K. Golland - Attainment

“I am.”

Drawing out the suspense for her—because I know she hates surprises—I slowly reveal my hand, only to put it back out of sight, fooling her. The next second, I have a corky to my bicep.

“Alright, alright, here,” I laugh, rubbing my arm and producing the velvet box.

Opening it up for her to see, I watch with anticipation as she goes to put her hand in then quickly pulls it back.

“I’m not falling for that anymore. The box, hand it over,” she demands with a smile.

I laugh and hand her the box. She knows me too well.

Alexis opens the box and takes out the gold, engraved, heart pendant and chain. “Bryce, it’s beautiful,” she whispers as she reads the inscription of all her children’s names. A lone tear falls from her eye when she looks up and meets my stare. “You even had Bianca’s name engraved on it.”

I lean forward and wipe the stray tear from her jaw. “Of course I did.”

“It’s perfect, thank you. But I didn’t give you anything.”

She tenderly strokes Brayden’s face with her finger and gazes adoringly at our son, and I realise it’s the single most peaceful and amazing moment in my life thus far.

“Do you really know how much I love you?” I sincerely ask her.

She looks up and smiles. “Yes.”

“No, I mean do you really know how much I love you?”

Her smile softens a little, and she blushes ever so slightly. “Well, yeah...I think so.”

“I don’t think that you do,” I explain, as I push a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Today, my life changed and that’s all because of you. Today, I received the most precious thing imaginable and again...that’s all because of you. Today, my heart grew beyond all proportions, and you are the reason why. You, Alexis. You have given me something no one else has and ever will. You have given me the best present possible.”

She lifts herself up and over Brayden, then smiles mischievously at me before leaning in to kiss my lips.

 “It’s what I do, Mr. Clark.”

In the morning that followed, Dr. Rainer decided to keep both Alexis and Brayden in an extra day for observation, but then authorised their release the following day after I explained that we were more than happy to have a live-in nurse at the apartment for as long as was needed.

She agreed, but felt a midwife need only make a few house calls for the week ahead. She was happy that Brayden was already doing exceptionally well, especially now that Alexis’ breast milk was—in the words of the Emperor of the Galactic Empire—“Fully operational”.

Thrilled to finally be taking Brayden home, we make our way out to the underground car park. Not seeing where our car is parked and forgetting to ask Chelsea when she handed me the keys, I lift the remote and click the button. The lights of our brand new Tesla S model flash, revealing its whereabouts.

“What? ...How? ...When?” Alexis asks, confusion covering her face.

 Smiling while holding the hospital bags and many stuffed teddies, I reveal my latest secret surprise. “This is your new car, my love. It’s the safest on the market.”

“But...I like my Territory, and the Charger, and the Lexus.”

I place the all the stuff in my arms on the ground next to the navy coloured, high-performance, sports sedan with the best safety rating of any car ever tested. This car is a wet dream...with protection.

“Again, this is the safest car on the market. I want you and the kids as protected as possible.”

She looks as if she is going to argue—and I’m fully prepared to put up a fight—but she refrains, shuts her mouth, and just nods. “Okay, I understand, but what about the chopper?  Don’t you need to fly it home? And how did you get the car here?”

Shocked by the fact that she didn’t argue any further, I quickly pick up the stuff from the ground and place it in the boot. “Chelsea. She drove the car here this morning then flew the chopper back to the hotel,” I explain while shutting the boot lid.

“Right,” Alexis murmurs, her tone now sounding obviously disgruntled.

I step up to face her and look down at Brayden cradled in her arms. “Hey, what’s the matter? Don’t you like the car? I just want you to be safe. I don’t ever want to lose anyone I love in a car accident ever again. Please don’t fight me on this.”

“I’m not. The car is fine. I’m happy to drive it if it makes you feel better. Honestly, I understand.”

“Then what’s the matter?”

“Do I have to spell it out to you?” she sighs.

I really have no idea what she is so suddenly upset about, so spelling it out like a first-grade teacher is welcomed.

