C2 CHAPTER 1

Present.

Jules walked to the room next to hers and pushed the door, it was like her little girl knew she was coming.

"Momma." she was up in her cot smiling at Jules as she walked in. Her little arms were stretched out to her.

Jules’ heart leapt for joy every time her little Munchkin called her that. She had started speaking a few weeks ago and 'Momma' was the first word that came out of her mouth, the rest were words she picked up from anyone and everyone. Jules was shocked at first but her heart bubbled with happiness, she was a proud Momma.

Walking towards her cot she picked her up.

"Happy Birthday, Ivy" Jules said to her, smiling "You turn one today."

Ivy giggled like she understood what Jules said. She was the perfect child and she couldn’t have wished for a better baby than her little Ivy. Ivy was the most beautiful little baby and she was smarter than other babies her age.

Jules wondered how her biological parents could have given her up like they did. It was beyond her. But that's all in the past. Now, Ivy belonged to her and her love for her grew every single day and she wouldn't stop loving her because she was just so darn cute and lovable. The dimple on her left cheek, probably hereditary, only made her look even more so.

Today was her day and she was going to make it special for her because it was Ivy’s first birthday with her. She couldn’t wait.

Speaking of waiting, Ceaser wondered what was taking Daniel Smith so long. Bea's lawyer had asked to see him today and he was running late. Since Claire - his assistant – had given him his today’s schedule, he had wondered why Daniel wanted to meet him today of all days. He had expected him to call a month ago when he became a widower but he didn't.

Why now?

He wondered.

"Sir, Mr. Smith has arrived." His assistant's voice blared out of the intercom.

"Let him in Claire.” He said.

His office door opened after a moment, Claire stepped in and Daniel followed behind. Jack was a young and successful lawyer who handled most of Bea’s family’s legal cases. Ceaser stood up as Daniel made his way towards his desk.

“Sorry I’m late.” Daniel began “My last client got me tied up.”

Ceaser stretched his hand out giving Daniel’s a firm shake.

"Please have a seat." Ceaser gestured to one of the seats in front of his desk “Would you like my assistant to get you something to drink?” Taking his own seat after Daniel was seated.

“No, I’m alright. Thank you.” He said.

Ceaser looked at Claire who stood near the door and he gave her a nod which she understood. She left the office giving them privacy.

"Thank you for taking the time to see me.” Daniel began “I know you might be wondering why I asked to see you."

"That I am.” Ceaser replied.

"Well it is very important." Daniel stated the obvious.

"Why today?" He asked.

"That is what you’re about to find out." Daniel said opening his briefcase and he pulled out a brown envelope.

He looked at Ceaser while adjusting his glasses. "Your late wife Mrs. Beatrice Thompson specifically told me to give this to you on this particular day. She said I wasn't supposed to give you a day earlier or later."

Ceaser wondered why as his brows furrowed. He reached out to take the envelope from Daniel and studied the envelope in his hand. It weighed next to nothing, he thought, but he could feel the weight of whatever was inside in his chest.

"You don't happen to know why?" Ceaser asked.

"Not a clue. My job is to deliver and not find out.”

Ceaser nodded.

"I'll take my leave then" Daniel said as picked up his briefcase and got up.

Ceaser got up as well and shook his hand. "Thank you, Daniel."

"Just doing my job Mr. Thompson." He said then left.

After Daniel left his office, his gaze shifted from the closed door to the envelope on his desk. He sat down after a moment of staring at the envelope and beeped Claire telling her he didn’t want to be disturbed for a while.

He finally picked up the envelope and tore it open. Whatever was inside would satisfy his curiosity, but he was nervous at what he might find inside. Knowing Bea as well as he did, she could drop a bomb and smile seconds after it had gone off like nothing happened.

He emptied the envelope and a piece of neatly folded paper fell onto his desk. Nothing more. The white paper laying there on his desk threatened to go off in seconds. He picked it up and slowly unfolded the paper.

It was now or never.

He thought.

He sighed when he noticed Bea's writing on the paper, his chest tightening as he began reading her words carefully.

Dear Ceaser,

If you're reading this letter then I'm no longer with you. Even though there was no love in our marriage I still cared about you. You know that, right?

Yeah, you had a really weird way of showing it. Ceaser thought.

I'm very sorry for what you're about to find out. But know that it is the truth and I kept it away from you for selfish reasons and couldn’t find the courage to tell you when I knew I wasn’t going to make it through.

A month before I left, I found out that I was pregnant. I didn't know how to tell you or what your reaction would be so I decided to leave.

Ceaser’s eyes widened at this revelation and he continued reading to find out what the heck this woman was thinking.

You could have simply said ‘Ceaser we're having a baby.’

Ceaser thought.

I wasn’t ready for a child and I didn't know if you wanted one either...

He didn’t but when is there ever a right time for a child. He thought. He would have accepted it and they would have figured it out together.

