by Beth Rinyu
“Hey, Nicole,” Dailan shouted as I started walking away. I turned around to find his eyes looking me over from top to bottom, just like he would when we had first met. My stomach fluttered. “I can get rid of this guy and we can shower together.”
Yes, yes, yes! My insides were screaming. Tommy was grinning and shaking his head. “Nah, that’s okay. I have to share you.” His stare was intense, making me want to escort Tommy to the door myself. Instead, I gave him a quick smile, mouthed the words “love you” to him, and headed up the steps. I still could never get enough of that man.
Chapter 23
Dailan
I waited until Nicole was all the way up the steps before I told Tommy the whole deal about the lawsuit and how that dirt bag came to my office with his offer.
“Really and how is this guy still alive? I’m surprised that you didn’t kill him.”
“Oh, I wanted to. He’s lucky that someone that I work with walked in because I swear to God, Tommy, I wanted to kill him.”
“Well, do you think he has a case for getting any rights to Ryan?”
“Hell, no, and he knows it. That’s why he’s trying to grasp at straws.”
“Don’t you think you should tell Nicole?”
“No, I don’t need her worrying about these people any more than she has to. They don’t have a leg to stand on where Ryan is concerned and the other part has to do with work, so she doesn’t need to know about that.”
“If you say so, but if she finds out, she might be pissed.”
“Well, she’s not going to find out. I’m going to win this case and everything will be back to normal.”
“Dude, have a little more confidence in yourself,” Tommy joked.
“Tommy, you know I don’t like to lose at anything. And now that he’s made it personal, I will make damn sure that I don’t.”
“Well, good luck, buddy, and don’t work too hard on your birthday.”
“Hey, where are you going this weekend?”
“To your wife’s sister’s.”
“Really, falling in love again?”
“Maybe, bro.” He got up and placed his hand on my shoulder as I walked him to the door. I went upstairs and opened the bathroom door. I quickly got undressed and got into the shower with Nicole. She looked so damn sexy as she looked up at me with surprise.
“Why, hello there, Mr. O’Maley. I was hoping that you would join me.” She stood on her tippy toes and whispered in my ear, “Are you ready for your next birthday present?”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. “Hell, yeah.”
***
We finally got out of the shower, only because we ran out of hot water. Nicole really did know how to make me feel special on my birthday. I got dressed and headed downstairs just as Nicole’s parents were walking through the door with Ryan and Ella. I felt like I hadn’t seen the two of them in ages. They were both in bed by the time I got home and sleeping by the time I left for work this past week. Ryan’s smile was worth a million dollars. “Happy birthday, Uncle D!” He rushed over and gave me a high five.
“Hey, dude, how was the baseball game?”
“It was awesome! Wish you could have come.”
“Daaa – Daa,” Ella screamed, reaching out for me from Nicole’s mother’s arms.
I took her from Nicole’s mother and she began to give me her version of kisses all over my face. “Hey, baby girl. I missed you,” I said, kissing her on her head.
“She loves her daddy.” Nicole’s mother smiled. “Happy birthday, Dailan,” she said, giving me a kiss on my cheek.
“Yeah, happy birthday,” Nicole’s dad chimed in.
“Hey,” Nicole said with a huge smile on her face as she walked down the stairs. “Did everyone behave last night?” she asked.
“Of course. We had a lot of fun,” her mother said.
“I missed you guys,” Nicole said as she messed up Ryan’s hair. “Hey, missy, did you miss Mommy?” Ella gave her a smile and buried her head into my shoulder.
“Well, we have to run. Your father invited unexpected guests over for dinner and now we have to go food shopping.” They said their goodbyes and walked out the door.
Nicole leaned down and Ryan whispered something in her ear. She whispered something back and Ryan ran up the stairs two at a time. Nicole shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Ryan came running back down the stairs with a present in his hands.
“This is from me and Ella,” Ryan said, unable to wipe the smile from his face. Nicole took Ella from me while Ryan and I sat down on the couch. I took off the wrapping paper to find the salt water fishing pole that I had showed Ryan the last time we were at the sporting goods store. “That’s the right one, right?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, it is. Thank you so much, buddy.”
“You’re welcome. Can we go fishing today?” he asked, still unable to wipe away his smile.
“I have to go –” I stopped myself upon seeing the excitement on his face. “You know what? That can wait until tomorrow. Go get your stuff together.”
“Yes!” Ryan screamed as he ran up the stairs once again.
Nicole smiled at Ryan’s excitement. I took Ella back from her and kissed her. “Thank you for my present, baby girl.” She wiggled her way out of my arms and onto the floor. “You are the best, you know that?” Nicole said. She sat down next to me and kissed me softly on the lips. Ella lifted herself up and began to walk as she grabbed on to the couch. “She’s going to be walking in no time,” Nicole said.
“Yeah, I know.”
“I’m ready!” Ryan said as he waited anxiously in the doorway.
“Ryan, make sure you put sunblock on!” I shouted.
“I will.”
I got up and looked down at my ringing cell phone. “It’s my mother,” I said to Nicole.
