The Professor - Ch. 35.1

After they were both sated and resting on the bed, Aurelia finally had a chance to tell Baron the secret about Trent. She told him everything, leaving nothing out.

Baron listened quietly as he heard all about Aurelia’s first love, Marshall’s suspicious scuba-diving death, and the man’s wicked uncle. How Oliver was not only the one to sexually assault Aurelia, but was also the reason there was so much secrecy surrounding Trent and why there continued to be a need for secrecy on that issue.

“To this day, none of my relatives, outside of my mother, of course, ever knew that I was romantically involved with Marshall or had ever been pregnant,” Aurelia continued from her comfortable place in the crook of Baron’s left arm. “My belly was flat when we moved to Florida. When we returned to the islands, I made sure my belly was still flat, although I clearly had more curves than before. Thus everybody naturally assumed that my mother had conceived before my father passed since he died only a short time before Marshall and I became lovers.”

“So that’s why it was so important that Trent and I get along. That’s also probably why you got all teary-eyed when he innocently called you mami the other day,” Baron said, finally speaking after his long silence.

“Yes,” Aurelia said, starting to get teary-eyed now. “Dat’s also why I came here tonight. I couldn’t marry you without telling you de truth ‘bout meh son.” She grew quiet herself as the shock of finally claiming Trent as her son took some adjusting in her ears.

“I’m glad you told me,” Baron said, moving to exit the bed. “But I have to admit, it’s a lot to ask any man to go from being a potential brother-in-law to a potential stepfather. One carries way more responsibility than the other.”

At those words, at the clear physical distance he was putting between them now, Aurelia’s eyes welled up with even more tears. Was Baron rejecting this new role she had imposed upon him? Should she have kept her mouth closed about Trent until after the I-do’s?

© 2009 by Mi’Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier