“Hollis, please,” she said with her teeth gritted.
“Come on, sis, don’t be rude.” He laughed. “Just a sip.”
I could see the frustration building in her face. She was about to explode. I didn’t want this evening to turn out badly, but I couldn’t figure out why she was acting so strangely. Eventually, I put out my hand and chuckled.
“Hollis, it’s all right. If she doesn’t want the champagne, then she doesn’t have to drink it,” I said.
“No way, I want to know what’s up with you,” he said turning to her. “’Cuz something is definitely up.”
“Look,” she said, slamming her napkin down on her plate. “If you want it so badly, drink it yourself.”
“Aly,” Hollis said, taken back. “Why are you getting so upset?”
“I can’t have it,” she finally blurted out, standing up and marching from the room.
I stood up as she did but stayed there, watching her march off down the hallway and up the stairs. Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place and it felt like a punch in the gut. I carefully took my napkin from my lap and placed it on the table, in complete shock. I turned to go after her, but when I did, Hollis was standing right there, a look of rage and betrayal on his face.
“Hollis, I had no idea,” I said, putting up my hands.
“You fucking bastard,” he growled, rearing back and punching me square in the jaw. “I told you not to touch my fucking sister.”
My vision hadn’t even cleared from his first shot before Hollis was all over me.
32
Aly
After yelling and marching from the room, I didn’t even look back to see the look on Blake’s face. I knew he would put it all together, and most likely, my brother would too, but at that point, I didn’t give a damn. I’d had enough of all the secrets. It was already too much that I couldn’t tell my family about Blake and me, but to keep the secret of the baby pushed me over the edge. It was something I’d been handling all on my own with no support and no one to talk to, and finally, I’d had enough. I lost it. I completely lost it.
I marched up the stairs, slowing down as I lost my breath. I didn’t hear anyone follow after me, and that was good because I was tired of talking, tired of reasoning, and I knew with that revelation, I would have plenty of talking to do when I finally got home and faced the rest of my family. I walked into my room and sat down on the edge of the bed, wiping the tears away before I became a complete mess. Just then, I heard a commotion, shouting, and the sound of glass breaking. I stood up, pulling my eyebrows together and listening harder, trying to figure out what in the world was going on.
Suddenly, Cooper came running around the corner and straight into my room, a look of terror on his face. I bent down and looked at him, waiting for him to calm down enough to form a sentence. I wiped his hair out of his eyes and grabbed his shoulders.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What’s happened?”
“My dad and Uncle Hollis,” he panted, “They’re fighting.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” I said, shaking my head. “Okay, I’ll go take care of this. I want you to go to your room and put on your headphones. Watch a movie on your laptop if you’d like.”
“Is Dad okay?” he asked.
“Of course. Men sometimes get angry at each other, but you know your Uncle Hollis would never seriously hurt your dad. He loves him,” I said. At least, I hoped I was right.
I walked Cooper to his room and watched as he put on headphones and started a movie. I smiled and closed the door, turning toward the loud banging downstairs. I rolled my eyes and marched back down the stairs and into the kitchen where Hollis was beating the shit out of Blake and Blake was giving as good as he was getting. I couldn’t believe the two of them, acting like complete and total idiots.
“Stop it,” I yelled at the top of my lungs getting their attention. “Both of you are acting like complete morons. I’m not some damsel in distress that needs the two of you fighting over my goddamn honor. Not to mention, you’ve scared the shit out of Cooper.”
Both Hollis and Blake backed off each other, pulling themselves off the floor. I folded my arms over my chest and tapped my foot, pissed that I had to deal with this kind of asinine behavior. I looked over at Blake and surveyed the damage. He was already starting to get a black eye and blood was running down his chin from his lip. He had blood stains on the collar of his shirt. I turned and looked at Hollis who looked no better than Blake did at that moment.
“This is ridiculous,” I said. “I’m a grown woman who made my own choices. I don’t need my big brother coming in and beating up a guy for me.”
I walked forward and stood there between the two of them, looking back and forth. On one side was the man I loved, who I couldn’t be with, who just learned I was pregnant. On the other side was my older brother, the one sworn to protect my honor. If it hadn’t been me in the middle, I might have thought the whole situation was sweet, but as it was, I did not.
I looked up at Hollis. “I’m the one who did something stupid. I’m the one who made a choice on a whim and now have to pay for that choice. I’m the one who’s been holding this back out of fear. If you want to be angry with someone, either of you, be angry with me. Hollis, it’s not only Blake’s fault. We made a choice, an adult choice, and we made it together. Don’t ruin your friendship over this.”
“What friendship?” he scoffed.
“Oh stop it. You’re just being an idiot. You two have been best friends since you were kids. So one mistake is going to ruin all of that? Don’t be stupid Hollis.” I could feel the emotions start to well up inside of me, and I wanted to get out of there before they overflowed. My crying would only make things worse, and now that it was all said and done, t couldn’t be taken back.
“Blake,” I said, turning toward him. “I’m sorry I kept this from you. It’s not an excuse, but I was afraid to tell you. I know this isn’t what we intended to happen. You just wanted to have a little bit of fun. I know you weren’t looking for forever, and this was not my intention to trap you into something. I know you don’t want to raise another baby.”
