Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux by Latrivia Nelson (books to read for beginners .TXT) 📕

Mayor Henderson lifted an eyebrow as his only response and finished his cigar.

Inwardly Grey knew the cardinal rule of the Henderson men had been broken. It had been the one thing that the did not do. They never allowed a woman to absolutely control them under any circumstance, but Grey had failed. He would be the first of nearly three generations of well-respected, well-educated young bachelors in his family to allow the birth of a child out of wedlock to actually happen. However, times had changed. He knew what it would take to win the Seat, and he could do it as long as he kept a cool head, a clear vision and strong game plan that included keeping Ivy as close and quiet as possible.

Chapter Ten: The Meeting

Chapter 10

THE MEETING

“I need to meet this Nicola,” Grey said pulling a roasted duck out of his oven and setting it on the stove. He hated that he had waited until he and Ivy were about to sit down to a quiet dinner after a long day at work to discuss such a complicated matter, but that was the way the cards were dealt.

Grey had finally thought through the entire situation and agreed that his father was right. As long as Nicola remained “successful and determined” in Ivy’s eyes, as she had described him that night at his father’s house, then he remained to be a threat. He had to somehow find out what Nicola’s real story was and make his flaws apparent to Ivy before he found himself married to someone else’s wife.

“Why do you need to meet him?” Ivy asked shocked at his outlandish request.

“Why?” Grey appeared calm on the outside even though inside he was reduced to rubble. “Because there is fifty percent chance that this child is his. And I have no idea what this guy is like or what his background is. All these are things that are important when raising a child…especially another man’s child. It’s sort of like when people adopt, they want to know what the biological parents’ backgrounds are to make sure that the kid isn’t certifiably psycho.”

“So you still won’t hear me on not separating him from his responsibility if he is the father.” Ivy sighed and leaned against the kitchen table.

“No, I won’t hear you,” Grey said grinding his teeth. He thought they had closed that subject.

“Why must you be so unreasonable?”

“What?” Grey clinched his fists. Wanting to call her ungrateful, considering that he was marrying her at all after her little escapade, he quickly bit his lip and put down the carving knife. “How sensible is it to allow him into our lives knowing that he would only ruin our marriage before we could get started.”

“We don’t know that,” Ivy said tired of the subject.

“I know it!” Grey screamed. “You know it too. Use your head, Ivy!”

“Listen to me. You should meet him, and I will arrange it soon. But it’s not your place, although I know that you want it to be, to play God and decide who should be the father. For the sake of the baby, don’t interfere with that part of the child’s life. Besides the entire situation is hypothetical at this point. There is still a great chance that this baby is yours. And for the small chance that the baby is not yours, heaven forbid, the baby can love you and love his or her biological father as well. But if you try to interfere and damage that relationship, it will back fire. Mark my words, Grey.” Ivy turned away and finished setting the table although the candlelight dinner had definitely been ruined.

“Look, I don’t mean any harm to you right now, because I know that you must be going through a lot. But I am at wit’s end with this entire situation. I need some type of control in this in order for me to go on. He’s already taken a piece of you that I will never be able to get back. I’ve got to make sure that I’m not running a losing race against this guy.” Grey’s anger faded into the dismal depression that was slowly taking over his spirit.

“You will never lose…” Ivy turned around to find Grey overwhelmingly disgusted. “Oh baby,” she said walking over to him. “You’ll never lose me. I will always belong to you as long as you’ll have me. What happened was a mistake, but God put this child here, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that he or she is not only is born safely but raised safely.” She took his hand and kissed it softy. “Be confident in us, please. Meet him; talk to him; do whatever makes you feel better about the situation, and then let it go.” Her eyes met his as he rubbed through her long locks of hair.

“Well, that’s a tall order,” he said wrapping his arms around her. “I just don’t know if I can do it.”

“Grey,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I know that I don’t deserve you. And I’m so sorry for this entire mess. I know that you would never put me through this or do anything like this in a million years, but please don’t leave me.”

How can she be so clueless? Grey thought to himself as he looked in her eyes.

* *

After Grey had dropped her off later that evening, Ivy sat across from her telephone staring into space and pondering on Grey’s uncomfortable disposition at dinner. Even though she felt totally free of guilt when she first returned to Grey, she felt a surge of guilt overwhelming her now that made her feel utterly ashamed of her actions.

Have I really been so bad? Was it possible that Grey had never once cheated on me, and that all the little signs of infidelity had been imagined? Have I been the only one in our relationship to step outside of my boundaries? Suddenly as Ivy thought back