My Two Husbands

by Yari Martinez

“Whoo-hoo!” she shrieks delightedly, throwing her hands up into the air as if she has just won a prize.

  Dominic was right all along. Kaylee does know what was going on between her father and me. I wasn’t protecting her at all. I should have known that Kaylee would notice what was going on. She was always home when he hit me. Now I have to wait for this to blow over to get both of us the help we need to recover.

  We play outside and don’t talk about Hunter anymore. I’m happy that even if for a moment she doesn’t have to think about what all that he has told her or what he has done to me.

  Time stops for no one, not even in the happiest of times. Without realizing it, Kaylee and I have been playing outside for hours. Nothing else in the world matters but us. I get to hear her beautiful laughter, I am able to see her jumping up and down, swim in the pool in the back yard, play with her Barbie dolls, pick up bugs. All those moments belong to me alone, and I feel like a piece of heaven is being given to me.

  “Kaylee, we have to pack up now.”

  “But I want to keep playing,” she whines.

  “I know you do, darling, but it’s getting dark and you don’t want to lose any of your toys do you?”

  She puckers up her lips. “No.”

  “Good, let’s hurry, and you can take a bubble bath while I prepare something to eat.”

  Without any more objections, she collects her toys and takes them into her room.

  I start running her bubble bath. Just as she puckered up her lips when I asked her to stop playing, she dashes into the bathroom smiling, with her dolls, ready to destroy the bathroom.

  “Try not to make a big mess, little munchkin,” I say.

  “Okay mommy,” she replies distractedly, and I immediately know that my words have fallen on deaf ears.

  I should get my mop ready.

  As I make my way to the kitchen, I hear a knock at the door.

  “Coming!” I call. “Who is it?

  “It’s me, Julie.”

  Julie looks business-like as usual. I’m sure being a lawyer must suck, because it’s all work, never fun.

  “Sorry I came over uninvited, but I need to talk to you about something. Well, two things actually,” she says.

  “No worries, but I hope you don’t mind hanging out in the kitchen. I’m making something to eat for Kaylee and me. Why don’t you join us for dinner, since you are already here?” I ask, hoping she says yes.

  “I would love to.”

  “Awesome. So what do you want to talk about?” I inquire, moving towards the kitchen.

  She takes off her light sweater and puts down her bag on the small table by the kitchen door. “We have a court date with Hunter next Monday to address the order of protection,” she says. “The judge from criminal court will be deciding if Kaylee will continue to be named on the order or if she is to be removed.”

  “So soon?” I ask.

  The thought that they will remove Kaylee from the order scares me now that I know what has been going on with Hunter. What if they remove her from the order and the judge in the family court decides that Hunter should regain custody of Kaylee? I feel nauseated thinking of the wait to find out the court’s decision.

  “I imagine that Judge Paine must have called over to criminal court and requested the hearing be expedited so that she can make a final decision,” says Julie.

  “What are the odds of Hunter regaining full custody once she is removed from the order of protection? I feel nervous, you know.”

  “Don’t. I don’t think you will lose custody. The fact remains that he wasn’t following the prior order. There’s also the criminal court case against him. Kaylee might be removed from the order of protection, but it is frowned upon to beat up the mother of your child. What might change is the fact that he won’t be forced to stay away from Kaylee and will be granted unsupervised visits and overnight stays with her.”

  “I see. You know what Kaylee told me today?” I say as I pour her some wine.

  “What?”

  “That Hunter doesn’t play with her and gets angry when she talks about me. She said she’s not allowed to talk about me since I left them. Can you believe it?”

  Julie takes a sip of the wine, and I can tell she approves of it.

  “I believe it. With the beating he gave you, I’m surprised he hasn’t said worse.”

  “She also admitted that she knows Hunter hits me.”

  “I thought she didn’t know!” she exclaims, surprised.

  “I didn’t think she noticed. Dominic always said that children notice everything. I chose not to believe him. It was easier to live in denial,” I confess.

