Love Over Envy: BWWM Pregnancy Romance Novel (14 page)

Genevieve and Sam were asleep on the couch together entwined in each other’s arms, they heard a loud outside the apartment door.

“Can you smell gasoline?” Genevieve whispered to Sam. Sam realized that Genevieve was right.  The familiar, pungent scent of gasoline was sifting under the door. Sam got up and went to check what was going on. He saw gasoline flowing like a small river underneath Genevieve’s front door.  Sam opened the door and he saw Greta standing there with all the tools for a successful arson in hand. Certainly not her best plan. She had banked on the two being asleep and in her carelessness, she had been just a little too loud. But Greta was acting out of anger and rage.  She figured that if she couldn’t get Sam and Genevieve to listen to her strict command, she would put an end to their defiance. She did not operate within the boundaries of what was socially acceptable or normal. Greta was a lifelong criminal who had consistently gotten away with committing crime after crime. She was too confident that this time would be no different.

Sam wasn’t going to let her get away with this anymore. He grabbed Greta’s arm and pulled her into the apartment closing the door behind her and then locking it. By that time Genevieve had gotten off the couch. She saw the cause of all her woes standing in her foyer with Sam. It wasn’t the first time Greta had been in her apartment. Genevieve was forced to recollect times when she would have considered the woman standing there a friend. Those days were over. It appeared that Greta has shown up in the dead of night in an attempt to set Genevieve’s apartment on fire. This time, Genevieve felt afraid of her former friend. This woman whom she had let so close to her was not the person Genevieve thought she was.

Sam commanded Genevieve, “Call the police.” This time there was no way Greta could get out of this. There was clear evidence of motive. The accelerants and other materials all had Greta’s fingerprints on them. It was clear that she had approached the apartment with the intent to destroy everyone in it.  With this much against Greta, not to mention the fact that Sam was now far more powerful than most people in the city, she was definitely going down.

Greta stood there in the foyer visibly unafraid. She had that look in her eye as if she didn’t completely understand what consequences were certainly coming her way. She didn’t bother plead for forgiveness. She didn’t apologize. There was something inhuman about the way she stood there with that still proud look on her face.

“You can’t prove anything! They’ll never get me. They’ve never been able to get me before! You idiots. Why couldn’t you leave well enough alone!” Greta began.

Within moments, Genevieve would have the police on the line and she would explain to the police that a work friend had come to her house with the intent to burn it down. The police assured Genevieve that they would be on their way. Genevieve prepared herself for what would be the longest 10 minutes of her life as she tried to prevent this crazy woman from going any further. Sam stood in front of the door to guard it and prevent Greta’s escape. Greta was powerless to do anything. She knew that if she made any move to assault Genevieve, Sam would tackle her to the ground with ease. His physical size was something that Greta wasn’t foolish enough to ignore.  She could do nothing but stand there and as she stood there, Greta began to unravel before their very eyes.

She began to mutter to herself. She began to talk to people who weren’t there. She’d occasionally look Genevieve dead in the eye, speaking to her as if she were someone else.  The entire exchange was unnerving. Greta was about to get what she deserved but Genevieve couldn’t help but feel guilty as if the woman needed help as opposed to prison.  Sam felt no such sympathy. This woman had almost cost him a relationship with his child and a relationship with the mother of his child.  When the cops knocked on the door, Greta seemed to lose it completely. She dropped her knees and began crying and sobbing. Still, there was no apology. When the police found her, they read her the Miranda Rights and handcuffed her hands behind her back.

A few officers came back in and bagged all the evidence. They took statements from both Sam and Genevieve. Sam had his assistant mail the officers a copy of the very file on Greta that had led him to Genevieve’s doorstep. The entire ordeal took a couple hours, but after those two hours Greta was completely gone. She was no longer going to be able to bother them again. With that much evidence, she would be imprisoned for a long time for attempted murder. There was no way she would be able to escape the impact of what she had done this time. Sam and Genevieve were just lucky that they had heard her shuffling around outside otherwise she might have gotten away with it.

Later on, police also arrested Greta’s loyal confidante Erwin. Turns out, he had paid for the accelerants with his credit card. It had been Greta’s plan to use Erwin’s money so that the fire could never be traced back to her. Not even Greta’s well connected European parents could help her. By the time the police had managed to contact the Hansson’s in Europe, they had amassed definitive evidence against Greta Hansson. Her parents could no longer pay people off to destroy evidence. No matter what quality lawyer they obtained, Greta would spend a long long time in jail. Erwin was in an even worse off position when Greta. He had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for a hit and run accident where no one was killed, but a young girl was severely injured. The two criminals got what they deserved in the end.