Blake’s jaw dropped open, and I could tell that his brain was so stunned by the news that he couldn’t put two words together. It was better that way. I didn’t need him making false promises just because my brother was there. I didn’t need him telling me to stay because he felt obligated to. I was not an idiot. I knew how these kinds of things worked.
“Hollis,” I said. “I want you to stop fighting with him. What is done is done, and we can’t go back. At this point, I’d just like to get my things and have you take me home. I need to go and explain it all to Mom and Dad and start trying to figure out the rest of my life. I can’t live in some fairy tale anymore. It’s time for me to face reality.
Hollis glared over at Blake for a moment and then looked at me, softening his gaze. He didn’t say a word, just nodded his head and wiped the blood from his chin. I sighed and turned, walking back to the stairs as quickly as I could. I didn’t want either of them to say a word to me. I just wanted to get packed and get out of there. I had caused enough drama for one day and arguing or fighting more wasn’t going to change anything.
I left the door to my room open as I grabbed my suitcase and started to pile my things into it. I ran my hand over the pregnancy test in the top pouch and sighed, saddened that this was how I was bringing a new life into the world. I shook my head and continued on, folding my things quickly and pulling out my second suitcase. I piled all my belongings inside and shut them both, zipping them up. I looked around the room quickly, trying to make sure I didn’t leave anything behind. If I did, I was sure that Blake would put it in the mail for me.
I grabbed my purse and pulled out my wallet, making sure I had my driver’s license, my cash, and my debit card. I shut my wallet and put it back in my purse, turning and walking over to my luggage. I reached up to turn off the light and stared at the room that just a little over
two months before I had thought I was the luckiest girl in the world to stay in. Now, all I could do was run away from it, run back home with my tail between my legs and a lifelong souvenir of my trip with me.
I pulled one suitcase and picked up the lighter one, struggling down the stairs. I could see Hollis through the large windows at the front of the house, standing on the porch. Blake raced up the steps and took one of my bags, helping me down to the bottom. He looked desperate to speak, but I couldn’t tell if he even knew what to say.
“Please, Aly,” he begged. “Don’t go, not now. Give me a chance to talk to you about this. Please.”
“Stop,” I said, shaking my head. “Right now, I just want to go home. I don’t want you to make any promises to me because you think it’s the right thing to do. I know you don’t want more children Blake, you told me that flat out. If you want to have some sort of long distance relationship with this child then fine, but I won’t let a baby grow up in a house where it isn’t wanted.”
“Aly, I didn’t know…” he trailed off, dropping his hands to his side.
I picked up my suitcase and walked out the door, handing them to Hollis. I stood there for a moment, looking around the yard, remembering how beautiful I thought the place was when I first arrived. Hollis went and put the suitcases in the car while Blake stood right inside, his face in his hand, shaking his head back and forth. It really was a sad scene, not the one I intended to have, and part of me did feel bad for blurting it out like that, but I couldn’t hold back any longer. Life had kicked me right in the gut.
“Will you wait a minute?” I asked Hollis. “I want to say goodbye to Cooper.”
“Sure,” he said.
“If that is all right with you,” I said, turning to Blake.
He didn’t say a word, just nodded his head, staring at the ground beneath us. I looked at him for a moment and then turned, going upstairs and opening Cooper’s door. He was sitting there with his headphones off staring at me with tears in his eyes.
“You’re leaving,” he said, starting to cry.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, bending down and hugging him tightly. “I don’t want to leave you. It’s not you at all. You are what kept me here this whole time. There are just some adult things that I can’t explain and I need to deal with them back home. I just want you to remember that I love you, your dad loves no matter what mood he’s in, and you’re going to be okay.”
“Thank you for coming here and making things better,” he sniffled, his face in my shoulder.
“I’ll see you again, I’m sure of it,” I said, choking back tears.
I turned and raced from the room, unable to handle saying goodbye. Hollis was waiting outside and took my hand, walking me to his rental car. I looked back for only a moment and stared at Blake standing in the doorway, and for a moment, it looked like he was crying.
33
Blake
I couldn’t wrap my head around what happened. In the blink of an eye, my life had changed forever. I was told I was going to be a father again, and before I could even react, Aly was gone. The house was still, silent almost, and I could hear my heart barely beating in my chest. I spent all of Thursday holed up in the house, only leaving to take Cooper to and from school. I moped around, staring at the empty room that she was in the day before, wondering how everything had gotten so out of control so fast.
I’d started that day in such a good mood, landing a huge client, seeing my best friend for a surprise visit, and living on cloud nine. By the end of it, I was standing alone in the entryway to my house with a black eye, a busted lip, and crying child upstairs that I didn’t know how to console. It wasn’t fair for him. He had already lost so much, and he loved Aly. He had to say goodbye to another important woman in his life, and it was my fault because I’d been too stunned to fight. When he got home from school that Thursday, he didn’t say anything at all, just went upstairs and shut his door.