  “It’s not your fault. I’ll make sure to bring it up if the judge deliberates granting him physical custody,” she assures me.

  “Well, let’s see what happens on Monday. Anyway, what’s the second thing you wanted to tell me?” I ask.

  “Before we get into that, did you read the paperwork Dominic left you?”

  I open the drawer and slowly wave it at her. “I did, and I was debating what to do about it, but let him know it’s fine so I can move on. I don’t want to harp on this anymore. I might end up with a heart attack if I do, and I can’t afford one right now,” I say, putting it down in front of her.

  “I’ll email him tomorrow then, if that’s okay with you.”

  “That’s fine.”

  “Okay. So what I want to talk to you about has nothing to do with you but with me. Um...” she trails of hesitantly.

  I stop concentrating on the food for a second and turn to her. She looks nervous and is breaking a sweat. I realize she is trying to bring up the rape.

  “I was thinking of filing a complaint with the police department against my rapist. Can you come with me when I do that? I know you have a lot going on, but I never have been brave enough to say anything until the day I met you. So I was thinking maybe you can… you know, just be there with me.” She gazes at me anxiously.

  “C’mon Julie! You don’t need to ask me! Of course I’ll go! I think it’s about time that pervert faces what he did to you,” I exclaim, giving her a hug.

  I can hear her crying, and I pull away from her to look at her face. She tries to wipe her tears, but I move her hands from her face and wipe them for her.

  “Don’t be embarrassed to cry in front of me. We are family, you hear that? Whatever you need, I am here. I wish I had your guts.”

  She holds me tighter, and my heart weighs a ton. I feel older, like a woman hugging a grown-up daughter, and I hug her tighter, hoping she feels safe.

  “Mommy come get me out!” hollers Kaylee from the bathroom.

  “I’m coming darling!” I call back.

  Julie she takes a seat while I go and get Kaylee out of her bath. As I make my way to the bathroom, a shiver crawls up my spine realizing I might one day face an actual rapist. Until now, I have never imagined real rapists. It never occurred to me that anyone could commit the ultimate form of theft. That someone could steal from another person something they would never get back. It is terrifying to think that people we might know feed off hurting others.

  I never knew the living could visit hell.

  Chapter 17

  I walk into the hospital. The place is a mad house at this hour, but I wait patiently by the desk until a nurse comes over and asks me, “How may I help you, miss?”

  “I’m looking for Dr. Nicolas Brady.”

  She studies me as long as possible without appearing creepy. “Is he expecting you?” she finally asks.

  “Actually no. I was hoping he could spare me a moment.” I should have said “yes.” Too late to correct myself now.

  “I’ll see what I can do. As you can see, today is crazy in here, and he might not be able to meet you. If that’s the case, I’ll do whatever I can to help you. Your name, miss?”

  “Brook York.”

  “I’ll try to give him a call for you.” She replies.

  She turns around and picks up a phone behind
the desk. By the expression on her face, it looks as if Doctor Brady won’t be assisting me much today, but I still wait. After a few seconds she hangs up the phone, and walks into another room.

  “Ms. York?” I hear someone call from behind me.

  I turn around, and there he is, Dr. Nicolas Brady, as handsome as the last time I saw him. I definitely did not suffer a concussion then.

  “That was fast,” I tell him with a smile.

  “What was fast?” he asks, confused.

  “I just asked the nurse if I could see you and she left to get you. I didn’t think I would get such fast response. Truth be told, I didn’t think she was calling you for me at all.”

  “Your first hypothesis is probably right. I’m sure she told you she would call me but is doing something else to kill time. She’ll probably come back and tell you I’m not available,” he says.

  Taking a closer look, I realize I was wrong. He isn’t just handsome—he’s dreamy. Unable to control myself, I smile at him. I know I’m blushing. “Good to know,” I say.

  “So what can I help you with?” he asks.

