I was crying while Dad muffled his own. Noah was deathly still next to me. “She had so much confidence in you both, but I was so scared and angry, Grace, you were my baby. I didn’t think someone with a background like Noah could give you what you deserve.” Dad wiped his eyes. “I’m telling you this because you’ve been hurting for something that wasn’t your fault, if anything, it was my fault for not going with her. If I had gone with her, I would have driven and it might have made a difference.”
I covered my eyes and cried harder. I felt Noah’s arms go around me. I’d been feeling guilty for nothing and while I thought Dad had been distancing himself because he blamed me, it was really himself that he blamed. All this time, Dad and I felt the same way.
I felt Noah’s shoulders tremble and that was when I uncovered my eyes and saw that he was on the verge tears as he held me. There was something so heartwarming about it because all this time, Noah felt the same way just like Janet had told me, but he held onto me instead of letting it eat at him. But now, the truth was out and we were set free.
“I’m so sorry, I hadn’t realized you took my words to heart when I spoke out of anger that night at the hospital,” Dad apologized.
But I had already decided to let go before he even told us the truth of that night. I stood up and walked over to Dad. He looked up at me and I did what Mom would want us all to do. I hugged him tightly, and he placed one hand against my back as he cried. “I already let go of that night before I even came here… It’s time for you to do the same. Instead of remembering Mom for who she was, we’ve been stuck on the day we lost her.”
“I miss her so much,” he told me. “I wish I could go back to that day and just go with her.”
I pulled away and met his eyes. “Then I might have lost both my parents that day and I’ve missed you and her both enough the past few years already. I still need you, ya know.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said again. “I’ve missed you too. I didn’t know how to be myself once we lost her.”
We were only human. We bottled up our feelings and held on tight when it would have been so much easier to let go. I thought we would be better now.
We were dusting off our knees and standing back up.
38
You know what it’s like to fly? To soar so fucking high and be free?
Neither did I until that heavy burden fell off my shoulders.
I got my girl, my Priss, my Grace.
I know how to love her, I know how to keep her.
You bet your sweet ass I’ll give her my last name as soon as I can.
N.P.
“This is a lot harder than I remember,” I said and Noah laughed behind me.
“Hurry up, Priss, I still gotta throw you the blankets before I can climb up,” he told me.
We decided to spend the night in the treehouse instead of going back home. Yes, home. I wasn’t separating from Noah ever again, as long as I have breath in me, never ever would I leave his side again.
Dad was fine with us staying. He actually looked happy about it. I could imagine how lonely he had been the last few years which I planned to change by becoming a part of his life again.
It’s time to heal, isn’t it, Mom?
Once I made it up the rope, I shined the flashlight into the treehouse and sighed. “Our treehouse is getting old age,” I told him before sticking my head over the edge and shining the light in his face.
“Our?” he snorted. “I recall someone always calling it hers all the time. Stop shining that in my eyes.” I kept shining it in his eyes anyway. “Just wait, I’ll be up there to get you in a second.”
My stomach tightened with anticipation. “Hand me the blankets,” I told him.
I finally moved the flashlight from his eyes and he tossed me up one at a time. Once he made it up in the treehouse with me, he tackled me down and I screamed.
“Shh.” He covered my mouth with his hand and I was taken back in time to when he had done it to me when I first climbed into the treehouse.
I looked up at him with a smile and removed his hand. “You’ve come such a long way from the dirty boy I first encountered in this treehouse.”
His blue eyes were dark in the treehouse as he gazed down at me. “You’ve come such a long way from the polka dot priss I first encountered… But I loved that girl then, and I love her still, and I’m going to love all the many changes she’ll become.”
“Not just as a man that I love, Noah, you’re a beautiful human inside and out, and I’m so glad you’re my human.”
He settled between my legs and started working on taking off my shorts. “Let’s make more humans,” he whispered.
I sniggered as I grabbed his hand. “I’d like to have you a few years to myself before we start growing our family… Good thing you bought a decent size house,” I mumbled as he kissed his way down me.
“I want our kids to have brothers and sisters,” he told me as he dipped his mouth between my thighs and I gasped.
“Yeah, I hated being an only child,” I moaned. “Good thing I had you.”
“You’ll always have me.”
Needless to say, a baby with the last name Phillips was born nine months later.
Life with Noah…
Made all the bad things better, and all the good ones so much sweeter.
Epilogue
I’ve loved her since we met as kids, that’s 24 years.
I’ve been married to her 9 of those years.
I gave her time and distance for 5 of them.
She looked for me for almost 4 of those years when social services took me from my Dad.
How many years did it take to bring us back together? Zero.
It only took a second, staring at her freckled face and dark eyes to shape my future as a kid.
It only took two football games to reunite us during the first one and finally get her in my arms after the second.
And it only took two days for her give up her run and I got her back.
These days, she lets me in and doesn’t push me out. She cried on my shoulder the day Gus passed away, and she grabbed my hand and kept me close by her side the week her dad had a cancer scare. We talk and talk about her mom, especially to our kids.
