“Daddy. I comin, too, Daddy.”
I lifted Bay to my arms and hugged her. “Hi, baby. I missed you so much.”
“I comin, Daddy.”
“Yes, baby. You’re coming, too.”
Kit was still complaining ten minutes later when I drove them out of the small town, to a dirt road, the kind I remembered from back home. The ones I drove drunk on during high school. A small stream, ankle deep, ran along our path, and a warm feeling of relief flowed through my veins.
“Oh, my God. Will you just tell me what this is all about? I thought you were in California. That’s what Bridgett said.”
I gave her a sly smile, and burst the bubble she held my sister in. “She lied, sort of. I made it to Texas. She’s known about me being here for three days now.”
“What three days? Been where? You were here in North Carolina?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I pulled into the driveway of a simple Ranch style home and got out.
“I coming, Daddy.”
I got Bay out of the car and set her on the ground with Mavis, and then I had to physically remove Kit.
She let me take her hands, but she didn’t kiss me back when my lips met hers. It still didn’t slow me down. This was a hurdle in my life I chose to jump, no longer choosing the easy way.
“What are you doing?” she asked in a pleading, desperate tone.
I pulled her along, stopping briefly for her to take Bay’s hand. “It’s not by a beach and there is no pool, but there is a stream in our back yard. I’m almost certain our kids will love it just the same. Bridgett and I had loads of fun in the little river behind my grandma’s house. I guess we could put a pool in down the road. I learned how to do that, working for my neighbor. The kitchen and living room was remodeled two years ago, but the bedrooms could use some updating.”
I unlocked the door to an open living room, flowing right into the kitchen, and waved a hand for Kit to enter. Bay went first, exploring the open spaces. My eyes were never far from the expressions on her face, but I didn’t falter. I kept going, forgetting every single word of my rehearsed speech. “There’s only three bedrooms, so you might want to think about that before we add anymore little people. Check out this back yard. I’m going to extend this deck out about six feet, and put a patio in over here with an outside kitchen.”
“Brantley, I don’t know what you’re doing here. What is this?”
“I out, Daddy?” Bay insisted, her hand pulling hard on the door handle.
I opened the door and let her out to a backyard I intended to watch her grow up in. A home where her childhood memories would be happy, safe, and secure. A home with a mommy and a daddy.
“I’m trying to tell you I love you, Kit. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Kit tried to walk away, but I wouldn’t let her. She turned to me with hateful words, unable to pull it off. They may have been harsh, but she didn’t mean them. They were weak and soft. “I don’t want this with you. You’re wasting your time. Take us home.”
“I did. You are home.”
“I’m not, Brantley. You’re only here because she dumped you. You’re picking me because your first choice isn’t available to you anymore. That’s it. That’s the only reason.”
I took a deep breath, and tried my best to come up with the right words. “I don’t have a bad word to say about Rydell. She was placed in my path when I needed her to be there, when I needed someone to show what love was supposed to feel like, that it could be real.”
Kit jerked her hand from mine and tried to stomp away to the backyard with Bay.
“Kit, stop. Hear me out.”
“Why? So you can confess your love for Rydell to me?”
“No, so I can tell you how I got here. How I ended up in this very spot right here. It was never her, Kit, but it took a whole lot of hell for me to see the truth. Rydell was great with Bay, she was great with me, and she’s a good hearted soul who deserved way better than what I gave her, but she was never meant to be in my life, only part of the journey to get me here. With you. You’re not playing second fiddle to anyone, Kit. I’m not interested in singing a song and picking some tunes with Rydell in some honky-tonk. I want you. I pick this house. I pick Bay. I pick this life that I want to share with you. I pick you, Kit.
Kit’s eyes dropped to the tile floor and then back to Bay. “You won’t be happy here, Brantley. You’ll leave. Those honky-tonks are your life. You’ll leave.”
