Indulge

by Liv Morris

  “I love you so much.” I whisper to her. I lean in and give her another kiss.

  Gary comes in within the hour and I help him set up her gifts. There are three dozen roses, a large teddy bear holding a heart that says “I love you” and several balloons. I thank Gary and let him know she’s going to be okay, but the doctors want to keep her here for a few days for observation. I tell him to take the rest of the day off. He hands me a suit case with clothes and my lap top. “Thank you Gary for being there. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

  “Sounds good Mr. Greene. Take care of Ms. Anderson and give her my best.”

  “I sure will.” We shake hands and he leaves the room.

  I walk back to my sleeping beauty and kiss her forehead a few times. I can’t wait to take her home and hold her in my arms forever. I continue to tell her how much she means to me and rest my hand on hers.

  “Jacob?”

  I wake up and kiss her on the forehead. “Hi baby. How’re you feeling?”

  “I’m okay but sore. I want to go home Jacob.”

  “I know baby but the doctors just want to make sure you’re okay. It’ll be just a few more days.”

  She lets out a sigh and turns her head away. “Where’s Lucas?”

  “He’s with your parents but he’s okay.”

  “Alright good.”

  “Baby I’m sorry,” I start to say, “I wish this didn’t happen to you.”

  She doesn’t say anything and within moments I see her begin to relax, “This isn’t your fault babe.” She holds onto my hand tightly.

  “I know but I feel terrible and wish I can take away your pain.”

  Shaking her head she looks back to me, “No Jacob. It’s alright.” She smiles at me and closes her eyes.

  “Abigail you showed me a new world. I’m so in love with you and I want to share every moment of my life with you. My heart beats for you and only you.”

  Tears coming from her eyes, she reaches for me and our lips meet. Our kiss is full of passion and love. “Always Jacob.”

  “And forever.”

  Chapter 26

  Abigail

  I’ve been out of the hospital for three weeks now. We are in the new house and it feels wonderful. Jacob is taking care of Lucas as I heal. My body is still sore and it’s hard to do anything but, Jacob has a great team taking turns watching me and keeping me company. Jacob is taking some time off from work and spending time making our house a home.

  The nights are incredible. Jacob is careful with me and is so gentle. Making slow and gentle love with him is the best. He makes sure he does not get too rough so he doesn’t hurt me. I love this man.

  I’m healing quite fast but my arm will be in a cast for at least six weeks.

  Jacob and I talk about Ryan to Lucas. He is confused and hurt but after some time he does want to meet him.

  “Jacob, what do I do?”

  “Sweetheart,” he says looking away from the lap top. “If he wants to meet Ryan then I say let’s go for it.”

  I pull out a file from the drawer and play with it. I see Jacob eyeing me and the file. Adoption papers. I want it to be legal. I want Jacob to be Lucas’ father.

  “I have something to talk to you about.” I fumble with the file and try to calm myself. “I’m really nervous to ask you this.” I take out the papers and hand them to Jacob.

  His eyes go wide and a smile comes across his face. “Are you sure?”

  I nod.

  He takes out his pen and signs his name. Our lips meet again and we laugh and cry together.

  The door bell rings. “Oh what the hell.”

  Jacob hurries downstairs to answer the door. I wonder who’s there.

  Jacob comes back to the room after a few minutes. I put away my phone and look up at him, “Baby who was at the door?” I ask with a yawn.

  “I don’t know. Some weird guy. He gave me this to give to you.”

  “Open it.”

  Jacob opens the envelope and pulls out the papers. My mouth drops as I see what the papers are:

  PETITION FOR CUSTODY

  “Jacob,” I sob. “Can he do this?” He pulls me to his body and I let everything out. “How can Ryan do this? He’s never met Lucas and all of a sudden he wants custody?”

  After a few hours, Jacob falls asleep with Lucas in the middle of us. I look at the two most important men in my life and start crying again. I need to do something. Anything.

  I slowly get out of bed and take my cell phone with me. I reach into my robe pocket and take out the piece of paper with Ryan’s phone number. I owe Heather for getting this for me even though I don’t want to know how she got it. I send a text message to Ryan.

