“Only a little bit.” She told him with a sigh, curling her hand on his chest and closing her eyes.
“You have done a good job and I was expecting you to be delegating, not actually doing the work.” He chided her gently.
“I like to get involved you know that.” She murmured. “But I promise not to overdo it.”
Both of them slept for a little bit then had lunch of fried chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad and tall glasses of iced tea. By the time they were finished their son had awaken and was calling out to be fed.
The celebration went all the way into the night and it was a weary Leah and her husband that made their way home along with Janet and their son. They had planned to sleep in late the following morning and skip church.
*****
Leah finally started the next book, this time a love story born out of tremendous trials and tribulations. She had started the first chapter and refused to show even her husband what she had written so far.
One of the bedrooms had been transformed into an office for her and she did her writing in between taking care of their son. Paul had set up some things in there so that she did not have to leave her office to take care of David and she would spend her days in there writing away and looking at her son alternatively. He was getting so big and the more he grew, the more he resembled his father.
She put aside the book she had been researching and went over to tend to him. Thelma had brought her lunch which she had eaten and now she suspected that it was time for her son’s meal.
She smiled gently as he suckled greedily and settled back against the comfortable rocking chair. Her life was so blessed.
Chapter 10
Leah held the book in her hands not quite believing that she was a published writer. The title had prominence and her name was at the bottom: Leah Maitland. It had been slated to come out in August but there had been some delays and it had come out the first week of September. Rhea had brought the first ten copies to her and she sat there looking at the beautiful hard cover books on the table. It was Monday and Janet had taken David for a walk in his stroller and Rhea had just left. Leah had called her husband as soon as her friend had left.
“Guess what I have in my hand?”
“The keys to my heart?” he had asked teasingly.
“Other than that,” she laughed. “The finished copy of my book with my name on it and the cover looks fabulous. Paul I am babbling but I cannot help it.”
“I am so proud of you my love.’ He said softly. “My wife the writer. Are you going to get too famous for your son and your husband?”
“Never,” she told him stoutly. “Well maybe just a little. Can you hurry home? I want to give you a signed copy.”
“I can hardly wait.” He said softly.
He hung up the phone and looked at the file he had in his hands. He had wanted to tell her that he had found his father but it had not been good news. The man who had fathered him had been found dead by a drug overdose. He stared at the photo in the file. He had gotten the blonde in his hair from him and his green eyes. His father had been a drug addict; he had not come from good stock, a drug addict for a father and a mother who had sold her body to make money. What was he going to tell his son when he asked about his grandparents?
He had gotten the report earlier and had picked up the phone several times to call his wife and tell her but he hadn't found the fortitude to do so. He had been praying about it and the way he felt but he was still feeling down. He had so much to give thanks for, a wife and a son and a normal life but he still felt ashamed of who his parents were. His mother was coming along so great, insisting on being there with her grandson and helping them out with him. She had allowed the Lord to turn her life around, so how could he tell her about the past that she wanted to get away from? He closed the file and glanced at the clock on his desk. It was time to go home to his family.
*****
“I am so proud of you!” Janet had come back from the walk half an hour later and Leah had showed her the books, while taking her son out of the stroller. She held him close to her, breathing in his baby scent and the fresh air from outside. It was getting a little cold but not unbearably so.
“Thanks,” Leah said with a smile, giving the woman a hug. “I owe it to you and Gladys, God rest her soul.”
“How far have you reached in the next book?” Janet asked her curiously. She placed the book gently on the table in the living room and sat beside them.
“I am at chapter three,” Leah kissed her son softly on the cheek as he made little cooing sounds. “This little one keeps interrupting me.”
“I told you I want to help more,” Janet told her, reaching out to touch a bunched up fist. She did not believe it possible to love someone so much the way she loved her grandson. He had given her a new lease on life.
“It’s okay Janet, as much as I am enjoying this writing bit, I also need to be there for my husband and my son.” Leah told her with a smile. “Speaking of my love,” she looked up; a smile lighting up her face as her husband came in. “Hi darling, I was just talking about you.”
“All good I hope.” He briefly greeted his mother with a reserve that Leah noticed and kissed her gently and took his son in his arms.
“Want me to get you some dinner?” Janet asked getting up.
“No, that’s fine, I am not hungry yet,” he said taking his son and going towards the nursery.
“He looks tired,” Janet commented as she watched them leave.
Leah gave a fleeting smile; her expression thoughtful.
*****
“What’s wrong?” she asked him as soon as they were in the bedroom together. David had gone to sleep fifteen minutes ago and Janet had gone to bed. Leah had noticed that Paul had hardly said two words to his mother only exclaiming over the book.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he climbed into the bed beside her.
“You barely spoke two words to your mother.” She said, leaning on her elbow and staring at him. “Talk to me.”
“I had the P.I. look for my father,” he sat up against his pillows. He looked so lost that Leah wanted to take him into her arms.
“You did not tell me,” she said softly.
