Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (42 page)

The crowd of family laughed and cheered.

“
I’ll get Katy,” Delphie
moved to get up.

Patrick put his hand on her leg.

“
I can save him?” Patrick
asked. “Paddie, I mean.”

“
If you let Paddie be
himself,” Delphie said. “Of course.”

“
Thank you,” Patrick
nodded.

“
It’s Katy, not me,”
Delphie touched his face. “You’re a sweet man. You’ll do what’s
right.”

Patrick nodded to Delphie. Lost in thought,
he watched Delphie scoop up Katy. The child cried when she had to
go. Crying, Paddie ran after her. Katy and Paddie hugged and Katy
was gone. When Paddie turned, he saw his Grandfather watching him.
In a move that he’d seen his brother do time and time again, Paddie
tucked his tears away.

Patrick Hargreaves understood his grandson
for the first time.

His mind replayed what he knew about Paddie.
His first grandson was kind, funny, and… loving. He was just as
likely to snuggle up as he was to play. Patrick nodded to himself.
His job was to protect his grandson’s gentle nature. He got up and
went to Paddie.

“
Come on, Paddie,” Patrick
said. “I’ll take you to meet your new brother.”

~~~~~~~~

Friday night—9:45 P.M.

“
How are you?” Schmidty
asked. He leaned on her hospital bed.

“
Tired, a little sore, but
really good,” Lizzie said.

He kissed her face. They were alone for the
first time since she’d gone into labor at noon. Her Dad, Sandy and
Maresol had met them at the hospital around three. Colin and Julie
got there closer to six. Together, they had coached, cheered, and
loved Lizzie into bringing Connor into the world.

“
How do you feel about...”
Schmidty scanned her face. “Connor?”

“
The moment the doctor set
him in Julie’s arms,” Lizzie said. “I…”

Tears fell from her eyes. She shook her head
slightly.

“
That was really hard,”
Schmidty said.

“
No,” Lizzie said.
“Beautiful. So beautiful. And all the people who came to see
him
, love
him
, celebrate
him
. They…”

Lizzie began to cry. Not sure what to do,
Schmidty held her hand.

“
You don’t want to give
him to them,” Schmidty said.

“
He
belongs
with them,” Lizzie said.
“He’s their baby. I just got him this far. They will take him where
he needs to go. I feel…”

Schmidty stroked her face.

“
Like I witnessed a
miracle,” she said. “Like something out of the bible. Like I was
involved in something… huge.”

“
So you’re still all right
with letting them adopt him,” Schmidty said.

“
I had him for them,”
Lizzie said. “I thought it was true before, but I know it now.
Julie’s with him, isn’t she?”

“
She hasn’t left his side
since he was born,” Schmidty said. “Colin took Paddie to the Castle
but he’s back. They’re just across the hall. The doctor says
they’ll keep Connor overnight. Did you know she’s breast
feeding?”

“
Isn’t that cool? I didn’t
think it was possible but…” Lizzie shrugged. “She’s been taking
some drug and pumping since they found out about Connor. I think
they belong together.”

“
Me too,” Schmidty
said.

“
How was it for you?”
Lizzie asked.

“
Amazing,” Schmidty said.
“I feel exhausted and charged up at the same time.”

“
I know what you mean,”
Lizzie said.

“
When you’re able, we’ll
go back to the beach,” Schmidty said. “You’ll rest. I’ll work.
And…”

“
We’ll start a real
relationship,” Lizzie had told him over and over again that when
she had the baby, they would start a real relationship.

“
I don’t know Lizzie,”
Schmidty said. “I don’t think it gets more real than what we went
through today.”

Lizzie beamed at him.

“
You need to rest,”
Schmidty said.

“
I couldn’t have done this
without you, Jammy,” Lizzie said.

“
Thanks for including me,”
Schmidty blushed. “It’s all I ever wanted – to be included in your
life.”

“
Me too,” Lizzie
said.

Schmidty reached over and turned out the
light.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHTY-TWO

Commitment

Saturday early morning – 2:45 A.M.

“
Hey,” Jeraine said when
Tanesha came out of the bathroom.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed. He
set his phone down when she came out. Naked, she smirked at him and
put on her nightshirt. He kissed her.

“
Did you have fun
tonight?” Jeraine asked.

“
Is this about the small
dick thing?” Tanesha smiled. “Because that was a joke.”

“
I know,” Jeraine said. “I
meant at the club and, I guess, everything.”

“
Didn’t it seem like I had
a good time?” Tanesha asked.

He nodded.

“
What’s got you all
insecure all of a sudden?” Tanesha asked.

“
I wanted to tell you
something,” Jeraine said.

Tanesha sat down on the bed.

“
Have you ever wanted
something so bad that you feel like you’d do anything for it?”
Jeraine asked.

“
Sure,” Tanesha
nodded.

“
I felt that way about
making it big with my music,” Jeraine said. “I didn’t want to be my
Dad’s kind of star or Seth’s. I wanted to be big, huge even,
successful, popular... And…”

“
You got kind of stuck
there,” Tanesha said.

“
I didn’t realize I had
already gone way past what I thought I wanted,” he said. “And lost
everything I loved.”

“
And now?”

“
I’m not going to lie,” he
said. “I still want to be a star. I thought I’d be a star doctor or
a star surgeon. But…”

“
Music is your life,”
Tanesha said.

Jeraine nodded. He reached out to take her
hand.

“
Is that okay?” he
asked.

“
I think we have to figure
it out,” she smiled.

“
There is a difference
now.”

“
Oh yeah?”

“
I don’t
only
want to be a star
now,” he said. “Being a star isn’t as important as having you in my
life.”

“
I’m glad,” she said. She
touched his shoulder and got under the covers.

