Love Me Tonight

by Gwynne Forster

  “It was more than that, Henry. They recorded the ceremony for Marc, his children and grandchildren. I’ve been told that I was christened in that same church before that same altar, but there’s no record of it, and I never knew the person who arranged it.”

  “I know that’s tough, son, but as soon as you get yer own family, you’ll stop frettin’ over the past. You’re Sparkman’s boy or me name ain’t Henry. Far as I’m concerned, that ain’t up for argument.” Judson put his arm around the shoulders of the frail old man and let the gesture suffice for an expression of gratitude.

  He walked into the living room behind Henry and stopped, unable to move another step. Heather sat on the living room floor with her back against the sofa holding Marc in her arms. She gazed down at the child as if seeing a miracle for the first time. He’d never seen her face so soft or her expression so tender. She leaned down, kissed the baby’s cheek and, in response, Marc bubbled with a happy grin, waving his hands in delight. Judson wanted to take her and run with her to any place where they would be alone and he could show her how he loved her. He knew that his face betrayed his raw emotions and the powerful effect that this Madonna-like Heather had on him. He turned to walk away and bumped into Drake.

  “She’s always beautiful,” Drake said, “but right now, she’s radiant. I imagine that picture set you back a good bit. Let’s get a drink. What would you like?”

  “Whatever you’re serving, brother, so long as it will help restore my balance.” He would take to his grave that picture of Heather smiling and serene with Marc in her arms.

  “Would you believe that’s the first time I ever held a little baby?” Heather asked Judson later that day during their drive back to Baltimore.

  “Yes. I can believe that. I wish I’d had a camera. It was the most beautiful, the most touching picture I ever saw. It literally took my breath away. Why were you sitting on the floor?”

  “I wanted to hold him to see what it was like, and I figured if I was sitting on the floor, I couldn’t drop him. Alexis thought I was off the wall, but I did not want to drop that baby. He was so sweet, and do you know he actually liked me?”

  The child’s reaction to her filled her with pride. His warm little body in her arms had a life-giving quality, and she had given him back to Alexis with reluctance and regret. “I didn’t want to give him up,” she said, “and that still surprises me. Judson, it’s a little scary. Having children after age thirty-five can be risky.”

  “Don’t worry about that.”

  She just realized how badly she wanted children. Previously, she’d thought it would be nice to have them, but that it wouldn’t bother her too much if she didn’t.

  “I hope you’re right. What are you doing this evening?”

  “I was hoping to have dinner with you.”

  “Unless you have to have a gourmet meal, I can turn out a really nice supper in forty minutes, and then we can eat for a couple of minutes before you dash off to be a lawyer.”

  “Saying no to you is not something I feel like doing right now. Do you need anything from a deli or grocery store?”

  “No. Thanks. I…uh…I have everything I need.”

  His laughter told her that she hadn’t fooled him and that he knew she’d planned all along to have him spend the evening with her in her home. “Oh, all right,” she said. “‘When the mountain wouldn’t go to Muhammad, Muhammad went to the mountain.’”

  A grin captured his face. “I get it. That’s the mark of a good lover and a good lawyer—if it doesn’t work one way, try another.”

  At home, she changed into a peasant skirt and blouse, cooked and, in forty minutes, served a meal of broiled salmon, steamed asparagus and parsleyed potatoes with chocolate pie à la mode for dessert. They cleaned the kitchen and sat with each other on the couch, letting their fingers entwine while listening to CDs of their favorite music.

  Suddenly, without thinking, she said, “Why did you cry today? I thought it would kill me to watch those tears roll down you face.”

  Like a spring overflowing, he began talking about that moment, his voice betraying the pain he felt. Unable to bear it, she climbed on top of him, locked her arms around his neck and rocked on him, loving him until she felt him bulge beneath her. She took him into her body. “What do you need?” she asked him. “Tell me.”

  “You. Only you and always you.” They exploded together, and she relaxed, happy in the knowledge that she’d given him the love that he so badly needed.

