Queen (Mistress & Master of Restraint) (19 page)

“Well, aren’t you handsome?” A smoky voice says from the doorway. Whitt the ever-faithful puppy, just like his brother, is flirting with a newcomer. The six-year-old greets our guest formally. I laugh
to myself and hop to my feet.

“Fate,” I squeal and nearly tackle the petite girl. I haven’t seen her since the day we cast my mother’s ashes to the wind. I’ve missed her terribly. She was backpacking through Europe as her last farewell to her child
hood. I’ve been told that that’s what all the kids do after high school graduation. I asked Ade why she didn’t go, but she wouldn’t answer. I instinctively knew I was the answer. One more thing I’ll make up to her, eventually.

Fate’s blue eyes sparkle and her skin is flushed with good health. She looks stronger, not as sickly thin. Europe was a good influence on her. She has substance beneath m
y hands as I hold her tightly.

“I’ve missed you terribly, Regina,” she sings.

Her eyes are older, less innocent. I wonder what I look like to her. What does she see when she looks into my eyes?

“Thanks for coming, Fate. She really missed you, too. She never shut her trap about what you must be doing, what city you were seeing.” Ade rolls her eyes at me. I stare in shock as she lightly kisses Fate’s cheek. My two best friends, who couldn’t be in the same classroom at the same time, actually smile at
one another. What’s the world coming to?

“We’ve bonded over a common interest, it seems.” Ade says haughtily and settles next to the game board again.

“You two have been speaking?” I ask Fate in surprise.

“Maybe,” she gives as a noncommittal answer. The glint in her eye says they have and often. “We aren’t best friends or anything, but when one of us is somewhere else the other steps in her place. She leaves for California tonight and I
step in- as I should. A lady needs her sisters by her side.”

I turn away and hide my eyes. I know they are red and glisten with tears- tears that refuse to fall.

“You’re going to need us, Regina. And someday we’ll need you, too. Get used to having people watch your back. You’re not alone and you never were.” She leaves me in stunned silence.

“OH! I want gree
n!” Fate declares to everyone.

“Red,” Whitt calls and grabs the clear, plastic bin
before anyone else can snatch it. He tucks his prize to his chest and flashes a dimpled grin.

“Who ends up with piss-yellow?” Fate chuckles deviously.

“I guess I do, dammit!” Kristal exclaims as she walks into the room.

“Language,” her mother chastises her. Martha pushes a rolling cart into the theater loaded
with food, snacks, and drinks

“Sorry, Ma,
I guess you haven’t heard Regina and Ade talk,” she sarcastically retorts.

“You’re not them, C
hica,” she reprimands her daughter. “And we have a child in the room.”

“Don’t stop on my account. I can swear in five languages,” Whitt announces seriously.

I laugh into the back of my hand. That little shit.

“I think it’s time for the moms to retire. Have fun and don’t influence Whitt too much.” Pricilla smiles at us and winks. She knows damn well
that no one can influence the kid. He’s set in his ways.

“Martha, what do you say we watch a movie and eat a few slices of Chef Thomas’ famous seven-layer cake? I need to drown my sorrows with decadence.”

Pricilla tips Ade’s face back and plants a kiss to her mouth. “Be safe, my baby girl. I love you.”

“I will Mommy. I’ll miss you,”
Ade replies in a small voice.

“And we will all miss you very much.
Come home to us soon,” Priscilla says wistfully.

“Chocolate it is, Prissy.” Martha takes Pricilla’s elbow when she notices how distraught she is that her youngest dau
ghter is flying from the nest.

Martha reaches down and caresses Ade’s cheek. “Give
‘em hell, Miss Whittenhower.”

“Mama,” Kristal whines.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t swear,” she snickers. “The kid can swear in five languages. It ain’t hurting his ears none. I just don’t want you cussing, Chica.”

Grant releases a string of words I’ve never heard before and Whitt giggles hysterically. The boy offers
his own and Grant cuffs him upside the head.

