up to 5-6 members of developers that they managed. Their developers were Ukraine's best. Yet somehow, they were lagging. Ukraine was known worldwide for its exceptional talent in the technological world. He had been tutored personally by some of them, and he could testify that they were really good. He expected them to be updated, but they were so into coding they hardly keep up with the world.

"At this rate, all we will be developing would be second-rated technologies." He said, slamming his fist on the table for effect. They all adjusted their seats, clearly not comfortable with his unneeded anger. He wanted them shaken up, or he feared they would be far behind by the time they wake up from their slumber.

"Koreans have managed to make good use of their AI. They use it for facial recognition, which is helpful in criminology. With that alone, do you know how many unsolved crimes can now be revisited and solved?" He looked at each of them when no one said anything. He answered his own question.

"Over 70%. The same AI is used in Korea also as an image recognition guide for impaired users. Can you believe that?" He laughed in a way that made them stare at him strangely. He continued talking regardless.

"Their guard dogs also use it to navigate and speak; so amazing. Those are genius inventions. Now, I've been hinted that they are working on self-driving cars, another masterpiece of AI imaging. Amazing, right?" Now they looked impressed. Good.

"Now, tell me again what we've been able to do with ours aside from handwriting detection, which thankfully is useful in crime detection two for suicide cases with manipulated notes?" He asked. "It's a genius invention too. We've helped solved over 50% of murder cases. Still, I want more." he sat down in his chair and asked. "Aside from that, what have we made again?" He asked. They all looked at each other for answers.

He knew he was unnecessarily harsh on them. They were the best, as far as they come. He was, however, hoping they come up with something to keep the firm busy. Something he could be engrossed with so he could dull the ache he felt. Something to help him understand why Evan's pregnancy news made him excited when he had been against it from the beginning.

He may be one of the best in the technology field, but when it came to studying his feelings, he did a terrible job of it. All through yesterday, he had been excited when Doctor Tom shared the news. Then he remembered Ellen, and he became depressed. She wanted this. This would have made her happy.

But she wasn't here. He wondered why he should be satisfied. Perhaps because Evan had been so excited? He had been at the clinic when she stepped out. Even before the doctor told him, he had known from her expression. Ellen had been that way when she first got pregnant. Then they lost the baby.

Mrs. Swiss' confrontation the other day also left him confused. If he had known she would oppose the idea, he would have dropped it. All these wouldn't be happening too. Why hadn't he thought about Evan's family and their take in all this when he decided to fulfil Ellen's absurd wish?

"I want something wow.... And I want it fast." He told his team as he took his leave. Before closing the door, he listened to their little talks. They criticized each other for not keeping up and started to bet on whose idea would impress him. He smiled at that. They were just where he wanted them to be. Hopefully, they will have something for him before the week runs out. "James." he said to his phone, "Please get in touch with Mrs. Swiss."

"Yes, boss. But she's turned us down twice already."

"Try again." He instructed. He wished she would get on board already. He hated not having control. Mrs. Swiss wasn't making things easy. He should speak with Evan. He stared at his phone, considering what to say. Nothing came to mind. He was better off showing up at her house instead. Her sister's house. He corrected. Then he remembered Adriana. She was one Swiss he could relate with. He better call her instead. She picked immediately, "Good day to you too." He smiled when she called him a soon to be father. "Can we meet?" She agreed.

*******

"Thanks for dinner." Jason said. Though he had called for the meeting, Adriana had insisted on footing the bill. It was their company's restaurant, and she didn't think he should pay. They were served the best three-course he had had in Miami. Then they were done with the meal. He looked at her as she told him she had been here because her husband let her.

"Thank my husband for being the perfect gentleman. If not, I'd have to go home to my twins, a messed up house and one heck of an irritating pregnant woman." She told him while pouring herself a glass of white wine. He did the same.

"Irritating, huh?" He asked. "Is she okay?"

"What do you think?"

Jason sighed.

"You've been trying to speak with my mother." Adriana commented dryly. When he nodded she added, "Why?"

"To get her on board, maybe. Let her know I have no intention of soiling her child's future as she insinuated."

Adriana laughed at his choice of words, "Soil? Evan would skew you if she hears this." She sipped her wine, "I'm worried you haven't figured her out by now. Evan and my mother will probably not see eye to eye ever. You, trying to get my mother on board while avoiding her, will not get you any point with her. She wanted to do this. Don't make her regret the decision." she advised him.

"Is she..."

"You should be speaking with her. Not me Mr. Valdez."

"Jason, please."

"Okay, Jason. I can arrange a meeting. Knowing my sister, she wouldn't listen to you right now. She's pissed."

"That bad?" Jason whistled

"Yes. That bad. I came out of courtesy, and of course, I heard you trying to get through to my mother. While I'm not against that, I think you started this with my sister first. Then don't lose sight of that. Together, you can bring mother on board. If..." She raised her hand, "If you get that defiant sister of mine on board first."

"Thank you, Ad."