“No, you’re wrong. I don’t want that. I want you, Kit. I love you and I want this family more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. Please, Kit. I know I don’t deserve it. I fucked up, but you have to take some of the blame here. You never told me.”
Kit blew out a puff of air and pulled her fingers from my hand. “I tried, Brantley. You rejected me.”
“I’m sorry. I was a fool, Kit. I didn’t see it.”
“Because you didn’t want to.”
I took a deep breath, out of pleading words. “I can’t deny that, but I’m here now, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and our babies.”
Her hand went over the bump behind her shirt, and she shook her head, defeated. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
“You love me, and you want this as much as I do. Do you really want to have this baby in the back of the theater?”
“I had Bay there.”
“But do you want to?” I questioned, as I dropped to my knees in front of her. I slid my hands below her shirt, feeling for myself the unquestionable life growing in her womb.
“I never said he was your kid.”
I laughed and kissed her belly. “He? Are you using that as a metaphor or do you have actual facts?”
“It’s definitely a fact. I saw it with my own eyes. Bix. That’s his name. Bix Lukas Jandt.”
I frowned up at her and the name, feeling like the happiest man on planet earth. “Bix? Where the hell do you come up with these names?”
Kit’s eyes rolled, but just enough for the memory to sink in. “It’s dumb.”
“Try me.”
Kit hesitated for a second, but continued to open up to me. Thank God. “Do you remember our first night together in Nashville?”
“You gave me a ten dollar bill.”
“That’s because I thought you were amazing.”
“And I thought you were pretty.”
Kit smiled and continued to refresh my memory with a story I had never known was a story. “It was before I gave you ten bucks. I was behind you on the sidewalk, watching you carry your guitar over your shoulder.”
“Did you look at my ass?”
“You’re such a dick.”
“I’m sorry. Continue,” I beckoned, while Bay squeezed between her mom and me, her hands going around her belly just like mine. I kissed her head and covered her little hands with mine.
“Dat a baby.”
“Yes, it is. This is our baby. Keep going, Kit.”
“Of course I looked. There was a little boy playing the drums on buckets. I mean little, maybe seven or eight. Some sort of magical jazz came from his hands and the different size plastic tubs. He was really going at it, trying his best to make a few bucks, and I wondered why. What his story was, why he was on the streets at such a young age, and I watched people pass him by, seeing the worried look every time he didn’t get a penny. I watched you, too. You walked past him, pushed the walk button, and looked back. You started across the street and turned back. I stood right behind you, looking into the window of a boot store and listened.”
My eyes narrowed to hers and a quick thought about what my mother had said crossed my mind. Paths were crossed and people were put in our lives for a reason, even if for a moment. At that exact moment was when I believed it. This little boy was meant to touch my life as much as I was his.
“I turned around because he wasn’t having any luck, and I knew he needed it,” I said as I stood, taking her hands into
mine.
“How?”
“Because I had seen him eating out of a dumpster behind my apartment earlier that day. I turned around to give him a little shove.”
“That’s not how I saw it.”
“Yeah? How did you see it?”
“You walked up to the kid and told him to sit up straight, to stop looking like a begging bum, and portray himself like the entertainer he was. You told him he wasn’t there to implore money, he was there to do a job and get paid for it. You told him nobody gave a shit about his problems or how poor he was. You told him to go thrift store and buy some flashy clothes, and some shoes without holes or laces. You told him to look into their eyes, perform for them, and yourself, not for a dollar. You made him stand up, telling him to make you want to pay him for entertaining you, not pray for his poor little soul. And then you played with him. Really played with him. You had people standing in a crowd before you ever started with the words.”
“Sittin’ on the dock of the bay,” I said, in a faraway tone. “Is that? Bay? Is that why you named her Bay?”
“Maybe.”
I loved that so much. I suddenly remembered it like it was yesterday, promising to never forget it again. I showed the boy how to have some soul and self-dignity while we played the legendary song with a whole lot of jazz. “Bix? I don’t get it. Why Bix?”
