“I just don’t want you to have to worry about anything. I want you to know that I’ll do anything and everything to protect you.”
“Jason, you don’t think I know that? And, I love you all the more for wanting to but that’s not realistic. That’s not the kind of marriage I want. I want to be your partner in all things. I don’t want to feel like someone you have to save or even a burden. I love you, and life is messy, but I took vows for better or worse. Love, Life, and Vows…no matter what that’s the real life fairytale.”
Jason brought her hands up to his lips and kissed them. “I’m a caveman. But, I hear what you’re saying and I’ll do my best to do better. Be patient with me as I try to be less of one.”
“Only if you promise me forever.”
Jason gazed deeply into her eyes, “I promise you forever.” After a few moments, he cleared his throat, stood and pulled Vicky up off of the floor with him. “Now, let’s get you off of this cold floor.”
“I need a minute in here to clean up.”
He to an additional moment to caress her cheek one last time, “Alright. I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”
Vicky nodded and he walked out of the bathroom.
She stood in front of the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Vicky looked like a horror show but she didn’t care because Jason didn’t care. He loved her, runny nose…bloodshot eyes and all. She threw some cold water on her puffy face and brushed her teeth. Once she was finished, Vicky took a couple more deep breaths before she left out of the bathroom. When she made it to their bedroom, Jason was sitting on the edge of the bed with his head hanging low.
Vicky sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around his body. Sometimes it’s okay to let the man of your dreams know that you know they’re in pain and that you’re there for them.
Time was so still they lost track of how long they’d been sitting in that position. “Vicky, let’s just lay in bed for a while? I just need to hold you.”
Vicky took off her shoes and undressed down to her underwear then climbed underneath the covers. After Jason undressed she held the covers open for him join her. She turned around and he wrapped his strong arms around her as they lay in a spooning position for the next few hours. The sun was starting to set before either one of them spoke.
“Vicky, I don’t know if I’ll ever be whole again. The pain of losing our son is sometimes unbearable. When I start to think about all the things I won’t get to see him do like smile or take his first steps. We’ll never throw a baseball or football. I’ll never get to teach him all the things my father taught me.”
It was hard to beat down the lump in her throat. “I know that feeling. I wonder about so many things too like if he would have had your smile, would his hair have been curly like Angels or straight.”
Jason kissed her shoulder, “I actually hoped he had your smile.”
Vicky turned her head back to see Jason’s face. His eyes were closed. The pain was so close to the surface. He’d never let her see this side of him. She moved his hand on top of her heart, “We’ll never forget him because we’ll always carry him here.”
Without opening his eyes, he kissed her forehead. “That’s the most perfect place for him to be.”
Then, she turned completely to face him and covered her hands on top of his heart, “…and here.”
He opened his eyes and they connected with hers. In that moment, their bond was sealed forever.
They spent the entire night holding and comforting each other, sharing in their love for each other and the love they shared for their son.
The next morning, Vicky woke up for the first time in months by her husband’s side. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world. Too bad she had to ruin it with a meeting with Ryan.
Chapter 31
Jason was sitting in the living room of his suite. Vicky was in the bedroom getting Angel dressed for her ‘meeting’ with Ryan. His emotions had been all over the place the last several days. But, the most dominant emotion was his seething anger with Senator Ryan Carter.
He picked up the phone to call Franklin. The phone rang two times before he answered.
“Franklin.”
“Hey. It’s me, Jason. We’re down to the wire tomorrow is the hearing. Where’s the goldmine of information you said the private investigator found?”
“I was actually just about to call you. The documents arrived last night. This bastard is as slimy as they come. He did a good job of trying to cover his tracks but our P.I. is worth his weight in gold because he uncovered a lot of information. I sent them to John Lucas last night too. You’ve got too many eyes on you so I had him send them to me. Check your e-mail.”
Jason powered up his laptop. He immediately went to his e-mails found Franklin’s and opened it. It only took a few minutes before he understood Franklin’s assessment.
“Franklin, there’s wire and mail fraud, tax evasion, bribery, embezzlement from the Foxworthy’s foundation, hell the only thing he hasn’t done appears to be credit card fraud.”
“Keep reading…that’s page ten. Go to page three. There’s the nuclear bomb.”
Jason scrolled to page three. It took a moment for him to get to what Franklin was referring to. He sat up straighter, “holy shit! This can’t be true.”
“It’s true. He was caught in Mexico with an underage prostitute blowed out of his mind. We even got the video. Somehow he managed to get the authorities to sweep it under the rug with the help of U.S. Senator Brian Wellington. They bribed a few of the Mexican officials to keep it quiet. He’s been making annual payments from his illegal Cayman account to keep them quiet ever since. John Lucas called me this morning to confirm that it was all true…and to tell me he can prove it in court. You know if Ryan knows we have all this information he’ll withdraw his petition. He’ll no longer be worried about his political career. He’ll literally be worried about his ass in prison.”
“That bastard managed to get an hour long supervised visit with Angel today. Based on any of this we should be able to stop it.”
