The Last Option

After the funeral and seeing his dream of being practically the owner of everything was being fulfilled, Louis Randall felt excited to the point of summoning Duncan again, but this time to his apartment, to celebrate his triumph. When the blue- eyed killer walked in he was practically on top of him, almost dragging him into the main room between kisses and taking off his clothes. Moments later and having extinguished the flame of desire, they were thoughtful in bed. "I've never seen you like this, so wild," Duncan told him.

Louis continued to stare at the ceiling of the room for a few more seconds before answering him. "It's the emotion of the dream come true. Now I'm practically the owner of Southern Hilltop Gold." "What about Rebecca Hicks?"

"She will do what I tell her. She will take possession of Nathan and Norma's assets and everything will remain the same. In addition, I will convince her to continue living the life of luxury and excess she has always had, without worrying about the company. She will leave everything in my hands."

Louis turned to see him, thinking of something.

"What about the driver? What have you thought to do?"

"It's funny, yesterday I went to the hospital to try to see him but I found something I didn't expect."

"What did you find?"

"The guy had a baby in his room, with his crib. A nurse was taking care of him and confirmed that it was his room. He was in the bathroom at the time, so I couldn't see him."

"Why would he have a baby there?"

"I made up an excuse saying I was wrong and quickly went down to the reception. The receptionist told me the baby was his son, and his wife, when she found out what happened to him and the Hicks, became so complicated that the delivery was early and she died after giving birth. He was left alone with the baby."

"Now that I think about it, we were never aware of him, or his family, only Nathan and Norma."

"It's funny how things happen. Your cousin and his wife could never have children; I imagine how they would get when they found out that their driver was going to be a father."

Louis returned his attention to the ceiling, thinking.

"What are you thinking about?" Duncan was surprised that he suddenly shut up and stayed like that, thoughtful.

"No, it can't be," Louis said after a while, shaking his head and dismissing the thought that had suddenly come to him. "I must be imagining things."

"What?" Duncan was intrigued. "What cannot be?"

"For a moment I thought that maybe the baby was Nathan and Norma's son, which they had with the help of the driver and his wife."

"How would it be possible? At the fertility clinic they could never get them to conceive."

"Not in her, but in another womb yes. Think about it: they couldn't have children three times and would try a fourth and last time. Norma was never pregnant, never could, they could turn to someone else, and that someone was the driver's wife."

"Like a belly for rent? Do you think it was possible?"

"Everything is possible today with technological advances. But of course, I'm making an assumption. Maybe I'm wrong."

"If that was how you are thinking about it, don't you think Nathan would have protected that baby? Wouldn't he have made a new testament?"

"That's why I'm discarding the idea. Rebecca is the only heir so far, and that lawyer Phil Wilcox hasn't said otherwise."

"Then stay calm. It's just your assumption. That's the driver's son, period."

"And now there is that baby in the way, I imagine you won't do anything against that guy."

"I must think about it. So far he hasn't said anything about me to the police, which may be he didn't see me well, or he doesn't remember my face if he did. Either way, I'm off police radar." "Being you, I wouldn't trust it."

"I don't do it. You know I'm cautious."

"How about another round?"

Duncan smiled widely.

"I've been ready for a long time."

When Bernard returned home, he felt a wave of sadness as he remembered Margaret. He was looking at the apartment and how big it now seemed without her presence. He wasn't sure if he could continue living without her, for her memory was in everything they had there and it mercilessly wounded his heart. He remembered her smile, her enthusiasm, her dedication to him. He also felt a great emptiness in his soul, and a feeling of anguish and hopelessness assailed him at times, faced with the uncertainty of what will come now that she is gone.

Standing in the middle of the room, he was still watching everything when he felt a hand on his shoulder that plunged him deeper into the heartbreaking present. It was Laura's hand, who was standing behind him along with the others. "You must be strong, Bernard," said Laura softly, who was still holding the baby. "I know that everything will be very difficult without Margaret but you must recover and continue, especially for little Nathan. You have to hold on to him and move on because he needs you."