We don’t talk about mine though. My dad still reaches out, I still push away. If he wants to change, I’ll open my arms wide and accept him into our lives despite how much I was neglected growing up. That’s just the kind of man I am.
Dean and Janet are still a part of our lives and our kids. It’s crazy, even after all these years the lengths people with no blood ties will go to stay a part of your life. That was the difference between good people and bad ones. They still foster, bit by bit, I think they make a difference in kids’ lives.
I still flirt with my wife, I think she’s still into me. I mean, she keeps letting me rub her butt when the kids aren’t looking… Yeah, I got what I wanted.
Am I happy? Hell, yeah, I am.
I was putting clothes in the washer when someone started banging on the door. I raised up, holding my back as I waddled to the door. When I answered, a handsome blond with azure eyes greeted me, holding a box on his shoulder. He tipped his ballcap down at me. “You have a delivery, ma’am, it was on the porch.”
He stepped in and I smirked, wondering where this was going. “Delivery guys don’t normally step into people’s houses,” I told him politely.
His eyes skimmed over the swell of my stomach. “Are you expecting?” he observed with a whistle and inappropriate stare at my breasts.
“It’s very rude to ask a woman that,” I said as I turned around and walked towards the kitchen. I started running water to wash the dishes and felt him come up behind me. His hands wrapped around my huge stomach and he tickled my neck with his beard. I leaned back into him.
“I’ve always wanted to get it on with a pregnant lady,” he whispered into my ear and I bit back a laugh.
I turned around to face him. “Well you’re in luck, my
husband keeps me this way.”
He smiled down at me before gently lifting me up onto the counter. “Where’re the kids?” he asked with lusty intent.
“Outside playing in the treehouse,” I told him, rubbing my belly against him, not on purpose, it was just always there between us. “Might need to take this somewhere else, my kids might walk in.” He arched a brow and scooped me up in his arms. “Also, my husband will be home from work soon, and my dad’s coming to see his grandkids.” He nodded as he kissed my neck.
He stopped at the window and peered outside with a strange look on his face. “Um, Grace, who’s the kid with our kids?”
“What?” I mumbled as I turned my head and looked out the window to see what Noah was talking about. Sure enough, there was a little girl playing with Nate and Allison—who was named after her late grandma who would have loved her to pieces if she had still been here. Nate was eight and Allison, four. Noah sat my feet down as we walked over and peeked out the window. “I don’t know who she is,” I told him.
Our closest neighbor was half a mile down the road so she had to have walked a good distance to get here. “More like, where did she come from?” he asked, and I was just as curious.
When she finally turned around, I recognized her. “Ah, she’s a new student,” I told him. “Jessi is her name, she’s a grade below Nate. She’s gonna be a tough one, I can already tell.”
“Look at Nate,” he said, laughing. “He looks furious.”
I joined in with his laughter when Jessi pushed him away from the ladder but let Allison come up with her. He stood there like he had no clue what was happening. “This looks strangely familiar,” he told me with a smirk.
I leaned into him, batting my eyes at my husband. “There’s something about a treehouse.”
“Well, let’s go introduce ourselves,” Noah said, and I waddled outside with him. Jessi climbed down the ladder when she saw me.
She looked at Nate. “Your mom is Mrs. Phillips?” she said it like it was horrible.
“I didn’t know you lived around here,” I said to her.
“Yeah, I’m staying with my mamaw and papaw right down the road.” She pointed toward the left even though you couldn’t see anything from our backyard.
“Daddy!” Allison screamed when she saw Noah and ran up to him. He scooped her up, tugging at her blonde curls.
“This is my husband, Noah,” I told her. “Looks like you’ve already met Nate and Allison.” I looked at Nate behind her with his arms folded over his chest. “Nate’s a year ahead of you.”
She nodded and looked back at Nate with a rotten smirk I knew all too well. I bent down a little to be eye level with her, already regretting the decision because I knew it was going to be hard to raise back up. “Come and visit whenever you want, just let your grandparents know.”
“I was wondering why no one was answering the door, you guys were all out back,” Dad said, walking around the house. Nate and Allison both ran to him.
“Did you bring me anything?” Allison asked straight away.
He chuckled and squatted in front of her. “I didn’t bring anything, but I did bring someone.” He looked at me. “Papaw has a girlfriend and she wanted to come meet you all.”
It took a long time to get Dad to date again, but I hated the thought of him being alone. I just couldn’t believe he finally found someone because he disapproved of everyone I introduced him to. “Where is she?” I asked.
He pointed toward the house. “Still on the porch.”
I sighed. “You need some serious dating tips,” I grumbled as I started walking into the house. “Allison, tell Papaw how rude it is to leave his girlfriend on the porch.”
She turned and placed her hands on his hips. “You’re not a good boyfriend,” she told him, then I heard her whisper, “but you’re the best Papaw.”