“John Lucas suggested you don’t do that…there is not enough time to go before a judge before tomorrow so he’s just preparing for court tomorrow with this new information. Jason…think about this for a minute. I know you want to go for the jugular but one day Angel is going to grow up. He’s her father. Do what you need to do to get custody but just know completely destroying him will hurt her.”
Hearing Franklin called Ryan, Angel’s father was like a punch to the gut. “No Franklin, Ryan is not her father. I’m her father. He’s just some slime that provided his sperm.”
*****
Jason, Vicky, and Angel arrived at a place called ‘The Kid’s Corner’. That was where the court supervised meeting was supposed to take place.
Vicky and Angel went into their reserved private room while Jason waited at a booth in the general area.
He immediately saw Ryan and Alicia Carter as they entered the place. However, they didn’t see him. They were arguing. He was close enough that he could over hear their conversation.
Alicia looked fit to be tied, “I swear you live to torture me! The hearing is tomorrow this little visit is so unnecessary. You can get all the pictures for the press you want with Angel after we get custody. And even if we don’t get full custody, you’ll still get visitation.”
Ryan was so agitated with Alicia, “Look…there is no guarantee that we’ll get custody or even visitation. Likely but not guaranteed. This is what my campaign manager said needed to be done. Since Victoria lost the baby she’s garnered a lot of public sympathy. We can’t take any chances.”
“Well…why do I have to be here? You don’t need me for this.”
“The picture of the happy family is the money shot. Don’t act like your some sort of martyr. You want the Governorship just as much as I do. So, we’ve got to do what it takes. Take a seat, call your boyfriend or read a book for the next hour…I don’t care; Just sit tight until
it’s time.”
It took everything within Jason not to kill Ryan Carter. However, he heard Franklin’s words in the back of his mind, ‘One day Angel will grow up and destroying him will hurt her.’ Jason would figure out a way for Ryan to pay for this and pay dearly.
Vicky and Angel were in the private play room. The court appointed supervisor was sitting off to the side trying to observe without being in the way. Angel was having a ball playing with the games. She and Vicky were on the floor playing with one of them. Angel had no idea that she was about to meet her father. Vicky’s stomach was doing somersaults.
A few minutes later the door opened and Ryan Carter walked inside the room. Vicky couldn’t move or breathe. This was a day she never imagined in her wildest dreams.
Ryan was frozen. The last time he’d seen Angel she was covered from head to toe in tubes and was about to be rushed into surgery. Now she was running around, laughing and playing. He didn’t think it was possible but his chest felt tight. She was a beautiful little girl, she looked just like Vicky and she was his daughter.
Angel turned around to chase her ball when she realized someone else was in the room. The ball hit Ryan.
She walked over to get it “I sorry.”
Ryan bent down to her level, “It’s alright.” He could barely speak, “My name is Ryan what’s yours?”
Angel looked back at Vicky for the okay to talk to the stranger. Vicky nodded her okay and Angel turned and smiled at him, “Angel.”
He held out his hand for a handshake, “That’s a pretty name for a pretty girl.”
She giggled and took his hand in hers, “Thank you.”
That was when Ryan noticed she had his hands. He held them longer than necessary. Then, he looked up at Vicky.
Vicky felt so many emotions all at once. Anger, frustration, hate, sadness…sadness for Angel but mostly she was sorry. She was so sorry that this was the man she’d chosen to have a child with.
She rose up from the floor and went to sit in the opposite corner of the court supervisor. For the next hour Vicky watched Ryan play games with Angel…with his daughter.
*****
As soon as the hour was up, Vicky stood, “Angel…it’s time for us to go.”
Angel’s eyes sparkled, “Is daddy coming back to get us?”
“Yes sweetheart, he’s right outside the door waiting.”
Ryan enjoyed his time with Angel more than he thought he would. He got up off of the floor too. “She’s a beautiful child Vicky.”
Vicky wanted to ignore him. She wanted to pretend he didn’t really exist but after tomorrow that more than likely wouldn’t be possible.
She looked through Ryan, “Yes. She is.” Then, thought better of it. She spoke in angry hushed tones so that Angel couldn’t hear her. “Why are you doing this? I get that you want to be Governor but at the expense of your own child? She’ll grow up one day Ryan and she’ll ask questions. And the answers will hurt her more than you can even imagine.”
Ryan stood there speechless. He knew she was right. There was nothing he could say because he was going to follow through with his plan. The best he could hope for was at some point to get to know his daughter so that she wouldn’t think he was a complete monster.
Vicky shook her head and turned away from him, “Come on honey...we’ve got to go.”
Angel put her toys away and ran over to Vicky, “Okay mommy.” As they were about to leave Angel turned around, “Mommy! Forgot to say goodbye to the nice man.” She ran back over to Ryan with a big smile on her face, “Bye.”
Feeling somewhat guilty, Ryan smiled back, “Bye little princess. I will see you again soon.”
They opened the door to leave. Jason watched as Angel came out of the room, followed by the court supervisor, and finally Vicky. Ryan stood in the doorway looking around as if he were looking for someone.
Angel’s face lit up when she saw Jason. She called out to him as she ran into his arms, “Daddy daddy!”