“I wanted to see if I found him first. I told you that I did not want to find him but when David was born I wanted to know my roots.” He looked down at his hands clasped loosely between his legs.
“So you found him?” she asked him curiously.
“He was found dead sometime ago from a drug overdose.” He told her woodenly.
Leah stared at him, a little horrified. “Baby, that’s awful!” she touched him tentatively on the arm.
“Both my parents were drug addict and my mother sold herself for a living.” He shoved his hands through his hair. “What am I going to tell my son?” his voice was anguished and she had never heard him sound like that before.
“First of all stop with the self pity,” she told him firmly even though her heart was breaking for him. “You have turned out to be a wonderful human being in spite of who you came from and two: your mother has turned her life around with the help of God. We should not judge a person for the life they led in the past. Your dad whom you never met or knew, died because of the life he led, it has nothing to do with you and you will never be like him, you are a great father and an unbelievable husband, so I don’t want to hear about what you are going to tell our son. He is going to look at us, his parents, and we are going to bring him up in the best possible way with the help of God.”
Paul stared at her. He had listened to her and he had felt the shame coursing through him. He had always been the one talking about faith, love and forgiveness and here he was going berserk about a man who had fathered him and had died because of his bad habits. He was thinking about himself and he had been disrespectful to his mother.
He reached out his hands and took hers, his hands shaking a little bit. “I am sorry,” he told her huskily as he pulled her into his a
rms. “I am so sorry,” he buried his face in her strawberry scented hair. “I just went crazy when I found out. I hoped briefly that he would have been a good guy. A man that I could introduce to our son and he would be a proper grandfather to him. I let my expectations take over and was so crushed when I discovered his lifestyle that I got angry and unreasonable.”
Leah held him to her and stroked his curls. “I love you,” she murmured. “I want you to know how happy I am with you and I am glad the day I came into your office for that interview. You have changed my life for the better and I will not have you beating yourself up over what your parents did in the past. Get over it.”
He raised his head and Leah could see the tears glinting on his blonde tinged lashes. “Yes ma'am,” he said huskily. He cupped her cheek and his thumb caressed her soft skin. “I love you too.”
“You mean so much to me that I cannot explain it fully.”
She spent the rest of the night showing him how much and afterwards she held him in her arms as he fell asleep.
*****
He did not tell his mother what he had found out because he did not want her hurt all over again but he hugged her the next morning and told her he loved her. She hugged him back with tears in her eyes.
Leah smiled at him over her head. “I love you,” she mouthed and he grinned at her
*****
Rhea came over to have lunch with her and brought her the contract for the next book and also a royalty check for the books that had been sold already. She stared at the figures on the piece of paper with a look of incredulity. “This is for me?” she asked looking at her friend in amazement.
“It has your name on it so I guess it’s yours,” Rhea told her dryly as she nuzzled David. “Get the contract read by a lawyer and let me get it back in a couple of days. The rich does get richer,” she added.
“I am taking us shopping to celebrate,” she said decidedly. The weather had turned chilly and they were indoors. It was almost five o’clock and Paul had said he would be in a meeting for the next two hours so they should go ahead and eat without him. “You’re going to be the best dressed editor in that company.” Leah said giving her friend a quick hug.
*****
They had the launch and book signing at the huge auditorium at church and the place was filled to capacity. It was David’s first Christmas and her son was dressed in a black velvet pants suit with a red bow tie and hat on his dark brown curls. He looked so much like his father that Leah swore she had a hard time telling them apart. He was six months old and was so adorable that Leah wanted to take his picture every five seconds.
She stood up to give a speech and gripped her husband’s hands with hers. He was holding their son as they stood on the raised dais and faced the crowd. “I want to thank God; first of all and I want to thank my husband,” she smiled up at him tenderly. He brought her hand up to his lips to kiss her. “I also want to thank two women who gave me a different perspective on life, love and forgiveness. Janet, my mother in law and Gladys who is no longer with us in the physical but is with us in spirit. I never expected all of this when I came back here. But I came back to find love, a family and so many friends that I can hardly count. I also want to thank my dear friend Rhea and my editor for believing in me and working with me to get this book off the ground. Thanks everyone and please enjoy the food and buy all the books here.”
There was a round of applause as people drifted over to buy the signed copies of the book.
The party broke up around ten and the books were all gone. Leah took David away from Janet and took her husband by the hand.
“What’s going on?” he asked her as she led the way to the office.
“I want to be alone with my family for a little bit.” She told him, closing the door behind them. “And I wanted to give you this,” she took out a heavy silver watch and turned it over to show the words engraved there: “To my husband, my love, my heart. With all my love, your wife: Leah”
He looked up at her, his eyes suspiciously moist as he put the watch on his wrist. “I love you so much and I am so proud of you, I will never live long enough to show you how much.” He took both his son and wife into his arms, hugging them and sending up a silent prayer of thanks. He had everything.
The end.
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