Mending Scars

by Nikki Narvaez

  “Ethan has told me so much about you.” She sounded phony, like she was trying too hard to be enthusiastic about meeting me.

  She turned her attention to Ryker. “Hey, Ry. Good to see you again.”

  Sure bitch.

  Ryker gave her a strained smile before looking at Ethan. “Thanks for coming. We have plenty of food and drinks in the kitchen. Make yourself at home.”

  “Thanks, bro.” Ethan replied before leading Molly and Tristan into the kitchen.

  Ryker pulled me into his side and kissed the top of my head. I glanced up at him as he asked, “You okay?”

  I breathed a sigh of relief, more comfortable now that Molly wasn’t right in front of me. “Yeah. That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was gonna be.”

  “Good. It’ll take some time before things aren’t so awkward, but we just took a big step.”

  I nodded. “You’re right.”

  Leaning down, Ryker pressed his lips to mine and placed a hand on my belly. He couldn’t seem to keep his hands off me, but I wasn’t complaining; I loved it.

  When he pulled away, he smiled down at me lovingly and caressed my stomach one last time, then led me back into the living room.

  We mingled with some of my coworkers for a while before Nori dragged me away into the kitchen to get ready for one of the games she had planned.

  Ryker was staring at me while Nori wrapped my torso with toilet paper. My stomach knotted as he gave me a seductive smirk.

  “Hey.” Molly drew my attention away from him.

  What does she want?

  Barely making eye contact, I forced a smile. “Hi.”

  Tristan was sleeping on her shoulder as she swayed back and forth. “He really loves you.”

  Nori glanced up at me as she continued to cocoon my abdomen.

  What is she talking about?

  “Huh?” I questioned.

  “Ryker. He really loves you. I can tell by the way he looks at you.”

  Because you’re an expert? Pffft.

  I looked away from her to Ryker, who glanced away from Drew to me. He gave me another heartwarming smile as our eyes locked.

  “He never looked at me that way,” Molly added.

  I didn’t really care what she was saying because I was so caught up in Ryker. He patted Drew on the shoulder and told him something, then walked in my direction. My heart pounded faster with every step he took, and Hayden started kicking me again.

  Molly was right about one thing—the way Ryker was looking at me displayed the love he had for me all over his face. He wrapped his arms around me when he reached me. “Hey, Warrior.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  I smiled up at him. “Hi.”

  His hands came back around to my stomach. “Having a good time?”

  “Much better now.” I placed my hands on the outside of his forearms as I gazed up at him.

  His eyes darted to my lips right before he leaned down and kissed me. The gentle press of his mouth on mine sent passion flaring through me. I shuddered a shaky breath when he pulled away.

  Ryker smirked as he swept his thumb over my lips, then cupped my cheek. “I love you.”

  I nuzzled into his palm and closed my eyes. “I love you, too.”

  He looked down at my toilet paper-wrapped stomach. He grinned and raised an eyebrow in question. “Why do you have toilet paper wrapped around you?”

  “For a game. People have to guess how many squares of toilet paper are wrapped around me.”

  He chuckled. “Weird.”

  I pulled him to one of the kitchen counter. “That’s nothing. Check this out.” I motioned down to the counter that had diapers with various melted chocolates on them. “People have to guess what chocolate it is by smelling it.”

  Ryker scrunched his nose in displeasure. “Gross.”

  I giggled. “It’s just chocolate.”

  “Yeah, but it looks like shit.”

  “That’s the point, genius,” Nori teased as she interrupted.

  Ryker scratched his forehead with his middle finger as he gave Nori a teasing grin.

  Nori playfully returned his gesture, then looked at me. “Ready for the games?”

  “Sure.” I nodded and grabbed Ryker’s hand. “Let’s get started.”

  Nori made Ryker and me sit on the couch before starting the first game. Everyone was laughing and having a great time as we played the silly games Nori had planned for the shower.

