Apology and Forgiveness

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Years later we would still be laughing about that. In no other company on Earth would the employees be up in our personal business like that, but it came down to the organization being like family. It was why I stayed on for so long even when offered a king's ransom from recruiters, one even offering a million-dollar signing bonus. That didn't even make me blink, I was already well compensated. We made a fun product, and the people were so close, it was worth a little lapse in privacy and it was better than a constant rumor mill behind people's backs like what Rae had described from her previous two organizations.

For the next four months, we had a constant barrage of colleagues interested in the whole pregnancy. I had about ten suggestions a day about baby names. Every experienced parent showered us with advice. Phil acted like an expectant grandfather. I moved in with Rae and we would compare notes in the evenings and laugh about all the attention.

Pregnancy looked good on Rae, as if she could look any better. Of course, she didn't think so at all. After discussing it with her doctor, we lowered the temperature of her hot tub to 97 degrees, and she could defy gravity for a while during a soak and we would talk about our day and sometimes about our future. I enjoyed being with her, the more time we spent together, the more I wanted to be with her.

I wanted to do something very special for her, so I went to Phil and pitched him an idea. I thought he was going to throw me out of his office, but I wore him down and by that time, he was so fond of Rae that he went soft and gave in, even though the company would possibly lose money on the deal.

The deal took several months for Phil's finance and legal teams to pull off but we were equally successful in keeping the whole thing from Rae. When it was time to tell her about it, Phil and his wife met up with us for dinner. It was a steakhouse as Rae had been craving red meat, ordering a giant porterhouse.

I was giddy throughout dinner as Phil waited until dessert to spill the beans. "Rae, I want to give you an early baby shower present, but you have to know that it was not my idea. Your 'Willie' here pressed me for it and we made it happen. As of this morning, SDG owns the rights to Battle Djinn."

Rae's eyes got huge as she looked to him, then at me, and back to him. "Whaaaa...?"

Phil laughed, "I'd like you to produce the reboot."

I watched her face go through a series of emotions and could picture her jumping up and down on the couch like when she was 13. In this stage of her pregnancy, she had begun to be quite emotional and happy tears ran down her face until she got up and gave everyone at the table a kiss on the lips, including Phil's wife.

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It was in her final trimester that we got another surprise.

She started on the game immediately the week after the deal was inked, while my coding support eventually had to pause at the end of her final trimester for another big opportunity. A large game console manufacturer wanted us to write some firmware for their microchip which would make our games run faster on their consoles than their competition. We jumped at the chance, our respective companies already having made tons of money off of each other over the years, this cooperative deal would be very lucrative to both.

Their team of executives flew in on their corporate jet to meet with Phil and my team of programmers. Because it was purely software related, Rea wasn't involved in the project but she found me in the conference room to ask me something while I waited for our guests who were checking in at the front desk. I said something flirty to her which brought out her million-dollar smile that I tried to draw out of her every time I had a chance.

The smile evaporated when she saw the two men enter the room. "Holy shit," came out of her mouth loud enough for everyone to hear.

The elder man, Mathew Jenson, who I recognized as the corporate bigshot and face of the company that he is, and a younger version of him who I knew to be his son and future heir to the company, both looked at Rae and turned white after both repeating exactly what Rae had said.

Mathew Jr. stuttered, "You're pregnant. That can't be."

She composed herself, then shrugged and put both hands on her belly. "I know, right? That's what people keep telling me."

He stuttered again, "What are you doing here?"

She said, "I'm a producer here," and then she made introductions to the people in the room. She saved me and him for last, "Matt Jensen Jr, my ex-husband, meet Bill Pearson, my future husband and father of my baby." I couldn't be certain, but I think she flashed her hand in such a way that he couldn't miss the pretty, but modest diamond on her hand.

I chuckled a little and shook his limp hand as he tried to process all of this. His father cleared his throat and we all found an open chair at the table to sit down. For some reason Rae decided to sit in on the meeting too. It was a hell of a meeting, but it was what wasn't said that made it so memorable. The moods went on like a roller coaster. Dad glaring at son, son glaring at dad, son looking at Rae with such longing and a sense of grief, and Rae glowing and exuding happiness. People watching at its finest.

After they had left and the deal was done, I followed Rae to her office where no sooner had the door shut, she burst into a belly laugh that eventually got her out of breath. I had to guide her to sit down so she wouldn't fall over.

"How soon before he gets a paternity test done," she asked me with mirth. "I keep thinking back and now I'm certain. The doctor didn't tell me that I couldn't have children, he told me it would be difficult to get pregnant and that it might not ever happen. I was so distraught from the news that I took the meaning way too seriously. It was HIM that couldn't get me pregnant. Ha. He wrecked our lives and now he knows that it was his fault all along."

She caught the look in my face and awkwardly leaned across the desk to take mine in her hands. "Oh, honey. I didn't mean it like that. My life is better now than it would have ever been with him. I love you so much."

I assured her that I was fine but then it was her turn to get a funny look. "Oh, my god, I think my water just broke," she croaked out.

I never did get her to the hospital for the birth. That baby girl, hell bent and determined just like her mother just couldn't wait. She was born into the gloved hands of a paramedic right there on Rae's desk which I had unceremonially cleared off with my arm in one fell swoop. All work at SDG had come to a halt while awaiting the news. I understood later that there was a lot of pacing and hand wringing, but I made the announcement to cheers all around that a healthy baby girl had made her presence known.

We named her Genie.

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Motherhood agreed with Rae. If I had thought she was beautiful in a dress and a wicked smile, it was topped every time I saw her in a wrinkled sweatshirt, tousled hair, and a baby on her hip. She just glowed as a mom and simply exudes happiness at being one.

We tried to make another, enjoying the process along the way, but it took almost three years to get it to happen. It was another girl and I couldn't have been happier. I have a favorite picture on my desk at work, it is of Rae holding both girls under each arm, one with a 'blankie' in her clutches and the other drinking from a bottle while Rae is looking at the camera, me really as I took the picture, and the love in her expression is unmistakable to read.

These little girls had the spirit of their mother and were forces of nature. Over the years, I think the only thing Rae and I ever fought over was my inability to say 'no' to them at times. I was completely wrapped around their cute little fingers just like I was their mother.

There was one time though that I was completely beside myself, unsure of whether I should have been mad at the girls or even said anything at all. I had come home from work and kissed Rae as I passed through the kitchen. There was a commotion from the living room and with Rae on my heels, we fully caught my pre-teen girls both jumping up and down and dancing wildly on the couch with game controllers in their hands, concluding with a jump in the air before plopping on their butts at the same time. They knew they were busted when I came around the couch and they looked at each other then at me with guilty but smiling, excited faces.

With a giggle, Rae did a 180 and teleported back into the kitchen, leaving me to deal with the rascals.

"What was that all about?" I addressed the girls, asking accusingly.

Genie spoke up, "We just shot down the purple djinn spaceship in the final level of Battle Djinns in Space."

"Well, you know you shouldn't be jumping on the furniture like that!"

The girls looked at each other in confusion and then Genie defended her actions for both of them, "Why, Dad? Mom does it all the time!"