Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Intensity

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 27:

Bella’s POV

One month later…

“Up! Get up! Isabella, wake up now!”

I opened my eyes to see my mother’s furious but worried face directly in front of mine. How the heck did she get into our house? Oh, that’s right, my dad and she each have a key so they could come here whenever they want to. It was Paul’s idea. I should kill him for that.

“Mom? What are you doing here?” I yawned and stretched my arms over my head.

“What am I doing here? I am worried about you; that’s what I’m doing here. You sounded so… so scatterbrained on the phone. That’s my job, not yours! You are a secure, healthy, and together adult. I raised you to be that way. Now wake up! It’s ten o’clock on a Thursday!”

“Ten? Already? Oh my God, I’m late for my spinning class at the gym.”

“Isabella Marie, stop! Right now! Stop! You aren’t going to the gym today. You’re going to get dressed, sit in the living room, and talk to me. I’m going to cook you a nice breakfast.” I arched an eyebrow at her. S eriously? My mother was going to cook? “Alright, we’re going to that little breakfast nook in Glendale and we’re going to talk.”

“Better. If you’re going to subject me to one of your talks, it had better not be over your eggs.” I hugged my mother. “Where are Tucker and Tyler?”

“Phil’s got them. Your brothers are happy, healthy, and becoming smart alecks, but I’m not here to talk about the twins. I’m here to talk about my daughter, whom I’ve never seen so frazzled. We’re going to focus on you instead of anyone else.”

I kissed her on the cheek, took a quick shower, and drove to Glendale. After ordering breakfast, she asked, “Now, why aren’t you working?”

“I don’t know, it’s different with Dr. Blanchard gone.”

“Bella, people die everyday. They can’t live forever. Dr. Blanchard had to have been in his eighties at least, He was well past retirement age.”

“Yeah, he was eighty-seven.”

“You aren’t even close to retirement age, sweetheart. Of course, you don’t have to worry about money because Paul does so well financially, but, honey, I don’t think you’re happy unless you’re nursing. It’s what you’ve always wanted to do.”

“I didn’t think the hours would be so long. I never saw Paul. I still never see him… and I was always so tired. I mean, really tired, Mommy.”

“Mommy? Oh dear, you must really be in turmoil to call me Mommy. You stopped calling me that when you were ten years old, I think.” She wiped away my tears with her napkin. “Bella, from what you’ve told me during our phone conversations, you’ve been going to the gym, playing golf and tennis at the country club, organizing the house-I love the pink garage, by the way, it’s so unique.”

“Yeah, I like it too.” I did. It was one of my favorite accomplishments. I figured that Paul got to design the entire house the way he wanted to so I should at least have free reign over the garage.

“I love how you’re accomplishing new feats, but here’s the thing, honey; I think maybe it’s time you really sat down to think about what it is you want from life. Ask yourself some hard questions.”

“Like what?”

“Well, you’ve already brought up a few things like your hours in nursing. What sort of hours do you want to keep? Are you okay with delivering babies in the middle of the night? What about Paul? How can you make it work so the two of you have more time to spend together? And the country club? Do you really want to spend all that time there? Because Isabella, you’re the furthest thing from a snob ever.”

“Mom, you haven’t seen my tennis pro and my golf pro. They look like male strippers.”

I showed her a photo of them on my iPhone. Mom smiled approvingly.

“Okay, so you keep the lessons. I can understand needing a bit of visual stimulation here and there, although you have a pretty handsome husband if I do say so myself; then again, you can get sick of looking at the same guy over and over again. Maybe you should cut down on your lessons to once a week each so you can keep up with your eye workouts, but we’re off topic. Bella, you need to figure out what will make you happy. I spoke to Daddy this week and he’s extremely concerned about your emotional state. He was so upset that he called me.”

“Daddy called you?”

“Yes, he still calls when he’s worried about you. We may not get along, but we’re united as one when it comes to the well-being of our daughter.”

“Have I been that bad?”