...or if you were ready for one. So, I lied and ran away, like I always do. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it so I carried the child and went into hiding. I didn’t want anyone finding out especially the press.

I finally gave birth to a baby girl, at least that’s what I was told. I didn’t get the chance to see her because I’d told the nurses to take her away immediately. I honestly don’t know what happened to me afterwards. I planned on coming back to you after I had lost my post-baby weight but I went off the rails. My therapist said my reason for getting drunk and doing drugs was guilt from giving up our child. Maybe she was right.

The drinking and the drugs had a way of making me forget it and it became my comfort for a year and a half; before you found me.

I've kept this dark secret since then and I knew I'd have to tell you someday. And now that I know I wouldn’t make it; I realize now that I was a coward for not telling you as soon as you found me.

Ceaser’s sight became blurry as he teared up.

I decided to write a letter to you instead of telling you because I didn't want to spend my last days with you hating me. We have a child Ceaser, and she's out there, somewhere. I told Jack to give this letter to you today because it’s her birthday.

I hope you can forgive me for not telling you sooner, I wish now that I had. We could've been with her together. I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry. I hope you can forgive me Ceaser. Please...

-Bea.

A tear dropped on the white paper as Ceaser stared down at the letter in shock. No! Shock was an under-understatement. This was the bomb he had expected and it just went off in his head.

How the heck could she do this to him, to their child...to them? The unanswerable questions began.

How could she? He asked no one in particular.

He didn’t know what to do because Bea wasn’t here for him to yell some senses into her. He was so mad at her he wanted to take it out on a punching bag. And that was exactly what he did.

He told Claire to cancel all his appointments for the day and he left. He got home, went to his room and stripped down to his briefs pulling on a black pair of joggers he went to his gym downstairs and punch the shit out of the punching bag as he let his thoughts run through his head, haywire.

He couldn’t do anything to change the past. What’s done was done. All he could do was look for his daughter, by all means necessary.

He got on his phone half an hour later and dialled Tom who answered on the third ring.

"I need you to look for someone for me, Tom" He told him.

"Who?" Tom asked.

Ceaser sighed heavily rubbing a towel down his neck

"I don’t know." He said knowing how stupid he sounded at the moment.

Tom stayed silent on the other end of the line.

"Any detail about this person?" He asked.

"I'm the only family she has." Ceaser said as if that would help Tom find her.

"Okay. What do you know about this girl...or woman?" He asked clearly hopeless.

"Today's her birthday...and she's my daughter."

Silence

"Oh."

‘Oh’ was right.

The only reason July liked work less was because she had to leave Ivy in the children's department of the building. She wanted Ivy to be with her all the time, but knew it wasn't going to happen. Jules thought as she rode the elevator up with Ivy in her arms.

The elevator dinged open and she got out walking into the lobby of the children’s department.

“Hey you.” Sofi beamed from behind the desk as she saw Jules approaching her.

"Hey. Where's Andy?" Jules asked Sofi looking around for her other best friend.”

"With the other kids, inside. I don’t know how she never gets tired of their screams." She answered getting up and going around the desk towards Jules "Hey cutie." She smiled down at Ivy in Jules’ arm.

Jules smiled at the look on Ivy’s face. It was the same one that she had when she saw Sofi and Andy. She was looking at Sofi with a stoic look blinking frequently.

Sofi’s expression changed to a she's-so-adorable look as she reached for Ivy and adjusted her in her arms. Ivy’s expression changed in seconds as Sofi began speaking baby language to Ivy which was nothing but complete gibberish. But if it made Ivy smile, then who was she to stop the discussion.

Jules left Ivy with Sofi going inside the day-care in search of Andy.

Jules, Miranda and Sofia have been friends since Jules joined Freddie and Co. five years ago. They had hit it off immediately and have been friends ever since. They knew about the adoption and everything else just like she knew about Sofia’s family problems and Miranda’s relationship issues. They were the ones who resurfaced her dream of adopting and promised to be there if she needed their help and for that she was entirely grateful to them. They both were godmothers to Ivy and Jules still couldn’t decide if that was the best or the worst decision she’s ever made. They spoiled her at every turn, last week being an example when they bought so many birthday presents for Ivy. It was a good thing they ran the day care. That was what made it easier for Jules to leave Ivy there knowing that Andy and Sofi would be there with her Munchkin.

Sofia was a rebel in her family – at least that’s what her parents thought. They wanted her to be a part of the family’s fashion empire but she wanted to find her own path and had ended up at Freddie and Co. taking care of kids which she had grown to love. She had first applied for the job to have an income while looking for another job because her parents had cut her off but now, she was just like Miranda who loved kids more than she did people her age.

Miranda was from a simple middle-class family like her. She trusted people so easily which as a result made her lose hope in humanity. She stuck to what she was best at – taking care of kids. She had been in one relationship since they all became friends and Jules and Sofi knew the relationship was toxic. Miranda just had a hard time letting go after she let someone in. Derek, her boyfriend was a jerk. She knew it, they all knew it but Miranda didn’t want to let go of him because she was secretly hoping he’d go back to the guy he was when she met him which from Sofi and Jules’ opinion was never going to happen.

