But Who's Counting?

Chapter Thirteen

"Let's get to know each other." I offered as Alexander and I walked back into his apartment. After he finished yelling at Maya, we went out. He took us to get ice cream and then we went to the movies — resulting in a very good night. We saw a new Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Into The Spider Verse. It stared Miles Morales, who, if you were a fan of Marvel Comics and films, you knew his story. I liked the movie and Maya absolute loved it. Miles was adorable and the soundtrack was great. Maya snacked on the largest bag of fruit snacks during it. She put the bag down half way through the movie, complaining that she had too much ice cream. Alexander say next to me with Maya on his lap while I sat, twin babies basically in my lap.

After the movies, Alexander dropped off Maya at his brothers house and now, here we are, back at Alexander's penthouse.

"Sure. Like 21 questions or some shit." Alexander said, running a hand through his wild hair. I sat on the couch, sipping out of the water bottle before telling Alexander to take the floor. He sat silent for a moment before speaking up.

"What happened between that ex of yours?"

The question threw me off, but I answered nevertheless. I wanted to get to know him and I no longer cared about my feelings for Marcus to attempt to become upset over them.

"He's a nympho. I wasn't emotionally ready to have s*x with him and he wasn't mentally ready to be with someone who wasnt willing to spread her legs every time he made his advance. So, he cheated on me. I really don't care but yeah." I shrug, watching Alexander shake his head. He signed before urging me to go on.

"What's your full name?"

"You haven't googled me?" He said, fake astonishment dripping from his voice. I let out an involuntary laugh before shaking my head.

Self conceited asshole. Of course I hadn't googled him. I'd rather find out information from him himself than finding out from a search engine. Not to point out that, also, anybody could edit those things. The only thing I googled that even had anything to do with Alex was how to get in contact with him back when I first slept with him.

"Alexander Parker."

"Middle name?" I poked, watching as he rolled his eyes.

"Alexander Makai Parker." He frowned, as if saying 'Makai' left a odd taste on his tongue. It probably did since he seemed to not like talking about it. He licked his lips, looking up at me.

"That's so cute. I like Makai." I commented, for whatever it was worth. Alexander rolled his eyes, again, before proceeding to say "Well, I don't."

"Anyways," I laughed, "ask the next question."

"What's your middle name?"

"You haven't googled me?" I mocked, just like he did a few minutes before. He jokingly threw a pillowing at me before nodding. "I still want to hear it from you."

"Brooke. Sophia Brooke." I said, a smile on my face. I didn't hate my middle name, but I just thought it went weird with my first and last names.

Sophia Brooke Matthews.

"Do you enjoy my company?" Alexander asked his next question. I nodded. Times with Alexander always only ended in a argument or with me laughing, so yes, I enjoyed his company. Only when he wasn't being an ass.

My eyes raked down his body. For somebody with his body, you would expect to see at least one tattoo on him but no. His skin was clear of any type of ink. You couldn't even see a birth mark.

I know he has his ears pierced, along with his nose. Whenever he had a ring in, I noticed him toying with it — probably a nervous habit. He didn't wear he ring often but I still knew it was there. He wore small studs, almost often. The small diamonds stood out against his tan skin.

"Why don't you act famous? I mean, you're only if the richest, youngest bachelors and yet you manage to stay away from all the paparazzi, articles, and more. How? Why?"

"I just pay them not to bother me. It's simple, really. People will do anything for money. Besides, I'm trademarked. They legally can't take pictures of me and post, sell, or recreate. I guess they figure I'm not worth getting sued for almost a hundred times whatever they thought they were going to get paid for snapping a picture of me trying to grocery shop with my daughter." He said, suddenly sitting up. He played around with his fingers before asking his next question.

"Chance.. Chance mentioned something about a Jace... Who is that?" He asked as if he was trying to remember.

I swear my heart dropped to the bottom of my Croc. Nervously, I darted my tongue out and wet my lips. Alexander stares at me with such intensity that all I could do was frown before turning away.

How should I explain this? There definitely isn't any way to explain it without saying the actual reason. Anyway I worded this, I already knew how Alexander could backfire with any questions — I went to school to be a lawyer, after all.

Wiping my palms against my thighs, I began to talk.

"My ex. Yeah... another ex. He was the last person I dated before Marcus."

"What happened? Is he the reason why you didn't want to sleep with... Marquise?" Alexander said, blatantly getting his name wrong even though I literally just said it. I quietly corrected him before nodding. Alexander only urged me to continue.

Even though I got over Marcus in the nic of time, Jace was still a sore subject to me. He was my best friend, after all. I loved him with all my heart.