She searches my eyes then drops her gaze. “Chelsea.”

“What about Chelsea?”

“I don’t trust her.”

“We’ve been through this, Hunny. I thought you were okay with her working for us.”

“Us?”

“Yes,” I say firmly. “Us.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to be all cheery when you mention her name. I still don’t like the bitch,” she spits out.

Shit! Where the hell has this come from all of a sudden? I’m taken aback by her unexpected onset of insecurity. Maybe this is part of the ‘baby-blues’ thing that the midwife mentioned. Or maybe it could be the start of postnatal depression.

Worried that it could lead to something quite serious, I make a mental note to ring Jessica when we get home.

 “Alexis, I really don’t want to argue about Chelsea with you. She is no more than a friend, an employee. Look, I don’t want to argue with you at all, especially here...now...in the car park on the day we bring our baby boy home for the first time,” I say as I gently drag my knuckle down her cheek.

She gives me one of her faux smiles, places Brayden in my arms, and turns for the car. “Neither do I.”

* * *

Soon after we arrived home from the hospital, I had realised that I wanted Brayden close by—pretty much all the time. It had been less than twenty-four hours when I’d decided the solution to my predicament was to order more bassinets, one to be placed in the lounge area and the other in my office. Charli had asked for one to be put in her room as well—which I thought was cute—however, Alexis had felt I was going ‘overboard’ and soon put a stop to any more of my baby furniture purchases.

The kids had also been wonderful, adjusting really well to having a new sibling. For the first couple of days, Charlotte had followed Alexis around like a bad smell, wanting to know every single tiny detail about her baby brother. Needless to say, I was impressed with her inquisitiveness—she was good at creepy research.

Nate, on the other hand, had been a little quiet at first, and this had worried both Alexis and me. It wasn’t until we started giving him special responsibilities, like making sure his Mum had a glass of water every time she was feeding, and helping me to bath Brayden, that he soon resembled his normal self again.

* * *

Currently inundated with work, I have no choice but to spend a lot of my time in the office. However, due to my additional bassinet purchase at the beginning of the week, Brayden can spend some of that time with me. It’s a win-win situation.

“Bryce, you can’t take him with you everywhere. A little separation is good, you know,” Alexis says with her arms crossed while standing at the door to my office.

I glance down into his bassinet which is next to my desk.  How separation can be good for someone, let alone a newborn baby, baffles me.

“You are creating a rod for your back. Actually, you are creating a rod for my back”, she grumbles. What?

“What are you talking about?” I ask with a smile, her frustration mildly cute. The only rod I create is the one in my pants, which is also the one I currently want in between her legs.

“It means that what you are doing now will create problems in the future. If you continue to take him everywhere with you, it is what he will get used to and he’ll want it all the time.”

I take in her form as she leans into the door jam. She has on a pair of yoga pants and a tight fitting t-shirt. Her baby bump is almost non-existent and her hair is in a ponytail dangling down her back, longer than it ever has been. She looks stunning as per usual.

“What’s wrong with wanting that?”

“Urgh!” she groans. “You just don’t get it.”

Fuck, that groan. I love that fucking groan. I feel like baiting her more just to hear that groan. Because apparently, I will have to wait a couple more weeks before I can hear it as a result of my making love to her.

“I do get it. And he’s fine. He’s barely a week old. He needs to know his daddy is always close. I don’t want him thinking any other way.”

Her attempt to hide her grin fails as she runs her tongue over the top row of her teeth.

Just as I’m about to get up and make my way over to her to run my tongue over her teeth, my phone rings.

I press speaker.

“Yes.”

“Hi, Bryce, it’s Chelsea. I need to make an appointment with you for later today in order to discuss the flight transfers for VIP guests at next week’s AFL Grand Final. Do you have time?”

I look in my diary which is as confusing as fuck. I desperately need to get Lucy on to it. “I have some time at 3 p.m. I can see you then.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Aggravated by how disorganised my schedule is, I quickly dismiss her. “Okay, I’ll see you then.”