Divorce To Restart: Vengeful Ex-Wife Strikes Back!

Chapter 80 Mini Nina

REMINGTON HOSPITAL, NEW YORK.

“What the hell is happening?” Xander bellowed as he paced the hall back and forth. No one has attended to them just yet. Carla informed him that Nina was getting the needed attention from the doctors. However, it didn’t stop Xander from being on edge. Venus walked towards them hurriedly with her heels hitting on the floor hand. “Baby.” She let out breathless. “Mama, what are you doing here?” Xander asked with a furrowed brow. “I called Jace, and he told me that Nina was at the hospital. I had to come. How are you feeling, baby? Carla, thanks so much for being here.” She said to Carla, who responded with a polite nod. He sniffed, looking towards the labor room. “I don’t know, mum. I am worried.” Xander admitted. Venus pulled him into an embrace, caressing his hair gently. “It’s going to be okay, baby. Nina is a strong woman, and she will pull through.” They kept pacing the hall back and forth for the next eight to nine hours. Nina took a long while to be fully dilated. Venus and Carla kept going back and forth to keep Nina company. She needed reassuring words as each pain hit. Xander passed out when she was ready to pop the baby out, and he insisted on being inside. Venus eventually stood in his place until the little girl was born. “He is such a coward.” Venus mocked Xander as they surrounded Nina. Nina smiled faintly; the exhaustion was still evident on her face. “Thank you so much, guys. And Xander, you didn’t have to, but you still showed up. That is more than I could ask for. Thank you.” Xander held her hand and kissed it. “You did great. Thank you for surviving this.” “Godmother coming through! You all leave the way.” Tania hollered from the entrance of the room with gift bags in hand. She dumped everything on the front floor, hugging Nina tightly. They all laughed at her goofiness. “Congratulations, girl. I am so proud of you.” She mused. “Here is your little one.” A nurse arrived with the baby in hand. Everyone cooed in adoration as the baby was placed in Nina’s hands. Venus sniffed back a tear as she reminisced on her baby girl years ago. “She is so beautiful.” She mumbled. Nina looked towards Carla and smiled. “Why don’t you hold her, Venus.” She hesitated for a while. “You are the grandma now.” “Me.” Venus drawled dramatically before taking the child with caution. Her heart melted at the little one. “Have you chosen a name for her?” “Not yet,” Nina admitted. “I think we should let the new mum and baby rest. The baby needs to be fed.” The nurse said. “Alright. Nina, would you like to eat anything?” Xander asked. Nina shook her head. “Not yet. But I will let you know if the need comes.” “Do you need me to get you something from the house?” He asked again. “Yes, please. Tania will give you a list.” She mused. “Wow! That was a lot.” Jace mumbled as they entered the car to drive to the house to get what Nina needed. Venus has insisted she would stay back with Carla and Tania. Xander smiled, letting out a soft yawn, “Yeah. It took me back to Mum’s time. Knowing Nina was going through so much pain for those long hours made me feel incompetent. And then I passed out. Isn’t that shameful?” His brother laughed. “It is indeed. I couldn’t stop laughing.” “Yeah, right. I bet you were having fun.” “So, how are you feeling? Damn! I can’t believe it’s midnight.” Jace stated as he looked up to the dark sky. “What do you mean?” Xander threw back and also looked out the window. The air felt chilly. “You know what I am talking about, Xander. All this is new, and I am sure you have been in your thoughts all day.” He inhaled sharply, tapping his nails on the car door. “It’s different, Jace. It had me thinking of many things. I love Nina, and I must say, one look at the little one not too long ago made me feel brand new. I want to be in their life. And now is when I get to know if I am wanted or not. Also, it dawned on me that I might never get to meet a child. That I fathered.” Xander mouthed the last part like it tasted wrong in his mouth. “Why would you even think like that? You know you will make a great dad; the chance will never elude you. And as for Nina wanting you, you don’t have to feel any way about it. Whatever happens, just let it be. You have done your best.” “You make it sound like it is an easy thing to do. I love Nina very much, maybe too much. I don’t know what would become of me if we don’t work out.” “Maybe you won’t have to be so bothered if you start to work on yourself.” “Like I am not trying enough.” “No, brother. You do the bare minimum. You think I don’t notice the beer cans in your office fridge with a soda wrapper?” Xander blinked in shock at the exposure of his secret. “How the hell did you get that?” “Well, I was waiting for you to return from a meeting and thought to check your fridge. I was proud to see that you were taking recovery seriously and chose to join you in solitary. Only to open it to find the real you in it. How did you even get the time to mask that, Xander?” Jace sounded disappointed. “It’s all because of you. All of this is tiring.” “Since when did you start blaming others for something you did? I promised myself that I would inform Mum if there