Her Adopted Baby's Daddy

Two Months Ago

Ceaser paced back and forth in his spacious, well-decorated living room. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. He had woken up this morning to Tom—his private investigator—telling him that he had a lead and was going to check it out. It was just by God's grace that Ceasar hadn't had a heart attack.

He'd been married to Beatrice for over two years. Eight months after they got married, she disappeared into thin air. She had been behaving weirdly just a few days before she vanished, and no one knew where she was now.

Beatrice, he thought, was the lovely girl he had met at the charity gala just months before they were forced together. Well, she was forced to marry him. It was a necessity for him, seeing as it would make Palmer—Beatrice's father, a man he wanted to go into business with—pleased. She was very sweet the few times they had met, but her true nature began to show when they started dating. She was temperamental, quick to judge, always jumping to conclusions, and many other things that pissed him off. He had seen all the warning signs not to get married to her flashing in neon lights, but he ignored every single one of them. After they got married, things only got worse for him because now, she figured she owned him. He began to spend nights at the office, which only made things worse because she had thought he was cheating on her. That was when the weirdness began; she became oddly quiet and only talked when he asked her a question, which he seldom did.

Ceaser combed his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily.

That was why he had hired Tom, who had been on the case for over a year. His thoughts went back to the day he last saw her, and he remembered the last thing she had said to him before she walked out of their house. She had lied straight to his face, saying that she was going to stay with her mum for a while. He had offered to give her a ride, but she declined, saying she needed to make a few stops on the way. Even though he knew the latter part was just an excuse, it was typical of Bea; she always did things her way, not caring about the repercussions, and no one could stop her. So he let her leave, no questions asked.

That same day, after he had gotten home, he called Bea's mum, Mary, who said she hadn't seen Bea since she visited two weeks ago.

Just then, Ceaser's phone rang, snapping him out of his thoughts and making him stop in his tracks. "Yea?" he answered the call.

"I've found her, Mr. Thompson, and she doesn't look too good," Tom said.

Ceasar sighed in relief, a frown on his tired-looking stubble-covered face. "Bring her home, Tom." He ended the call and fell onto one of the sofas, his head falling backward.

Somewhere in the same city, Jules struggled with the door as she tried to keep the groceries from falling to the ground. She finally got the door unlocked and nudged the door wide open. Entering her 600-square-foot house, she kicked the door shut behind her, walking briskly but carefully through the medium-sized, all-white parlor into the kitchen. She dumped everything on the kitchen counter, then began sorting it out.

Today was the day. A smile made its way to her lips; she was excited and nervous at the same time. Today was the day she got to know the verdict. The odds seemed to be in her favor, but she couldn't be sure.

Since Jules's parents died almost two years ago, she had tried to drown herself in work to prevent herself from breaking down until she realized that lifestyle wasn't right, and her parents wouldn't want that for her. They would want her to be happy. So a year ago, she had made the best decision to go along with her old plans. She had always loved children, and somewhere between babysitting for neighbors and family friends in her teens through to college, she decided she was going to adopt a girl when she was ready.

Since her first and last relationship in college had ended tragically after two years, which put her permanently in the single ladies' section of the population, it had taken her a very long time to get over catching her boyfriend at that time cheating on her… with her roommate… in her bed… on her birthday.

Yeah. Ta-da! Happy Birthday, Jules.

She'd sworn off men since then. They just brought havoc into her peaceful life. Relationships were complications.

Been there, done that.

Her phone rang. She placed the carton of milk in her hand on the counter and picked up her phone. "Hello?" she answered.

"Jules." It was her lawyer, Bethany.

"Yes? How's it looking?" Jules skipped right to it.

After nine months of searching for the perfect child, going to court, filing documents, and all the important stuff—baby-proofing the house, buying a baby cot, and many other things—just in case it came through. It all came down to this.

She had found the perfect child to adopt a month after her search began. The baby girl was just two months old, and she couldn't look at any other child after seeing her. Her mind was made up, and she had proceeded with the adoption. Bethany had been helpful through it all. The closed adoption was easier than they had both expected because the child's mother had given her up willingly, and the father was not listed. Jules had worked right alongside Bethany, even though Bethany had offered to do it all and contact her when she was needed. Jules had politely declined her offer because she wanted to have all hands on deck.

"Well, the final papers just arrived, and the adoption has been approved! So all you need to do is come over anytime to sign them. Then, you'll officially and legally become a mother," Bethany said on the other end joyfully.

