Trusting Fate Read online

  “Gabby and Jace I have the results of the DNA as I said. I wanted to tell you both the news together in a private setting as these things can be difficult,” he said giving me a slight smile. I was not ready for the results but I knew that I had to hear them.

  “Ms. Thomas, Mr. Greene, the results were 100% a match. Mr. Greene is Theo’s father. I hope that this can be good news considering that Mr. Greene is donating his bone marrow,” he said.

  I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think, and I couldn’t speak. I just got up covered my mouth with my hand to cover the cries that were coming out of it and ran out of the office. I raced down the hall and had to stop as I got the stairwell. I had to stop so that I could catch myself and my breath. Here is this fantastic man who I fell I fell head over heels for, who wanted nothing more than to just be with me and I pushed him away because he told me the truth. A truth that I longed for, for years I wanted to know who the man was that I forgot that gave me the greatest gift I could have ever dreamed of.

  Why was I so upset and why can I not just embrace this gift that was just given to me? Probably because I am….I have serious issues. I put my head in my hands and began to sob. My heart is so full of love and sadness at the same it is just too much for one person.

  Jace

  Hearing the words that I have been patiently waiting to hear, that Theo was indeed my son was like they took a ton of bricks off of my shoulders and I can breathe again. But my fears quickly came back as I saw the look of horror on Gabby’s face as she got up and ran down the hall in tears. I thought that she would be relieved to finally know the truth. I know that she has been really hard on herself over her past but I am grateful to her for giving me a son and happy that it’s with her. I got up to go and try to find her. I walked around the halls and walked right past the stairwell when I heard some faint whimpers. I knew it was her. I would know that voice anywhere. I slowly walked down the stairwell until I could I see her long hair cascading down her back. She had her head in her hands and she was sobbing. It was the kind of crying that only happened when you had really reached your mental limit. Gabby had every reason to be crying like this but all I wanted to do was reach and grab her and hold her for as long as it took to make her life better.

  “Gabby hey, I’m truly sorry for all of this. I wish I could this all better for you,” I said stroking her face gently.

  She looked up and her face was tear stained but she never looked more beautiful to me. “I…I’m so sorry Jace. It is me who should be apologizing. I wanted so badly to turn back time and do things the right way, of course then I wouldn’t have had Theo but I longed to know who the father of my son is. I guess just hearing it for the first time really did a number on me. I didn’t meant to scare you and freak out,” she said smiling slightly.

  “Gabby I understand, believe me. I am so thrilled to learn that Theo is my son and I know that I have missed so much but just to know you both now is more than enough for me. I want so much to be in your lives and watch him grow up,” I said.

  She sighed heavily, and I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.

  “Jace how can we make this work? Theo has asked about his father before. He is in daycare and when the other Dad’s come to get their kids he has asked me if those were their grandpa’s or friends. It breaks my heart every time. I have never really had a good explanation for him so believe me when I say I am relieved to have found you and also confused at how it’s such a small world. I am not proud of who I used to be. I was young and really stupid, I am so sorry that I do not remember our night together. I am sure that I wasn’t much company considering I used to black out early on in the night,” she said and her eyes were blurry with tears again.

  “Gabby you cannot change who you were in another life, and that is what it was another life. I met this vibrant and full of life young woman that night. I had to know more about you and everything I learned I loved. I knew that you had probably had way too much to drink but you were good at hiding it for the most part. So yes I was shocked when you didn’t recognize me but it was also only one night and it was 4 years ago. You are still that same full of life person that I met that night…you just lived a different lifestyle then. Do not be ashamed of who you once were, its ok,” I said trying to reassure her.

  “So where do we go from here then? I am sorry that I pushed you away, I was falling pretty hard for you when all of this happened and I freaked out. I’m so sorry,” she confessed.

  I could not believe my ears, did she just say that she had fallen for me? Was I really that lucky bastard who she fell in love with?

  “Well I guess we can do whatever you want. I mean I would like to get the bone marrow transplant done and see how he does, but I really think from what the doctors say and how successful they seem that this will work out and Theo will be back to his old self in not time. Not that this has changed him anyway at all, I have never seen someone receiving chemo to smile as much as him. Especially after my brother…losing him gutted me, I watch him slowly slip away and there was nothing that I could do to fix it, I just want to be able to be in my son’s life. Wow that feels great to say…My son,” I said loudly.

  She smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, “Jace I would love for you to be in his life. I think that he needs it, I think I do too,” she smiled and before I knew it she was leaning in to kiss me. I was not prepared at all for that. But I was not going to complain, the woman of my dreams was kissing me after kicking my butt to the curb a few weeks ago. I was the happiest son of a bitch around. This time though I was going into this with my heart open and my mind set on what I wanted and that was to be Theo’s father and then to make Gabby mine forever…if only I could convince her that she already was.

