Rachel remained quiet, clearly overwhelmed by the luxury, but also by the implications of accepting James’s help.
«I need to make some phone calls,» James said eventually. «Rachel, there’s medicine in the guest bathroom, and I stocked the kitchen with more food than we can eat in a week. Please make yourselves at home.»
«James,» Rachel caught his arm as he headed toward his study. «We need to talk. About expectations, about how long this arrangement lasts, about—about everything.»
«We do. But first, let me take care of a few things. I need to clear my schedule for the next few days, and I want to arrange for a doctor to come check on you.»
«I don’t need—»
«Rachel.» His voice was gentle but firm. «You collapsed from exhaustion and haven’t had proper medical care in who knows how long. Humour me. Good.»
As James settled into his study, he could hear the sounds he’d never experienced in his penthouse. Children’s voices echoing in the large spaces, Rachel’s laughter mixing with the twins’ giggles as they explored, Madison’s serious voice asking practical questions about how things worked.
His first call was to his assistant. «Patricia, I need you to clear my calendar for the rest of the week.»
«Sir, you have the Shanghai negotiation.»
«Postpone it. And I need you to arrange for Dr. Williams to make a house call this evening. Also, I want you to research the best family law attorneys in the city. Specifically, someone who handles paternity cases and complex adoption situations.»
«Mr. Crawford, is everything all right?»
James looked through his study door toward the kitchen, where Madison was showing Zoe how to work the ice dispenser on his refrigerator, while Mia clapped with delight at each cube that fell.
«Everything’s perfect, Patricia. Different, complicated, and perfect.»
His second call was to his lawyer, David Chang. «David, I need to ask you something confidentially. If I wanted to establish paternity for a child born 11 years ago, what would that process look like?»
«James, is there something you haven’t told me?»
«There’s a lot I haven’t told anyone. But I may have a daughter I never knew about, and I need to understand my options for legal recognition and support.»
«That’s quite a development. You’ll need a paternity test first, obviously. Then we’d need to look at the existing custody situation, any legal fathers on record, and what kind of relationship you want to establish.»
«I want full legal recognition. And David? There are two other children involved, not biologically mine, but part of the same family unit. I want to understand adoption possibilities there as well.»
«James, slow down. These are complex legal processes that take time. You can’t just—»
«I can do whatever is necessary to protect these children and give them the security they deserve,» James interrupted. «Get me the information I need, and let’s start the process immediately.»
After hanging up, James sat in his study, listening to the sounds of his home being transformed. The penthouse that had been a showcase was becoming a place where children lived, laughed, and felt safe.
Around 8 p.m., Dr. Williams arrived for the house call. James had used his personal physician for years, but had never asked him to treat children before.
«So these are the new additions to your household, Doctor Williams?» he asked quietly as they walked toward the living room where the family was watching a movie on James’s rarely used 75-inch television.
«It’s complicated.»
«Family usually is.»
Dr. Williams’s examination of Rachel revealed what James had suspected: severe exhaustion, malnutrition, and stress-related symptoms that had been building for months. The twins were underweight, but otherwise healthy, while Madison showed signs of chronic worry and premature responsibility that the doctor noted with concern.
«The children are resilient,» Dr. Williams told James privately, «but they’ve been under tremendous stress. The good news is that with proper nutrition, stability, and medical care, they should recover fully. The mother, however, needs serious rest and support.»
«Whatever they need.»
«I’ve prescribed some vitamins and supplements for all of them. And James, that little girl, Madison… she’s been carrying adult worries for too long. She needs to remember how to be a child.»
Later that night, after the girls were settled in bedrooms with more space than they’d ever had, James and Rachel finally had their long-overdue conversation. They sat on his balcony, overlooking Central Park, the lights of Manhattan stretching endlessly before them.
«This feels like a dream,» Rachel said quietly. «Earlier today, I was wondering how I was going to pay for groceries this week. Now my daughters are sleeping in beds that probably cost more than I made last year.»
«How does that make you feel?»
«Grateful, terrified, guilty, confused.» She turned to look at him. «James, I need you to understand something. I can’t just be rescued. I can’t just become some project where you fix my life because you feel responsible.»
«Is that what you think this is?»
«I don’t know what this is. Eleven years ago, we had six months together. We were different people then. You were trying to prove yourself to your father, and I was just trying to survive college while working full-time.»