“I don’t even want to know how you know that phrase,” Grant says in awe. “I’ll have to try that soon.” He leers at me and it makes Whitt giggle even more.

“Do I even want to know?” I ask half afraid and half excited.

Grant smoothly replies with a phrase in Latin. I blush so hard my earlobes feel like they
’ve caught fire. I gaze at Whitt in shock. He giggles again. Whoever he hooks up with, when he’s grown, is going to be in for a huge surprise. He’s a little pervert.

“Naughty fucking kids,” Martha says under her breath as she e
scorts Pricilla from the room.

“Remind me to invest in some liquid soap. Daniel is
in need of a thorough cleaning,” Pricilla threatens.

“Food,” Gran
t groans and attacks the cart.

We all look to the clock ticking above the door. It’s counting down the time until Ade flees from Whittenhower Estates. I hope she never returns, but selfishly, I don’t want her to go either.

Hours later we lounge on the floor, the game forgotten. Grant keeps peppering me with butt
erfly kisses as a hint that he’s ready for bed. Fate watches us with an amused expression as Kris fills her nails in with a
Sharpe
.

Whitt’
s plastered to his sister because he fears that if he lets her go she’ll float into the ether. Her fingers feather his baby-fine hair. Her face is scrunched with contemplation.
“It’s weird, I’m only sixteen, yet I’m entering the adult world,” she muses.

“Oh, the perils of being born into money,” Fate makes light of her statement, but unde
rneath, it’s laced with truth. It’s not the same issues the children I grew up with face, but the water’s just as murky and has fiercer sharks. 

Our heads turn as one as Albert stands in the doorway. We take a collective breath. All of us will miss her, but we all hold different fears for her future.

“Nobody get emotional on me. I’ll be back at winter break. And I bet I’ll have a wicked tan.” Ade says and stands.

“Wear sunscreen. Don’t wanna see that pasty skin of yours filled with freckles or skin cancer.” Fate cautions lightheartedly.
“No worries, I’ll take care of our girl.” Fate’s voice chokes up and she swiftly leaves the theater.

“One down,” Ade jokes. “I really know how to clear a room. Kris,” she pulls the spunky maid to her and squeezes so hard Kristal taps out.

I’ve spent endless hours with Kristal. She holds many of the secrets that Whittenhower Estates has witnessed. I was surprised to learn that she has been here her whole life. She’s been with Ade since birth.

“Stay outta trouble, Chica. If you can,” she challenges. Ade plants a smacker to the smaller girl’s forehead and pushes her away. “Off ya go. No goodbyes.”

“Brother,” her voice cracks and the floodgate opens. He picks her up off her feet until they’re eye-level. The watch each other, communicating silently in a way I’ll never be able to achieve. I’m speared with a bolt of jealousy, not from their strong connection, but my lack of connection to anyone. I have no siblings, no family. I will never experience what they have.

He releases her without a word and strides from the room. I know he didn’t g
o far. He’s waiting for Whitt.

“The world’s best Daniel Whittenhower,” she smirks
and kneels down to his height.

“This is so you don’t forget us,” Whitt hands her a manila envelope that
’s sealed. “Don’t open it until you get to your dorm-room,” he says seriously.

“Of course,” she replies with the same amount of seriousness and tucks the envelope under her arm. “I love you, Daniel. Don’t ever forget that, no matter what happens. I love you.”

He runs past Albert and out the door. I watch as Grant chases after him, scoops him up, and jogs down the hall in one fell swoop.

“Albert, can you give us a minute, please.”
She politely asks her driver.

We wait while he closes the door giving Ade and me privacy.

I thought she was crying before, I was wrong. Sobs wrack her body and her face is drenched with tears.

“Sorry,” she says. Ade plucks a linen napkin from the cart and wipes her face. “A lot can happen in five months and there are no guara
ntees I’ll be back for winter break. I’ve thought of doing as you are- year-round schooling and doubling up on classes. I might as well get it over with, ya know. We both need to be ready before the five-years are up. What we have to do is life changing.”

