Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (60 page)

Aida opened the side door of the van.  Joey let go of Brandy’s hand and let Mrs. Perry help him into the van.  He hugged the three children in the car seats saying goodbye to children that she heard her son call Bryan, Ruth, and Kirk.  The children all looked healthy and normal. Brandy briefly wondered why any of them were considered “special needs” as her mother had called them, but told herself it was none of her business.

Then Aida Perry helped Joey out of the van and took him around to the drivers’ side window, lifting him up so he could hug the older man that sat behind the wheel.  “Bye Mr. Tom,” she heard her son say.  “I love you.”

“Goodbye Joey,” Tom Perry said, and his voice sounded a little rough.  Brandy wondered if the man was fighting tears himself and it was suddenly even harder to fight her own.  “I love you too.”

Aida Perry brought Joey back around to the other side of the van and knelt down to his level to hug him.  “Goodbye Joey.  I love you.  Be good for your Mommy, okay?”

“I love you Mama Aida.  I’ll be good.  Bye.”

Tears had started to fall down the older woman’s face.  Brandy felt helpless.  Aida wiped her face and said “I’m sorry Brandy.  I know that he’ll be fine with you. . . I just. . .”

Brandy squeezed her hand. “I know.”  She felt tears start to fall down her own face.  “Thank you for taking care of him for me.  I can never thank you enough for that.”

“You’re welcome.  If you ever need anything, just call us.  We would appreciate a picture now and then if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.”

“I’m hungry Mommy.”

“Okay.”

Aida Perry turned towards the van.  Brandy took her son’s hand and went back with him to the room where Gabe waited.  When they were inside, before Brandy could say anything, Joey looked up at Gabe with an imploring pair of brown eyes and said, “Are you my new Dad?”

Gabe looked Joey in the eye.  Brandy was afraid for a minute of what he was going to say, but he merely said “No, buddy.  I’m not.  Your new Dad is at work right now.  He drives a big truck.  I bet that if you ask him really nice he might take you for a ride in it sometime.”

“Really?”

“Yep.  I do have a son about your age though.  Would you like to see a picture?”

“Okay.”

Gabe removed his wallet from the pocket of his jeans and flipped his wallet open.  He showed Joey a picture of Christian first and then Jessa.  “That’s my son’s baby sister.  Did you know that you’re going to have a baby brother or sister too?”

“Yeah.  Mama Aida told me.  She said that there’s a baby growing in my Mom’s belly right now, just like I did.”

“That’s right Joey.”

“Do you have a dog?”

Gabe laughed.  “No.  My wife is allergic to them.”

“What’s a-ll-er-gic?”

Listening to her son sound the word out, Brandy felt very proud.  Joey seemed very smart.  While she hadn’t had much to do with raising him so far, she would from now on and he had come from her, she thought.

Joey listened patiently to Gabe while he explained what an allergy was, and then said “I’m hungry.”

“Okay.  Mommy, are you ready to go eat?”

She gave Gabe a dirty look. “Yes.”

Gabe smiled at her.  “Okay.  We’ll go eat then.  You can take Joey out to the truck and get him in Christian’s car seat while I check out.  Don’t worry about the bags.  I’ll bring them in a minute.”

Gabe handed her his keys.  She took Joey’s hand and led him out to his truck.  She strapped Joey into the car seat.  She then decided to sit with him instead of up front with Gabe, even though she was a little cramped because she was stuck between the car seat that Joey was in and the infant seat on the other side.

Gabe came out a few minutes later.  She handed him the keys to unlock the back of the truck.  He had everything stowed away quickly and got into the driver’s seat.  “You’re not going to keep me company Mommy?” He met her eyes in the rearview mirror.

“I think I’d rather keep my son company, thank you.”

Gabe laughed, and turned to Joey.  “Where do you want to eat?”

Joey named a fast food restaurant that had a play place that he had seen on the way into town with the Perrys.  Brandy wasn’t thrilled about eating there, but figured she’d have to get used to it, since she was sure Joey would be able to talk her into taking him at least every once in a while.