  He held her close. “I want you to remember this in the next couple of weeks,” he said. “When you begin to doubt me, stop and remember this moment. I love you more than I love my life.”

  Chills plowed through her system. “I will. I have to, because I love you.”

  He walked into court followed by his senior associate and two law clerks, nodded to the opposing lawyer and took his seat, waiting for the arrival of the judge. The courtroom reminded him of his own search for truth. He still had no response in his birth-certificate search. That didn’t make sense unless the information he sent had proved inadequate.

  The judge arrived, and he focused on the task at hand. He turned to walk back to his seat and get a file from his briefcase and glimpsed Heather. She gave him the thumbs-up sign. She was there for him, and he could almost feel his chest expanding.

  At a break, he met Heather in the corridor near the trial attorney’s office. “Thank you for coming. I know you have plenty of work to do, and I want you to know that your being here means a lot.”

  “Of course I came. You’re doing a great job.”

  “I love you, woman. Consider yourself kissed.”

  He went into the office and telephoned the Maryland vital statistics registrar. “When may I expect to receive the copy of my birth certificate?” he asked a clerk.

  “But, Mr. Philips, we mailed that to you ten days ago. You didn’t receive it?”

  “No, I didn’t.” Every nerve in his body seemed to stand on end.

  “I’m sorry, sir. If you come to the office, I’ll be glad to give you a copy. We’re open Monday through Friday from eight to four. If you call me first, I’ll have it ready when you come.”

  He thanked her, but for a minute, he was hardly aware of his surroundings. He looked at his watch. Four minutes to court time, and he couldn’t even tell Heather. After thinking about it and recalling Telford’s warning that the birth certificate may not contain the truth, he decided not to mention it until he saw it. And that wouldn’t happen until after the trial, because the court recessed at five o’clock, an hour after the vital statistics office closed. Still, his years of waiting seemed near an end.

  Just before noon, three days later and the first on which Heather did not attend a part of the trial, the jury found in favor of his client. He raced out of court and dashed to the registrar’s office.

  “Here you are, Mr. Philips,” the clerk said as she handed him a large manila envelope. He stared down at it, wondering if he’d be sorry that he’d embarked on this effort. “Is…everything all right, sir?” the woman asked him.

  “Oh, yes. Yes. I never thought I’d actually have this in my hand. Thank you so much.”

  He left that office, got into his car and didn’t stop driving until he parked in front of the building in which Heather lived and went up to her apartment. Until then, it had not occurred to him that she might not have gotten home, and his heart seemed to hover near the pit of his belly until her voice said, “Who is it?”

  “Judson. Open the door, sweetheart.”

  The door opened, and she gazed up at him with an inquiring expression, for he hadn’t previously paid her a surprise visit. He walked past her, turned and shoved the envelope to her.

  She looked at the return address. “Oh, my goodness! Do you want me to open it?’

  “No, I… Let’s sit down a minute.” She sat beside him as he opened the envelope with shaky fingers. He stared at the words he had longed nearly all of his life to see. His h
ands trembled as he read them. Slowly and now composed, he read them again:

  Name of baby: Judson.

  Sex: boy

  Date of birth: December 2, 1976.

  Mother’s name: Beverly Moten. Age, 23

  Father’s name: Fentriss Sparkman

  Date of birth registration: December 8, 1976

  He read it aloud a third time, his voice carrying even to his ears a tone of wonder, then he handed the certificate to Heather. “Did I see it correctly?”

  “You definitely did, and I’m so happy for you. I suspect your mother registered the birth herself, and she did it correctly. I hoped that it would come out this way. Do you resent your mother for allowing you to think she was your adoptive mother?”

  He shook his head. “I’m over that part of it because I’ve known since my first meeting with Aunt Cissy. I suppose Mom did what she had to do. For some reason, she didn’t want Louis Philips to know she’d had a child as an unmarried mother.” He slumped in the chair.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked him, her voice urgent with concern.