  “You might remember I was beaten up the last time you saw me. Now I have a court date coming up, and I need copies of the paperwork for the days I was admitted here to present in court,” I explain.

  He must think my life is in shambles, and I avoid eye contact.

  “I can make that happen,” he says, returning my smile. “I was going to step out for a while and get something to eat. Would you like to join me? I’ll give you the records when we come back? Unless of course you are in a rush.” I wonder if he is this nice to everyone who needs help.

  “Yes! That would be great,” I say without thinking.

  “Give me two minutes to place the request for them, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “Really Brook! You said ‘yes’? What the hell are you thinking? You’re pregnant, with pending court dates,” I whisper to myself, forgetting someone may see me and white-jacket me.

  “Ms. York,” calls out the nurse.

  I turn to her. Just as Dr. Brady predicted, her face is set to give me bad news.

  “Yes?”

  “Doctor Brady is unavailable at the moment. Would you like me to assist you with anything?” she asks.

  “Actually he already came out and spoke to me. But thanks for trying to help,” I say, not sounding as polite as I should.

  “Anytime,” she says with a hint of sarcasm. I can’t blame her: I graced her first, so she is simply returning my gift.

  As I stand around waiting for Dr. Brady, the nurse pretends to be busy behind the desk to get the gossip on the doctor. She doesn’t seem to care that this hospital is working at full capacity, with many people who need help. She seems more intrigued by me.

  I continue to distract myself by observing everyone around me, ignoring her and holding my head high. After a few dreadful minutes, Dr. Brady comes over.

  “Nancy, if anyone needs me, let them know I’ve stepped out and take a message. Reach out to me for emergencies only and nothing else,” he instructs the nurse who pretended to help me. He turns around, and I see by the intensity of his gaze and the smile on his face that I have his undivided attention. “Are you ready to go?” he asks me.

  “Sure,” I reply, and he quickly gestures me to the exit of the hospital.

  We make it to a nice cozy spot a few miles from the hospital. This man makes me feel as if I’ve known him forever. This makes me feel a bit uneasy, because I have no reason to feel comfortable with him, yet I do. But I don’t mind.

  “May I?” he asks and walks around me to pulls a chair out.

  I take a seat and look up at him. “Thank you,” I beam.

  He sits down and gazes at me. I can tell he is completely focused on our conversation. “Tell me about yourself,” he says.

  At his words, the reality of my situation strikes me and reminds me how crazy it is for me to be here. There is so much going on in my life and in the lives of everyone around me, and here I am having a good time with a handsome and soft-spoken man.

  “What is there about me that you don’t already know?” I ask.

  “Do you remember I’m pregnant and I got myself beat up by my ex-husband? I really shouldn’t be here.”

  He must have confused me with someone else and that’s why invited me.

  “Actually, I do remember. But what does that have to do with new friends having lunch together? Am I supposed to be hesitant even when I’m just sitting here with a new friend that I’m trying to know a little better?” This is a statement more than a question.

  “I wasn’t saying there’s anything wrong with us having lunch together,” I protest, embarrassed for assuming that this is anything more than a meeting of friends.

  After a few moments of awkward silence, he asks, “Why are you silent all of the sudden?”

  “No reason,” I reply.

  “So are you going to tell me anything at all about yourself, or am I going to have to bore you to death about me?”

  “What would you like to know?” I ask.

  The atmosphere has changed. Now this feels like a job interview, so I sip on the free filtered water, ready to answer his questions correctly before I’m told I’ve been rejected.

  He looks at me and smiles as he takes a sip of water as well. “You’re definitely a rough crowd. Let me think. Okay, I have a question. Why didn’t you want your husband to know that you’re pregnant?”

  He jumps straight into the serious questions. No warm-up questions first. He must be one of those people who thinks life is too short to waste time on unnecessary things. I was better off rambling and playing it safe.

