“I have spent the majority of Talon’s life covering up for his disabilities and handicaps. It is exhausting; one can only take so much pain. Also, the environment he is in, I don’t feel is healthy.” What the fuck?
“Dad, is this woman for real? Alfie, have you gotten through?” Molly asked.
“I’m on hold.”
“What do you mean?” the host asked my mother.
“He spends most of his time with a man suspected and arrested for murder. I have no idea what my husband is thinking to allow this. I…”
“Sorry to interrupt. I’ve just been told we have a caller who is eager to speak to us on this topic. Hello, thank you for calling Live@10; who am I speaking to?”
“Hi, my name is Alfie, and I would like to ask Emily a question,” I heard Alfie’s voice state twice: once in real time and then again echoed on the TV.
“Of course. What’s your question, Alfie?” Alexa asked.
“When was the last time you saw your son?”
“I must admit that it has been a while. My husband and I disagree about the best method of care for such a troubled man.”
“I happen to know that you and Dane divorced over five years ago. I also happen to know that you are speaking nothing but lies. Talon is not disabled in any way. He is not retarded and has never been diagnosed as so. He has also never had anger issues of any kind and just to make it crystal clear to anyone listening and to highlight your idiocy, Emily darling, the only difference between Talon and the rest of the population is that he has a speech impediment. A fluffing stutter. That does not make him mentally handicapped. You really are an attention whore.”
My mother was struck speechless for a moment before her need to save face kicked in and she was shouting and demanding to know how Alfie was such an authority of her son.
“See, that’s easy. I am sitting right next to him. And the arrested murderer you mentioned is me. Well, me or my partner, we both got a little police time. My partner being the man that was wrongly accused and targeted by a crazy cop. You know, your husband’s first child and eldest son. Oh, FYI, I was falsely accused, too, wouldn’t want you twisting that to try fit some sort of hidden agenda. I know all about you, Emily. I know all about how you abused your children. In fact, they all have some pretty colorful things to say about you. This doting mother act that you are trying to portray is not going to fly. Sorry, love.”
“Lies! You are nothing but a liar,” Emily screeched.
“What exactly am I lying about? I can prove everything I am saying. Can you? We have doctor reports, divorce paperwork, Molly, Tristan, and Dane, not to mention Talon and his boyfriend. What do you have, Emily? Come to think of it, Alexa, what proof did she give you before you broadcasted her made-up stories? Fabricated stories that turned a man who just wanted to stay anonymous into a danger to society and someone that should be locked away. You know she did this to him as a child. Made him feel less than. This whole thing is appalling. His little brother had a birthday and rather than see him go without, he stepped up. Now he gets all this?”
“You will be hearing from our lawyers,” Sheridan shouted. One look at her and I could see she was bursting at the seams to have her say.
“That was my mother. She’s right. You will be hearing from our attorneys, both of you. How you can feel okay about putting lies out there and not caring how they affect those involved disgusts me! You should be ashamed of yourselves. Now, I am done talking to people who really are…not very nice people. I use the term people loosely, especially for you, evil incubator. Well, I believe my work here is done. Yippe ki aye, motherfluffers. From all of us here, we out,” Alfie mimed slamming the phone down and stood up to take a bow. Dane picked up the remote and turned off the television. It really didn’t matter anymore. I knew every day was going to be a struggle, but right now, right this second, I was happy.
“Yippe ki aye, motherfluffers? Really, Alfie?” Sheridan asked.
“Yep, it’s a classic. Can’t beat a classic.” I couldn’t help it; I started laughing and it was not long before everyone joined me. Fuck her and fuck anyone else who judged me. I was going to keep fighting.
Later that night, when everyone had finally gone home, I was relieved it was just Tate and me. It seemed to take ages to convince everyone I was okay, and I wasn’t going to slip. I mean yes, I was in pain, and I would have done almost anything not to have been in the spotlight and have my incubator tell her lies on television. But I was not going to break. I had too many people making sure I was as solid as I could be. Mainly, though, I had the man who was currently running his hand up and down my chest, warming my heart, and filling me with a bucket load of happy belly flutters helping to drown out the voices that used to cripple me. Yes, I still heard them. Yes, I still believed them, but I was going to do everything it took to be worthy of every flutter the crazy man gave me. For whole minutes at a time, it felt almost good to be me.
“Wanna get jiggy with me?” Tate asked, not bothering to stop his hand or turn to look at me.
Chuckling, I stood and held out my hand.
“Yes! I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist all of this.” He waved his hand up and down himself like he was the prize of an 80s game show.
We walked to the bedroom hand in hand and made quick work of removing our clothes. Just the sight of his tattoo-covered skin, defined chest, and muscular frame and I was practically panting. The moment his hand touched my naked skin, I was in heaven. He made me feel so protected, safe, loved, and wanted that I was not even for a second nervous or apprehensive. I knew that Tate and I had been having sex for days but I still couldn’t stop the negative thoughts that I would do something wrong. I allowed him to lead me into a whirlwind of new sensations. There wasn’t a part of my body he didn’t explore or touch, but the moment he entered my body, everything in my world stopped and there was nothing but the two of us, the weight of his body on mine, and the way that he looked into my eyes as he glided in and out of me. Each time he moved he angled his body so he hit all the best places inside of me.