  Me: Hey, it’s Abigail. Please come over and talk to me.

  Ryan: Be there in 10.

  I take a deep breath. I can do this. I have to do this for Jacob and Lucas. I take a seat in our living room. All of a sudden the door bell rings. My head swings to the door. I get up quickly to answer it. When I open the door, Ryan is standing there. Blood shot eyes. Confusion. He’s in sweat pants and a polo shirt.

  “Hi.”

  I look at him. Stare him down. I point my finger into his chest. “How dare you!” I push him a little, “You cannot come back to my son’s life and try to be there! How could you!”

  “Stop! Abigail, listen to me!”

  Ryan looks at me and I can tell this is breaking him apart. “Why Ryan?”

  “My father told me you aborted the baby and then tried to get him to leave us but when you wouldn’t, you took his money! All these years I thought you aborted the pregnancy then I get a random text message with a picture of you, Jacob and Lucas-my son!”

  “That is not my fault Ryan! Lucas is so confused! If you love him,” I start to say and take a deep breath. “Then please drop this.”

  Ryan walks away, looks down, and then back into my eyes. “I just want a chance Abigail. Don’t take this away from me.” Ryan looks away and walks back to his car.

  This is going to get worse before it can get any better.

  The following afternoon Jacob has Peter, his lawyer, come over to the house so we can come up with a plan. The custody hearing is next week and I want to make sure we have everything in order. Peter is right on time, three o’clock. When I let him in, we get right to work.

  “Ms. Anderson, now, with what Mr. Strider has stated about not knowing about your pregnancy and the alleged blackmail against his father, we are in for a battle.”

  “What?” I start crying, “How is this possible?”

  Jacob takes me in his arms. “Peter, what can we do?”

  He looks through piles of paper and takes off his glasses, “We have to stand together. Abigail, you’ve done an incredible job raising Lucas on your own which will look good. Now is there anything I should know that could come out in court? His attorney will tear you apart and try to make you look like an unfit mother.”

  “There’s nothing else to know. Ryan was the last man I was with until I met Jacob. It’s been me and Lucas from the very start. Ryan can’t have shared custody of Lucas. His family will treat him horribly. This isn’t fair. Lucas is only six years old!” I crumble in Jacob’s arms and feel powerless.

  “Peter please figure something out,” Jacob and I beg.

  “Alright let me work on this some more. The trial will be next week so be ready. Jacob, I’ll be in touch.”

  We get up and shake Peter’s hand. Jacob kisses me on the forehead letting me know that everything will be okay. As we walk Peter out the door, Jacob asks me to give him some time with Peter.

  Alright,” I said. I go back into the living room. Jacob will fix this; everything will be okay.

  Chapter 27

  Jacob

  I pull him aside. “How’s it looking?”

  Peter takes off his glasses again and rubs his eyes, “Not good Jacob. This Ryan character is out for blood. I had my PI do some investigation and he isn’t a good guy. Their family mea
ns business. His father, George, is up for a seat on the Senate so they’re doing everything they can to make sure Ryan wins at least visitation. I would highly suggest you convince her to think about it. This won’t be an easy custody battle. Yes he abandoned her, but she did take the money that was given to her. They can take that and twist it anyway. His lawyer, Madison, is ruthless and she’ll stop at nothing to get this win.”

  Madison. What the hell? She’s in criminal defense not family court. What the fuck is going on? “Peter, Madison should not be his lawyer. We have a past. I slept with her a few times but there was nothing more. She wanted a romantic relationship but I ended it.”

  Something in Peter clicks. “Jacob, hold that thought. Let me get in touch with Judge Sufra. She’ll know what to do.”

  “Thanks Peter. Keep me updated.”

  “Alright will do.”

  I wave Peter off and sit down on the porch step. I think about what Peter said and wonder if we stand a chance at winning this battle. Why is it that after all these years Ryan wants Lucas? I hang my head low but can’t find a solution. I hear the door open. Abigail’s hands are on my shoulders. She’s kneeling behind me and wraps her arm around my neck.

