by Lee Wardlow
“Okay. Let’s just get in the car. Then you can.”
They all piled inside the four door Lincoln the boys drove. Illegally, Nova held Wyatt in her lap and put a seat belt across them both. The twins sat up front with Mikey between them. Kaylee sat in the back with Bradley and Nova. Branch drove the two miles to the pizza parlor just off the reservation. Nova handed her phone over to Kaylee.
She could hear Jamie talking to Kaylee after he said hello thinking it was her. Nova should have thought to call him then hand the phone over to Kaylee. Nova sighed. Mikey and Bobby both looked over the seat at her and smiled.
“Know what you’re getting yourself into?” Bobby asked.
She nodded.
“You’re crazy,” he told her.
She squeezed Wyatt tighter.
“Jamie wants to talk to you. He’s found two houses. He’ll text you some pictures of them for us to look at,” Kaylee told her.
“Thanks Kaylee.” She took the phone from Kaylee’s trembling hand and held the phone to her ear. “Hi,” she whispered.
“Hi. I’m so sorry.”
“We’re okay.”
“I heard how okay you really aren’t. Were you not listening to Kaylee?”
“I wasn’t.” Nova had to admit she was focused on Bobby and Mikey then Wyatt.
“She told me what our mother said to you. She told me about the pizza you all made…homemade. It’s just a pizza but no one has ever done that for her. She’s devastated. Kaylee said the boys are ready to go.”
“They might not be ready but willing for her.”
“I’ll send you pictures of a couple homes when we hang up if any of them appeal to you guys let me know. I’ll put in an offer before I come home tomorrow. Then I’ll head out to her trailer and get her to sign the papers before I come home.”
“What are you going to have her do?” Nova asked.
“Give up her rights,” he stated. His tone was hard and flat. The same tone Bobby had used with Cami.
“All right.”
“Do you disapprove?” He asked.
“I don’t.” Wyatt snuggled into her. Seeking her for security. She kissed his head. Then she looked at Kaylee. Nova leaned across and kissed Kaylee who wove her arm through Nova’s.
“Jamie, we’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll call you after dinner.”
“I love you baby. If you’re scared sleep over at Mark’s until I get home.”
“We’ll be fine. Cami just wanted food. She got it but we’ll need groceries.”
“God damn her. Do you have food for breakfast?”
“We’ll pick up something after dinner before we head home.”
They disconnected the phone. Kaylee leaned her head on Nova’s shoulder. Nova rested her head on top of Kaylee’s. Her phone started chirping with images of two homes that Jamie was interested in. They didn’t look at them until they were seated in the restaurant.
She looked through them first with Wyatt sitting on her lap. Not an easy task with her belly giving them little space between the booth’s bench and the table. Kaylee sat next to her looking over Nova’s shoulder at the pictures. Bradley, Branch, Bobby and Mikey waited patiently.
“I like that one,” Kaylee said.
Nova had to admit she liked it too. The two story home six thousand square feet. The front had lots of windows to allow lighting inside which Nova liked. It was surrounded by trees and beautiful landscaped gardens. It was eight bedrooms, four bathrooms with a pool and basketball court. A guest house behind the main house and pool.
Nova handed the phone to the boys to see what they would say. They all looked through the pictures and agreed the house that Kaylee liked was pretty cool. They could each have their own room if they wanted. The twins weren’t certain that they wanted separate rooms because they were used to each other.
“But could I share with Bradley if I want to?” Wyatt asked.
Bradley rolled his eyes.
“We’ll talk about it. Won’t we Bradley? Maybe we could ease Wyatt into his own room.” Nova was looking at him with pleading in her eyes hoping the eight-year-old would pick up on it.
“Yeah. Yeah. I guess,” he grumbled.
“So I tell Jamie we like the two-story chalet with eight bedrooms and a pool?” She asked.
They all agreed so Nova texted Jamie and told him which house they liked. She didn’t care. She just wanted the kids away from Cami Stone’s influence. She wanted them out of her reach and out of harm’s way.
