Surviving the Pain (A Baby Saved Me Series Book 1)

by P. J. Belden

  There was a loud roar from the phone, and it caused Ember to jump. Sage held her tighter and listened to the man scream about her touching his family. Apparently it was not acceptable to go after this man’s family. Sage then told him everything about where he was, who he was with, that he’d proposed – and she accepted – and even about his son.

  “Rufus, I need to know that my family is safe, especially when I leave to do fights. She can’t be trusted.”

  “Don’t worry. If she’s your family, she’s now my family. We’ll make sure she’s safe at all times.”

  Sage and Rufus got to talking about upcoming fights in a few months. She busied herself cleaning her already clean apartment. Ember jumped slightly when a loud knock started suddenly on her door. When she looked at Sage, he’d already begun moving toward the door. Ember just shook her head and peeked through the peephole. Sighing, she pulled her robe – that she’d grabbed while cleaning up – tighter around her. After such an incredible night, today was really sucking… already.

  Pulling the door open, she forced herself to keep from gagging when the smell of the landlord hit her nostrils. “What can I…”

  He cut her off by yelling at her. “Where is rent? Why you no pay it yet?”

  “Because I just paid you last week. Rent is only due once a month,” she spoke slowly and calmly, even though she wanted to beat him with his left arm.

  “No! You no paid last week. You no pay this month!” He screamed.

  “Yes, I did. I paid you with a money order, and I have my slip as proof if you wish to see it.”

  He shoved her then. She would have fallen too, she was sure of it, had she not fallen into Sage’s arms instead. Looking up at him, angry tears blurred her vision. Correcting her, kissing her and asking if she was okay, he turned to face the slumlord.

  “You ever put your hands on my fiancé again, and I’ll rip that arm of yours off, shove it up your ass until you are waving to people through your mouth. You got it?” Sage said, bravely stepping closer to the stench that was Albert Ryder.

  “You trying to threaten me, boy,” he said, suddenly talking in much clearer English.

  “I don’t make threats, only promises. Now, as far as her rent, she paid this month. However, by the end of the month, she will be vacating the premises to move into a place that actually knows how to run a business or maybe I’ll buy her a fucking house. Now, get the fuck away from her door and never come back here. I will make sure that pictures are taken of how the apartment looks when she leaves, if you try and pull anything… You’ll be seeing me. Got it?”

  With that, Sage slammed the door in his face and turned around to face her. “Don’t argue with me. You will be my wife soon, and you are the mother of my son. We will be moving into someplace way better than this. Personally, I’d prefer a house, but if you’d be happier in an apartment, we can do that too.”

  “Sage…” she coughed as everything swarmed her at once. “I love you. I’d love a house, but can we afford that? I mean I’m barely scraping by here as it is.”

  “You let me worry about money. I’ve got us covered baby. You’ll never worry again. Now, I do believe, I offered you breakfast.”

  “Wait, I’m confused.” She really was too. So much wasn’t jiving for her. Ember honestly worried that maybe some of what he’d told her might have been lied about.

  “What are you confused about?” He asked not seeming the least bit upset.

  “Well, you just told that Rufus guy – the one you said kept you from me – all about me. I don’t get it.” Ember knew the confusion was planted all over her face.

  “He’s not what I thought he was Ember. I’m not going to tell you much on the matter. When I introduce you two, you can make your decision on him that way. For now, will you just trust me on the fact that Rufus is not the man I thought he was, way better actually, and is an important person in my life?”

  “Okay,” Ember replied after a moment. “I’ll trust you.”

