by Alison Mello
“How do you plead, Ms. Wilder?”
“Not guilty, Your Honor.”
The judge looks toward the district attorney. “Your Honor, Ms. Wilder tried repeatedly to use her name to get herself out of trouble this weekend. Complaining she had court cases in New York to get back to. I request bail be set at fifty thousand dollars.”
“Your Honor, that’s insane. I represent the courts on a daily basis. I understand the need for me to come back for my court hearing.”
The judge looks down at her notepad contemplating what to do. She taps her pen for a moment. “Are you prepared to make bail, Ms. Wilder?”
“Yes, Your Honor. As he said, I need to get back to New York.”
She sighs. “I’m going to say a bit more than I typically do in this situation, being that you are a member of the court system and your father is a judge.” She shakes her head. “I’m incredibly disappointed in your lack of judgment this weekend. You were not only more than twice the legal limit, but you risked your child’s life by putting him in the car with you despite the fact you were told his father was coming to get him.”
Laney bows her head ashamed. “Yes, Your Honor.”
“I’m going to hope the weekend in jail did you some good. I’m setting bail at twenty-five thousand. Do not let me catch you with so much as a drop of alcohol in your mouth while driving. Am I clear?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“We will see you back here on February Sixth.” She slams the gavel. Tiffany jumps up from behind Laney and wraps her in a hug.
“I don’t know where my daughter is getting twenty-five thousand from, but I wish her luck.” Judge Mackey walks out of the courtroom with us.
When we get out to his car, he says, “Tell my grandson I’ll come by to see him, please.”
“No problem. He’s on vacation all week if you want to take him for a bit.”
“I’ll check my court schedule and let you know.” We shake hands, and Amber gives him a hug.
Amber calls Stella when we get to the car. “Hello.”
“Hi, Stella, it’s Amber. How is Ethan?”
“He’s fine. They’re laughing and playing cards.”
“Okay, great. Do you mind if Vincent and I run by the office before we pick him up? I need do a few things, and Vincent needs to grab some work to do from home.”
“It’s no problem at all. I’ll give you guys a call if I feel like being out is getting to be too much for him.”
Amber thanks her and cuts the call. “She said he’s doing fine but will call us if she needs us.”
“Thanks. I don’t know how to feel about how this morning went. I know they wouldn’t have kept her in jail, but I feel like she’s going to get off easy.”
Amber shrugs. “Maybe, but you can’t stress over what you can’t control. You need to worry about your son and getting your lawyer involved in what has happened.”
“I know you’re right, but it’s hard.”
“I know it is, but like you told me, rise up.”
I laugh. “Using my own words against me, huh?”
She climbs out of the car. “I love it. It works for almost any situation. If you can have that mentality. You can overcome so much. Think about it. Be bigger than she is, rise up above her, and care for the things that need your attention—your son.” She takes my hand. “Rise up to the challenge of not letting her get to you, to the challenge of making sure she doesn’t hurt your son anymore.”
My cheeks hurt from the huge smile on my face. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too. Now let’s go do what we need to do so we can pick him up.”
Ellie looks thrilled when we walk through the door holding hands. “Good morning, Mr. Wilder. How is your son?”
“He’s getting better. Thank you, Ellie.”
“Thank the Lord.” She sighs.
“Trust me. I have a few million times. I’ll be gathering some work in my office, and then we’ll be heading home to work from there. I need to pick Ethan up so he can get some rest.”
“No problem, sir. Just let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
Amber took a vacation day but is going to do some work from home while I work. She heads over to her desk to gather some things and check in with Paul while I get what I need.
It takes me about fifteen minutes to get my stuff together. In that time Amber has packed up her laptop and gathered what she needs. When I walk out of my office, she’s talking to Ellie to ensure she’s set for the day. Amber tells her she’ll be back in the office tomorrow, but that I’ll be home one more day. Ellie jots down Amber’s cell number, and we leave the office.
“Let’s stop and pick up something for lunch on the way to get Ethan. Then the three of us can eat at home before he lays down,” she suggests.
“Good idea. What should we pick up?”
“You tell me. Where does Ethan like to go?”
“I know what we’ll do. Text Stella for me.” I pull out of the parking lot. While I’m driving, she sends a text to Stella asking her not to feed Ethan because we’re picking up food and then we’ll be there.
I pull into Ethan’s favorite sub shop to get him a meatball sub with provolone cheese. Amber orders a salad, and I get a spicy Italian on wheat with American cheese. Of course, it has to be toasted because melted cheese is the best. As soon as the sandwiches are ready, we shoot over to get Ethan. When he comes out, I can see he is tired from his time out of the house. It can be exhausting when your body is trying to recover from an injury, and you rush to do too much at one time.
“Ready, buddy?”
“Yeah.” He thanks Stella for letting him come over. Once we’re out of earshot of Stella, he tells me he has a little headache. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of the guys.”
“It’s okay, buddy. I got you a meatball sub for lunch. You can take some medicine and lay down after you eat.” I put my arm around my son to give him a quick squeeze.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Anytime, bud.” He climbs into the back of the car.