She drops to her knees before me. I wince when I hear the clack of her bones hitting the hardness of the parquet flooring.
She lifts my t-shirt and stares in wonder at my growing belly.

“Hey, niece or nephew, your mama and I are going to make sure we get to keep you with us always. I’ll burn this fucking earth to its core to keep you safe.” She rolls her eyes up to me. The look they hold would make her enemies flee screaming in terror.

“Spend all of your energy growing our baby.” She stands. “Keep my brother happy and you will be too.”

“My future is waiting out there,” she tips her head over her shoulder. “I guess I better go educate myself- we have a world to change.”

I’ve held myself in check until this moment. A horrid noise is released from my chest. I’m fucking scared shitless to go through this without her by my side. 

“
No goodbyes. I love you,” she breathes.

She silences any reply I would offer by kissing me on the mouth. I stare at her wide-eyed. She flashes me a cocky smile.

Click… click… click… Pieces click into place inside of my mind, memories surface, Mr. Whittenhower’s threats reach clarity.

“Yeah, who’d have guessed,” is her parting words. No confirmation,
no denial, no hint that what I’m thinking is correct. She leaves me standing in a puddle of confusion. I stare at the open doorways for minutes knowing that our world has already changed.

I huddle up between two halves of the same whole. A tiny hand spans my lower stomach with a larger replica overlapping it. Grant softly snores against my neck and Whitt’s tear-crusted cheek rests across my breast. If our plan goes correctly, which is doubtful, this will be my future family.

I close my eyes and smile. Adelaide is safe away from castle misery- she’s free to pursuit her dreams. She’s flying over the vast spans of our great nation to another coast.

Fate and Kristal are in Kris’ room bonding over girl-talk. Martha is comforting Pricilla. And Mr. Whittenhower and Cora are off playing
Monopoly
,
Chess
, and
Risk
with real-life money, human-beings, and countries. It’s telling of our values by where we end our nights.
 

Chapter Nineteen

“I hate these parties,” Grant complains as he adjusts his bowtie for the tenth time.
“You’re actually fucking your tie up, not fixing it,” I tease him. “Why do you hate the parties so much?”

I bite my lip and adjust his tie back to where it was before he messed with it. It feels weird helping him get ready for a party I’m not invited to. I can pretend on a daily basis that he and I are going to be parents while we lie in bed together and cuddle while we sleep. I can pretend as we do the doldrums of daily life. Reality is that Grant isn’t mine nor is the child I’m carrying in my belly. The child is mine in genetics only. He and I will be connected on a soul-level, but the Whittenhowers could give a shit less about your soul.

“Sometimes I just want to run away and never look back,” he says and walks away from me.
Grant sits on the edge of the bed and hides his face with his hands. He sighs dramatically.

“I wasn’t meant to be a Whittenhower. I am my mother’s son. I love Ade and Whitt and I’d miss them, but I could leave and be happy. This stress is killing me,” he sobs.

“What’s worrying you?” I sit next to him, but I don’t offer comfort. I can tell that if I were to touch him he wouldn’t explain what’s rattling around inside his mind.

“What isn’t?” He asks miserably. “I have to go downstairs where two hundred guests await me to congratulate me and Cora for the child that’s inside your belly. I have to lie as I’m interviewed by the press and as I talk to friends I’ve known since birth. I’m not strong enough to
lie and not let it affect me.”

The lonely, somber tone in his voice has my hand on his back in an instant. I rub small circles in comfort. I give him the strength that I have in abundance- the strength he needs to get through the night. I try to think what it would feel like if I had to go down there and leave him up here. What it would feel like to hide the man I love while I pretended to love another for appearances. I wouldn’t do it. He doesn’t want to do it either. But the
difference between him and me is that I have the balls to tell them to fuck off.