  “He was my fiancé, not my husband. Pregnancy wasn’t something we’d discussed. And with everything going on with my ex-husband assaulting me, I figured I could wait a little before telling him. I guess he found out anyway.”

  “Is he happy to know you’re pregnant?”

  A question I have feared since Dominic’s insensitive goodbye. I was hoping it would come much later, giving me time to prep my response in front of a mirror. This would be a good time to take Diane’s advice and recount how he died in a tragic accident before meeting our unborn child. “He has disappeared out of my life and the baby’s life. I would assume he isn’t happy about it at all.”

  Nicolas gazes into my eyes. I don’t feel the pain of my unfortunate story. But he must, because his eyes look glassy and he leans over and holds my hand.

  “I’m sorry,” he says, almost in a whisper.

  “Don’t be. You didn’t abandon us.” I slip my hand away from his. I could do without everyone’s sympathy.

  “When one man commits the sin of abandoning his family, all men should be sorry. No woman should ever have to suffer alone throughout her pregnancy,” he says.

  His words could not be any more perfect if they came from a poem, but I refuse to allow them to reach me. I stare at him, and I can see the gentleness in his soul. It is gratifying to know God has not failed to create some good people on this planet. I have no words for him, and I simply continue to clasp my hands on my lap to prevent him from touching me again.

  Nicolas pulls his chair closer to me. “I know we’ve just met, but I don’t want you to go through your pregnancy without support. Would you allow me to be here for you?”

  Why would he think I have no support? And how would I look saying yes? I’d rather not answer.

  “I’m going to give you my number. From now on, no more sad faces. Here, give me your phone,” he says. I unlock my cellphone and hand it to him without objection. He takes it and adds his name and number to my contacts.

  “Why are you being so nice to me? Of course I’m flattered, but this is so random. Why the special interest? I’m sure I’m not the first unfortunate pregnant woman you’ve encountered.”

  He hands me back my cellphone and says, “The first time I saw you, I felt the wind get knocked out of me. I was taken aback by your beauty. I couldn
’t believe someone had assaulted you that way. Yes, it’s true, I’ve met thousands of people throughout my career and never once felt what I’ve felt seeing you. I ignored whatever I was feeling for obvious reasons. You were pregnant. And it’s not ethical. So, I chose to ignore what I thought would be a passing crush. But when I saw you today, I knew right then and there I would be a fool not to get to know you better.”

  “I guess that makes two of us that day who got the wind knocked out of them. We can be friends. I won’t object to friendship,” I say.

  Without our noticing it, a couple of hours have passed, with small smiles and easy conversation keeping us entertained. The start of our friendship is easier than we both anticipated.

  It would have been great if Nicolas didn’t have to return to work. It was nice not to worry about my problems, even if for a little while.

  We return to the hospital, laughing like long-lost friends, immediately causing stares and whispers.

  “Let me get you those papers,” he says once our laughter subsides.

  “Okay.”

  When he returns with the papers in hand, it strikes me that I’ll never get away from my past. Good times will come and go, but my horrors with Hunter will remain with me forever.

  Nicolas gently kisses me on the cheek, and I get into my car, wishing this moment would never come to an end.

  As I sit quietly in the car, the hospital papers stare at me, mocking me as a reminder that there will never be a light at the end of tunnel for me. I grab them and put them in the back seat, and to distract myself, I pull out my cellphone and scroll to Nicolas’ name. I entertain myself with the thought that someone other than Dominic is going to care about me during my pregnancy.

  I know I should not believe anyone will make me happy, but when everyone else finds a way to kick you when you’re down, your mind wanders.

  Nicolas’ words circle my mind. As pleasant as they sound, he has made a promise no man should have to make to a woman pregnant with another man’s baby.

  Chapter 18

  I ought to feel comfortable attending court, given all the time I have spent in courtrooms, but that can’t be further from the truth. Every time feels like my first time, and not knowing the outcome of the hearing turns my stomach.