“Well, today would be the perfect day to break the news to her about us not coming. It’s your birthday, so maybe she won’t be as pissed.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said as we headed out the door, prepping myself for a ration of shit from my mother.
Chapter 24
Nicole
I picked up Ella and hugged her tightly. “It looks like it’s me and you this morning, baby girl!” I kissed her on the cheek and lifted up her shirt, giving her kisses on her belly. I could never get enough of her deep belly laughs. “Mommy missed you so much.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and opened her mouth widely, placing it on my face. I carried Ella into the kitchen with me to answer the phone. I smiled when I saw the name Jack O’Maley displayed on the caller ID.
“Good morning!” I answered through Ella’s screeching.
“Good morning, Nicole,” Annette, Jack’s wife, responded. “I hear someone is wide awake,” she joked, referring to Ella.
“Oh, yes. She’s always wide awake.”
“Where’s the birthday boy?”
“Oh, and he and Ryan went fishing already.”
“Well, we were just calling to see if you guys wanted to come over later for a barbeque.”
“Yeah, that sounds great.”
We decided on four p.m. and said our goodbyes. Ella and I spent the rest of the morning in front of the TV, watching Little Bear. I looked up at the clock, realizing that it was close to noon already. “Hey, little piggy, it’s your lunch time.” I got up to bring her into the kitchen and made a pit stop to the knocking on my front door. I looked out the window to find my dad’s car. “Hey, I thought you were supposed be home, preparing for your dinner guests,” I joked as I opened the door.
“I escaped.” He laughed. “Here, your mail lady handed this to me on the way in,” he said, handing me a pile of mail. I threw it on the counter, not looking at any of it.
“What brings you back?” I asked as I placed Ella in her high chair.
“I wanted to give this to Ryan.” I looked down at the baseball glove in his hand. “He said that he’s thinking about trying out catching next season and I wanted him to ha
ve your brother’s catcher’s mitt.”
I immediately felt the familiar burn in my eyes that I did whenever my brother was mentioned. “I wish he could have met him, Dad.”
I saw my dad’s eyes begin to fill up with tears. “Me too; he’s so much like Justin at that age, it’s scary. He’s a great kid, Nicole.” My dad’s eyes began to glass over once again.
“I know.”
“I’m just so sorry for the way I treated—”
“Dad, it’s okay. We’re okay now.” I said, feeling myself becoming emotional as well.
“Nicole, I just have to tell you, I’m so proud of you. You are such a great mom and a great wife. You’ve given me two beautiful grandchildren. I really had such a great time with Ryan last night. He and Ella were the best medicine for helping us cope with the loss of your brother. I hate myself for the way I acted to you. You didn’t deserve that.”
I could no longer stop the tears as my dad hugged me tightly. Ella began to babble as she banged on her high chair. I wiped the tears away and began to laugh. “Hell hath no fury like a hungry Ella.” My dad laughed and sat down next to her, keeping her occupied while I heated up her lunch. “I’ll feed her,” my dad said as he took the food from my hand.
“Boy, Mom must be doing some heavy duty cleaning that you’re trying to get out of,” I joked.
I started to go through the mail that I had placed on the counter; bills and junk mail. I carefully looked over the last envelope in my hand. It was addressed to Dailan and Nicole O’Maley from the law offices of Preston Jacobs. My hands were shaking as I ripped it open.
Dear Mr. & Mrs. O’Maley:
Please be advised that I represent Jonathan Caldwell regarding pending litigation. It would be in your best interest to contact my office immediately to discuss this matter further.
Sincerely,
Preston J. Jacobs, Esq.
My heart sank to my knees. That bastard! There was no way in hell I would let him do this. Ryan had been through so much already I refused to have him go through anymore. My hands were shaking as I read the letter over again.
My dad turned around. “Nicole, hand me a nap-” He stopped himself, obviously seeing the look on my face. “What’s wrong?” I handed him the letter; my hands were still shaking.
“That son of a bitch. How does he even know about Ryan?”
I went on to explain to my dad about how I had run into him and his mother at the coffee shop last week and how he had showed up at my house. “Was Dailan here, when he showed up?”
“No, thank God. He would have killed him.”
“That’s what that little snot nose bastard needs: a good ass kicking. You know, he ended up dropping out of college; too much partying. He’s got a cushy job working for his dad’s company in the Denver office.”
“No, I didn’t know that. I don’t really care. I don’t want to know anything about him. I hate him so much.” I felt my voice cracking with emotion.
My dad stood up and hugged me tightly. “I know I wasn’t there for you when I should have been. But I promise I will be here for you now. He’s not going to get his hands on him, Nicole. You know that Dailan would never let that happen.”
“I know, but what if it’s out of our hands? Ryan has been through so much and he’s taken it all in stride. I don’t think he would be able to handle anymore.” I looked over at Ella, who was falling asleep in her high chair. I excused myself while I took her upstairs and put her down for a nap. When I came back, my dad was getting ready to leave. I walked him to the door and he hugged me once again. “Nicole, why don’t you go take a nap yourself; you look exhausted. Stop worrying yourself over this. Everything is going to be okay.” Maybe that was what I had yearned to hear from my dad all those years ago; but somehow, just being in his arms and hearing him comfort me now was all that I had needed for the moment.