"He didn't hurt you, right?" Alexander was now standing, his arms crossed over his chest. He was intimidating me.

"No!" I squeaked our before speaking further. "I loved him. He was the absolute best and only deserved the best."

"What happened?"

"He died." I said, sharply. I didn't want to prolong this and I knew that if Alexander got his last name, all he had to do was search it in the Google search engine.

"He was in the foster care. Abusive dad. Mean foster siblings. His foster siblings were his foster dad's real children. Three of them. Kaden, Kristina, and  Kaia. All girls. Kaden was the oldest, so she was never really around. Kristina was 15 and Kaia was only 8. They were so mean but Jace was so sweet. I mean, their father was mean. They're sweet for the most part," I said, leaving out the one encounter I had with Kristina. "Jace and I were best friends. We fell in love and like every cliche teen romance, I gave him my V-card. He came to all of my cheerleading competitions and I went to all his football, basketball, and track meets and games. Life was great. Then one day, I get a call. When I arrive at his home, he's bleeding to death. He died just as the ambulance got there.  I couldn't recover. It just didn't feel the same so my brother and I came to live out in New York, attempting to give me a new start and leave that devastating past behind." I concluded, noticing that somewhere through my monologue, Alexander had came to sit next to me.

He was twisting a loose curl of his around his finger, a sad expression on his face.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine." I lied but I didn't want to talk about this any long. Alexander looked at me skeptical. We both sat quiet for the next couple of minutes. My eyes unconsciously trailed about his skin while my brain took a walk down memory lane.

I shook my head, hoping the memory of Jaces blood pouring beneath him and onto the floor below him would erase.

"Do you have any tattoos?" I blurted out. I could barely process what he said before I even said something. This was a distraction I need and by his reaction, Alexander's too.

Alexander laughed and leaned back against the couch. "Yeah, I do. I have two"

"Can.. can I see them? Well, what are they?"

"I have one for Maya, it's on my ring finger. I got it the day after she was released from the hospital. You cant tell from there but it's on the inside of my finger, probably why you haven't noticed. But then again, my fingers have been in yo-"

"What's the other one?" I accidentally cut him off. I realized that he had said two but start talking as if he wanted to trail away from the subject. Alexander visibly stiffened and looked away. His humorous tone was gone and his icy gaze was back.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Alexander, please? I told you one of the darkest things about me and you can't tell me about a tattoo?"

"It's of Leah. Well, not of her, but it's her name. I want it removed."

I couldn't help but prompt why he wanted it removed.

"She doesn't deserve to have a single inch of me. Not spiritually, emotionally, physically, or anything." He muttered, looking like he was trying to control himself. I desperately wanted to know more about Leah but I also was just getting on friendly terms with Alexander and I didn't want to ruin that. I also just told Alexander about Jace AND Marcus.

"If you want to ask about Leah, ask now. This maybe the only time I ever talk about her." Alexander answered my silent thoughts before looking at me. He attempted to smile but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Who is she?" I asked, almost scared of the answer. Whoever she was, got Alexander worked up like no other.

There was a long silence before Alexander answered. He glanced over at me with saddened eyes and a frown before he began speaking.