  Gabby

  It had been a week since the bone marrow transplant, Theo was doing well and soon we would find out if it was working. His labs were looking good and that helped me breathe easier. Jace was doing well too, it didn’t take him long to bounce back from the procedure and I feel like the smile on my face would now be permanent, as long as my son was ok and I had Jace in my life I think it really would be ok. To say that Jace completes the emptiness I have felt in my life would be an understatement. The love I felt for him before was nothing to the love that I felt when he volunteered to go through the painful procedure to donate his bone marrow to our son. Yes our son…it felt good to say. They are letting Theo go home soon and I am so happy to have him back home and sleeping in his own bed.

  Jace came limping into Theo’s hospital room and immediately gave me a sweet kiss.

  “Hey gorgeous,” he said running his finger from my cheek down to my jawline.

  “Hey gorgeous yourself,” I said smiling. The man could send jolts of electricity down my spine just smiling at me

  “I cannot wait to take him home,” Jace said as he bent down to kiss Theo on the forehead. “I know it is all I can think about,” I said.

  Jace had been spending so much time with us while we were here and Theo is so happy to have him in his life. He didn’t really understand when we told him that Jace was his daddy. He asked why he wasn’t around for so long. My heart broke and started to cry immediately and Jace swooped in and told him that he had been gone working for a few years. He is 4 so that was a good enough excuse for him, but it still made me feel guilty.

  It’s taken me a long time to get to where I am now to feel ok about how my life has turned out and how my past has crept back up to haunt me. My mind will never let me forget it and I hope that I never do.

  Jace

  After I was feeling better I had surprised Gabby with a house that I had my eye since the second I saw her again. It was an old property that my grandfather had owned and then sold off years ago but it was a plantation in Louisiana that had dated back to
the civil war. My grandfather had acquired it through auction and never did a good job at maintaining it. He eventually sold it off and I recently found out that the owner had passed away and did not have any family. I bought for less than it was worth and I started renovating it. I wanted Theo to have a place where he could grow up outside of the city and be carefree and young. He had been through so much and as soon as this cancer was gone we were going to move on with our lives and all of the sad and haunting circumstances will be long behind us. Gabby has a hard time with dwelling in the past and she really shouldn’t. I try to make her see that everything worked out just the way it was supposed to. The love that I have for her is so unbelievable that it scares me at times.

  I had plans to ask her to marry me tonight while we were going to the plantation to check on the construction. I had hired someone to set up a dinner there and I wanted it to be perfect. She was hesitant to leave Theo but Taylor wanted to spend some time with him since he was finally out of the hospital. His labs were improving and they think that the transplant was a success so everything was finally getting back to normal, or as normal as it could be I guess. I didn’t feel normal around Gabby, I felt special and alive in so many ways.

  I walked into the living room of her house that we have been trying to rent back out to someone since her lease is not up for another 6 months, “Gab babe, are you almost ready? I said.

  She was standing in front of the bay window watching Theo and Taylor blow bubbles outside. I looked at her face and I could tell that she had been crying.

  “Gabby, what’s the matter? I said concerned.

  “I…I’m sorry Jace, I just get so overwhelmed when I see him back to his old self for the most part. I feel like I almost lost him. I would have never forgiven God if he would have taken him from me,” she said.

  “Gabby honey, it won’t happen it’s not in fates cards. He won’t go anywhere I promise you,” I said wrapping my arms around her to comfort her.

  I hated to see Gabby in pain, lately she was all the time. She was definitely happier since the transplant seemed to be working. But she was still feeling guilty all the time. I tried every day to make this easier on her. I refused to let her come back to work because I knew that she wanted to be with him every day and it was not fair that she had to work. She argued with me but it wasn’t even up for debate…she knew better than that. So she gave up quickly.

  “Well I guess we should get going, I don’t want to keep the builders all evening I am sure they have families too,” she said.

  Gabby

  We pulled up to the plantation and it still took my breath away every time I saw it, and I could not believe that I was about to live here. Jace was so amazing and so giving and I feel like I did not deserve him, he constantly said that fate brought us together. I wasn’t so sure that I believed that but I can understand why he did. I think it was the alcohol I drank that night that brought us together but I try not to dwell on that.

  He held my hand as we walked inside to the plantation, I stopped dead in my tracks when I entered the foyer and there was a single table sitting there with two chairs and a red table cloth. It had two plates and champagne glasses and candles lit up. I was confused until I looked over and saw the smile on Jace’s face.

  “You sneaky little dog you, how did you find time for this? I asked.

  “Well that is the beauty of being as rich and charming as me…I can hire someone to do it,” he laughed.

  It was the sweetest thing anyone has done for me. “Jace thank you so much, this is so perfect and I am so surprised,” I said leaning over to give him a small kiss on the cheek.

  “Well I actually brought you here for more reasons than just a romantic dinner,” he said grinning from ear to ear.

