Happily Ever Addendum (8 page)

After the appointment, I had the driver
immediately take me to a restaurant.

Ordering a large breakfast, a familiar
face appeared.

"Lilli?"

Loreley stood next to the table. I
started to stand to greet her.

"No, no, please stay seated."
She motioned for me to stop. "Do you mind?" She pointed to the empty
chair next to me.

"Of course not." I smiled.
"Do you want anything?"

She looked through the menu as I called
the waiter back over. He moved quickly. Loreley placed her order, which would
look like nothing compared to mine.

"So, how are you?" She smiled
warmly.

"I’m good. Hey, I never got to
thank you." She looked at me with confusion on her face. "For telling
us about Becca." I explained. "Thank you."

She smiled. "It was my pleasure. I
couldn’t believe what she had done when I found out." Shaking her head
with a disgusted look on her face, she continued, "I mean, the Iverson’s
have always been good to her and you never did anything to her. I just don’t
get it."

"Well, thankfully we have some
answers. Aidan is still working on the rest of it." I sighed.

"I’m just happy I was able to help."
Loreley placed her hand over mine with a pat.

Loreley and I ate lunch together while
discussing some common interests. I discovered we had a lot in common. We both
loved to read and held an interest in poetry though neither of us wrote it.

After a few hours, Loreley and I said
goodbye and went our separate ways. Viola’s was my next stop.

"Lilli…" Viola kissed my
cheek, hugged me, and then rubbed my stomach. "How are you today?"

"Good. A little tired, but
good." I gave a small smile.

"You poor thing." She looked
at me with pity.

We got into her car and headed to a
shelter that the foundation was considering taking under its wing.

Once inside, I started to take the place
under an investigative eye. The building was dilapidated, but still seemed in
good standing. The woman who ran the shelter was very pleasant and welcoming.

"I am so glad you agreed to visit
today." She shook Viola’s hand before turning to me. Her eyes dropped to
my stomach, just like everyone's did now, and then looked up smiling as we
shook hands. "My name is Debra."

"It is entirely our pleasure."
Viola responded.

"Let me show you around and tell
you a little bit about the place. Please, question me at any time." Debra
motioned for us to follow.

"It is a little run down, isn’t it?"
Viola whispered into my ear. I nodded in response.

"This is the recreation room."
Debra motioned through a large set of doors. The room was filled with televisions,
couches, pool tables, card tables and folding chairs, book shelves, and more.
"Most of the young adults hang out in here during the days."

"This is the dining room." She
motioned through another set of double doors across from the recreation room.
Looking around, I could easily see they needed new flooring and wall treatment.
It could also use a good scrubbing. "The kitchen is this way."

The kitchen also needed some work: new
appliances, flooring, a good cleaning and, probably, pots and pans.

Viola’s smile never faltered as Debra
led us around the building. Clearly, they needed help. They were constantly at
full capacity but only had enough to really support a third of those who stayed
there.

Most of the population in the shelter consisted
of young mothers, abused kids, and abused women and their children. There were
also a couple of single fathers with small children. My heart instantly broke
when we entered a nursery of small infants and toddlers.

One crib held a baby who'd been burned
and a toddler with lost eyesight. Then there was a young, pregnant girl who looked
to be helping out.

"Who is the girl? Does she work
here?"

Debra followed my eyes and smiled.

"That's Abby. She came to us a few
months ago from an abusive foster family." Debra’s face fell. "She
was one of three foster children that lived with the family and their two
children." She sighed heavily and then her voice dropped to a whisper.

"She's thirteen years old and
pregnant with the foster parent’s grandchild. They beat her and kicked her out
when they found out she was pregnant. Their
biological
son, who is
seventeen by the way, denies the child is his. It’s a shame because she has the
biggest heart and loves to help in here."

"Oh my god!" Viola exclaimed
at the story. A look of disgust plastered across my face.

"I know." Debra choked back
tears. "She is such a good kid and had her innocence stripped from
her."

"He raped her?" I asked, torn
between anger and tears.

"She says that it was consensual.
Apparently he had told her that he loved her and she willingly had sex with him.
I can’t be sure as to whether she is lying or not."

"Why would she lie?" I asked.

"Fear." Viola answered and put
her arm on my shoulder.

"Exactly." Debra stated.
"Though it could have been consensual, most of these kids just want to
feel loved. And, with her history, I could see her falling prey to a little
bastard like that boy."

"I can’t believe the foster parents
were that…horrid, to allow this to happen to her." Anger pulsed through
me.

"Honey, I wish I could say it
wasn’t common, but that would be a lie."

Wiping at my face, the tears fell freely.

"What will she do?" Viola
asked Debra.

I didn’t stay to hear her answer.
Instinctively, I walked over to Abby who was holding a baby on her hip, rocking
back and forth.

"Hello." I smiled.

Abby smiled shyly and then looked down
at my stomach. "Hi."

"When are you due?" I pointed
to her small but visible bump.

She got very still and fear crossed her
face.

"I’m sorry, you don’t have to
answer. I’m due in October." I rubbed my stomach.

She smiled. "Will I get that
big?"

I laughed.

"I don’t know, but I doubt it. I’ve
got two in here." Her eyes widened. I laughed again.

Giggling, she spoke. "Wow, I don’t
know if I could handle that."

I shrugged. "We all take what we
get and make the best out of it."