Jules spotted Andy with the other kids, she looked so happy. Andy - short for Miranda - loved children but when she and Sofi brought up having some of hers, she freaked out.

"Jules" Andy called when she spotted Jules "Where’s the little princess?"

"With Sofi." She said and before Jules could utter another word, Andy left the kids with the other nannies and went out into the lobby where Sofi and Ivy were. Jules shook her head and followed.

"Hi princess." Andy spoke to Ivy like a cartoon character. "It’s me, Andy."

Ivy smiled and murmured something like ‘candy.’

Miranda let out a screech.

“Close, but you can do better.” She said to Ivy.

“She’s one Andy, leave her alone.” Sofi said to Andy.

“You’re just jealous she got to say my name first.” Andy said.

“I’m pretty sure she said Candy.” Sofi and Andy bickered on.

Since Ivy started talking, they had both been trying to get her to say their names.

"Okay. I'm going to leave you guys and I'll see you during lunch break." Jules interrupted them kissing Ivy on her temple "Bye pretty. Momma will see you later."

"Momma." Ivy cooed.

Jules left Ivy with her friends still bickering, Ivy glancing from one to another and back. She got into the elevator and pushed the number to her floor ready to get to work.

Ceaser was beginning to get impatient. He hadn't been able to focus since the day he found out he had a daughter.

What if she was out there suffering?

He hadn't heard from Tom since then and he couldn’t help wondering if he had found anything on his daughter. Ceaser sighed heavily.

"Sir? Mr. Lobos is here to see you." Claire's voice filled Ceaser’s office.

"Let him in." he told her.

"Yes sir." she said.

Tom walked into his office a few seconds later.

"Tom." Ceaser got up when he entered "Tell me you have something. You've kept me waiting for a week."

"Actually, I have everything." he sat down “Well, all that there is anyway.”

Ceaser sighed a sigh of relief.

“Great.”

"Okay. I found out that your late wife gave her up for adoption the same day she gave birth in April and two months after your daughter was born, a Jules Jenna took an interest in her and nine months later the adoption was finalized.”

“So, my daughter was adopted by this Jules Jenna this year.” Ceaser said after he did the math.

Tom nodded.

“What do you have on her?” he asked

“She graduated summa cum laude from UCLA, 27 years old, works at Freddie and Co. Single. Lives alone, parents..."

"That's all I need to know Tom. Do you have her address?" Ceaser said before Tom could give him the full information about her.

"Of course." he said and scribbled it down on a piece of paper which Ceaser provided for him. "What exactly do you plan on doing sir?"

"I'll go to her house and demand for my child. I’ll pay her whatever she needs to cover everything she’s done so far. " Ceaser said bluntly.

"I don't think that’s a good idea. Ms. Jenna isn’t that kind of woman. From what I’ve dug up, she already has a trust fund for your daughter and she lives a comfortable life. Also, she has full right and custody of the child. Even if you were the child's biological father it wouldn't matter in court if you press charges, which is where this case might end up because it was a closed adoption. One thing I know is that your late wife had excluded your name in your child’s birth certificate which was the only reason why you weren’t contacted during the adoption."

Ceaser thought about it for a while.

"So, you’re saying I should do nothing."

Tom sighed.

"I’m saying you should dig up ways to take this to court. If you have proof that you were married to the mother of the child and that she excluded your name from the birth certificate for selfish reasons, that would be enough to make you win the case."

Ceaser swallowed. He didn’t like the way Tom was talking about Bea but he wasn’t saying anything that was a lie. All this wouldn’t be happening if Bea hadn’t been selfish.

“How long would that take?”

“Months.” Tom replied “We’d have to look for proof which would take three to four months seeing has we have nothing to begin with. Then filing a case and…”

“I can’t wait that long.”

He sighed as he racked his brain for his next move. He couldn’t come up with one that would take less time. The court thing was even the worse. He wanted his daughter in his arms fast and real fast. He would just have to find a way of getting his daughter his own way, no court or lawyers involved. Asides the fact that Ceaser didn’t want to wait that long to have his daughter in his arms, he didn’t want the press to get wind of this. Taking this to court would make him a target to the media and he didn’t like that. All that thing about any press being good press was rubbish to him. They would take the story and twist it in so many ways, the next generation would still be trying to figure out which one of the stories was right. He couldn’t take that chance and he didn’t want his daughter to be let out in that kind of life at an early age. He had to do this without drawing attention to himself. He needed to do something that would seem like it wasn’t a big deal to the media. A plan formed in his head.

“How old did you say this woman was again?”

“27.” Tom replied.

A Cheshire smile formed on his lips and grew bigger just like his plan. He was going to get close to this woman, gain her trust, get his child and end everything with her.

It would be as easy as that.

Ceaser thought, smiling.

This was going to be fun.