Broken: Book One of the M Series

by Ryanne Anthony

  All eyes go to Mandy as we wait for her answer.

  “I don't know,” she whispers, a tear falling from her eyes as she lowers her head. “How could I?”

  “Ask your mother-in-law,” I say softly.

  “It's not as easy as that, Vicky. Evelyn is an easy person love. Plus Katherine is like... the ultimate woman. I'm nowhere near as strong as she is, nothing at all like her!”

  Marcus and Matthew snort in unison. Joshua blushes.

  “What?” I ask them.

  Matthew smiles at me and tilts his head, “You could make a shitload of money off of Joshua and the fact that he married his mother.”

  I smile. “I take it the three of you have discussed this before.”

  “We all have,” Marcus grins. “When Mandy wasn't in the room, of course.”

  “So of all your wives, Mandy is the most like Katherine?”

  “Yes,” they say in unison.

  “No,” Stephen says, laughing.

  “No?” I raise an eyebrow.

  “Madison is. But between the three of them, love, I'd say Mandy is the most demonstrative of Katherine. They think and speak similarly. Mariah is kind and stubborn like her. Physically they are the same. Madison is the epitome of Katherine when she was that age. The things she says brings me back to Katherine at that age. Madison doesn't have a control switch. Neither does Katherine, away from her children and grandchildren, that is.”

  “Control switch?”

  “Madison says what's on her mind when it pops in there. Katherine is the same way. Always has been. Madison is the private Katherine. Mandy is the public Katherine. Mariah is the protective Katherine.”

  I nod and look at the men as they stare at their wives. I smile as I note Joshua looking at his wife.

  “I married my mother?” Matthew laughs. “Yuck!”

  “It's not uncommon. Women often marry their fathers. It is the first man they have ever loved.”

  Mariah snorts. “I didn't. I barely remember my father.”

  “Yes, the hell you did,” Rachel laughs.

  “Huh? Marcus is the exact opposite of Daddy.”

  “Yeah, if you count race and coloring; other than that, Marcus is the same kind, giving and loving man Donald was. He'd do anything for you and wants to protect you, take care of you. Same as Donald was with me and our kids.”

  Mariah looks at her husband and blinks rapidly.

  “But those assholes before Marcus... they were nothing like him.”

  I raise an eyebrow at her. “Are you with them?”

  She gasps. “Holy... I married my father?”

  “Marcus is even the same height as Donald was,” Rachel chuckles.

  “Ew,” Mariah says, wrinkling her nose.

  “You can 'ew' all you want, baby,” Marcus grins. “You're not going anywhere.”

  “I didn't say I wanted to go anywhere, boo. If I wanted to, I could disappear again.”

  Again? Mental note: ask about Mariah's disappearance.

  “I'd find you again. And spank your ass again.”

  “Fuck you,” Mariah smiles.

  “Whenever you want, baby,” Marcus smiles back.

  “I married my father. I freely admit that.”

  “I am nothing like Paddy, Smooch.”

  “Bullshit!” Nathan chuckles. “I am nothing like Thomas.”

  “Please,” Thomas chuckles. “Even I can see that.”

  “So can I,” Lil smiles. “I can even see some of Caspar in there, too.”

  Lisa goes red.

  “Okay, so can we agree that I did not marry my father?” Alissa looks around everyone.

  At the same time, they all burst out laughing. Alissa and I look at one another. I shrug as she shakes her head. Ethan looks lost.

  “What is so funny?” Alissa frowns.

  “Usted no se casó con tu padre. Te casaste con tu abuelo!” Mariah says through her giggles.

  I laugh. She married her grandfather?

  “How,” Alissa grunts. “Ethan is nothing like Abuelo!”

  “The only difference is age and nationality! They have the exact temperament, styles and demeanor!” Tom laughs.

  “They do not! Ethan doesn't dress like an old man.”

  “Not in clothes, in everything else!”

  Alissa crosses her arms, “Does not.”

  Ethan groans. “Oh God, I do. I really fucking do. We even have the same car, for fuck's sake!”

  The room laughs harder.

  “I'm buying a new car when I leave here.”

  “Yeah, you'd better,” Matthew laughs, slapping his thigh.

