A Baby For The Billionaire

“Just to be clear, Mr. Singh… You speak English, right?” Stephen asked after exchanging handshakes with the Indian man who had just arrived at their house.

“Yes Sir, I am bilingual,” the man replied in a funny accent and Stephen chuckled.

“Well, that is fair enough,” he replied, ignoring the fact that the man had missed “am”. As long as he could pass the message correctly, Stephen had no problem with his English.

Come to think of it, weren’t the Indians colonized by the British? Doesn’t that automatically make English an official language in their country, or so the billionaire CEO thought.

“Please come with me, Mr. Singh. You are here at the right time, my family is waiting to meet you.” he announced as he turned back towards the house.

“It will be my pleasure, Mr. Gay.” He replied.

Stephen coughed immediately. “Um… sorry, but it is Mr. Gray.” He turned back and corrected immediately.

“Yeah, that’s what I said.” The man replied with a smile.

Stephen scratched his head and turned awkwardly. Okay, maybe he should also overlook this one, but he was certain he heard the word gay, and not like he was homophobic or something, but he would prefer his last name to be called appropriately.

“Okay, you know what? Just call me Stephen; that should do just fine,” he instructed and Mr. Singh nodded with a smile.

“Sure, I will call you whatever you want, Mr. Gay.” He said.

“Oh shit! Never mind, just come with me,” Stephen said hurriedly and then headed towards the building, the man followed him immediately.

Domenic better be sure that this man here was the professional he claims to be, because how does he not know how to pronounce the word Gray? If all Indians sounded that way, then Stephen knew for a fact that he would ever be stepping foot in that country. Maybe it was just something with the man’s tongue. If it was a disability, then maybe it should be ignored.

Stephen walked into the family’s major sitting room and met everyone there, his mother, his father and his fiancée, as well as his little sister who had chosen to join the crew; surprisingly, she was sober today.

“Alright everyone, this is Mr. Singh Maharaja or something like that, I am not familiar with the last name. Just call him Mr. Singh for short, he is going to be the event planner for the upcoming wedding.”

“What wedding?” Laura asked immediately and furrowed her eyebrows.

“Huh?” My Singh gasped with wide eyes. “There is no wedding? I thought you said there was a wedding? I flew all the way from New York city down to this place.”

Stephen sighed and rubbed his forehead; these two were going to give him a fucking migraine. “Yes, Mr. Singh, there is a wedding. Don’t mind my sister, her memory works best when she is drunk.” He replied.

“Oh… Okay, I am glad that there is one, because if there is no wedding, then I will just have to make one happen anyway,” he uttered in that hilarious accent and the family burst into laughter.

“Oh, I like this one,” Laura said immediately with a smile.

“Yeah, whatever… just don’t distract him, he is here to work… you know how important this wedding is to me,” Stephen warned her.

“Well, it isn’t to me. I don’t even like her.” Laura announced.

“Hey, I am right here!!” Jenny yelled.

“Oh, sorry your highness, I didn’t see you there.” Laura taunted in mockery.

“Okay, enough you two. Laura, you either behave or leave us alone.” Mrs. Gray warned.

“Oh, I was going to grab a bottle anyway. Apparently, I am only useful when I am drunk,” Laura said and scoffed at Stephen. She walked towards Jenny and flung her hair at Jenny’s face before going up the stairs.

Stephen sighed and turned back to the wedding planner. “Um, I am sorry you had to see that, Mr. Singh”

“Huh? What are you sorry about? I love family drama? This is just perfect, I will choose it over a boring wedding any day and any time,” he replied and laughed childishly.

Stephen growled softly and clenched his fist. Where did Domenic find this man? If he was wrong about Mr. Singh here being the best of the best, then he might have his Mexican ass kicked back to Sicily.

“Anyway, meet my family. This queen over here is my mother, the quiet old man beside her is my father, and this princess is my soon to be Queen. She is the bride, so please work with them to achieve the best results ever. I want this wedding to be talked about for decades, okay?” he instructed.