The sweat dripping from both of our bodies didn’t stop our constant touching. There was not a part of him that I didn’t love.
17
Tate
My life was almost perfect. For the past six weeks, I lived in my happy bubble with Talon. He and I reached a place of sheer comfort. He spent most of his spare time at my place, only going home when he wanted to spend time with his dad, sister, and brother. I either went with him or hung with Fear and the gang. The craziness that followed Talon after his epic performance had finally died down to a meager trickle. Talon was back in regular therapy and working very hard on not letting the evil incubator affect him. The rest of the guys were all okay. Some personal dramas but nothing we all couldn’t handle. We all still hated Dylan, Carter’s boyfriend, but were trying to bite our tongue on our opinion of him. Alfie and Sheridan were still pursuing the legal case against Emily and Live@10. The biggest problem was that Molly was due to pop soon, and she hadn’t told Max he was about to be a father. Admittedly, this was not for lack of trying on her part.
Max was still deployed and no matter how many messages Molly and John left, they had yet to receive a reply. Molly was trying to play it cool, but anyone with eyes could see she was stressed and worried about everything surrounding her pregnancy.
Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went with little to no disruption and a ton of new memories and joy for our family. It was the first group of holidays we all shared together as a whole. The nuggets were in their element.
Fear and I had finally talked Talon into coming back to work, and he was settling in. In fact, I would go so far as to say that he had even started enjoying it. We did, however, make sure that one of us was always close by.
The crazy cougar’s husband came in before Christmas and apologized to all of us. It turned out that he was filing for divorce after finding out what his wife was up to when he was at work. Fear offered him the tape of he
r dick searching exploration in the shop to help with nailing her ass to the wall. He was a nice guy and even booked a tattoo. A cover-up of the crazy cougar’s face on his bicep. Drake offered to do it for free as a celebration of moving on to better and less slutty things.
“I just got a text message from Tris; looks like it is family night at the Parkers’. I asked him if we needed to bring anything and all he said was to bring my drink of choice,” Alfie said while walking into the back room of the shop.
Checking my phone, I saw that I had two messages. One from Talon and one from Tristan, both of them letting me know about the dinner tonight.
“Beer for the men, juice for the nuggets and Molly, wine for Mama Sheri and Hayley. Did I forget anything?” Alfie asked me.
“No, that sounds good to me. Oooh, maybe we can get the fixings for Mama Sheri's hot chocolate, too.” There truly wasn’t anything like one of Sheridan’s hot chocolates. Hot chocolate, marshmallows, chocolate bar, and sprinkles. Yummy. It made my belly really happy.
“Good idea, I am going to head to the store now. If you think of anything else, let me know.”
I texted Talon, letting him know I would be there after I closed up the shop. He was on a scheduled day off and enjoying a day with Molly. Dane had started working for Ben in his security firm as tech support, so I assumed he was at work.
Carter and I were the last to arrive; we’d had an appointment show up late, and Carter hung back to help me shut down the shop. So when we walked, I assumed it was meant to be one of our regular evenings; I was shocked as shit to walk into the battle royal.
“All I am asking is for you to leave. I am worried about my daughter and whatever you want to say can be said at a later date. Preferably at a time when everyone has cooled down some,” Dane said to Hayley and John.
“You’re kicking us out for asking a valid question?” Hayley shouted. It was clear that Hayley had gone from tears to defensive. I knew the words and way she was saying them weren’t what she meant. It was just what she did. What she had always done. When she was upset and hurting, she put up walls and let her mouth get away from her. She was going to feel like shit about it later.
“A valid question? You accused my daughter of being a liar, a slut, and a gold digger. Nothing about that is valid. You have no right to come in to my home and throw your unfounded accusations at my daughter. Just leave. Please,” Dane said, his anger rising.
“What the fuck is going on?” I asked. Hayley was the first to reply.
“John heard from Max this afternoon. He told him about Molly and the baby.”
“What? Why? I thought we agreed it was for Molly to tell him, and if you heard from him, you would have him call her,” I asked, taken aback. It wasn’t John’s place to share that news.
“What does it matter? He had a right to know. But when John told him, he said there was no way the baby could be his and that she was lying. So when we got here, John told her what had been said and just asked Molly if there was any chance she was wrong.”
“Fuck!” Carter and I said at the same time. I was shocked at John and not only for his lack of tact, but for Hayley’s refusal to see how much pain she was causing.
“Where is everyone else?”
“Molly has locked herself in the bathroom with Talon and Tristan. Alfie took the nuggets to Sheridan and Ben’s. Hunter, James, and Drake went to get a takeout before all this started. They should be back any second,” Dane explained. “I just think it would be better for everyone if we just put a pin in all of this for tonight. Nothing is going to be resolved by everyone turning on one another.”
“It was a simple question. I don’t know why she had to make it a big deal and turn everyone against John and me,” Hayley said rudely.
“Hayley, enough. What has gotten into you?” I demanded.
“Nothing. Why are you taking sides? Just because you are with Talon now, you turn back on your family?!” she shouted nastily.