“Honey, you’ve been frazzled. You really have been. For God’s sake, you’ve been calling me twice a day and Daddy twice a day, everyday for three months now. That’s not like you at all, and you know it. We were lucky to hear from you twice a week until recently.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need for you to be sorry. We love hearing your voice, and you can call us whenever you want. If we each had our own way, you’d still be living with us. The point is, we’ve both noticed you haven’t been yourself and we’re concerned.”

I was turning into a blubbering baby and I knew it. I was sobbing my eyes out in the middle of the restaurant, and my mother was doing her best to keep me calm.

“Isabella, stop. Stop crying. You’re a big girl now. Let’s get to the bottom of what’s making you so sad.”

“I’m just so confused. My life used to be perfect, then Dr. Blanchard passed away, and poof, everything just fell to pieces. I could have stayed on at the practice, but I refuse to work for the doctor who took it over. She’s too controlling. I have a ton of job offers still on the table, but the thought of those long hours nauseates me. And I’m also upset because I’m the homemaker that Paul has always wanted yet I never see him. Don’t get me wrong; I’m grateful he works hard, but I hardly ever spend time with him. I’m lucky if he gets home by seven pm. Usually, he gets home at nine or ten and sometimes he’s at a site out of state and he’s gone for days at a time. Everything was so much easier before he got those highway contracts.”

“It seems to me that the root of your problem lies with your relationship with your husband.”

“Paul and I do not have problems.” I folded my arms across my chest and glared at my mother angrily.

“Isabella, I’ve been married twice. My first marriage failed because Charlie and I failed to communicate with each other.” She paused while the waitress set our plates down. “Well, it wasn’t the only reason, but it was the main reason. The reason why Phil and I are so happy together is because we talk and discuss things. I suspect it’s why your Sue and your father are so happy as well.”

“Paul and I communicate.”

“I don’t doubt that you do, but not about everything. You just told me that you’re unhappy about the hours he keeps at work. Have you told him that?” I shook my head. “But he didn’t neglect to tell you that he was unhappy with the hours you’d been keeping? And he went so far as to tell you that he would prefer if you were a housewife?” I nodded my head. My mother sighed. “Why haven’t you told him how you feel?”

“Because… because he has worked so hard to get to where he’s at. I… I… don’t want to upset him.”

“But it’s okay for you to be upset?”

“I can handle it.”

“Marriage doesn’t work that way, Bella. It’s a two-way street. It would be selfish of you to keep the fact that you’re unhappy from him. I think I’ve gotten to know Paul pretty well, and I’d bet he already suspects that you’re not yourself.”

“Mom…” I whimpered because I didn’t know what else to say. I simply broke down into tears.

“Honey, you’re confused. You really are, and you need to sit down and talk to Paul because this is eating away at your psyche.” She moved to my side of the booth and put her arms around me. “Oh, baby, you don’t have to be strong or have all the answers all of the time. Sometimes, it’s okay to ask for help. Sometimes, it’s okay to be confused. It’s what makes us human.” She ran her fingers through my hair then put two fingers under my chin and looked into my eyes. “We’ll have you happy in no time, Bella. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mom.”

I did. I really did. Mom may be scatterbrained and irresponsible, but the one thing she has never wavered on is her love for us kids. She loved my kid brothers and me with everything she had inside of her and she would die for us without any hesitation whatsoever.

---

We spent the afternoon lounging by our pool and talking. I was shocked when Paul walked into the house early around four pm, “Hey, Mom. Not that I’m unhappy to see you, but what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just wanted to visit my daughter and my favorite son-in-law.”

“You only have one son-in-law.”

“I know and it’s a good thing I adore him.” My mother pinched my husband’s cheeks. “So, what would you like for dinner tonight? I’ll make your favorite dish if you tell me what it is, Paul.”

I chuckled as I saw my husband’s face turn into one of abject horror. He didn’t like the thought of Mom cooking either. “I’m going to take my two favorite ladies out to dinner tonight.”

