Chapter 3
He caught a cab and headed for the airport to meet with the executor of Lorna’s estate. He ignored two missed calls and voicemail from his mother. He didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with her right now. He hadn’t even processed the fact that Lorna was gone yet. He couldn’t handle his mother’s grief when he hadn’t faced his own.
~Got offered a major account, only one competitor for partner!~ he sent Sebastian with a smile. He knew they’d have a good laugh over Mr. Black’s life advice. Erik could easily see them living like this for years to come. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked for them.
He answered a few more emails and sent instructions to his secretary to forward the entire Chippenham file to him. The account lead was scheduled to meet with Mr. Micah Chippenham the next day for an early lunch meeting and he wanted to be fully caught up.
Late afternoon traffic was a mess and he didn’t want to waste time going back to the office if he could avoid it. He’d happily spend the night fully acquainting himself with the details of the account. If Seb was home it would also count as quality time. It was a win-win.
He made it to the airport with a few minutes to spare and took a seat near the gate entrance Miss Kitty Pride had indicated in her text. He’d finally listened to her voicemail from the night before but it had been nearly unintelligible with the background noise drowning out her soft voice. There was no use for it; he’d have to get the full story from her once she arrived.
His secretary came through and he spent the next 20 minutes reading about the history of Chippenham Steaks and their rise to popularity over the past two decades. Now they were ready to go national. That’s where Erik came in.
“Erik Lehnsherr?!” A woman called as though it wasn’t her first time doing so. He glanced up, surprised at how much time had passed.
“Here,” he called crisply, getting to his feet and striding towards the young woman whose back was to him. He couldn’t see what she was holding but it looked heavy. He wondered if Seb had been right to suspect he was receiving an heirloom. Though if that was the case, why not ship it?
She turned to face him with a smile of relief, “I was so worried you hadn’t made it! I have to go catch my return flight! I only have a moment!” she chattered happily to a stunned Erik.
The heavy thing she was holding was a little omega girl. She was the spitting image of Lorna.
“This is Anya, she’s ten months old,” Kitty handed him the baby abruptly, leaving him to either embrace her or let her fall.
He instinctively pulled her close to his chest where she tilted her head to watch him warily. He returned the favor.
Kitty gave him an odd look, “I’m sorry. Do you not speak German?” she asked in heavily accented English.
“I do. I do,” he assured her. He hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t speaking English until she mentioned it. “I don’t understand?”
“You’ve been named Anya’s guardian. Lorna made that very clear in her will.”
Then reality hit, Kitty was handing off a suitcase and a stuffed baby bag with a kiss to the little girl's fat cheek that earned her a side eye before Anya once again fixated on Erik.
“Wait! Wait! I can’t have a baby! There must be someone else, there must be some misunderstanding!” he said, louder than he intended.
Kitty gave him a rather unimpressed look, “There isn’t. Anya is your responsibility now. There’s a letter for you. No one has read it. It was a part of the will. Hopefully it will explain a few things. I’m sorry to spring this on you; I said it all in the voicemail I left last night.”
“But-”
“I am sorry but I do have to be going if I’m to catch my return flight. You’ll be fine, she’s a very sweet baby,” she shook his hand once more and with a final kiss for Anya, she was gone.
Erik glanced around the bustling airport; sure this must be some kind of joke. He looked back down at the baby. She was watching him with the same changeable eyes that looked back at him from the mirror everyday.
Her hair was short, but already beginning to show the curl that had driven Lorna crazy and forced him to keep his hair trimmed and gelled. She was chubby with soft, pink cheeks and two pearly teeth peeking out from her bottom middle gums.
She hadn’t made a sound since she’d arrived and seemed perfectly content in his arms. He didn’t know what to make of that.
Kitty was long gone and he couldn’t just stand here all night. He didn’t see any other option than to take her home and go from there. He gathered both their things and awkwardly shuffled towards the exit to try and flag a cab.
He was pleasantly surprised to have the alpha in front of him let him cut the line to ‘get the baby out of the cold’ he glanced at Anya with a smirk; at least she was earning her keep.
~~
He made it back home earlier than he had in months; it was strange being home before eight. Sebastian wasn’t in yet. Which was probably for the best since he didn’t know how he was going to explain this or how his boyfriend was going to react to the news that the heirloom he was expecting was simply an heir.
“Well, Anya. Let’s see what your mommy had to say about all this,” he’d set her down on the floor with a few of the toys from her suitcase. She stared at him, mouth agape.
Her constant attention was becoming disconcerting.
He kept one eye on her as he opened the letter Lorna had written him just a year ago according to the date.
Dear Erik,
I hope this letter finds you well but I’m sure you must be in shock right now. I hate to be dramatic, but if you’re reading this then I’m dead.
My friends think I’m being paranoid but I don’t trust luck. Not after what happened to my dad- Cancer, Erik’s mind supplied. Or my mom for that matter- Suicide, he recalled grimly.
Jared and I are happy together but I know how fleeting happiness can be. I’ve missed you, Erik. I know we’ve had our own lives but we should have tried harder to keep in touch. I hope that by the time you’re reading this we’ve at least seen each other again so this won’t come as too much of a surprise.
