Barbara's Plea (16 page)

I glanced at Ken, perplexed. He was as confused as I was. “My statement?”

“Yes, I listened to those recordings, Barbara, and I am horrified by what that man did to you. I am encouraging you to file a report on him for attempted homicide or, at the very least, aggravated assault and rape.”

My jaw fell open.

“That man should never be allowed to practice law again, and I want to make sure that son of a bitch knows what it feels like to be a prisoner.”

S
ix months
! She was accepting six months in jail! I would have jumped up and screamed if it wasn’t for Gloria latching on to my arm and holding me still.

That was why Barb wanted me to adopt Allie.

I sat in strained silence as the judge continued. When he announced that he was reducing the time, I hung my head and thanked God for the smallest favor.

I wanted so badly to hold Barb, the few moments in the room weren’t anywhere long enough, but it was obviously going to have to do.

Barb yelled out as she was pulled backwards, “I’ll be alright. I promise, I’ll be alright. I love you, Grey. Go get our daughter, take care of her.”

Tears ran down her cheeks. “I will. I love you, too, Barbie!” I yelled back and then she was gone.

I sank onto the bench and put my hands into my face.

Gloria sat beside me in stunned silence as people filed out of the room. I heard Todd make a comment as he passed, but I brushed it off. He might have thought he had won by having Barb put in jail, but I had what was important. I had Allie.

I could go get Allie. “Come on, Gloria,” I helped her to her feet. “We need to go find my daughter.”

We exited into the hallway and down the steps. At the bottom, I heard a familiar squeal and looked around to see Allie teetering toward me. I dropped to my knees and pulled her into my arms.

“Daddy’s here, baby. Daddy’s here.” I held her so tightly that she squirmed to put some distance between us.

“Gay!” she shouted and slapped my wet cheeks with her hands.

“Yes, Grey is here, and I’m not letting you go again.” I stood and faced a woman who was patiently waiting.

She held her hand out, “Hi, my name is Donna. I’m going to assume you’re Grey Bloodstone.”

I shook her hand, and then wiped my cheeks on my sleeve, “Yes, I am. How did you know?”

“Barb’s attorney called me and asked me to bring her down here to you. He said you all had been through enough.”

I could kiss the man. “He’s right. Thank you so much for taking care of her.”

“It’s no problem. I’m glad Peggy was able to make it happen. I used to watch Allie all the time, so she was comfortable with me.”

“Thank God.” I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. My cellphone rang, and I excused myself to take the call. It was Barb’s attorney.

“Ken,” I said as soon as I answered.

“Grey, it’s me, Barb.”

“Honey, are you alright?” I closed my eyes to try to hold back the waterworks of hearing her voice.

“Yes, I’m alright. Are you going to get Allie?”

“I already have her; Donna brought her to the courthouse. She is ten feet away from me with Gloria.” I stared at Allie smiling and pulling on Gloria’s necklace.

That was my daughter.

“Thank God. Grey, you have no idea what that means to me.”

“Barb, don’t you dare thank me. I love her, I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She grew quiet, “I need to ask you one more favor.”

“Anything,” I said and I meant it.

She expelled a breath, “Take Allie home. Don’t stay around here; don’t try to come see me. I don’t want you to think of me here, like this.”

“Barb, I don’t care if you are in jail. That doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”

“Oh, Grey, I love you so much, but please, for me. Take Allie home, tonight. I’ll write you both, and I’ll be home before you know it.”

“Barb,” I wanted to argue with her.

“Grey, please. I have to go. Please, I promise I’ll be alright. Kiss her for me and don’t let her forget me.”

“Never,” I said forcefully into the phone. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, take her home. Keep her safe.”

“I will, Barb, I love you. We will write you, and I won’t go five minutes without reminding her who you are and how much you miss her.”

“Thank you,” her voice whispered through the line, and I knew she was trying to be strong. “I love you, Grey.”

“I love you, Barb. Stay strong.”

“I will.” The phone went dead, and I looked at the phone for a moment before I slipped it into my pocket and went back over to our group. “How long will it take to get the jet ready to go?” I asked Gloria.

She gaped at me momentarily. “Probably an hour. Why? We aren’t going to stay?”

I shook my head and put a kiss on Allie’s head, “Nope, Mommy wants us to get Allie home, and you know how Mommy is.” I winked at Gloria.