  By the time we had finished, my stomach was growling. I got up to go grab some snacks, then circulated around the apartment with Ryker to talk more to some of the guests.

  “Time for presents!” Nori announced loudly as she came up to me. She grabbed my arm, then pulled me away from Ryker.

  “Sorry, Ry,” she giggled, leading me back to the couch, where she had arranged all the gifts on the coffee table.

  Ryker sat down next to me as Nori handed me the first present. Kamden had a camera ready when I started unwrapping the gift.

  Most of the presents were clothes and diapers, but we also got some bigger items from Nori, Kamden, and my boss. Nori had bought us a swing, Kamden had gotten the matching changing table to the crib set we had purchased already, and my boss had gifted us a set of bottles and the corresponding bottle warmer.

  “There’s one more gift,” Ethan announced as he pulled an envelope from his shirt pocket. He handed it to Ryker, who gave him a quizzical look. Ethan chuckled, “Open it.”

  Ryker ripped open the envelope and took out a check. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he scanned over it, then looked at Ethan in shock.

  “That should cover what you needed for the house you wanted, right?”

  I leaned over to look at the check in Ryker’s hand.

  Holy shit!

  I blinked several times to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.

  Nope, still the same ridiculously large amount.

  It was more than enough to pay for the remainder of the down payment that we weren’t able to come up with for the house. And then some.

  “Oh my God, Ryker,” I gasped as I placed a hand on his leg. My eyes stung with tears when his eyes met mine.

  “I… we… we can’t accept this. It’s too much, Ethan,” Ryker said as he stood and handed the check to his brother.

  Ethan put his hands up. “Nope. It’s the least we can do after everything. Please take it.”

  Ryker looked at me, seeking my approval for what to do. That house was my dream house, so it didn’t require much debate for me. Giving him a teary-eyed smile, I nodded enthusiastically.

  He faced Ethan and stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly moved forward and threw his arms around him. Squeezing his brother tightly, Ryker’s voice was drowned with emotion as he said, “Thank you. You don’t even understand what this means to me.”

  A few tears spilled down my cheeks as Ethan hugged Ryker back. Even though what Ethan had done to Ryker was inexcusable, it made me happy to see them reconciling after so many years. Ryker would never admit it, but I knew he missed his brother greatly while they weren’t speaking.

  Ryker patted Ethan on the back before pulling away and looking at me. His eyes were glazed with unshed tears as he extended his hand to me.

  Grabbing it, I linked our fingers together and stood by his side. He squeezed my hand and pressed a kiss atop my head.

  My eyes found Ethan’s. “Thank you so much. I don’t think we can ever repay you.”

  Ethan smiled. “Just take care of my brother and nephew. God knows they need you.”

  My mouth curved up. Ethan had it backwards—I needed Ryker and Hayden more than he would ever understand. They were granting me a life that I never dreamed I could have, not to mention giving me a happiness I never knew existed.

  I turned my head toward Ryker and my smile spread wider. Everything was falling into place for us, and for once, I couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for me.

  The following Monday, I called our realto
r as soon as her office opened to see if the house we wanted was still available. She’d sent us listings of a few more properties after, but none of them were what we wanted.

  It had been months since Tanya had shown the property to us, but I was hoping that it was still available. We needed to find something soon—Hayden was due in a little over two months, and I didn’t want to have to deal with finding a house and moving after he was born.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Tanya, this is Kaiya Marlow.”

  Her voice pepped up. “Hi, Kaiya. How are you? You’re due soon, aren’t you?”

  I slipped off my shoes, hiding them under my desk. “I am—a little over two months now.”

  “Aww, I bet you’re excited. I remember my first baby. I was so overwhelmed and excited all at once.”

  “Yep, I’m definitely getting more anxious each day. I can’t wait to hold him.” My heart warmed as I thought of holding Hayden in my arms. “I was just calling to see if that house we looked at back in March was still available. I know it’s a long shot, but we we’re able to get the money we needed for the counter offer.”