Watching Gabe run around and play with her son while they were at the restaurant gave her a really weird feeling.  Gabe seemed like he was a really good father, and Joey really seemed to like him.  She wondered how such a loving father could stand to be away from his children so often by choice.

Joey cried when they pulled out of town because he had forgotten his favorite toy car at the Perry’s house and wanted to go get it.  When Gabe gently explained to him that they couldn’t he became almost inconsolable.  Brandy became worried about him again, until he calmed down when she told him that she’d take him to get any car he wanted when they got home and promised him that Rich would give him a ride in his big truck as soon as he could.  She didn’t like the feeling that she was bribing her son, but he quieted down and went to sleep soon after. 

She was sure that Joey must have plenty of confused feelings.  She wanted to make his sudden change in living arrangements as smooth as she possibly could.

After Joey went to sleep, Gabe tried to talk to her.  He was trying to convince her to set up a play date for Joey with his son but Brandy didn’t want Joey to have anything to do with Gabe’s wife or some nameless nanny.

When she kept putting him off, Gabe finally left her alone and turned the radio up a touch, finally choosing to leave her alone with her own thoughts.  Since she hadn’t slept well the night before, she fell asleep and didn’t wake up until Gabe pulled up in front of her house several hours later.

Joey was awake and chatting away with Gabe.  She felt a stab of panic, wondering what they were talking about, but calmed down when she realized that they were talking about cars, and the preschool that Gabe’s son Christian went to.

She handed Gabe her house key, and he took their bags into the house.  She crossed her lawn, Joey’s hand in hers, and approached Brenda, who was standing on her porch smoking a cigarette.

Brenda quickly put out her cigarette and said “Hi Brandy. Rich told me that you had gotten custody of your son back.  That’s so wonderful.  And this little guy must be Joey, huh?  Hi, Joey.  I’m Brenda, you and your Mommy’s neighbor.”

“Hi.  Do you have a dog?”

Brenda laughed.  “Yes, I do.  My kids convinced me to let them have a puppy.”

“Can I see it?”

“If it’s okay with your Mommy, sure.”

Brandy nodded, and let Brenda take Joey into the house.  Gabe came up the porch steps and said “His room’s all set up.  I hope he likes it.”

“I’m sure he will, if he’s anything like your son.  Gabe, how can you stand to be away from your kids so much?”

“It’s not easy Brandy.  Sometimes I wonder about the choices I make.  I love my children more than they will ever know, but it’s like there’s a piece of me missing.  I feel selfish because I take so much time away from them to try to fill it, but I can’t help myself.  If Leslie loved me the way I love her, our children wouldn’t have such an absent father.  Alas, I don’t believe that Leslie will ever love me like that.  I don’t think she knows how.”

“You’re a romantic Gabe.  A perverted romantic, but a romantic all the same.”

Gabe laughed.  “I suppose I am Brandy.  Your son will be fine.  It might take a while for him to get adjusted to living with you and Rich.  But there will come a day when he will stop asking about the Perrys, and stop thinking about them.  He will think of no one else as his mother but you, and eventually Rich, as his father, I’m sure.”

“Thank you.  For finally admitting that Rich will stick by me.”

“You can still make the choice to walk away with me at any time.”

She made a face at him and he chuckled. “The piece of paper that I tore up was the birth certificate that named me as Joey’s father by the way.”

“Thank you.  For everything.”

“And thank you.  I wish that our night together had brought us back together but we can’t always have everything now can we?  Have a good night Brandy.”

“You too, Gabe.”

She felt conflicting emotions as he walked away.  She wondered how Gabe could be such a strange mix of caring and thoughtful, put together with perverted, and manipulative.  She held back a sigh as she knocked and then went in her neighbor’s house, not sure that she wanted to know.