After the police had left Genevieve’s apartment, she was left there with Sam to contemplate their crazy evening and how things had turned around for them so quickly. Genevieve’s feelings for Sam had never subsided throughout their time apart and Sam felt the same way. Genevieve confessed to Sam that she had never deep down believed he could do such terrible things like what Greta had accused him of. Genevieve felt so guilty for loving a man who she thought she knew was a rapist. When it turned out that Sam wasn’t who Greta said, she was forced to face the facts: she loved him. Genevieve was in love with Sam Andover. There was no denying it any longer. There was no pretense to uphold.

That night, Genevieve and Sam dropped to sleep quickly. Genevieve had expected to be tossing and turning as thoughts and visions of the future danced in her head but she was so exhausted that she simply fell right to sleep. The next morning, both Sam and Genevieve knew they would have to have a serious discussion about what this all meant for them. Yes, they had fallen into each other’s arms so easily but what did all of this mean for the future?

The next day, Sam brought Genevieve breakfast in bed. She had to admit that she was impressed by his cooking skills. She didn’t exactly peg Sam as the type of guy who could cook very often. As they sat together and started eating their eggs, toast, and bacon, they began to talk about where their relationship’s future was headed. Both Sam and Genevieve were  invigorated by the conversation. It seemed like things were finally working out for them.

Sam and Genevieve had a very serious discussion about where their relationship was going and they both realized that for this to work out they would need to merge households. Anything beyond boyfriend or girlfriend would come later but for now they wanted to parent a child while living under the same roof.  Sam suggested that they get a relationship counselor to help them work through the difficulties they would inevitably face as people who are raising a child together did not know that much about each other.

While they felt passionately for each other, they did not want that passion to fizzle out with the stress of raising a newborn. There was such a high risk of that happening especially with the rate of divorce and separation these days.  Sam and Genevieve would stop at nothing to make their relationship work. That was their commitment. In a sense, it was deeper than marriage for now. They were making a promise with the hope that eventually marriage would be the end goal.

As they sat at that together and decided this, Genevieve and Sam said, “I love you” to each other for the first time.

This was a big move for Genevieve who had previously been uncertain about being the first one to approach a man. She had never wanted to be vulnerable. She had always wanted to be catered to without letting any of her weaknesses show. Genevieve had grown to realize that love was not weakness. Love was a sign of strength. Even if you acted foolishly, even if you were swept up by your emotions, there was nothing weak about love. It was one of the purest emotions. It was ultimately a sign of strength to be vulnerable with someone and trust that they wouldn’t break your heart.

Genevieve was thrilled about her new relationship status for herself and for her unborn child. She was starting to feel like this unborn child was a real person and Genevieve could picture a life with this baby on her arm. She could picture a life where she and Sam took this baby to the park, argued about which private schools to send the child to, and traveled on exciting family vacations around the world.

Genevieve was also excited because her sister Nathalie was finally on the way North.  Nathalie was coming as an ambassador for the entire Mauricette family. With Nathalie’s approval, Genevieve would truly have the go-ahead to be with Sam exactly the way she wanted to. Family was the most important thing to Genevieve.

Genevieve trusted her sister’s judgment, and her family trusted Nathalie’s judgment as well. Genevieve’s parents finally found out that their daughter was pregnant and they were a little bit skeptical about the man who had impregnated their daughter. White men weren’t exactly trusted around those parts. With Nathalie’s approval, they could rest easily knowing that Genevieve was making a good decision.

A couple days after Genevieve and Sam made the decision to move in together, before they actually got their joint apartment, they went to pick up Nathalie at the airport. The moment Nathalie saw Sam, she knew that her sister had made a good decision. Being black and from the South, and Nathalie had to admit that she was a little bit distrustful of Sam and his intentions. Did he intend to make an honest woman out of Genevieve? Was he only there out of a fetish, or was this real love?

After one big meal together, Sam won Nathalie over. Nathalie joked that she was practically in love with him herself. She couldn’t wait for him to be her brother-in-law. When she saw Sam and Genevieve interacting, she saw two lovers who were meant to be together. Sam was sweet and generous. He teased Genevieve just enough to keep her in line and he never did it in a belittling way. Genevieve was kind to him in return and she saw that both of them found immense peace in each other.

By the time Nathalie and Genevieve got to Genevieve’s apartment, she was ready and willing with her stamp of approval.  Genevieve and Nathalie video called their family down South and Nathalie gave them the scoop on Sam. After a half hour conversation, the entire family was sold on Sam’s worth as a man. Genevieve’s father even requested that Sam come down South for some “home cooked gumbo”.