  “Let me check for you. I don’t remember selling it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I manage several properties at a time.”

  “I understand,” I replied as a ball of anticipation tightened my chest.

  Please, please, please.

  I heard typing through the phone followed by the clicking of a mouse. “Do you remember the address or listing number?”

  “9603 Briarwood Lane.” I didn’t think I’d ever forget that address.

  More typing and clicking followed my response. “Here it is—looks like it’s still on the market.”

  “Really?” There was no doubting the hope in my question.

  “Yes. Just let me double-check something real quick…” After a few seconds of silence, her voice sounded back into the phone. “Yep, it’s still available. Did you want to see it again?”

  I couldn’t stop the excitement that came over me. I sat up in my chair. “Can we just skip that and get to the paperwork?”

  Tanya laughed. “I have to give your offer to the seller first. I’ll do that as soon as we get off the phone.”

  “That would be great. Please keep me posted.”

  I could hear Tanya’s smile in her voice. “I’ll be in touch soon. You make sure that you stay well-rested for that baby.”

  “I will. Thanks again.”

  I text Ryker as soon as I hung up the phone to let him know the good news. Things were finally taking a turn for the better, and I wondered if they were too good to be true.

  “Where should I put this, babe?” I grunted as I hefted some chair that Kaiya had called a chaise through the doorway to our new house. It had taken about a month to get through the whole mortgage process, including extensive credit checks and employment verification, before we were finally able to move in.

  Kaiya whipped around to face me, causing her ponytail to swing back and forth from the movement. “Um.” She pursed her lips and walked toward me. “Right here should be fine.”

  I set the chair down where Kaiya indicated as she walked upstairs with a laundry basket full of baby clothes. I followed her with the box containing Hayden’s crib, then put it down just inside his door.

  I leaned against the door-frame and smiled as I watched Kaiya lay clothes on her enormous belly before folding them and setting them in the drawers of the dresser I had set up earlier.

  I still had about two months left on my lease, so we were slowly moving stuff from both of our apartments into the house. We had also painted Hayden’s room the week before, and Kaiya wanted to set everything up and have it ready before we moved in.

  “Where do you want the crib?” I asked as I walked over to the cardboard. Gripping the edge, I started pulling at the top to open the box.

  “Against that wall,” Kaiya replied as she turned around and pointed across the room opposite of where she stood. “I want to put the rocking chair by the window.”

  I began to take the pieces out and arrange them on the floor so I could find them easily when I read the directions. After looking over the instructions a couple of times, I went downstairs to grab my toolbox out of my truck and get the tools I needed to assemble the crib.

  Kaiya made several trips in and out of the room as I worked, bringing in the gifts we’d received at the baby shower and arranging them around the nursery. Everything was so surreal—moving into this house, becoming a father in just a month; basically settling down. If someone would have told me that this would be my life a year ago, I would’ve laughed in their faces.

  Once I finished, I stepped back to survey my work. The crib looked just like the picture on the box. I gripped the edges of the crib and shook it a little to make sure it was sturdy.

  “Finished?” Kaiya asked.

  I looked over the crib again. “I think so.” Bending down, I inspected the underside, then grabbed the legs and tested their stability. “Everything seems stable.”

  Kaiya came next to me as I stood and eyed the crib. “It looks good.” She wrapped an arm around my waist and looked up at me with a loving smile. “Great job, Daddy.”

  I smiled from her words—I loved when she called me that. “Thanks, Momma.”

  Kaiya’s mouth spread wider as she tiptoed up to kiss me. My hand automatically went to her stomach as our lips met; I loved feeling her belly and knowing that my son was inside her.

  Or so you think.

  My suspicious thoughts made me break the kiss and step back. “We have a lot to do. Stop distracting me,” I deflected, hoping she wouldn’t notice that something was bothering me.

  She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and smiled. “You’re right. We don’t have time to get carried away like usual.”