“I thought you’d say that.” My mother nodded and clapped her hands. “I’m craving margaritas. How about you?”

“I like that idea. Let me get out of this monkey suit first and we can go.”

“Good.” As soon as Paul left to change, my mother turned to me. “Go and talk to him now.”

“But, Mom, we’re going out to dinner.”

“It’s too early for dinner. It’s only four o’clock. I’ll be fine here. Now go and talk to your husband. It’s best to get these things out of the way. I’m going to sit by your pool and finish up this novel here.”

“Okay.”

I walked upstairs to our room, pausing in front of the door.

Paul’s POV

I opened the door for my wife so she didn’t have to. I knew she had some things to say to me. I heard Renee urging her to talk to me.

“Hey, honey.” I drew her into my arms and held her close. Truth be told, I’d come home early today because I wanted to spend some time alone with her and tell her about a new contract that I’d put a bid in for. I didn’t expect Renee to be here. “What’s wrong?” I asked when I took in the look of contemplation on her face.

She took a deep breath. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I haven’t been myself lately.” I nodded my head in response. “I want to go back to work, but I don’t because… because… well… you’re going to think I’m spoiled and selfish.”

“No, I won’t. What is it?” Since when the hell did my wife become so unsure of herself? This was one of the many things that had been bothering me lately. My once confident wife had become so unsure of herself; so complacent. She couldn’t even look me in the eyes anymore. She burst out into tears. What the hell was going on? I sat on the floor, pulled her onto my lap, and rocked her back and forth. She buried her face into my chest and cried. “Bella? Bella? What’s wrong? What can I do to make things better for you?”

“It’s not you, Paul. It’s me. I’m just upset.”

“Clearly. What are you upset about?”

“I hate not working. I feel useless.”

“You shouldn’t, but I understand.”

“But I don’t want to go back to work if it means long hours like before.”

“I agree.”

“Then again, I’d prefer the long hours if you’re going to keep the hours you’ve been keeping because I’d rather be busy if I’m never going to see you.” Okay, that was unexpected. “The thing is, Paul, I feel guilty for admitting what I did because the fact is, you had been unhappy about the hours I had been keeping when I was working, and I completely ignored you back then. I feel bad.”

I sighed. “Don’t feel bad. A small part of me was being selfish. I wanted you to quit working for the sake of my stupid ego.”

“I thought you didn’t mind me working.”

“I don’t mind, Bella, but there’s a tiny part of me who wants to be able to boast about being able to support my wife and support her well.”

“But…?”

“But I am so proud of your accomplishments, and about the fact that you’re down to earth compared to other wives of billionaire businessman.” I paused, a bit stunned about how me self description. “God, did I just call myself a billionaire businessman?”

“Well, that is what you are, Paul.” Bella squeezed my hand and chuckled.

“I know.”

“Does it bother you?”

“Sometimes, but no, not really. I’ve worked hard to achieve my goals, my dreams. To tell the truth, I guess what I’ve achieved has gone far and beyond my wildest dreams. I only wanted to own a successful construction company-build a few upscale houses, renovate some buildings, and whatnot. I didn’t think I would be branching out into civil engineering and… and…”

“And what, Paul?”

“Resort and casino construction… possibly…”

“What do you mean by possibly resort and casino construction?”

“That’s why I came home early. I wanted to tell you that we’re bidding to construct a new resort and casino on the Vegas strip, only now…”

“Only now, what?”

“Only now, I’m not so sure if bidding on it was such a good idea; not if it’s going to cause you and me to drift apart.”

“Paul, the last thing that I want is for you to make sacrifices in your career for my sake. I don’t want you to resent me for something like that.”

“Like you resent me?”

“I don’t resent you.”

“Yeah, you do. I was the one who kept pestering you to quit the job you love so much.”

“And now?”

