Chapter Sixty eight

Third Person's POV;

Tracy had had enough of her pregnancy and it was only about six weeks in. The constant headaches, cravings and oh that morning sickness that would not let her breathe! She was fed up.

Her family had been supportive enough and had been caring for her but she needed her child's father by her side but funny as it sounded she was mad at him for reasons she did not even understand.

For weeks, Aiden had called her every single day and even sent gift packages for her because he could not always be present but she still did not know what she wanted-him by her side or him being as far away as possible?

She thought back to the wedding they had attended a few days earlier and sighed. She always wanted a fairytale wedding like that and with Aiden too. For so long she had wished he would look at her the same way he saw Damien do with Ariana or like Reginald stared at Eleanor but it was not even possible, she could not delude herself like that. When she saw him, all she wanted to do was hug and kiss him and hold him tight but then she knew he did not care about her like she did and was only there for the baby. The truth hurt her, but then she had to make up her mind to not keep playing the victim.

She would never abort her pregnancy, never. But, she was going to completely rid herself of the shackles of her unrequited love for Aiden. She was going to will her heart to stop caring for him so much and only be cordial with him because they were going to be co-parents.That was the best thing she could do for herself.

She would always have a part of him with her and would maybe be a constant reminder but that would not stop her from living her best life and finding the love and affection she had always yearned for in someone else.

"It's for the best." She whispered assertively, rubbing on her belly a little bit. After seeing the ultrasound, she could not stop thinking about the little dot growing in her belly and she could not wait to give birth to it. She looked up and stared at her phone placed on one end of her bed. She hardly had time for it these days, reading prenatal books and all.

She still had not heard from Aleena ever since the contract fiasco. Maybe she was backing down from fighting for Damien's heart because personally, Tracy had realized that Damien was slowly falling for this woman and it would take a lot to break them apart. A lot.

Maybe they were truly wrong about the contract after all, because the way things were going, nothing actually looked or felt fake between them, the chemistry was real and she did not even hate Ariana anymore.

Tracy chuckled, her baby was turning her all soft and mushy and she kinda liked it. She was hopeful that they were going to be fine with or without Aiden.

She looked at the picture of him she had on her phone, she held on the delete button and really wanted to click on it but she could not bring herself to do it just yet. In due time, she would be over him, she was sure of it.

The scales had fallen from her eyes and now she was only out to take care of herself and her child. She had nothing to lose if she shut Aiden out, he would not care anyway.

She deserved better than being with a man who only thought to care for her because she was going to be the mother of his first child. She felt foolish, she felt dumb, she felt somewhat used but she could not change it, she just had to deal with it and move on.

She was going to be just fine, she knew it.

****

Aiden flipped through a file over and over but could not seem to concentrate on anything.

"Arrrrgh!" He exclaimed and felt like hitting his head on the table over and over. His mind was all over the place and he could not concentrate on work.

All he thought about was the beautiful blonde who was the mother of his unborn child and nothing else. She had been messing with his head for weeks and even more after he saw her looking so beautiful at the wedding they had attended few days back. What was she doing to him?

He had been calling every single day since when they found out they were going to be parents but it seemed like Tracy was pushing him away. The Tracy he knew would always answer eagerly whenever he called back in the day but now she sounded uninterested and gave him one word answers whenever they spoke.

He did not know what to do. He could not speak to Damien about it because he knew that his best friend still held a grudge concerning him putting his sister in the family way but he had no one else to talk to about it except...

"Ariana." He said aloud. He picked up his phone and dialed hers.

"Good morning sir." Ariana said the moment she picked up. She was obviously at work.

"Morning Mrs Kingston." He said in the same professional tone.

"Could you please come up to my office? I have something to discuss with you." He said steadily but was freaking out on the inside.

"Oh alright, I'll be there soon." She said and dropped the call.

Few minutes later, a knock came through and Ariana came in after he beckoned her to.