  “I’m…washed out, exhausted. I feel as if I’ve just wrestled a steer. I need to call Telford and Scott, but there’s one more thing. I left a DNA sample at Diagnostic Services in Hagerstown. I want a DNA test. For all I know, this certificate was filed by someone other than my mother.” He dialed Telford’s cell phone number.

  “Telford Harrington speaking.”

  “Hello, Telford. Judson here. You said you were willing to take a DNA test. Does the offer still stand? I left a sample with Diagnostic Services in Hagerstown.”

  “We don’t need it, but if that’s what you want, the three of us will do it tomorrow morning, and I’ll ask them to process it right away.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Now, we’ll really know the truth,” he said to Heather after he hung up.

  He laughed. “I feel better than I did a few minutes earlier when I doubted what my eyes beheld. If it comes out all right, will you go to Eagle Park with me?”

  She wrapped her arms around him. “Of course. Have faith, honey.”

  “I’m trying, but I’m so close. It’s as if my whole life is suspended out there someplace.” He waved his hand toward the unknown.

  “Come on. Let’s get some food. I’ll treat you to shrimp and rice Italian style.”

  He jumped up. “Works for me.”

  For the next few weeks, he jumped each time the telephone rang. On Friday evening at about five-thirty, he received the news. “Mr. Philips, this Dr. Horace Epps at Diagnostic Services. I have the results of the DNA tests. You’re a match with Telford, Russell and Drake Harrington. The tests are ninety-nine percent positive for you with Telford and Russell and show a ninety-nine-point-nine percent probability that you and Drake are from the same blood line. We’ll be open Saturday until twelve-thirty.”

  Thank you, Dr. Epps, I’ll be there before noon.” He marveled at his calmness, for he had proof more reliable than his birth certificate offered that he was the son of Fentriss Sparkman.

  “I’ll have the papers ready for you.”

  He phoned Telford. “I’ll pick up the test results before noon tomorrow, and I’d like to leave there and visit with you and your brothers around one. Heather will be with me if that’s all right with you and Alexis.”

  “We’ll be delighted. Looking forward to seeing you.”

  Heather didn’t know how to respond when the real estate agent called to say that the house Heather wanted was for sale and could be broom clean for her within ten days. “I’ll call you back Monday after I speak with my banker,” she told the agent. In truth, she didn’t need to check with her bank, but she needed time to speak with Annie and Judson about it. She knew Annie would go along with anything she proposed, but her instincts told her that the weekend could be a crucial point in her life.

  She sat down on the edge of the chair, rubbing the back of her neck as she’d so often seen her father do. “Why am I equivocating about this? I should take the house and let the chips fall where they may,” she said to herself. Don’t tempt fate, her niggling conscience prodded.

  She got up early Saturday morning, dressed in a red silk dress that had a matching jacket and spike-heel black suede boots. She put a pair of slippers in a small tote, in case they spent time with Telford and Alexis.

  “Won’t you be cold?” Judson asked when he arrived at nine o’clock. “It’s freezing out there.”

  An hour later, with the incontrovertible evidence of his paternity in a sealed envelope, he drove to Cissy’s house. “Well, well. Now this is nice,” she said when she opened the door and saw them. “Don’t tell me you two got married.”

  “Not yet, Aunt Cissy,” he said. “I wanted you to know that I have my birth certificate, which says that Beverly Moten and Fentriss Sparkman are my parents, and results of DNA tests show a ninety-nine percent certainty that I’m from the same blood line as Drake Harrington and his brothers.”

  “Hallelujah! I felt from the first that you were my blood kin. Y’all come on in. I’m just about to fix some lunch.”

  “I’m sorry, Aunt Cissy. We can’t stay. I’m on my way to share this with the Harrington brothers. You can’t imagine how happy I am. I suppose it will sink in soon, and I’ll be delirious. Heather and I will be back soon and spend some time with you.”

  She’d thought they’d go next to Eagle Park, but he swung in the opposite direction. “We’d better make a quick stop and see Annie.” He handed her his cell phone. “Tell her we’ll be buy for five minutes.”

