All of Me (4 page)

“If you would like to establish paternity, my client is to retain sole legal and physical custody of the child. At a time she deems appropriate, visitation can be negotiated. Also, any financial contributions Mr. Carter provides for the child will be held in trust, to be released on the child’s eighteenth birthday. As mentioned on page twelve,” Mary continued.

Charlie listened to her best friend with a sense of pride. She really didn’t know what she would have done without her. Mary had her game face on, and seeing her in her element made some of the anxiety burning in Charlie’s chest dissipate. Unfortunately, the icy glare Grant was directing toward her wasn’t helping to calm her nerves.

“I’m not signing my rights away,” Grant stated in a steely tone.

“Mr. Carter, if you would…”

The older lawyer’s statement was cut off by Grant’s hard stare in his direction. Little beads of sweat began to form on the top of Charlie’s lip, and she reached for her purse to get a few tissues she’d kept stashed there since the start of her pregnancy. The pain in her lower back had intensified, making it difficult for her to think.

“As it states on page twelve, Mr. Carter, if the paternity test determines…”

“I don’t need a damn paternity test,” Grant interrupted Mary with a growl.

“Grant, please, let Ms. Fitzpatrick continue,” his father said in a stern tone.

“You know it’s my baby and I know it’s my baby. What the hell kind of man do you think I am? I’d just sign away the rights to my child?” Grant pinned her again with an icy look.

“I don’t know what kind of man you are, as you don’t know what kind of woman I am. Hence the need to confront me with your legal team,” she replied, feeling slightly indignant.

“I know you’re the kind of woman to carry my child and not tell me. How else was I supposed to confront you?”

The amount of scorn he placed on the last words of his question made her feel like shit. She could play the scorned victim and bluster some more, but the words of her father kept playing over and over in her head.

A man has a right to know he’s a father.

“What was I supposed to do, Grant? It wasn’t as if we were in a relationship. We had a holiday affair. This wasn’t something we’d planned.” She looked down at the tissue she’d shredded in her hands.

“But you decided to keep the baby. You made a decision to leave me out.”

“That’s not fair,” she shouted hotly.

“You want to know what’s not fair?” Grant reached over and picked up the paternity agreement Mary had spent so much time putting together. “This shit isn’t fair!”

“Grant, that’s enough,” his father admonished.

“This is bullshit and you know it. That’s my baby, and she can’t keep me away from it.”

“You’re just being petty right now. It eats you up inside to think you haven’t
won
. If I’d looked you up and asked you for money, I’m sure we’d be having a different conversation.” Charlie was really angry now. She wasn’t the one who brought in the high-priced lawyers. Yes, she should have told him sooner, and after she’d dragged her feet she would have told him eventually. But the key to this would have been her telling
him,
not his fucking legal team. She pushed herself up from her seat and glared down at Grant. The pain was becoming unbearable, and the anger she felt over his accusations wasn’t helping.

“This conversation is over. I’d like to keep our relationship civil for the sake of our child. I’m willing to agree to visitation at some point in the future, but I will not be bullied. We have a baby now, okay, but you are not going to run over me.”

“Ms. Ambrose, I’m sure if you sit down you and my son can have a reasonable conversation about the future of the child,” the elder Carter said, as he tried to play mediator.

Mary was already up and out of her seat, helping Charlie maneuver around the deep conference chairs they’d been seated in. As far as grand exits went, hers was shaping up to be pretty pathetic.

“I don’t plan to be bullied, either. I will have a say in my child’s life.”

Charlie was prepared to blast him with a scathing rebuttal, but at that moment the pain she’d been silently enduring since late last night flared and left her with no ability to speak. She curled forward and rested one hand on the table and the other on her lower belly, taking deep breaths. The anxiety that had been a constant in her life recently beat a steady staccato of alarm through her brain. She still had two more weeks until her due date.

“Charlie, are you okay?” Mary asked with concern as she leaned to help Charlie stand.

Charlie hadn’t realized she was starting to fall until her friend righted her. It seemed she was only able to shake her head as a wave of pain crested through her body. When it was finally over, she looked up to see Grant staring at her with an ashen expression.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” she breathed through clenched teeth.

“I’m going to take you to the hospital.” Mary’s worried expression didn’t help quell Charlie’s nerves.

“I’ll take her.”

Charlie hadn’t registered Grant coming around the table until she felt his strong hands pulling her toward him. She could be stubborn, and considering the heated argument they’d had earlier, pride was whispering fiercely in her ear to rebuff his attention, but pain was her master now, and she would do anything he requested if he could get her to the place that made it stop.

“I think she is in labor. Harold, have someone call an ambulance.” There was no mistaking the authoritative tone of Robert Carter.

“That won’t be necessary. I’m not going into labor. I’m sure it’s just the stress of today.”

Okay, maybe pride was willing to fold for Grant, but she couldn’t help getting in one jab to his father. The older man didn’t respond but instead gave her a look she was all too familiar with. It was an identical replica of her father's favorite expression when she annoyed him. She'd started calling it the, "I hear you but choose to ignore what you are saying" face, as a young girl. Charlie winced as more pain coursed through her body, and Robert Carter turned back to the man named Harold and nodded his head. Harold leapt from his seat and headed quickly out of the room.

“I think you should sit back down,” Grant said softly, gently lowering her back to the seat.

She could only nod and let him have his way. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Everything had been planned out perfectly. Scowling as another wave of pain racked her body, she realized this baby gave two shits about her plans. Charlie had settled in the chair Grant had lowered her into when she felt a popping sensation followed by the feeling of warm liquid rushing out of her body.

