My heart cracked watching her agonize over something that was entirely my fault. I took her into my arms and kissed the salty dampness on her cheeks. “I’ve loved you and only you, Alyssa, more than anything in this world since the first day you walked up my driveway. Please don’t cry…”
“Jake.” She whispered. “I want to plan my life with you…and I want you to fight for Jackson. I don’t want you to choose me over him…when you can have both…this is why…” She took the box from my hand and removed the thick platinum band from its box. “I saw this and it had your name all over it.”
The explosion of elation coursing through me was unlike anything I could have imagined. This moment I would have never dreamed of. Her coming to me, like this. The adrenaline rush was like jumping from an airplane and Aly was my parachute.
I caressed her forehead, tracing the contour of her cheek, feeling punchy with joy. “Alycat, so, are you asking me to marry you?”
She giggled and covered her face. I pulled her hands away to reveal blushing cheeks and she said, “I guess I am.”
I rested my chin on my fist. “Hmm.” I hummed, teasing. Looking up to the ceiling, as if I had to think about my decision.
She covered her face again and moaned. “I so deserve this.”
Yeah, you do.
We stared at the ring she rolled between her fingers.
“Aly, if you want to get married tonight, I’d drive to Vegas right now.”
She smiled slyly, with a wicked glint in her eye, and slipped the ring on my finger.
“Do you really want to do that?” She asked, almost like she’d go for it if I said yes. I wanted to say yes just to see what she’d do, but I didn’t.
I wanted to do right by her.
I thought about what I really wanted.
“No.” I said, picturing the day and almost choked up thinking about it. “I wanna see you in a white dress, with flowers in your hair. I wanna watch you walk down the aisle to me and I want to thank your dad for giving you away to me.”
Dreams do come true.
Epilogue
The call came early, at 7:47 AM.
It was Rachel.
Seeing her name jolted me awake. I blinked several times, squinting, trying to focus. I glanced to where Aly should have been laying. She was gone. The singsong chime rattled me as much as Rachel’s glowing name. My heart raced. I knew it was about Sienna.
“Hey, what’s up?” I answered, squeezing my eyes closed.
“Hi, sorry it’s so early, but I was dying to call you since 2 AM.”
“This has gotta be about Sienna.” My voice croaked.
“Yeah, um, we’ve talked a few times. I know about Jackson. She told me everything.”
Hearing his name forced me to sit up and the fact that she spoke to Sienna sent a rush of relief through me.
Rachel rambled on. “I had to call you because what she wants isn’t right and I did something stupid…or maybe it’s not stupid but I was so upset that I went to see her parents…”
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah, I went to see them.”
The swell of change had rolled in over the past few weeks. Aly and I united in my fight for my paternal rights of Jackson. I met with an attorney and told my mother she had a grandson. However, when I spoke to Sienna and informed her of my plan and hope for an amicable arrangement for custody, she hung up on me. This was just three days ago.
“I was afraid she disappeared.” I admitted to Rachel. “She won’t return my calls or the calls from my attorney. Her sister won’t, either.”
“She’s totally freaked out, Jake, completely irrational.”
“What did her parents say?”
“Well, I know she’s never going to talk to me again if she finds out I went to them.” Rachel sighed. “I guess that won’t matter, anyway. We hadn’t spoken in years prior to this. She just wants me to take her side. She wants me to tell the courts how awful you are. Jake, they thought the baby was Dump’s. They’re heartbroken.”
My heart sank. I walked to the closet to grab some clothes. “Why did you do it? Why did you go to them?”
“I didn’t think twice about it. Her mother’s the only person who can talk sense into her. She’s devastated that both her daughters are in on this.”
“They really had no idea?”
“No. She told them artificial insemination.”
This news was no surprise.
“Jake, Sienna’s coming here today. She lands at like 12:30 PM or somewhere around that time. Her parents want to meet you, this morning. Her step-dad suggested some sort of an intervention. They told me they reamed Drew a new asshole for going along with the girls. Apparently, he only found out the day he met you, in Key West. The girls had been keeping the secret between them.”
“But there’s a legal document and he’s an attorney…” I said, confused.
“I don’t know anything about that.”
My head felt like it was in a drum.
“So, explain to me what’s gonna go down?” I asked, feeling overwhelmed by the new development, and rested my forehead in the palm of my hand.
Rachel explained, but I barely remembered what she’d said. As I waited out in front of my house for her to pick me up, I likened my lack of memory to a drunken blackout – an adrenaline blackout I supposed, like blind range, but something else I couldn’t describe. My head filled with what ifs and a hundred scenarios. I almost forgot to call Aly. She was training at the beach and I left her a message with the news.
It was just about 9 AM. I gripped the door handle so tightly during the drive to Sienna’s parents’ house, I could barely feel my hand when it was time to get out. It was stuck in a clawed position until the blood flow returned.
Rachel sighed. “You ready?”
“No.” I answered, hoarsely.
She gave me a thin, weak smile. “Me either. I really didn’t want to get involved.” Rachel grabbed by arm. “She needs to know what she’s doing is wrong. Her parents think you’re some loser because of what she’s said about you. They have to know the truth.”