Jason bent down to pick her up and kissed her on the cheek. Vicky walked up to him as well and gave him a tired smile. Jason kissed her softly on the lips. “Take Angel and go to the car. I need a word with Ryan.”
Vicky looked panicked, “Jason, please don’t do anything…”
“I promise I’ll behave. I just need a word. I won’t do anything to land us on the cover of the papers.”
She hesitated, before taking Angel and doing what he asked. “Don’t do anything to land yourself in jail either.”
The court supervisor left immediately after the meeting was over. Once Vicky and Angel were almost out the door Jason calmly walked over Ryan.
“Can I have a word?”
Any sensitivity Ryan had for Angel was completely gone when he looked into Jason’s face. “I don’t have anything to say to you. I’ll see you in court tomorrow.”
Jason pulled Ryan up by his shirt and pushed him back into the party room and closed the door. His voice was deathly quiet as he spoke, “You piece of shit. If you were looking for the photographer you hired to take ‘family’ pictures or should I say the money shot…I got rid of him.”
Ryan could see the rage in Jason’s eyes. As long as the door was open Ryan felt safe. Now that it was closed, he was nervous. There was nothing like a man who thought he was losing everything. That person would be capable of anything. He struggled against Jason to release him. “Let me go. Real men fight in court only thugs use their fists.”
Jason’s grip was like steel. After Ryan’s comments, Jason couldn’t hold back. And, like lightening…Jason hit Ryan so hard in the face he fell backwards. But, Ryan was quick on his feet and got up off of the floor. He swung at Jason and missed. Jason charged him and knocked him into the wall and onto a table.
Whatever was on the table went flying in a million different directions. Ryan did his best to try and fight back but he was no match for Jason. He was hit with iron blow after iron blow before crying out to Jason to stop. Jason grabbed Ryan by the throat. He held him so tight Ryan couldn’t breathe. So, he clawed at Jason with both hands trying to get Jason to release his grip.
Jason ground out in gritted teeth, “The only thing that keeps me out of prison for killing you is Angel. I love that little girl. But, you need to know that I know you’re a bastard. I get it…it’s the Governorship you want. However, you’ll be an important person in Angel’s life when she gets older. The games you think you’re going to try to play…don’t. Because if you do anything to hurt her or Vicky…there’s no place in this world not even Hell itself where you’ll be able to hide from me.”
Jason released Ryan’s neck and smoothed out his wrinkled shirt before walking out of the party room.
Chapter 32
The past couple of days with Jason had been probably the most honest they’d had since being a couple. It wasn’t so much about the passion which was always under the surface but they talked about their hopes, joys, fears, and everything else. They talked and talked and talked some more.
As much as they wanted time to keep still, there was nothing they could do to keep Friday from coming. It was here and they had to face whatever might come. And, they would. Jason was no longer pretending that he could control this situation and Vicky could show her fear without being concerned that Jason would try to control something he had no control over. The comfort came in knowing that whatever happened they would face it together as partners.
Vicky was finishing with Angel’s hair when Jason’s parents arrived to their suite. Shortly after, Aunt Shirley arrived.
Considering the hearing was about to start in a few hours, Jason and Vicky seemed happier and calmer than they’d been in months. They found reasons for a simple touch here or a touch there when one or the other was near.
That wasn’t lost on anyone in the room.
Jason whispered something into Vicky’s ear and it caused them both to share an intimate moment and smile.
John, Miriam, and Shirley observed from across the livin
g room. Miriam whispered to them, “My son’s got that twinkle back in his eyes.”
Shirley was thankful because things had been so tense between them for the last few months and this was a welcome surprise. “Yes, that does look like a twinkle in both of their eyes.”
“It certainly appears like it.” John directed his last comment towards his wife, “And...they figured it out all on their own. I had no doubt about it.”
Miriam gave her husband a playful smile, “I can admit the one or two times you were right. This might be one of them.”
Shirley’s cell phone buzzed, it was the phone call she’d been waiting for. “I’ll take this in the kitchen.”
Angel was still sitting in the chair playing with Pita. She’d put some barrettes on the bear while Vicky had been styling her hair. “Daddy…daddy…do you like me and Pita’s hair?”
Jason picked Angel up and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He admired the teddy bear, “You did a good job on Pita.” Then he looked seriously at her as if he was studying her hair. “But I think your hair is more beautiful.”
Angel gave him a smile that warmed his heart, “Love you daddy.”
“Love you too baby girl. Nothing and no one will ever change that.”
The emotion in the room was thick. Vicky’s heart was full watching Jason with Angel. She was also grateful for the knock on the door to interrupt it. It kept her from crying in front of everyone.
She went over to the door, “I’ll get it.”
When she opened the door Sandra was on the other side. She walked into their suite, “Hey everybody.”
A warm greeting was returned by everyone.
Vicky looked at her watch. “It took a little longer than I thought to finish Angel’s hair. I’ve still got to change. I’ll be back in a bit. Sandy can you help me?”
“Oh…yeah, sure.” Sandy put her things down and followed Vicky into their bedroom. Once inside Sandy closed the door behind them and sat on the bed.
LOVE, LIFE, and VOWS Page 13