Page 8 of Silver Fox's Secret Baby

That wasn’t to say that not long after she moved west, I hadn't had second thoughts about sending her away. I fantasized about ways in which she and I could be together. I pretended that Victoria would be supportive if it made me and Samantha happy. But in the end, it was a good thing I didn't change my mind.

I believe Samantha loved me and that I'd hurt her deeply by sending her away, but she had gotten over it quickly. Her son was proof of that. Maybe it was simply that she found solace in the arms of another man, but I doubted that. Samantha wasn't a woman who gave her love, or her body, easily. So she had to have met someone there, grown feelings for him, and then had his child. I wondered if he had left her too. Or maybe something happened to him. Maybe she was widowed. I could easily find out, but I didn't want to know about Samantha's life with another man.

I knew the most important bit of information, which was that her feelings for me had died. Hell, I'd killed them the night I told her she had to leave.

"Dad."

I looked up from my reverie to see Victoria entering my office.

My chest swelled with emotion to see her round with child, my grandchild. It was inevitably followed by the knowledge that my friend, Alex, was the one who created that child with her. That still irked me, although as time passed, I was growing to accept the situation. As weird as it was, I had no doubt that Alex was devoted to my daughter.

I rose from my desk and went to her, wrapping my arms around her. "What are you doing here? Come, sit down. Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine." She took my hand, and we walked to the couch in my office and sat. She let out an “ahh” sound and rubbed her belly.

“Is everything all right?"

“Yes. Here, feel." She took my hand and placed it on her belly. Inside, her child moved as if it was rolling over.

Tears filled my eyes at the wonder of it all. I hadn’t had many opportunities to feel Victoria moving inside her mother's belly. Victoria had been the result of a one-night stand. Her mother had used the opportunity to get a nice payoff, and I got Victoria. I was an active participant through all the pregnancy doctor appointments and classes, but Victoria's mother and I were not a couple. By the time she was born, our arrangement had become a business deal. It was the best deal I'd ever made.

"I guess it won't be long now."

"Not soon enough. I'm ready for this little guy to come out." She looked tired but happy.

"You sure it's a boy?" I knew she and Alex had decided to keep the gender unknown to them until the birth of the child. She felt certain that it was a boy, but Alex thought maybe it was a girl. I had no idea how they determined that.

"I'm sure of it now." She handed a sonogram image to me. "His penis is as clear as day."

Once again, emotion filled me to look at the image of my grandchild. Good Lord. He was big. It occurred to me that it was late in the game to be having tests like this unless something was wrong. Not that I was an expert. When Victoria's mom was pregnant, she had two ultrasounds. Both had been early in the pregnancy. Then again, that was twenty-six years ago and maybe the treatment of pregnancies had changed.

“This was taken recently? Is everything all right?"

"I was having some pain and a little bit of spotting, so we had another one."

Alarm shot through me. "Are you all right? Is anything wrong?"

She took my hand and squeezed it. "Everything's fine, Dad. I promise."

"Should you be up and around? Maybe you should be resting."

She rolled her eyes. "This isn't the Middle Ages. Walking and moving around are good for me at this stage. The doctor said there's no reason I shouldn't continue with my normal activities, but just rest a few times throughout the day. So, I'm resting here."

"As long as you're all right."

She nodded. "My life is nearly perfect. So different from Samantha's."

Hearing Samantha's name sent pain through my chest, but I did my best to keep it from showing on my face. "I guess it's difficult losing her mother."

"Losing her mom is probably the worst of it, but today, she went to the lawyer’s office for the reading of the will, and Carl Layton is getting everything."

My brow furrowed. "That doesn't sound like something Gwen would do."

“I know it. You know it. Samantha knows it. She's going to have it contested, and luckily, her lawyer’s willing to help her pro bono because she was recently laid off and Carl's kicking her out of the house."

What the hell? "Carl Layton has always been a motherfucker.”

“We have to help her, Dad. I've been trying to figure out who might need someone like her. Do you think Ollie Cantor would hire her? I saw that his PBS show was looking at maximizing social media more."

---