ever came a slip-up on your end. But now, I don’t think I want to anymore. You will learn the hard way.” He sucked his teeth. “Is that a curse?” “Call it whatever you think. We are here.” Jace mused, opening the car door. “I will grab a taxi home. I am sure you can handle yourself from here.” Xander hurried out of the car to call him back. “Jace! What the hell, man, will you wait!” He turned back with his eyes filled with tears. “What? What do you want me to wait for? I have had enough of waiting for you, Xander! What the fuck, man? Because of you, I left Dad hanging. Everyone was so worried about you, but because they walked on eggshells around you, none of them could tell you how worried you were making them. Mum fears you might commit suicide then. You had no friends, nobody that you held close to you. I had to step up and be more than just a brother to you!” Jace scoffed, wiping away the tears that rolled down his face angrily. “Yes, I am always considered the immature one. But at least I knew what to do when my only brother turned himself into a cave monk, refusing to acknowledge that others cared for him. You became so reclusive and hid yourself away like nobody else matters. You weren’t even aware of my leg accident because no one could reach you on the phone. For a while, I blamed Nina and despised her. Then I realized that it was all you.” “Jace-” “Let me finish, Xander!” He bellowed. “What is wrong with you? Will it be hard to consider your family and stop thinking all about yourself? Mum will have a heart attack if she knows what is going on with you. So what if Nina does refuse to spend the rest of her life with you? Will you consider suicide for real this time? Or will you get shaved and go on a forever-long journey? You know what? I am done. I am never going to ask if you went to your appointments. Neither will I call Uncle to find out about your progress. My presence irks you. I will stay away. Maybe it’s really for the good. Have fun with your life.” Jace turned away and picked up his pace before Xander could go after him. He flagged down a cab and got into it. Xander watched helplessly as the car drove off. **************

NINA’S HOME, NEW YORK. “Is Winter asleep?” Venus asked Nina from the kitchen. “You should try and get some sleep too. I will make you warm milk, and dinner will be ready when you are awake.” She said, getting to work on the milk. Nina smiled and felt teary-eyed. It’s been three weeks since she birthed her daughter. After two days of being pestered by everyone to name her, Nina eventually came up with Winter. Despite the situation surrounding her birth, her beautiful daughter bloomed like flowers during winter. Nina had worried about her affection for the child. But the minute she was placed in her arms, every worry vanished, and her life felt whole. Venus, on the other hand, makes Nina feel like her actual daughter. She took it upon herself to check in on them every day. Carla barely has much to do because Venus is always in the way. Also, the house seems too small to accommodate them all. Despite that, Venus doesn’t mind and helps look after Winter whenever Nina needs to catch a break or sleep. Inhaling deeply, Nina walked towards her and hugged her from behind. Venus let out a shocked chuckle. “Nina, what are you doing?” Nina shrugged, cuddling her further. “I am just so happy to have you here. Thank you so much, Venus. I don’t know why you love me this way. But I have never known what it feels like to be loved this way. Thank you.” She said while letting the tears flow freely. Venus smiled brightly. “Even though I had grown up with so much love around me. I saw how my brother longed for a child, and now that I know you were the child, he desired to make his all his life. It makes me want to make up for all the times we abandoned you. You are a sweet and lovable person, Nina. It would help if you never doubted that. Also, you gave me an amazing granddaughter. What more can I ask for?” She stiffened at her words. Nina cleared her throat and stood straight. Guilt had gotten a grip on her in the past few weeks. Lying to the poor woman’s face felt like a grievous crime. The last thing Nina wants is to build relations based on a lie. She would know better how hurtful that is. Also, it feels unfair to burden Xander with telling his parents the truth when everyone else is aware. “Venus, can we talk for a while? Winter’s baby monitor is on; I would know if she is awake.” “Okay. Is everything okay?” Nina scratched the back of her neck. “I don’t think it is, and your reaction to what I am about to say will determine that.” She said. Venus wasn’t sure what the discussion would be about, but she could almost take a guess. They sat on the couch facing each other, and Nina seemed quite uncomfortable. “Now, Nina, you know I don’t bite. Say whatever it is you have on your mind.” She said. “Alright.” She mumbled, doing a five-second breathing exercise. “So, I have a confession to make. And genuinely, it wasn’t the intention from the beginning; we were caught off guard. If you intend to get angry, face me and leave Xander out of it. My guilt wouldn’t let me keep coming to your face, acting like nothing is wrong.” “Venus, as you know, I am an orphan. But that didn’t