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“I’m sorry. It’s Anthony. It’ll be a second.”
“Take your time,” I replied, looking ahead at our trio of children.
“Hey. How was physical therapy? Not this again,” she griped. “Every week, it’s the same thing with you. You want to quit. I have been drinking plenty of water. I ate. What did I eat? Food.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. Rory used to hate it when I’d get sarcastic.
One day that pretty mouth of yours is gonna get you in trouble.
He’d tap my lips with a finger before kissing me roughly and walking away instead of turning a minor spat into a full-blown argument.
“I had a turkey sandwich, a side salad, and a slice of coffee cake. No, I haven’t had any morning sickness today.”
Oh…wow. Simone’s pregnant…that’s beautiful.
My eyes started burning, but I tried to control it. I was tired of being seen as the sad, pitiful widow.
“No, Nori and Daisy have been behaving. I have to go, Anthony. I’m with Kierra and being on the phone is rude. I love you, too. Bye.” We sat in silence for a moment after she hung up. “Sorry. He can be a worry wart.” She glanced at me, and her eyes widened. “Kierra? What’s wrong?”
I shook my head and wiped my tears away. My eyes followed Kiyah, and her smile instantly dried my tears.
“Before Rory…yeah…we were trying to have another.” Simone gasped, and I rushed to cut her off before she apologized. “I’m fine. I guess it’s better it didn’t happen. At my lowest, I could barely care for Kiyah. I would’ve drowned if I had to be a single mother of two.” Simone squeezed my hand and offered an encouraging smile. “They’re blessings, though,” I remarked, attempting to lighten the mood somewhat. “Kiyah was the only reason I got out of bed in the morning. They’re our little superheroes that save us.”
“I know what you mean,” Simone said resolutely. “I completely understand.”
I looked at Simone. She was gorgeous and graceful, had a child and another on the way, and had a wealthy fiancé who loved her to the moon and back. She seemed…perfect.
“I appreciate the sympathy, but I doubt you’d understand,” I snorted.
Simone met my eyes and pursed her lips momentarily as if carefully contemplating what she wanted to say. She closed her eyes, folded her hands in her lap, and took a deep breath.
“I mean this as respectfully as possible, and maybe it’s just the hormones talking, but you don’t have to be a bitch.” I gasped in shock but was also mildly impressed that Simone swore.
“I don’t know what you think when you see me, but don’t let the designer clothes and jewelry fool you. It wasn’t too long ago when I was robbing Peter to pay Paul and worried constantly about how I’d scrape money together for gas or how I would feed my daughter. I was a single mother to a baby I never expected to have and had zero support from friends, family, or the government. I take that last part back; I was on food stamps for a few months before the government stripped that away. I’m telling you this in confidence because I think you need to hear that you’re not alone. I almost killed myself.”
My eyes widened. “W-what?”
She smiled ruefully before focusing her gaze on our children. “Are you aware that I was Anthony’s surrogate?”
I nodded. “Jonathan told me.”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “How much did he tell you?”
“Not much. He told me that you were Anthony’s surrogate and mentioned Eliza doing something horrible to you and Nori, but he didn’t go into detail. He figured he’d let you tell your story whenever you were comfortable.”
“Right. Well, I was Nori’s birth mother, and I never expected to take her home with me; however, Anthony never showed up when she was born. They were going to put Nori in foster care, and I couldn’t allow that to happen to the child I carried for nine months. I named her and took her home with me. Anthony showed up on my doorstep a little over a year later, demanding that I give Nori to him. He had gotten into a car accident andwas in a coma. I refused. He took me to court. The court granted him custody, and I lost my child.” Simone’s eyes followed Nori as she carefully climbed the short steps leading to a yellow age-appropriate slide. “Nori was my everything, and at the time, I thought she was the only reason I existed. I was her mother despite what the naysayers, DNA, and the law said.”
I never knew, but I guess that’s why they say to never judge a book by its cover.
Simone leaned back on her hands and turned her face to the sun. “I can remember that day in the courtroom like it was yesterday. They ripped her from me while we screamed and cried for each other. I sank into immediate despair.”
My stomach roiled at the thought of losing Kiyah. She was the only attachment I had to the world.I just might die.
“I died,” Simone professed. We glanced at each other. We were two mothers who shared the exact same feeling. “I just stopped functioning. I lost my job because I couldn’t keep it together. It got to the point where I struggled to live, and eventually, I gave up on that, too.” She paused with a heavy sigh. “I wanted to die. I tried, and not to sound like the villain fromScooby-Doo, but I would’ve succeeded if it weren’t for Jonathan.”
“Jonathan? What did he do?”
“He knocked on the door.”