“Oh it smells so good in here,” he says, buckling his seatbelt.
“Did you have fun?” Amber asks him.
“Yeah, at first they kept it down knowing about my head, but the more we started playing, the louder we got. We were laughing so hard playing cards it made my head hurt. They noticed. We tried to turn it down a notch, but we were just being too silly.” He suddenly gets quiet.
“What’s wrong?”
He looks down. “How’s Mom?” he asks softly.
“She’s fine. She was released today and is heading back to New York for a case.”
“When?”
“I don’t know exactly. Why?” We pull into the garage. I cut the engine and climb out of the car. Ethan’s brows furrow, and he has a slight pout. “What is it, buddy?”
“I figured she would maybe say she was sorry and tell me she was leaving. I don’t know, at least say bye.” His eyes well slightly.
“I’m sorry, buddy. I can’t promise she’s going to do that. She was trying to get out of jail all weekend but wasn’t successful until today. She was ready to make bail, so I assume she was leaving right away.”
He enters the house with his shoulders slouched. It breaks my heart. My son is once again devastated because of his mother’s behavior, and I feel like I’m to blame. I convinced him to give his mother a chance, and now he is not only physically hurt, but he’s emotionally crushed. I need to talk to my lawyer today. I can’t let her keep doing this to him.
Ethan is sitting at the table with a glass of milk and his sandwich. Amber and I grab drinks and join him. The mood is somber, and it brings me back to when Laney first left. The tension in the house was thick. I finally spoke to a friend of mine to get some advice on how to fix things. He told me I had to get him talking. It took a bit, but I was finally able to get him to talk to me about how he was feeling. We’ve been incredibly open ever since
.
“Ethan.” He looks up from his sandwich. “I don’t have any magic words to make you feel better, buddy, but you know I’m here for you.”
He nods. “I know, Dad. I just need some time to process this. While we were together, she tried to tell me you were painting a bad picture of the situation. That she was doing this to make a better life for me. She promised me that she would be back and that we would spend more time together.” He shakes his head. “I believed her.”
“Of course you did. You’re her son. You’re supposed to believe what your mother tells you.” I sigh. “Honestly, your mother probably believes what she’s saying. I have no doubt that deep down she really loves you. She’s just bad at prioritizing and putting others needs before her own.”
He shakes his head. “I believed her because I wanted it to be true. I miss her sometimes, but I know you would never lie to me. I know you would never make things up like she says you did, and I think that’s what bothers me.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Amber says. “You spent a lot of time with your mother in your younger years while your father was traveling. In your heart you want to stay a mama’s boy just like a little girl wants to stay daddy’s princess, but life doesn’t always work that way, and not because you did anything wrong, but because it wasn’t meant to be. Your mom isn’t the kind of mom who is proud to have a mama’s boy. She’s proud to have the most wins in the courtroom. I think your father is right, and she truly believes she is doing right by you.”
“We all have different priorities in life. You’ll have to make that decision for years to come. A priority for you now won’t be a priority for you later in life,” I explain.
He starts to eat his sandwich taking in what we’re telling him. It seems to have made him feel a bit better about the situation.
I hand him one of his pills. He swallows it, gets rid of his trash, and heads to his room. He is not a happy camper, and I can’t say I blame him. Laney has ruined his Christmas break.
“Dad, stop messing with me,” Ethan shouts from the other room. “You’re going to make me lose.”
Vincent bursts into laughter. “You do realize you can start over.” He starts making funny noises, messing with Ethan yet again. “Pew, pew.” I hear Vincent shout from the other room.
The two of them have been going at it all day. I think Ethan is starting to go stir crazy being in the house. We took him to work with us one day this week, and his grandfather took him to dinner, but this is the first time his father has allowed him any sort of gaming time. He’s been headache free for a few days now, so I convinced him it was safe.
Besides, it’s New Year’s Eve, and we have friends coming over, so it’s not like he’ll be on it all night. As a matter of fact, they’re due here shortly. We’re having a spread of heavy appetizers to bring in the New Year.
“Vincent, can you give me a hand, please?” I don’t really have a ton for him to do, but at least it will get him out of Ethan’s hair for a bit.
“You’re lucky I’m needed,” he tells his son with laughter, shouting pew, pew one last time.
“Thank God,” Ethan groans.
When Vincent comes around the corner, I’m leaning against the door frame. His eyes are full of joy. “What do you need, beautiful?”
“For you to leave that boy alone.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“Oh, I see how it is. You call me to save my son?” He folds his arms over his chest, copying my stance.
“Not just to save your son.” I stress the word just to take the sting out of freeing Ethan from his torture. “We have guests arriving soon, and we have things to do.”
“Okay, what do you need?”
“We need to set up the extra chairs from the garage. We also need the paper plates, cups, and napkins. I believe you put those out there as well.”
He steps up to me, pinning me to the frame. “I believe you’re right.” He presses his lips to mine. Our lips open, and our tongues meet. He presses his forehead to mine. “You drive me wild.”
“Are you complaining?” I bite my lip.
