by G S Binkley
Hayston who hadn’t been paying much attention to her companion’s conversation was now very interested when Gage mentioned the movie. She waited patiently until Gage hung up the telephone. “The movie is coming out before the end of the year?”
“Hmmmm… yes. The premiere will be in New York City…. right before Christmas.” Gage confirmed.
Hayston sighed. “There goes our Christmas plans.”
Suddenly, Gage and Hayston realized they were still sitting on the kitchen floor, just the two of them. A small smile played on their lips as both scrambled to see who could get up first.
***********************
When David hinted around that maybe he and Hayston could stay at Lacy and Gage’s home, Lacy quickly grabbed the telephone and made reservations for them at a nearby hotel. “I’m sure you’ll be much more comfortable there.”
Before he left with Hayston, David insisted that he pick the kids up each day during his week’s stay. “Not today, David. I promised Derek I would pick him up and that’s a promise I intend to keep.” Gage vowed.
He grinned smugly. “Okay. The rest of the week I do.”
Before Gage could protest, Lacy intervened. “We’ll take them to school in the morning……. and they both get off at noon on Thursday.”
“Gotcha.” David agreed.
Watching David and Hayston leave, Gage left Lacy standing at the door. Lacy recognized the telltale signs her lover displayed after David’s insistence that he pick up the kids. Mmmmmm….. looks like I need to do some reassuring here.
Lacy checked on Sammy while she gave Gage some time to consider David’s unexpected visit. When she finally stuck her head through the doorway, she found Gage’s fingers racing across the keyboard on her laptop. “Can I come in?”
Gage shrugged and didn’t miss a letter.
Lacy walked around behind her lover and placed gentle hands on Gage’s shoulders. Rubbing her neck, Lacy eased her way into the conversation she knew they would discuss. “I know you had it all planned. We’d take the kids to school in the morning then you would write till it was time to pick them up while I spend time with Sammy.”
Gage shifted her shoulders against the soothing and welcome touch of her partner but she didn’t want Lacy to think she was going to give in so easily.
“And, then the rest of the day was going to be filled with fun for you and Derek.”
“And Sammy….” Gage said.
“Yes, and Sammy… he loves you.”
“Derek does.”
“Sammy does, too.”
“Now, with him here… he may not.” Lacy pulled her lover back from the keyboard and sat on Gage’s lap. “Hayston reminded me just how much both your sons are like …. him.”
“David being here doesn’t change the way we all feel about you.” Lacy kissed her lover then stroked her cheek. “He doesn’t want to take over…. just be in their life a little bit more.”
“And you believe that?”
“Gage, sweetheart, I do. Though David’s career will always come first.”
“People get older, Lacy. Things change. They start to see their children as a monument to their lives and…..”
“Is that the way you see them…. your sons? They belong to you, too. All of them….. just as much as this one does.” Lacy patted her stomach.
Gage placed her hand over Lacy’s. “That’s the way I feel about them… as mine, too. Is that okay?”
Concerned green eyes searched blue ones for approval. “More than okay. You know that and we’ve talked about this before.” Lacy dropped her head next to Gage’s. “Stella said Mark called.”
Squeezing her lover, Gage confirmed. “Yeah, the wedding’s in December just before Christmas. And, the weekend before Mark’s set for the premiere.”
“Christmas in New York? Sounds good.”
“No, Christmas in England. He’s getting married there. His grandfather isn’t well enough to travel. Do you mind?”
“Are you and the kids going to be there?” Meeting a glare from her lover, Lacy rhetorically asked. “Then where else would I be?”
“Good. Now, one more thing. As Mark’s best….. person, I’m gonna have to give him a… some kind of party.”
“Okay….. I’ll give one for Julie the same night.”
“Hey, if you do that, I can’t go to both of them.” Gage whined.
Lacy ducked in for a quick kiss. “Probably best if you’re not there anyway.” The blonde’s eyebrows rose in question. “In case, we have a stripper.”
“What? Lacy Marie… there is no way you will be there then….not without me.”
Lacy jumped off her lap and scrambled out the door. “You trust me, don’t you?”
“I trust you… it’s the guy stripping that I don’t trust.”
As she ran down the hallway, Lacy yelled back. “Who said the stripper would be a guy?”
Green eyes nearly popped out of her head.
*************************
The week went by smoothly until Thursday when David picked up both Dani and Derek. As David drove back to their home, a small squirrel ran across the road and much to his credit David tried to miss it but didn’t.
Derek strained against his seatbelt trying to see what happened to the squirrel but the thump he heard confirmed his worst fear. With angry eyes, Derek glared at his father. “You killed it.”
“I didn’t mean to.” David casually said. “It happens.”
“Let me out.” Derek screamed as he tugged at the seatbelt latch.
“Hey!” David reached over the seat trying to pull his son’s hand away from the latch. “Stop that.”
“Derek. We can go back and check on him.” Dani tried to reason with her brother.
“He killed him on purpose.” Refusing to look at his father, the little boy crossed his arms. Slamming his chin against his chest, he mumbled underneath his breath. “Murderer.”
