by Nikki Ash
I am awestruck. For him to go out of his way to make sure we are taken care of is so thoughtful, yet it’s also saddening because he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to be a part of our lives. He most likely bought all this stuff out of guilt for what his father did even though it’s not his fault.
“How is Cooper doing?”
“Not good. His mom and him decided to just hold a small funeral instead of something big. He told his mom his dad didn’t deserve a funeral after what he did but she insisted they needed to do something. She probably wants Cooper to have some kind of closure. The funeral is in a couple of days. I despise his old man but I’m gonna go to support Coop. If you need anything just let me know. I will have keys made up while I am out tomorrow. If you hear somebody coming in late at night it’s probably Caleb. He works security at a club and casino on the strip so he gets in late.”
With that he pats Kayla on the shoulder and kisses her cheek, and excuses himself to his room.
I know Cooper made it clear he doesn’t want to be a part of our lives but I can’t just let him bury his father and not be there for him. I decide that I will be at that funeral. Not for his dad, but for Cooper. He needs to see that his father’s choices aren’t his own. I don’t blame him and he shouldn’t blame himself.
Chapter Thirteen
Cooper
After getting everything situated with the funeral director my mom asks me to go to dinner with her. We head out in my vehicle to the local steakhouse that I know she loves, and after we are seated she looks at me softly and says, “We need to talk.” I nod my head and allow her to go first.
“When I met your father I fell in love immediately. He became my world. Things progressed so quickly. We were inseparable and within a year we were married and a year after that you came into our world. At first your dad was so sweet. He was completely devoted to us. He was boxing but he never allowed it to take over his life. Once he started winning and he felt that sense of accomplishment he clung to it. I was home with you and we were close. In some way I think your father resented that my world no longer revolved around his. He would go away for boxing matches and where I would have gone before I chose to stay home with you. Please understand I am not in any way blaming you. I just think we had different priorities and we grew apart. There were times when he would be gone for weeks and I became very lonely. Sure, I had you but it’s not the same thing as being with another adult. I tried to fix us but when I realized we were just going through the motions I sought comfort elsewhere. I know I was wrong. I just felt like he didn’t even notice we were there anymore. I didn’t want to disrupt our house. My affair went on for five years. When you were twelve he threw out his back while training and had to come home. He was so miserable, abusing the drugs, and drinking. He missed fighting. I told him I wanted a divorce and when he refused I admitted to having an affair. He threatened to take me to court if I didn’t give him primary custody. Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I didn’t care about him. You cried several times that you wanted to stay with me. But every time he would tell me that he would destroy me if I tried to get custody. Then when I had to watch him put all his effort into training you because he wasn’t able to fight I just lost it. I started to drink. But here’s the thing. I stopped drinking five years ago.”
I go to say something and she holds up her hand motioning to let her finish.
“Yes, I have not had a sip of alcohol in five years. I wanted to be apart of your life so badly but when you told me you were moving back to Vegas to work with your dad I knew the best thing I could do was keep my distance. Your father was a miserable, spiteful person, and if he knew you and I were close I was afraid he was going to take it out on you and your career. I just couldn’t do that to you. I don’t know if it’s too late but I would really like to be in your life.”
I feel everything I thought I knew was wrong and I don’t really know anything. My parents weren’t fucked up. My dad was. My mom made choices she felt were best to save me from him. And I realize I am nothing like that man nor will I ever be.
I reach over and take my mom’s hand and say, “Of course you can be a part of my life. And there’s something you should know. I recently found out that I have a daughter. It’s a long story but her name is Bella and she’s four years old. She is the most perfect little princess I have ever seen. You are a grandma.”
She cups her hands over her mouth and silent tears pour down her face.
“Oh sweetheart, I can’t wait to meet her. Thank you!”
“It’s time for a fresh start, mom.”
And it really is. I need to get through this funeral tomorrow and then I need to go over to Bentley’s to get my family. They don’t belong with him; they belong with me. Hopefully I can convince Liz to give me a second chance.
The funeral is filled with people who have associated with my dad in some way the last several years. He may not have been liked but I have to hand it to everyone who showed up to pay his or her respects.
I feel a hand on my shoulder and when I turn around I see Liz.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to support you. Whether you like it or not you are the father of my daughter and he was her grandpa.”
This girl’s selflessness shows no bounds. I pull her into a hug and thank her. My mom comes walking over and introduces herself to Liz.
“Mom, this is Liz. She is Bella’s mother.”
Liz looks at me bewildered. The last she heard I wanted nothing to do with our daughter or her.
“Oh, sweetie! It is a pleasure to meet you. My son told me all about Bella. I would love to meet her.”
“Of course, she is at home with my friend Kayla right now, but I am sure we can arrange something soon.”
My mom gives her a hug and excuses herself to speak to other people that are here to pay their respects. When she leaves I look at Liz and give her a soft smile.
“I know you just settled in at Bentley’s but I would really like for you and Bella to come and stay with me.”