Joey had such a good time playing with the puppy that Brenda convinced Brandy to let him stay for dinner.  When she finally had to drag him away from the puppy he whined for a while, but calmed down when she promised to take him to replace his car the following morning.

When she stepped into Joey’s room, she almost cried again.  Gabe had thought of everything.  Joey’s bed was a racecar with sheets and a comforter that matched and had a superhero on them.  There was a huge toy box in the corner, and both the new dresser and closet were filled with little boys’ clothes.  There were several pairs of shoes in different styles, which she found fit her son’s feet perfectly.  There was a small plastic bookshelf in the corner too. 

There was no nightlight though.  That’s what finally convinced Brandy to relent and let Joey sleep with her that night after she had given him his bath.  Rich called half an hour after Joey had fallen asleep.  She took her phone out into the living room shutting the bedroom door softly behind her.

“Hi Rich.”

“Hey baby.  I should be home early tomorrow afternoon.  I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, believe me.”

Rich paused and she heard him light a cigarette.  “Sorry.  I know that I’ve got to quit smoking, but it sounded really good.”

“Yeah, I know.  I smoked two last night myself.  Sorry.”

“It’s okay.  The baby’s going to be born healthy as a horse.  So um, how was your night last night?”

“Ugh.  It wasn’t as bad as it could have been I guess.  But I couldn’t help thinking the whole time I was with him that I don’t want another man to touch me like that ever again.  You’re my man Rich, and I love you, forever.”

“Damned right baby.  Not just til’ death do us part, but forever.  How’s Joey?”

“He seems okay most of the time.  He really wants a dog, played with Brenda’s new puppy for hours tonight.”

Rich laughed.  “We’ll get him one as soon as we move.”

“Gabe set up his room.  It’s so nice, but he’s asleep in our bed right now.  The only thing Gabe forgot was a night light.  I guess his son doesn’t sleep with one.  I feel really bad letting Gabe buy him all that stuff.  I let him buy me some maternity clothes today too.”

“It’s okay sweetheart.  We’ll get Joey new stuff when we can.  I don’t want to take away everything that Gabe got him right away though.  I don’t want to make this any harder on him than it has to be.”

“I know.  Do you really think he’ll be okay Rich?  He seemed so sad when he left the Perrys.”

“He’ll be used to living with us before you know it.  I’d better let you go.  I need to get some sleep.  It was really hard to sleep last night thinking of you with Gabe.”

“It was hard for me too.  I kept waking up.  When I realized it wasn’t you lying in bed beside me, it was so hard for me to get back to sleep.”

“It’ll only be my ugly mug that you wake up beside from now on.”

“Ugly mug.  It turns my insides to mush just thinking about that ‘ugly mug’ of yours Rich.”

“You’re pretty damned fine yourself baby.  Goodnight Brandy.  I love you.”

“I love you too, Rich.  Goodnight.”

She hung up her phone and then went back to the bedroom, changing her clothes and slipping into bed beside her son.  She watched him sleep for a while and the joy of having her son in her life after so long was almost enough to bring her to tears again.

She shook her head at herself and tried to tell herself that it was just her already overactive pregnancy hormones.

Chapter 9

She slept better that night and was up before Joey in the morning.  She made herself a pot of decaf coffee and was sitting at the table drinking a cup when he came out of the bedroom.  She asked him what he wanted for breakfast.  When he said cereal she almost panicked.  Neither she nor Rich ate cereal, so they didn’t have any.  But when she went to the cupboard to see if there was something else she could feed him, there were several boxes of cereal there.  Both the cupboards and fridge were packed full of food.  She had to silently thank Gabe again, because neither she nor Rich ate much and they never had many groceries in the house.

After breakfast Brandy got them both dressed.  They went to a local department store in search of a suitable replacement for the car that Joey had forgotten at the Perrys.  She ended up letting him pick out three and a stuffed tiger.  One of the cars was remote control.  She thought it was probably too expensive for a four year old, but Joey seemed thrilled with it, so she let him have it.

