The Boss's Heir

Chapter 9

Four years later

Cay sat outside on a wooden bench that belonged to a very prestigious Montessori pre-school, deep in thought, as she waited on Jules to come out with her nephew and Cay's son, Julian.  It was his birthday today and Cay couldn't believe how quickly those four years had gone by.

She still remembered the day that she told Jules she was pregnant and how her best friend had been by her side every step of the way as had Nono.  He'd been a godsend, paying for all of the prenatal visits and the hospital bills from when she'd had Julian.

She had Jules help her document everything, pictures of her belly at each milestone, 4D sonograms, videos of her baby shower and inside the delivery room. 

And unbeknownst to Cay, she'd even videoed the moment when Cay was filling out the birth certificate.  "What name are you putting on the certificate?" Jules asked.  Still looking down, Cay answered "Julian Salvatore DeLuca."

Her reason for doing all of this?  It was simple really.  As soon as Julian got old enough to understand, she started telling him about Marco and because of Jules, she had a picture of her and Marco from the night of the party.  It was kept in a frame by her bed.

She showed it to Julian all the time and believe it or not, his first word was da-da, when he saw the picture.  And by some miracle, she just happened to be using her phone to video them interacting that day and she captured that moment for Marco.

You see, Jules had convinced her that Marco had no idea of the treachery that had been facilitated at the hands of Stefano Carlo and how that came to pass is, Nono got him out of the house while Jules snooped in his room, looking for the proof they knew Marco would want in order to believe this.

The man was a stupid idiot to not destroy Cay's note so Jules got a copy of it and put the original back.  Once Jules showed it to Nono, he said it was just a matter of time before Marco would be home and all would be revealed.

When Jules had showed the note to Cay, she broke down as she had read those words that had meant everything to her and the man that she had most wanted to see them, and how he never got the chance, because it was taken from him.

Cay's mind went back to the morning she'd had Julian.  Her and Jules were on their morning walk, encouraged by her doctor, and when they'd gotten home, Cay's water broke.

Julian wasted no time making his appearance as Cay was only in labor for four hours, no complications and he'd weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 23 inches long.  He was going to be built just like Marco and now that he was older, Julian was an exact carbon copy of his dad.

Marco wouldn't be able to deny him if he'd wanted to.  He was a mini-me, right down to his lips and his smirk, not to mention his hair and most importantly, his intelligence.

He asked about Marco all the time, and she told him that his daddy was away working and would be home soon.  Which really wasn't a lie.

Every piece of artwork, especially if it had Marco in it, she kept in a special book that she would give to him when the time was right.  He deserved that much and she wanted with all of her heart for them to have a relationship, whether she and Marco did or not.

She was pulled from her trip down memory lane by Julian's bright, little excited voice shrieking out to her as he ran right for her.

"Mommy, mommy!" Julian exclaimed, throwing himself into her lap and talking ninety miles an hour and when she asked what he was so excited about, he got that little smirk on his lips.

"Aunt Jules said that we were doing something special for my birthday tonight, with Nono too" he said animatedly, and it made her wonder if Marco had been like that.

Cay ruffled his hair causing him go huff and say "Mom!"  She couldn't help smile at the exasperated sound in his tone, which made her giggle out loud.  "I like your laugh, mama" he said sweetly, making her heart stop.  His father had said the same thing to her four years ago.

"Well thank you so much, Sir Julian" Cay said bowing slightly.  He grinned and went on to tell her about his day and when he was done, Cay noticed that Nono had just pulled up.

They were heading to Medieval Times, which was all nono's doing, and with Julian on his 'Knights of the Round Table' kick he was going to be besides himself with joy.

He didn't stop talking the whole way until they pulled into the parking lot, and when Julian saw the castle, he stopped mid sentence and looked at his mommy, then Aunt Jules, Nono and back to Cay again.

"No way!" He shouted.  Everyone just smiled and laughed at his perfect reaction as Nono hurried them from the car.  You see, it had been arranged for Julian's name to be announced over the PA and he was going to be knighted by the King and get a sword and a picture.

Cay would capture all of this on video for Marco, just as she had his previous birthdays.  Every moment, every gift and each video you would always hear Cay say "Those are from mommy and daddy."

As Cay watched Julian interact with the King's men, excitedly talking about their swords, horses and shields, Nono came up beside her and putting his arm around her, told her for the millionth time what a great job she had done with his great grandson.

"Nono, I should be thanking you" Cay said emotionally because of all the support she'd been given by him, both monetarily and emotionally.  "His birthday this year will go down in the history books as the one for the ages" she said chuckling.

"He's a special child" Nono said with great emotion in his voice.  "Cay you didn't have to do everything you did for Marco, but you held nothing against him.  I can't imagine what you must have felt and I'm sorry you had to endure it."

Cay tiptoed up and gave the old man a peck on the cheek and as they were about to announce Julian's birthday, Nono said quietly "Marco returns in a week.  Then it will be time to reveal what really happened four years ago.  Are you ready for that, Tesoro?"  Did she have a choice?

Cay nodded.  "It's long overdue" she said.  The rest of the night was amazing for Julian, meeting the king and his royal court, all of the pictures, the games in the arena and the food.  Afterwards, they went to a local bakery for cake and ice cream.

Julian was out like a light when they pulled up to the apartment.  "Cay, I wish you would reconsider and move in with us" Nono said.  Cay shrugged.  "Who knows, with Marco coming home next week, you might just find that happening" she winked as she picked up a crashed out little boy who was dreaming of kings and swords and dragons.