“Wow, what a beautiful family you have got here.” Mr. Singh said jovially and blew a kiss at them.

Jenny blushed. “Okay, I might have to agree with you sister on this one, he is cute, I like him!”

“Good, then I guess things are going in the right direction.” Stephen uttered.

Mr. Grey senior sighed and stood up, he walked to Mr. Singh and extended his hand for a handshake. “Welcome to our home, Mr. Singh, and forgive my son’s manners. He only knows how to do business, but is very terrible at treating guests. Please have a seat while I ask the servants to get you some juice or alcohol if you prefer.” He said with a smile and pointed to a cushion after the handshake.

Stephen sighed and rolled his eyes. How would he remember to offer a seat when there is so much drama in the family? He had other things to think about; that was his defense but of course he kept it all to himself.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Gay… it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Jenny burst into laughter immediately and Stephen sighed. “Just ignore that father, I already had that conversation, nothing is going to change.” Stephen said immediately as he knew his father intended to correct that last name.

Mr. Gray senior smiled and then nodded. “Sure, please have a seat Mr. Singh,” he offered again and the wedding planner did as instructed.

Stephen also found himself a seat to avoid being the only one standing, his father signaled the butler who wasn’t standing far away to serve them drinks and off he went without hesitating.

“So, like I was saying… I want this wedding to be the talk of the town, so mom and Jenny, please work hand in hand with Mr. Singh and his team, which I believe will be arriving soon, will provide everything that is required. Do not hesitate to inform me or Domenic of whatever that is needed, because as you know, I won't always be around in the following weeks. Mr. Singh here has assured me that his team will take care of everything, starting from the venue to the food and drinks and entertainment, all we need to do is provide the finance which thankfully is not a problem.” Stephen announced.

“I know that Son, you don’t have to worry; this wedding will be a blast! Also, you should begin to reduce your responsibility in the office, you are getting married now and so you would need to cut off your workload and concentrate more on family building so your wife wouldn’t feel neglected. You are the CEO, so you can assign some of your duties to other staff members or higher new people to do them. I must warn you, things are going to change after you get married, you better be prepared for the baggage of trouble that awaits you because that is exactly what marriage is all about.” Mr. Gray senior instructed.

“Huh? Are you saying that women are bags of trouble?” Mrs. Gray queried immediately, feigning anger.

“Come on honey, you can't pretend like your gender isn’t the reason for all the drama in marriage.” Mr. Gray replied with a smirk.

“Oh, so we are in trouble, huh? It is fine, just know that you are sleeping in the Dog house today,” Mrs. Gray fired.

Jenny burst into laughter immediately while Stephen smiled. He was glad that his parents still shared this bond ever since their marriage three decades ago. He began to imagine if his own would be like theirs, he very much wanted it to, but was Jenny really the right girl? Was he making the right choice?

Slowly, his mind drifted off to a place of imagination that he was completely lost and unconscious of his environment. He then began to think of the last two weeks, the scene with Ana was still fresh in his mind and it hasn’t stopped bothering him. He was getting married like he hadn’t just raped a girl two weeks ago. What if word about his actions spread out before his marriage day and ruin it, forget about his marriage, what about the girl herself?

According to her, he had ruined her life and that bothered him. Just three days ago, he had checked in with the hotel to know if she resumed work but the manager says differently, she never returned to that place ever since. A part of him was eager to know how she was doing, he couldn’t stop thinking about her, he couldn’t get that blurry night out of his head, nor the morning that followed. Her screams, her pleads to not be raped, her tears, it kept getting clearer with every new day, or maybe it was just his imaginative abilities adding more color to the scene, making it seem more realistic. In summary, he was being troubled by his actions and feared what the reactions might be.

“Stephen!!” he suddenly heard his father scream his name, jotting him back to consciousness.

“Yes Father.”

“Wow, you seemed really lost back there, what is going on? I know I said marriage was a baggage of trouble but it is not that bad,” his father teased.

Stephen smiled as a cover up and then he chuckled and nodded his head. “Sure father, I will try not to think much about it.” He replied.