I caught myself holding my breath as I listened to her and inhaled like I’d been held underwater as soon as I opened the car door. I combed my fingers through my hair and looked at her over the roof of the car when she got out.
“Do I look like a loser?” I asked, sincerely, feeling shaken by my past addictions.
“No. You look bright eyed and handsome, Jake.” Her compliment touched me.
“Thanks, Rachel.” I said and wondered what she thought about Sienna and me. “How come you never asked what happened?”
She shook her head, looking bowled over. “Jake, so much went through my mind. Sienna said the reason she never stayed in touch was because she felt she betrayed me – you know, girl code and all because I was in love with you. She said I was the only person that she knew here anymore, that would be on her side, as she put it.” Rachel looked dumbfounded. “She’s stuck in some alternate universe. All that was a lifetime ago. She betrayed Dump, not me.”
Her final words made me sick to my stomach, but I didn’t have time to respond.
Sienna’s mom opened the door quickly just as Rachel finished knocking, like she was standing on the other side waiting. The woman’s eyes locked on mine immediately and drifted all over my face. Her lips pinched together for a moment as she stared at me. She looked nothing like her daughter, except for the color of her hair. She was short and plain, with long brown hair. The years had not been kind to her. Her brown eyes had large bags beneath them and her skin looked like an orange peel. I thought Sienna must look like her father, who had abandoned them for drugs and alcohol when she was ten years old. She greeted us awkwardly; folding her arms up and down nervously and introduced herself as Shelly. She pulled and yanked at the hem of her knit blouse as we followed her into the living room, where a slender pot-bellied man sat in a LA-Z-BOY recliner. He struggled to get up from his seat. I assumed the man was Si
enna’s stepfather.
Rachel cleared her throat. “Shelly, Bob, this is Jake Masters.”
Bob sucked his yellowing teeth and extended his hand to me. He looked me up and down as we shook hands, not saying a word. Shelly just nodded, looking between Bob and Rachel.
Bob’s lips turned down and he gave one firm nod saying, “So, you’re the rock star, huh?”
I strained to smile. I didn’t know how to reply and looked to Rachel for help. “Bob, I’m sure Shelly told you all about Jake. I shared all sorts of media links in an email to her. He’s very successful and he’s been in recovery for years. Just like Sienna has. He’s not the man Sienna is portraying him to be. That was a long time ago.”
Shelly cleared her throat. “Jake, this has been very shocking for us. We’ve been under the impression for years that our grandson was Victor’s boy.” Shelly’s face bent, despondent. She covered her mouth, closing her eyes. Her voice grew shaky. “There’s no denying the boy is yours. I see it as clear as the sun that shines through the window.”
Bob and Shelly had no idea that Sienna was coming to Los Angeles to meet with attorneys until Rachel called them. They immediately called upon Andrew, demanding to know the truth and his involvement. Andrew agreed to keep their confidence and to meet with them in the afternoon – without the girls.
They asked me a million and one questions. They remained disheartened and worried about Sienna’s mental health. All of their concerns were now mine, too, because she was the mother of my son. Shelly asked that I come back at 5 PM to meet with Andrew and I agreed.
#
Andrew looked regretful, almost ashamed. “Jake, I’d like to apologize.” He glanced to Shelly and Bob, sitting to the side of him at the kitchen table. “The day I met you is the day I found out that Jackson was your son. I didn’t have any time to process what Sienna and Elena had dreamed up.”
He looked down at his clinched fists.
I almost felt sorry for the guy. He looked gutted and weary. My eyes roamed over Shelly and Bob, then back to Andrew. I asked, “Why did you go along with it?”
Andrew took a moment to answer. “I don’t know.” He said, uneasily. “I was in shock. Elena begged me…she’s my wife,” he shrugged, “she’s probably going to divorce me now.”
“Oh, stop it, Drew.” Shelly snapped. “She’s not going to do anything like that. She should be worried about you divorcing her.”
“Where are they?” I asked.
“At the hotel. We’re meeting with that attorney who did the original documents tomorrow.”
“Do you know him?”
“No. I’m in criminal defense, not family law. I’m going to make sure he’s legitimate and if I think Sienna can do better, I’ll find someone else.”
I looked at him, confused. “Are you telling me that she’s really going to try and prove me unfit?”
“That’s her plan.”
“That remains to be seen.” Shelly broke in. “She’ll come to her senses. Both my girls will. These are lies that will not live.”
Andrew looked around at us, saying. “I hope so.”
Me too.
#
Staring at myself in the mirror of the elevator bank, I wondered who stared back. It looked like me, but when I moved my arms I couldn’t feel them. I imagined seeing Jackson with his striking blonde hair standing next to me holding my hand. His eyes bright like mine. When the elevator doors opened, I jumped, and looked over my shoulder to see if anyone saw. No one was around at the mid-morning hour.
This is it, I thought.
Andrew had kept me informed throughout the week of the contentious intervention between Sienna and her parents. It lasted more days than expected. A meeting with me was finally set up at the Shade Hotel, just down the hill from my house. When the elevator doors opened on the second floor, I could barely walk to the room designated as the Napa Suite. I stood staring at the room number on the hotel door, building the courage to knock.