"Please sit." He gestured to the chair opposite him and she plopped on it.

"So, what's up?" She asked dropping to formal facade much to his relief.

"I'm in a fix and I sort of need your help." He said nervously.

She narrowed her eyes at him for a second and adjusted on her seat, perhaps to brace herself for what he had to say.

"Okay? What is it?" She asked him.

"It's about Tracy..." He hesitated but she urged him on with a gesture of her hand.

"She's been distant, really distant." He sighed tiredly as he spoke.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"Precisely." She added emphatically.

"Tracy has been in love with me for as long as I can remember and she had always been eager to to speak to me and even be around me and when we found out that she's carrying our child, I typically expected her to be even more clingy because she's now carrying a piece of me but it's the exact opposite." He explained in spite of how dumb he knew he sounded.

"So you're saying that her feelings have been unrequited for a long time, like, since you were younger?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered reluctantly.

"And now that she's pregnant for you, you expect her to continue with all that clinginess?" She questioned again. He nodded.

"And now that it isn't happening, you're greatly bothered by it?" Ariana asked further.

"Yup. But what's with all these questions?" He finally voiced out his confusion.

"Well, with all due respect, I think that you're really selfish." She deadpanned.

"Ouch. Why would you say that?" He was actually hurt.

"You're telling me that, for years, you toyed with her feelings as she ran after you like a lost puppy which she would have kept doing but for the fact that she's now carrying your child and now has a sense of responsibility and you're expecting her to fawn over you like a love struck teenager, still?!" Ariana raised her voice without even knowing it but stilled herself by taking a deep breath while pacing the room. How she was on her feet already, she did not even know.

He kept quiet, letting her speak as he thought about his actions.

"Aiden you should know better." She said with a dissatisfied look on her pretty face.

"Okay, maybe I'm judging you, I apologize." She reasoned out, calmly taking her seat again.

"What do you want exactly?" She inquired.

"I really just want to be there for her." He confessed.

"For the baby?" She prodded.

"No! It's more than that, I truly care deeply for Tracy."

"What are you doing about it then?" She probed.

"I call every single day, I even send her gift packages." He said feeling somewhat proud of himself. She face palmed, puzzling him even further.

"What's it with you rich dudes thinking that expensive gifts solve everything?" She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as she asked rhetorically.

"Tracy needs more than just calls and gifts. She needs to you to be present and if you care about her like you claim, you should do a lot more." She advised.

"More? Like what exactly?" He asked genuinely interested in all she had to say.

"You calling is good, but, you should try visiting more often, she'd appreciate your presence more."

He nodded, taking mental notes of all she had to say.

"Then you have to let her know that you're not just there for the baby but because you truly have feelings for her. You really have to let her know how you feel because if I were her, I would doubt your feelings because they only started showing up after you realized that you're going to be parents." She said.

Ariana spoke at length on how to woo a woman like Tracy and they even ended up doing some research on the internet on how to impress her. Ariana was going to be somewhat a middleman for both of them.

He thanked her profusely for all her help and made her promise to always come through for him when he needed help with matters of the heart.

She laughed heartily.

"Sure thing, but you're going to have to pay heavily." She joked.

"Take all of Damien's money, tell him I sent you." He joked and her laughter filled the room.

"How's your nose, Aiden?" She teased alluding to when Damien had punched him in the face weeks back.

"Touché." He laughed heartily.

She soon excused herself because she had work to get on with. They said their goodbyes and she left the office leaving him to his thoughts again.

He was going to try his best to win his woman over. He could not for the life of him imagine her being with someone else, it just did not sit well with him.

Aiden truly hoped that she had not lost feelings for him because that would just be tragic for him. He could not lose her even when he knew he had messed things up from the beginning but now he was willing to make amends and he hoped it was not too late for them.

"You can do this, Aiden." He said to himself as he glanced at the picture of her he had on his phone for as long as he could remember. This beautiful blonde woman was going to be his soon, for real this time.