In truth, everything had been great for Rebecca and David. She had three more bestsellers, a line of graphic novels that were doing wonderfully, and had gone back to teaching two creative writing classes at the university now that the triplets were older. David had done wonders with R&D Properties. He now managed eleven construction crews, had over 50 rental properties including apartment complexes, and flipped an average of 40 houses a year. The business easily pulled in double what Rebecca made in book sales, and they were financially set for the rest of their lives.
The children were also doing well. Alex was 16, and thoroughly enjoying life as the star of their town’s football team. In exchange for staying on the honor roll, his parents had bought him a truck for his birthday, and he helped them out by taking Cat and Mattie to a number of their activities each week. Cat and Mattie, being only a few months apart, had ended up becoming calf roping partners and rode together all the time. Cat was 13, but Mattie wasn’t far behind, and they had managed to win several junior championships. The triplets were only 6, but were also becoming more and more active as well.
Nadira, while initially very involved in the caring of the triplets, had now become Barbara’s stay at home nurse. At 83, Barbara Anderson was still very sharp minded and young in spirit, but she needed quite a bit of help. Rebecca and David had both asked her to move in with them so they could help look after her more, but she refused to leave the home she’d spent the majority of her life in. The most she was willing to allow them to do for her was having Nadira move in with her full time.
Tommy had eventually settled down with a nice girl named Amanda, and they had a one-year-old daughter named Lacey. Tommy still worked for David; only he was now the executive foreman and David’s right hand guy. Tommy and Sandy often brought their families over to David’s for barbecues and get-togethers, and Rebecca loved being surrounded by her loved ones so much.
The only dim point in David and Rebecca’s lives had been his relationship with his parents, which had remained nonexistent. Sven and Laura sent birthday and Christmas cards to everyone every year, along with gifts, but they didn’t call or come by. They’d closed on their house in Peachfields about eight months after putting it on the market, and had remained in Savannah ever since. David maintained he wanted nothing to do with them, so Rebecca respected his wishes. As the boys had gotten older, they’d heard from friends in town what had happened to drive their dad to banish their grandparents from their lives, and why he kept their mom on such a short leash, and while they were upset by what had happened, they could understand it, so they didn’t talk to their grandparents either. David hadn’t seen or spoken to Sven and Laura since that day in the hospital over six years ago. Rebecca hadn’t had any contact with them either… until today.
She’d just gotten off the phone with Laura; Sven was in the hospital, he’d had a massive heart attack early this morning. So far the doctors were certain that he was going to be fine, but the next 48 hours were still crucial. Laura wanted to know if Rebecca would convince David to come see his father just in case things went south.
Now, setting the phone down, Rebecca wondered what to do. She knew she was going to tell David about the call, that wasn’t even a question. She just didn’t know if she was going to convince David to go and see Sven. She didn’t want David to feel as though she were manipulating him, but she did believe that her husband should set his anger aside and go see his father. Rebecca felt sure that if Sven were to die and David hadn’t gone to visit him in the hospital it would be something David would regret the rest of his life, no matter how angry he was.
Rebecca thought about the matter for another fifteen minutes as she sat in her and David’s office until she heard the garage door and knew here husband was home with the triplets. It was his night to take them to their karate lesson. Picking up the piece of paper with the hospital info, she made her way into the kitchen to wait for David. A few minutes later, her three youngest children were crowding around her.
“Mommy! We learned how to do back kicks today!” Jagger announced.
“Yeah! Wanna see?” Jayden asked.
“I did it the best,” Jordanna insisted.
Rebecca smiled at her triplets and replied, “That’s wonderful! You can show me later. Right now, why don’t you go change out of your uniforms? I need to talk to daddy about something. Alex will be home with Cat and Mattie soon, you guys need to be ready when they get here.”
“Ok!”
“Alright, Mommy!”
“Race you upstairs!”
When the three children darted out of the kitchen to head for their rooms, Rebecca turned to look at David who was leaning against the doorway. She tried to offer him a reassuring smile as she greeted, “Hey, honey.”
“What’s wrong?”
He’d seen the way she’d spoken to the children, taken in her body language, and he had known immediately that something was very wrong. Moving fully into the kitchen to take hold of her hips, he pressed, “Are you ok? You went to the doctor last week; did you get some bad test results back?”
“No, no, nothing like that. I told you I’m as healthy as a horse.”
“Then what is it?”
She knew it would be best to just come out with it, so she said, “Your mother just called. Your father had a heart attack and he’s in the hospital. It was a pretty bad one. The doctors are fairly certain he’ll recover, but they said that the next 48 hours are dangerous. Your mother wants you to come down there.”
David stiffened at the news and his hands fell away from Rebecca’s hips as he took a step back. He was silent for a moment before he went to take a seat at the dining room table. He ran a hand over his face and looked at his wife when she joined him at the table. “I haven’t spoken to them in over six years. Now I’m just supposed to go see them? I’m just supposed to forgive them because he had a heart attack?”