I had no idea what to expect, other than Andrew being there.
He opened the door with a downturned smile and stepped back for me to walk in. I immediately saw Jackson sitting with Elena, his wife.
“Hello.” I said, looking around.
“She’s not here.” Elena said and looked at a preoccupied Jackson who was playing with a few Match Box cars.
“Jackson, do you remember Jake?” Elena asked him.
He looked at her and she pointed at me. He blinked his huge blue eyes, taking me in, and then he shied away into her lap.
“Sienna’s in her room.” Andrew explained.
“Is she coming here?”
“Not today.”
I gulped, gritting my teeth. “I’m leaving on tour again. For six weeks.”
“When?” He asked.
“In two days.”
He nodded and brushed his finger under his nose. “Elena, you want to give us some time?”
“Sure.” She stood and grabbed her black purse. “Come on, Jackson. Let’s go see mommy.”
His little hands grabbed his toy cars and he hugged them to his chest. Elena looked to me with an empathetic nod. “We’ll see you soon.”
My pulse raced and as soon as the door shut, I asked, “What’s going on?”
“Sienna’s come to her senses and we’re going to introduce you to Jackson as his father.”
Pressure filled my ears feeling like I was on an airplane until there was no sound at all. I stepped back, unsteady, sitting on the sofa. I covered my face with my hands. The weeks of hibernating emotion burned up my throat to my nose and out of my eyes. I began to cry with relief. The feeling was nearly indescribable, like the weight of a thousand cement bricks were lifted from my soul. I didn’t realize until that moment how much I wanted to be Jackson’s dad, not just his father. Not just someone who would come into his life after he was grown. After his mother no longer had control of the situation.
I sat there and bawled.
Andrew sat quietly, waiting for me to compose myself.
“I’m sorry.” I sniveled, embarrassed by my reaction to the news.
“No apologies needed.” He said, stiff-lipped. His eyes were watering, too. He tossed me a box of tissues. “I’m the one who should be apologizing, for all of us.”
A long silent moment passed and he asked me what I expected with regard to custody, and I unfolded a wish list that Aly and I had come up with.
“I want Jackson when I’m not traveling, you know.” I paused. “I’m gonna be gone for six weeks and when I get back, I’d like to have him for a while.”
Andrew nodded. “You know when he starts school he’ll have to be settled.”
“I understand that. Whatever it takes.”
#
Their giggles tangled together. The wind carried their trilling laughter to me as I stood on the pier.
Jackson and Ethan chased each other around the shoreline. Their little feet splashed through the water as they threw buckets of it at each other. Aly sat cross-legged, smiling, glancing up from her magazine sitting in her lap.
I waved and checked the time on my phone. Sienna was late. She was always late. I didn’t mind. It gave me more time with Jackson. This pick-up would be different. Aly was usually not around when the exchange happened. I looked in the direction of the pier entrance and spotted Sienna. Long legs covered in shredded denim jeans strutted toward me. She wore a black wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses.
“Hello.” She greeted and looked down at the sand beneath us.
I immediately reminded her about Aly. “I did ask you if you’d mind if Aly was around.”
“I know.”
“You never replied.”
She didn’t answer, nor did she look at me.
“Let me go get him.”
I walked toward the stairs leading to the sand and she followed me, then she said, “Is that Grace?”
I looked out and gripped the railing, scanning the sand and spotted Grace near the volleyball
courts trudging toward Aly and the boys. “Yes.”
Sienna nodded and gave a crooked smile. Her eyes went to my hand eyeing my ring. Her scrutiny of it made pull my hands away, dipping them into my back pockets.
Something was different about this meet up and I asked, “What’s on your mind?”
“When are you and Aly getting married?”
I shrugged. “Dunno.”
“You’ve been engaged for almost a year.”
“She keeps changing her mind on a venue and I really don’t care where we have it.” I stepped down the stairs and looked up at her. “I’ll be right back.”
Her mouth hung open and I waited to hear what else she had to say. Then she swallowed. “I’ll come down with you.”
The zing of shock pricked my fingertips.
Over the past year since our custody arrangement became final, she’d avoided Alyssa like the plague.
I nodded.
She hesitated.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“It’s gonna be Jackson’s birthday soon.” She swallowed and I watched her chest rise and fall with apprehension, and then she said, “I know Jackson expects us all to be together. I think it’s time.”
We stood on the steps, staring at each other. I was a few beneath her and I extended my hand to her. A moment passed and I didn’t think she’d take it, but she did and I said, “Come on. I think it’s time, too.”
Life is as you make it.
Acknowledgements
I’m pretty sure writing Heavy Influence was easier than writing this short acknowledgement. A web of emotions wrap around me as I think of all the people who have been through this journey with me. From those who traveled along in the beginning, to those who joined in the middle and near the end and to those who have been with me the entire ride. THANK YOU! Thank you from the bottom of my overwhelmed and grateful heart.
Love Amplified (Heavy Influence Book 3) Page 16