“And now I can’t stand how you’ve become so withdrawn, and how you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Avoiding you?” She had an incendiary look on her face. “I haven’t been avoiding you. You haven’t been home, Paul! You haven’t been home at all. You’ve been holed up in your office finishing up contracts and budgets, both of which are fine except somewhere along the line, you’ve lost all common decency and have stopped calling to inform me that you are going to be late and won’t be needing dinner! It’s not fun sitting at the dining table alone waiting for you to come home. It’s even worse when dinner gets cold, and I have to go to bed alone.”

Oh man, have I been that bad? No wonder she resents me. I’ve been taking her completely for granted. She got up off of my lap, walked away from me, and sat on the chaise lounge in the corner of our room. This is what our relationship has come to. My wife resented me and she had a right to. I’m the one who pestered her the entire time she was working to quit, and then when she finally quit and did the housewife thing, I wasn’t there for her. What a jerk, I’ve been! I took the most important person in my life, the one who has been there for me through thick and thin, and selfishly neglected to take her needs and feelings into consideration. I dropped my face into my palms and cried in frustration.

Soft arms wrapped around me and I soon found myself looking into my wife’s eyes. “We’ll muddle through this. We’re good at doing that. Don’t place the blame entirely onto your shoulders. Part of my frustration has to do with my being afraid of returning to work only to be overrun with patients. I also want to be able to concentrate a bit more on the charities we support, and be able to attend a few more of your work related functions, without having to jump over hoops to finagle my schedule.”

“I think we’re going to have to write everything down and find some time to discuss our grievances and goals.”

“It’s a good start, Paul. I won’t apply for any jobs until we sort this all out.”

“It’s probably a good idea. Anyway, we have a few functions to attend.”

“We do?”

“Yeah, they sort of came up with the bidding for the new contract.”

“That’s fine. I’m not doing anything except for taking golf and tennis lessons.”

“One of them involves a trip to Macau.”

“Macau?”

“On the developer’s dime. He wants us to stay at his other resort casino and get the full experience. He wants us to experience the dining, the spa, golf, tennis, the works to see how elaborate his resort is.”

“Okay.”

“It may be just the thing we need to jumpstart our relationship, so we can get it back to where it should be.”

She put a brave smile on her face. “I think you’re right. I hate that we’re unhappy, Paul.”

“So do I. We’ll work on us, I promise.”

“I know we will.” She stood up and headed for the closet. “We should get ready. My mom is still downstairs.”

“Why is she here anyway?”

“She thought I sounded frazzled on the phone. Apparently, she’s doing her job as a mother, which is to check up on her daughter to make sure she’s mentally sound.”

“You know, Bella. Your mom is a little nutty, but I love her. She cares about you.”

“And you as well, Paul. She’s the one who told me I needed to talk to you so we can work out whatever crap we have going on between us. She also added that she’s not getting any younger so we should start producing grandkids immediately.”

“Not that again. We get enough of that from Charlie and Sue.”

“I know that.”

I wrapped my arms around Bella and kissed her on her neck. “I’m glad we talked.”

“So am I. I love you, Paul.”

“I love you, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I took you for granted.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t share my feelings with you.”

I held her for a while before we changed to take Renee out to dinner. It dawned upon me that we hadn’t made love in over a month. How the hell did we get to this point? That’s something we’ll have to change tonight, damn it. A month without sex? I don’t ever remember going that long without sex.

---

Two weeks later, Bella and I arrived in Macau after three planes and over twenty-five fucking hours of air travel. To make matters worse, I had been insanely busy at the office and I’d hardly seen my wife, despite my promise that I would make a concerted effort to spend time with her. Case in point, I still hadn’t made love to her. I did, however, make sure that I called to tell her whether or not I was having dinner at home, though.

“Stop thinking about the trip, Paul. It’s showing on your face.”

“We had to switch planes twice, Bella! Had you let me charter a jet over here instead of taking the plane tickets the developer offered, we would have arrived here sooner and a hell of a lot more well-rested.”

“Don’t be a pretentious dick. At least we flew First Class. Think of the unfortunate people in Coach. Is someone supposed to meet us or do we make our own way to the resort?”

“Fuck if I know!”