Taking David’s free hand to encase in her own, Rebecca asked, “Do you want me to support whatever decision you make? Or do you want me to give you my opinion?”
“You know I value your opinion.”
“Ok then. My opinion is that this isn’t about forgiveness.”
“What is it about?”
“It’s about going to see your father for what might be the last time. I think if you refuse to see him and he passes away, you’ll hate yourself for it. No matter how angry you are at him, justifiably angry, he’s still your father, and it would hurt you if he died and you didn’t go to him.”
Staring into his wife’s eyes, David whispered, “I don’t want to see him. I still can’t get over what he did to me. What they both did.”
“You have all the time in the world to be angry at what happened, David, but you might not have very long to speak to your father again. You need to think about this very carefully. I’m not going to push you to do one thing or the other. I will support you either way, but if my opinion counts for anything, then I suggest going. I know you, and I know if he dies without you having seen him, it will eat at you for the rest of your life.”
“And what if he doesn’t die? What if he’s fine? What if he’s out of the hospital in a week and expects us to be buddy-buddy again?”
“David, I very sincerely doubt that either of your parents would make that assumption. They know what they’ve done, and they know that the relationship they have with you is forever damaged. You might one day be able to have some sort of peaceful contact with them, but they know things can never be as they were. If you see your father now and he comes out of this alright, you can very easily go back to ignoring him if you want. Or you can decide it is time to start rebuilding some semblance of a relationship with them, if you want to do that, too. These are your decisions to make. You just need to make sure to make decisions that you can live with.”
Linking his fingers with Rebecca’s David relented, “I’ll go. I can’t promise I’ll stay long, or even that I’ll try to talk to him, but you’re right. I should go.”<
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Rebecca didn’t point out that he might not be able to talk to his father if his condition was too bad. Instead, she said, “Let me call Alex and see how close he is. We can have him take Cat and Mattie out to eat and drop the triplets off at Sandy’s.”
“Ok.”
It didn’t take long for Rebecca to contact her oldest stepson and let him know what was going on. He agreed he’d take Cat and Mattie out to dinner and then stay with them at home until his parents got back. He told Rebecca to call him if she or his dad needed anything. After that, Rebecca called Sandy and let her know what was going on. The only change in the plan was that she was going to come with them and Ryan was going to bring their two daughters over to David and Rebecca’s and watch the kids with Alex when he got back. Sandy hadn’t seen or spoken to her parents since she’d found out what they’d done to David, but just like Rebecca had said, this was a special situation.
A little over an hour later, Rebecca pulled her SUV into the hospital parking lot. David was sitting next to her in the passenger seat and Sandy was in the back. The entire ride had been made in silence. All three of them sat there for a moment before Rebecca turned off the car and grabbed her purse, announcing softly, “We need to go inside.”
There was only a moment’s hesitation before David and Sandy filed out and followed Rebecca into the building. Laura had given Rebecca the room information when she called earlier, so she led them towards the elevators and took them up to the fourth floor. As soon as they approached the nurses’ station, the trio caught sight of Laura for the first time in years. She was speaking with a doctor. They didn’t approach her until the doctor shook her hand and took his leave.
David kept a tight grip on Rebecca’s hand, taking strength from her steadfast support, as he approached his mother for the first time in years. “Mother.”
Laura’s head jerked up and her mouth parted with a gasp. Her eyes darted between David, Sandy, and Rebecca, before she whispered, “You came.”
David looked at his mother and couldn’t help but think that the years had not been kind to her. She’d always looked so good for her age, so immaculate and manicured, but that had changed. While he didn’t doubt that his father being in the hospital was partly responsible for her ragged appearance, it was obvious that the stress of the past six years had weighed on her heavily. The lines of her face were much more prominent, and she had a significant amount of grey running through her hair. He wondered if his father’s appearance had also changed as drastically.
Deciding to worry about his mother’s appearance later, David replied, “I—I’m not sure how long I’ll stay. I don’t know what to do here.”
Laura knew that David wasn’t going to simply forgive her or his father for what they’d done, and that’s not why she’d called Rebecca to ask them to come. She knew that she and Sven deserved every moment of misery they’d brought down on themselves. She had no excuses. She was just trying to do what was best.
“David, your father doesn’t know that I called you. I wasn’t even sure that you’d come, and I wouldn’t blame you if you hadn’t. I don’t expect you to forgive us any time soon.”
“Then why did you call?” David asked, trying to keep his tone calm despite the riot of emotions warring within him.
“Because I’m hoping you’ll be a better person than we were.”
Everyone fell silent for a moment before David questioned, “How bad is it?”
“It could be worse. He’s improved immensely since this morning when he was brought in. The doctors are very optimistic.”
Looking into his mother’s tired eyes, David pressed, “What do you want from me?”
“Anything you’re willing to give.”
When David didn’t say anything, Laura explained, “It’s been hard for him, David, hard for both of us. We know we deserve you disowning us, and we will spend the rest of our lives paying for our crimes against you, but…”
When his mom’s words trailed off, David commented, “But you want me to forgive you. Dad is sick and you want me to just let it all go because of that.”
