The Deadline (The Friessens: A New Beginning)

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “Oh, yeah, he does. Kind of looks like you two when you were babies,” George said lightly.

  “So how have you been?” Sue said without giving Andy a second look.

  “I’m good, Mom.” Laura didn’t add anything else, probably because the tension was absolutely crushing with all this civility, as if she and Andy were strangers who had just shown up on the doorstep and were trying to sell them something.

  “Look, we’ve driven all day to talk to you,” Andy said. “When I spoke with you on the phone, George, I told you how sick Gabriel was, and…”

  “Who’s Gabriel?” Brian blurted out, looking between his mom and dad. “You knew where Laura was, but you said you had no idea she’d left. Did you lie?” Brian yelled.

  George just let out a sigh. “Come on, let’s go sit in the living room,” he said. He gestured to Andy and then went toward his son, most likely to calm him down, but it wasn’t working. Brian stood face to face with his father. “I didn’t know where Laura was,” George said. “Let’s just go in and sit down.”

  Laura gave Andy a worried look, but he set his hand on her lower back and followed her into an average square room with a blue cloth sofa and loveseat. There was a dark brown easy chair in the corner, which looked like something from the ’80s. It had definitely seen better days. There were lamps on the side tables and photos on the walls, and Andy did notice a family portrait from when Laura was a kid, standing beside Chad, who couldn’t have been more than Gabriel’s age.

  George went right to the worn easy chair, obviously his domain. Laura moved to the sofa, Andy beside her, and her younger brother sat on the other side, still holding on to her as if he was afraid she would leave at any moment.

  “Do you want to hold him?” Laura said as Chad touched Jeremy’s foot, which he had kicked out from under the blanket.

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Sue said from where she sat across from them. She was sitting so straight, her legs together, tucked properly to the side.

  Andy was surprised as he watched the exchange between Laura and her brother. Neither appeared to pay their mother any mind, and she slid Jeremy into his arms.

  “Just hold his head,” she said. “You want to support his neck.”

  Chad beamed ear to ear. Andy took in her brother Brian, who was just inside the living room, refusing to sit on the loveseat beside their mother.

  “Why did you run away, Laura?” Brian asked. He wore the same hurt expression that Laura often took on.

  “I never ran away, Brian. Why would you think that?” she said. Andy watched the exchange between George and Sue. What had they done?

  “You never called or anything, Laura,” Chad said, and Laura looked between her brothers, just figuring out what Andy already had.

  “Mom and Dad, did you tell Brian and Chad that I ran away?” she asked. Andy didn’t miss how hurt she sounded.

  “You know, sitting back and doing nothing, allowing someone to hurt my wife, doesn’t work for me,” he snapped. “I won’t allow it. I expect you to treat my wife with respect. We may be in your house, and there’s a lot of hurt between you, but if I had any other choice than to come here and ask you for something, Sue and George, well, Hell would freeze over. My boy Gabriel is sick, and without a bone marrow transplant, he’ll die. I will not allow my son to die!”

  “Who’s Gabriel, Laura?” Brian asked, appearing confused.

  “Gabriel is my son,” she said, “and the reason I left. Mom and Dad asked me to leave when I got pregnant at fifteen. I kept Gabriel. I wouldn’t give him up, and I did call after I had him. Do you remember that, Mom, what you said when I was in the hospital? You told me that if I wanted to come home, I had to give him up.” She was so calm, and Andy was proud of her for holding it together.

  “You threw Laura out? You lied!” Brian yelled at his mother. “How could you?”

  “Brian, listen, it wasn’t that easy, and what your sister did was…”

  “Careful,” Andy barked out, interrupting her before she could finish. “That’s my wife you’re talking about.”

  Sue firmed her lips and just shook her head.

  “Andy, we need to finish this,” Laura said, leaning toward Chad, who still held Jeremy.

  “So Gabriel is your son, and you’re the father?” George said. He wore an odd look, and Andy, although tired, was sharp enough to pick up on his meaning.

  “I met Laura just over a year ago. Gabriel is not my biological son, but he is my son in every other way that matters,” he said. George appeared to relax.