"It's true," Camila said, "you must think about the baby. He's a little piece of her that you now have with you, and for him you must move on."

Bernard lowered his head for a few seconds, trying not to cry again. He went to the sofa and sat down, staring at the marble floor. Everyone was in front of him, expectant, especially the elderly couple, who, because they were also absorbed in what was happening to him, didn't realize for the moment they were not in their usual house but in a luxury apartment. Not even when Bernard gave Camila directions of where to go did they realize."

"What a nice apartment!" Camila said, trying to ease the situation by changing the subject.

Bernard looked up, as Thomas and Laura began to observe everything around them and realized they were in a different place than where he lived before.

"Wow!" Laura said. "When you left the neighborhood you didn't tell us it was to move to a place like this."

"I'm surprised," Thomas said. "Is it rented? How can you pay for something like that?"

Bernard thought he should no longer keep from his friends the secret he and Margaret shared with the Hicks; the elderly couple had known them for a long time and knew that no matter how hard he and Margaret tried, they wouldn't be able to buy a luxury apartment like that anytime soon. Overall, they'll find out anyway when Phil Wilcox begins the process of recognizing little Nathan as a Hicks."

"This apartment was a gift from Nathan Hicks to Margaret and me," he told them, looking at everything around him. "It was part of a deal we made to have their baby."

They all stared at him confused, waiting for him to continue speaking.

"Sooner or later all of you will find out, but little Nathan isn't my son, nor Margaret's. She only carried him for nine months in her womb. The boy is the son of Nathan and Norma."

They all gasped.

"But, how?" Laura was the first to react; she was surprised by Bernard's revelation, as were Thomas and Camila.

"They couldn't have children on their own," Bernard continued, "and they had tried everything without success. They only had in vitro fertilization left in a different womb than Norma's, and Nathan proposed to Margaret and me that we rent hers for them."

Laura went to sit next to him, watching little Nathan sleeping on her lap. Thomas and Camila also sat on the other furniture in the room.

"It's true," Camila said, "they were attending a fertility center, with Dr. Holloway by the way. Even though Mr. Hicks never told me anything, I assumed they were unsuccessful, since I never saw Mrs. Hicks pregnant. Holy God! When they finally manage to have a baby, they are murdered. What a disgrace!"

"They wanted to keep everything a secret because of their family," Bernard continued. "Nathan considered that his sister and his cousin were not good people."

"And I agree with him," Thomas said. "They only think about money, they were never united. Not even with his sister he was. I always considered Louis Randall and Rebecca Hicks despicable."

"And what do you plan to do now?" Laura asked him.

"Attorney Phil Wilcox will soon begin the process for little Nathan to be recognized as a Hicks. He says a DNA test and my witness statement is sufficient."

"I hope he succeeds," Thomas said, "so the baby can inherit what rightfully belongs to him."

"I hope so too," Bernard said.

"Did you say that this apartment was part of the deal for the rental of the belly?" Camila asked, still somewhat surprised.

"Yes. Nathan was very persuasive for us to take it. Margaret and I thought it was excessive, but Nathan practically forced us to accept it. Everything you see here now is mine, with the exception of all the baby things you will see in the second room. They wanted the baby to stay hidden here for a time until they could reveal his existence to their family and the world."

"They must have been very grateful for the baby," Camila said sadly. "It's a shame they didn't get to enjoy him."

"They were, and very happy," Bernard said, looking at the baby in Laura's arms.

At that moment the bell of the apartment rang. Bernard was surprised, because no one outside the Hicks, Phil Wilcox and now his friends knew that he lived there.

"Maybe it's the janitor," he said, as he tried to get up to go to open the door.

"Please don't stand up!" Camila said, getting up immediately and going to the door. "I'm going."

When she opened the door she was surprised to find Captain West and Detective Scanlon behind it.