Chapter 11
“He found a letter written to me by Prince. He said he wanted to meet the woman who had an affair with his brother. He didn’t know about the surrogacy. I guess they kept it a secret. They all thought Mindy was her bio mom. He told me something about Precious needing a blood transfusion and her blood didn’t match either parent. They tested DNA found out Mindy wasn’t the mom and now he’s on a mission.”
“Yeah, but you did them a favor. You gave them a child. This shouldn’t be any different than any other family who adopts. If a kid gets adopted and the parents die, the family doesn’t usually go seeking out the bio family to take her back.”
“Right?” she sniffed as she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, amazed her brother was on the exact wavelength she was. “It’s what I said.”
“Is there something wrong with her? Is it why she needed blood? Is he trying to pawn her off?”
“No.” she shook her head. “In fact, he said he’s raising her.”
“Well then how the hell would that work? If he’s going to raise her, how do you be her mom?”
“I’m not,” she shook her head. “I’m not,” she repeated more to herself than anything. For the last week, since the afternoon in the coffee shop, every single daydream had involved her, Precious and Royal as a sweet little family and she needed to get her head out of the clouds. Her night dreams had been even worse as she thought of the way Royal had looked in his white undershirt with his well-defined pecs peeking through. She was out of her mind lusting after the brother of the man whose child she’d birthed. Royal Robinson was no good for her and she needed to get her fantasies under control.
She stepped out of her brother’s embrace and carried the parcel to the counter. Using a knife, she cut through the layers of packing tape and opened it up. She found two envelopes, a thin white one and a large folded up yellow one. She opened the smaller one and read the handwritten note reluctantly.
Famke
I apologize again for the way things transpired last week. It was never my intention to spring such things on you. My goal was and will remain, to ensure my niece has everything she needs to live a happy and healthy life. After our conversation, I doubled my efforts in going through my brother’s belongings. While I had told you of the one letter I had found, in a box which came in from his office at the law firm, I located a handful of other letters all addressed to you and not mailed. Though I had read the first one I found, the rest I have left sealed. They are between you and my brother but as you will see from the first one, you will understand why I thought you had an affair. I hope you can see your way past the hurt his and Mindy’s actions caused you. I know you had mentioned they promised to let you be around Precious growing up and while I don’t know what changed for them, I do know, this is my end goal. Precious should know her full truth, her story. She should know she had parents who wanted her so desperately and how a woman with a big heart gifted them the greatest blessing a person could bestow on another. I will tell you; she asks for you a lot and despite you and I getting off on the wrong foot and the anger we both share for one another; she does not deserve to be caught in the middle. I hope, at the very least, she can count on
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Chapter 11
you to be the friend you told her she could be. I will be in touch soon.
Sincerely,
RR
She read the letter and felt the anger rise again. This was the equivalent of emotional blackmail. With trembling fingers, she read and reread the letter and then scowled. The anger we share for one another. What right did he have to be angry with her? She had done nothing wrong. None of this was her fault.
She lifted the other envelope and unfolded it and peered inside. There was a stack of envelopes. She thumbed through. She counted fifteen of them, one of them open. She stared at the pile and considered
burning them without reading a single one.
“What is it?” Bram asked.
“It seems Prince wrote me a series of letters and he found them. He wanted me to have them.”
“Why would he write you letters and never send them?”
“Who knows.”
“You going to read them?”
“It will eat at me if I don’t.” She took the envelopes and sighed, “I’ll take them to my room. Clean up this mess, would you?”
He chuckled, “call me if you need a hug.”
She nodded. She had a feeling she’d be calling him in pretty soon. What version of hell was contained in this yellow envelope was to be seen but deep down she knew it was going to be the painful kind and another tearful night was on her horizon. Heaven help her.
