Jennifer could feel him following behind her, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to acknowledge him, so he was wasting his time.
“Jennifer, please wait, we need to talk about this,” Simeon said, trying to catch his breath.
Jennifer kept walking without saying a word and he continued to follow her.
Right outside the lighted entrance of a popular clothing store, Jennifer stopped to call Patrice.
“What’s wrong?” Patrice asked as soon as she answered.
“Treecie, I need you to come and get me,” Jennifer said in a hurry.
“Come get you? Did something happen?”
“Treecie, can you please come and get me?”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m standing outside JC Penney at the mall.”
“The mall? Why are you at the mall? I thought you were going on a date with Simeon.”
Jennifer blew out an agitated breath. “Please hurry, Treecie.”
“I’m on my way,” Patrice said before Jennifer discontinued the call.
By that time, Simeon was standing beside her. “Jenn, come on and talk to me. I’m just surprised and trying to figure out how it happened.”
Jennifer looked him up and down and said, “Oh, you can be on your way. Our date is over. I’ve got a ride coming.” She turned away from him.
“We need to talk, I need to explain all of this to you, but not now,” Simeon said.
“You were gone for three years and here you come back asking me all these stupid questions. Where the hell were you?”
“I promise that I’ll tell you everything, but not here. I just need to absorb what you’ve told me.”
Jennifer smacked her lips. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been taking good care of my babies all by myself, so bye,” she said, turning away from him.
Pulling his car keys from his jacket pocket, he turned to her once again. “Are you going to be okay out here?”
She ignored his question, scrolling through her smart phone. Watching Simeon slowly walk away, Jennifer tried to calm her racing heartbeat before her sister arrived. She would need her strength in order to answer all the questions she knew Patrice would have.
There was no way that Simeon was going to leave Jennifer standing outside the store at the mall at night. There were people milling about, but he still felt a sense of responsibility for her even though she was mad as hell with him.
Jumping into his car, he sat and waited until whoever she called came to pick her up. He saw the late model white Infiniti pull up with a woman driving, who he suspected was one of the sisters she’d told him about.
Once Jennifer stepped into the car, he eased out of the parking space and exited the lot behind them. He turned in a different direction just in case Jennifer thought he was trying to follow them.
Simeon hit the ramp entrance to the expressway at high speed. He didn’t think about all the traffic or if he should be going so fast. All his thoughts were on Jennifer and the news she’d just given him. Once he got to a comfortable speed to keep up with the flow of the heavy evening traffic, he replayed the conversation.
He tried to absorb it all, but her stating that she had been taking care of herself and her babies really stood out for him. The declaration that Mariah was his daughter was a shock, but for Jennifer to say “babies”, as in more than one, made him think. In the short time they had been reacquainted she’d never mentioned that she had more than one child, but on the other hand he’d never asked her either. He felt like he was on one of those soap operas like The Young and the Restless or Search for Tomorrow because this was some weird stuff.
The night definitely didn’t turn out the way he’d anticipated, and now he had a new set of issues that needed his immediate attention. He had to get some answers about the child she was claiming belonged to him. And he owed her an explanation for his absence.
Fifteen minutes later, Simeon pulled into his garage, shut off the engine and slid out of the car. Jennifer’s voice kept reverberating in his head when she said, “You know Mariah is your kid.” He couldn’t get that thought out of his head. His mind was so wrapped up in the situation that he walked through the house without turning off the alarm at the panel by the door. The deafening scream of the siren scared him, causing him to stop mid-stride in the middle of his kitchen floor.
Quickly, he went to the panel and punched in his code, but it was too late. His phone started ringing. He assured the monitoring staff that there was no emergency and he was indeed Simeon Baker by giving them his passcode.
Jennifer’s voice, her tone, the way her eyes danced as she blurted out the accusation, bothered him. It was as if he’d done something bad to her. Then there was the image of the sweet little girl who may be his daughter. That day in the store, it all happened so fast that he really didn’t get a good look at her. What would he do now? He had to find out if Mariah was indeed his child. There were a couple of ways to find that out, but he really needed to talk to Jennifer first. He had to hear her thoughts, but Simeon did promise himself one thing. If Mariah was indeed his daughter, she would never be without him again.
The fact that he’d almost lost his life and would have never known he had a child was unthinkable. It would have been a devastating loss for him and his child. Simeon soon realized that he had been given more than just his life, but a new life in Mariah—one he could nurture and care for. He only hoped her mother would allow him to see her.
Jennifer’s admission created a thousand questions for which he needed answers. Why did she tell me she wasn’t pregnant when she was? Why didn’t she just say something to me that day at the store? He understood why Jennifer would be upset with him, but she had it all wrong.
He hated the fact that she thought he’d abandoned her. Quite the contrary, while she was giving life, he was fighting for his. Now, he had to straighten out this mess and get to know his child.