  “I did. Twice,” I smile at my father. “I had no choice. I missed him. Tim is much more like him than Greg was, though.”

  “I think I met your husband, Vicky. His name sounds very familiar.”

  Marcus nods. “He was your therapist after the kidnapping, baby.”

  “Right,” Mariah puts her head down. “I remember.”

  I look at Joshua. “Are you like Mandy's father?”

  “No,” he smiles.

  “Yes,” Mandy counters.

  “No, I'm not.”

  “Right down to the bone; you and Rob both.”

  “Rob?” I ask.

  “Marcus' friend from college, he married my sister Elka.”

  Madison snorts.

  “What, Madison?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Mandy’s sister slept with Madison’s first husband,” Matthew says, scowling.

  “First husband,” I ask.

  “Adam. He died. I'm afraid Matthew got me by default.”

  They laugh at that.

  “Adam was a good guy,” Ethan says smiling.

  “You knew him?”

  “We all did, except Lil and Caspar,” Matthew says quietly.

  “How long were you married, Madison?”

  “Three months. Our entire relationship was eight and a half months, start to finish; even managed to get pregnant in there.”

  “Oh, wow. What happened to the child?”

  “He gives his nanny hell every day,” she smiles, her eyes glowing.

  “How many children do you have?”

  “This one will make the fifth and last. That's my final answer.”

  “Better stop wearing that red gown thing then,” Matthew grins.

  “Don't blame my wardrobe, Smf. You'd want to fuck no matter what I was wearing, including my birthday suit.”

  “Especially your birthday suit; can you blame me, Smooch? Wait... let me get a mental picture.” Matthew closes his eyes and immediately grins. “Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about.”

  “Have you two always been this way with one another; this vocal and graphic?”

  “Since day one, Vicky,” Mariah laughs. “You should have been there when they were in that hotel room when I was coming back to California. What was that they said, Boo? When she drove him out of the room?”

  “Oh, no,” Matthew cringes. “Don't, Cramp.”

  “I have to. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

  “Of course, you do.”

  “We were in our hotel room, waiting for the rep for the bus company that Madison hired. Mariah was pregnant with the first twins and couldn't fly from Chicago to here. Madison was telling us about what a dick the producer was –”

  “No, Boo! Word for word! Please!”

  “Okay, baby,” Marcus closes his eyes and chuckles.

  “Oh, no,” Madison groans. “I apologize in advance, Vicky.”

  Marcus starts talking:

  “How did the interview go?” Monica asked.

  “Pretty good. The producer was kind of a dick, but then they all are,” she sighs.

  “What's his name?” Matthew asks, pulling out his cell. “How old do you think he is?”

  “Matthew Cannon. I'm guessing 32, 33?” Madison replied.

  Everyone in the room chuckled.

  “I'm being a dick?” Matthew asked, offended.

/>   “Yep,” Madison sighed then sat in a chair in front of him. “Keep it up and you won't be giving me any of yours.”

  “Um... I need some air,” Matthew mumbled. The room is silent as we watch him leave.

  Joshua laughed and shouted, “OH MY GOD! I LOVE YOU, MADISON!”

  The room erupts in a loud laughter, including Joshua, I'm happy to see.

  Matthew sobers and tells Marcus to tell the rest of it.

  “If I have to be embarrassed, so do all of you!”

  “What happened next?” I ask between breaths.

  Marcus reddens and takes a deep breath. “The first time Madison kissed one of them, it was my very pregnant fiancée.”

  My eyes widen. “Oh, I have got to hear this!”

  “Okay. After a while, Matthew came back in the room and Madison cuts the corner of her eyes at him and gave Mariah a mischievous look. Mariah nodded.” Marcus shakes his head and closes his eyes.

  “Please do it again,” I whispered to Madison.

  “Kristen Kelly, huh? She's very pretty.” Mariah said like she was giving Madison an opening.

  Madison nodded. “She was my roommate in college. She’s a really good person, very big heart. A demon in the sack; couldn't get enough of me. We had some excellent three-ways, but the one-on-one's... wow!”

  “Shit!” Matthew yelled and ran from the room.

  Marcus opens his eyes and looks at his wife.