  “Good, now breakfast.” He took her hand and started walking her down the hall to the bedroom. When they entered, he turned around and slowly untied her robe, letting it drop to the floor at her feet. Running his hands across her naked chest, Ember sucked in a breath. His heated eyes burned into hers. “Don’t ever answer the door looking like this again. Only I get to see you this… Damn…”

  That’s all that was said before his lips crashed down to hers. Just that quickly and easily, Sage helped her mind toss the slum lord aside and focus on the happy things, the happy moments. Something in her gut would not let her believe that this happiness was forever, but damn if she was going to let it take control and run the right now. Ember owed Sage, Hudson and herself far more than they were getting. It was high time she lived. Who better to live with than her two most favorite men in the world? Mom and dad could finally rest easy. Ember and Hudson would be okay. What Ember didn’t know was the time and damage that would come before that happened. She knew it was coming. She just didn’t know when or how bad, but she knew it was coming.

  Sage knew that everyone underestimated him at one point or another, but Ember never had. She had always told him that he was a man that could do anything – and would do anything – that he put his mind to. This was no different.

  “Are you sure, sir? There are several others that I can still show you.”

  Shaking his head as he looked at it, he smiled. “No, this is it. I know it. You know the details.”

  “Yes, sir, I’ll have it done by the end of the day.”

  “No, not good enough. For what I’m paying, you’ll have it done in three hours.” Without another word, he turned and walked away.

  He was not a man to be messed with when he wanted something bad enough. Ember’s happiness was so tightly linked with his own. If she wasn’t happy, neither was he. No, it was more than that. He had a son. That kid was so much like him, that sometimes it scared him. However, Hudson had so much more going for him than Sage had at his age. He has parents that love him and grandparents that would move the world to bring a smile to their grandchild’s face. Sage may not have had this in his plans for a while yet, but Hudson was here all the same, and he was ready to make up for the time he lost.

  Every time Sage thought about the time he’d missed out on, his anger would return toward Grey. If Grey had backed off a long time ago, Sage wouldn’t have missed out on so much. But then he remembered what Hudson had said to him the first night when he tucked him into bed.

  “Daddy, I know that something kept you away from me. I’m not mad. I was sad for a long time and wanted a daddy, but I’m glad I waited. I love you.”

  It was at that moment that he’d realized that his son may look like him, and acted like him a lot of the times, but that boy’s heart was just like his mother’s. Sage was not complaining either. Ember’s heart was the first thing that drew him to her. Even when she said she’d be his girlfriend, and everything after that, he didn’t understand what she saw in him. He was the screw-up and cast off in a socialites’ family. His grades were decent in school – probably around a 3.0 – but he was nothing compared to the honor student that Ems had been.

  Running up the stairs to the Watson’s residence, he rang the bell. The thoughts of wonderment still filled his head as Mr. Watson answered. Shock filled his face.

  “Sage, son, what are you doing here?”

  “I came to talk to you about something. I’m doing something for Ember and Hudson, and I need your help to fully pull it off. If you don’t want to, I understand. I know that you owe me nothing since I hurt your daughter for so long and…” Sage realized he was rambling and let his pointless banter trail off.

  “Come in. I think it’s high time we had ourselves a talk. Kimmy is in the kitchen. Why don’t we all talk in there.”

  Nodding his head, he stepped into the house and walked the very familiar path to the kitchen. He’d spent so much time in this house when he was dating their daughter. They’d always treate
d him like family. They never judged him based on his parents’ actions or behaviors. They solely judged him on his treatment of their daughter and his own actions and behaviors, nothing more. He’d always been grateful for that. Few people didn't judge him based on his parents.

  Entering the kitchen, Sage’s senses were filled with something delicious smelling. Mrs. Watson was busy behind the stove with her back to him. Whatever she was cooking, it was making him hungry.

  “Oh, dear, it smells delicious,” Mr. Watson exclaimed when he walked in behind him.

  “You always say that,” she chuckled as she turned around. Her eyes widened when she saw Sage standing there. “Oh, Sage, what a pleasant surprise.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt both of your evening,” he shifted uncomfortably.

  “Oh, nonsense, darling, it’s always a pleasure to see you.” She smiled, and Sage immediately noticed the resemblance between her and her daughter.

