Mending the Soul (4 page)

"Speak for yourself."  Jenna said.  "As long as I feel younger, I could care less how old I actually am.  I'm actually happy to be getting older."

Vanessa looked at her as if she had sprouted three heads.  "You are a sick, sick woman!"

Jenna and Nicholas both laughed and Vanessa started to turn a little bit red, thinking that Nick and Jenna were laughing at her.  She was getting a little annoyed at Jenna for making her look bad in front of Nicholas.  If Jenna kept doing that, Vanessa would never have a shot with him.

"Well, I better run.  It's been fun, but I have a ton of things to do before my date tonight."  Vanessa told them, slipping it in about her date to try to make Nicholas jealous.

"Well, have fun.  Thanks for coming, and thanks for storing the puppy at your house until the party.  Hope you get lucky tonight."  Jenna said.

"Yeah, but have mercy on the poor guy."  Nick teased.

"Thanks, I think."  Vanessa said and walked back out front, got into her car and left.

Nicholas gave a questioning look to Jenna after Vanessa had left.  "I think Nessa has a little crush on you!"  Jenna teased in a sing-song voice.

"Too bad for her.  I'm not looking for anyone to have a crush on me, or anything else for that matter.  I'm perfectly content the way things are now."  Nick told her.

"I agree.  Just because I don't think I'm ever going to date again after what Kyle did to me, Vanessa makes it sound like I'm committing a serious crime.  As much as I love the girl, you'd be wise to stay away from her.  She's a great friend, but bad news for any guy in her sights."  Jenna warned.

"Thanks for the warning."  Nicholas said.  He looked at his watch, noticing that the sun was starting to set.  "The kids' parents should be starting to pick their kids up soon."

"Yeah, then a few of them will be spending the night, just the ones from his old school though.  He wants to spend a little more time with them.  Hopefully they'll get tired at some point, and with any luck I'll get at least a little sleep tonight."  Jenna remembered.  "Oh, then there's the matter of the puppy.  His first night away from his mommy, I'm sure he'll cry all night.  Oh boy, I'm really in for it tonight, huh?"

"Lucky you!  Sounds like loads of fun!"  Nick joked.

"Hey, thanks for all your help with this party.  I really appreciate it.  You've been a great friend to me since we moved here."  Jenna told him.

"Well, you've helped me a lot too.  Not only with Emma, but I'm not quite in that funk that I used to be in."  Nick smiled at her.

Parents finally started showing up, and Colby thanked each kid before they left.  Four little boys, Emma and Colby were the only ones left at the party.  The four boys were staying with Colby for the night, and their parents were going to pick them up in the morning.

As darkness fell, Nicholas and Emma headed home, and the five boys and Jenna headed into the house.  The kids went to Colby's room to play on his Gamecube, while Jenna got the dog situated in the living room, with its cage and a small bed.  She sat down on the couch to watch TV for a while.  At 11:00, when she could no longer keep her eyes open, Jenna went to Colby's room and told the boys it was time for bed, then headed to her room.  She fell fast asleep.

The next morning, Jenna was up early taking care of the puppy.  She had even gotten up a few times in the middle of the night to take him out.  After the dog was taken care of, she began making a big batch of chocolate chip pancakes for the boys.  When they were all cooked, Jenna went and woke the boys up.

After breakfast, the boys were all picked up, leaving Jenna and Colby all alone.  "So, did you have fun?"  Jenna asked him.

"Yeah, it was so cool.  Thank you for the party and for my puppy."  Colby said.

"So, do you have a name for him yet?"

"Well, I was thinking.  Can I name him Jeter after my favorite Yankee?"  Colby asked.

"If that's what you want to name him, then that's his name."  Jenna told Colby.

"Cool."  He said and went to find the puppy in the living room.  "Come here Jeter!  Let's go outside."  Colby called out.  The puppy sat on the floor looking up at him and cocked his head to the side.  Colby ran outside and Jeter followed him.

Finally, Jenna had a little peace and quiet, at least for now.