  “All of it, Boo.” Mariah giggles.

  “That's not necessary,” Nathan stammers.

  “Oh, yes it is!” Lisa laughs.

  Marcus shakes his head and speaks again:

  “Madison walked in front of Mariah and squatted, a devilish grin on her face.”

  “You remember how I love pussy, don't you, Mariah; especially yours. You were so... aggressive with me. God! I loved the way you played with my clit while I sucked your nipples.”

  “What?” I asked, barely holding on to my sanity.

  Madison looks at me with a wide-eyed innocent look then wiggled between Mariah and me on the couch.

  “She didn't tell you? Mariah... that threesome with you, me and Bex was, at least, noteworthy.”

  I watched Madison's hand run up and down Mariah's thigh.

  “What say when I visit after the twins come, we have a go for old times' sake. You won't mind will you, Marcus? One last fling before she marries you.” Madison's lips were on Mariah's in a hot minute.

  “'FUCK!' Nathan yelled, running from the room, the other men followed closely behind him. As soon as we got in the hall, we separated and flew off in different directions. I saw Joshua almost immediately go back in the room. I was jealous as hell he calmed down so fast.”

  “But he didn't,” Monica laughs as Joshua reddens.

  “What happened?” I look at Joshua.

  “I had to, uh... go and get Mandy for some assistance.”

  “I didn't mind. It was a really good fuck that day. Always is when Madison kisses one of us; especially when it's me,” Mandy smiles.

  That made everyone burst into the most raucous laugh of the day. Even Joshua joined in again. As the room sobers, I look thoughtfully at Mandy and Joshua.

  “No one in this room, including the two of you, wants to see this marriage disintegrate. What is it you need, Mandy?”

  Mandy looks at me, “Well, Vicky, I need –”

  I stop her. “No. I'm fond of you, Mandy, but I cannot give you what you need. Tell your husband. Hold his gaze and tell him.”

  I hear chuckles in the room.

  Mandy blushed then stares at Joshua. He keeps his head down.

  “Are you going to look at me, Joshua?”

  He takes a deep breath and looks up at her.

  “I need you to love me again.”

  He scowls. “I never stopped.”

  “Then act like you do.”

  “Is that what you need?” I ask Mandy.

  She nods.

  “Then start your sentence with 'I need'.”

  “I need you to act like you love me, Joshua.”

  Joshua holds her gaze. “I want to. I just don't trust myself anymore but I don't want to do this again.”

  “Then stay in therapy... I need you to stay in therapy and work on that trigger. Work on your issues and grow old with me.”

  “What about the baby?”

  Mandy inhales and looks at Katherine, her eyes watering. She looks back at her husband.

  “A very wise woman once said 'It's not the child's fault how it came in the world, nor is it to be blamed for the parents it was blessed or cursed with.'”

  Joshua's mouth tightens, “Are you sure?”

  “I know you could never walk away from a child of yours, Joshua. I need you to know I could never respect you if you did. Now that I know it was not an out-and-out betrayal, yes, I can accept your child and I'm more open to fixing this; us.”

  Joshua smiles then grins.

  “But...” Mandy says, wagging her finger.

  Joshua's grin drops quickly as he braces himself for her next words.

  “I need you to get tested for every fucking STD on the damn planet before you even kiss me again. You got that, Cannon?”

  “Oh my God,” Joshua murmurs, staring at his wife.

  I frown. “What? What happened, Joshua?”

  “I totally just saw my mother when she said that.”

  The room bursts into laughter.

  “I told you, Son,” Stephen chuckles.

  “And I already have. Twice,” Joshua says pulling two pieces of pink paper out of his pocket. Marcus jumps up and snatches it out of his hand. Tom, Nathan, Thomas, and Stephen read it alongside him. They converse quietly over the report.

  “You're anemic, Twerp.”

  “And your thyroid's off,” Nathan murmurs. “I'll write you a script.”

  “That's it?” Mandy asks.

  “That's it,” Marcus smiles. “Everything else is negative.”

  “When are you writing that script, Nathan?” Tom asks, taking the report from Marcus, frowning at it.

  “When we leave here, why?”

