Straight After the Bend

by S M Mala

  She decided not to go with them, eager to see what would happen between the two men, and especially as she didn’t trust Cole.

  ‘Where is he?’ snapped Cole. ‘I want to see Kayden.’

  ‘We had to call in someone to look at his bruises, do you know that? He’d been punched in the ribs. They advised us to take him to the hospital which we did.’

  ‘You did what?’

  ‘Had you decided to call me back, I could have told you.’

  ‘What did they say?’ he asked, his voice panicked.

  ‘He’s fine after a few days rest. That kid’s not a punch bag!’

  ‘I hope you’re not implying I did it.’

  ‘Then who did?’

  There was an uncomfortable silence.

  ‘It’s not the first time he has had bruises but this is far worse. When he was with us on Sunday morning, there was nothing so why now?’ Mylo’s voice was low and composed. ‘You’re not handling the situation well and I need to know why.’

  ‘Who the hell are you to tell me how to bring up Kayden? Where the fuck were you?’ Cole shouted so loudly that Bea had to put her hands over her ears. ‘Living here and pretending you’re happy. The hypocrisy you seem to think is acceptable isn’t fair on our son. I’m the one he comes to when he’s crying his heart out because he needs you. And you should be with us! You think this is all going to work? You and her? It won’t.’

  Bea recognised the sound of a person hurt and upset.

  And Cole certainly was.

  ‘I’m in love and I’m getting married. I was with women long before we got together.’ He lowered his voice. ‘What we had was special at first, I can’t deny that.’ Then Mylo cleared his throat. ‘And don’t tell my son he’s the reason we split.’

  ‘You keep going on about ‘my son’!’ exclaimed Cole. ‘You don’t look after him. You walked out and left us.’

  ‘That’s not true! You begged to keep him, remember? Told me that I couldn’t take him because I would be breaking up the family. And River? Where’s the control on that kid? He was always an angry child and now he’s turning into a vicious adult. All I see is that your oldest child wants to break my son’s neck and I’m not having that!’

  ‘You keep saying ‘my son’. Where are you for most of the year?’

  ‘I would have stayed in Chicago but you made my life hell and wouldn’t let go.’

  ‘You seemed to have fun screwing around, didn’t you?’

  ‘Do you blame me for leaving you? Your jealous and angry spats once a week. It’s too much for anyone to bear. I’m surprised Bligh hasn’t turned out like River.’ He let out a long sigh. ‘You just don’t know when to let go, do you? We were finished long before I moved out and the only connection we have is Kayden. That’s why you didn’t want me to have him.’

  ‘We have joint custody.’

  ‘And it clearly states that if I have concerns and can prove it, then I have to raise them. I don’t want to fall out over this,’ he said, his tone softening. ‘But you have got to see it from my point of view. I don’t think his family home is happy and I certainly think you’re burying your head in the sand.’

  ‘And you think she’s going to do better? That woman you’ve got living here.’

  ‘Her name is Bea.’

  ‘I don’t give a fuck what her name is. I don’t want my son living here with her so there you have it. You want him, by all means try and get him, and we might come to some agreement but not if she’s here.’ The venom in Cole’s voice was so succinct and clear, Bea realised he meant business.

  It was a horrible thing to do, to make Mylo choose.

  ‘Then I’ll move out and he can live with Kayden,’ she said, stepping out of the kitchen, seeing both Cole and Mylo looked surprised. ‘Would that make you happy?’

  ‘Bea?’ Mylo sharply turned to look at her. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘He wants you to choose your son or me but it’s a no brainer. You will pick Kayden. If he stays another day under your roof,’ she said, glaring at Cole. ‘That child might not come out in one piece. What sort of man allows that to happen? We could have got the police involved.’

  ‘Fuck off!’ Cole shouted, stepping closer to her. ‘It has nothing to do with you!’

  ‘I deal with local authorities regarding children that are in danger by their family members. Whether you’re an American citizen or not, I can still report you and you can get arrested for alleged child abuse, not to mention River Silverman.’

  ‘You’ve not got anything to prove it.’

