Hard Conversations
Royal sat with on the edge of the bed as Famke finished reading a bedtime story to a very sleepy yet contented Precious. He’d noticed since they’d gotten on the plane, Famke had not been quite herself and while the lazy man in him wanted to simply chalk it up to biology, he knew something was up. He suspected his mother’s behavior in the morning was the culprit. He was bracing himself for yet another hard conversation.
However, as he watched her tending to the child, they were going to raise together he couldn’t help the swelling in his heart. She was an incredible mother. She was natural and intuitive and fiercer than any mama bear he’d ever encountered. She would gladly sacrifice everything of herself if it meant this child received what she needed.
As she sat brushing the hair off the forehead of the child who was now asleep, he was wondering why she was stalling in leaving the room.
“What’s up, Famke?”
“Is she safe in here all alone?” she questioned quietly not even glancing in his direction. “I can’t help thinking of children who go missing on vacations and it’s always while parents are otherwise occupied or sleeping. What if someone gets through the sliding patio door or she wakes up and decides to go to the beach or –”
“Whoa, hold up,” he chuckled off her sudden string of panicking words. “Come here, let me show you something.”
He motioned first to the ever-present baby monitors. “Already set up.” He walked to the patio doors, “they’re armed with a security feature. She can’t open it from down here and all the doors to the villa, with the exception of the one in our bedroom are under a security which makes a very loud and disturbing noise if opened without the code. The one in our bedroom is on a separate code because Rico and his wife often like to sit on the patio off the room once their family all go to bed.” He then motioned outside, “also, there are armed guards everywhere.”
“What? I didn’t see any armed guards.”
“No? It’s because they blend in but even Maria the housekeeper who made us dinner is one of Rico’s employees and trained and armed at all times. You don’t come to a mobster’s house and expect to be here without protection.”
He watched as she pressed her forehead to the glass as if searching for them. He waited until she noted the guy not only a few feet away leaning against a tree.
“I didn’t even notice him.”
“I know. He is trained to blend in.”
“Wait, what if we, you know, are fooling around?”
“They belong to Rico. The guy has a half dozen kids, Famke but he’s also weirdly possessive of his wife. He once shot one of the men for making a comment on her ass.”
“He killed someone?”
“No, took out his knee though all because he dared look at his wife’s butt. They know better than to hang around if she’s starting to get undressed. Same will go for you.”
“You’ll shoot someone’s kneecap if they look at my butt?” she teased.
“Nah, let them look. If you don’t beat them up yourself, they can drool over what they’ll never get to touch.” He tugged her close, “you’re strong and independent. If you want me to deal with someone, I will but otherwise you have no problem telling someone to piss off. Would I fire a guy for being inappropriate. Yes. I’m simply not a caveman like Rico.”
He took her hand and took her out of Precious’s room and walked her back to the bedroom. He grinned when she came to a dead stop at the sight in front of her.
“Oh Royal.”
He’d entrusted the housekeeping team to set up a romantic spot on the patio with a propane firepit, a couple of chairs, cozy blankets and a bottle of wine and snacks. “You like?” The sound of the sea echoed through the room.
“I really like,” she padded softly towards the seating area. “You set up for me?”
“For us.” He lifted a blanket and motioned for her to sit and then bundled her up. “January at the beach is still beautiful but the nights are cool. Let’s relax out here for a bit before bed.”
“I would like this very much,” she nodded her agreement.
He poured her half a glass of wine, knowing she’d never finish a full one and passed it to her with a kiss to the forehead. He took the chair immediately beside her and settled in to watch the waves crashing on the beach. “How are you feeling now?”
“A lot better than when I was on the plane.”
“Good. Can we talk about what happened with mom today? You were pretty pissed. We didn’t really get to break down what happened when she cornered you in the bedroom.” He watched curiously as her jaw set as if she were trying to control her temper and he reached out and stroked his knuckles along her cheek. “Famke don’t do what you’re doing. You’re holding the anger in and trying to cushion the blow for me, and I don’t want it for us. I want us to be truthful, all the time, even when it hurts.”
She nodded and relaxed slightly at his touch. She sipped the wine and closed her eyes and then exhaled slowly. “I was making sure everything was packed and she came in and told me I was stealing her family. She said I poisoned your mind against Prince and made him into a villain and it’s making you think all kinds of crazy things because I’ve twisted the truth to suit my purposes. She said if I really loved and cared for Precious, I wouldn’t be taking her from the only family she’s ever known.”
