Chapter 3

Letting it be angry was the worst way possible. His intention had not been that. After all, he wanted Benja to be understandable and it would not be easy for him to be reasonable if he learned of that bomb so abruptly. And more, when it was evident that he had no idea of anything. He did not, therefore, miss her to react with such fury:

-What?, damn it!, what is this? -Benja stood up like a spring and began to turn around the terrace. Finally, he stopped to look at her in the eyes. Any traps that you have screened between the two? -he accused her, unable to think of anything more sensible.

-Trap?

-There's only one reason Maria wanted to return with me- Benja said. And it is that after he left me five years ago, to leave with another man, the company that so many years of effort had cost my brother Carlos and I finally began to take off. We became millionaires in less than a year since Maria's separation.

He felt like he was strangled for not having endured by my side a little more. I wanted my money: That's what I wanted. And the baby... if there is! I mean, how is this possible? The baby's idea was a last desperate attempt to put my hands on my money.

- How if there is a baby? You won't say I'm inventing it! Do you think you could lie on something like that?

They looked silent. It seemed impossible for him to be the same man who had treated her so delicately and effectively a few minutes earlier. And yet…

-Let's see, Cami," Benja started with serenity. You say you hadn't seen Mary for years, right?

-Exact.

-Then you were starting to know her, after so long- he started. You said yourself that he died in his lover's car. She told you that we had recently separated, but I can teach you a copy of the divorce sentence, three years ago. Considering how little you knew her, do you really believe at feet of togething everything you said?

-No- Cami acknowledged-. You're right... But I'm not her, okay? I had a lot of trouble accessing what I was asked for. And I made her think about it. I asked him to make sure if he really wanted to have a baby this way, and he convinced me that he did. I have not become pregnant with this baby so that no one wants it.

I would never have done anything like that! When I went to the hospital and conceived with an egg of mine and your sperm, I was sure that I was going to bring a desired life to the world; that was the greatest gift I could make to two people who, in the background, loved and were destined to be together. He had read a lot about sterility and knew how he could destroy a partner relationship.

From what Mary told me, I believed that she was pregnant with a baby that would serve to reconcile you and that, when she gave it to you after it was born, it would be a blessing for all of us. I would never have agreed otherwise, so don't tell me it's a trick! Like it or not, this baby is yours, Benja. Yours and mine. And the main reason I have come here today is that we can talk to find a solution.

-Do you mean you're thinking about having an abortion?

-No! I would never do something like that. Damn, why do you suddenly treat me as if I were...?

-I'm sorry. Forgive, I'm sorry - he rushed to apologize. It had burst of fury, but the part of the brain that still kept calm knew that it would be no use to lose control. But I wasn't expecting anything like that at all. I had no idea, do you understand?

-But I have the rental contract in my purse- Cami objected. It's your signature, and it's dated April. Less than three months ago. Maria said you both agreed before you came here, and you thought it was good to spend the summer looking for a mother to rent. And at the clinic there was a frozen pot with your... You must have given your consent for artificial insemination.

-Yes- Benja said. Five and a half years ago, when we were looking at the options we had, I gave my semen to that bank. But that's what a long time ago, not three months ago. They have bribed someone, Cami, and forged my signature on the contract Maria taught you. I did not give my permission for any of this!

Cami shuddered. So much, Benja warned him and could not bear him. He approached her and tried to hug her. A baby. A baby of both. And yet, until an hour ago, they had not even met. It was... demolishing.

-Let go of me, Benja- she asked, struggling to free herself.

-Are you sure you're okay?

-Yes and I want to leave one thing clear- said Cami raising his head -I'm going to have the baby. That is the case and I do not intend to discuss it. We will already see what solution we find, but that is immovable - he sentenced him to look intensely at his blue eyes, as challenging him to respond.

- What will it mean for you to introduce a baby into your life? -Benja asked him.

-I suppose what to any single mother. It will change my plans, change my priorities, change my economy: It will change everything- Cami put it back, as she surrounded her stomach with her hands, as she already protects her baby.

-It's okay," he said, softly. Any more rules?

