Page 30 of His Baby Her Gift

“That’s not true.”

Carter started counting to calm himself down. “One, two, three . . . fuck it.” It didn’t work. “If you want to rehash this argument, the truth is that you were a shitty mother but don’t worry, Doug didn’t one-up you because he was a shitty father too. Just to be clear as to why I’m angry towardsyou. How about because you were either drunk, absent, or letting some man you were dating beat the shit out of me.” Carter’s mother had just pulled the band-aide off a massive-sized wound that Carter hadn’t revisited in years. Not even the tens of thousands of dollars he spent on therapy was enough to ease the ache in his chest. “I don’t have one good memory,” he lifted a finger as he struggled to rein in his anger, “of you or my childhood. I’m not perfect. I’ve certainly made mistakes in my life, but where I won’t fail is with my children. No matter what, they will always know that I love them and that I’ve got their back. What I also won’t do is take parenting advice from you. So, if you don’t need money, I have absolutely nothing else to give you.”

*****

Harlem put the decaf coffee in the coffee maker, then turned around and rested her back against the counter. She folded her arms across her chest as she stared daggers into Elaina.

The two women were basically in a stare-off until finally, Harlem said what had been on her mind since they bumped into each other at that baby store.

Harlem narrowed her eyes. “Why the hell do you look like me?”

Elaina rolled her eyes. “Tuh!” She downplayed it. “I would never want to look like you.”

“A couple of weeks ago, you were a porcelain-skinned white woman with red hair. Today you walk into my kitchen with brown skin, hair like mine down to the same color and highlights, and all kinds of shit done to your face. You. Look. Like. Me.” Harlem enunciated each word. “You don’t think that’s strange?”

“That’s ridiculous.” Elaina shrugged nonchalantly. “I think you’re just jealous.”

“Jealous? Of you?” Harlem snorted as she laughed. “Those happy pills you’re on are powerful.”

“You’re jealous because Carter’s mom likes me. We connected. While you think you have Carter now, I have a long-term plan.”

“And you think his mother is going to help with that plan?”Sadly,Carter doesn’t even have a relationship with his mother.

Elaina’s eyes twitched. Her voice lowered. “I told you, I play to win.”

“Elaina, Carter is not a game. He is a living and breathing human being. You’ve got to get yourself together. If not for you, then for your baby.”

“I don’t need your advice.” Elaina spat out.

“You’re right. A psychiatrist would probably better suit your needs. And for the record, I’m the original. No one will ever be a better me. Let me put this in terms I know you’ll understand. Since we are keeping score, this game is already over. I won.”

Charlotte came storming back into the kitchen. Carter followed a few steps behind.

“Elaina, can you please take me to my hotel. Apparently, my son doesn’t want me here.”

She was not wrong.

“Of course,” Elaina said soothingly before looking up at Carter with fake disapproving eyes. “A hotel is nowhere for family to stay. Why don’t we get your things, and you can come back to my place?”

Charlotte nodded. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

Charlotte pivoted and began to walk toward Harlem. Harlem smiled warmly because she thought Carter’s mom was going to say goodbye. Maybe with time, and once the baby was born, she could help be a bridge between mother and son. Instead, Charlotte looked through Harlem and reached behind her to pick up the check Carter had written out earlier.

Carter came and stood next to Harlem. He wrapped an arm around her waist as they watched his mother and Elaina leave the house.

Harlem was still trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. “Carter, I must really love you because this is some crazy shit.”

“You are not lying.” Then, her words hit him. Slowly, Carter turned toward her. “You love me?”

She lifted her head to gaze into his eyes. “Yeah, I kinda do.” Harlem knew this situation wasn’t going to be easy. And no matter how estranged Carter was from Charlotte, she was his mother. He wouldn’t be human if he was not hurt by her actions.

Carter pressed his forehead against hers. “I kinda love you too.”

Chapter 14

Elaina settled Charlotte into one of her guest bedrooms. Irritated, she plopped down on the sofa, trying to figure out her next move. Watching Carter and Harlem act like a couple inherkitchen made Elaina want to burn the whole place down. Elaina threw her head back, covered her mouth with a pillow, and silently screamed. Every time she made significant progress with Carter, Harlem was somewhere in the background messing it up.We would be together if it wasn’t for her.

Elaina replaced the decorative pillow on the sofa and began to aggressively rub her forehead out of frustration. She hadn’t known that Carter and Charlotte were so estranged. Of course, she knew they weren’t close. Carter didn’t have a single picture of his family in his entire home. He never discussed them. A person didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. Still, Elaina would not have guessed this level of tension. She blew out an exaggerated breath.How useful is Charlotte?Elaina hadn’t quite decided. If Charlotte couldn’t be helpful in her case to win Carter, there was no need to keep her around. “Is there anything I can leverage out of this relationship?” She spoke quietly to herself.

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