  “Tell me everything is going to be okay Jacob. It has to be okay. Ryan can’t get custody. Lucas will get confused and he doesn’t deserve this.” She starts to cry again. I feel useless. I don’t want to give her false hope but I want to ease her mind of the pain.

  “Sweetheart, Peter is going to do everything he can to make this work. Madison is Ryan’s lawyer so something isn’t adding up.”

  “What? Madison?” Abigail shoots up but grabs onto her stomach. I quickly get up and help her to a chair.

  “Please be careful. Stop stressing over this. Peter is a great lawyer and will figure this out. He is going to talk to a judge and see if we can throw his claims out.”

  “Fix this Jacob,” she quietly says. “Lucas doesn’t deserve this.”

  An idea comes to mind. I know Abigail isn’t going to like it but it might make Ryan change his mind about wanting custody of Lucas. “Sweetheart, I’ll be right back.” I go inside to the kitchen and take out my phone.

  Me: If you want to meet Lucas, be here in an hour.

  Damn. I know she’s going to hate me but maybe this will work.

  An hour later, as we’re outside watching Lucas play, a silver two door sleek Lexus pulls into the driveway. Here we go I think. Abigail narrows her eyes at me and goes to get Lucas. “Just try this Abigail. I promise I’ll explain later.”

  “You better Jacob. I don’t like this,” she hisses back to me.

  Ryan comes out of the car and eyes Lucas playing on the grass. Confident with my plan, I walk up to him. “Want to meet him?”

  “Yes.” His quiet response makes me nervous but I still hope this works.

  “Lucas, come here please.”

  He turns his head and smiles at me. When he looks at Ryan, there’s confusion in his eyes. He gets up slowly and makes his way to Ryan. He takes my hand and cocks his head slightly to the left. “You made mama cry.”

  All three of us look at Lucas in disbelief. Maybe my plan will work better than I originally planned. “Lucas,” I start to say, “This is your dad. He didn’t know about you but now he wants to get to know you.” I kneel down to reach his level. I can see the thoughts processing in his mind. Lucas is smarter and brighter than we ever thought. My initial thought was to just go to court but seeing Lucas like this and how he is processing the information makes me know I made the right decision.

  Ryan kneels down with me and looks at Lucas, “Hey buddy. I’m sorry that this is going on. I just wanted to see you and meet you. Is that okay?”

  Lucas turns his head to Abigail. Her face is pale with a mix of emotions; sadness and anger. Lucas turns his head back to Ryan, “Please go away. Daddy.” Lucas points to me and walks over to stand with me. Ryan’s shocked expression surprises me. Maybe he does just want to get to know Lucas and there’s no hidden agenda.

  “I’m sorry Lucas. For everything. I hope one day you can understand.” Ryan gets up and leaves without saying another word.

  Later that night after explaining everything to Lucas, Abigail and I put him to bed. Lucas took us by surprise. He understood everything that was going on and had no desire to get to know Ryan. He kept repeating I was his dad and this was what he wanted. Abigail warned him it might get worse but it looked as if Lucas didn’t care and before closing his eyes he told us to have faith.

  We lay outside under the moon with our glasses of wine. “So my plan might have worked.”

  A brow arches on Abigail’s face. “I’m still mad at you. You took a big risk and didn’t even talk to me about it.”

  I let out a laugh. “Sweetheart it was out of the blue. What was I supposed to say?” Before she answers, my phone starts to ring. “Hold on.” I take out my phone and see Peter is calling. “Peter, what’s going on? It’s kind of late.” I listen as Peter explains to me what’s going on. “What? Are you serious?” I pause to listen. “Okay, thanks again Peter.” I hang up the phone and take a sip of my wine. The cool berry taste slides down my throat and leaves me wanting more.

  “Jacob!”

  “Yes sweetheart?”

  She slaps my arm multiple times and I can’t help but laugh at her impatience. “Calm down killer.” I take another drink of my wine and swirl my cup, “Ryan is dropping the case. He doesn’t want to cause Lucas any problems or confusion.” I give her a sly smirk. “I told you to believe me but I guess you were set in your own ways to not listen.”