«Now you’re one of the most powerful men in New York, and I’m a single mother who cleans offices for a living,» Rachel continued. «I won’t let my children grow up feeling like charity cases. And I won’t let them get attached to a lifestyle that might disappear if you change your mind about all this.»
James was quiet for a long moment. «Do you think I’m going to change my mind?»
«I think you’re a good man who wants to do the right thing. But I also think you have no idea what you’re signing up for. Raising children isn’t a part-time hobby, James. It’s 18 years minimum of putting someone else’s needs before your own, of sleepless nights and endless worry and loving someone so much it physically hurts.»
«You think I don’t understand that.»
«I think you’ve never had to choose between your career and a sick child’s needs. I think you’ve never had to explain to a seven-year-old why you can’t afford the field trip fee. I think you’ve never stood in a grocery store counting dollars and trying to decide between milk and bread because you can’t afford both.»
Her words stung because they were true. «You’re right. I haven’t experienced those things. But I’ve experienced 11 years of wondering what happened to the woman I was falling in love with. I’ve experienced building a successful career and realizing it meant nothing because I had no one to share it with.»
«James, I’ve experienced 11 years of regret, Rachel. Regret that I didn’t fight harder to find you. Regret that I let my father’s expectations matter more than my own happiness. Regret that I missed Madison’s first word, her first steps, her first day of school, and every other milestone that I can never get back.»
Rachel was crying silently, tears streaming down her face in the dim light from the apartment.
«But most of all,» James continued, «I’ve regretted that I never got to tell you what you meant to me, what you still mean to me.»
«What do I mean to you?»
«You mean everything. You always have. The six months we had together were the happiest of my life, and every relationship since then has been measured against what we had.»
«We barely knew each other.»
«We knew enough. We knew that you made me laugh when nothing else could. We knew that I could talk to you about things I’d never shared with anyone. We knew that when we were together, everything else—all the pressure, all the expectations, all the noise—just disappeared.»
Rachel looked out over the city, processing his words. «I felt it too. But James, feeling something and building a life together are very different things.»
«Then let’s build something together. Not because you need rescuing, and not because I feel guilty, but because we have three children who deserve the best of both of us.»
«And us? What about us?»
James reached for her hand, and she didn’t pull away. «I’d like to find out what happens when two people who loved each other get a second chance to do it right.»
«It won’t be easy. We’re both different people now.»
«Good different or bad different?»
Rachel smiled for the first time that evening. «Complicated different.»
«I can work with complicated.»
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the city lights twinkle below them. Finally, Rachel spoke again.
«I have conditions.»
«Name them.»
«I want to contribute. I can’t just live here as your dependent. I need to work, to pay my own way somehow.»
«Agreed. We’ll figure out how.»
«I want the girls to understand that this isn’t permanent unless we all decide it is. I won’t let them get their hopes up only to be disappointed.»
«Fair enough.»
«And I want us to take things slowly. Between us, I mean. The girls need stability and consistency, not adults who are still figuring out their relationship.»
«How slowly?»
«Slowly enough that we’re sure about what we’re doing before we make any promises we can’t keep.»
James nodded. «Anything else?»
«I want a paternity test. Not because I doubt Madison is yours, but because if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right. Legal, documented, and honest about everything.»
«Already arranged. Dr. Williams will handle it discreetly.»
Rachel looked surprised. «You work fast.»
«I’ve spent eleven years moving slowly, Rachel. I don’t want to waste any more time.»
As if summoned by their conversation, the apartment door opened, and Madison appeared in her pajamas, looking small and uncertain.
«I can’t sleep,» she said quietly. «The bed is too big, and it’s too quiet, and I keep thinking I’m going to wake up, and this will all be a dream.»
Rachel and James exchanged glances, both understanding exactly what she meant. Dreams could become reality, but they could also disappear as quickly as they came.
«Come here, sweetheart,» Rachel said, making room on the outdoor furniture.
Madison curled up between them, and James was struck by how right it felt, the three of them looking out over the city, planning a future that none of them could have imagined twenty-four hours earlier.
«Madison,» James said gently, «I want you to know that this isn’t a dream. Tomorrow you’ll still be here, and the day after that, and for as long as you want to be.»
«Really? Even if you and Mommy fight sometimes?»
«Even then. Because families don’t give up on each other just because things get complicated.»
Madison was quiet for a moment. «Then, are we a family now?»