“Not at all.” He walks away to do as I asked. I stop for a second to admire him. He’s sporting jeans that hug his ass just right, a fitted long sleeve shirt, and a beanie. He loves those things and is constantly wearing them, especially when it’s cold like today.
Ethan sticks his head out of his room. “Thanks, Amber.” I wink at him and head into the kitchen to finish making our snacks. He’ll be getting off his gaming system soon, and if I know Ethan, he’ll want to eat. He hasn’t had anything since we ate our late lunch, and that’s a long time for him. This kid can eat.
Vincent finishes with the chairs and then puts the plates and such on the table. As I expected, Ethan comes in asking for food. I’ve already started putting stuff out because it’s almost seven, and we told everyone to come over around this time.
The doorbell rings as Vincent jokingly slaps Ethan’s hand. “Come on, Dad. I’m hungry!” Vincent goes to answer the door, and Ethan once again picks up a plate. Trystan and Stella are here with DJ. After DJ says hi, the boys go straight to the kitchen. Ethan hands DJ a plate, and they both dig in. They load up their plates and take a seat to eat.
“How are you feeling, Stella?” I ask wrapping my new friend in a hug.
She rubs her belly. “I’m feeling great actually. I just can’t believe how big I am already.”
“How far along are you?”
“I have about ten weeks to go.” She follows us into the kitchen. “The doctor seems to think I’m going to go early. He’s a big boy.”
Trystan cringes. “I hate when you say that.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Um, she has to push that thing out.” He makes a look like he just ate something nasty.
“You do realize women do it every day,” Vincent tells him.
“I do, but come on, man. Think about it. A baby has to come out of a hole the size of…” He pauses, trying to think. “What, like a quarter?”
Stella looks at Vincent. “Tell him it stretches.”
Vincent nods. “It stretches. I watched Ethan be born. He was over nine pounds at birth.”
My eyes go wide. “That’s a big baby.”
“Yeah, and TJ is only going to be about seven or eight pounds.”
“TJ?” I ask.
“Yes, Trystan Junior.” She rolls her eyes. “I will soon have two juniors in my home.”
“That’s awesome,” I tell her.
“I guess. I wanted something different, but I couldn’t deny him even though I can see a lot of confusion coming my way.”
“How so?” I ask.
“When you yell TJ it sounds a lot like DJ,” she sighs, “and I can’t yell Trystan.”
“He really wants a junior?”
“Apparently he does.” She lowers herself onto a chair.
The doorbell rings again. Ethan answers it with Vincent following behind him. We greet Misty and her family. Briggs hugs me. He is always such a sweet guy. It’s funny because he’s a big bulky guy with a rugged look, but sweet as a teddy bear. You look at them and there’s no doubting their love for one another.
Before we know it, the house is full of people visiting and talking. The main topic of conversation amongst the women is the baby of course. Lori is still over the moon that her husband is home. They keep sneaking glances at one another. He even winks at her a few times. I think it’s incredibly cute to witness. It’s as if they’re falling in love all over again.
“You and Vincent seem to be getting along quite well.” Lori pulls me from my thoughts.
“We are, almost too well. It’s a bit scary.” I bite my lip, a nervous habit I have.
“You sound like Stella.” Misty shakes her head. “I’m going to tell you like I told her. Don’t fight love. It doesn’t always take years to discover you love someone. As a matter of fact, I believe it only takes years because you either internally fought it or you never r
eally loved one another.” She shrugs. “Just my two cents.”
I smile. “He knows I love him. It’s just hard to believe after…” I realize I’m about to divulge more of myself than these women know.
“After what?” Stella asks.
“After all the shitty men I’ve been with,” I openly admit.
“Everyone has their share of shitty men. I was married once before Briggs. I found my true love on my second try. Some it takes more. The important part is that you found him and that you don’t fight it,” Misty says, like that’s easy.
“I love that she makes it sound so simple.” Stella shakes her head. “Trust me, Amber, I get it. But she’s right.”
“Thanks, ladies.” We all grab some more food and move to the living room to see what the men are doing. Of course, they’re talking sports. Mainly basketball. Kyle is excited to be home to see his son play this year and offers to help Trystan coach baseball in the spring.
It’s getting late, and everyone is starting to get tired, but the kids are excited to see the ball drop. Vincent puts the TV on in preparation. They’re showing all the people at Time Square freezing their asses off just to be there in person. It’s not my cup of tea. I’m just as happy to watch it from the comfort of my home. I wonder if that’s why Laney was in such a hurry to leave. Maybe she has plans for tonight. I’m not sure where in New York she’s at, but with her goal of being a big-time lawyer, I’m willing to bet she’s somewhere near the city.
“I’m going to get the champagne ready.” I kiss Vincent on the cheek.
“I’ll help you.” We quickly pour glasses of champagne for the adults and sparkling juice for the kids and Stella. The ladies help us hand out the glasses, and we all gather around the living room.
The countdown has just began. The couples are all standing around the living room with the kids on the floor in front of us.
“Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four…” The kids are getting louder and louder the closer we get. “Three. Two. One. Happy New Year!” everyone shouts.
Vincent kisses me passionately and then presses his forehead to mine. “Happy New Year, beautiful.”