“When the song ended, you told him you had to meet your sister at Tennessee Bent for drinks. You told him to keep playing just like that, and not to ever lose it. You patted him on the back and shook his hand, thanking him for the entertainment, tossing a fifty dollar bill into his bucket before you walked away.”
“You followed me there, didn’t you?”
“Maybe, but that’s not this story. We were talking about the name Bix.”
My face was covered with bliss, and I never wanted to lose it. “Right, you can tell me that one later. Why Bix?”
“I watched you walk away while I gave him a twenty, asking him what his name was. He said, ‘thank ya, ma’am. I’m Bix, and completely joking, I told him my plan to marry you and we were going to name our first son after him. I thought you were prince charming. I mean, not mine. I was just being silly at the time. I didn’t know I was going to have sex with you that night.”
I thought about the insignificant kid on the streets, remembering the next evening with Kit. I had a hold of her hand, dragging her to the bar with one of my favorite bands. Bridgett and some weasel dick she’d brought with her were right behind us. I weaved us through a crowd of people, gathered to see some spectacular entertainer, feeling proud. The little boy who I now know as Bix wore a white suit, a sparkling blue tie, a diamond studded belt, a white fedora with a silver band, and black shiny shoes. Not just any shoes, tap shoes, and man, could that boy move. I remembered diving through the crowd, high-fiving the kid, and turning to Kit. I told her he was going places, and pulled her along, never giving the boy another thought.
“I think you should be a man of your word. After all, you did promise the boy to marry me so we could name our son after him.”
“I go to there, Daddy?”
Kit and I followed Bay, wanting to explore the rest of the house, Kit laughing a loud, rhetorical laugh. “You’re crazy. There is no way in hell I would marry you.”
“Eh, I’m cool with that. Maybe not today, but you will. Do you know why, Kit? Because I’m going to make you the happiest girl alive. I promise you that.”
“And me, too.”
I scooped Bay into my arms, giving her the exact same promise. “Yes, most definitely you. Do you want to live here?”
“And Mavis.”
“Yes, Mavis, too, and Mommy.”
“And Bay,”
“Yes, Bay, and you.”
“And Mavis.”
“Get out of here,” I teased, my fingers digging into the funny part of her knee.
Bay giggled and squirmed away from me, running from her new room. I turned to Kit, staring at me with too much trepidation in her eyes.
“I swear to God this is real, Kit. I want to be here with you and Bay more than anywhere, or with anyone. This baby is no more a mistake than Bay was. He’s meant to be here, and we’re meant to be here, Kit. Together.”
Kit scratched her head and let out a deep breath, trying but not quiet succeeding in letting me in. She took a step away from me and asked about the house. “Whose house is this?”
I pulled her back to me because I didn’t want to let her go. Ever. “It’s ours, mine, yours, Bay’s and Bix’s. I put an offer in three days ago while I was in Texas. I still have to get approved for the loan, but I have three of the best investors in Nashville on my side. I think we’ll be fine.”
“Why do you need investors?”
“I already told you, because I plan on making you feel like the luckiest girl alive.”
Kit’s fingers rose from my chest, while her hip cocked to the side, and her eyes rolled away and back to mine. “Fine. Okay. You win, but just for the record, you didn’t pick me, I picked you a long time ago.”
I kissed her, feeling like the lucky one. I was the lucky one and I was never letting it go.
Epilogue
Six months later
I sat on my back deck with Bix, purring quietly over my shoulder, swinging back and forth while Bay played in her new sandbox.
“Mavis did poop in here, Daddy. I have to get a shovel.”
I laughed, causing little Bix to stir, looking up to my entire world as she walked out the door wrapped in a white sheet. Kit took Bix from my arms and sat in my lap, snuggling him like a little bear.
“Good morning. You’re worse than Bay.”
“That’s what happens when the doctor okay’s you for sex after six weeks.”
“It was only five. He said next week. You’re okay?”