She looks dumbstruck for a second but it quickly morphs into anger. She pulls me by my hand into a private room away from everyone else.
“What changed from the other day to today? You do remember telling me you wanted nothing to do with our daughter or me, right? And that was after you said you did… You are giving me whiplash Cooper! You have changed your mind like five times! How do I know you won’t change your mind, again? Sorry but Bella and I are just fine where we are. As soon as I find a job we will move out. If you want to get to know your daughter, fine. I won’t stop you but you can’t expect us to just move in with you after you have played Ping-Pong with my emotions. I already gave you one chance and you threw it out the window the second shit got rough.”
I know she is right but dammit I have lost enough time with them. I know I need to take a step back and take things slow so she doesn’t freak out on me anymore.
“Ok, I understand.” I say as I close the space between us. I take my hand and run it down the side of her face and she freezes unsure of what my motives are.
I lean down and kiss the side of her mouth and whisper into her ear. “For now, I understand. I get I have to earn your trust and I will, and then you will be in my bed, and in my arms. That is a promise.” I leave her to think about everything I just said because I am not playing around.
Now, I just need to get this damn funeral over with.
A few days after the funeral my mom and I meet with the attorney who is in charge of my dad’s will. I learn that I have inherited all of the training centers as well as his life insurance policy and his house and cars. Of course, he didn’t leave shit to my mom but since I have more than enough money I insist that she gets the money I make off of the house when it sells. I decide to take the insurance money and put it away in an account for Bella. After what he did, she deserves the money. There is enough that she will be able to go to any college of her choosing and have a nic
e nest egg when she decides to start a family or pursue whatever dream she wants.
After our meeting I go to the gym to let everyone know I am now the new owner. I ask for everyone who works here to join me quickly in the office.
Once it looks like most people are here, I begin informing everybody of the change in ownership, and thankfully everyone seems ok with it. Some of the guys give their condolences but most of them know my dad was a prick, and so they say congratulations.
After they all file out, Kaden lets me know that right before my dad died the physical therapist on staff quit to move across the country to be closer to family, and that gives me the perfect idea. I just need a little time to formulate a plan.
I show up to Bentley’s place around ten pm hoping to talk to Kayla and Liz, and walk in like I always do without knocking. I have a key and I have never knocked before.
Bentley and Kayla are at each other’s throats arguing about something. They stop when they see me and Kayla looks pissed while Bentley looks exhausted.
“What’s going on?”
Kayla is the first to respond. “Oh, you know Bentley thought it would be ok to bring some whore around here last night and when she went to leave after he was done with her, she walked out half naked and Bella saw!”
“Look, I said I was sorry fifty damn times! Liz is being understanding about this. I forgot there is a child here. You act like I purposely brought her here and told her to leave knowing Bella was out there. Damn it, woman! We both know you are just mad because you said you wanted nothing to do with me so I went out and found someone who does!”
Kayla huffs and as she is about to start in on him again Liz comes walking down the hall and gives me a smile that turns into a frown. I chuckle at that. She must have forgotten for a second that she is mad at me. I decide now is the perfect time to throw my plan into motion.
“Ok, well first of all. Before we get into all that. Kayla, I have a job opening at the training facility and was wondering if you would like to come work there. You would be working with Hayley and the fighters…”
I don’t even finish before she runs over to give me a hug as she chants, “ yes, yes, yes. You are a life saver!”
“You don’t even know the specifics. Don’t you want to know your hours and pay?”
“Yes, of course but the job I am at now just let me go today so whatever you are offering I will take. The sooner I have an income the sooner we will be out of here.” She says while glaring at Bentley.
I go on to the next part of my plan directing myself to Kayla still. “Also, about the living arrangements… After what I just walked into, I am thinking that while you guys start saving for a new place, you girls can come stay with me. I have three extra bedrooms and I promise I won’t bring any other women home.” I look over at Liz and give her a wink. She just rolls her eyes at me and crosses her arms over her chest. She looks so damn cute when she’s mad.
Kayla looks between Liz and me and then smirks. “Actually, I think all of us there would be too much. How about Liz and Bella stay with you, that way you can spend time with Bella, and I can stay here. It’s just temporary. I can handle the whorehouse.” Bentley scoffs under his breath at that.
I look over at Liz and she is shooting daggers at Kayla. I also notice that Kayla is making it a point not to look at Liz. I definitely like this girl. Bentley jumps in and says he agrees that is a good idea, and I know Liz can’t say no, not when everybody else is saying yes.
She throws her arms up in the air, huffs, and says, “Fine. We will move in with you tomorrow after Bella gets home from school.”
Then she moves towards me and gets right into my face. She’s so close I can smell the vanilla on her. It is taking every ounce of restraint I have not to grab ahold of her and kiss her right now.