  “Sage wants to talk to us about helping him with something that he’s doing for Emmy and Hudson. He thinks we don’t want to help him,” he said as he gave his wife a smirk.

  Leaning in, he gave his wife a peck on the cheek. Kimberly giggled before turning her attention back to Sage. “Why in the world would you think that we wouldn’t want to help you?”

  “Because I hurt her. Because I missed out on almost five years of my son’s life. Because of how I treated her the day y’all found me at the pub. I don’t know, the list is endless at this point.”

  She turned down the burner on the stove and walked over to the table and gestured for him to do the same. Nervously, he sat down and looked at his hands in his lap. He’d never been nervous around them before. All growing up, people would confuse him as being part of the family with how they had all gotten along. But after everything that had happened, he wasn’t sure exactly where he stood with them. Honestly, he wouldn’t blame them if they hated him. He hated himself most days. Sage believed that it would be a long time before he stopped hating himself, but he wasn’t letting it stop him right now. He wouldn’t lose any more time.

  “What’s wrong, son?” Everett finally broke the silence.

  “I love your daughter more than I ever thought I did before. I’ve loved her for so long and for a long time from afar. When you guys found me at the pub, I wasn’t in the best place. There were people in my life then that would have grabbed onto that information about Ember and used it to get me to do whatever they wanted.” He said, just starting from the beginning.

  “You didn’t want our Emmy harmed by someone else so you hurt her yourself?” Mrs. Watson questioned, but at the same time, it seemed like a statement too.

  “Yes and no.” He looked up at them then. “I didn’t want her hurt. It would have killed me if she’d been hurt by someone in order to get to me.”

  “But…” Everett added, knowing there was one coming.

  Taking a deep breath, Sage admitted to them something he hasn’t even admitted to Ember. “I didn’t feel worthy of her. I never had. So, when you all showed up – after the shock wore off – I realized just how incredible she was. She doesn’t deserve a screw up like me.”

  “You don’t honestly believe that she saw you that way, that any of us saw you that way, do you?” Kimberly asked shocked by his statement.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted.

  Everett leaned in close to Sage and looked him directly in the eyes. “Do you think that I would have been helping my daughter search for you for nineteen weeks if I thought that? Do you think that I would have kept watching over you the whole five years that you’ve been away if I felt that way? More importantly, do you think I’d have told my daughter that she needed to talk to you that first day and hear you out before she decided if the hurt was anger or longing for what she truly wanted? I can tell you now, son, that I’d have done none of that if I didn’t believe in you and the kind of person you were.”

  “Sometimes I wonder if everything that’s happening now would have been different if Hudson wasn’t in the picture,” he confessed just above a whisper.

  Sage did not regret Hudson at all. He just worried that everything that has been happening was because of him. The fact that Sage was his father and wanted him around. Ember had a good head on her shoulders and was taking care of him just fine. She could easily continue to do so, but he wanted the reason she accepted his proposal to be because she loved him and this was still her dream, just as much as it was still his.

  “Think about who you are talking about here, Sage,” Everett said calmly. “Has Ember ever done anything because it’s what would look good to others? Has she ever been that selfish? You are here because she wants you here, nothing more. She didn’t have to tell Hudson about you, but she did. She told him how you met, how much she loved you, how much you loved her, the whole nine yards. The whole time, though, she never once told him how her heart broke to pieces talking to him about you. Or how hard it was to breathe because you weren’t there. Ember didn’t even tell him how she still sprayed her spare pillow with your cologne just so she could sleep. Or that when she ran out – and the store here didn’t have it – and had to wait for two weeks for it to be delivered that sleep was impossible, and all she did was cry. Ember made those choices because she loved you and she hoped that one day you’d be back with her, where you belong I might add.”

  Blinking rapidly, he stared at Ember’s parents. His mind went blank and his eyes filled with tears. Ember had loved him as much as he loved her. She genuinely loved him. Hearing it from her parents somehow made it sink in and a small smile spread across his face. Their happily ever after was finally here, and they were going to run with it. Nothing was going to stop them if Sage had anything to say about it.