-That I don't know anymore- Cami sighed. You'll say. He had come to convince you that the most sensible thing was to break the rental mother's contract. I thought it would cost me to persuade you, but since you say that Maria forged your signature and you knew nothing, I guess it won't be a problem, right?

No problem?, Benja thought, furious, though he kept silent.

-Mary made me believe that you were crazy about being a father. I thought you wouldn't give up the baby even though she had died; but it's clear that this is not the case. I am glad, admitted Cami. I assure you I didn't feel like having to fight with you about this.

He didn't support it. He was behaving as if he had nothing to say and all decisions were to be made on his own. And don't talk about that! Little by little he was seeing what he really wanted: He might have been conceived without knowing him, but that baby was also his.

-Nothing about that! -he finally exploited-. Don't make the mistake of thinking this is solved, Cami. You're assuming that since I knew nothing about the baby until now, I don't want to have anything to do with him or her. But that is not the case. I want that baby in my life. I love it a lot!

Benja was sitting on the terrace, watching the shadows enlarge, as the light changed over the lake. On his right hand he rocked a cup whose whisky he was drinking too fast.VSE took the cup to his lips and gave a small sip, resolved to administer the drink as much as he could. Because I needed to think.

That had told Cami, whom she had seen so exhausted, that she had suggested lying in one of the bedrooms she had kept ready for visits. Had it not been so tired, it might have refused; but it almost fell after climbing the stairs to the rooms.

It was almost an hour ago, and I hadn't heard a noise since. She hoped she would have fallen asleep soon, because pregnant women, Benja thought, needed to sleep well.

And a pregnant woman who had faced what she had done during the previous week, probably, would need three times the rest.

Was divided into two. Learning that he was going to be a father, even if he was unknowingly and through artificial insemination, awakened his most primitive part: He felt virile and powerful. On the other hand, he felt the need to be loving, attentive and protective.

However, he did not finish trusting Cami. After all, it was Maria's cousin...

I had supposed that Cami had gone to see him to feel accompanied at such a hard time. That's why he had welcomed him. In fact, he himself needed to have someone at those difficult times. After all, they had been married for nine years. However, things had changed; Mary had fired on the top: With a tragic accident and a baby of an uncertain future.

Although he had never been an evil woman. It was simply noted that her father had abandoned her wife and her, being a teenage Mary, which had made her a woman of contradictory and conflicting feelings, who had had to struggle to draw money to get ahead.

Attractive and ambitious, Maria had gotten a job at a local television station at the age of twenty-one; but she had never made the leap to other channels of greater audience, despite having slept, as Benja knew later, with all the people indicated.

Having been a mother, your career may have been in the background. Perhaps there would have been no adventures.

But Benja was not convinced. Mary had always had problems with her priorities and principles.

Would Cami be cut by the same pattern? Would she also pursue her company's money? Of course, the situation was ideal for trying to get out the crack.

Benja knew that, if anything, he would end up paying for the baby; because he would allow him to give him the affection and stability he knew were so important.

He thought of his brother, who had been involved in a bad relationship and now he had a daughter. A girl, after so many children. And the poor did not know where his wife had left with the little one. Since his escape, both he and all the Rojas had not stopped suffering; above all, dad and mum, who had received their first granddaughter excited.

No, he would pay Cami what he was going to do if he threatened to do something similar. It would keep it and fill it with life-long luxuries if needed.

-She's not like that! -he murmured.

Someone who smiled like a naughty girl, someone who surrounded her stomach to protect the baby—began thinking about the woman who was carrying her son inside. It had something special. Your appearance, maybe? It was beautiful, beautiful even though it didn't have as perfect features as Mary had. Moreover, the physicist had no bearing on character.

So what made him trust in her, despite how cautious his business had turned him? He wasn't sure, but in such a situation, could he discern calmly?

Whether it is, the truth was that he trusted Cami. He had to accept it and, starting from there, think what he wanted. Which was not difficult. I wanted the baby. He wanted to be a part of his life from the beginning and to be certain that he would never lose him.

And, time and time again, for more laps he gave in his head, he only came to a solution that satisfied him. A drastic solution that she was willing to suggest and that she would be so crazy to accept.