  ‘It happened on these shores and the incident will be reported to the relevant authorities. We went to the hospital and told them it was when he was with you.’ Bea hesitated, seeing the very angry face glare at her. ‘There’s no way we’re going to hand back Kayden so you can flit out of the country and avoid the necessary investigation.’

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow when I come back for my son!’ shouted Cole, turning around and marching out the door before slamming it shut.

  She noticed Mylo was trying hard to compose himself.

  ‘What do you mean you’ll move out? We’re getting married on Saturday or have you forgotten?’

  ‘Oh, I haven’t forgotten.’ Bea walked closer to him. ‘He’s still in love with you.’ Mylo was clenching his jaw as he looked at her. ‘And you know it. You never mentioned about River being so angry. It makes a lot of sense that there’s some sort of jealousy towards Kayden.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Bligh told me the first time we met,’ she said, seeing Mylo’s face scrunch up. ‘And he said Kayden had a rough deal but this takes it to another level. You can’t hand him back. Who knows what will happen?’

  ‘I know.’ He grabbed her tightly, burying his face in her neck. ‘I’ll figure something out.’

  ‘I’m working on it too.’ Bea hugged him, feeling his lips against her skin.

  ‘They’re back in an hour. We can make the most of it,’ he whispered, his tongue flickering towards her ear.

  ‘You’re doing it again, you see. Using that sex thing to detract me.’

  ‘I want to make love to you.’

  ‘You want to avoid the subject.’ Bea pushed her fingers through his hair. ‘But we can’t because it’s too important.’

  ‘We can talk about it in bed.’

  ‘Are the wheels in motion for you to get temporary custody of Kayden? You know we’ll have to cancel the honeymoon or see if he can come along. It might be fun, us three. We need to sort this out. We’re working against the-.’

  Her mouth was covered by his, stopping her in mid flow.

  The kiss was passionate and her libido was on high alert.

  ‘I want to make love to you the best I can,’ he said, staring into her eyes. ‘Please let me.’

  Mylo yanked her arm and dragged her up the stairs, throwing her onto the bed and locking the door.

  ‘Just in case,’ he said, running towards her and pulling down her trousers.

  ‘I see you’re not going to seduce me.’

  ‘What I have in mind is a lot better.’

  Mylo took off his clothes, flinging them across the room and when she tried to remove her top, he intervened and practically pulled her bra off.

  Then he sunk to his knees.

  ‘Promise me one thing,’ he said, looking up at her. ‘You will marry me on Saturday, won’t you? You know it’s got nothing to do with Kayden whether I have a wife or not.’

  ‘We have to think carefully about everything.’

  ‘Bea, if you pull out now, it will break my heart.’

  And then she felt it.

  The pang realising that he loved her and meant what he said.

  It was overwhelming.

  ‘I might not be sure about your ex, his evil son or if my daddy will ever accept you but I am one hundred percent sure I’m in love with you. I want to be your wife, even though we’ll probably be in court for the first three months
. And I’m totally happy to help you with Kayden. Of course, I might have to live jointly here and at daddy’s house but it can be done. See if you can use your powers and get me sedatives when I stay with Bernie.’

  He shook his head from side to side.

  ‘That’s not what I want. I want us to live together,’ Mylo said, sitting up on his knees. ‘You’re going to be my wife and you need to be by my side for the rest of our lives.’

  Grinning, she launched for his lips, kissing him as passionately as she could. Even she knew he was smiling while their tongues whirled in each other’s mouth.

  He got to his feet and pushed her into the middle of the bed, sliding on top. Mylo pulled away and looked down at her. Touching his face, Bea smiled.

  ‘I’m so happy I banged your leg all those months ago,’ he whispered. ‘And now the leg is much better I can bang you forever.’

  Gently he kissed and stroked her body, as she rubbed her hand up and down his shaft, not wanting to let go.

  ‘Let me love you,’ Mylo said, kissing her breasts and pulling her hand away. ‘I want to show you how much.’

  ‘You don’t have to show me anything. I feel it in my heart.’

  ‘I need to demonstrate how much I care to other parts of your body.’

  If this was how he was going to show he loved her for the rest of her life, she was a very happy indeed.

  ‘I’m not happy about it, Bea.’

