The Question (15 page)

At her words, Rashid burst out in a string of curses that caused Gail to flinch. For the first time, Gail realized Rashid wasn’t just upset, he was pissed.  “Rashid! Rashid! Calm down and tell me what’s going on.”  Although based on his reaction, Gail wasn’t really sure she wanted to know.

“She’s gone.”

“What do you mean, gone?” Gail asked sharply.

“Departed, left, vanished. Packed a bag, withdrew money from the bank, and left. No note. No word of where she was going or when she would be returning,” he said shortly as he paced back and forth. He reminded her of a caged tiger at the zoo.

At his words, Gail felt a little faint and sat down abruptly to keep from falling down. “She can’t be gone, Rashid. You must be mistaken. Crystal wouldn’t leave you. Where would she go? Are you sure she didn’t say anything? Maybe she had to go out of town unexpectedly and forgot to tell you,” Gail said a bit desperately. “Check with Carmelita. She would know.”

Rashid shook his head sharply. “She gave Carmelita the day off. Called her yesterday and told her not to come in.”

“Have you called her cell phone? There has to be a reasonable explanation for all of this. I can’t believe she would leave, not with the babies’ arrival so close.” 

“I did that first. Her cell phone is off. She left it at the house, along with her house keys and credit cards.”  He gave her a look that let her know he was not an imbecile. He’d already done all that she suggested.

Gail latched on desperately to what he said. “Well, there you have it. Something must be wrong. Crystal would never leave her credit cards, not willingly. Call the police. She must have been kidnapped or something.”

Rashid came, sat on the couch, and grabbed her hands. “I called the police when I discovered her car in the garage. It was my first thought too, that something happened. She is gone, Gail. Believe it. There is no sign of foul play. No reason for the police to believe this was anything other than voluntary on her part.”

Gail snatched her hands from Rashid and pushed at him. “Well don’t just sit there,” she commanded.  “Go find her and bring her back. This is your wife we’re talking about. Whatever problems you two are having, get over them already! The twins will be here in a few weeks.”

The more upset Gail became, the calmer and more resolved Rashid seemed to be in contrast. “Calm yourself. You are too close to your time to be getting this upset. I have called the security company we deal with to make some discreet inquires. Other than you and her coworkers, she had no friends of which I’m aware.”

“What about work? Crystal loves her job. She wouldn’t just up and leave it.”  This whole thing didn’t make sense. Crystal could be flighty at times, but this was off the charts.

Rashid stood up and paced again. “She has told her assistants that the babies were born and she would not be returning to work. Her projects are all completed so her presence would not have been missed.”

“I don’t understand. Why would she do something like this? Why leave now, when the babies are so close? Oh God, the twins. What are you going to do?”  Gail was starting to get angry. If she could get to Crystal right now, she’d shake her until she couldn’t see straight. How dare she do something selfish like this?

Rashid came and knelt at her feet, placing his hands against her stomach as though he needed to feel close to his children right then.  “I don’t know what was on her mind. I do know that she was unhappy, and nothing I did seemed to please her.”

“Maybe she just left to get her head together,” Gail suggested softly, placing her hands on top of his.  “Maybe she just needed some time alone to think and she’ll be back.”

“Perhaps, but in the meantime, I will not allow my children to suffer for her foolishness. I need you, Gail.” He looked her straight in the eye. “Our children need you. If Crystal has not returned by the time they are born, I need you to help me care for them.”

Gail felt the shock of his statement right down to her toes. She leaned back in her seat in an instinctive effort to distance herself from his request. “Rashid, you don’t know what you’re asking of me.” Her voice was shaky.

“I do know. I have given it careful consideration. I know it will be difficult but my children need someone to care for them. I want that someone to be you.”

“Then hire a nanny. I am not their caretaker. I’m the Godmother, remember?” Gail was shaking her head back and forth. She couldn’t do what he was asking of her. She just couldn’t.

“And does not the Godmother step in to help with the raising of the child if one or both parents are unable to do so? Is this not one of their duties?” He grabbed her hands when she tried to push him away so that she could stand.

“This is different and you know it. You can’t ask me to care for them, to risk becoming emotionally attached to them then step aside when Crystal returns.”  She struggled fruitlessly to free her hands.

“Be still before you hurt yourself,” he commanded sharply. “It is doubtful that Crystal will return. If she does, we will deal with that when the issue arises.”

Gail quit struggling and sat there breathing heavy, tired from her struggles. “What happened to the nanny you were going to hire?”

“A nanny cannot provide the love and attention these babies need, the love that you, their birth mother, can give to them. Of course, I will hire someone to help with the children, but what they need is you. One mother has already abandoned them. Will you do the same? Think on it, please. Perhaps it will be as you say. Crystal will return and all will be well. There is still time before the babies’ arrival for decisions to be made.” He got to his feet, forestalling any argument she would make. “I must go. You have much to think about and it is very late. You need your rest.”

Gail pushed off the couch and struggled onto her feet, trailing behind him to the door. “Seriously, Rashid, find Crystal and bring her home. She’s probably feeling overwhelmed with the coming of the children. Maybe this is just a desperate bid for your attention and she needs for you to prove how important she is to you by coming after her.”

Rashid looked as though he disagreed but held his peace. Her heart ached for him as he left even as she cursed Crystal and called her all kinds of a fool. What was she thinking, jeopardizing her marriage like this?  Rashid was a good man, a wonderful husband, and an excellent provider. Crystal may have just messed up the best thing she had going for her in her life.

* * * *

The next afternoon, when Greg came over, Gail was just getting up. He kissed her as he came through the door.  “You look tired. Rough night?”