I smiled as I made my way inside and to the front door. I opened the door and came face to face with Dad’s girlfriend. She was a pretty blonde lady and when she smiled, I decided I already liked her. “You’re Grace. I’ve seen all your pictures… and the videos your mom taped of when you were little.” I think she was waiting to see if I would be upset that she had watched our home videos, but I wasn’t. If Dad spoke to her about Mom then I trusted that she was a good person.
“Sorry, my dad has no manners and left you out here… I didn’t know he was dating but I’m glad,” I told her honestly. “Your name…”
“Beth, and we’ve been seeing each other for a year almost and it’s taken me this long to get him to introduce me to you guys.”
“Come on in, everyone’s out back.” Dad… that little sneaky sneak.
She followed me in. “Here,” she started digging through her purse and handed me a couple of tapes. “Your dad kept most of them, but he said you’d probably like to see these. They’re ones of you and Noah.” She smiled cheekily. “Even I thought they were cute.”
Now I was curious, I made my way to the living room and went straight for the TV. When I bent down to put the tape in, Beth took it from my hands. “Here, let me. I know how hard it is to bend over when you’re that far into your pregnancy.”
“You have kids?” I asked her.
She smiled. “Two. A boy and girl that’s right around your age. Which one do you want me to put in?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said as I took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. Our third child was a boy and he was due in two weeks. I was definitely feeling every bit of this baby now.
“I hope it doesn’t bother you that I came by with Steven, I wanted to meet you guys and I thought by… doing this, I could show you that I’d never try to act like your mother. I’ve fallen for your dad and I’d like to be part of your life too. As a friend or whatever you’d like.” She covered her face immediately. “I am being too much? My daughter tells me I’m too much sometimes.”
I smiled as she rambled. She was a lot different than Mom. She was extremely flustered for an older lady and I could tell that she wanted to make a good first impression. “It’s okay. My dad’s been alone a long time now, I’d rather him have someone.”
“We aren’t living together, but I hope to change that soon,” she told me, and I laughed.
“Don’t go easy on him or he will make you wait forever.”
She nodded. “Oh, I’m quickly figuring that out.”
She rewound the tape and pressed play when it was finished. She stayed on the floor and sat as younger versions of Noah and I came to life on the screen. I grinned as we fought and played together on different clips. It cut off for a moment and this time it was just Noah, and Mom was talking to him as he sat at the kitchen table, glancing toward the hallway like he was waiting for me to come down.
“I loved this,” Beth murmured as she watched the screen with me.
“So, Noah…” My heart tightened in my chest every time I heard her voice in the tape. He looked up at the camcorder. “My daughter’s pretty cute, ain’t she?”
He blushed and looked away, shrugging his shoulders. “Yeah, I guess she might be.”
“I guess isn’t good enough. I guess you can’t date Grace when you grow up.”
He turned quickly. “Why not?”
“You guess she’s pretty?” she told him.
He stammered, “You know she’s pretty without me saying she is.” He was blushing again, and man, I was so loving this video.
“You can’t date her until you love her.”
“I already love her.”
“You don’t know what love is.”
“I do,” he told her. “She’s the best, most awesome person out of everyone I know, even more so because of her freckles.”
Mom laughed in the background. “Ooohhh. I still don’t know if I should let you date her.”
“Why not?” He seriously looked worried about the possibility.
“I won’t make it easy on you,” Mom went on.
“That’s okay too,” he told he
r, placing his arms on the table.
“Listen to you,” Mom gasped. “You think you can marry her one day?”
He turned and faced the camcorder again. “I will marry her one day.”
“Noah,” I came to the kitchen and Noah jumped. “Why didn’t you tell me you were here?” I asked him.
“We were talking,” Mom told the younger me.
I scrunched up my nose on the screen. “About what?”
“Nothing,” young Noah said, quickly standing up and grabbing my hand. “Let’s go play.”
Once we were out of view, Mom turned the camcorder on herself and started laughing like a hyena. “Oh, I am going to have so much fun with these videos when you guys get older.” She waggled her brows. “Prepare to be embarrassed.”
The video cut off again.
“You look just like your mom,” Beth turned around and said.
I was still smiling from the video. “Thanks.”
We made our way to the backyard where Dad and Noah sat on a bench Noah had made while the kids played. When Noah saw me come back out, he got up and I already knew he was going to drag me over to sit down before he even said anything. I just stood there and admired him as he came to me. Age had nothing on him. He was like fine wine, time only made him better. I felt my body heat up as he neared. I felt a little damp between my legs but I probably peed a little… Yeah, it happened when you were pregnant.
“Come sit down, you’ve been on your feet all day,” he told me as he placed his hand against my back and looked at Beth. “You must be the girlfriend.”
“Beth,” she offered her name and he gave her a friendly smile.
Dad finally walked over to Beth with a gentle smile.
“What is it?” Noah asked as we sat down on the bench together.
Fall From Grace Page 26