  He walked up to me and kissed me, it was the kind of kiss you give someone and never want to let go, the kind of passion that consumed you and left you breathless. Before I knew it we were all hands and tongues and it was madness.

  We had not actually had sex in so long because of everything that had happened and my heart was so full of love for him that I thought it would burst out of my chest. I longed to show him just much. I knew that he wanted this just as much as I did but things had been so hectic lately that it just did not happen. We were always going to doctors’ visits and running Theo here and there.

  “Gabby it has been so long, are you sure that you are ready for this? He said.

  Like he even had to ask. “Yes dear God I am ready, I have been in agony Jace and I feel guilty for wanting to be happy when Theo has been so sick,” she said putting her head down.

  “Gabby do not feel guilty, you are a woman and woman have needs just as men do. Theo is doing better, you cannot stop having a life. It was meant to be lived,” he said.

  “You know what Greene? You are way too wise beyond your years and I do not deserve you, not one bit,” I said. He grabbed my face and put both of his hands on each side of my cheek.

  “You deserve the world, and I want to give it to you,” he said looking into my eyes. Before I knew it we were on the floor in the foyer…thank goodness he had sent away all of the remodelers today so we can be alone, or this would be super embarrassing right now.

  When Jace touched me my entire body ignited in flames, this had never happened to me before. “I have never wanted someone so much in my entire life, Gabby you drive me crazy with desire,” he said grabbing a hand full of my hair and kissing me so passionately.

  “Please, please Jace do not make me wait any longer, I need to feel you inside of me. Please do it now! I screamed.

  That got him so excited that he forgot how long it had been and didn’t bother to get a condom, but I honestly did not care. Being with him like that was so intimate and I didn’t want anything between us. “Gabby is this ok? He said softly.

  “It’s more than ok Jace, don’t ever stop! Please,” I begged.

  It had been about an hour and we were still laying on a tarp in the foyer, our bodies intertwined with each other and blissfully happy.

  “So Gabby, like I said before I did not just bring you here for dinner. I have been thinking about how our lives have changed so drastically. These past 6 months have been insane and amazing at the same time. I honestly do not know what my life would be like without you and Theo in it. You have given me the two most amazing gifts in my life, becoming a father and falling in love. I will never be able to thank you for that,” He said.

  It was making me nervous because he was being so serious but I think this was just his way of expressing his emotions.

  Before I knew it he was sitting up and grabbing my hands, what is he doing?

  “Gabby all I can think about is how my life will not be complete until we are a real family. I have never been in love with anyone in my entire existence and I know that you are it for me. The love that I have is so overwhelming and I want you to be mine forever. I cannot imagine you and Theo not sharing my last name, please say yes,” he begged.

  I was literally floating, I mean like I had checked out of my body and I was just floating. He was the man of my dreams and the father of my son that I never imagined I would find. I sat there unable to speak. Why was I so afraid to say yes?

  “Jace I…I do not know what to say I am speechless,” I said quietly.

  “Well not that speechless,” he joked. “Come on Gab, you know this is right. Take a chance on us,” he pleaded.

  It did not matter how much I loved him…because in the back of my mind I was always thinking about how I didn’t remember him. It really bothered me. As much as I love him now how could I forget the kind of night we supposedly shared together? Granted I was black out drunk…but that’s besides my point here. I just wanted to remember the nigh
t that he does.

  So without thinking I just stood up and took his hands, “Yes!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. Oh crap that sounded way too eager. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

  “Gabby, you make me so happy,” he said kissing me. Then he placed an easily two carat diamond ring on my finger, and I could not believe my eyes. I lunged at him with the most passionate kiss I think that we have every shared or at least the most passionate one that I can remember…

  Jace

  Two months later

  Gabby and I had been quickly planning our wedding, she insisted that we get married while Theo was feeling up to it because he would have to go another round of chemo and she wanted him to be able to enjoy himself at his parents wedding. She also insisted that I stop paying for all of his medical bills and if we were all on the same insurance plan she thinks that it would be cheaper. I would go broke saving my son’s life so it didn’t matter to me how much I was spending.

  So when the morning of our wedding came I made sure that I spent as much money as possible. I wanted Gabby to be spoiled with love so the amount of money that our wedding cost was chump change as far as I was concerned. She argued the whole time but I knew that she wanted the fairytale. Most woman did, and I was going to give it to her. I stood in the church that her parents were married in waiting for my bride to come down that aisle. My palms were sweating and my face was red it seemed, I was the most excited that I had ever been in my life. Finally they will both be mine forever. It was truly a great feeling and I over them moon with joy.

  We decided on a small guest list because I was not fond of most of my family and she only had a small family. The guest list with friends and family topped out at 75 people. I didn’t want a large group to draw attention, my company drew enough unwanted attention for me as it was.