  A few hours later she was speaking to Jacob on the phone as she watched Mylo carry Kayden in his arms down the road. They were going out for lunch to cheer the little boy up who was still in pain. ‘Your father carried out an investigation on my son. Have you shown Mylo this?’

  ‘I didn’t want to rock the boat so thought it was best sent to you. There are things in there that show the Silverman household isn’t a happy one. River’s behaviour is questionable and so is the safety of Kayden. The name of the investigator is on the document and maybe you could find out some more. We have to keep Kayden with us.’ She made sure Mylo couldn’t hear as she slowed down. ‘Jacob, I know it wasn’t the right thing for my father to do but he might be helping not hurting us in the long term.’

  ‘It makes out my son is some sort of gigolo.’ Then he laughed. ‘Your father must love you very much to do this.’

  ‘Given that he has found out about Cole and the set-up, I’ve seen him happier.’ She let out a miserable sigh. ‘I can’t allow Kayden to go back with Cole. I will kidnap the child and runaway with him if I have to.’

  Just then, she noticed Kayden look at her and gave a sad smile.

  In her heart of hearts, she wasn’t going to let the child go.

  ‘Jacob, please use anything in that document to start proceedings. Mylo mentioned there isn’t a caveat regarding how long Kayden can stay out of the country. Can you do something?’

  ‘That’s my grandchild you’re talking about. I am going to do something.’ He hesitated. ‘It’s a big ask from you to take on Kayden.’

  ‘It’s not,’ she smiled to herself. ‘Have you met my father? That’s a big ask and a half for Mylo.’

  Following them into the restaurant, Mylo put Kayden down but the little boy stuck closely to his father, not letting go of his arm.

  ‘Are you still in pain?’ Bea asked, sitting next to him and stroking his hair. Kayden nodded and the sad, tear filled, eyes looked up at her. ‘I’ll make you better.’ She gently held him in her arms as he let go of Mylo and turned to her. ‘We’ll have such a wonderful week, you wait and see.’

  ‘Will we?’ Kayden asked.

  ‘I promise.’

  She kissed his head and smiled, not before noticing Mylo. He looked confused and upset, shaking his head.

  ‘Don’t you have to go to work today?’ she asked, seeing him swallow hard.

  ‘Nope.’ He bit his lip and stroked Kayden’s hair. ‘They can cope without me.’

  ‘I don’t want daddy to go,’ whispered Kayden as Bea watched her intended try to hold back his tears. ‘I want him to stay with me and you too, mummy.’

  ‘Oh Kayden,’ she said, feeling her heart strings being pulled. ‘I’m going to have a chocolate milkshake. Do you want one?’

  Kayden looked up and for the first time he genuinely smiled.

  They ordered lunch and Bea found herself making all the conversation and eventually getting the little boy to laugh, but it was then she realised how much pain he was in. It hurt his ribs and Mylo’s expression betrayed that he was at a complete loss on what to do.

  ‘Fancy meeting you here!’ she heard someone say.

  Henry was standing next to them.

  ‘Hello,’ Mylo said, getting to his feet and looking quizzically at the man. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Just passing,’ he slyly replied then turned to look at Kayden. ‘And who are you, my handsome child?’

  ‘I’m Kayden,’ came the reply but instead of the child looking happy, as he usually did, he seemed worried.

  ‘My name is Henry. How do you do?’ He put out his hand and Kayden gently shook it. ‘My, you have strong grip there. Why do you look so sad?’

  ‘You really don’t want to know,’ mumbled Mylo, looking at his son.

  ‘I’m very good at cheering people up,’ Henry said, plonking himself down next to Bea. ‘You don’t mind if I join you? I was going to meet someone for lunch but…’ Bea could see Henry was trying to think of something. ‘There has been a change of plan.’

  ‘What have you done?’ she asked, knowing he looked shiftily around.

  ‘Did your lovely wife-to-be tell you about my declaration of love?’ sighed Henry, taking her hand as she tried to shake him off. ‘I was refuted but I can see why. She is surrounded by the most handsome men in town, you especially.’ He leaned over and tickled Kayden’s chin, making the boy laugh a little before frowning. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘He’s got some bruises on his ribs so it’s hard for him to giggle,’ Bea responded, seeing Mylo wring his hands. ‘And too much has happened for me to tell Mylo about your proposition.’