“Paul!”

“Sorry, babe.”

“Honey, I think we need to… Hey, that man is holding up a sign with our last name on it. Do you think he’s waiting for us?”

“Duh, I don’t know, Bella. Do you know anyone in Macau?” I knew I was being a complete dick, but I didn’t care. I hated long flights.

She smiled sweetly and whispered in my ear, “The attitude stops now or the next time I give you head, I bite.”

“Ouch! That’s mean, honey.”

“I know, but you bitching about things neither of us have control over isn’t helping.”

“I’ll check the attitude.”

“That’s better.”

A man named Cecil, who was apparently serving as our driver for the duration of our stay, drove us to the resort. The director in charge of resort operations escorted us from the limo directly to our room and told us that we were VIP guests for the week.

“What do you want to do first? Maybe… What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Bella was rummaging through her suitcase. She pulled out a pair of yoga pants.

“Paul, I haven’t worked out in two whole days! I’ve been stuck on a plane.”

“We just got off of a freaking, long ass flight, Bella. Don’t you want to kick back on the beach?”

“I slept the entire way.”

“How?”

“I popped an Ambien.”

“That’s not fair. You should be having jet lag with me.”

“Go and have a nap. I’m going to work out.”

“Bella, we’re in a foreign country. If you think I’m going to let you traipse around the hotel dressed in workout clothes, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Paul, the gym is in our suite. Upstairs.”

“Oh, well, I… um… yeah… Sorry, I overreacted then.”

“You need to get some rest. We’re meeting the Vandenbergers for dinner and you need to be alert.”

“Did you pack my tux?”

“Get some sleep. I’m going to work out and then lounge by the pool.” She sighed when I grimaced. “The private one on our roof, okay?”

“Okay, I just worry about you.” I drew her to me and kissed her on the lips. “Wake me up in two hours. I have to try to get used to this time change.”

“Don’t worry, Paul. I’m a big girl. Rest.”

“Alright, be good. You know, I’d prefer it if you were snuggled up by my side.”

Bella shook her head and chuckled. “You are such a big baby sometimes.”

“Please?”

“Oh, alright.”

“Awesome.” I looked around the too big hotel suite. “Which one was the bedroom again?”

“Well, I’m sleeping in that one. You can pick whichever one you want though.”

I picked her up and carried her to the bedroom she’d pointed to and settled onto the bed. “You’re out of your mind if you think I could ever fall asleep in a separate bed from you.”

“I don’t know. I’ve actually gotten quite used to it. You see, you’re rarely home at bedtime.”

Okay, I’m not going to argue with her because it was the truth. I’d been walking into the house past midnight on most nights.

“I’m sorry, Bella. It’s really been crazy at work.”

“I know it has been. Crispy has been keeping me updated.”

“Crispy has?”

“Yes, I’ve been having dinner with him every night since Babs has been on the evening shift. She asked if I wouldn’t mind if Crispy came over for dinner. She used to do the same for you when I had to work until late, remember?”

Fucking wonderful! My best friend the lawyer was spending more time with my wife than I was.

“How long have you been having dinner with Crispy?”

“The last few weeks. Why?”

“Nothing, honey.” I smiled tersely, attempting to hide the jealousy that was raging through my veins. Truth be told, I had no right to be upset. “So, what do Crispy and you talk about?”

“Stuff… the pack… We’ve touched on the subject of Jacob a couple of times. Jeff stopped by the other night to say that he was sending a lawyer who specializes in Native American family law to him.”

“That’s great. Why did Jeff stop by?”

“For dinner, why else?” I wanted to scream. Everyone had time enough to have dinner with my wife except for me. “Ooh and I finally got to have the wings at Hooters.”

“When did you go to Hooters?”

“Last Friday. I wanted to know what all the hoopla was about so Emily, Kim, Rachel, and I went with Sammy, Ryan, and Number Six. It wasn’t a big deal-just some women in shorts and tank tops. The boys seemed to like it there though. By the way, Sammy and Ryan pointed out to Number Six that it’s much cooler to go to Hooter’s with Uncle Crispy and Uncle Paul because there are no mothers dragging them down, whatever that means.”