He noticed that she was being shaken by the shoulder gently. He woke up from sleep totally disoriented and when he opened his eyes he found the bedroom almost off. He only saw a man's shoulders and head a few centimeters away from her. A man with blue eyes and thick eyelashes, also black.

Benjamin Rojas.

Cami awoke at a stroke.

Then he realized something else: He was not dressed. He crouched and covered his body with the sheet.

-If you don't mind -she whispered-, go out and see you down as soon as I see myself.

-Agree -Benja agreed. Barbara, the assistant, left some food prepared this morning. I heated her up. If you want, we can talk while we eat.

He walked out of the room at a quick pace. It had English pain. As I walked into the bedroom to wake her up, I hadn't seen Cami was not dressed. He had been hesitating to wake her up or not since six, and had ended up doing so at nine. He was impatient. They needed to talk.

But he had found her immersed in such a deep dream, that she had not reacted to her voice. Benja had kneeled next to the bed and, instinctively, shook her shoulder. Only by rubbing his skin had he realized that Cami was wearing little more than a few knickers on top.

It took her eyes several seconds to adapt to the darkness and admire Cami... She had a soft skin, with a golden tan, and on her shoulders she had nose-like freckles.

And waning legs! He had been stuck in stone to notice how long they were... Because he had been able to see them whole, until he reached the most delicious culito he had ever seen, covered only by the satin of the inner garment. She had her waist naked and the pregnancy was still not noticed.

Or rather, her pregnancy wasn't noticed on her waist yet.

Then he had slid the view upward, until reaching his firm breasts, barely held by a bra, which exposed without modesty an inviting neckline.

Finally, he had looked at her in her face and so, deeply asleep, she had seemed like a dream come true.

Cami heard him come out of the bedroom. He joined slowly to go waking up without sudden.

The ceiling in the bedroom was almost attached to the roof of the building and both the light coming through the windows and the simplicity of the room decor contributed to the feeling of interior space and clarity.

Cami had studied interior design and had just completed a three-month contract with a very prestigious architecture company. Seeing Benja's house reminded him of why he had chosen such a profession: He had always wanted to create homes for people; sites suitable for his clients. And, without a doubt, Benja had made his house reflect his character.

«I want that baby in my life» he said decisively. And until that very moment, Cami had not understood how much those words had meant to her; the strength they had given her.
He had gone that morning without knowing anything about his baby's father, unable to guess his reaction, and fortunately Benja hadn't given up the little one.

He wanted to be present in his life... which made him feel a little accompanied, for the first time since his father died ten years ago. Benja and she had exchanged tough words that afternoon, but, in the background, she had nothing against her and hoped that he would not have it on her.

Now he wakes up, with no sense of archery and eager to hear what Benja had to tell him, he dressed and went down to the living room.

He was out of breath when he saw the dinner Benja had prepared. A romantic light illuminated the piece as dusk languished outside, hiding in its darkness the mountains of the horizon.

-Let's have dinner while we spoke -Benja proposed, who had laid the table quietly so as not to wake it up. There was a bottle of white wine, juices, fresh water and two red candles dominating the ends. In the center, he had set up a beautiful flower center.

She ran a chair for Cami, who took a seat in front of him, close enough to touch him. Why did you get the baby's attention, would you just be protecting the container that contained your baby? He didn't believe it. It had been a natural and spontaneous gesture, as if the courtesy were innate to their manners.

After sitting down, Benja brought him a stew with fragrant, smoky rice, which aroused Cami's hunger. They hadn't spoken anything yet, but the mere fact of sharing that dinner was already important, while it was the beginning of the relationship they were to build. Little by little, they had to get to the idea that they were going to have a baby in common.

-I've been thinking about it and I know what I want- he said suddenly, while supporting the forearms on the table. He had raised his sleeves, as if he were to undertake a physical effort. He was felt strong and confident, even authoritarian, as an entrepreneur willing to propose a merger, between people, rather than between two companies. In reality there is only one satisfactory solution: I want us to marry, Cami. As soon as possible.