Chapter 25
Nicole
The past…
I had two more weeks left of school before my at home tutoring began. I was fortunate enough to have the adoption agency cover the expenses. This would allow me to graduate with my class in June and resume my life back to normal starting in the fall. I was looking forward to getting away from the stares at my now expanding belly and the whispers behind my back; although the atmosphere at home wasn't much better. My sister's wedding was three weeks away. I was no longer the maid of honor; thankfully, I wasn't even in it. I guess she didn't want to draw the attention of her pregnant teenage sister to her guests. I was secretly hoping that I would be in the hospital giving birth, so I didn't have to be a part of it at all.
My mom's part time job had now turned full time with every single penny going to my sister's wedding fund. While my sister complained about how hard it was to find a full time job, she continued to work part time at the trendy little boutique that she had been working at all throughout college. Still spending everything she made, shopping there. It made me sick how she felt as if it was my parents’ obligation to pay for her wedding while she contributed nothing. But they were just as much at fault for allowing it to happen. I was beginning to become a little more optimistic about the future. I couldn't wait to be starting college. I had talked to Darius, the owner of the diner that I had worked at waitressing before I had gotten pregnant. He said that he would give me as many hours as possible over the summer to help me save up for car insurance. With that and my scholarship, I was fairly certain that I would be okay. Although spending another four years at home didn't exactly thrill me, but there was no way that I could afford to live on campus, so I would just have to serve my time. My dad was wrong; I did have it all figured out - at least I hoped that I did.
I had told my mom about my scholarship and she seemed like she was happy. She congratulated me and told me how proud she was of me. I wasn't sure if she had told my dad or not. He didn't say anything to me if she did. Not that I expected him to. Our conversations over the past months were very brief and only when necessary. I couldn't believe how much our relationship had changed since I had become pregnant. My dad was always super strict, but still, we were always very close. He had now become a stranger to me and I knew that our relationship would be forever changed because of this.
I basically would come home from school and hide out in my bedroom. The less my parents saw me, the better off things were. It was getting harder to sleep at night with my growing belly. Not to mention, every time I would lie down and try to relax, the baby would decide that it was time to do what felt like jumping jacks inside of me. At those times, I would rub my belly and recite one of my favorite children's books, Love you Forever. I had discovered it while babysitting for the little girl up the street last summer. She would have me read it to her over and over again. Now I used that familiar line from that book to my baby, to get him to quiet down. "I’ll love you forever; I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be." It always seemed to work. I wondered if he liked that book as much as I did, or maybe he just liked the sound of my voice. A voice that he would never hear again, once he was born. I had finally gotten him to settle down when I realized I could no longer ignore my extreme thirst. I looked over at the clock. 12:11; everyone should be in bed by now. I sneaked down to the kitchen to get a drink of water. I stood in the darkness, staring out the kitchen window as I ran the water, waiting for it to get cold. I was so deep in thought that I jumped when the kitchen light turned on, dropping the glass in the sink and shattering it into pieces. I turned around to find my dad standing in the doorway. I quickly began to pick up the pieces of the broken glass from the sink. Being around my dad these days put me totally on edge. He was quiet, getting the iced tea from the refrigerator and pouring himself a glass. I just wanted to clean up the mess I had made, get my glass of water, and hibernate back to my room. I was almost done when I felt a stabbing pain as one of the jagged pieces of glass stuck into my hand. I looked down to find blood gushing all over the place. I bit my lip to ease the burning as I ran my hand
under the running water. My dad looked over at the blood in the sink.
“Did you cut yourself?” he finally asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said, trying to play it off as the blood continued to flow.
He took me off guard when he removed my hand from the water and wrapped a dishtowel around it tightly. “Keep pressure on this for a minute. I’ll be right back.” I held onto the towel, ignoring the throbbing pain. He came back and placed the first aid kit on the counter. “You really cut yourself good,” he said as he removed the towel. He held my hand under the running water once again. “This is going to burn a little. Count to ten.” This was something he would always say to me when I was younger just before he would pour peroxide over a cut. He applied the antibiotic cream and carefully wrapped it in a bandage. He held my hand in his for a little while longer.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome.” His lips began to form something that resembled a smile; something that I hadn’t seen from him since I had become pregnant.
I thought back to all of the times when I was younger and I would skin my knees and elbows and how my dad was always there to mend my “boo boos.” I smiled inwardly, thinking that maybe there was still a little tiny ounce of that little girl and the dad that she once adored left in both of us. I found it ironic that something so painful would make my heart feel so good; at least for the moment, anyway.
Chapter 26
Nicole
He was coming up the stairs; I could hear him. I was trying to get into Ryan’s room to get to him, but I was frozen. I tried to scream, but nothing would come out. He was sitting over top of Ryan, ready to take him away. I needed to get to Ryan, but I couldn’t move.
“No!” I screamed as I pushed him with all my might.
“Geez, this is what happens when a guy tries to kiss his wife.”
Relief swept over me when I sat up and saw that it was Dailan sitting alongside of me on the bed.