Kit smiled at me and moved the sheet, letting Bix nurse, sounding like he hadn’t eaten in days. I knew he was hungry, but I was trying to let her sleep in a little. He didn’t really like daddy feeding him in the middle of the night. My hard body and bottle wasn’t the same as his mommy. “I’m fine. Let’s do it again at nap time. What the hell is she doing?”
I looked at Bay, walking across the yard to the weeds. “Mavis shit in the sandbox again. We can do it again at nap every day if you want, but my mom and Bridgett will be here by then. Are you excited?”
Kit took a deep breath and ran her fingers lightly over Bix’s little head. “I’m scared. What if we used all this money for nothing? What if nobody comes? How will we ever pay it back?”
“We’ll run to Mexico.”
“I’m being serious, Brantley.”
“There are no tickets. It’s sold out. Every one of them. They’re coming, baby.”
“But that’s just opening night. People are curious. Maybe we shouldn’t have picked the Titanic for opening night. Maybe we should have gone with something more cheerful. It’s kind of a depressing movie, don’t you think?”
“I’m going to beat your ass. You picked the movie, but it doesn’t even matter. It’s too late now, and I’m sure it’ll be fine. The food alone is worth a twenty-nine-dollar ticket. Stop worrying.”
Kit didn’t stop worrying the whole day. I talked her off the edge again when she worried about the price of the tickets being too high, and then Bay dozed off on the sofa for a nap.
I walked up to Kit, looking out the French doors to the backyard with Bix sound asleep in her arms. I took him from her and placed him in his little seat with a kiss to his baby scented head, eyes on my soul mate. Kit gave me the same eye, accepting my silent request to give it to her. Without words, I took her hand and led her to our room, baby monitor in hand.
Our lips came together as my hands went up her shirt, to her very firm, much bigger breasts.
“Stop. Don’t touch my boobs.”
“I can’t help it. They’re so perky and perfect.”
“They’re full of milk.”
That made me flinch, but
only for a second. I slid my hand down the front of her flannel pants and bare pussy. The swollen wetness at my fingertips, helping me forget about my son’s food chain. “Why are you so wet?”
“Why do you think? I’ve been wet all day, thinking about last night.”
“Oh, yeah?” I questioned, shoving two fingers deep inside her. “What part?”
“All of it.”
I kissed her hard, positioning myself for a reenactment. “The part where I slid you up this door and you rode my face?”
“God, yes, but we don’t have time for that. Bridgett already sent me a text. They’ll be here any minute.”
Nonetheless, I never was one to listen. I lifted her legs with two arms, sliding her up the door and to my mouth. Of course she didn’t complain, too much, and I didn’t care if I didn’t get to stick it in. I meant it when I said I planned to make her feel like the luckiest girl on earth. I devoured her pussy with my mouth, licking and sucking, while my fingers worked on other areas until her legs tightened around my head.
“Oh, fuck. I’m going to fall. Oh, fuck, fuck, hmmmm, yeah, right there baby,” she moaned, words slipping between the whimpers and held breaths.
I slid her down my body, pulling myself from my basketball shorts, and slid into her while walking us toward the bed. My hands found her perfect breasts again while we kissed, the scent of pussy from my lips lingering between us.
“Brantley, hhmmm, Brantley,” she moaned again, trying to get my attention.
I pulled my lips from hers and looked down. “Yeah, what? I’m kind of busy here.”
“I think your mom just pulled in.”
“Fuck. Is this okay?” I questioned, my hands pulling her hips deeper into me.
“Oh, God, Yes.”
“This?” I asked, my cock thrusting deeper, faster, harder.
“Aahhh, yes,”
I fucked her with everything in me with my thumb applying ample pressure to her clit. “Hmmm, yes. You ready, baby?”
“Pull it out.”
Too late. I worked her nub frantically with the ball of my hand, pulling her to her own bliss while releasing mine inside of her.
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