Chapter 58 Lunch
Maddie's POV
Mariko and I made love this morning. He was gentle with me, as if I was delicate, but I understood why. The scare that I had yesterday was the reason for it. I made him breakfast in bed and it was the first time that he actually ate something that I made. It was pancakes and I made an omelette too. He enjoyed it. I tried to keep his mind off the situation but it seemed to be working.
I got dressed after my shower. Mariko had already showered. He was in the study room, taking care of some things for work. But I heard him talk and as I walked down the hallway, I hoped that it was good news, so I stood in the doorway of the study room.
"I guess we could join you, but I might not be in the right frame of mind..." Mariko was sitting behind the desk, looking down at the documents in front of him. The laptop was open too. "See you then," he sighed and hung up.
"Is everything okay?" I asked as I walked into the study room. I took a seat on a recliner that was in the corner.
"Yeah, I would've preferred that the phone call was from the hospital with good news but it wasn't. It was Arden, he wanted us to have lunch with him and Miranda. Lana will be in a meeting so she can't join us. It will be at the coffee shop next to Sternpoint. Are you up for it? I know that coffee smell will make you sick," he looked at me with concern.
"I will be fine. We can go and have lunch with them," I replied. Mariko has been very respectful towards me. He hasn't been drinking coffee around me in the apartment and at work. When I am not around, that is when he will have his coffee.
"I'm sure that Miranda wants to catch up with you," he smiled.
"Oh, I'm sure she will be over the moon," I chuckled softly. "Any news about...Bella and Amber? The man that was responsible for this?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said as he leaned back. "I just hope that they will wake up soon. I don't know how much longer I can take with nothing happening." he looked at me, his eyes glazed over.
"I am sure that they will wake up soon. They are strong. I know that Bella got her strength from her mother, her little personality is from her mother. She is a little fighter. The more they rest, the more their bodies are healing. You wouldn't want Bella to be in pain when she wakes up, would you?" I said.
"No, I don't want her to be in pain. I would gladly trade places with her," he replied.
"They are fine, they are just healing. In the mean time, get done with whatever needs to be done for work and then you can take your mind off things when we have lunch with Arden and Miranda," I stated.
He nodded. "I love you."
"I love you too," I smiled at him as I stood up. "I will let you get back to completing work," I said, and walked out of the study room.
I was looking forward to lunch. It would be a massive distraction for us. I know that Mariko will not be one hundred percent, but that is understandable. I just hope that he will have some kind of distraction from things.
It was lunch time and we met up with Arden and Mianda at the coffee shop. We greeted each other and took our seats at the table next to the window. "So I heard the news," Miranda smiled at me, "I can't believe that you are our half baby sister. I always wanted one but this is great!" she beamed.
"It was nice to hear that I had siblings," I replied with a smile.
"I just hope that you stay away from our father. I don't necessarily forgive him for what he has done to us," she said.
"Anyone want to order anything?" Arden asked.
"I will have a juice and salad," salad was what I craved most of the time.
"Just make sure that you don't drink coffee. Maddie is pregnant," Mariko said, and I looked at him.
"Oh my word! Congratulations!" Miranda beamed with excitement.
"Congratulations," Arden smiled.
"Thank you," I returned the smile, but I was angry with Mariko for blurting it out when I was still early in the pregnancy. I guess he is only looking out for me because morning sickness and coffee smells triggers that.
We all ordered our lunch. Mariko reached out to me under the table and he rested his hand on my thigh. I placed my hand on top of his until we got our lunch.
"I heard that my father is back. I hope that I do not run into him anytime soon," Miranda said.
"I have met up with him a couple of times. He genuinely wants to change. I am going to give him that chance, because everyone deserves a second chance," I replied.
"I won't see him again either. What he did to Lana and my ex-wife was something that I can't just let go of and give him a second chance. If that is what you want with him, then by all means, I do ask that you keep him far away from us. Nothing will change how we feel about him. You haven't experienced the things that he made us do. I wish that he didn't ruin us the way that he had, but I am not stopping you from giving him that chance. Just be careful if you feel that something might be wrong." Arden warned me.
"I will. I am really sorry for what happened. I know that I didn't experience the things that you did, but I have my own experiences and...it is something that I'm still dealing with to this day. It might not be that bad compared to what you both went through, but I appreciate that you are allowing me to still have a relationship with him that I never had in years of not knowing anything about him. He even cares about my baby," I smiled.
"That is great," Miranda replied. "He was the same when it came to my daughter, Terry. He loved her. I guess that he is best at being a grandfather. Unfortunately, Terry is across the world so we hardly ever see her. But if he is willing to change because of prison and because of you, then you are free to have that relationship with him. I can't even be around him either without exchanging some cruel words," she said.
"That is fine, I really appreciate your understanding of me to form a bond with him." I smiled.