The bitterness of his tone hurt her, and Laura couldn’t help but flinch. “No. No, I don’t expect you to move past it all because Sven is here. I—I just—Lord, I don’t even know why I called you. I don’t even know if you seeing him is a good idea.”
Laura burst into tears and David shifted uncomfortably, a cold knot forming in his stomach. On one hand he wanted to turn around and walk away, to never see or speak to her again. On the other hand, he wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her. She was still his mother. He looked to see if Sandy was going to do anything, but she merely met his gaze and shrugged, obviously as ill at ease in this situation as he was. She’d never had the best relationship with their domineering parents, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t affected by the situation.
Rebecca decided to take charge of the situation. Giving her husband’s hand one final squeeze, she stepped forward to wrap an arm around Laura’s shoulders as she suggested, “Laura, why don’t you and I talk in the waiting area? David, maybe you and Sandy could speak to one of the doctors or nurses and get a full rundown of what is happening with your father. I think once we all have a clearer picture of what is happening, we can decide what to do next.”
David gave his wife a small smile. He knew what she was doing. She was trying to give him time to let the enormity of the situation sink in before he said or did anything he couldn’t take back. She was giving him a chance to become accustomed to the idea of seeing his father again after so long. She was also going to try and calm his mother down, something he simply couldn’t do in this situation. Capturing her gaze he let his eyes fill with his love for her, his gratefulness for her strength and support. When she gave him a smile in return, her eyes filled with her love for him as well, he mouthed, “I love you.”
When she mouthed it back, he turned and took his sister’s arm. “Let’s go find that doctor. Let’s find out exactly what is going on.”
As David and Sandy made their way down the hall to find the doctor, Rebecca led Laura to the waiting area. Once they were seated, she pulled out the travel pack of tissues from her purse and passed it to the older woman. Laura accepted them without a word and took a tissue out to blow her nose. When she had regained control of herself, she whispered, “I don’t know what to do, Rebecca.”
“I don’t think any of us really knows what to do in this situation.”
“I didn’t think he would come. Him or Sandy.”
“It’s not easy for him. Either of them. This situation is hard on all of us.”
Looking at her son’s wife, Laura said, “We are so sorry.”
“I know, Laura, but sometimes being sorry isn’t good enough. Some mistakes are beyond forgiveness.”
More tears slipped down Laura’s cheeks as she asked fearfully, “So David will never forgive us?”
Shaking her head, Rebecca answered, “I honestly don’t know. He never talks about either of you. That first year when you sent him a birthday card in the mail, he asked me to throw them away as they came. He’s never read any of them, and neither have I. We don’t give the kids their cards either, and the presents you send in the mail are donated. David was clear that he didn’t want anything to do with you ever again. We literally haven’t spoken about you in years.”
Laura’s head dropped as she clenched the tissues in her hands. “So he really does hate us. He’ll never forgive us. We’ve really lost him.”
“I don’t think so.”
When her head jerked up, Rebecca clarified, “I don’t want to give you false hope, Laura. David is still hurt and angry about what happened, and forgiveness won’t be coming soon or easily, but I think if he honestly felt as though he were an orphan, if he had really and truly severed all emotional ties with the two of you, if he really and truly hated you, then he wouldn’t be here now.”
“Really?”
“Really. I know David, and I know th
at the situation between all of you is hurting him. He doesn’t allow himself to think about it very often, and he never talks about it, but I know it hurts him. Things might never be right between you and David again, but I think he might finally be ready to try and find some semblance of peace with the two of you.”
Reaching forward to take Rebecca’s hand, Laura begged, “What do we do? How do we fix this? We’ll do anything!”
“I can’t tell you what to do, Laura, because I honestly don’t know. I don’t know what David needs from the two of you to help him get past this, but I do know it won’t be easy.”
“But you think it can be done?”
“I think if you and Sven go at his pace, if you put him, his wants, his needs, and his happiness before your own in everything you do from here on out, you might be able to salvage some semblance of a relationship with him.”
Laura felt hope fill her for the first time in years, and promised, “We will. We’re never going to take the choice away from him again. We’ve learned from our mistakes.”
“Let’s hope. Now tell me what the doctors said.”
A little while later Rebecca sat with David in the waiting room. After he and Sandy had spoken to the doctor, they’d come to the waiting area to speak to Rebecca and Laura again. Having been told by the doctors that Sven could have visitors for brief periods of time since he was now in stable condition, Sandy had asked her mother if she would accompany her to speak with Sven. Once they’d left, Rebecca had risen from her chair to wrap her arms around David’s waist and lean into him. Once his arms came around her, they’d simply stood there for long moments holding one another.
Finally, David said, “I don’t know what to do, Rebecca.”
Keeping her arms around his waist, she looked up at her husband with gentle eyes. “I think you know what you want to do, but you’re still too angry and hurt to do it.”
Reclaimed Love Page 9