David kept driving while Derek continued to ignore him. “Derek! It was just a squirrel…. like I said sometimes that happens when they cross the road. It’s life.”
“I hate you.” Derek proclaimed.
Frustrated, Dani knew their planned stop on the way home would not happen. There goes my ice cream.
When they arrived home, Derek hurried out of the car and ran into the house. He searched and searched until he found the only person who he knew would understand. Breathing heavy, Derek spoke quickly. “He could have stopped but he didn’t. He killed him.”
“Whoa there. What happened?” Gage felt the little boy’s chest heaving over his racing heart.
“Honey! What happened?” Lacy heard her son as he ran through the house and followed him to Gage’s writing room.
Gage stood up and carried Derek to the small couch so they could all sit together. “Now, Derek. Take a big breath and calm down, okay?”
“I hate him.” He chanced a look at his mother. “I do.”
“Come here.” Lacy helped her son to her lap. “Who do you hate and why?”
David followed Dani inside the room just in time to be targeted by Derek’s accusing finger. “Him!”
Dani wanted to help so she said. “Mom, dad accidentally hit a squirrel.”
“That’s right. I didn’t do it on purpose.” David affirmed.
“He killed him.” Derek searched Gage’s eyes wanting her to be on his side.
“Honey, I know its real bad when that happens but sometimes it can’t be helped.” Lacy tried to reason with her six-year-old son.
He frowned at Gage hoping she would speak up. “Derek? You remember earlier this summer when that turtle was on the road?” He nodded. “I could have easily hit it…..”
“You didn’t.”
“No, we were lucky. A turtle’s slower than a squirrel though and sometimes…. if it had been a squirrel that day the same thing might have happened. Not because I wanted to hurt him.”
“They have rights, too. You said so.” Derek echoed Gage’s words
about an animal’s right to this land just as much as humans.
“They do…… “ She agreed. “So do fish but we go fishing and catch them and… eat them.”
Lacy added. “You like to fish, don’t you?”
“We didn’t eat the squirrel. He just left him there.”
David rolled his eyes. “What was I supposed to do? Scoop it up, skin it and bring it home for supper?”
“David! Be helpful not hurtful.” Lacy admonished her ex-husband.
He snuggled up to his mother and whispered. “I don’t want him to pick me up anymore. Please?”
Lacy nodded. “Okay. Only Gage or I will.”
Seeing her brother in such a state of despair, Dani crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Well, dad, we could have buried him on the side of the road and given it a funeral. Instead, of just leaving it there.”
Staring at his daughter, he said. “I thought you were on my side.”
“That’s enough.” Lacy declared. “Gage will go back there and get it. Okay?”
“Come on, Derek.” Dani turned to Gage. “Can we go, too?”
“Sure, why not?” Gage offered Lacy a mock smile. “Just what I always wanted to do.”
After Derek jumped off his mother’s lap, Gage leaned in closer and whispered to her partner. “You stay and keep the murderer company while I go and get the body. Oh, and you owe me for this one.”
***********************
The funeral was short and sweet and no one had much of an appetite after that. David went back to the hotel frustrated that his attempt to bond with his children especially Derek was futile. Lacy tried to assure him that it would take time and patience. David’s problem was that he could not put himself in others people’s shoes and subsequently could not see where they were coming from. He had one point of view and expected other’s to see it his way.
Dani gave him the best advice of his life before he left. “All you had to do was stop and listen to Derek. That’s all. Showed him you cared about what he was feeling.” David wasn’t used to listening. He was much better at making decision and schedules and then implementing them. Listening took too much precious time away from the demands of a successful executive. With a drink in his hand, he pondered his daughter’s sage words and wondered about the baby Hayston lost.
************************
The following week after David left, Lacy, Gage and the kids fell into a pleasant routine. All was going well until Dani came home from school one afternoon fuming at the events of the day. “Mom, we have to talk!”
Gage shrugged when Lacy eyed her. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Okay, Dani.” She grabbed her daughter’s hand. “Let’s go down by the dock.”
“The boys and I will find something to do while you girls have your little session.” Gage took Sammy from his mother and met relatively no resistance from the small tyke. “Come on, Derek. Let’s find some trouble to get into.” Not getting a rise out her partner, Gage added. “Where’s Stella? I’m sure we can harass her.”
“Don’t pay attention to her mom. She’s like a little kid sometimes always wanting your attention.” Dani clearly hit the nail on the head regarding Gage’s intention.
Lacy draped her arm over her daughter’s shoulder. “I had her figured out years ago.”
They walked quietly to the lakefront. After settling down on the edge of the dock, Lacy asked. “You going to tell me what’s on in your mind?”
“I like school and all. We have lots of fun there.” Dani shrugged then said. “Most of kids in my grade are nice.”
“But?”
“There’s this boy.” When Dani saw her mom’s eyebrows shoot up, the young girl cautioned her mother. “It’s not like that.”
“Then tell me what it’s like.”
“He pesters me. Always following me and my friends around. He tries to make me mad on purpose.”
“He likes you.” Lacy surmised then added. “And, you like him.”
Dani jumped up and cocked her hands on her hips. “I do not.”