When Rich got home that afternoon he took both Joey and Brandy for a ride in his truck.  Joey was as happy as can be, and even Brandy was a little excited because she’d never ridden in a rig before. 

After Rich dropped the truck off, they strapped the car seat that had been in Joey’s room into Rich’s pickup and ran errands until early evening.  Their first stop was at a local daycare that Brandy wasn’t thrilled leaving her son at, but she knew she didn’t have much choice with.  She and Rich’s shifts overlapped and she didn’t feel right leaving Joey with Brenda all the time, though the older woman had offered to watch him. 

Their second stop was at the jewelry store which had called and said that Brandy’s ring was ready.  She was excited, but her excitement left her when she realized that they had gotten the setting wrong and they had to send it back in.

After their other errands were finished, Joey talked Rich into taking them to a fast food restaurant.  Again Brandy wasn’t thrilled, but she let them get away with it because Joey seemed to be in a good mood and seemed to really like Rich.

The first time she dropped Joey at daycare she cried a little when she went out to her car.  She’d never realized that it was possible to love someone so much until first Rich had come into her life, and then by the twist of fate that was Gabe, had been lucky enough to have Joey come back into it.

Gabe didn’t call her much at all anymore, and seemed content to torment Chloe, who he met after clean up every night that Brandy worked with her.  But it was less than two weeks later when Gabe started sitting outside their house.  Brandy was beginning to wonder again if Gabe would ever truly let her go.

After the second morning in a row when Brandy got up and saw that Gabe’s truck was sitting in the driveway of the house across from them, she knew she couldn’t take it anymore.  She’d thought at first that he’d left it there to piss them off, but she could see his blonde head sitting against the headrest in the early morning light as she pushed the curtain aside.  Yesterday she’d try to be sneaky about it so he wouldn’t see her, but today she didn’t give a shit if he saw her she thought.  He saw her looking at him and waved.  She was beginning to wonder if his kids knew they had a father.

Rich came out of the bedroom.  “You’re up early babe.  Is Joey kicking you in his sleep again?”

Brandy sighed.  “No.”

She’d thought that her son would be able to start sleeping in his room after the first few nights with them, and after the three different night lights they’d bought him, but he was still firmly adamant about lying between her and Rich at night.  She was worried about the poor kid.

It had been two weeks and he still talked about Mama Aida and Mr. Tom.  She was beginning to worry that taking her child from the only family that he’d known in the four years that he’d been alive and bringing him here was going to scar him for life.  Rich thought she was being ridiculous.  That it would just take him a little time to adjust to living with them, but Brandy was secretly more scared than she wanted to admit that she was going to mess her son up more than she would have if she’d kept him in the first place and continued her wild ways.

“So what is it babe?” 

He looked to where she was standing at the window and said “Oh.  He’s out there again isn’t he?”

“Yes.  I think he’s been out there all night again.”

“He was out there all night the night before too.  I was the one that Joey decided to kick so I was up three or four times, and he was sitting out there every time.  Yesterday he was out there all evening too.  He was there when we got home.”

“Did Joey see him?  I don’t want him to be any more confused than he already is.  He already asked Gabe if he was his Dad.”

“He’s gonna be okay darlin’.  He even called me Dad last night instead of Mr. Rich.”

“I’m glad, but I’m just so afraid that I did the wrong thing.”

Rich snorted.  “You weren’t the one that did this.  Gabe did it.  You would never have thought that it was possible to buy your son back from the people that adopted him.”

“I love him so much Rich.  I wish I’d never let my parents put him up for adoption.  Then again, I don’t think I was really ready to care of him before.  I’m so confused and feel like I’m taking everyone around me with me.  I want us to be a family.  A real family.”

“We will be Brandy.  I already talked to Alton Bruce.  He said that there’s a real good child psychologist up there where we’re gonna be living.  They said that I can put Joey on my health insurance after the adoption is final so it should be covered other than the first few sessions.  It’s gonna be okay baby.  I promise.”