“
What have you wanted so
badly?” He shifted to look at her.

“
Med school,” Tanesha
rolled onto her side to look at him. “When I wasn’t able to go last
year, I… It was hard.”

“
Yeah, I know that
feeling,” he said. “It’s like whatever you do, no matter how hard
you try, your dream is still just out of reach. I felt that way
about you.”

“
Me?”

“
You,” he said. “This
time, these weeks, days, they’re like a dream come true for me. I
dreamt and wished and wanted just this, just tonight – dinner,
dancing with friends, making love with you and…”

Tanesha held her arms out and he fell into
her embrace. They held each other for a moment.

“
It’s about commitment,”
he said. “I didn’t get it until this morning. If I want something,
I have to commit to being and having the thing I want. That’s the
way it really works.”

Tanesha kissed his forehead.

“
I didn’t know that
before,” he said.

“
I know,” she said. “And
now?”

He closed his eyes and she shook her
head.

“
Still can’t do it,” she
said. “Even now when your
dream
has come true. I do not know why I waste my
time.”

She moved to get up. He held her in
place.

“
No, that’s not it,”
Jeraine said. “No. I was trying to think of how to say
it.”

Watching his face, Tanesha fought with
herself. Her instinct was to run away from this heart breaker as
fast as possible. That was her part in this dance. They’d danced it
a hundred and one times. But tonight, she saw something new on his
face. She waited for him to find the words.

“
I think I’ve always been
committed to you, to us,” Jeraine said. “I remember like it’s set
in crystal – our first kiss, our first date, the first time we
spent a whole night together. My commitment has always been to you
but…”

“
But…?”

“
It made me anxious,” he
said. “I didn’t know I could have you and… I thought…”

“
It was one or the other,”
Tanesha said.

He nodded.

“
You put us, me, in the
way of your dream,” she said.

He nodded.

“
So you had to destroy us
to have your dream,” she said.

He nodded.

“
You’re a fool,” she
said.

“
I am?” he
asked.

“
Your dreams come from us,
from this,” she gestured to him and to herself.

“
It does?”

“
Go look at those fancy
records on the wall.”

Getting out of bed, she took his hand and
led him out of their bedroom to the hallway. She flicked on the
light. The light flashed on the gold and platinum albums and
singles that lined both walls in the hallway.

“
Look at the singles,” she
said. He looked at her. “Go on.”

He didn’t move. She pushed him toward the
wall.

“
What am I looking at?” he
asked.

“
What are these songs
about?” she nodded toward the wall.

He looked at her and looked at the wall.

“
Just look at them,” she
said. “I’m going to make some tea.”

Tanesha went into the kitchen. The tea pot
was already warm from the cup she’d made when they got home. She
took out a chamomile tea bag and her favorite mug. She had just
poured the hot water when he appeared.

“
They’re songs about you,”
he said.

“
About us,” she
said.

“
And?”

“
We are your creative
power,” Tanesha said.

Putting her tea mug up to her lips, she
watched the thought work across his face.

“
I’ve been fighting
against myself, the source of my own strength,” he said.

“
How many songs have you
written since I’ve been staying here?” she asked.

“
About thirty,” he
said.

“
That seems like a lot.”
She wasn’t sure if it was the drugs that addled his brain or that
he literally didn’t get it. He gave her a blank stare. “Is it
normal for you to write so much?”

“
No but I’m
not…”

“
And why aren’t
you?”

His eyes blinked. He was silent so long she
wondered if he was having a stroke.

“
You do this to me,” he
said.

“
We have a power, a
strength that we can only access through each other,” she
said.

“
Oh.”

“
Imagine what you could do
if you really committed here, to us,” she said. “You think about
it. I’m going to take a bath to wash some of this man off
me.”

Carrying her tea, Tanesha walked around him
to the bathroom. She filled the tub with the bubblegum bubbles Katy
had given her for her birthday. She was just getting settled when
he came in.

“
You’re right,” he said.
“I’m not as successful as I could be because I don’t have
us.”

“
Of course,” she said.
“What are you going to do about it?”

“
I’m going to learn to
stop fighting my commitment to you and us,” he said. “I left a
message for my therapist saying I want to talk about this so I
don’t forget or chicken out.”

Tanesha nodded. Lost in thought, he stood by
the side of the tub.

“
Are you coming
in?”

“
You’ll just get more man
on you,” he said.

“
Maybe I just want some
more of that power that comes through you,” Tanesha
smiled.

Shaking his head at her, he joined her in
the tub.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday early morning – 2:45 A.M.

“
Finally,” Ava said when
she saw Seth at the entrance to her lab. She ran to let him in.
They hugged.

“
I have a few things to
finish,” Ava said.

“
No problem.” Using one
cane, Seth followed her to her lab bench. “Why is your door
locked?”

Ava was cataloging a rack of test tubes in
front of her.

“
Too many visitors,”
Nelson said.

“
You had visitors in the
lab?” Seth asked.

“
No one likes the fact
that the great Magic O’Malley quit.” Fran pulled her jacket on to
leave. “They’re blaming our Ava.”

“
They are?” Seth
asked.

“
The poor girl has been
inundated with bitchy policemen whining about your resignation. The
temp who’s taking Leslie’s place while she’s on maternity leave
lasted an hour tonight.”