We could last two months. It would be hard, but we could do it.

Nine hours later, we pulled up in front of the estate. Allie was sound asleep in my lap. I had refused to put her down once I had her, and she seemed happy enough to be there.

We walked inside the front door, and Gloria and I paused. So much had happened in the last few days.

Amelia came running into the foyer and put her hands to her mouth as she saw Allie asleep on my chest.

“Amelia, can you get her bed ready?”

“Yes, of course. Do you want me to put her to bed?” She began to approach.

“No, I’ll put my daughter to bed.”

Amelia gave me an odd look, but didn’t say anything further as she scurried up the stairs. I knew Gloria would explain it to her while I put Allie down.

Allie didn’t even wake up when I changed her diaper and slipped her into pajamas. I slid her into her bed and tucked the covers around her, “I love you, little button, sleep tight.” I placed a kiss on her forehead and quietly left the room, taking the baby monitor with me as I went.

Downstairs, I found Gloria, Carlos, and Amelia in the library. Amelia looked shocked, but when she saw me, she came to hug me immediately. “Thank you for doing that.”

Carlos shook my hand, “I thought you were a good man the day I met you, but you just became a great man.”

They both left the room while I stared at their backs in surprise. “What was that all about?”

“I think they are happy to know you are really part of the family, and Allie isn’t going anywhere. Everyone was upset about what had happened.”

I sank down on the sofa, “God, I’m exhausted.”

“Are you going to sleep down at the apartment?” Gloria tried to stifle a yawn.

“No, I’m going to run down and get some clothes. I’ll sleep up here in Barb’s room,” I paused, “unless you would rather I didn’t.”

“I would expect nothing less. Grey, I told you before that you were part of this family, and now you are legally part of this family. This is your home.”

“You have no idea what that means to me, Gloria,” I stood up.

“Yes, I do.” She gave me her cheek as I kissed it.

“I love you, too, Gloria. You know that, right?”

“I do, and I love you. Now go get your clothes. I have had enough emotions for one week.”

Before I left my apartment, I peeled Nate’s picture off the wall and picked up his turtle. They were about to get a new home.

The next morning, I woke up to a chatting voice on the monitor and smiled. I would never get tired of that. I used the bathroom and then went into Allie’s room.

“Gay!” she called out when she saw me. “Tutle,” she said as she held out Nate’s green turtle that I had slipped into bed with her the night before. I knew Nate wouldn’t mind.

“Come on, sweetie, let’s go get your new turtle some breakfast.”

The weeks went by faster than I could have expected. During the day, Allie was with the nanny that Barb had hired before she left, and I would sneak away from the workshop as often as I could to spend time with Allie.

A letter arrived six days after we returned home, and I cried as I read it. Barb was being so strong and begged me to write her about how Allie was doing. Every night, I sat and wrote out all the things that Allie had said or done, and, every day, Allie would kiss the envelope and we would mail it together. Some days we even included a picture.

The sixty days were almost over, and I couldn’t wait for them to end. I couldn’t imagine what Barb was dealing with, or how she was staying as strong as she was. Her letters came every couple of days, and she told us how excited she was to be coming home. She even explained, in one long letter, how she had filed charges against Todd, and he was in the process of being disbarred and took his own plea deal of five years in prison. He had been looking at life, so his plea was pretty damned good.

I hadn’t told her, but I had already made arrangements to fly out and be there when she walked out the front door. There wasn’t one word she could say that could have stopped me.

The night before Barb’s release, I tucked Allie into bed and kissed her goodnight. Once she was asleep, I snuck out and handed the monitor to Linda who had agreed to stay on for two days while I went to get Barb.

Gloria had hooked me up with the private jet again, even though I had told her I could fly commercial. She wasn’t having any of that. I had learned which battles to pick with her over the last three months, and this was not one.

I was glad for the silence on the ride out there and rehearsed all the things I wanted to say. When we arrived, a Town Car picked me up and dropped me off at the hotel. I could get a couple hours of sleep and then go get Barb.

They were the longest hours of my life, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t keep my eyes shut.

At nine o’clock in the morning, I stepped out of the hotel and into the back of another Town Car. My knee bounced the whole way there, and I wiped my clammy hands down my slacks more times than I could count.

