Gabriel invited them for dinner at his boat that night. As an effort to get to know the man who was going to be Jamie’s partner in raising his child. He knew everything about Perry, everything he could find from his background check, but not the person.
They were relaxing on the upper deck dining table, enjoying the sunset over fresh seafood dinner and a glass of wine. Not for Jamie, though, she stuck to her chamomile tea. Perry told them that he was there for an event at another beach on the East side of the island, but he wanted to spend a week with Jamie before the show.
“We’re going for clothes shopping tomorrow, Perry’s going to help me pick out my pregnant outfit,” Jamie said.
Gabriel nodded, “Just put it on my tab, take my credit card, get anything you want.”
“That’s okay … I can buy my own clothes, it’s just a few essential things, it’s not that big yet,” she declined.
“Doesn’t matter, just use my card anyway,” he insisted.
“But I can afford it, you don’t have to pay for my things all the time,” she didn’t want to give him one more reason to control her.
Perry tugged her hand under the table.
Gabriel changed his position, he leaned on the table, “You’re not making anything here, Jamie, the least I can do is to pay for all your needs, including your pregnancy … that’s all, I don’t mean anything by it.”
Perry cleared his throat, he would’ve said he agreed with Gabriel if he wasn’t afraid of how Jamie would react. Jamie took one look at his face and knew he was encouraging her to take the offer.
“Okay … thank you,” she said reluctantly.
“Good … now that we’re all in the know … Perry, what are your plans for after the baby is born?” Gabriel asked.
Perry wasn’t prepared for that question at all, he took a big gulp of his wine and prayed he wasn’t going to say the right things. “Well … I want you to know, first of all, Gabriel … that I’m open to any development along the way … I love Jamie, she’s my soulmate,” he smiled and looked at Jamie.
Gabriel studied their interactions.
“I will not deprive you of your right as it’s biological father, nothing like that … I’m just simply letting Jamie know that I’m ready to take the responsibility, I will be there for the baby and Jamie whatever role they need me to be.”
The flat expression on Gabriel’s face made him nervous, but there was a very vague curve in the corner of his lips that said he had just heard what he needed to hear from him. Gabriel lifted his glass, “That makes the two of us,” he glanced at Jamie who pretended it wasn’t an innuendo.
The arrangement was far from the traditional family values that Gabriel wanted for his own, but he tried to respect Jamie’s way of life and what worked for her. Perry seemed like a reasonable guy. The pregnancy was in an early stage, there’s still plenty of time for progress.
“Which reminds me, I have an OBGYN appointment on Monday, I asked Perry to come with me,” Jamie brought the matter up.
It took Gabriel by surprise, his breath was heavy as he scratched his jawline, “You don’t have to remind me, I know it’s on Monday, that’s precisely why I’m here.”
“Oh … but I thought I would go with Perry … you’ve been gone for a while.”
“I’m back now,” Gabriel’s tone was firm and a bit annoyed.
“Hey, it’s okay Jamie, I really think it’s …” Perry was cut off.
“No … we’ve agreed, I want Perry to go with me on Monday, this would be the first experience for the both of us … I feel more comfortable with Perry by my side.”
“Jamie,” Perry held her hand, wishing she would stop talking.
Gabriel wasn’t happy about it, but he didn’t want to argue in front of Perry, “Perry … I don’t mean to be rude, would you excuse us for a moment?”
“Absolutely, I was going to the restroom anyways, excuse me,” he stood up and disappeared into the boat.
“What?” Jamie challenged him with a look.
He looked at her with his light brown eyes, he’s never had to deal with something as complicated as a woman’s mind, and this one in particular was the real deal. “Jamie … if we are going to do this, we have to have a set of rules of who does what, I thought I was going to be coming to doctors appointments because first of all … I’m the father of the baby, and second of all … I’m the one who’s going to be here throughout your pregnancy.”
She was stunned, “You are?” she didn’t know he was changing his schedule for her.
He nodded, “I’ve moved all my affairs here, I’m not going anywhere unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“You went AWOL for two weeks, I thought you’ve completely forgotten about it … and Perry’s here … he too is going to be the father of the baby, he has the right to be there too, I hope it’s not going to be a power struggle between you and Perry?”
“It’s not about power struggle, it’s about making this work … this is not exactly a conventional setting which I’m not totally agreeing on … but I’m trying, okay? You can’t just decide something without discussing it with me first, we all have to be on the same page.”
Jamie threw herself back on her chair, “Fine, let’s discuss it then, … where did you go for the past two weeks? Am I allowed to know that?”
Gabriel stared at her in silence for a few seconds, “I was confiscating your videos from Eduard,” he said.
She was quiet.
“It took me a while to make sure there were no traces left, no copies he kept under the tables.”
She swallowed hard, took a glimpse at him, “Did you get them?”
“Yes … every last one of them, I destroyed them, it’s over,” he looked away. The dusk reflected on his face, he looked almost Godly.
“How did you get him to comply?”
“He didn’t,” Gabriel turned to look at her.
Her heart skipped a beat, she had just realized the length he would go to for her. Oftentimes she felt he was distant from her, she forgot it was the closest he could get with anyone in his life.