“It’s because we can relate more to them. We’ve been there, if you know what I mean.”

“I do know what you mean. You’re saying that you were once a horny high school student, salivating over anyone with boobs and a pair of legs.”

“Exactly!” I pulled her in closer to me, nuzzling her neck and ending with a kiss. I sighed, disappointed because I’d dropped the ball once again. “I love you, Bella. I swear to God I’m going to make some changes to my schedule. I hate not being able to spend time with you.”

“We’ll be okay, Paul. It’s going to take some time to set things to right again. Try to get some rest.”

“I will,” I muttered and closed my eyes, praying for some sort of a break in my schedule.

---

In the evening, after a good rest, I was in the thick of a dinner meeting with Joel Vandenberger, CEO of Vandenberger Casino Development, and his wife Bambi. Mrs. Vandenberger was pregnant. Very pregnant. In fact, she looked as if she were ready to pop any second now. She sat uncomfortably at the table, squirming every few seconds, with a fake smile plastered on her face. There were other executives of multi-billion dollar construction firms at the table who were bidding for the project along with their wives. The wives all looked, for lack of better terminology, plastic. There was more rhinoplasty and silicone tits at this table than on a Hollywood movie set, and that’s saying something. Every single wife here was blonde, stacked, tanned, and stupid. I should add that my old ‘buddy,’ the creepy Ted Baklund was also here.

“You owe me Paul. You owe me big time,” Bella whispered in my ear. Oh shit, she did not look happy at all.

“So, who is your plastic surgeon?” Tasha, Ted’s wife asked Bella.

“I don’t have a plastic surgeon.”

“Oh, come on! You had to have had some liposuction done. Your body is too perfect.”

“I work out.”

“So do I. I have a personal trainer named Rafael. He’s right over there. He travels everywhere with us.” She pointed to some buff Latin dude who winked at Tasha, then looked directly at Bella and flashed his pearly whites at her. What the hell?

I glared at the personal trainer who immediately shirked back in fear. No one, and I mean no one, flirts with my imprint!

The flake continued talking, “… but even with my personal trainer, I still don’t have your body. Now, what’s your secret?”

“I work out at the gym. It’s that simple.”

“Who is your personal trainer?”

“I repeat. I do not have one.”

“You don’t have one?” several appalled female voices chimed in.

“Well, you must at least have a nutritionist living with you then,” Desiree, the wife of one of the financiers asked.

“No, we don’t have any help aside from the pool man who comes in once a week; otherwise, I stay in shape by going to the gym, cooking my own meals, cleaning my own house, and doing my own laundry and gardening. You should try it sometime, it’s very nouveau.” She looked up at them and smirked. Aw, man, this wasn’t good. Bella was becoming sarcastic, which meant she was angry.

The women all stared at her as if she were some sort of defect, but one of them, Bunny, actually asked, “Is there a book on your fitness program? I want to try it.” The woman was completely serious. I had to fight hard to keep a smile on my face because what I really wanted to do was drop my jaw because I had no idea this level of ridiculous existed.

Bella blinked twice in absolute shock at Bunny’s question before replying, “I don’t know if there’s a book, but I would think it’s part of taking responsibility for your own life.”

“What a novel concept!” she squealed. “I really like that idea!”

Bella stared at me completely nonplussed. I had nothing to say to her. I was just sorry, so very sorry, that she had to put up with these people for my sake. We had sunk to a new low.

“Paul, I’m surprised you let your wife do all of the menial labor in the house,” Vandenberger stated. “How does she find the time to support your causes?”

“Generally, we keep her work and my work separate,” I replied. I was seriously thinking of pulling out of this deal because I just couldn’t stand these social climbers.

“She works?” he questioned mockingly. “Are you in the poorhouse or something?” I’m going to beat the shit out of this prick!