The happiest times in my childhood were before you and your parents left for the States. I remember how much fun we used to have. How we promised to take on the world together. How we said we’d have lots of kids since neither of us liked being an only child. With you around I never felt alone. You were the brightest part of my childhood and along with aunt Edie have remained my favorite relative.
I know you’re busy with your hotshot career but since Uncle Jake’s stroke I don’t feel comfortable leaving my baby to your parents. I hope you can make room in your life for a little girl. (We’ve had a sonogram and the doctor is very sure that she’s an omega!)
Jared, my husband, was ostracized by his parents after our marriage. By his whole family, in fact -Erik absently wondered if they were anti-Semites. If so, it was no wonder they didn’t want their own grandchild.
So unless we want to start searching our family tree for distant cousins my child’s well being falls to you. I know what a perfectionist you are but don’t obsess over this too much. All I ask is that you do your best and love her the way I do. She’s going to see you as her father, and any children you have as her siblings. I never want her to feel as alone as I did before I met Jared. There is no one else I trust with her and I know you’ll do right by us.
Thank you in advance for everything.
Love,
Your Lorna.
~~
By the end of the letter, Erik was crying. He never cried, but reading her last words to him in her familiar handwriting struck a chord. He turned to Anya who was chewing on the arm of a stuffed doll while watching his every move.
She scooted on her rump to sit at his side and leaned against his leg, looking up at him with wide, gray eyes.
“What am I going to do with you?” he asked softly, fearing he already knew the answer deep inside.
~~
As it turned out, he was going to figure out how to make a bottle and feed her. He bustled around the kitchen with her resting in the crook of one arm. She snuggled against his shoulder, seemingly listening to his rambling monologue about water temperatures and formula powder. Thankfully the diaper bag had been full of supplies.
He was relieved to find that she could hold her own bottle, though she held it to the side so she could keep watching him as she gulped down her liquid meal.
He wondered if she was large enough to eat solid foods. How often did she need to see a doctor? Did she have all of her shots? He was starting to panic when he heard the front door open and close.
“Erik?” Sebastian called, sounding surprised.
Oh right, he hadn’t come up with an explanation for this yet.
“Hey babe, you’re home early,” Seb called, voice drawing near as he made his way down the hall towards the kitchen. Anya turned in his arms to look over his shoulder, still slurping at her bottle without a care in the world.
“Here goes nothing kid,” Erik said softly, smoothing her hair back with one hand, earning him her full undivided attention once more.
It was growing on him.
~~
“So you’re what? Going to keep her?” Sebastian asked incredulously. Like Erik being a father was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.
He tried not to be offended.
“I’m the only family she has left,” he said calmly from his seat at the kitchen island. He’d tried to set Anya down on the floor but she’d clung to him, eyeing Sebastian mistrustfully. “There is no one else to take her.”
Seb sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, “We agreed on no children, Erik. You can’t just switch things up like this.”
“It’s not like I got knocked up, Seb! These are extenuating circumstances!”
“Are they really? She’s young and cute. I’m sure many families would be happy to adopt her. Have you even considered that option?” he cajoled.
Erik wouldn’t admit that he’d turned the idea over in his head a few times. It felt wrong to even contemplate. Didn’t he owe his best to Lorna? She’d trusted him with her beloved child. Giving her over to strangers would be heartless.
Seb took his silence as consideration and went into full salesman mode, “You can even meet the couples applying to adopt. You’ve worked too hard for this promotion to throw it away over a kid,” he finished firmly.
Erik startled at the reminder; he had a meeting the next day. He hadn’t thought of the new account or his promotion since he’d seen Anya cradled in Kitty’s arms. That sent a shiver down his spine. Maybe Seb was right and he was being overly emotional about all this.
Maybe the best thing for Anya would be to have a stable home with two parents that had time for her. That wanted her and had planned for her arrival. Lorna would have wanted that, right?
Besides, how could he care for a baby with his crazy schedule? What was he even thinking, considering keeping her?
The idea of giving her up still rankled, but he pushed past it, “I’ll make an appointment with an adoption agency as soon as possible,” he said in a low voice, staring down into Anya’s eyes. She turned her face against his neck, scenting him he realized. His heart felt like to burst at the realization. “Just to see. It’s not a guarantee of anything.” He said softly.
“What was that?” Seb asked with a frown.
He glanced up in surprise, having forgotten they weren’t alone in the room, “She only understands German,” he glanced down at her again. “Possibly Yiddish.”
“She’s young enough to learn English very quickly,” Seb said dismissively. “Look, I need to prepare for a meeting tomorrow and I know you need to do the same. I’ll be in the study. Try and look up a reputable agency if you have the time.” He pressed an absent kiss to Erik’s forehead and quit the room without looking back.
“You don’t want to stay here with me anyway,” he murmured to her softly. Tucking her close against his chest and letting her nuzzle at his scent gland. He pressed his lips against the top of her head and inhaled her sweet, soft scent. “I’m not father material.”