A few months later, Jenna sat on her back deck after getting home from a long week at work.  She was watching Colby and Emma playing catch, enjoying the nice July weather.  When the phone rang, Jenna looked at the caller ID.

Before answering the phone, Jenna yelled for Colby and Emma to go to Colby's room and play his Gamecube or something.  She didn't want them to be around for this phone call.  As soon as the kids were inside, Jenna answered the phone.

"Hi, Jenna?"  The man asked.

"You should know the sound of my voice, we were married for a while."  Jenna answered him coldly.  "But then, with all the sluts you went around with, I'm not surprised if you can't remember me that well."

"You know, I didn't call to be harassed by you."  Kyle told her.

"Well then, enlighten me.  Why did you call?"

"I was just calling to see how you were doing.  See how everything has been for you.  I miss you."  Kyle said, trying to turn on the charm.

"Maybe you should forget how I am and ask about your son.  You haven't called to talk to him or ask to see him since I kicked your sorry ass out.  You didn't even call him on his birthday!  What is wrong with you!?"  Jenna cried incredulously.

"Oh, I missed his birthday?  It was last week, right?"  Kyle asked nonchalantly.

"No you jackass, it was March 20th.  God, you are such a fucking moron.  Colby is so much better off without you in his life, don't even bother asking to see him."  Jenna yelled.

"Well, that's what I was calling about.  I don't really want to see him.  He's really more of a bother than anything, and I'm giving up all of my parental rights to him.  Because of that, I wanted to ask if it would be ok for me to stop paying child support for him."  Kyle said.

"Are you on something?"  Jenna shouted.  "What makes you think that you don't have any obligation to your child?  I didn't make him alone Kyle!  I think you know that.  He is your son and your responsibility, even though you don't want him!  You try to stop paying child support and I'll have your ass back in court so fast your head will spin, do you hear me ass hole?"

"Why do you have to be such a bitch about everything Jenna?  You have plenty of money without getting the child support."  Kyle started to get mad.

"You know what, you're the only bitch here Kyle.  Yes, I have plenty of money, but that's beside the point.  All of that money you send, it goes right into an account for Colby for when he turns 18.  He has a right to that money, so don't even think about taking it away from him."  Jenna was furious.

"Well darling, we'll just see then won't we?"  Kyle said sarcastically and Jenna hung up on him.

"Argh!"  Jenna growled.  She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.  She turned around to find Nicholas standing there with a concerned look on his face.  He kneeled down beside her and took her hand in his.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation."  Nicholas told her.  "Is there anything I can help with?"

"No, it was just that bastard.  He didn't even have a clue that he missed Colby's birthday, months ago.  Now he wants to take away his child support?  He said we don't need it anyways because I have plenty of money.  Doesn't he understand that's not the point?  How can he be so insensitive and heartless?  This is his own flesh and blood that we're talking about!"  She exclaimed.

"It's beyond me how he can act that way about his own son."  Nicholas told her.

"What a perfect end to a perfect week!"  Jenna said as she began to sob.  "This was the worst week at work, everything that could go wrong, did.  Now I have to deal with Kyle's bull shit!  I'm losing my mind!"

"Hey, it'll all work out.  You have the whole weekend off, so don't even think about work.  And Kyle?  Well, I wouldn't worry much about him.  He can't take the support away, and until he does something, I'd just push it out of your mind.  Don't worry about what may happen, just concentrate on what's happening right now."   Nick said and softly wiped away the tears from her face.  "Hey, I've got a great idea.  Some of my friends are going out tonight and asked me if I wanted to go, but I turned them down.  How about you and I take them up on the offer and spend a night out on the town?  We can go out, have a nice dinner, a few too many drinks, and tons of dancing?"

"I don't know.  I haven't been out in forever, and it sounds good, but I don't want to be bad company for you."  Jenna said hesitantly.

"I'm not taking no for an answer.  Besides, with my friends, they won't let you have a bad time."  Nick said with a smile.  "So, go get ready, I'll call a babysitter and my friends, and I'll be back in an hour.  Is that enough time for you to get ready?"