"I really hope that he is genuine this time," Miranda said. I started to eat my salad, Mariko was done with his pasta, Arden was halfway done with his, and Mirand also just started. "I made something for Bella," she looked at Mariko who was quiet most of the time and I know why he was quiet. It's because of Amber and Bella. The constant thoughts of them being in the hospital and hoping that they would be awake and not for anything to happen to them.
Mariko's POV
I was grateful for the distraction, but my mind would drift to Amber and Bella. I want to be with my little girl but I know that I need this too. At least I sorted what needed to be done for work earlier and I managed to sleep last night.
"What did you make?" I asked.
"I made a dress for her, Cinderella-themed," she smiled.
I thought about how Bella would be happy about it. She wouldn't want to take the dress off as she didn't want to take the dress off that Maddie had made for her. She was like a little princess, her hair was neatly combed and a little bun on the top of her head with a little tiara. She had a wand in her hand too. I found myself smiling just thinking about it.
"She would love it," I replied. "Next time, I would suggest that either of you make a dress of Belle from Beauty And The Beast. Amber named her after Belle."
"Aww, that is so cute and she does look like a little Belle," Miranda chuckled. It warmed my heart with positivity and now I am even more eager to have Bella awake. I was desperate even though Maddie had told me that with her resting it allows her to recover. I had to keep that in mind.
"I hope you both have a little Cinderella then," Miranda gushed.
I smiled, "I would be happy with any gender," I replied. Maddie was just smiling and eating. She wasn't too keen on talking about the baby with anyone else and that is when I realized my mistake. I told Arden and Miranda that she was pregnant and we were going to wait to tell everyone when the time was right. The first trimester is risky and I understand that, but sometimes I just blurt it out without thinking.
"Bella will be happy," Maddie said.
"She would be. I need to be somewhere," I turned towards Maddie. "I will meet you at the hospital if that is okay?" I asked.
She looked at me, furrowing her brows. "Okay," she said softly.
"I'm going to see if I can find that man," she nodded, immediately acknowledging what I was talking about. I didn't want Arden and Miranda to be in our business.
I said my goodbye and I left to find the man that was responsible for the accident. My anger was on another level as I made my way to the hospital. I was very happy that he wasn't at the same hospital that Amber and Bella were at because I would've killed him with my bare hands a long time ago.
I got to the hospital where this man was at, and I stopped by the reception area. The receptionist was on a phone call, the waiting area was full. So I was waiting for her to get done with the call, but my hands were trembling from anger. I tried to keep myself calm.
"Can I help you?" the receptionist finally asked me. She was done with the call.
"I am looking for a patient that was in a car accident. The car drove into another car and it is believed that he was sent to this hospital," I said.
"You must be looking for Marthinus Richards," a blonde woman walked up to me. She came from the direction of the hallway. It looked as if she had been crying.
"I guess so," I said.
"Well, he was involved in the accident. He lost control of his vehicle because he had a heart attack. He was only sixty-eight years old. He was my father. He just passed away an hour ago," he said, and my heart sank. I was about to kill an older man who had a heart attack while driving. Nothing had prepared me to hear this.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," I said.
"Thank you, I heard that a woman and a little girl were involved in the accident. Are they okay?" she asked.
"They are okay for now, I am still waiting for updates. The woman was my ex-wife and my three-year-old daughter. I have to go. I am sorry again," I felt guilty.
"I hope that your daughter and ex-wife will be okay," she smiled sincerely as her eyes glazed over. "I am sorry for what happened."
"None of this is your fault and neither was it your father's fault. It was an accident. Keep well," I said and I left before she could say anything else.
I can't believe that I was thinking about killing that man, and it actually broke my heart because he probably has a family besides his daughter and now his daughter suffers with the loss of her father. I wish that I hadn't jumped to conclusions about the man, but now that I know what has happened, I feel relieved that I didn't have to kill anyone and I feel guilty too.
I went back to the hospital to see Amber and Bella, but I first went into Amber's room. She was still unconscious. When I sat down on the chair beside her bed, I held her hand and hoped that she would wake up. She will think that it was her fault but I am here to reassure her that it wasn't her fault.
As I placed a kiss on the back of her hand, I closed my eyes just praying that she would wake up. I felt her fingers twitch and I looked up at her. She groaned as she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open. "Where the hell am I?" she groaned.
I was relieved that she was awake. "Amber, please do not move that much. You are hurt. You are in the hospital," I said.
She turned her head to face me, "Mariko," she said softly, with a faint smile on her face.
This was a huge moment for me. I got up from the chair and I went to go get a nurse to check up on her. Next would be my daughter. Now I have positivity that she will also wake up soon. I was eager to sit by Bella's side and wait for her to open her eyes and to see those beautiful blue eyes that she got from her mom. I want to be there for her when she wakes up.