stop life from messing with me. Xander and I dated in college, and our relationship, which felt so perfect, crashed all in a day when I caught him in bed with another woman. I was so hurt that my best friend told me I would be a fool to hear him out. So I moved on. I finished college, got a job, and got a good one. I also found a husband in my company. He happens to be the CEO. Life felt good. Four years later, I found out he had been sleeping with the same best friend of mine since the second year of our marriage. It seemed unfortunate then, as I was pregnant, and he threw me out the same night I made the announcement. I was made to sign the divorce papers while he and my supposed best friends were loved up in front of me.” Nina paused as she expected a reaction from Venus; instead, she only concentrated on the conversation. Even though her heart was racing too fast, she knew there was no backing out from this anymore. “Things went from amazing to worse. I had nowhere to go-no friends or family to run to. My foolish self had shared a joint account with my ex-husband and put all of my money since we became couples into the account. It felt like the end for me. Tania was working in the house at the time. She found me and helped me out of the shabby hotel I was in. Then, I got a job at the grocery store, where I reconnected again with Xander. At first, I pushed him away, but he stayed.” She sniffed back a tear. “I promise, Venus. I didn’t try to trap him in any way. He wanted to stay.” She sobbed. Venus sighed and reached for her hand. “Nina, darling, I appreciate your honesty. I feel proud that my assertions about your person are correct. I could tell the pregnancy wasn’t Xander’s. He might be a handful, but he wouldn’t keep such good news away from me that he knew I would go crazy about. But I had to come to terms with the fact that he might be trying to protect you. Why should you be blamed for the stupid people you were unlucky to meet? I love you and Winter regardless. I hope you don’t think I am too extra to be her grandmother. My children think I am extra.” She pouted. Nina, still shocked at the response, let out a soft chuckle. “Oh, no, not at all. I love that Winter will grow up around family. People who love her. Thank you so much, Venus. It means a lot.” She mumbled, hugging her closely. “Thank you, too, for making my son a happy man. It’s been ages since I saw him like that.” “Was it that bad?” She asked, releasing her from the hug. Venus nodded with a weak smile on her face. “It was. But it’s different now, and I am very much invested in his happiness. I am sorry if I sound selfish.” “No, you are not. You are just being a mother.” They stayed quiet for a while before Venus cleared her throat. “I do hope you have plans to get back at that ex-husband and friend of yours. If you need help, I will gladly do anything to make them pay.” Nina giggled. “Uncle J. R. and Xander are helping me work towards this as much as I love to be with Winter. I also need to get back to work and round all of this up.” “But you can get to work from home. Xander can arrange that. You are still in a delicate state. You need enough rest.” “Don’t you think I might be overusing my privilege?” Venus waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, please. It is why you have it. Don’t feel guilty at all. Use it for as long as you want.” “Alright, I will talk to Xander about it.” “I am sorry if I sound nosy, but don’t you think this place is too small for you and Winter? You will need the help of nannies, and I would like to spend the night from time to time. With Xander here, I think you all should move to his house. There are tons of room there.” Nina blushed, “I don’t think Xander and I have reached that level yet.” “Why not? Everyone sees the look in his eyes whenever he is around you, and he loves Winter. He wouldn’t blink a lash if you moved in with him. Moreover, why waste money to rent when there is a free house?” “Can I be honest with you?” “Sure, baby.” “I am trying to be careful. I met with Xander when I was most vulnerable and needed help. I don’t want it to be that I might have taken advantage of his kindness or used him for my selfish gain. I want to be sure I love him without strings attached, even with everything he has done. It’s safe to say I am in love with him.” “Well, I guess we are all guilty of something. Someday, I will tell you something about me that makes me so in love with my husband even though my sons think he doesn’t deserve it. All I know is you two will work out. The Xander I know won’t give up unless you push him away.” “I would never do that.” “It’s okay, honey. You have a right to decide for yourself. And only do what makes you happy. Life has been tough on you. Whatever happens, I will remain Winter’s grandmother and your foster mother. So get used to seeing this face for a long time.” She laughed, gesturing to Nina to embrace her. Nina leaned in and hugged her firmly. It felt like home; she would be a fool to let it go. The child monitor beeped loudly, jolting them to the present. “I should go see her,” Nina said quickly. “And I will go make the milk and come to you,” Venus announced, hurrying to the kitchen.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.