“Oh!”

“What is it?” Grant anxiously knelt next to her.

“I don’t think we can wait for an ambulance. Oh, and I’m sorry about the chair.”

It was a whirlwind of action after that. It was hard to focus on much as she felt as if her body was being rent in two. She tried the breathing techniques she’d practiced in Lamaze, but they were useless. She’d been slammed with a great wall of pain, and all she could focus on was getting to a hospital and making it stop. At some point while they were gathering her up and ushering her out of the building, she heard Robert Carter directing people around.

“Ms. Fitzpatrick, Grant and I will take Ms. Ambrose to the hospital. Please contact her family.”

She tried to extract herself from Grant’s arms and breathe as the contractions came hard and fast. Grant’s father’s high-handed manner set her teeth on edge. He was not going to dictate how this show was going to be run. Before she could object, Mary reached over and squeezed her arm.

“Charlie, this is not the time to argue. Unless you want to have your baby in a conference room, I suggest you get moving. I’ll follow and give your family a call. Are your brothers or dad on call?”

Charlie was finding it hard to concentrate as she was racked by another wave of pain. Shaking her head in the negative, she allowed Grant to lead her out the room toward the elevator. When he swooped her into his arms, she was actually relieved, because she found it difficult to walk with each new contraction. She could hear the sharp
click clack
of Mary’s heels as she ran to keep up with Grant’s much longer strides. Once again, she found her friend was right. Now was not the time to put Robert Carter in his place, but once she felt like her body wasn’t being drilled with a jackhammer, she’d let him know he wasn’t going to be able to control her life.

***

Grant didn’t have time to process the initial shock of Charlie trying to deny him his rights as a father before she went into labor. Carrying her to the elevator, he briefly took in the curious stares of the firm’s staff. With his father barking orders into his cell phone and Charlie’s friend Mary following quickly on their heels, his only focus was getting them to a hospital safely.

The elevator took them to the ground floor, where the driver for the limo service they used was waiting next to a car. He quickly opened the back passenger seat for Grant to lower Charlie into. He could tell she was in a lot of pain, and it made him feel useless. Aside from some quick reading he’d done about pregnancy after he’d learned the news, he had no idea how to comfort her. He sprinted to the other side of the car and quickly got in next to her and held one of her clenched hands.

The argument they’d had earlier seemed like a distant memory. His only focus was getting her to a hospital and making sure she and the baby were safe. The onset of labor had seemed like a complete surprise to her, and the thought that the stress of meeting with him could have caused problems left him feeling guilty.

“You’re doing great. Was the baby due now?”

Grant tried to keep the note of concern from his voice, but when he looked into Charlie’s strained face he couldn’t keep the emotion from his face.

“The baby wasn’t due for another two weeks. I’d been having false labor off and on, but this is definitely the real deal.” Charlie smiled weakly, then her face contorted into a mask of pain as another contraction hit.

“Carter boys always come early. They’re eager to make their mark in the world.”

Grant was surprised by the soft tone of his father’s voice. He could see the older man’s profile as he waited for his cell phone to connect to the next person he was calling. Grant was a little amazed that his father was acknowledging his paternity after he had been so adamant about testing. His father glanced over at Charlie. When Robert shifted his gaze to Grant, he felt a connection to his father he’d never known before. They’d shared so many ups and downs together, both personally and professionally, but this… God, this was something neither of them could have expected. He had no words, and it seemed his father hadn’t any either, because he turned quickly back in his seat and talked into his cell phone.

“Just keep breathing, baby, we’ll be there soon. You’re doing such a great job,” Grant whispered to Charlie.

“I didn’t know it was going to hurt this much.”

Grant was working on instinct and adrenaline, so when he gathered Charlie closer to him and began to whisper terms of endearment and encouragement, it seemed natural. He might not have been there in the early part of the pregnancy, but he was here now, and he wanted to prove to her that he was worthy to be a true father to their child. If he was honest with himself, his anger earlier had been fueled by the idea she felt he wasn’t worthy. The agreement her attorney presented made him feel like she thought he was just some guy hoping for an easy out. Yes, he’d contacted her through his lawyers, but it was only to ensure he had a legal right to his child. He would never abandon what was his. Rocking her gently, he realized he needed her to know this was all going to be worth it in the end.

“You’re doing so great, baby. You are so brave and strong,” Grant said softly, stroking Charlie’s head.

“How much farther do we have?”

“Not much. Just keep breathing and squeeze my hand when you feel the pain. Don’t worry about hurting me.”

“Oh, God, Grant. I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

“Sure you are, baby. See, we’re pulling up to the hospital right now. You don’t have that much more to go.”

As if on cue, the car pulled to the curb, and hospital staff began to bustle them into the hospital. It was only when they were inside and going through the motions of preparing Charlie for delivery that Grant had a moment of realization that it was really happening. He was going to be a father.

“Grant, where are you?”

Grant felt his heart clench when Charlie called out for him. With the help of hospital staff, he got ready for the delivery and quickly went to Charlie’s side. With her face covered in sweat and her green eyes shining, he didn’t have the words to express how he felt. Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

“Thank you,” Grant whispered.

He watched as she assessed him. Gazed into his eyes for the meaning of his “thank you,” which he was finding hard to put into words. She didn’t know him, and she didn’t have to do this, but now that it was done he was thankful for it.

Her breathing was labored as the doctor told her what to do, and he could tell the pain was more than unbearable. If he could, he would have taken it all for her. He wanted her to know that. He needed her to know that he was the right man for her to have given this gift of life to, and though he couldn’t find the words, he tried to express the emotion with his eyes.