Stood Up

Dominic looked at the security guards and Mr. Barlow and then past them at the doors to the school where two private guards were posted at the doors. Dominic looked over at Barrett's car across the street and wondered how many more guards were inside or with Barrett for that matter. He glanced back at Barrett's car to see that the man himself was now leaning against the car door with a bodyguard at each end of the car.

Mr. Barlow seemed to be taking in the scene as well and feeling nervous. So, this is what it looked like when the heavy hitters went to war, he thought.

After a moment's silence Barlow spoke. "Mr. And Mrs. Lane, what a pleasure? How can I help you today?"

Eva stepped forward looking unhappy, "We have come to see our niece and nephew. We thought we'd take them for an afternoon treat. Can you go get them please?"

"I am sorry Mr. And Mrs. Lane. I am afraid I cannot do that. I have orders you see, and they were very clear. Only people on the list can see the Barrett children." Barlow said soothingly. Dominic's head snapped toward Barlow.

"Those are Lane children. Are you going to listen to the Bastard across the street?" Dominic pointed toward Barrett, "or me and let me remind you where the checks for the Lane children have come from for the last year, Lane money." Dominic said between gritted teeth.

Barlow shifted his feet "I have taken no orders from Mr. Barrett. I have never even spoken to the man."

"Then who?" Dominic growled.

"Why Ms. Lane of course. She called me this morning, in fact worried about the safety of her children and placed special restrictions on their care for their safety. We always try to accommodate when we can." Barlow explained.

"Barrett has kidnapped her and is holding her against her will." Dominic spat while Eva looked increasingly uncomfortable.

Barlow sighed, "Ms. Lane said you might say something like that. I am afraid I will need to ask you to leave now. This is becoming disruptive."

"Come on Dom lets go" Eva said quietly before climbing back into the car.

"This isn't over." Dominic said hotly. Mr. Barlow only stood stoically on the path to the school. Dominic climbed back into the car before looking in Barrett direction only to see that he was already gone. Fled like the rat he is thought Dominic.

"If you don't have the children, how are you going to convince Mia to come home tonight. This is unraveling more by the day and frankly you are scaring me. It is time to admit you're wrong and ask her to forgive you." Eva told Dominic tiredly.

"I will never accept Barrett." Dominic hissed. Then you just might lose everything Eva thought turning to face the window. She was in the worst position. She loved her sister, her niece and nephew, and her husband. How could she possibly choose?

When Timothy returned, he explained to Mia and Caleb the things that he had seen at the school. Caleb was noticeably upset as he had become nearly as protective of Mia and the twins as Timothy himself was. Mia merely sighed deeply, turning back to her design pages. Timothy stood behind her leafing through them but in their unfinished state he wasn't able to see much that he understood.

"Can we have a photo wall?" Tim asked abruptly.

"Do you want one?" Mia asked surprised.

"Yes, I think I really would." Tim pulled out his phone showing her the picture Caleb had taken and sent to him. "I want a place where the moments like this go so, we never forget." Mia put her hand on his cheek and kissed him sweetly.

"That may be the sweetest thing you have ever said. Now go away and don't ruin it for me." Mia laughed and Caleb chuckled along with her.

Dinner time was a subdued affair that evening. The children were at the coffee table in the living room eating pizza with Angela and watching cartoons while the three adults were in the dining room drinking wine. Mia's phone sat in front of her on the table. It would ring soon. Mia knew it would. It was a quarter after six now so it should be any time.

At six-twenty the phone rang. Mia looked at the caller ID and sure enough it was Dominic.

Mia took a deep breath on the third ring she hit accept, "Dominic."

"How dare you not attend a family dinner, Mia Lane. Have you lost all sense of decorum and family decency? Poor Nicholas, to be stood up by his fiancé. You will not disgrace the family name like this," Dominic rattled on.

"One: not a family dinner. You specified two couples for the purpose of picking a wedding venue. Since one set is not a couple, they cannot be a fiancé and without a fiancé I don't need a wedding venue. This leaves only an obligation to my family and since this particular family attempted to kidnap my children today. I think I will get a pass." Mia heard Nicholas chuckle in the background and Eva smirked.

"You think she's cute, Nicholas. Where is your lover, Mia? Did you tell your fiancé what you have been up to? He might not be so supportive of your obstinate willfulness if he knew you've been whoring yourself out to Barrett for the last week." Dominic spat venomously.

"That is quite enough," Barrett roared.

"There he is. See, told you Nicholas. You need to bring her in line." Dominic barked.

Nicholas laughed astonished. "Have you met Mia? If that were possible, I would have done it years ago. She has always done exactly what she intends to and there isn't a damn thing you, or I, or Barrett can do about it until she figures out what that is. We are all just spinning in her orbit, and you are crazy to think that you can change it. Dominic, you need to stop. If you push her too hard, she'll run."