They ate two large pizzas. It almost wasn’t enough food for three teenage boys and the rest of them. Nova offered to get more food but the boys declined. They were full. Branch took her credit card and went and paid their bill. Wyatt was getting sleepy. She cradled him in her arms and kissed his forehead.
When he returned, Nova pocketed her card so she could give it to the boys at the grocery store. Kaylee slipped out of the booth so Nova could. Branch was right there.
“Let me take Wyatt. I don’t think you should be carrying him.”
“But I want Nova to carry me.”
“She’s right behind us,” Branch told Wyatt. “You’re too heavy for her to carry you while she’s pregnant.”
“I’m right behind you,” she took his hand and squeezed it as she followed him and Branch out of the restaurant. Mikey slipped into the middle. Bobby climbed in beside him and shut his car door. Bradley waited for her to get in the car. Kaylee did too.
She started to get in then Branch stopped her. “Nova,” he said her name. His hand was flat against Wyatt’s back. He reminded her of what Jamie would have looked like at sixteen. She cocked her head to the side.
“What Branch?”
“Thank you,” he said unable to meet her eyes.
She touched his chin forcing him to look up at her. “What is it?” Nova asked him.
“You’ve made a difference in a short time to both Kaylee and Wyatt.”
“Me too,” Bradley said looking over the car at them.
Branch chuckled. “Bradley too.”
“Me too,” Mikey told Branch leaning over the driver’s seat so he could peek out the car door.
“Okay dammit. You’ve made a difference in all our lives in just a few days. We didn’t know what it was like to have somebody care about us. You do.”
“I do.”
“You’ve shown us what it will be like living with you and Jamie in the two nights he’s been gone. I just wanted to say thank you, Nova.”
“You’re welcome.” She wiped away a tear that was rolling down her cheek. She patted Wyatt’s back and leaned in so she could kiss Branch’s cheek. He had to dip his head down so she could reach him. “Let’s go to the grocery store.”
“Get in and I’ll give you Wyatt.”
The boys put the groceries away while Nova helped Wyatt into his pajamas. They all met in the living room. Branch and Bobby looked at them in confusion.
“We’re sleeping in the living room.”
“Why?”
“Concern.”
That was all she needed to say. “We’ll get our sleeping bags and be right back,” Branch told her.
“Thanks guys.”
The boys spread their bags on the floor. Kaylee and Nova fell asleep on the sofa together covered by a quilt. The doors were locked tight. She could hear them whispering; Branch and Bobby in their sleeping bags. She turned to her side. Wyatt was between Mikey and Bradley on their sleeping bags.
“What’s wrong?” She whispered.
“Nothing,” Branch replied.
“You’re sure?”
“Yep. Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You’d let me know?”
“Yeah,” Bobby told her. “Go back to sleep Nova.”
“Okay.”
She rolled over to her side facing the back of the sofa and closed her eyes. It didn’t take long until she was sleeping again even though she wasn’t convinced that the boys weren’t upset about something probably leaving their friend
s.
Chapter 20
The twins weren’t sure that they should leave her the next morning. She convinced them to go to school anyway. She and Wyatt would be fine. The boys were afraid that their mother would return. Nova assured them that Jamie would be on his way back at some point. If Cami came back she and Wyatt would head to Mark and Mary’s. They felt better with that promise from her.
They had a basketball game tonight at the high school. They wanted her to come to it. She promised that she and Jamie would be there with all the kids. Then she hugged them both goodbye.
Jamie put an offer in on the home that Nova told them they liked. Then he headed back to the reservation. The technology company deal was done except for signing on the dotted line. His attorney could send him the documents when complete. He wasn’t leaving Nova and the kids again.
Something else his attorney had done was to get a restraining order against his mother. He was having it delivered after he got her to sign the documents giving up her parental rights.
