Page 61 of His Secret Virgin
“She’s not a little girl, Sebastien,” Christopher was quick to point out. “She’s of age. And your reaction is exactly why we kept things secret.” He took my hand. “We’re in love.”
“You make me sick,” my father growled. “Send her home right now. We’ll take her somewhere and deal with this pregnancy.”
“The fuck you will!” Christopher snapped back. “You’re not in charge of her, Sebastien.”
“Neither are you,” Dad shot back. “My wife and I want the chance to talk to our daughter. We want to know if you coerced her in any way. And may God help you if she tells us you have. I know Emma never would’ve pursued you on her own. You are one sick fucker. Do you even realize how sick you are?”
I couldn’t stand it. Christopher had stood up for me, and I wasn’t about to sit there and let my father speak to him that way. Grabbing the phone out of Christopher’s hand, I had to let my father know I wouldn’t stand for this. “Dad, you stop talking that way right now. I love him. I’m moving in with him. And we’re raising our baby together.”
“Emma?” Dad asked in a soft voice. “Baby girl, come home and talk to your mother and me. We can fix everything. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But you need to know that Christopher has used you. He’s too old for you, and he should’ve known better, but there’s something wrong with him, baby girl. Come home and let me and your mom help you. We’re not mad at you, honey. Only him.”
“I can make my own decisions, Dad. I’vemademy own decisions. I wanted to be with Christopher from the moment I first saw him. He didn’t trick me. He didn’t do anything I didn’t want him to do.” It was never my intention to share with my father anything so personal about my sex life, but I didn’t want my father thinking badly of the man I loved. “And Dad, I did make the first move. Each time, I was the one who made the advances.”
“He’s made you think that, Emma. It’s not the truth.” I hated how confident he sounded—like he would know better about anyone on this topic than I would.
“Dad, I’m not coming home. I refuse to talk to you and Mom about this if you’re going to be unreasonable. I’m a grown woman. I know you don’t see me that way, but in the eyes of the law, and in my own eyes, and in Christopher’s eyes, I’m an adult. And as an adult, I can be with whoever I want, regardless of their age. You’re going to have to get used to that if you want a place in my life and the life of your grandchild.” I handed the phone back to Christopher. “Hang up the phone.”
“Wait!” Dad called out.
“No,” I shouted. “Christopher, please end the call.”
But Christopher wasn’t ready for the horrible call to end just yet.
“Sebastien, you and I should meet and talk about this. Your friendship means a lot to me, and I don’t want to take your daughter away from you guys. I know you and Celeste love her more than anything.” Christopher closed his eyes. “This is killing me, man. I swear I never meant to hurt you or your family.”
“A fat lot of good your words do now,” Dad said. “The fact is you’re destroying my family, and I won’t let you do it, Christopher. I will get my daughter back and I will make her see that this is a mistake. Why would she want to be with an old man? She’s young with her whole life ahead of her. And you’re, well, you know you’re past your prime; you have no business raising a baby at your age.”
I was shaking with anger at those insults. I was so mad that I couldn't speak. But my father’s words were having a different effect on Christopher. He was full of guilt, remorse, and I could tell he just wanted to make things better.
“Sebastien, having you as my friend has made such a difference in my life. I regret that I’ve done something that’s hurt you so badly. I hope that we can get past this one day. I am the father of your grandchild; that’s never going to change. And I am the man who loves your daughter nearly as much as you do. I will take care of her for as long as I live—however long that might be.”
Tears stung my eyes at the torment I heard in Christopher as he poured his heart out to my father. Grabbing his free hand, I brought it to my lips, and Christopher’s eyes met mine. “I love you so much, Christopher. You have no idea. Nothing will get in the way of our baby and us. I promise you that.”
My father wasn’t done yet. “I promise you both that I will not stand for this. I will do what I have to do to save my little girl the heartache you don’t seem to care about, Christopher. I’ll be moving out of your house as soon as I possibly can. And I no longer wish to work for you. I’ll turn in the company car in the morning.”
The look on Christopher’s face told me this was torture for him. “Please don’t do any of that, Sebastien. Please give yourself some time. Take all the time you need. You’ll have paid leave for as long as you need it. I understand this is upsetting to you and that you need time to process it all, but don’t throw away your career and this opportunity.”
My father didn’t bother to answer, hanging up on us. Christopher and I just looked at each other.
What have I done?