Nathalie stayed in the city for two weeks and she helped Sam and Genevieve get things sorted for their big move. With family approval on lock, their relationship could finally move forward in a meaningful way.

Genevieve was amazed by their new apartment. With Sam’s the promotion, he received a big cash advance that had enabled him to purchase a nice brownstone in cash. Genevieve was more than happy to move into it. Sam ensured Genevieve’s name was on the deed even if he had paid for it in full. He wanted to let her know that he was committed to making this work. He didn’t distrust her and wasn’t going to put her out on the street for any reason. She was a part of his family too.

By this point, Genevieve was starting to show just a little bit. Her tummy jutted out and her breasts were now the size of cantaloupes. She was gaining a bit of weight too. First, Genevieve was more than self-conscious about her weight but eventually she came to realize that Sam didn’t mind it a bit and neither should she. Pregnant women were expected to gain weight and she refused to judge herself for doing just that.

Genevieve was healthy and soon she would find out the sex of the baby. Before she and Sam had decided to be together, Genevieve had wanted to keep it a surprise. After all, she needed something to look forward to to keep her going through the difficulty of experiencing pregnancy alone. With Sam, there was plenty to look forward to in a more organic way so she agreed to have the doctor reveal the sex of the baby.

With her newfound wealth from living with Sam, Genevieve’s gynecologist and obstetricians now made house calls. It felt good not to have to drag her ass out of bed to get to a doctor’s appointment. When her doctor showed up, Genevieve was nervous to find out what sex the baby was. Would knowing change anything for her? When her doctor finally told her that the baby she was carrying was going to be a beautiful little girl, Genevieve was beyond ecstatic. She might have been happy with either sex, but she was truly overjoyed to bring a gorgeous black, biracial baby girl into the world.  Both Genevieve and Sam wondered if the baby would look more like one or the other. Genevieve imagined the baby would get Sam’s gorgeous green eyes; Sam wanted their daughter to have Genevieve’s natural, wooly textured hair.

Once they found out the sex of the baby, Sam and Genevieve went all out to plan for the arrival of their daughter. They went shopping for new age cribs, top of the line baby toys and more. Genevieve and Sam also spent a great degree of time arguing about what the baby should be called. Sam wasn’t the best at choosing girl’s names in Genevieve’s opinion. Genevieve had to shoot down most of his ideas. She had vetoed: Nancy, Betty and Brunhilda among others.

She wanted a name that gave everyone the impression that her daughter was beautiful, sweet and delicate. Genevieve also wanted a name that reflected her French Creole family heritage.  They eventually reached an agreement and decided that when their beautiful baby girl was born she would be named Dominique Nathalie Mauricette-Andover. While the name was quite a mouthful, Genevieve was insistent that since she and Sam were unmarried their child carry both of their surnames.

As Genevieve’s pregnancy progressed, more and more positive changes occurred in her life.  One of the ads that she wrote had done so well that it had made over $10 million for a company. Because of that, business was booming. Genevieve would get paid $30,000 for a job. Kid you not, there are people out there who make that much just because they can get people to click the buy button. Sam’s new job as CEO was becoming more and more demanding, but he was working on starting a business of his own as a consultant so he would have more time for his new family. Sam was thrilled about the possibility of being a father and he wanted to be a better father to Dominique than his father was to him.

Genevieve and Sam did not hear too much about Greta once the arrest had been made.  They both considered her well out of their lives and they were more than happy for it. At first, Genevieve had needed a little bit of therapy to work through the complicated emotions of having a close friend to betray her like that. In therapy, Genevieve learned about some of her own flaws that had been exacerbated by living alone in the city. She understood why she had been so eager to trust someone.

Genevieve also learned that Greta was probably a sociopath and she wasn’t to blame for missing the warning signs.  Through her counseling, Genevieve learned how to trust again. Even if she worked from home alone now, she joined some maternity classes and managed to make some pretty good friends. Genevieve had never had friends who understood her so well in her life. She had certainly never expected to meet such people in the city.

She met a young Colombian mother named Francesca who had a Spaniard banker for a husband. She met a dark skinned Nigerian woman named Adesuwa who was pregnant and getting her PhD at the same time. Genevieve made many other connections, but these two were the closest. For years and years after her daughter Dominique was born, they would remain friends. Greta’s envy had not successfully destroyed Genevieve’s chance at happiness. She had her man, her baby and friends.

Love had prevailed over envy in every circumstance.