"Fine.  An hour sounds like enough time."  She got up out of the chair and headed to the door to go inside.  Nicholas got up and started to walk to his house.  Jenna turned around before she went in and said, "Hey Nicholas?"  He turned around and looked at her.  "Thanks."

"Anytime!"  He smiled, then finished his walk back to his house and disappeared inside.

Jenna ran in to her house and headed right for Colby's bedroom.  "Hey guys, Emma's dad and I are going to go out for a little while, so you're going to have a babysitter tonight.  Be on your best behavior, and if you're really good, we'll go to the arcade tomorrow, sound good?"  Jenna asked.

Both kids got excited and jumped up and down.  They were chanting "Ar-cade!  Ar-cade!"

"I'm guessing this is an agreeable situation then!  Ok, I have to go get ready, the babysitter will be here in less than an hour."  She told them.  "In bed by 9:30, Emma, you can spend the night if you want, or your dad can come get you and bring you home when we get home."

Jenna turned and ran to her own room.  She scoured her closet looking for an appropriate outfit to wear, not quite sure what would be best for the night.  She settled on a pair of tight black hip-hugger dress pants and a wine colored satin tank top with spaghetti straps.

After choosing her outfit, she took a quick shower, then started on her hair.  Instead of wearing it in her normal waves, Jenna took out a straightening iron and worked all the waves out.  As soon as her hair was straight and sleek, Jenna worked on her makeup, putting on a little more than her normal eyeliner and mascara.  She applied some dark eye shadow and a soft colored lipstick.

Just as she was finishing, the doorbell rang.  She heard Colby and Jenna running to answer it, which gave her just enough time to put on her perfume, Glamorous by Ralph Lauren, and her shoes, black strappy dress sandals.  She gave one last look in the full-length mirror and headed out of her bedroom.

When she got downstairs, she saw that they babysitter was the one who had arrived.  She gave the girl all the instructions and wrote down her cell phone number and Nicholas' cell number and put them near the phone.  Jenna ordered a pizza for them and gave the babysitter the money to pay the delivery guy when he got there.

When there was a knock at the back door, Jenna went over to answer it.  Nicholas stood there in shock when the door opened.  "Hi, I'm looking for my friend Jenna?  We're going out tonight, have you seen her?"  He asked when he finally was able to speak.

"Ha-ha!  You're funny."  She said and pulled him in.  Jenna had to admit, he looked so hot tonight, wearing a royal blue button down shirt and nice black pants.  He even smelled great…almost made Jenna want to jump him!

"Wow, you definitely don't look like you're the mother of an eight year old little boy.  You look really hot tonight!"  Nicholas said, still shocked at her appearance.  "I never would have guessed that body was hidden under all those clothes you usually wear!"

Jenna blushed and gave a small laugh.  "Thanks, I think.  You look pretty hot yourself!"

"Well, let's go.  Did you leave my number for the babysitter?"  Nick asked.  Jenna nodded.  They went over and said goodbye to their kids and headed next door to Nicholas' Xterra.  Nick opened her door for her, like a perfect gentleman, and helped her into the seat.

"I can see where Emma gets her manners from."  Jenna smiled.

Nick walked to the driver's side and got in the SUV.  "Thanks.  So, we're going to meet everyone at this Italian restaurant, is that ok with you?"

"Mmm, sounds great!  Good thing I'm not kissing anyone tonight…I can eat all the garlic I want!"  Jenna said.

"Yeah, but don't forget, I have to share a ride with you.  You're going to kill me with that smell, aren't you?"  He teased.

'You're killing me with the smell of your cologne, but not in the way you're talking about.  God, it's such a turn on.  Now I know why guys call cologne "panty droppers".'  Jenna thought.  "Ok, I guess I'll go easy on the garlic for you.  So, how many people are going to be there?"

"Well, probably between 5 and 10 of my friends.  Only two of them have girlfriends, and the rest are always on the prowl, so let me know if any of them bother you."  Nicholas told her.