We passed through security after showing identification and having a brief search of the car. It was almost ten when we pulled up to the front doors. I stared out the tinted window, waiting.

The minutes passed, and, with each one, my tension mounted. I was about to get out of the car and march up to the door, when they opened and the first gate began to move. Four women moved forward, the second one I saw made the breath catch in my throat, and I swallowed the lump.

I reached for the door handle as the first gate began to close behind them, and the second gate began to open. She was almost free.

The gate opened and my door swung out. My foot hit the pavement as she glanced my way. As I stood, her jaw dropped open and in the next second we were both running.

She jumped into the air and I caught her. Her legs wrapped around my waist while her arms held me tightly. I pulled her head back and kissed her hard.

One of the women behind us yelled, “Go, Barb!” while another whistled and called out for us to get a room.

We laughed, we cried, and I kissed her the whole way back to the car.

“Is Allie here?” she asked as I pushed her inside the limo.

“No, I’m sorry, sweetie, I wanted to be here for you, but I didn’t want to upset her schedule.”

Tears fell from her eyes again, “It’s okay. That’s good. She’s good?”

“She’s great. Wait till you see how much she’s grown.”

I pulled her to my side, and she wrapped her arms around my chest. “You know I can’t leave the state until tomorrow, right?”

“I know. You have to check in with your probation officer and sign the transfer papers. Ken explained it all to me.”

She looked up at me innocently, “What are we going to do until then?”

I winked, “I think I have a few ideas.”

I
had marked
each of the sixty days off on a small piece of paper I had on my desk. Today was the last mark. At ten o’clock, I got my walking papers.

I turned to hug my cellmate. Over the last sixty days, we had become friends. She was a single mother of two who had been beaten herself. She had shoplifted from a store to get formula for her baby and, unfortunately, it was the fifth time she had been caught, so she had to do six months in jail.

I made sure she had my contact information for when she got out. I told her I’d do anything I could to help, and I meant it. She had looked out for me while I was in here, and on more than one occasion, had saved my ass. If she needed money for a fresh start, I was more than happy to help her out.

They came to open my cell, and I hugged Sara one more time before stepping out.

The only thing in my hands was a small bag that contained the letters and pictures from Grey and Allie. Those had been the only thing to keep me going day in and day out.

I had read the letters over and over and had shed tears with each one as I saw how much Allie was growing and doing. The pictures showed a happy, healthy little girl and one sexy-as-hell man.

I wish I had told him to come out here, I thought as I made my way to the outtake office. It would have been nice to have someone here while I wait for my appointment tomorrow.

The judge had worked out a deal that I could transfer my probation to the state of New York, and I wished that I had some way to thank him for all that he had done for me. If it wasn’t for him encouraging me—no, strike that—telling me to file the charges, then Todd would still be in his ivory office, and not behind bars where he belonged.

I wondered if he had a Sara who protected him. I hoped that he didn’t.

I signed the papers and, because I didn’t have any other possessions other than the clothes I came in, my checkout was easy. I tossed the orange jumpsuit in the laundry basket and was chomping at the bit to get outside the fence.

The first gate began to open, and for the first time in over two months, the anxiety began to fall off my shoulders. As it closed behind me, I held my breath. The second gate shimmied as it began to slide, and I practically ran past the woman in front of me. I glanced around the parking lot as I excitedly searched for Ken. He had told me he would pick me up.

My eyes hit on the black tinted-out Town Car as the back door began to open. No way! I saw his leg and then his head as he stood up. Grey!

I gave no thought about running to him, it felt completely natural. I was in his arms before I could comprehend that he was there. I had never felt so thankful, so loved.

Grey took me back to the hotel where we showered together and then lay on the bed and pigged out on room service. I called home and spoke to Gloria. She was going to put Allie on the phone. I declined because I didn’t want to confuse her, but I soaked up every sound that she was making in the background while we were on the phone.

Grey and I had made love for the third time when he propped himself up on an elbow. “Marry me.”

I stared at him in surprise. “What?”

“Marry me, Barb. Before we go home, let’s fly to Vegas and get married. When we get home, I want to be able to carry you over the threshold as Mrs. Bloodstone. Let’s leave your past behind, here, on this side of the country.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want, Grey?” I ran my hand down the side of his face.

“You’re kidding, right?” He stared at me. “Do you think I would adopt the child and not want the mother as part of the package? I would have asked you earlier, but I never got the chance.”