"Leah.. Leah is Maya's birth giver. We don't really call her Mom. Maya doesn't anyway. Leah had tricked me into a relationship with her. She was 28 and originally I had been 17 when I met her. It was my graduation day of school and she was Chances' insanely rich girlfriends sister. I didn't know she was 28. She told me that she was 18, actually. She didn't even tell me until later on that she had lied. The crazy thing is, she didn't look a day over 16, which is why I never doubted her. I thought I loved her, but she said the only way I'd ever be successful in life was if I helped her. So I did. Our relationship progressed insanely fast. Practically the next day, she said she loved me, I just agreed. I didn't know what I was talking about. We slept together, a lot. She was addicted to s*x, I think. She was probably a nympho. Leah would sneak into my room and just put myself in her while I was sleeping. She wanted me to get her pregnant. She wanted a baby, every time she took a pregnancy test and it came negative, she would cry and then we would have s*x. She would literally cry while on my d**k. I could never figure out why she wanted a baby so much. I still don't know her reasoning. I didn't want to be a father. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the responsibilities of being a father. s**t, I was a 17 year old guy fresh out of high school. I could barely handle myself without speaking to my mother first. she was pregnant, she gave me 5 million dollars. First I asked her where she got 5 million dollars from, she spilled the beans. She told me her real name, it was just Leah Bennett, not Cassie Leah Bennett. Although I called her Leah anyways, it just made me so upset that she lied about something so stupid. Then, she told me that she was some famous 28 year old model. She did playboy and s**t like that. I attempted to forgive her. Anyways, when I asked her why she gave me then 5 million dollars, she said because I helped her. When she was 5 months pregnant, I called it off. I told her I couldn't do it anymore, I wouldn't. I couldn't take the lying, constant need for s*x, and the whole 'oh I'm just going to work' yet there are headlines that there you are pregnant with whoever you were kissing on last night. She cheated on me while with child. So, I broke it off. She was so mad. She screamed, yelled, broke my front door. She even drove to my mothers house in an attempt to curse her out but my brothers escorted her out the home and off the property without hurting my child. When you see my brother, Anthony, ask him about the scar on his shoulder. She dug her nails so deep into him, he had to get two of them stitched up. Fast forward a couple months to when Maya was born. When Maya was born we would watch her back and fourth for those next couple months. Leah had her for the first month,  i was still able to see her. We tried to do it as often as we could without Leah and I having to be so close to each other. So she would spend a month with either parent. When Maya was 4 or 5 months, I was getting ready to go out for my trip to Paris with my family. It was Leah's month. I wanted to bring Maya but Leah said that she had plans with Maya. I woke up to the tiny thuds of Maya happily kicking her feet at my doorstep. She had a note with her and her bottle. Leah couldn't do it anymore. Having a baby wasn't what she expected. She was a model... she hated getting her hands dirty. She couldn't change diapers. Maya always cried when she was with her. She gave up. Her sister, the one Chance was dating, had came called me later that day, frantic. She told me that I needed to go see Maya and Leah. That Leah said she was going to do something. When I asked her what she was talking about, she told me that Leah had tried to kill Maya. I already had Maya so I filed a restraining order. Leah never attempted to reach out to us after that day, so it was fine. But I was a 18 year old boy with a child. I lived in a crappy bachelor pad and still needed to go to college. Chance had went to college straight  from high school and here I was... still deciding what I wanted to do. A couple months ago... or was it a year? Leah killed herself, I think. She made like international news. But that was before Maya could meet her. They don't have any pictures together because Leah thought it would ruin her if it was clear she had a child. I don't understand why she did it. I don't. But she did. I'm glad it's over now. She left Maya a letter. I photocopied it before giving it to her but Maya just ripped it up and threw it away. But, yeah. That's who Leah is. Leah Bennett is a manipulating, lying, cheating, untrustworthy, bitch."

By the time Alexander finished, I was throwing myself at him like groupie does to One Direction.

He hugged me back, squeezing me tight against him before asking me to not cry.

Alexander didn't deserve that. Maya, that sweet little girl, didn't deserve that. I can't even imagine if my mother tried to kill me when I was younger and helpless. Once I became aware of it I would never forgive her.

I pulled away from Alexander, gazing into his now bloodshot eyes before speaking "She sounds like a bitch."

Alexander laughed, bellowing from his lungs. He nodded his head before pulling me back in for another hug.

"You're a hundred percent right." He whispered into my ear.

We stayed in this tight embrace for nearly ten minutes before I attempted to pull back. Alexander hold only tightened, causing me to glance up at him. Only when I glanced up, my face rubbing across his cheek, did I realize he was crying.

"Alex... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you tell me about he-"

"Just, don't ever, ever, ever attempt to hurt one of my children. Messing with me is one thing but messing with my children, that's where you cross the line. I'm not the one. I'm really not." He said, his voice holding all seriousness, causing me to nod quickly. In the process of doing so, my head hit the bottom his his chin. The sound of his terry snapping together pulled me away from him as he grimaced in pain.

"Sophia." He groaned, holding his chin. I scrambled back over to him, attempting to help him.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry. Do you need ice?" I frantically asked. He was still holding his chin with a expression of pain on his face. Instead of waiting for a answer, I scurried to the kitchen. I know they have sandwhich bags somewhere.

I opened the freezer, seeing an ice pack. I grab a paper towel and wrap it around while running back to the living room.

I slipped it in between his hand a chin, watching as he opened his eyes. "I think I'll be okay if you give me a kiss." He said, his voice sounded as if he was in pain.

I froze before pressing my lips to his chin. Jokingly, I said "does the baby feel better?"

To which the baby responded "yes, I feel better mama."

I cringed before laughing. Alexander threw the bag of ice I had gotten for him to the floor and stared into my eyes.

It was almost like he was looking into my soul and with the look he was giving me, if I wasn't pregnant already, he was going to become a father again. He licked his lips, his thumb slowly caressing my hand as we sat in silence.