He turned into the driveway next to the trailer. Jamie climbed out of his truck with the papers in his hand. He hesitated looking at the dump where his mother was choosing to live. He walked across the lawn to the three concrete blocks that were supposed to be steps to the inside of the trailer. He knocked and waited for somebody to respond.
Charlie opened the door. He was Bradley’s father according to Kaylee and the twins not that he cared nor was his name on the birth certificate but just to be safe he had paperwork for him and Wyatt’s father too. He planned on adopting his underage siblings so he could give them a better life.
“Cami, Jamie’s here.” He stepped back and motioned him inside. The man was rough. He was a decent looking guy but he was hard. Jamie didn’t even know if he was good to his mother. Younger than his mother too which she liked. He fed her ego.
There were good bikers who did good deeds for people and minded their own business. Then there was Charlie Hoss. Jamie stepped inside the trailer. The smells nearly gaged him.
“What do you want?” She asked. Cami was sprawled across the sofa. She was high as a kite.
“I brought the papers that I want you to sign.”
“For what?”
“Signing away your parental rights so I can take care of the kids. You too Charlie.”
“It’s never been proven that Bradley’s mine.”
“Cami?” Jamie said to her.
“He’s yours, fucker. You know it.”
“Where do I sign?”
Jamie showed Charlie where to sign his paperwork giving up all parental rights to Bradley Stone. He had Cami’s last name. At least the kids were all Stone’s. It made life much easier for all of them. Charlie signed and handed the papers back to Jamie.
“Your turn Cami.”
She took the papers from Jamie. “I want something in return.”
He breathed deeply then regretted it. The stench of the place made him want to puke. “What do you want?”
“One hundred thousand,” she told him.
A drop in the bucket. “I’ll transfer it to your checking account,” he told her. “Now sign the damn papers.”
“I’ll sign the papers after you do it.”
“You’ll sign the papers now god dammit or you get nothing. I’ll take the kids and you’ll get nothing.”
“Fine,” she snapped at him. “I want the house too.”
“It’s yours. I don’t give a shit about it. We’ll be out of it in thirty days.”
“Fine,” she sneered at him.
When she had signed the papers. He looked at her. So beautiful. So selfish. Fourteen kids and she didn’t give a shit about one of them. “I’ll transfer fifty thousand to your account. Not a penny more. Don’t contact me ever again. Don’t contact the kids.”
She knew better than to argue with Jamie. Cami scowled at Jamie as he turned to leave. “I’ll notify you when we are out of the house so you can come home.”
“Fucking fantastic Jamie.”
He gave her one last look knowing that he would never see her again. His own mother and he could give a damn less about her. He walked out of the trailer with the signed papers passing the man who would serve his mother with the restraining order. He was climbing in his truck when Jamie heard her screaming at him.
“You fucking bastard. I hate you.”
“Whatever Cami,” he said. Then Jamie climbed behind the wheel of the truck and backed out of the driveway. He drove straight back to the house that he had grown up in. His cell rang. It was his realtor.
“Hi Johnny,” he said. “We got it?” Jamie was smiling as his realtor spoke to him. “Great news. We close in two weeks? You did great. I really appreciate it man. We’re kind of desperate to get out of here.”
Jamie hung up and made several other calls. He arranged for PODS to be delivered to the house the next day for the kids’ furniture that they wanted to take with them. Kaylee, Bradley and Wyatt had a boatload of stuffed animals. He thought they could fill one POD with just them.
He walked through the front door unsure of where Nova and Wyatt were. Everyone else had to be at school. Jamie shut the door behind him and went upstairs to his room. He opened the door gently and there they were. Sound asleep in his bed. Snuggled into each other; Wyatt snoring softly. He set his suitcase down beside the dresser and walked over to the bed.
Jamie had missed her. He hadn’t been gone long but it was long enough. He perched on the edge of the mattress and caressed her soft skin. She stirred. Blinked her eyes. Then opened them. Her beautiful eyes were staring right at him.