  “Laura, who’s your son’s father?” Brian asked.

  “It doesn’t matter, Brian,” she said, shaking her head.

  “It does matter to me. Do I know him? Did he help you at all. Where is he in all this?”

  Laura looked to Andy. He knew she didn’t want to say anything, but if Andy had a sister, he’d have wanted to know who messed with her.

  “His name is Tyler, and he turned his back on Laura,” he said. “I just talked to him, got him tested. He’s not in Laura or Gabriel’s life, and he’s not a match.”

  “Tyler Cassidy, from our church?” Brian fisted his hands. “Did you know?” he said to his father.

  George and Sue exchanged an odd look, one of shared secrets. “Yes, we did,” Sue said.

  “I swear to God, I’m going to kill him. You’ve had him over for dinner with his family how many times?” Brian said. His anger had ramped up the energy in the room, and the babies were starting to fuss.

  “Brian, let it go, please,” Laura pleaded. “I never told you, so how did you know it was him?”

  George glanced at his wife. “I’m an elder with the church. He was torn up over what he’d done. He came to me for forgiveness, for help, said he’d been led astray.”

  Andy didn’t know what to say. He wondered what was wrong with these people. Brian still stood in the corner, his hands fisted, and Andy was trying to get his head around the fact that these two parents had tossed their own daughter out into the cold but had welcomed into their home the boy responsible for getting her pregnant. He wasn’t even sure what scale of hypocrisy that put them on.

  “Brian, maybe when you’re a little older, you’ll understand,” Sue said. “Your father is an elder in the church. Tyler and his family are his flock. What your sister did, well, it embarrassed your father. We were just grateful it wasn’t spoken of. This could have hurt all of us―”

  “Stop this!” Laura shouted. “We’re not here to talk about how I embarrassed you with your church. You made your choice. Fine. I have a life. I kept my son, and I’ll do anything to make sure he stays alive. Please, he needs a bone marrow transplant from someone from this family. It has to be a perfect tissue match. I’m not a match. If I was, I wouldn’t be here, and neither would my husband, but I’m begging you to get tested. If you’re a match, then please, please be a donor to my son—our son!” She looked to Andy, and he could see she was shaking. “Could you honestly, in good conscience, live with yourself if Gabriel died and you could have saved his life?”

  “Well, maybe this is God’s way of punishing you. Have you ever thought of that?” Sue said.

  For the first time ever, Andy wanted to slap this woman for hurting his wife. He couldn’t believe Sue was a mother, that she had given birth to Laura. She had ice in her veins, and he wondered what the difference was between her and Caroline Friessen, his own mother, the ice queen who came from old money. His mother only cared about her position within the oldest Eastern blueblood families, and this woman only cared about her position within their church.

  He glanced at Laura, who had a tear running down her cheek as Chad handed the fussing baby back to her. Chad appeared embarrassed.

  “Okay, that’s enough, Sue,” George said, gesturing quite sharply with his hand.

  “I’ll do it,” Brian said, stepping into the middle of the room.

  “Me, too,” said Chad defiantly.

  “Not w
ithout my permission, you won’t. You’re minors,” Sue stated. Was she seriously going to push this?

  “Laura, take Jeremy and wait for me in the truck,” Andy said. Just one look told him she was frantic. “Trust me,” he whispered, and he leaned in and kissed her.

  It took her a moment and another breath until she stood up. Andy stood with her and could see she was shaking.

  “Goodbye,” Laura spit out, and she started for the door before stopping beside Brian, setting her hand on his arm. “Take care, Brian,” she said. Then she glanced over at Chad, sitting in the same spot on the sofa, looking like a boy who’d had his favorite toy stomped on.

  Andy just watched his wife, who scanned the room as if taking her last look. She left through the front door.

  Chapter 24

  Laura was halfway to the truck when the front door flew open.

  “Laura!” Brian stepped out and hurried after her in his sneakers, laces dangling. He was seventeen now, she remembered, and he was tall and thin.