"Can I get a real  kiss?" He asked, pulling me into his lamp. I shook my head with a slight laugh.

"Please?"

"Nope." I said, rubbing my stomach. He laughed, moving his large hand to mine.

"The babies say yes."

"The mommy says no."

"We need to talk." His flirty and humor filled mood was cut short and replaced with a stern tone. I tried to smile to lighten the mood, but didn't succeed.

"Aren't we already doing that? Talk about what?" I asked, beginning to move onto another place of the couch. Alexander held me tightly against him before speaking.

"I like you. You probably know this by now. I like you, I do. But I don't like David or Crissy. I really do not feel comfortable with you hanging out with them." He stayed his problem, causing me to pull back.

First of all, I never thought Alexander was actually serious anytime he flirted with me. Even moments before, I thought he was joking. If he liked me, when did he start liking me? That night at the club? Recently? This statement from Alexander sprung up my own questions, which made me nervous. After being cheated on by someone whom I thought I loved, opening up wasn't going to be so easy. Sure, I'm pregnant with his kids but had I met him in different circumstances, I probably wouldn't even still be talking to him. I love too hard and whenever I get attached to someone, I always get hurt. I can't allow myself to put myself through that type of pain again.

Secondly, I can understand him not like David. He more than likely views him as competition( even though David has a girlfriend). But Crissy? He shouldn't even worry about Crissy. She couldn't even hurt a fly. I doubt she has anything malicious planned. Ever since we got into that fight, I haven't talked to her but still. I viewed her as a good person with good intentions.

But then again, I did read Marcus completely wrong. Maybe I didn't have the best judgement.

"What's wrong with them?" I ask, frowning. Alexander sighs before saying his lengthy speech that I'm sure he has written, drafted, redrafted, printed, and read to himself in the mirror multiple times.

"Crissy... she's very suspicious. I googled her and nothing came up. Absolutely nothing. Everybody has something about themselves on the internet; whether it be a honor roll list or a porn website, it's there. She cracks too easy under pressure but she also does crazy things to get a reaction out of you. Don't think I didn't hear you yelling at her about giving you alcohol while pregnant, Sophia. I don't play when it comes to safety of people I care about. I view Crissy and a threat and I always eliminate my threats. Now, David. Yeah, he's a good guy. Straight A student, graduated valedictorian of his high school in Florida and was second in his class at University of Tampa. Then he moves into New York, right next to you? Does he even have a job? No, he doesn't. So he can afford your apartment? Don't you pay almost 4000 dollars a month for rent? For a guy with no job, he has a pretty nice apartment. Also, I know you said he has a girlfriend but he acts like you're his girlfriend. He looks at you the same way I look at you. His eyes are filled with adoration and he is swooning. Plus, he told me to stop talking to you like he's your father. Who is he to tell me I can't talk to my baby mother?"

"He's only trying to protect me like he's the brother I've never had."

"You have three."

"Only one. Jamal and Chris are my cousins. Quincy is my brother."

"Legally, they are your brothers." He pointed out. It was true. My parents ado-

Wait.

"Why do you know that?" I questioned, turning so I could see him clearly. He ran a hand through his hair.

"I get bored too sometimes." He admits, causing me to gasp. When he gets bored he googled my family and I?

Okay . . .

"Besides, why does he need to protect you from me?"

"Would you protect Maya from her child's father?"

Alexander seemed hesitant to answer. He looked away before looking back at me.

"Yes, only because I am her father and I know how guys think."

"He's a guy too, Alex. We are friends. Just like Chance and I."

"Chance wanted to f**k you not too long ago." He mumbled, a frown evident on his face.

"What?"

"I don't remember stuttering, Ms. Matthews." He grumbled, looking to the wall like a small child.

"Alex."

"Please? Sophia, please. Can we at least get to a stable point in our relationship before you talk to David again? Everything about David just doesn't addd up."

"I don't have a job and I live where I live. Why can't David?"

"You don't have a job but you have four job offers, your parents are rolling in money, and I pay your rent."

"First of all, I only have three job offers and I pay my rent."

"I own your building."

"No, you don't."

"I can though. Anyways, I filtered your bills into my  account like three months ago." He admitted again, causing me to turn to him. He did what?

"Alex!" I began to scold, frowning at what he said.

"I told you, I'm taking care of you. But, back to David. David is a liar. A con artist. Something. Also, the fourth job offer was from me."

"Alex.. I already told you."

"I'd rather you live here and get payed twice the amount than all those other shitty jobs combined. I don't want my kids to live between California and New York because quite frankly I am not leaving. Please, let's not argue and just think about it and come back to it, Kay?"