“You could call it that. Rashid came over late last night looking for Crystal. She’s gone. Packed a bag and left. I still can’t believe it. My mind’s been racing all night, trying to figure out where she could be and what’s going on in her mind.”

“Rashid must be livid. Has he spoken to her?”

“He has no way to contact her. She didn’t take her cell phone with her. Neither did she take her car. Foolish woman even left her credit cards behind. No one knows where she is. She didn’t even leave a note explaining why she was leaving.” She trailed Greg into the living room.

“She probably called a cab. If she left her cell phone, credit cards, and car, it sounds like she doesn’t want to be found. Is Rashid hiring someone to track her?”

Gail sighed heavily and lowered herself onto the couch. “I really don’t know. I advised him to but will he do it? You should have seen him last night. He was so angry, but it was a cold, deep anger.  Truthfully, right now, I don’t know if he wants to see her again. I can’t say I blame him. At first, he thought something had happened to her. It wasn’t until he contacted the police that he realized she’d left him. I’m still having a hard time believing that she did something like this, especially now, with the babies’ arrival so close.”

Greg sat down beside her on the couch.  “That’s probably why she left.”

Gail looked at him blankly, and then shook her head.  “Maybe the lack of sleep is affecting my ability to comprehend, but that statement made no sense to me.”

Greg studied her for a moment, obviously weighing the words he wanted to say.

“Whatever it is you’re debating telling me,” she told him, “just say it.”

Coming to a decision, he said, “I want you to listen and hear me out, and no interruptions, even though you don’t agree with what I’m saying.”

“How do you know I’m going to disagree?” He arched an eyebrow at her until she flushed. “Sorry. I interrupted.”

“I know you’ll disagree because Crystal is your friend and you’re very loyal to her. You’re also too close to the situation to see clearly and completely biased in her favor. I don’t know her so I can be more objective.” Greg paused for a minute, probably waiting for her to comment. She kept silent since so far she agreed with everything he’d said.  “Crystal’s greatest desire is to have a baby, right?”

Gail nodded.

“How do you think she feels, seeing you grow larger every day with the babies she can’t have? Seeing the attention her husband is giving to you, the preferential treatment because the children in your womb belong to him?”

“But that’s crazy,” Gail burst out, unable to help herself.  “This whole thing was Crystal’s idea.”

“Yes, it was. That’s part of the problem. She’s jealous and angry and has no one but herself to blame because she set this whole thing in motion. She can’t call it off because Rashid has already bonded with the babies. Didn’t you say she’d been missing doctor’s appointments lately?”

“Yes. She hasn’t been to one since we discovered their sex,” Gail admitted.

“Has she been to any of the childbirth classes?”

“No, she’s been working long hours, trying to clear up her projects before they arrive.”  Gail was glad to be able to give him a reasonable explanation for Crystal’s absence at the classes.

“Has she really been working, or was it just an excuse to distance herself from the whole process?”

Gail opened her mouth to answer, thought about it for a moment then closed her mouth, words unsaid.

“Has she decorated the nursery? Bought any baby clothes? Has she spoken of any plans or preparations she’s making for when the babies come home other than the work she claims she’s doing?”

Gail felt like a witness on the stand for the defense being cross-examined by the prosecution. “No,” she whispered, truly shaken by this unsettling view of the friend she thought she knew so well.

“Crystal’s disassociated herself. She probably doesn’t even view them as hers, since they’re not coming from her body, but yours and Rashid’s. I see it all the time in couples that come to me for a divorce. A couple adopts a baby and only one of them is able to bond with the child.  I’ve even run across a few surrogacy cases where the parent not genetically connected to the child feels left out and is unable to bond with the baby, even though both parties initiated the process. They thought they would both be able to love the child, but when it came right down to it, one of them just couldn’t connect.”

Gail didn’t like what she was hearing but couldn’t argue. It was entirely too logical and his analysis of the situation seemed to fit.  “So you don’t think she’s just gone off for awhile to get her head together? You believe this separation is permanent?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think. What you need to be concerned about is what happens now? Rashid’s focus is going to be on his children, now more than ever. Don’t be surprised if he asks you to step in and help out with the babies now that Crystal is gone,” Greg warned grimly.

Gail’s eyes slid uncomfortably away from his, her mind on Rashid’s words from last night.

Greg jumped up off of the couch. “Son of a bitch, he’s already done it, hasn’t he? Ask you to help him with the infants when they are born?” He stood over her with his hands on his hips.

“He mentioned it, yes. I am the babies’ Godmother. It’s one of the responsibilities of the position,” she said defensively.

“Godparents step in and raise the children if both parents are dead. Crystal isn’t dead. She went AWOL. Rashid is perfectly capable of raising these children on his own. He has money and resources that a lot of men don’t. Let him hire a nanny. Hell, he can employ two, one for each child. He can afford it. He doesn’t need your help.”

Gail leaned her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. “That’s what I told him. That he didn’t need me and that what he was asking was too much.”

“Well, stick to your guns. Remember, you’re just the incubator. Once these babies are born, your job is done.” He sat back down and tugged her into his arms. With a sigh, she settled against him.  “Honey, I know they’re your friends, but don’t you get caught up in their drama. Rashid may be angry now, but when Crystal returns, he’ll take her back and you’ll be left out in the cold. Don’t allow yourself to be used as a substitute mother for these little ones. Yes, he may need you now, but what about later? Don’t get involved. You do and you’ll have nothing but a lifetime of heartache to show for it later.”

He lifted her face to his. “When these babies are born, our time officially begins. I want you.  You know that. More than that, I care for you. I want to see what develops between us once Crystal, Rashid, and these babies are no longer in the way.” Greg lowered his mouth and kissed her deeply and hungrily, a physical reminder of what was in store for her once the twins were no longer an issue.