The Billionaire(24)

"Of course, but I'm supposed to, isn't it the woman's place to do those  things? I don't think men like to have to do these things." My baby is  stuck in the damn stone ages, no doubt this was something she'd learned  from her asshole dad in one of his attempts to brainwash her. I almost  laughed at the idea of someone telling Tula that shit she'd most likely  brain the fuck before she kneed him in the balls. But my Blossom said it  in all seriousness.

"Baby, that's just not true, I know where you learned to think like  that, but it's wrong. A man who loves his woman will do anything for her  and not only when she's sick either. When you love someone as much as I  love you little Blossom, there isn't anything you won't do for them.  Now put that out of your head I have something more important to ask you  okay."

"Okay." She patted the bed next to her indicating that I should join her there.

Being careful of her injuries, I climbed in next to her.

She gave me one of her smiles and melted my heart. Man, who the fuck  could hurt this girl? Why would they want to? "I wanted to talk about  the baby...how do you feel about being pregnant at your age? Aside from  the fear you had about a baby causing your death, we know that's not  true right?"

"I'm beginning to yes. I've been dreaming about the baby a lot,  sometimes I see my mom and she tells me everything's going to be  fine...does that make sense?"                       
       
           



       

"Yes babe it sounds like she's visiting your dreams to give you comfort." I hugged her shoulder.

"It helps, in the dreams I'm not afraid, I'm happy and excited, but then  I wake up and I remember. The old fear is still there though it's not  as strong as before."

Thank goodness for that. It's only been a few days and we haven't been  talking about the pregnancy but I needed to see where her mind was. I  needed her whole all the destruction of her enemies wouldn't do that,  only working on her mind could. I just hope she was strong enough to  deal with whatever was going on inside her head without breaking.

"So, how do you feel?" I put one hand over the flat of her tummy. It was  the first time I'd touched her like that since I'd first told her; my  first acknowledgment of my seed in her womb. I looked into her eyes to  see if she would freak but she didn't seem to be bothered by the  contact, good.

"I don't really understand the question."

"How do you feel, do you think you're too young to have a baby?" She  thought about it for a minute before giving me her answer. "Did you know  that women used to get married way younger than I am before, and have  babies and run households and stuff?"

"Where did you hear that?" Of course I knew it was a historical fact but  I wanted to see where she was going with this knowledge and more  importantly how she felt about it.

"I read about it before, I liked the way things were back then, it  seemed...easier. Even though they didn't have all the things we have  back then whenever I read about them it seems like they were happier  somehow."

"Do you think those ladies were too young to have to do that?"

"No, I think it was natural, it had to do with a woman's development and  what she'd been trained to do I think. I think they believed back then  that a girl became a woman physically when she had...you know..." Her  face blushed hot and I couldn't hold back my laughter.

"No, I don't know." I laughed harder as her face turned pinker.

She folded her tiny fist and landed one of her butterfly wing punches to my stomach.

"Be careful sweetheart. Okay, okay I'll stop laughing, you're just so  cute." I had to steal a kiss after that but was sure to keep it short.  My body didn't really understand that she was out of commission for a  while yet and my boy was feeling lonely. Poor thing he'd gotten a taste  of the best pussy he'd ever had only to be cut off without warning. For  that alone I could kill the fucks.

"So you don't mind being pregnant this young?" She shook her head as she  settled her hurt wrist in a better position on her pillow.

"Do you mind?" Smart girl my wife.

"A little I think. I'm afraid that you'll be throwing away your youth somehow."

"That's silly Gideon, did you know that historically it's believed that  the Virgin Mary was fourteen when she gave birth to Jesus, now I don't  know if it's true or not but I read it somewhere."

"Okay, what does that mean?" She could take me for a spin with her conversations how did we get on this?

"Duh, it's simple Gideon, if the mother of the savior of the known world  was fourteen, chosen by God himself, why would I think it was wrong to  have a baby at eighteen?" Her logic floored me.

"Do you believe in God Ashley?"

"Of course." She looked at me like I'd grown a third eye. "Don't you?"

Shit..."Um...kinda sorta, I know He exists but I can't say that I've  spent too much time thinking about Him. Can I ask you a question? How  could you believe in Him after all the things that were done to you?"

She looked at me and it was as though a light went on in her eyes.

"I always knew He'd send someone, sometimes I lost hope, but most of the time I believed he'd send someone...and He did."

Jesus...who was this girl? Who the hell could live through that shit and still hold onto that kind of hope?

I wanted to cry when the fullness of what she was saying penetrated. I  was her hope, maybe an answer to a prayer. How did that shit work, what  was I supposed to do with that?

I'd just seen a beautiful young girl whose beauty cut straight to the heart that first day, she'd seen hope.

Somehow it didn't feel like a burden, it felt like I was the strongest  man alive, like I could move mountains. Damn, is this what love did to  you? How could something make you feel weak in the knees and strong as a  team of oxen at the same time?

She seemed to believe what she was saying to me, not like she was just  repeating something she'd heard. That was some potent shit. Was I her  knight in shining armor then, was I supposed to slay her dragons?

"You believe He sent me to you?"

"Uh huh, I know it's you, because you're the only person who's ever been really kind to me."                       
       
           



       

Fuck me, they're done, anyone who touched such innocence had to be pure evil. If I didn't believe it before, I believed it now.

Reaching over to the night table I got something out of the drawer and put it on the bed between us.

"What's that?"

"It's the police report from the night your mother died. It proves that  you had nothing to do with your mom dying baby." She started to cry and  rock her little body back and forth in my arms.

"Come here baby it's okay, I want you to know these things I don't want you carrying that guilt around anymore."

"What does it say?" She buried her face in my chest.

"Don't you want to read it?" She shook her head no as she cuddled  closer. I cleared my throat as I started to repeat what I'd read in the  report.

"When the accident first took place and your father was notified he told  them she'd gone out to find an all night pharmacy to get you medicine,  apparently you were sick..." She flinched and dug in closer.

"I know he already told me..."

"What he didn't tell you is that he was supposed to get your medicine on  the way home, but he went out instead with some of his friends and then  he forgot to pick it up. You were really sick and your mom got upset  and left the house because she didn't want you going any longer without  your medicine."

I felt her tears as they soaked my chest, I fought back tears of my own  as I imagined the guilt she'd been carrying around all these years, no  doubt fed by him. The horror and self-loathing she must've lived with at  the thought of being responsible for her mother's death.

"But why does he blame me then? Why does he hate me so much?"

"It's his own guilt he's trying to hide, it was all his fault baby,  never yours, you were an innocent child who was sick, whose mother did  what any mother would've done. She did it because she loved you more  than anything else in the world, but you didn't kill her baby, it was  never your fault."

I listened as she cried her little heart out. I'd set the stage, with  this knowledge she can start to finally heal from all the years of  bullshit he'd fed her.

Next I'm going to help her overcome her other childhood fear, I've  decided to let her help me bring down her tormentors. What better way to  overcome her fear than to be instrumental in the demise of her  monsters? This way she'd feel empowered instead of helpless the way  she's always felt, she can take the power back.