  She dialed the familiar number. “Annie, we’re in Hagerstown on a little business, and then we’re going to Eagle Park on some more business. We’re on our way to you, but we can only stay a minute.”

  A few minutes later, it seemed strange walking into that house and not finding her father there. “I hope you came to get a marriage license,” Annie said after greeting them.

  “Not quite,” Judson said. “I came to pick up the evidence that Fentriss Sparkman was my father. My adoptive mother was actually my birth mother.”

  Annie sat down. “I figured that from all you told me, and when I saw Drake Harrington, I was sure. It must be wonderful to know your father was such a respected man.”

  “I’m pleased with what I’ve learned about all this, Annie, and I thank you for caring. We’ll be in touch next week.”

  Heather could see in Judson an anxiousness to show Telford and his brothers the evidence that he was one of them. Judson drove into the circle in front of Harrington House, and before he could park, Telford came out to meet him. She looked up and saw Alexis standing in the front doorway, her face wreathed in smiles.

  Telford brought Judson to him in a strong embrace. “No matter what it says, you’re one of us. Don’t forget this.”

  Judson blinked rapidly and handed Telford the envelopes containing the birth certificate and the unopened results of the DNA tests.

  Telford kissed Heather’s cheek, took Judson’s arm and went inside with them. Heather had the strangest feeling when Alexis hugged her, almost as if she hugged her big sister. It was as if something or someone other than her was controlling her life.

  “Russ and Drake will be here in a couple of minutes. Should I wait for them before I open this?” Telford asked Judson.

  “I regard you as head of the family. It’s up to you.”

  Telford looked at the birth certificate, and his face brightened in a big smile. He glanced at Judson, gave a thumbs-up sign and opened the other envelope. The doorbell rang and Alexis ran to get it. Drake and Russ walked into the room and stopped.

  “What does it say?” Russ asked. Telford passed them the two envelopes.

  “We had already decided,” Russ said, “but you needed the proof, so we gave it to you. Congratulations.”

  Telford called to Alexis. “Sweetheart, bring everybody in here, please, including Henry.” She returned with Pamela and Velma. “Last week, Russ, Drake and I decide
d that since we knew Judson was our first cousin, we should do the right thing. Uncle Fentriss thought he had no heirs and left what he owned to us, with Russ as executor of his estate. We divided the estate between us, except one apartment house, the largest and most valuable property in the estate. We decided to leave it as it is and to divide between us the receipts and expenses. We’re giving that building to Judson, because he deserves it. I’m talking about the Beverly Apartments in downtown Frederick, which Uncle Fentriss obviously named for Judson’s mother. What is the situation, Russ?”

  When Judson gasped, Heather eased her arm around his shoulder and whispered. “They love you, darling. It’s all right.”

  Russ stood, walked to the fireplace and leaned against the marble facing. “I have here the transfer of ownership to Judson and the deed supporting it. I had the building appraised. It’s fifteen stories high with forty-three apartments, swimming pool and recreation facilities are on the top floor. It sits on prime land. It’s structurally as sound as when it was built six years ago and is what he considered his crowning achievement. Its current market value is twenty-five to twenty-seven million dollars and is approximately one-quarter of the value of Uncle Fentriss’s estate.” He walked over to Judson and handed him the papers.

  “We are extremely happy to be able to share this with you, Judson. We were all very well-fixed financially before receiving the inheritance, and we’ve used some of it to build attractive and affordable housing for poor people, among other things.” He put his hand into his pocket. “I forgot. Here’s the master key to the Beverly Apartments.”

  She wondered that Judson would be able to stand. He patted her knee and managed to get to his feet. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I had a heart attack,” Judson said. “He named that building after my mother. Six years ago. That’s a long time to love someone and not know where she is or even if she’s alive. He really loved her,” he said, seemingly in awe. “I’m not going to try and thank you, because it’s not possible. I’ve never known people like you. From the beginning, you received me as if I were one of you. I… Thank you.