Well, she was actually on hiatus from working, but I was hopeful she would be returning to work soon. He didn’t need to know that, though.

“I have a career because it’s fulfilling. I’m a nurse practitioner and midwife. By the way, your wife is in labor. How you could be so unfeeling as to bring her here for a business meeting when she is clearly too pregnant to travel is beyond my comprehension. What kind of a monster are you?” Bella asked.

He turned to his wife who was squirming uncomfortably in her chair. “Bambi? Are you having the baby?”

“I don’t know,” she whimpered.

“Her contractions are about three minutes apart. I’ve been timing them.” She flashed her Rolex at him. I noticed her hand was balled up into an angry fist. “You need to get her to a hospital.”

“She can’t have the baby here! Her doctor is in Las Vegas, and she’s not due for another three weeks. This does not fit my time table!”

“The baby doesn’t give a damn about your time table or hers. Your wife is going to have the baby whether you like it or not!” Bella snapped at him, and then approached Bambi Vandenberger. “Slow your breathing down. You can do it. Look at me. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.”

“Bambi, I can’t believe that you’re in labor now, in the middle of an important business meeting. You’re going to put me off schedule.”

“Bambi keep breathing,” Bella instructed before turning to Vandenberger with a glare. “Mister, you had better cancel this meeting and put your wife first before I beat the goddamned living daylights out of you! Not everything in life goes according to your schedule. Now, I don’t care who you are, or how important this meeting is, nothing matters more than your wife and your baby, who is going to be born within the hour by my estimates. Now, get your shit together and call an ambulance!”

Everyone just sat in their seats with their mouths agape except for Bella who was at Bambi’s side, coaching her.

“Well, that takes Lahote out of the running for the contract.” Baklund laughed. “Better put a muzzle on your wife.”

I was about to clock the asshole, but my wife beat me to it. She slapped Ted Baklund’s face full force. “We have a medical emergency, asshole! I’ll thank you to keep your pretentious, womanizing mouth shut.” Bella focused her attention on Bambi Vandenberger. “Keep your eyes on me and focus on your breathing. Did you take any Lamaze classes?”

“No, I wanted to, but Joel didn’t have time.”

“Okay, okay. It’s okay, I’m going to breathe with you.” Bella turned to me. “Paul, get someone to call an ambulance because…”

“What did she mean by calling you a womanizer. Are you cheating on me, Ted?” Tasha Baklund questioned. “Are you?”

“No, honey. What would Lahote’s white trash wife know?”

Yep, and there went my temper. My left hook impacted with his jaw. The jerk was so stunned that he started crying, “He hit me. Did you see that? He hit me.”

“You insulted his wife twice, you deserved it,” Jerry Fowler, one of the financiers of the project told him. “If you even consider making this public, I’ll make sure you never receive another contract again-ever. Mrs. Lahote is the only one who is thinking straight at this point.”

There were murmurs of agreement throughout the table.

“Aaaagggghhh!” Bambi screamed, bringing everyone’s attention to her direction. “I feel something between my legs!”

“Call an ambulance now!” I yelled at Vandenberger who was still in shock either from his wife being in labor or having his ass handed to him by my wife. I suspected the latter was true. He finally snapped to attention and called his assistant over and told him to find someone to call an ambulance. Seriously? I can’t believe how many steps the prick has to go through to call an ambulance.

Meanwhile, Bella, to the dismay of everyone, had Bambi Vandenberger sprawled on her back on the middle of the floor and was examining her.

“Okay, I need you to start pushing,” Bella instructed.

“Here?” she asked.

“Here. The baby isn’t going to wait-it’s crowning, and this isn’t the time for you to be modest. Bear down like you’re going to the bathroom.” Bella looked up. “I need some clean linens now!”

Bambi Vandenberger let out a blood-curdling scream as she attempted to push.

“Paul! I need you to hold her thigh back! Vandenberger! You too!”

“You can’t be serious?” Joel asked.

“Get the hell down here now and take some goddamned responsibility for the baby that you helped to create!” my wife commanded.