  “Thank you for telling me that,” Sage started. “It’s not that I don’t love your daughter or my son, but I just worry that I may not be worth their love and devotion. I’ve done things that I’m not proud of. My employer is questionable, but he’s a damn good man to those that respect him and his family. I make more than enough money to care for Ember and our son. Please understand that I’m nothing like my parents. Money and bragging are not the center of my universe. The center of my universe is the center of yours – Ember and Hudson. All I’m asking is for the chance to earn your trust back.”

  Kimberly laughed. When Sage gave her an odd look, she sobered up and cleared her throat. “You haven’t listened to a word, have you? There’s nothing to earn back or forgive. We know why you did what you did that day. We also know that if you’d known about Hudson, you’d been here every step of the way. Sweetie, stop stressing over something that doesn’t need to be stressed over. You really have nothing to make up. However, I would like to know where in this is the help you need.”

  Sage stared at them for a moment. It was unreal how they believed in him. Sage would have to guess that this was how real parents acted. Definitely not his parents, that was for sure. His parents would have beat him, destroyed his things, and told everyone how much of a piece of shit he was and took advantage of their good will. Sage knew this was what they would have done because they did exactly that before he even knew he was leaving and worse afterward. Shaking the thoughts of his parents from his head, he focused back on the task at hand.

  “I know that Ember has set up to have Hudson’s party here at your house…” just as he started to explain what he needed his phone rang. Excusing himself, he took the call. Once he was given the answer he wanted, Sage walked back into the kitchen smiling hugely. “Can you two afford to leave to come with me for a moment? I think it’d be easier to show you than explain it to you.”

  “Well, I can’t,” she gestured to the stove. “But I’m sure Everett will, won’t you dear?”

  “I will explain everything to Kimmy. We’ll help you. Thank you for including us in this.”

  “You’re welcome,” Sage replied.

  Soon they said their goodbyes after a few more conversations about how to pull this off.
Sage knew he should head home to his fiancé, but he just couldn’t yet. There were a few more things he needed to do first.

  Pulling into the driveway, Sage looked at the house. It was a lot nicer than he expected for two bachelors. But then again, they could keep the outside nice. He chuckled at the thought of what the inside must look like. Climbing out of the truck he’d bought a few days ago, he walked up the manicured path to the front door. Knocking, he stepped back and waited for someone to answer it.

  After several rounds of knocking alternating with the doorbell, Aspen finally answered the door. He grumbled something on the other side of the door, but Sage couldn’t make it out. When he saw Sage standing there, he perked right up.

  “Is Ember okay? Oh, God, is Hudson okay?”

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to freak ya out. I actually came with the hopes that you and Holden might be willing to help me with something.”

  He let out a huge breath, of what Sage assumed to be relief, before punching him in the shoulder. “Don’t fucking do that shit again. Damn! I’m too young to have a heart attack,” he said as he clutched his chest. “You know that girl is my family.”

  “Sorry,” Sage apologized again with a chuckle.

  The guys had gotten really close since his return to Ember’s life. They were a great couple of guys and Sage was so glad that they were watching over his girl when he couldn’t. Of course, they didn’t just let him off the hook that easy. He was glad they hadn’t. Now, however, they were all a pretty damn tight knit group.

  “Come on in dude. I’ll go wake up jackass. Have a seat in the living room.”

  Sage walked down the short entry hallway and turned in the direction that Aspen pointed as he headed in the opposite direction. He was stunned for a moment at how neat and organized everything seemed to be. Here he’d thought that they would live that typical bachelor lifestyle, but he was dead wrong.

  “What’s up man,” Holden came in rubbing his eyes, giving Sage a half hug, half back slap. “I wasn’t sure if we’d hear from you this week since it’s Hudson’s birthday week.”