  Laura pulled the blanket up over Jeremy’s face as the rain splattered down a little harder. She had no hat, so her hair was getting wet, and her brother was soaked.

  “Hey, Brian, it was so good to see you. I really missed you,” she said.

  The front door opened again, and Chad raced out. “Laura, don’t leave again!” he said.

  “We’re getting soaked out here, you guys. Come sit in the truck,” Laura said. She climbed in the front with Jeremy, and Brian opened the driver’s door. Chad climbed in the back, slipping past the baby seat and sitting in the middle.

  “Laura, why didn’t you tell me what happened, that you were going to have a baby? I remember you were so upset, and then Mom said you left. She wouldn’t let us talk about you. It was as if you’d done something horrible,” Brian said.

  “You had a baby, Laura?” Chad asked from the back seat.

  She looked from one brother to the other and realized the hole in her heart that would never heal was from the pain of leaving her brothers, having no contact with them—a bad influence. Her mother’s words rang through her mind again, making her feel worthless. It had taken her forever to hold her head up again.

  “I had a baby. It happened. I didn’t give him up. His name is Gabriel, and he’s five. He’s amazing and sweet,” she said. Her heart ached, talking about him, worrying about how he was doing.

  “You’re married, Laura?” Brian asked. “You’re barely twenty-one, and your husband is so much older than you. Is he good to you?” He couldn’t hide his concern.

  She smiled and nodded. “Andy’s a good man, and he loves Gabriel as his own. I love him, and he looks after us.” She smiled at her brothers. “So, tell me about you two. I can’t believe how big you are, and, Brian, are you shaving?” She reached across and slid her hand over his chin.

  “Brian has a girlfriend,” Chad teased.

  “A girlfriend, do I know her?” Laura was in awe of what she’d missed.

  “She’s a new girl, moved here with her family last year. She’s nice. Her name is Donna. Mom doesn’t like her, and she made Dad have a talk with me, saying I was getting too serious. You know how she is, and Dad just does what she says.” Brian reached over and rubbed his finger over Jeremy’s hand, and he glowed when Jeremy wrapped his tiny hand around his finger. “That’s so cool, what a grip he has.”

  The back door opened, and Andy leaned in. “Sorry to break this up, but we have to go. Boys, your mom wants you in the house.”

  “Laura, how do I get a hold of you?” Brian asked. “Where are you living?”

  “Yeah, Laura, I want to come with you,” Chad added. “Don’t leave us again, please. I want to help your son.”

  “Either of you have a cell phone?” Andy asked.

  “I do.” Brian pulled a small, slim phone from his back pocket.

  “Give me your number. I’ll text you with our address, phone number. You call Laura anytime, and if you two need anything, you call me,” Andy said, keying in the phone number into what appeared a new cell phone.

  “Brian, Chad,” George called from the front steps. “You come in now, you hear?”

  Chad leaned forward and kissed Laura on the cheek before hopping out.

  Brian touched her arm. “Don’t worry, Laura. I’ll help your son. After all, I’m his uncle,” he said. Then he slid out, and she watched as both her brothers went into the house, her father lingering at the doorway for a second, just watching them, before he shut the door.

  Chapter 25

  The steam filled the bathroom, coating the mirror as Laura lounged in the large bathtub of their hotel room for the night. The hot water soothed the ache from the tension she’d been holding on to for what felt like a lifetime. She could hear the twins jabbering away on the bed, where Andy had laid them down after bathing them. They were dressed only in diapers in the warm room.

  There was a knock on the door, and Andy said in his deep voice, “Coming!” She wondered what he was doing when he poked his head in the bathroom, holding a baby in both arms. “That’s dinner at the door,” he said. “Don’t fall asleep in there.”

  She didn’t want to get out of the warm tub, but she was anxious to call Neil and Candy again and get another update on Gabriel. It was so hard to be this far away, and she was exhausted—not just physically. She felt as if she’d been in the fight of her life, battered and bruised, but she couldn’t shake the sense that maybe she was stronger than she’d thought. She’d faced her parents without crying or falling apart. She’d held it together. Having Andy there with her had been a steel wall of support that kept her sane.