“You know she’s wrong, though,” Royal turned his torso to watch her as she spoke. Her eyes were straight ahead, staring at the beach and the water. “Babe, you know she’s wrong.”
“Do I? If it hadn’t been for this whole secret about the surrogacy would any of this have happened?”
“Yes, it would have.”
“Right. I would have quit the gas station and went to work for Keshaun, and you would have found me.”
“Exactly.” He grinned as she recited the fantasy he’d made up. “Also, my mother is loony. I told her at the plane she is to book time with a therapist if she wants to continue seeing Precious.”
She turned startled eyes in his direction, “you did?”
“I did. I also told her, even if you and I don’t work out, Precious and I are moving to Pittsburgh. She deserves to know her mother and to be in her life. I know for a fact I could never hate you and while it might hurt me to see you and not be with you, I want her to know her mom. I’m also really looking forward to slowing down a bit. I’ve been going full tilt since middle school trying to find the next dollar and it’s cost me relationships and friendships. I want to nurture the good friendships I have.”
“Precious told me your mom called me a bitch last night and told her if she wanted to stay with her in New York, she could.”
He sat up at the blurted words. “What?”
“When you went to the house to get changed, Precious asked me if it was tattling and I said no. She said your mom told her she didn’t have to move if she didn’t want to. She said she did want to because she wanted to be with her mommy and make new friends at her new school.”
He felt his fingers wrap around the stem of the wine glass and envisioned his mother’s neck. He grunted, “I suddenly understand Rico’s need to shoot people who disrespect his wife.”
“She’s your mom.” Famke rolled her eyes. “You can’t shoot her.”
“No, you’re right, I can’t but what I can do is set very serious boundaries with her. From now on, there are no more unsupervised visits.”
“Royal!” Famke stared at him in shock.
“Famke. Precious is in treatment for a ton of psychological issues and if the family who is supposed to be supportive, loving, and therapeutic in order to ensure her healing and recovery cannot get on board with the program, then they get removed from the program. You and I attended the psychiatrist together with Precious yesterday, didn’t we? Do you remember the plan we agreed to, in writing, which includes making sure nobody interferes with our nuclear family?” When she nodded slowly, he held her gaze unwaveringly. “You and Precious are my family. If anyone does anything to hurt either of you, I’m done with them. My mother is a bit different and for now, I won’t cut her off completely, but I will insist she and my father get counselling to learn their behaviors are toxic. I will insist her visits with Precious are appropriate and use the language we are trying to reinforce with Precious so she can recover. I will make certain she is respectful of our choices as a family. If she cannot tow the line, Famke, then her involvement with Precious comes to an end until Precious is of an age where she can rekindle the relationship on her own. By the time she is a teenager or older, I anticipate we’ll have helped raise a strong confident young woman, like her mother, like my sister, like Nyx, who will be able to know the difference between someone who is self-serving or is benefits her life. I want to surround her with positive female role models. Right now, my mother isn’t one.”
“Thank you Royal.”
“You have nothing to thank me for. Like I said, she is my mom and if she was anyone else, I’d probably just cut her off completely without a second glance and deep down, I feel I probably should, but I can’t. I’m giving her this chance as much for me as it is for her. After losing Prince, I don’t want to lose any more family, but I will if I must. For now, she’s going to have to play by my rules.”
He held his hand out and smiled when she trustingly put her palm flush to his. He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “I love you, Famke. I love Precious.”
“There’s something else.” She took a breath, “your mom said you deserved to have a woman who would have kids. I know it’s something you want.”
“Nope. Not her business and we have a kid. We have a beautiful little girl down the hall. Keshaun and I spoke earlier this week about it. It was good to have my friend around to talk to and we both vented. The thing is Famke, in talking to him, I realized whether you change your mind on kids doesn’t affect how much I love you. Would I love a family? Yes. But I also already have a family I love and since it’s your body and it’s already been to hell and back once and you almost died, the choice to carry a child will be yours. My mother can go fuck herself with her unwanted opinions. Moving forward, you can come to me if she comes at you or you can tell her yourself to fuck off but at the end of the day, she is not part of our relationship. Decisions about adding or not adding to our family are ours, not hers and unlike my prick of a brother, I won’t be holding back on telling her so.”
He studied her for several minutes as she turned her gaze back to the view in front of them. She was biting her lip as she twisted in her seat.
“What are you thinking Famke?”
“I’m thinking I’ve not sure I can do the period sex thing, but man do I want to give you your bedtime blowjob.”
Yeah, he was definitely keeping this girl.