“I will not be ordered about!”

Jerry Fowler, the financier, rushed to assist and held back Bambi’s left thigh when Vandenberger didn’t budge from his chair. He looked simultaneously shocked and awed by Bella who was calmly coaching the laboring woman through the birthing process. An attendant was standing next to us with a laundry cart full of clean linens. The attention of everyone in the banquet room was on us.

After about twenty minutes, a healthy set of lungs let out a rip-roaring scream. The entire banquet room broke out in applause while Bella checked over the baby and promptly bundled her up in a clean bath towel.

“Would you like to hold your little girl?” she asked Bambi.

“I would… but… but… I don’t know how.”

“It’s easy, you need to support her head always,” Bella informed her as she carefully handed the baby to Bambi.

Paramedics with a stretcher arrived a few moments later and took over care.

We quickly left, and I escorted Bella upstairs to our suite. She was a bloody mess and needed to get cleaned up. Her ball gown was completely ruined, but she had an odd look of contentment on her face.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I helped her out of her gown.

“I’m fine. Vandenberger is a fucking dick! I don’t usually get involved in your business, Paul, but I forbid you from entering into any contract with him! The guy has no moral compass whatsoever!”

“Welcome back, Bella!” I howled as I heard her swearing. “You know, I don’t think anyone has ever dressed him down the way you did earlier.”

“Well, I’m sorry, his wife was in labor, and he was more concerned about his business. How selfish can anyone be?”

“I have no idea.” I stripped off my tux, and hopped into the shower with her. “So, where should we go tomorrow?”

“I don’t know; I’ve never been in Macau.”

“No, I mean where should we go? I’m not sticking around here. I’m not bidding on this contract. I promise. I don’t need it or the money, and I refuse to work with a selfish prick like Vandenberger.”

In all honesty, I was terrified of becoming like him. I didn’t want to spread myself so thin that family became second to business. Vandenberger was on his fourth wife, and was only about five years older than I was. Sure he was a successful casino developer, but at the end of the day, was the guy truly happy?

“I was in my element tonight, Paul,” Bella noted.

“Yeah, you were.”

“I was happy. I… I like nursing; I enjoy delivering babies.”

“You’re good at it.”

“I just don’t want to… Oh, Paul! There’s so much, which has been bothering me lately.”

“Talk to me, Bella. I’m here for you.” I lathered her hair up with shampoo and gently massaged her scalp. I fully intended on taking care of her tonight if she’d let me.

She let out a deep breath. “I don’t want to become like those wives at our table tonight.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that. You’re not exactly a gold digger, and I can’t see you putting silicone water balloons in your titties.”

“Be serious, Paul?”

“I am being serious. You’re not going to become like any of those women, you’ve got too much of a conscience. Honey, you’re bright, intelligent, and aren’t capable of being fake. You’re not one of those sorority princesses like those women at the table.”

“Actually, I was in a sorority,” she informed me with a serious face.

“You were?” I was a bit stunned at her revelation.

“Yeah, I was the president during my senior year.”

“How is that even possible?” I couldn’t picture Bella leading a bunch of sorority girls. Heck, I couldn’t picture Bella as a sorority girl.

“I knew all of the guys on the baseball team through Phil.” She wagged her eyebrows at me and smirked.

“Why you little…”

Bella scurried out of the shower and I went chasing after her. She ran up the steps, opened the door that led to the rooftop swimming pool and dove in. I was right behind her. I drew her into my arms and kissed her fully on the lips.

“You know how much I hate those baseball players.”

“Oh, Paul, you can be so jealous sometimes.”

“I am jealous. I’m always jealous. You’re mine, baby.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck. “I know I’m yours.” The soft kiss that she placed on my lips sent a jolt of passion through my body. I needed her. She was beautiful, soft, loving, and most important of all-stark naked and in my arms. It had been far too long since we’d last made love-almost two months by my estimates. “I love you, Paul.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered in her ear. “I’ll love you always.”