“Leave, Hayley. I’m not going to entertain you when you’re being like this. When you calm down and realize some of the shit you have been spouting…” I was getting angrier by the second.
“Hey, don’t speak to her like that. You know she is only sticking up for me,” John piped up.
“What the fuck is going on?” Fear asked as he came into the room.
“It’s fucking Armageddon in here. Hayley is being crazy. Molly and your brothers are locked in the bathroom. John said something that exploded everywhere and Dane and I have asked them to leave. Help us,” I said desperately.
“What?” a very confused Fear asked again. I explained in more detail what happened, not wanting the situation to escalate any further.
“Tell him, Fear! He is not going to tell John and me to leave. This is my family, not his.”
“That’s it; leave now.” Dane finally lost the last thread of the anger he was holding onto. “I will not have you come into my home and accuse my daughter of everything under the sun and then stand there and tell me that we are not really family. I don’t know what has gotten into you, young lady, but whatever it is, I do not want it in my home. Leave, and if anyone else is of the same opinion, they can join you.” With that said, he made his way swiftly to the front door, opened it, and just waited.
“Fine. You guys coming?” Hayley asked, heading to the door. No one made a move to follow her, so she took John’s hand, picked up a still sleeping JJ in his car carrier, and stormed out, slamming the door behind them.
“I am really sorry about Hayley. She’s not a bad person, and I know she didn’t even think about what she was saying. She was embarrassed and upset and worried about John. So she went on the defensive. By the time she got really out of control, she had already dug her heels in and couldn’t back track. She will apologize as soon as she works up the nerve,” Fear tried to explain. “Is Molly okay?”
“I have no idea; she has been locked in the bathroom since the shouting started,” Dane said.
”I’ll text Talon and check, see how they all are?” I offered.
Tate: Hey babe, are you all okay? Want to come out and join us? Hayley, John, and JJ left.
I received a reply immediately.
Talon: Molly is devastated. I am getting really worried about her. She is FAR too pregnant to be this upset.
Tate: Should we call a doctor?
Talon: I am not sure. I don’t want to overreact, but I am starting to get very worried. She isn’t calming down.
Tate: Try and get her to come out. Your dad is freaking out.
“Talon is going to try and get her to come out, but he’s starting to really worry about her being this upset.”
It took another hour for Talon to talk Molly out of the bathroom. But with just one look at her, I could see why Talon was so worried. All the color had left her face. She was still heavily crying and finding it hard to catch her breath.
“Hey, little sis, come and sit with your big bro for a bit.” Fear opened his arms and settled her on to his lap. “Take a deep breath for me, Mol; everything is going to work out all right. You got me, Talon, and Tris. You got Dane and the rest of the guys, and I am sure when Max gets his head out of his ass, it will all work out.”
“Y…y…y-you believe me about M…m…m-Max?” Molly asked.
“Of course, I do. Everyone does,” Fear tried to reassure her but the sentiment fell sort of flat.
While Fear was trying to calm Molly, and Dane was trying to comfort Tristan—who was obviously extremely worried about his sister—Talon made his way to me. I opened my arms to him, and he walked directly into them. I could feel his whole body shaking, and with the strength that he was holding me, it was clear he was trying to keep together and be strong for both Molly and Tristan.
“I got you,” I whispered into his ear. And I did; there would never be a time that I didn’t have him. I would make sure I was there and ready to hold him together.
No one mentioned Hayley and John or what they’d claimed for the
rest of the evening. Our main concern was trying to keep Molly safe by calming her down and not getting more worked up. But just because no one spoke the words aloud didn’t mean they were far from our minds. Throughout the night, we all exchanged looks, worried that Molly would fall into another crying jag.
The next few days were terrible for all of us. Everyone was worried about Molly for being so full of her pregnancy crazy, and yes, it was crazy. That woman had things so turned around in her head that she’d convinced herself we all thought she was a liar and would disown her. Or we had branded her a mega slut and were all having private chats behind her back. Okay, the last one might not be too far from the truth, but any conversation we were having was done only out of concern. Dane had even taken Molly to get checked out at the hospital a couple of times when she’d worked herself up and into a huge tizzy.
I still had no idea what had gotten into Hayley and John. Yes, John and Max were Army buddies, and they had each other’s back. I got that; I truly did. But I didn’t understand why they were getting so involved. If they did not believe her, fine, just keep it to themselves. I had never known Hayley to be so malicious. Fear was walking around like a bear with a sore paw most of the time. The poor guy felt like he was being ripped in two. Hayley, though, had dug in deep; she was refusing to take anyone’s phone calls. She wouldn’t answer the door if any of us went over there to straighten everything out. The only communication any of us received was rude and nasty texts.
Hayley: Tate, I have been a member of this family since the day you entered it. Why would you believe some woman who you hardly know over me? She has you all fooled. I choose to believe a man that is a close friend of my husband’s. Don’t forget he was there for this family when we needed help not too long ago. I won’t forget or forgive that you chose to side with the fucking Parkers. You have made your choice. You ALL have. Now leave me alone.
Sharpening His Broken Talon (Living Art Book 2) Page 14
