Wow, it's been a super long time since I last updated this story. Sorry it took me so long but I had major writer's block that just wouldn't go away. Hopefully you all still remember what happened so far and I'll be able to come up with enough inspiration to update again soon. Happy reading and let me know what you think (please). :)
Chapter 13: Giving In
“Jackson!” I call to my curly-hair-cutie. “No pushing.”
“He calls me name!” He yells back pointing to his ‘best friend,’ Matthew who is sitting on a swing. I roll my eyes at his excuse and toss him a stern look. I look to my left at Matthew’s mother with a smirk as she yells for Matt to stop calling Jackson names.
“I don’t know what it is about your son, but whenever he and Jackson get together Jackson gets violent.” I laugh and she joins in.
“When he’s not behaving Matt is my husband’s son, not mine.” We both share another laugh before turning back to our children to see they are now playing peacefully in the sand of the play ground. “Not to put a damper on our good time, but what’s up with the daddy situation.”
In case you’re having trouble figuring this out, Justin is the ‘daddy’ Annie is speaking of and well…you should know the situation by now.
“He’s,” I pause in thought, “He’s a jackass.”
“That’s real mature Laney.” She laughs and I roll my eyes. “Resort to name calling like our four year olds.”
“Well he is.” I smirk knowing just how juvenile I sound. “I think he’s finally giving up though. It’s been a week since I last heard from him.”
“Is that a good thing?”
I sigh not really knowing just how to answer that question. It should be a good thing right? I mean this is what I wanted”for Justin to leave us alone. But now that he’s actually listening to me I’m not so sure that’s what I want. But I do know that I can barely stand the sight or sound of him. I don’t know what I want.
“Of course it’s a good thing.” There is clearly doubt in my voice but Annie is too good of a friend to point that out. She wouldn’t want to get me upset on my day off.
“I want to meet this Justin guy.” She nudges me with her elbow. There is no way she will ever meet him. She doesn’t know who he really is. All she knows is that his name is Justin and he’s Jackson’s father. That’s it. She doesn’t even know his last name or what he does for a living. I always tell her that I just don’t like to talk about him and that he isn’t worth my breath. “Is he good looking?”
I look towards Jackson when she mentions Justin’s looks. It’s uncanny how much they look alike. They have the same golden curls and bright blue eyes and he even has Justin’s smile. I nod my head at her question but keep my eyes on my son.
“Now I know you said you don’t like to talk about him but can you give me something to go on here girl?”
I turn to Annie with a sad smile and shake my head. “What’s the point? He’s a deadbeat-dad. What more do you need to know?”
“He is trying though right?”
My eyes widen at her in shock. “Are you taking his side?”
“No, Laney.” She answers quickly as my anger builds. “I’m just saying that he’s trying.”
“It’s too late for that.” I answer coldly looking up when I hear Jackson cry out for me. Squinting my eyes I see him lying at the bottom of the slide crying and holding his head in his tiny hands. Assuming he just bumped his head on the way down the slide I stand and leisurely make may way towards him. As I get closer my heart nearly stops and my mouth goes dry.
Blood.
There is blood everywhere. I gasp and call for Annie to call an ambulance as I pick up speed to the point I’m running at full speed over to Jackson. F**k! His head is bleeding profusely. I pull him into my arms and place my hand over the gash on the back of his head. He’s wailing holding onto me tightly as I rock him soothingly.
“They’re on their way.” Annie says from my side but I’m too focused on Jackson to respond. “Shit!” I hear Annie curse and look up at her with questioning eyes thinking something may have happened to Matthew. “You’re gonna kill me.”
“What?” I ask shakily still rocking Jackson gently.
She bites her lip nervously and looks over my shoulder. “I know all about Justin.” What is she talking about and why in the hell is she telling me this now? “I spoke with Emma and JC and we sort of set you up.”
What? I shake my head and push her words out of my mind. I lean my head down to Jackson’s and kiss his cheek lovingly whispering that he’s gonna be okay.
“Jesus Christ, what the hell happened?” I know that voice. This must be the set up Annie was telling me about. And she’s right. If my child was not bleeding profusely I would kill her. “Is he okay?”
I look up at Justin as he crouches down to our level running his hand over Jackson’s curls. He looks completely frazzled and….well like a worried father. “He’ll be fine you don’t have to bother to stick around. I can take care of my son just fine thank you.”
“Where is the damn ambulance?” He asks frantically, ignoring my statement. So he’s pretending to be the concerned parent now? It’s not working on me! “Come on, I’ll drive you.” He orders trying to pull Jackson from me. I hold on tightly not allowing him to budge. “Elaine, I’m not gonna hurt him. I just want to help.”
I give him a wary look before loosening my grip enough for Justin to take Jackson out of my arms. Jackson only whimpers and wraps his arms around Justin. It’s almost like he knows Justin is his dad. I lift myself from the sand and follow behind Justin and his body guard closely making sure not to lose him. I’m practically running to keep up with his large strides.
I’m just going to have to forget about our feud for a few hours until I know Jackson is safe.
~*~*~*~
“What happened?” I ask gently sitting in the chair next to the hospital bed Jackson and Elaine are currently resting on.
Jackson had to get ten stitches and the doctors want to keep him overnight for observation. They claim it’s standard procedure.
“I don’t even know.” She answers softly, running her fingers through Jackson’s hair. “I was taking to Annie and then I heard him call my name and”I thought he just bumped his head.” She pauses and looks over at me with tears in her cocoa colored eyes. “I should have been watching him. I’m a terrible mother.”
“Oh Laney, no,” I reply scooting my chair closer to the bed, rubbing my hand over her knee in what I hope is a soothing manner. “You can’t watch Jackson every second. These things happen and he’s fine.”
“I know it’s just”” She stops mid sentence closing her eyes to hold back her tears. I wish I could take her in my arms and make all her pain go away. “He just scared me. I mean I freak out when he gets a cough. The thought of anything happening to him just kills me. He’s my whole life.”
“Can’t you see why I want to be in his life? I want Jackson to be my whole life too.” I plead with her trying to get her to see my point of view.
“You are not seriously doing this right now.” She whispers heatedly pushing my hands away. “You are lucky you are even in the same room as him right now. If I were you I would quit while you were ahead.”
She goes from crying one minute to spitting fire the next. I don’t get this woman. What do I have to do to get her to understand? How many times do I have to apologize for leaving and not believing her? I don’t want my son to grow up thinking his father is an f**king asshole who abandoned him before he was even born.
“Just forget I said anything Elaine.”
TBC......
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