She leans in closer to me and says, “But know this, Cooper. I am only there temporarily and I am only there for my daughter so she’s not traumatized from the half naked women wandering around this place. You and me: not happening. My mom taught me a long time ago that if you share your toy with someone and they break it, it’s their fault. If you share it with them again, and they break it, it’s your fault. You have already broken my heart once, Cooper. You aren’t going to get the chance to play with and break it again.”
She goes to make a grand exit but she’s crazy if she thinks I am going to let her have the last word. I trail her down the hallway until we get just outside her door. She turns around raising her eyebrows daring me to continue this fight.
I don’t need to say shit. I just need to show her. So I take her face in my hands and I kiss her. She tries to pull away but I hold on to her. When I finish kissing her I trace my lips to the corner of her mouth and give her a soft kiss, then I move to the spot just under her ear and kiss her again. I know she’s affected. I can feel her trembling under my touch trying to remain calm. I give her one more kiss on her collarbone and then I turn to walk away.
I look back and she’s staring at me so I give her that wink that drives her crazy. “See you tomorrow baby girl.
Chapter Fourteen
Liz
We don’t have much stuff since we lost everything in the fire. The only items we have are the ones Cooper purchased for us the other night so it’s easy to pack everything up quickly. I drop Bella off at preschool and then attempt to scour the classifieds for a job. Living with Cooper is not a good idea. Sure it’s the lesser of the two evils but at least living with Bentley meant my heart was safe. I seriously need to find a job so we can move out as soon as possible.
And what the heck was Kayla thinking? Staying with Bentley instead of coming with Bella and me? What ever happened to bros before hoes or I guess for us it would be hoes before bros? Ok, that doesn’t exactly work in our favor either but you get what I mean.
I know she has a thing for Bentley but I didn’t think it was enough to make her stay living with him, especially since he is clearly hooking up with other chicks. Her and I will definitely be sharing some words.
My phone pings and I see its Cooper. What more could he possibly want?
Cooper: What time does Bella get out of school?
Me: 2 pm why?
Cooper: So I know what time to get you guys.
Me: I have my own car and we only have the stuff you bought. Just give me your address and we will head over after she gets out of school.
After a few minutes he sends me a text with his address. I go back to looking for jobs copying down the information of a few possible leads.
After picking up Bella we head back to the apartment to get our stuff. I decide to explain to her what is happening. I am sure she is confused about moving so many times.
“Angel, do you have any questions about what’s going on with us moving?”
“No, mommy. I am just sad all my stuff is gone away and I can’t get any of it back.” She responds with the most heartbreaking look on her face. I make a promise to myself that as soon as I am gainfully employed I am going to buy her as many new toys as I can.
“Do you remember the gentleman we ran into at the grocery story awhile back? You dropped your flamingo and he picked it up?” Her eyes go bright at this and then dim down.
“Yes, he was so nice to find my flamingo. My poor flamingo didn’t make it in the fire.”
“Yes, he was nice. His name is Cooper and we are going to go live with him until we can get a new home. Kayla is going to stay here, though.”
Bella takes a minute to think about what I am saying. “Can he be my daddy since I don’t have one?”
This would be the perfect opportunity to tell her that he is in fact already her daddy but I think it would be best to talk to Cooper first just to make sure and we can tell her together if that’s what he wants.
“How about we focus on moving there first and then we will figure it all out.” Thankfully she accepts this answer and starts gathering up the few toys Cooper had purchased for her.
When we finish pack
ing all our stuff up we head to Cooper’s house. For some reason this feels like a new chapter of our life is starting and I am not sure how I feel about it.
We get to Cooper’s neighborhood and press the button on the call box so he can let us in. He hits the buzzer and I drive until I see the address he gave me. This neighborhood is absolutely gorgeous. I would never imagine somebody like him living here. I shouldn’t be surprised because Bentley and Caleb’s place is really nice but looking around their complex has nothing on this one.
I pull up into the driveway and park next to his slick, black Range Rover; which puts my old Nissan to shame. We get out and look up at the townhouse in front of us, if you can even call it that.
“Mommy, is this my new house?” Bella asks awestruck.
“Yes, baby. For a little bit.”
We both stand there checking out the home. She’s standing by my side holding the replica of the flamingo she lost in the fire that Cooper replaced with one hand. She reaches up and grabs my hand with her other.
Looking up at the townhouse it’s more like a miniature mansion. It’s got to be three stories high. The only difference between a mansion and this place is that all the homes are connected and all are identical. It looks like there’s four homes connected in each set. The outside of each home is completely white with cute black shutters and a set of stairs that lead to a dark red front door. Directly under the stairs appears to be a garage door. The garage must be the first floor and the next two floors are the home.
I am no stranger to a nice home. The home I grew up in was very nice but modest, built in the 1960’s. It was a typical family style home. For the last five years Kayla and I have lived in an apartment made for college students. It did what it needed to do, and allowed us to live close to campus and gave Bella her own room but I think my entire apartment could fit in Cooper’s driveway.