  Tom points to something and the four of them turn to Joshua. “Were you fasting when you had your blood drawn, Twerp?”

  “Yes. Well, I had coffee.”

  “You still use cream?”

  “After your last lecture, Tom, no. Black with sugar.”

  They look at Stephen. “One-eighty, three weeks ago,” he mutters, frowning at Joshua.

  “Mother, what's your cholesterol level?”

  “I don't know, Marcus. I haven't had a physical in years.”

  “Mother,” Marcus gasps. “When did you last eat?”

  “Um, breakfast, five a.m., like always. Why?”

  I glance at my watch. Half past twelve. Only a half an hour left in this session.

  “This is Dr. Harvey. Please send a phlebotomist to the fifth floor, STAT... Six... and I want to be paged as soon as the results are in... Fine... Victoria Walmsley-Fields’ office... Thank you. Marcus, you, Evelyn and Toad, too; Stephen, you as well.”

  “What's going on?” Mandy asks wide-eyed.

  “Josh, when you got these results, did they explain anything to you?”

  “No Tom, just that I should make an appointment with my regular physician.”

  “Did you?”

  “I don't have one. If I don't feel well, I go see Dad.”

  Tom ruffles his hair. “Listen, Twerp. You're almost forty and your cholesterol is ridiculous. It's two-eighty! Did you change your diet or stop exercising?”

  “Who has the time to exercise?”

  Marcus and Stephen groan.

  “Your diet?”

  “I don't eat breakfast, I eat whatever Helen puts on my desk for lunch and Mandy usually has something broiled with a green vegetable for dinner.”

  “What does Helen usually have for you? Processed meat, cheese, chips?”

  “Um, yeah usually.”

  “That ends
now!” Tom yells. “When's the last time you ate?”

  “I had toast and coffee this morning, around six.”

  “Butter on the toast?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Not anymore. White bread?”

  Joshua nods.

  “Whole wheat from now on, and get up off your ass and exercise!” Marcus shouts as a knock sounds on my door and I open it.

  “Good afternoon, Dr. Fields. I'm Cord Johnson. Dr. Harvey sent for a phlebotomist.”

  I step aside and gesture inside the room.

  “Cord, good, come in,” Tom nods.

  Cord walks in and shakes Tom's hand and nods at everyone else. He hands Tom some forms and I give Tom my clipboard so he can start filling out the requisitions.

  “This is Roger Foreman,” Cord says “I brought him with me when I heard you were drawing from six, Dr. Harvey.”

  Tom nods, still writing. “That's fine, Cord. Good thinking. Please draw from Mrs. Cannon and Joshua Cannon first.”

  Cord walks around Tom and stops, frowning at the women.

  “Um, which Mrs. Cannon, Dr. Harvey? There are four here.”

  Tom snickers. “Katherine Cannon, Dr. Cannon's wife.”

  Cord looks at Katherine. “Hello, Mrs. Cannon. Long time, no see,” he smiles at her.

  “Several years, Cord. Be nice.”

  “Always, Mrs. Cannon. I believe you prefer your hand, is that still correct?”

  “Yes,” she smiles. “Deep veins.”

  “I remember, ma'am. If you'll excuse me, I have to wash my hands.”

  I point him to my bathroom and Roger follows. When they return, Cord goes to Katherine and Roger goes to Joshua.

  Tom turns to his sister. “Lisa, do you mind?”

  Lisa nods and heads to the bathroom, behind Tom. When they return, they put on gloves and Lisa stands next to Roger and Joshua while Tom stands next to Katherine. Tom hands Lisa the clipboard and she fills out another requisition.

  “Will someone fill out the other four? Stephen, Marcus, Evelyn and Matthew,” Tom says labeling a vial drawn from Katherine.

  “I will,” Nathan says. “What are you testing for?”

  Tom starts rattling off everything from CBC to cardiac enzymes. He even wants a diabetes screening.

  “So everything except a pregnancy panel?” Nathan chuckles.

  “I don't know. Katherine? You have something you want to tell us?” Tom grins at Katherine.

  “Fuck you, fool,” Katherine smiles as the room laughs.

  “I think that's a 'no', Nathan.” Tom chuckles. “Evelyn?”