Chapter Fourteen
“So, the guy who was just following us in that expensive sedan was Simeon?” Patrice asked, turning toward the entrance to the freeway.
Jennifer nodded. “Yes.”
Patrice reached over and placed her hand on Jennifer’s knee. “Are you okay?” She patted her leg lightly.
Jennifer tasted the salty tears that streamed down her face. She blinked rapidly trying to keep them at bay, but when Patrice grabbed her hand, her eyes flooded and the tears fell. She didn’t know if she was crying because she was angry or if it was because she was sad. She was sure of only one thing; she’d made mess out of her life, but was determined to straighten it out quickly. Getting him to accept that he was Mariah’s father was important for her daughter, but Jennifer was beginning to wonder if she wanted to pay such a high cost.
“It’s just not worth it, Treecie,” Jennifer said, wiping her tears with the back of her hands.
“Look in that compartment and get you some tissue,” Patrice said, pointing to the area underneath the armrest.
“It is worth it. Your precious babies are worth it just to know that you tried, because they will grow up one day and ask about him. You want to be able to look them in the face and tell them the truth,” Patrice said as she exited the freeway, stopping at the traffic light at the top of the hill.
For the rest of the way to Faith’s house, Jennifer sat quietly and appreciated Patrice’s silence as well. It soothed her nerves and made the ride peaceful. Once the car rolled up to Faith’s apartment, Patrice turned to Jennifer. “I’ll wait out here so you can talk to Faith in private and gather the babies.”
Jennifer hugged her sister. “Thanks, but their car seats are in Faith’s car and we’d have to transfer them and that’s just a lot of moving around. I don’t want to inconvenience you any further.”
Patrice waved her hand. “Girl, please, we can get Mikey to put the car seats in the car while we get the bab
ies’ coats and things.”
Jennifer’s eyes were red and swollen from all the crying she’d done. “Thank you so much,” she said sincerely before getting out of the car.
Faith was standing at the door waiting for them when they made it to the building entrance.
When they walked into the apartment, Michael, Faith’s fiancé, was sitting on the floor in the living room playing with the kids and their toys. Jennifer suspected that Faith had gone into her sewing room.
“I’ll stay in here while you guys talk,” Patrice said, squatting down on the floor in front of Micah, who was playing with plastic rings.
Jennifer picked him up, snuggled and kissed him, then did the same thing to Mariah. As she attempted to put her down, Mariah wrapped her little arms around her mother’s neck, not wanting to let go. Mariah started to whine, so Patrice took her from Jennifer.
“Mommy’s coming right back,” Patrice said, kissing the little girl on the forehead to keep her from crying out.
Jennifer walked down the hall to the first room and saw Faith working on a sparkling gown that hung on a mannequin.
Jennifer lifted the hem, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. “Is this the dress you’re making for Renee?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to talk about the dress right now, let’s talk about what happened tonight.” She patted the empty chair beside the sewing table. “Treecie called me to say that she was on her way to pick you up. She didn’t have any other information.”
Jennifer sat on the edge of the seat. “I told him that he was Mariah’s father.”
Faith frowned. “What do you mean you told him?”
“I was so frustrated with him talking about everything except for the babies, that I blurted it out.”
“So you told him he had twins?”
“No, I just said, ‘You know damn well Mariah is your kid.’ That’s all I said.” Jennifer jumped up and started walking the expanse of the room. “That’s okay, though. He won’t have to worry about us ever again.”
Faith stood up and extended both arms toward Jennifer as though trying to stop her. “Wait a minute, Jenn. You can’t be hasty about this because it’s serious. Not only for you, but for Micah and Mariah.” Faith reached out to touch Jennifer’s arm. “You know that one day you will have to introduce those kids to their father.”
Jennifer stared at her sister. “Why are you taking his side?”
Faith pulled Jennifer to her. “I am not taking his side. I’m taking the side of those children. All I’m trying to tell you is that you have to be accountable to them. And…”
Jennifer tried to interrupt Faith by holding her hand up, but her older sister wouldn’t let her. She kept talking.
“And, you’ve got to give this man a chance. It’s clear that he is interested in you, so sit down with him and have an adult conversation.”
“I don’t trust him, Faith,” Jennifer explained. “I don’t believe for one minute that he didn’t know about those kids.”
Faith nodded in agreement. “That might be true, but now at least he knows about Mariah, so let’s see what he’s going to do.”
Jennifer moved her head from left to right because she would truly have to do a lot of soul searching in order to be open to his next step. He seemed like a decent guy and there definitely had been a strong connection between them, but she just couldn’t stand to be around a man who she didn’t trust to tell the truth.
Simeon sat up swiftly, swinging his legs around on the side of the bed to the floor. Pushing his hands down into the mattress, he tried to calm his racing heartbeat. Sweat poured off him, the bed sheets soaked, and he could only remember the darkness.