Jules grinned from ear to ear, her heart bubbling with joy. "I'm on my way," she said, hanging up immediately and abandoning the groceries.

She couldn't wait any longer. She picked up the keys to her convertible and ran out the door.

This was it. She was finally going to be a mother. She got into her car and drove off to Bethany's office to sign the documents.

It felt like Christmas.

Present

Jules walked to the room next to hers and pushed open 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's heart leaped 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 had 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 Jules couldn't have wished for a better baby than her little Ivy. Ivy was the most beautiful 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 was 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 Ivy was just so darn cute and lovable. The dimple on her left cheek (probably hereditary) only made her look even more so.

Today was Ivy's day, and Jules was going to make it special for her because it was her first birthday with Jules. 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 the one running late. Ever since Claire, his assistant, had given him his 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 hadn'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 the 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 had 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?" He took 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 it to you a day earlier or later."

Ceaser wondered why, his brows furrowing. 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 the envelope 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 he 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 and then left.

After Daniel left his office, Ceasar's gaze shifted from the closed door to the envelope on his desk. After a moment of staring at the envelope, he sat down and beeped Claire to tell 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 about what he might find. Knowing Bea as well as he did, she could drop a bomb and smile seconds after it had gone off as if nothing had happened.

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

It's 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 from you for selfish reasons. I 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 was 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 kept 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 told the nurses to take her away immediately. I honestly don't know what happened to me afterward. I planned to come back to you after losing my post-baby weight, but I went off the rails. My therapist said my reason for getting drunk and doing drugs was guilt over giving up our child. Maybe she was right.

The drinking and the drugs had a way of making me forget it, and they became my comfort for a year and a half until 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 won't make it, I realize 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 don'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 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 sense into. He was so mad at her that 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 punched the shit out of the punching bag as he let his thoughts scramble through his head.

He couldn't do anything to change the past. What was 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 dialed 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 details 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 Jules didn't like work was that she had to leave Ivy in the children's department of the building. She wanted Ivy to be with her all the time, but she knew it wasn't going to happen. Jules 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' arms.

Jules smiled at the look on Ivy's face. It was the same one that she had on whenever she saw Sofi and Andy. Ivy 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 in baby language to Ivy, which was nothing but complete gibberish. But if it made Ivy smile, who was Jules to stop the discussion?

Jules left Ivy with Sofi, going inside the daycare in search of Andy.

Jules, Miranda, and Sofia had been friends since Jules had joined Freddie and Co. five years ago. They hit it off immediately and had been friends ever since. The two women knew about Ivy's adoption and everything else, just like Jules knew about Sofia's family problems and Miranda's relationship issues. They were the ones who had resurrected Jules's 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'd ever made. They spoiled her baby at every turn. Last week, for example, they had bought so many birthday presents for Ivy. It was a good thing they ran the daycare. 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 the rebel in her family—at least, that as what her parents thought. They wanted her to be a part of the family's fashion empire, but she had wanted to find her own path and ended up at Freddie and Co., taking care of kids who 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 own age.

Miranda was from a simple middle-class family like Jules. She trusted people too easily, which resulted in her losing hope in humanity. She stuck to what she was best at—taking care of kids. She had been in one relationship since they had all become 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, in 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 whenever she and Sofi brought up the idea of Andy having some of hers, she would freak 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 continued to bicker. Since Ivy had 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 the other 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 had found out he had a daughter. What if she was out there suffering?

Since then, he hadn't heard from Tom, 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. 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. Twenty-seven 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 that Ceaser provided for him. "What exactly do you plan on doing, sir?"

"I'll go to her house and demand my child back. 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 rights and custody of the child. Even if you are the child's biological father, it won'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 excluded your name from your child's birth certificate, which is the only reason 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 for you to win the case."

Ceaser swallowed. He didn't like how 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 could take three to four months, seeing as we have nothing to begin with. Then, we have to file a case and…"

"I can't wait that long."

Ceasar sighed as he wracked his brain for his next move. He couldn't come up with one that would take less time. The court thing was even worse. He wanted his daughter in his arms fast—really fast. He would just have to find a way of getting his daughter his own way without getting the court or lawyers involved. Besides 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 of the media, and he didn't like that. All that about any press being good press was rubbish to him. They would take the story and twist it in so many ways that 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 thrust into that kind of life at an early age. He had to do this without drawing any 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 Ceasar's lips and grew bigger, just like his plan. He was going to get close to this woman, gain her trust, get his child, and then end everything with her. It'll be as easy as that, Ceaser thought, smiling.

This was going to be fun.