Although I wanted to say something about this, I decided to just calm down and do what Alex said; come back to it.

"How about this... the next time Crissy OR David do something suspicious, that is suspicious to me, I'll talk to you about it... okay? Then I won't talk to them... happy?" I attempted to compromise. Alexander looked at me before nodding. I smiled and looked up at the wall.

"Can I ask you another question?" He asked me, making me snort.

"Technically, you just asked an-"

"Sophia."

"Okay, fine. What's wrong... well, what's your question?"

"Why didn't you want to move in with me?"

"Alexander. We barely know each other. Today is the most we've ever talked in a civilized conversation. Maybe if we were in a different place I would consider it but it's just... I need my own space. I ha- we have children on the way. I need to mentally and physically prepare myself for that. I also don't like depending on you for every little thing. I understand you want to be a help in my life but I'm perfectly fine. I can survive by myself. Ive been doing it for a couple years." 

"It's different now. You're pregnant."

"Which is even more reason as to why I need to be able to do this by myself. I need to grow accustomed to it. By me moving in with you, I feel as if I'm incapable of doing anything that I know I can do." I tried to explain softly, looking at my hands. I heard Alexander exhale, mumbling to himself.

"I'm sorry. I can drop you back off at your house tomorrow night." He said, sounding upset. I frowned.

Was he upset because of my reasoning?

"If I get to know you better in the next month where I can answer at least twenty questions about you, then maybe Ill move in. How bout that?" I asked. I wanted Alexander and I to be on good terms. I wanted us to be close and be able to do stuff together versus him doing it for us.

This was the only way we would be able to do this.

"Deal. But that means that I have to see you at least three times a week. Just us and Maya. No Crissy, David, or Chance."

"Deal. But there has to be ice cream."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." He said, extending his hand out. I firmly grasped it with my hands, my lawyer like tendencies counter-parting his businessmen like ones.

We sat in a comfortable silence for the next few minutes. The only noise you heard was the heat going through the vents and Alexander's harsh breathing. I twiddled with my thumb before jumping. Alexander suddenly jumped up, a wide smile on his face.

"You're nearly six months pregnant. We need baby names. I think Alexander Junior would do."

"Ew. Who likes the name Alexander?" I joked, peering up at his standing figure. He smirked before rolling his eyes. "You got pregnant by the name Alexander."

"I mean technically I didn't know your name until after I was pregnant. I like Jayson." I commented. Alexander rolled his eyes before reminding me that we were having two kids.

"So if they are boys, Alexander Jr. and Jayson. If they are girls...." I trailed off as Alexander smiled.

"Ava." Alexander said the same time I said "Olivia."

"There was a girl in High School with the name Ava and I absolutely hated her. No."

"So did I." Alexander chuckled before commenting about the name I chose. "Olivia? I won't have any of my kids named with that atrocious letter.. O."

"I like Jaisiah." I said. It was true. Jaisiah was always a name I liked, even at a young age I wanted to name a child Jaisiah.

"You just like the letter J." He commented, causing my breathing to hitch.

Maybe I was thinking about Jace. I shook my head, frowning.

"No, I genuinely like the name."

"If we are doing the letter J, I like Jasmine for a girl."

"We should prepare four names just in case we have two girls or two boys".

"So Jaisiah And Jayson..?" I trailed off, Alexander smiling. He nodded slightly before speaking again.

"Jasmine and Julia."

"How about no?"

"Yeah.. I didn't really like Julia either. Let's just stick with three names and if we do need to come up with another girl name, we'll just decide when we see her."

"Sounds good." I agreed before letting out a yawn. Alexander stares at me, as I he was debating on whether or not to say something. I attempted to widen my eyes, silently asking him to carry on and say what he wanted to say. Seemingly, he shook it off before running a hand over his face.

"I'm going to let you go to sleep. You're obviously tired. Goodnight. I had fun chatting with you." Alexander whispered, dimming the light even more than it already was before excusing himself into the kitchen. I didn't have a chance to say anything back besides a weak 'goodnight'' I pushed myself off the couch and ran a hand over my stomach.

I grabbed my phone and charger, debating on if I wanted to wait for Alexander. I decided not to, scurrying to the guest bedroom. I peeled off my clothes from the day and put on a large black T-shirt along with a pair of shorts.

I laid in bed and silently listened for Alexander's footsteps. About twenty minutes later, Alexander made his way up the stairs and crossed the hall to his room. He didn't close his door. I could hear the slight echo from everything he did. He muttered a curse when he dropped something and then threw himself onto his bed, making the frame squeak. I smiled to myself before turning over in bed.

Today became a good day.