"You know her so well because of one date and treating her son's illness?" Dominic scoffed.

"Do you really think I would put up with your crazy right now if that was how well I knew Mia?" Nicholas started laughing "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Dr. Merches." Dominic said slightly confused.

"Try Lord Merches of the Congressional Orators. I am nobility. I chose to stay and work as a doctor here and my reasons are my own. Good luck finding someone to outrank me, Dominic."

Nick took a breath. "I will not release her from our engagement until she asks me to, and I won't marry her unless she can convince me she is willing. You pushed too hard trying to take the children from her. I won't stand for it. I am sorry for raising my voice, Eva." Nicholas pushed the chair back and stood.

"You have your breathing room, doll. Goodnight" Nicholas said using his old pet name for her.

Mia reached out and hung up the phone. There wasn't anything she could say now that wouldn't lessen the impact of what had just been said. Mia finished her drink, poured another and drank it too. Then she placed her head on her hands on the table and closed her eyes.

"Mia did you know about this?" Tim asked her.

"Yes, I knew. It is a big secret. Nicholas shouldn't have told him, not for me. He doesn't want to be Lord Merches. He told me that the Lords are pond scum. He is trying to kill his family line but if they drag him home because of me." Mia shook her head unwilling to sentence her friend to a life of misery.

Neither Tim nor Caleb knew what to say. Mia grabbed her phone and sent a quick text message to Nicholas. She told him thank you, but he shouldn't have risked the attention for her. A few minutes later the response came back. 'You worry too much, doll. See you on Wednesday for the checkup?' Mia asked if they could wait a week. Nick told her sure but only one week because he needed to run labs.

Tim asked what they were talking about, so she showed him the text messages. He frowned but didn't say anything. Finally, the discussion turned to Caleb's date the next day.

***********

Eight days later Mia kept Sage home from school for his doctor's appointment at the Research Center. She woke up tired as she had most of the days this week but tried to brush it off. She sat at the dining room table trying to eat a croissant and nursing her coffee, but she felt queasy.

 Mia got up and retreated to the master bathroom. Her forehead felt cold and clammy. Mia wondered if she was coming down with something. After standing there for a few minutes she thought she might be fine but as soon she tried to rise, she vomited what little she had in her stomach. After a few minutes Mia felt a little better, so she brushed her teeth and went back to the dining room, finally managing the coffee and croissant.

The last week had been uneventful. Dominic had backed off after Nicholas's announcement. Since no news meant that she didn't know what was going on, she didn't feel all that chipper about it. Timothy had wanted to go to Sages checkup with her but both he and Caleb had important meetings today.

Caleb was sworn in today via video link as the VP of Operations for Barrett Group. Once it became clear that Aide Castle intended to collaborate with Barrett Group because of Caleb's closing skills the grumbling stopped and the hand shaking commenced.

Caleb also had a meeting with the finance manager for the Aide Castle collaboration. He was going over the specific financial expenditures for the deal to get it sent to Aide Castle for review. Barrett Group had three other deals on the table which put the finance manager's time at a premium.

Timothy had to be at Jason's Law firm to work on the Heir Documents. They were having issues with discrepancies between laws in Bern City versus Norde City. After that Tim needed to meet with Shelly's fiancé and determine if he was a viable candidate for marriage for his cousin. Shelly had refused to discuss who the person was which was the first red flag. Second, she demanded that she be allowed to meet Tim with her fiancé in Norde City.

The twins were doing fine at school, and everyone was getting used to the bodyguards always being around. Sage and Ginger played at recess with a small group of classmates that seemed to like having the escort around them. Asher still tried to get to Ginger on occasion but seemed at least smart enough to know the guards would stop him.

There hadn't been a peep out of Luna, but they knew from Jasmine that the vile woman hadn't changed. She was apparently fuming still that Tim hadn't come to Asher's party. Jasmine and Caleb had been on two public dates so far and Mia was looking forward to when she and Tim could have a double date with the pair.

Since they couldn't go out Jasmine had come over the night before and the four of them had laughed until nearly eleven when Mia had become too tired. She and Tim had gone to bed, but Jasmine hadn't left until nearly dawn because Tim had trouble sleeping and had seen her leave. Tim said the duo looked decidedly friendly when Caleb walked her to the door.

Mia told Tim that her and Sage would be fine at the doctor's appointment. However, she knew he worried especially about them going to a place that Dominic could get to. However, Nicholas had gained a little grace in his eyes since he had gone to such personal risk to protect her despite knowing she was with Tim.

Unfortunately, they had been married for about ten days and it still felt like they were no closer to a resolution for this situation. Since the Heir Documents had hit a snag, they couldn't announce that they were married since it would put scrutiny on them. Plus, Dominic would still try to annul. They couldn't announce their marriage while she was still engaged and if she had Nicholas drop the engagement her brother would be free to come at her again. The whole situation was one big mess.