The same dream he’d had since he entered the rehabilitation facility continued to haunt him. His body jerked in the darkness as he relived the moment of impact each time he had the dream. The difference in this version was he couldn’t ground himself, but he kept tumbling into the dark hole that had no end. It left him kicking his legs with no ground underneath. The faint sounds of someone calling for help surrounded him, but he couldn’t see the person.
When the nightmares and severe headaches started, he was on some really heavy medications to aid him in enduring the pain. The doctor assured him that tramadol, morphine, oxycodone wasn’t the cause and dilaudid didn’t attribute to him having bad dreams.
Trying to get a grip on the horrifying dreams while in rehab, Simeon went to see a therapist, who explained to him that he had post-traumatic stress disorder from having a near-death experience. Simeon thought that kind of disease was only found in the military, but he discovered that traffic accidents have caused more people to be diagnosed with the illness than any war since Vietnam.
There were several types of medications they could give him to stop the PTSD symptoms, but he had been on so much medicine for so long, he just didn’t want to continue in that vein. The grueling hours of physical therapy, having to take pills to endure the painful task of learning to use his left leg and right arm, so that he could appear normal had been enough.
Overcoming that obstacle successfully and walking with little or no difference than before the wreck was a feat in itself. One that he was most proud of and now, he would have to face this potential paternity situation the same way.
He got up and pulled the sheets from the bed and dropped them in the laundry basket on his way to the linen closet to get fresh ones. After he changed the bed, he lay down staring at the ceiling, thinking about Mariah.
Like most men, Simeon wanted to be a father one day, to share children with a person he adored, loved and cherished. He wanted to be that protector to his daughter and a role model for his son. At thirty-one it didn’t seem like that was ever going to happen for him, but now he had a chance to at least be a protector to his daughter.
Simeon scanned his bedroom and for the first time since he moved into the house he wondered what he was doing with such a spacious home for just himself. He had no one to share the spectacular estate with. There were four other bedrooms down the hall that were empty and a family room that would be the perfect place for children to play. The home theatre was just right to entertain guests and the kitchen looked out onto the huge backyard that had a pool and outdoor food prep area. He had all of it built, but he was solo. He checked the time on his bedside clock and it was only three o’clock in the morning. He needed to get some sleep, but tomorrow he was going to contact Jennifer.
Jennifer and the Lavish Locks crew were enjoying the Saturday morning madness on a brisk December day. Manning their stations, everyone was in a groove cutting, dying, washing, flat-ironing and braiding hair as Christmas R & B tunes floated through the air.
The violin intro to the Nat King Cole classic, “The Christmas Song”, filled the air and for the first time since Black Friday, Jennifer realized it was Christmastime. She was excited for her children because she hoped to expose them to more of the McClendon family traditions. She wanted to last year, but realized they were too young to understand about Santa.
The shop hadn’t been in such demand in a very long time, but it seemed that everybody wanted to get their hair done at Lavish Locks. The phone hadn’t stopped ringing for the last hour. There were several young ladies in the shop who were headed to the Christmas Formal at the high school. Jennifer added three clients to her regularly scheduled customers.
Standing at the side of the shampoo bowl, Jennifer covered her customer with a plastic cape to protect her clothing. Securing the Velcro on the back, she kept her eyes on the front of the shop because she knew Mimi was probably doing something other than her job.
When the telephone rang, Mimi caught Jennifer’s eye, waving her over. Jennifer couldn’t stop in the middle of washing her client’s hair, but Mimi continued to beckon her.
Jennifer didn’t move from the shampoo area until she’d finished her task. Styling the woman’s h
air before putting her under the dryer, Jennifer then took her attention to whatever the receptionist had going on.
“What’s the matter?” Jennifer asked, walking up to the desk.
Mimi leaned forward. “It’s that guy again,” she said, trying to whisper.
Jennifer looked down at the blinking light on the telephone console. She knew it was Simeon. She should have given more thought into letting him call the shop, but it was too late now. Picking up the phone, she gave Mimi a nod to remove the hold from the line.
“This is Jennifer,” she said, wanting her voice void of panic or anger.
“Hi, Jenn.”
“What can I do for you, Simeon?”
“Don’t hang up the phone.”
“I’m not,” she said.
“I’d like to talk to you if that’s possible.”
“Sure, but let me call you back as soon as I’m done with my customers,” Jennifer said.
“Okay. Please don’t forget to call me back.”
Jennifer reached over the counter for a pen and a Post-it note. “Give me a number where I can reach you,” she said.
“I thought I gave you my business card,” Simeon said.
Jennifer looked up at the ceiling. “You did. I tore that card up, so you have to give me a number.”
She scribbled it down as quickly as he recited it and, after promising to call him as soon as possible, she handed the receiver back to Mimi. “Hang that up for me.”
As she walked back to her station, Jennifer realized that she had been so angry for so long that didn’t know how else to feel. But Simeon told her that he wanted to tell her everything and even if he didn’t deserve it, she owed it to herself to hear him out.
The Christmas Promise Page 13