Her smile widened. "January."

"Well, you have some time then, don’t
you?" I rubbed my stomach.

"Hello there." Viola appeared
next to me.

"Hi." Abby turned shy once
again.

While Viola talked with her about the
nursery, I couldn’t help but think about everything this girl had gone through.
Everything she had yet to go through.

I was so much luckier than that poor
girl. My parents both loved me, no one had ever hurt me the way she'd been hurt
and, even though my pregnancy was a shock and unconventional to an extent,
Aidan was there for me, along with his family and our friends.

Both hands were on my stomach when I
felt movement beneath my fingertips. I must have giggled out loud because both
Viola and Abby looked at me in curiosity.

"They’re moving."

"Really?" Abby croaked.

I nodded. "Wanna feel?"

She bit her lip and hesitated, but then
took a few steps toward me and placed her hand on my stomach. There was some
movement and Abby’s eyes widened with panic.

"It’s okay." I placed my hand
on hers.

She looked up, still unsure. "I
don’t know what I'm going to do." I barely heard the words.

Sighing, I pulled her into a hug. The
baby she was holding in her arms wiggled under us and I pulled back, taking the
baby from her and holding him.

"So, you don’t know what you are
going to do yet?" Viola had her arm around the girl’s shoulders.

She shrugged.

"I know I should put the baby up
for adoption, I am only thirteen. I just hate the thought of abandoning my
child…like my mom did."

Viola hugged her quickly.
"Everything will work out for the best, my dear."

We left Abby in the nursery, following Debra
around for the rest of the tour. I was already sure that both Viola and I were
in agreement; this would be the newest addition to the foundation. After we
said our goodbyes and got back into the car, Viola confirmed my thoughts.

"So, our new addition?" She
asked.

I nodded. "Yep."

"I thought so."

"First thing, they need a better
air conditioning system." I fanned myself. "Whew! I am sweating
horridly and it’s not just one of my hot flashes this time."

Viola nodded.

"There are a few things they will
need. I wonder if the bad air system also means that the heating system is bad."
Viola picked up her cell phone and dialed. "I'm going to make some calls
now and have the paperwork prepared…oh, and I want to have their budget sent
over." She turned to her phone and began talking rapidly with people at the
foundation office.

Once she was finished, she turned back
to me.

"The contracts and the financials
are going to be sent over. I will have copies sent to your house tomorrow."

"Sounds good." I smiled. Then
my thoughts traveled back to Abby.

"What’s the matter?" Viola
placed her hand on my knee.

"Just thinking about that poor
girl." I placed my hands on my stomach. "I don’t know what I would do
without all of you. Especially Aidan."

Viola smiled brightly. "It’s
starting to sink in isn’t it?"

I looked at her, confused.

"That you love him." I felt
myself blush. "Lilli, it’s okay to love him. You know that right?"

"I know." I said in a hushed
tone.

"No, I don’t think you do." Viola
patted my knee. "He loves you, Lilli. This has nothing to do with that
damn agreement. Hell, I could tell that there was something there before you
even agreed to everything." She laughed.

"Huh? We didn’t…I mean, we weren’t
even friends or—"

"There was something pulling you
two together. Aidan was way too adamant and focused on getting you, and only
you, to be the one to sign that agreement." She raised her eyebrows.

"That’s just because he could bribe
me with Donald." I winked.

She laughed. "If that’s what you
need to convince yourself, you go ahead. But, I will tell you right now, Aidan
has been taken with you from the start."

Viola didn’t say much of anything else.
I think she was letting it all sink into my thick skull.

Once I got into the house, I decided to
talk to Rachel.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Aidan

"Mr. Iverson?"

I hit the intercom button on my desk.
"Yes, Amy?"

"Mr. Devlin is here to see
you."

"Good, show him in. Thanks."

"No problem." Amy disconnected
and soon I heard a light knock before my door opened.

"Devlin…" I stood up.
"It’s good to see you."

"It’s good to see you too, Mr.
Iverson." I raised an eyebrow. "Aidan." I smiled, shaking his
hand.

"So, what are we doing today?"

"We are finalizing the contracts
for AIS. I have a few other things we need to go over, as well." Devlin
kept his face in his black leather brief case as he dug out folders and papers.

"What few more things?" I was
a little worried about what my grandfather could have possibly done now. Devlin
looked up with a blank professional expression.

"Nothing drastic." He smirked,
"Just a couple of things your grandfather left for you." Before I could
speak, he continued.

"First, let’s start with the AIS
agreements and contracts." He slipped me a folder. "You should read
those over and sign in the flagged places; red flag is signature, yellow flag
is for initials."

"Can I just do it now?" I
furrowed my brow. "You're my lawyer, I assume you looked over these pretty
well when you had them drawn up. It would be safe for me to sign."

He cleared his throat.

"Well, um, you can, but you will
need Lillian’s signature as well on the final page."

Confusion washed over me. "I don’t—"

Devlin sighed. "Aidan, there are
things about your grandfather you didn’t know much about. One of those things
would be the fact that your grandmother was vested."

"Yes, the foundation, but Lilli has
already—"

"No." He shook his head.
"Your grandmother was vested in AIS. She held twenty-five percent of the
company."

"What…I—"

"When Isobel passed, it was
returned to your grandfather until he remarried. Olivia, then, became the
vested party."