Watching her daughter carefully, Lacy smiled. “Me thinks you protest too much.”
Glaring at her mother with the same blue eyes, Dani insisted. “I know what you mean by that….it’s not true.”
“Dani, you like boys, don’t you?”
Dani relented, dropping her hand to her side. “Yes, sorta. They’re not very mature though. You should see them, mom.” Dani plopped back down next to her mother. “They do weird things.”
“Like what?”
“Like the things they say and they go around picking at you. You know, hitting you…. not hard more like playing tag or something. Or, they pull at your hair and laugh. Things like that.” Dani concluded.
“And, this boy… does it more than most?”
“Definitely. He sits behind me in class.”
“I’ll talk with your teacher so you can move.” Lacy offered.
“No!” Dani protested then reasoned in a calm voice. “I don’t want my friends to know my mom had to step in.”
“Gotcha.” Lacy smiled. “What are you going to do then?”
Dani leaned back. “What did you do?”
Lacy chuckled as she remembered a few incidents in school. She could still remember Jason following her and her friends around on the playground much to her older brother’s protests. “That’s a hard one. Are you sure you don’t like him?”
“Mom.” Dani whined. “My friends think he’s kinda cute though. This is his first year here. He moved here from New York and thinks he’s ……”
“Something else?” Lacy supplied.
“Something like that.”
“Okay then I suggest you ignore him. No matter what he does. At first, it might not seem to work but after a while he’ll give up.”
Pondering her mother’s words, Dani wondered. “You sure he will? Not pay attention to me anymore…. or tal…. bother me.”
“Yep.”
Her mother’s reassuring words were a bit unsettling to the young girl. I want him to stop being mean to me not leave me alone.
Lacy could see her daughter’s mind spinning from her advice. She was in tune enough with her oldest child to know that Dani’s feelings regarding this young boy danced precariously on a thin line.
“Come on.” Dani stood up. “We gave Gage and the boys enough time to get into plenty of trouble.” As Lacy walked back to the house with Dani by her side, the young girl said. “Thanks, mom.”
Pulling Dani in for a warm hug, Lacy said. “I love you.”
“Oh, I know.” Dani agreed, hugging her mother back fiercely.
Smiling, Lacy knew her advice would assure the continued torment from Dani’s attentive young man since no male whether young or old liked to be ignored.
Chapter Eighteen
Over the next two months Dani and Derek settled into a regular routine of school, adjusting easily until Derek came home with a black eye. “What happened, Derek?”
“I hit him.” Derek declared. “And, he hit me back.”
“Why?” The concerned mother asked.
Derek nodded at Gage. “He tried to throw my turtle out the window.” It was the same turtle Gage and Derek rescued from the road on their way home last week.
Lacy glared at her partner causing Gage to shrink. “I didn’t tell him to hit anyone.” Then she mumbled. “Probably deserved it though.”
“Gage!” The sound of her name coming off Lacy’s lips was not a good sign.
“Oh, alright.” The blonde got Derek’s attention. “Derek, what did I say about fighting?”
“That I should use words and not fists.” Derek had this talk with Gage already, as the young boy became a champion for animal rights even when it came to the small ants on the playground. When the other kids knew this upset him, they would deliberately pounce on the ants in order to bother Derek. One boy in particular found this amusing. “But, if that doesn’t work, hit first and let them do their explain
ing later.”
Lacy stared at her partner who desperately tried to get out from underneath the glaring look she was receiving. “I didn’t exactly say… I said…..” Gage allowed a small giggle to escape trying to ease the tension. “It was just a joke.” Worked for me when I was a kid.
Lacy was still not impressed. “You’re going to straighten this out, right?”
Nodding furiously, Gage agreed. “Absolutely!” She turned back to Derek. “We always use words……”’
Balling his hand in a fist, he asked. “What about this?”
“Gage!”
Feeling the accusing assault of Lacy’s eyes, Gage continued to explain as she grabbed his hand. “That…. that is for the last resort. After a few karate lessons….”
“Gage!”
“Why don’t we start with…… judo….” Lacy nudged her. “How bout…. gymnastics?” Feeling that answer was a safe one, Gage finished. “Then we’ll see where we go after that?”
“Okay.” Derek was happy.
“Now, go on and get ready for dinner.” Gage prompted him. After he left, the blonde turned to her partner. “You know, Lacy. He’s has to learn to defend himself.”
The look Lacy gave Gage carried the distinct message that there would be no more discussion on this matter. “I know about the lessons you’ve already given him.”
“Hey, it was only a few defensive moves to get away from the other guy…. I didn’t teach him to hit anyone.” Gage protested.
Lacy stepped forward, wrapping her arms around her lover. “I know.” Their lips met in a passionate kiss that soothed each other’s troubled mind.
************************
After Mark Calico met with Ron Griffen regarding the distribution rights of Lacy’s movie, the movie mogul jumpstarted a powerful wave of enthusiasm about the upcoming December release. Mark called in the favor Griffen knew he would after Mark let his daughter work on the movie in question. Griffen thought his daughter wanted to be there due to a certain young man working on the set and this met with his approval.