  She listened to the rattle of a cart. There was another voice in the room, and then the door closed. Andy poked his head in again. “Dinner’s here. Come out and eat.”

  Laura unstopped the tub and stepped out, drying herself off and slipping on one of the hotel robes before going into the room, which had one king-size bed and a playpen set up for the babies to sleep in.

  Jeremy was making a lot of noise, and Andy was swaying with him, Chelsea a perfect angel in his other arm. She had a big, bright smile on her face, but then, she loved being with her daddy.

  “I’ll take him,” Laura said, holding out her arms, but Andy only shook his head, letting his gaze sweep over her with an appreciative glint.

  “You look relaxed,” he said. “You eat. He’s just being fussy and demanding.”

  Laura took in the four plates with silver domes overtop. “What did you order?” she asked. She lifted the closest one and sniffed the steak and baked potatoes with broccoli, and the scent had her mouth watering, it smelled so good. Her stomach answered with a loud rumble even Andy could hear.

  “There’s salad, too,” he said. “Chicken, as well. Dig in. There’s lots.” He set Chelsea in the playpen, Jeremy with her, and Laura took a plate and sat at the small table. Andy set a salad in front of her, as well, and a bottle of water. He lifted the cover from another plate and joined her. “I talked to Neil while you were in the bath.”

  Laura had just crammed a piece of steak in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. “I thought you’d call after dinner.”

  He cracked open a beer and took a swallow, shaking his head. “Gabriel had a rough day, but he settled in with Neil and Candy. He apparently was able to play a game of Snakes and Ladders with Candy this afternoon.”

  “Well, that’s good,” she said, setting her fork down and leaning back.

  Andy gestured with his hand and then picked up his own fork and knife, cutting into his steak. “Eat, Laura. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything until after you ate.”

  “I’m not a child, Andy.” She picked up her fork again and took another bite, maybe just to prove a point.

  “No, you’re not a child. You’re my wife, and I should have told you how proud I was of you today, the way you took on your parents. You held your head up, Laura, and you didn’t let them knock you down.”

  She paused and watched her husband. He�
�d never said that to her before. For some reason, she had always wondered if he thought she was helpless.

  “I guess I didn’t know where I belonged as their daughter,” she said. “I felt for so long like a nobody, and then I was just surviving, and then you came along and turned my world and way of thinking upside down. I’ve had to figure out who I am. It helped, having you there, knowing you wouldn’t let them hurt me.”

  “You know who you are, Laura. You’re my wife. You’re a Friessen, and we don’t allow anyone to walk all over us. No one will ever do that to you again.”

  She had never considered what Andy was saying. She’d always thought of herself as an extension of Andy, cared for by Andy, but, as she thought about it, she realized he was right in a lot of ways. She may have been his wife and taken his name, but she was strong and capable. She had to be, to be married to him.

  “So what do we do now, Andy, for Gabriel? My brothers said they would help, but how do we get around my parents? I can’t believe they would actually block this.” She played it over in her mind again and again, how they’d just turned their backs so easily. Laura was having trouble believing she had actually grown up in that family, and she wondered whether that feeling she’d had as a child, never fitting in, was because of all the superficial bullshit that came naturally to her parents. Being out of all that and away from them had helped her see clearly the face they put on for the community, a facade of togetherness, of family values. They saw themselves as pillars of the community, the upper middle class, well adjusted and normal, but that was a load of crap. They were greedy, dysfunctional opportunists. She wondered how many other families were just as messed up. Maybe more than she realized. There was no such thing as picture perfect—it was all about who was better at hiding their secrets.

  Andy tapped her plate with his knife. “Gabriel is going to be fine. Come on, Laura, eat.”

  She tasted the broccoli, which was a little soft, overdone and tasteless. “What did you say to my parents when I left?”

  She watched Andy cut a big piece of meat, and he sighed. She wondered whether she was wearing him down, because he didn’t cut her off the way he usually did. She could see his mind working in an odd sort of way, as if considering what to say.