  ‘What proposition?’ he asked, glancing at Henry then at Bea.

  ‘I’ll let him explain.’ She smiled at Kayden. ‘I think we should go to the restroom before we have lunch, don’t you?’

  Gently taking Kayden’s hand, she walked with him across the dining room as they went to the toilet. Then she picked him up, taking him back.

  ‘Does he like you?’ asked Kayden, looking straight into her eyes. ‘Like daddy likes you.’

  ‘He’s a friend. We met him when we were on holiday. He knows one of my students, Chloe. She’s really unhappy. Her parents split up and she’s sad. I’m trying to help her.’

  ‘I was sad when daddy went away,’ he said, resting his head against her shoulder. ‘I feel very sad now.’

  ‘I know. But we are going to make it better.’

  ‘He kicks me really hard,’ Kayden whispered. ‘I’m crying on the floor and he just keeps kicking me.’

  Bea immediately knew what he was talking about and kissed his face.

  ‘River isn’t very nice.’

  ‘Not River. Bligh.’

  She stopped dead in her tracks, trying not to falter and looked at Kayden.

  ‘Bligh? I thought River was the one who hurt you.’

  ‘It’s Bligh but he says he’ll punch me harder if I tell anyone. And I have to say it’s River. Don’t tell daddy, please? I don’t want to get hurt. He hit me on Sunday because I told him I was going to live with daddy forever. He got angry.’

  Bligh had pulled the wool over her eyes and she didn’t know what to do.

  ‘You’re funny.’

  Kayden was giggling with Henry as they waited for the bill. The big kid was playing with the little kid and Mylo watched. ‘Are you coming on Saturday? I’m the best man.’

  ‘Ah,’ he replied, starting to blush. ‘There might be a little problem.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I might not be a plus one
anymore,’ Henry said, shrugging his shoulders.

  ‘You didn’t tell Rachel anything silly about me, did you?’ Bea asked, knowing Henry would do anything to avoid a confrontation. ‘I do want to make it in one piece to the wedding.’

  ‘It was brutal. I came clean,’ Henry said as Kayden looked quizzically at the man.

  ‘Don’t you wash?’ he asked.

  ‘What I mean is that I told someone the truth, even though it hurt them.’ He then looked away before mumbling. ‘Or she might badly hurt me in retaliation.’

  ‘Do you get hit too?’

  Both Mylo and Bea braced themselves at the question while Henry seemed confused.

  ‘Kayden is being bullied by an older sibling and it’s not really nice.’ Bea smiled at the child’s sad face. ‘And everyone’s going to have to come clean soon so we can make the right decision. Don’t you think, Kayden?’

  ‘Yes,’ he quietly said, darting a glance towards his father. ‘But I don’t want to get into trouble.’

  ‘Why would you get into trouble?’ asked Henry, touching Kayden’s face. ‘If you tell the truth you are doing something good and-.’

  Then all four of them stopped on hearing the music down the road.

  ‘You have Hari Krishna’s here?’ laughed out Henry. ‘I used to be one, you know.’

  ‘I’m sure you were,’ she said, seeing Mylo smile.

  Right then, Bea didn’t know what to do because just as she was about to duck, she saw her father.

  ‘That’s my new grandpa!’ shouted out Kayden excitedly. ‘He’s dancing and singing!’

  ‘Bloody hell!’ grumbled Bea, shaking her head quickly.

  ‘Can I go and dance with him, please?’

  ‘That’s your dad?’ asked Henry, starting to smile. ‘He can certainly bust some moves.’

  ‘Don’t,’ she hissed, seeing Mylo laugh.

  ‘Daddy, can I go and dance?’

  ‘Okay,’ Mylo replied and held Kayden’s hand while walking him out, casting over a doubtful glance. ‘I’m sure he won’t mind.’

  She looked out the window and watched her father stop, looking delightedly at Kayden before smacking his drum and starting to jig. He nodded towards Mylo, as if acknowledging him but not wanting to speak. Kayden started to jump and clap his hands, much to the delight of both men.