  Turning around, Kaiya grabbed the sheets we had bought for the crib and started putting them on the mattress. I went downstairs to get the rocking chair before bringing it up and putting it by the window where Kaiya wanted.

  She walked toward me. “Thank you, baby.” Sitting down in the chair, she looked out the window and sighed. “It’s perfect.”

  I bent down and kissed her on the forehead. “I have some stuff to finish downstairs. Yell if you need me.”

  She smiled up at me. “Okay.”

  I ran my knuckles down Kaiya’s cheek before walking out. Her phone rang as I walked out, so I stopped just outside the door to listen to the call.

  The phone stopped ringing, but I didn’t hear Kaiya answer it.

  “Who was it, babe?” I asked as I stuck my head back in the room.

  Kaiya jerked slightly before turning her phone over to hide the screen in her lap. The smile she gave me was forced, and I could tell she was trying to hide something. “Telemarketer.”

  Sure it was.

  I nodded before leaving the room, trying to fight the sinking feeling that had crept in my gut.

  Things between Kaiya and I had been getting tenser the closer she got to her due date. She was more irritable from the pregnancy hormones, and the suspicions I’d been having were growing the more I thought about them, making me trust her less and less.

  I rented a couple of movies, hoping to relax and ease some of the tension between us. As we settled on the couch, my arm draped around Kaiya’s shoulders as she curled up next to me, I could almost forget everything that had been bothering me.

  That is until her phone vibrated and lit up during the first half of the movie.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I tried to see the text message that had popped up, but as usual, she sneakily angled the screen away from me.

  Anger lit my veins. We were a month away from having a kid together and she was hiding shit from me. Why would she be keeping things from me if she loved me and was about to give birth to my son. Unless…

  He’s not mine.

  My mind ran a mile a minute, processing the revelation that dawned on me.

  He’s not mine.

/>   The only reason she’d be so secretive was if she was cheating on me. If she really loved me, she wouldn’t hide anything from me, especially weeks from having my kid. I knew the signs, and Kaiya had been flashing them brightly for months. I’d just been denying everything because I didn’t want them to be true.

  Then, another thing popped in my head. Whoever she was cheating with was the father. Not me.

  He’s not mine.

  My heart felt like it was breaking into pieces, then being doused with battery acid. The pain that flooded me was unlike any other, and I knew there’d be no recovering from it. The wounds from Kaiya’s betrayal would never scar, they’d be raw and open for the rest of my life.

  Kaiya put her phone face down on the cushion next to her and focused back on the movie. Laying her hand on my chest, she snuggled closer to me, chasing away some of the harsh cold that had crept into my heart and replacing it with the warmth only she brought me.

  No. Don’t be weak. She doesn’t love you. She’s a cheating liar, just like Molly.

  My teeth ground together as I thought about how stupid I’d been. Falling in love when I knew all women were the same. I needed answers; I needed to know why. “So, who is it?”

  Kaiya kept her eyes on the TV. “Huh?”

  Playing stupid, as always.

  “Who are you cheating on me with?”

  Kaiya sat up abruptly and looked at me with concern. “Ryker, what are you talking about?”

  My heart pounded as my anger grew. “Don’t lie to me anymore, Kaiya! Cut the bullshit and tell me!” I snarled.

  Her eyes watered as she rested a hand against the middle of her chest. “Ryker, I would never-”

  Unable to contain my rage anymore, I cut off her words, shouting over her. “Yeah, that’s what she said! And look what happened!”

  Tears poured down her cheeks. “I’m not Molly, Ryker! I’m not cheating on you!” she cried.

  She’s lying. Don’t be fooled again.

  I stood up and paced in front of the couch. “How do I know that, huh? You’ve been acting strange for the past few months. Secretly looking at your phone, angling the screen away from me so I can’t see it, and getting calls from “wrong” numbers. Not to mention you added a password lock on your phone so I can’t get in it.”