Bonds

On the third Saturday after Vanessa caught Lila and Eric in a compromising scene in the younger woman's home, Vanessa had decided that it would be a good idea for her to spend time with Lila, given she had planned to spend plenty of time at her home to bond with her grandchild.

Vanessa parked in front of Lila's moderately-sized one-story home and quickly noticed a very familiar SUV parked in the driveway next to Lila's own vehicle, creating an outdoor scene of vehicular domestic bliss.

Vanessa exited her convertible with a smile and allowed hope to further expand in her chest where her son and the future mother of her grandchild were. She adjusted her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose and practically hopped up the pathway with giddiness.

As she walked closer to the home, she caught sight of the kids through the kitchen windows; mostly, she could see the tattoos on her son's back and Lila's hand's grabbing his hair. It was obvious they had planned to partake in an activity Vanessa herself was very fond of.

Since the extra furniture had been removed from the living room and taken to storage, Vanessa figured the counter would have to do for their nefarious sexual encounters.

The matron sucked her teeth. Eric was not going to be happy to see her at all, she thought as she ignored the doorbell and pounded on the door.

Well, if Lila was going to be part of the family, it was best that she knew The Real Vanessa Hawthorn.

"Yoohoo!" She called out. "It's gran gran!"

"You gotta be kidding me," she heard the musical soundings of her firstborn's annoyed voice carry through the open windows. In a matter of seconds, he was standing shirtless, opening the door while staring at her with a look that matched his tone. "Mom, you can't just show up unannounced at Lila's house! You need to call first!"

Paying no mind, Vanessa was about to push her way past her son when the door opened further.

"No, it's fine," Lila opened the door wider as she smiled brightly at Vanessa motioning for her to enter. "Come on in!"

Unable to help herself, Vanessa smirked at her son before walking inside and addressing Lila. "Well, honey, I wanted to invite you to brunch so we could get to know each other one-on-one but it would be rude not to invite," she held a closed-fingered palm in front of her body and pointed to Eric behind the manual shield with the other, "the third wheel."

Lila laughed out loud, making Vanessa like her more. Recovering quickly, Lila looked at Eric, who was still wearing nothing but pants and a scowl. "I think that would be great, Eric."

He shook his head at her. "Why are you encouraging her?" he asked. "It's bad enough you let her put a tracker on your car and your phone."

Vanessa spun around, removing her red leather jacket and dropping it on a counter stool. Familiar with the kitchen, she began serving herself a cup of hot coffee since clearly her son was going to need some time to priss himself up.

"It's nice to have someone worry about me, and when the baby comes, it'll be even more so." Lila explained as she closed the front door. "Go get ready. All your jeans are in the dryer."

Eric reluctantly walked away, but not before giving his mother a harsh stare.

The matron stuck her tongue out at her son.

Lila made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a hair tie from the top drawer and quicky pulling her hair into a nape-level ponytail.

"So," Vanessa took advantage of the fact her son was gone to pry, as every good mother should. "I noticed he was wearing a pair of jeans already, and not much else," she took a loud sip of coffee, which ended in a slurp. "Oh, excuse me," she said as she placed the black ceramic mug on the counter. "What I mean is, how many pairs of jeans does he have in the dryer?"

With the blush in Lila's cheeks, she figured they were talking about more than one pair.

Unfortunately, a slightly familiar, unfamiliar cell phone that was sitting in the counter began to ring.

The young woman did not hide the look of relief when the loud vibrations interrupted her question.

"I'm sorry Vanessa, I have to take this," she said quickly grabbing the phone and rushing outside.

Vanessa picked up her coffee mug and stood next to the open window, which she quickly began to see as an ally.

"Dad, hi," she heard Lila speak. "I'm fine, thank you. Work is fine. How are you? What's going on?" After a short silent pause, "Yeah?" Vanessa noted that single word was pregnant with an element of surprise. "Really nice hearing from you, dad. I'll see you soon."

Assuming that was the end of the call, Vanessa returned to the counter in a deliberately slow pace.

Lila opened the front door and walked into her home sporting a concerned look.

"Something wrong, my dear?" Vanessa asked not caring if she was being obtrusive.

The young woman looked her way. "I'm not sure," she replied. "Dad usually only calls when he has something that he needs to vent about, but of late, he's just been calling to check in on me."

Vanessa placed her hands flat against the counter. "I noticed you didn't talk about the baby."

Lila froze before looking at Vanessa. There was a very slight look of apprehension on Lila's face, and her eyes widened just a teensy, tiny bit, but it was just perceptible enough for her to catch it.

"You haven't told him, have you?"

Vanessa noticed a deep breath escape Lila's chest as she stared at the phone in her hands.

"What is it, honey?" Vanessa prompted. She walked away from the counter, quickly wrapping an arm around Lila. "Why haven't you told your father about the baby?"

Sensing a reluctance, Lila slowly looked into Vanessa's eyes. "For the same reason I haven't gotten very far with the nursery," she answered in a soft tone. "I'm afraid Alex could change his mind," she said before making her way to the sofa, motioning for Vanessa to sit down.

As soon as the future grandmother sat down, the other woman sat as well.

"Offspring are very rare, and very difficult to bring into this world," Lila began. "Seeing all the pain and the discomfort that Alex is going through with my own eyes, I'm expecting him to tell me that he's changing his mind because it's costing him too much to go through this again," she stated. "You've seen his legs and how swollen they've gotten! and he says that sometimes it feels like he's walking on pins."

Vanessa chuckled as she eased on the sofa. "Honey, he tells me that so I can massage his feet. That's just him wanting attention."

Lila ignored the comment. "And then there's Life Expulsion," she countered. "That's going to tear him open. To be honest, I'm just waiting for the moment you or your husband, or even Eric, tell me you have decided to raise the offspring yourselves."

Vanessa cackled openly.

She understood Lila's point of view but there was no way in hell she wanted to go through raising a child from the very beginning.

She reached for Lila's hands. "Honey, do you know what I do for a living?"

The younger woman shrugged, staring down at the physical contact between the two. "Medical research of some sort."

Vanessa nodded. "Medical research of some sort is on the right path, but to be more concise, medical research on life creation bonds," she filled in. "Lila, do you want me to tell you what we have found out?"

Slowly, Lila raised her eyes to meet hers. "Have you ever studied a case such as this one?" She asked. "Where the offspring is given to a non-related female to raise?"

"Not exactly," Vanessa released her and shifted on the sofa. "But there were two cases I studied where the biological mother was not going to be involved with the child, and the father had a partner that was going to be there for him."

Lila nodded. "Okay."

"Honey, what we are coming to understand is that there is some sort of love magic in the creation of every life, that no matter who is going to be involved, bonds form and families come together as if by some natural pull," she pointed toward her phone. "As in your father's case."

Vanessa saw that Lila didn't look too convinced. She pointed toward the hallway. "And I'm guessing Eric has been spending the night more often than not these past three weeks."

Vanessa felt a sense of satisfaction when Lila released a gasp.