Forever Mine

Benjamin Lockwood walked into his office with the baby bassinet in his right hand and his laptop bag in his left.

As soon as he reached his office, he set the bassinet on the coffee table and looked down to see his niece sleeping peacefully.

Baby Sapphire, eighteen-month-old, was his stepsister’s daughter.

Eleanor came into his life when he was twelve years old, and she was ten. Three years after his mother’s death, his father, William Lockwood, married Elizabeth Locason, a widow with a ten-year-old daughter.

When his father remarried, he was all set to deal with the atrocities of an evil stepmom, having believed that all stepmothers were like Cinderella’s stepmom.

But Elizabeth loved and took care of Benjamin like her own son. With his father’s second marriage, Benjamin got another mother and a lovely sister.

Life was happy until Eleanor met John. William and Benjamin were against Eleanor’s relationship with John, as the guy was a good-for-nothing fellow, or so they thought.

Benjamin tried his best to discourage Eleanor from the relationship, but it only made her more and more stubborn. And in the end, she chose her love over her family and eloped with him.

Eleanor’s father was a well-known businessman, and Eleanor was the sole heir of all his properties. Naturally, she became a target for gold-digging manipulator John Thompson.

And by the time Eleanor realised the truth, it was too late.

Baby Sapphire was already born, and half of Eleanor’s hefty bank balance was drained.

But Eleanor was too proud to come to her brother directly for help. She made a will, stating all her properties to go to baby Sapphire if anything happened to her and the baby be left under the guardianship of her brother Benjamin Lockwood.

Eleanor and John died in an accident three weeks ago, and that was when Benjamin met his niece for the first time.

He was too angry with Eleanor for choosing someone she met a mere year ago over him and their family.

But he swore to never repeat the mistake.

Eleanor had left Sapphire in his care, and he would do everything in his power to care for the girl.

But taking care of a baby is no cakewalk. He realised that within a day. It was yesterday when the child welfare community handed over the baby to Benjamin.

“Benjamin. Mr Gabriel Clarke is here to meet you,” his assistant, Claire, informed him.

He looked at his sleeping niece and decided against having a meeting in his office, not wanting to disturb her.

“Ask him to wait for me in the mini-conference room. And Claire, sit here and do your work till I come back. Keep an eye on her. If she wakes up, give her the bottle, and if she refuses to take it, call me,” he said, and his assistant nodded to every instruction.

Claire came back after five minutes to let him know she did whatever he asked her to.

“Keep an eye on her,” with that said, Benjamin walked out of his office to the mini-conference room.

“Good morning, Gabriel,” Benjamin greeted his legal team head.

“Good morning, Benjamin.”

“Everything alright? You look troubled?” Benjamin asked.

“Benjamin. Your brother-in-law’s family has filed a petition for the custody of the child,” Gabriel said, and Benjamin cursed.

“Their argument is that baby Sapphire has been a part of their life, and she is far more familiar with them than you, who never once visited her before,” Gabriel said.

“Damn it.”

“And John’s brother is a married man with two children of his own. And they state that Sapphire will have a better life with a family rather than a bachelor,” Gabriel added.

“They just want the money that belongs to Sapphire. I will not let them do that,” Benjamin said coldly.

“Eleanor’s will is strong. So, there is nothing to worry about their argument about you never visiting the baby before. But their argument on Sapphire being better with a family rather than a bachelor could create issues for us.”

“What are the scopes for paying them off?”

“It could work temporarily. They can come back again later on with the same arguments.”

“What other option do we have?”

“The best option will be for you to get married, Benjamin,” Gabriel said.

“What the!!”

“It could be advantageous legally and emotionally. Sapphire needs a mother.”

“I lost my sister three weeks ago. How do you expect me to get married now?”

“We don’t have another option, Benjamin.”

Benjamin huffed in annoyance. Where is he going to find a bride now? Not just a bride. A bride ready to be an instant mother?

“You can leave now, uncle. I will get back to you soon.”

He was not ready for marriage yet. His father had handed over the CEO position only six months ago, and he was only settling down in the new position. How was he to get married now?

***

Isabella Carter ran around the office like a butterfly.

She loved this place. She joined the office just two days ago as the new errand girl.

All she had to do was take files from here to there. Take xerox copies and make coffee for the boss.

The boss had been on leave for the past two days, so Izzy didn’t have to make coffee. But Tom, who worked in the HR department, informed her that the boss was in the office today, so she should get his coffee at his office.

Izzy knocked on the office and heard a feminine voice asking her to come in.

She opened the door and found Claire sitting in the office with her laptop.

Izzy shot a bright smile at the woman.

“Hello, Claire.”

“Hey, Isabella. What are you doing here?” Claire asked with a smile.

“Came with coffee for the boss,” Isabella said and placed the coffee on the desk.

She turned around to chat a little with Claire, and that’s when she noticed the bassinet with a cute baby in it.

“Aww. So cute,” Izzy gushed at the sleeping baby.

“Shhh. Don’t wake her.”

“Whose baby is this?” Izzy asked.

“This is the boss’s…” Claire trailed off when her phone rang.

“Hello. Yes. I will be there. One second,” Claire said and hung up the phone.

“Isabella. Just stay here and keep an eye on her. I will be back in a minute,” Claire said, and Izzy was only too happy to stare at the adorable baby.

Izzy sat next to the baby bassinet and started talking to the sleeping baby.

“What is your name? Are you a boy or a girl? If you are a boy, Micky suits you. If you are a girl, I will call you Minnie. No-no. I will call you Angel. How long will you sleep?? When you wake up, maybe we can play. I had never had a baby at home. I’m the younger child. Are you an only child? Or do you have a big brother or sister? Whom did you come with?”

She kept on chattering, and the baby woke up due to the disturbances.

The little one looked around and found herself in a strange place with a stranger, and she sat up in her bassinet and started wailing loudly.

Isabella panicked, not knowing what to do. She had never had to deal with a crying baby before.

All the babies she had met before were accompanied by their mommies.

“Arre arre, Micky. Good babies don’t cry,” Isabella said and tried to pick the baby up, who protested loudly, pulling at Isabella’s hair.

“Ouchh!” Isabella hissed in pain, and with difficulty, she got her hair out of the baby’s clutches.

“How cute you looked when you were sleeping?” Isabella complained, to which the baby cried again.

“Okay-okay. I will dance. You love dancing?” Isabella asked.

“Yo. 

I am hustling the hustle,

With my style in bustle,

Not afraid of having a tussle,

I know the power of my muscle.” 

Isabella sang, doing the weird dance moves, and the baby stopped crying, seeing the weird things the lady in front of her was doing.

***

Benjamin was walking back to his office when he saw Claire.

“Claire? You left Sapphire alone? I told you to keep an eye on her!”

“She is not alone, Benjamin. Isabella is with her. I had to come out as there was an emergency,” Claire said apologetically.

“Who is Isabella?”

“She is our new errand girl. She just joined two days ago.”

“You left Sapphire with a total stranger?” Benjamin asked, disappointed at his secretary.

“Isabella won’t cause the baby any harm,” Claire said.

“I will go and check,” Benjamin said and hurried to his office.

He opened the door and stood there gaping at the sight.

“Yo,

I am hustling the hustle,

With my style in bustle,

Not afraid of having a tussle,

I know the power of my muscle.”

A petite girl was doing some weird dance steps, and baby Sapphire was awake in her bassinet, staring at the sight in front of her in wide-eyed wonder.

“What the!!” was all he could say.