I hadn’t gone to work, calling out and telling Inez I was sick. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I’d gone and dug myself a whole new hole to lay in. My house had become a mausoleum, a tribute to everything that was Aly. The kitchen was silent, the halls were silent, and even the birds didn’t seem to come out that day. It was overcast outside, a gloomy day to fit my mood. I just stood in the living room staring out into the backyard, remembering all the times Aly stood right out there throwing the baseball back and forth with Cooper.
How could she have taken all the life in that house with her? We had been here before her, and we would be here after her, but when she left, everything fell into silence. I didn’t get it. Why wouldn’t she at least let me talk to her about the baby? I wasn’t angry with her. It was a bit of a shock, yes, but not enough to warrant her picking up and leaving right then and there. Somewhere along the way, I’d given her the impression I didn’t care about her, that I wasn’t going to be there for her.
I spent twenty-four hours straight thinking about it, moping, sitting in that unbearable quiet. I replayed it over and over in my head, trying to figure out the exact moment I pushed her to that point. I beat myself up, I cried, I doubted everything about me as a person. But then I stopped like I could hear Aly’s voice ringing out in my head. This was exactly what I had done when my wife died, only I took it and I rode it for an entire year. I did nothing with my time. I didn’t shave, I barely ate, I didn’t talk to my son, and I sank down lower and lower until there was barely anything left of me. It was Aly who’d brought me out. It was her who told me I couldn’t do that to myself or to Cooper anymore.
That same advice had to be applied to this. I couldn’t fall apart all over again, not with the kinds of steps I’d taken to make my life better and stronger. I felt like she was the glue that had held me together for all those weeks, but now I had to hold myself together. I had to take a step forward and decide to not let the anger and heartbreak overtake me. I had a little boy upstairs who was counting on that, praying I would be there for him through all of this. I couldn’t let him down again. I had promised him that.
On Friday, when he got home from school, Cooper did the same thing, just walked up the stairs and closed his door. I went into the kitchen and pulled out the ice cream and made us both a bowl. Carefully, I carried them up the stairs and stood outside of his room, nervous to go inside. I had to do it, though. It was the most important part of all of it. If I couldn’t be a strong father for one, how was I ever supposed to be strong for two? I knocked on the door and waited for Cooper to open it.
“Hey,” he said, moping back into his room.
“Hey,” I replied. “I brought you some ice cream.”
“Thanks,” he said, taking the bowl and setting it on his nightstand.
“Look, I know you’re really upset because Aly left,” I said. “And I know you don’t understand it, but I need you to know it had nothing to do with you.”
“Then what did it have to do with?” he said angrily. “Don’t tell me I’m too young to understand.”
“All right,” I said. “Aly and I were seeing each other, and Uncle Hollis didn’t know. We found out over dinner that she’s going to have a baby.”
“A baby?” Cooper asked, his eyes big and bright?
“Yes, my baby,” I told him.
“Then why didn’t you just marry her?” he asked like it made the most sense in the world. “Cooper.” I chuckled. “It’s not as simple as you think it is.”
“Yes, it is,” he said. “You adults just make it complicated. Do you love her?”
“Well …”
I sat there for a second staring at my son, thinking about his question. I shook my head and rubbed my face, laughing at the irony of how he got it and I didn’t. My eight-year-old son was right. I did love her. I loved her very much. What an idiot I was.
“You are a wise little man,” I said, shaking my head. “Damn, what have I done? I have really screwed things up this time.”
“Yeah, but you can fix it,” he said.
I took a deep breath and laid back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. I did love Aly, and I had never actually told her. Hell, I had never even let her think she was anything other than a ready lay. I knew all along in the back of my mind that I had fallen for her. I’d known that when I finally said, fuck it, and started sleeping with her on a regular basis. When she was sick, I was scared for her. I wanted to take the pain from her. When she was sad, I wanted to make her happy in any way I knew how. When she was angry, I just wanted to kiss her and make it dissolve.
I could have told her that from the beginning. I could have expressed my feelings to her when I had the chance, and none of this would have turned out the way that it had. I made her feel like she was my play toy. How shitty of me was that? She had come into our home, embraced us even with our faults, pulled us together as a family, and I let her walk away from me. I let her run off with my child growing inside of her. She was part of our family, and so was that baby, and she belonged with us and us with her. I spent so much time trying to fight my feelings that I let her walk right out of my life.
“Dad,” Cooper said, tugging me out of my thoughts. “Did you hear me? You have to fix this. She has my baby brother in her belly.”
“How do you know it’s a boy?”
“I don’t. I’m just hoping.” He smiled.
“Okay, hold on,” I said, pulling out my phone.
I dialed Aly’s number, but it only rang a couple of times and went straight to voice mail. I hung up and thought for a second before pulling up Hollis’s number and pressing send. I knew the guy didn’t want to talk to me, but I had to get in contact with Aly.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing calling my phone?” Hollis answered.
“I need you to calm down and hear me out,” I said.
“Fuck you,” he said, before hanging up the phone.
“That backfired, didn’t it?” Cooper asked looking at me.
Men in Charge: A Contemporary Romance Box Set Page 17