“Hi,” she whispered.
“How are you?”
“Sleepy,” she chuckled. “Hopefully this passes soon or I’m going to get really lazy.”
“How is everyone else?” He took her hand in his.
“We’re good. We have a basketball game to go to tonight.”
“The twins play every Friday night.”
“They want us to be there.”
He smiled at her. “You were right,” he told her. Leaving her with the kids was the best choice she had talked him into. Nova had the chance to bond with them while he was gone. The first week he was there with them he was in the way of her getting to know them.
“You rest. I’m going to take care of the paperwork Cami and Charles signed. Then see about getting Wyatt’s dad to sign his paperwork. Then we’re home free Nova.” He rose from the bed and remembered one last thing. “The house is ours,” he told her. “We close in two weeks.”
“Jamie that is great news.”
“Go back to sleep baby. I’ll wake you soon.”
Jamie finished off the matter of the kids with a phone call to Wyatt’s dad, Walter Lightfoot. Like Bradley, no father was listed on the birth certificate but unlike Charlie, Walter freely admitted he was Wyatt’s father. He also agreed to sign the papers.
He was on his way to the gas station to work. He would stop by on his way there. When Walter arrived, Jamie met him outside the house. Walter signed his name where Jamie indicated and handed them back to him.
“I’m sorry Jamie. I did what I thought was right for Wyatt.”
Jamie shook his head. “How’s that Walt?”
“I’m an old man. He didn’t need me for a father. I thought maybe Charlie would be a father to him since he’s Bradley’s father.”
“Charlie isn’t Bradley’s father any more than you were a father to Wyatt. Now I’ll be the father they both need,” he promised him.
“It’s better this way Jamie.”
“You keep telling yourself that Walt if it makes you feel better.”
He turned his back on the man and went inside. His attorney was on his way to the reservation. He was picking up the paperwork and bringing him more to sign on the deal for the Technology firm he was buying.
Pete arrived an hour later. Jamie was working in the living room when he knocked on the door. He rose and wasn’t surprised to find Pete standing on
the front porch.
They shook hands before Jamie guided him inside. They sat on the sofa going over the legal documents on the sale of the firm that he was buying. The job offer they were giving Sly Lee. He signed everything and handed it back to Pete. He gave him the kids’ paperwork. Pete handed him a temporary custody order he had gotten for him based upon his mother’s abandonment of the children.
“I’ll file her waiver of rights to the kids in Juvenile Court tomorrow morning along with the notice to adopt them all.”
“I want that in mine and Nova’s name.”
“It would be better if you two were married.”
“We will be by the time we go to court to finalize the adoption,” he told Pete.
His lawyer was also his friend. “I need to tell you this even if you don’t want to hear it Jamie.”
“What’s that?” Jamie glanced at his friend.
He handed him a document. Jamie glanced at it quickly. Then he tossed it back to him. “I don’t need a pre-nup Pete.”
“Jamie, do you know how much money you are worth now?”
“I do and I intend for that amount to grow exponentially for myself, Sly and Zachariah once we come to an agreement and we start selling his firewall.”
“Even more reason to have Nova sign a pre-nup.”
The attorney was wearing a suit that was expensive. He had made a lot of money working for Jamie Stone. Pete Novak had known Jamie a long time. They had gone to high school together.
When Jamie started making money Pete reached out to him. Helped him protect himself and it had benefited them both. He just wanted to protect him now.
“Not happening.”
Pete laid the document on the coffee table. He put the remainder of the papers in his briefcase. He walked to the door and Jamie followed him outside. He was giving him instructions on getting Sly to Goose Creek so they could start work after he got the family settled in their new home.
Before Jamie went back inside Kaylee and Bradley were getting off the bus. “Hi Jamie,” Kaylee squealed running to her older brother.
“Hi sweetheart,” he wrapped her in his arms and hugged her.
“Nova told me I could have art lessons when we move to Goose Creek,” she told him.