  Abigail slaps me again, “Funny Jacob. Come on lets go to bed.”

  The night ends perfectly with Abigail in my arms.

  I suddenly wake up to the sound of a door closing. I turn over and see Abigail sleeping soundly. “Fuck, Lucas.” I get out of bed in a hurry and run to his room. The door is wide open. I run in but he’s not in his bed. “Lucas? Lucas!” I run out of the room, down the stairs and search all through the house. “Lucas where are you?”

  Abigail runs down the stairs crying. “Jacob where’s Lucas?”

  “I-I don’t know.” I run to the door and open it. There’s no one outside-just the darkness of the sky.

  I pull Abigail close to me and hold her tight. She clings onto my chest and we run out of the house looking for our son.

  “Baby call 911 now.” I give her a kiss on the forehead and run around looking for any sign of Lucas. “Lucas!” I yell his name multiple times with the same response. Nothing.

  The house is filled with family, both hers and mine. The police are scattered all over and people are talking. The news is playing the incident. Mila is crying in Hayden’s arms asking over and over again when Lucas will come back. Logan and father are in the corner talking to another police officer. Abigail rests her head on my lap, crying. I can’t talk. Everyone keeps asking what happened, what happened. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what happened. We put Lucas to bed at eight thirty like we normally did. He said he loved us and would see us in the morning. He said he couldn’t wait for my famous breakfast. His little body and big beautiful eyes looked at Abigail and me. He was happy and safe. I was supposed to make sure he was safe. This is my fault. If I never came into her life, Lucas wouldn’t be missing. Why was it that everything I touched turned into a disaster? I needed to fix this. I need to find Lucas and make Abigail whole again.

  “Ryan!” Logan shouts.

  Abigail and I get up. “Hayden watch her for me.” The next thing I know, my fists are on his face- over and over again. All I see is red. I smash my fist to his face. All the years he’s spent blaming me for Katherine’s death and making me feel guilty. Now here he is making my life miserable again. This time it’s not just my life; he’s affecting other people. I want answers; I want to know why. “Where the fuck is Lucas you monster! Why’d you do this? Where is he?”

  “Jacob stop!” I hear mother shouting to me. She keeps telling me
to stop but I can’t. My anger keeps rising and I can’t control myself. Hands are around my shoulders, pulling me off. Officers put themselves between Ryan and me. It’s like an out of body experience. I’m watching myself as this is all taking place. I’m trying to get back to Ryan. His face is bloody and he’s holding his stomach and hanging his head low.

  “Ryan where’s Lucas?” Abigail cries out. I look over at my love. She’s breaking in Hayden’s arms. She needs Lucas. We need Lucas back.

  Ryan puts his hand up, “I do-don’t know. Ok-okay? I ca-came here to find out what’s going on. I saw the n-news. Wh-what happened?” His stammering voice is full of questions. There’s worry on his face.

  No he did this! He has Lucas!

  “Ryan please where is Lucas?”

  “I don’t have him! I was packing up Madison’s things and mine. We’re supposed to go back to California when I saw the news.”

  Madison?

  I look over at Peter. “Peter when you talked to her this evening how’d she sound?”

  Something clicked in his mind. “Wait. She said she was going to come over and give you the news so I gave her your address. I’m sorry Jacob. I didn’t think she was going to do this.”

  “Alright let’s get all the information. Mr. Greene, stay away from her and let us handle this.” One of the officers stated.

  “I’m not going to stay away. I know her. I know how she works!” Without thinking, I grab Gary and Logan and run out the door. “Gary drive now!”

  “Jacob no!” Abigail comes after me with Hayden following her. Logan and I get in the car. Gary pulls out of the driveway and I tell him where to go. I know Madison wouldn’t be at her house. I think back to the times we had but everything seems fuzzy.

  “Jacob where are we going? Do you know where she is right now?”

  “I’m thinking. I know she won’t be at her house; that’ll be too obvious. I’m trying to think of the places where we used to go.” Finally it hits me. “Gary drive here!”