I didn’t have to think more than a second. I loved this man more than life itself. I could never repay him for what he had done for me, for Allie. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you, Grey!”

The next morning, we went to the probation office together and signed the papers. Before we did so, we asked permission to fly to Vegas first, and the guy laughed, “Sure, why not, I’ll change the papers to include Vegas.”

By noon, we were on the private jet, and I couldn’t keep my lips or hands off of him. If we had been alone, we might have joined the mile high club.

We arrived in Vegas and hit the first wedding chapel that we found. Twenty minutes later, I was legally Barbara Bloodstone. Grey carried me up the stairs back into the plane, and we took off a few minutes later for home.

It was late when we arrived, but the house blazed with light. Grey was true to his word and carried me over the threshold. I had never been more happy to be home.

When he put me down, I turned to find Gigi, Amelia, and Carlos watching us. I hugged everyone quickly, but there was one more person I needed to see. Grey took my hand and led me up the stairs.

I was afraid to walk in the door, afraid Allie wouldn’t recognize me, or worse, would know that I had been in jail and would shun me.

Grey sat on the edge of the bed, “Allie, sweetie, wake up for a second.”

Allie opened her eyes, “Daddy?” she said softly.

Oh, my God, she called him Daddy! I put my hand over my mouth to stifle the joyful sob.

“Yes, sweetie, it’s Daddy. I have a surprise for you.”

“What?” she said and rubbed her eyes with her small fists. Grey reached back and pulled my hand forward as he went to his knees on the floor and allowed me to sit on the bed.

Allie looked up and blinked twice. I held my breath as she blinked again. “Mommy?” she asked softly and sprang up like a jack–in-the-box.

“Yes, it’s Mommy.” I held her to my chest and inhaled her scent. I glanced over her head at Grey; I saw that he, too, was crying tears of joy.

This was what family was supposed to be like.

Six months later, the three of us stood in the lobby of the hospital. Gigi sat in a wheelchair beside us. It was the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new hospital wing, and I knew a secret.

I had been upset with Gigi for not telling me sooner that she was ill, but I quickly got over it when she put me in charge of her project—one that I was thrilled to be part of.

I looked up at Grey and grinned as he slid his arm around me and his other hand on my growing belly. Our son would be born in three more months. His name was already chosen: Greyson Nathan Bloodstone. It was a strong name—a perfect name.

The ceremony started and some speeches were given. Everyone clapped as the cover was removed from the first sign announcing the Withers Adult Cancer Wing. Under the title was a picture of Gigi and Pappy from a few years ago.

It was over the other sign that I found myself holding my breath. When the cover came off, I heard Grey gasp and step back. The large blue letters spelled out: The Nate Bloodstone Children’s Cancer Wing. Under it was the picture of Nate with the toy box. I had paid an artist to paint it, and I had never been prouder of anything I had done—especially when Grey turned to me.

His eyes were misty, and I rubbed my hand over his cheek. “This was Gigi’s idea.”

Grey got down on his knees beside my grandmother and took her hands, “That’s why you wanted the toy boxes? Not for a shelter, but for here?”

“Yes, son. That’s what they were for.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. Your actions speak louder than any words ever could.”

I watched as Grey pulled Gigi into a hug, and everyone clapped.

When he stood, I wiped away a stray tear.

“How long have you known?” he asked me.

I stared up into his beautiful blue eyes, “What about? This? Or about us?”

“Either, both,” he answered in a deep husky voice.

“The wing, a few months. You? Well, I knew that the first moment I saw you with tomato sauce on your cheek.”

Grey kissed me, and I knew that no matter what life held in store for us, we would make it. He leaned down and picked Allie up. I finally had a man to love, and Allie finally had a father who adored her.

Who knew that the decisions I had made a year ago would have brought me to this particular place in life? It didn’t matter, but somehow as I gazed at the picture of Gigi and Pappy, I wondered if maybe Pappy and my dad might have had a hand in how everything worked out.

Maybe they were the ones who led Grey and Gigi to that bench on that particular day at that particular moment.

No matter who had a hand in it, I was going to happily continue along the paths that were chosen for me.

Grey turned and winked as Allie let out one of her tiny squeals and we began to walk down the hallway to check out the new hospital wings as a family.