“I’m so scared though Rich.  What if Joey isn’t okay?  What if he grows up to hate us for taking him away from the Perrys?”

“You’re his mother.  I didn’t meet my real mom until I was twenty-five.  Even though I loved my adoptive parents because they were good people and did the best they could with me, there was always something missing in my life.  When I met my mom for the first time, it was like coming home.  She felt it too.  It’s a very strong connection.  Joey feels it.  He adores you. But sometimes, in almost the same way, I feel like sometimes adoption is meant to be, too.  Most of the time I think that the biological parents should raise their own children if at all possible.  But it feels like I was meant to be Joey’s Dad.  And the father of the baby too, whether it’s my natural child or not.  Heck, Joey likes me, though I don’t know why.”

Brandy smiled.  “You’re so sweet Rich.  He does like you, doesn’t he?”

“He does.  We had a great time drawing all over the wall with those crayons that you bought him for the tub, had car races all over the living room floor.  I even got him to eat a few bites of vegetables last night.”

Brandy made a face.  “He gets that from me.  I don’t like vegetables either.  Rich what if Gabe doesn’t stop this?  What if he never leaves me alone?  I don’t think I can take it much longer.”

“Has he called you or bothered you at work?”

“No.  But it bugs the crap out of me knowing that he’s sitting out there all night watching our house, especially since Joey’s here.  He could come in anytime he wanted.  You know that he’s still got a key.”

“So we’ll change the locks.”

“Rich, I want to get out of here. I still have quite a bit of money saved up from when he was giving me money all the time.  I wanted to see how far I could push him before he’d stop giving me money, and he never did.  Let’s move now instead of next month.  I’m sure we have enough for a down payment on a house.  I don’t want Joey to get too settled here, and then to have to pick up and move and traumatize him again anyway.  Your transfer is already going through, your new job.  What difference will it make if we go up there a little earlier than planned?  They have short routes up there too, don’t they?  I’m sure they can put you in one until you really go on the road.”

“I’m sure they probably could Brandy.  But, are you sure?”

“Yes.  I have to know that he’s going to stop this when we leave town.   It would be better if I could know for sure that he’s not going to be there when you’re still going to be coming home to
us every night.  If he’s going to show up when you’re out on the road for days or even weeks at a time I’ll never feel safe.”

“Okay darlin’.  I’ll call Alton Bruce in a couple hours, make sure that I can get an in town route up there for sure after my vacation.”

“I forgot that your vacation starts today.”

“Yep.  My first real one in the five years that I’ve worked there.  So when do you want to leave?”

“Today.  Well, maybe tomorrow.  We’d have to pack everything and rent a u-haul. Do you think you could look at real estate listings online so that maybe we could have an idea of houses to look at when we get there?  I don’t want to have to stay in a motel with Joey too long.  You know how much he’s been bugging us to get a dog.  I guess the Perrys had all kinds of pets.”

“We’ll get him a dog babe.  Every kid should grow up with a dog.  Don’t you want to at least give Gabe your two weeks’ notice?”

She laughed.  “After all Gabe’s done to me I hardly think that he deserves a notice.  You said your credit is good so as long as we have the down payment; we shouldn’t have too much trouble buying a house, right?”

“My credit is perfect.  I’ll look at some houses now.  I finally got my laptop back from the repair shop last night.  Are you sure about this Brandy?”

“Yes.   I have thousands of dollars saved from what Gabe gave me and from not having to pay rent.  I know you still have most of your bonus left from work even though you bought me that expensive engagement ring.  We’ll be fine.”

“Which reminds me.” He went over to the drawer of his desk.  “I forgot to give you this last night since you were so tired when you got home.”  He pulled out a velvet covered box and popped it open, pulling her engagement ring out.  “They finally got it back and it’s actually right this time.”

She held out her hand and he slipped it onto her finger.  It really was beautiful she thought. 

“Thank you.  I love you Rich.”

“I love you too.  Do you still want to get married on the way out of town?  There’s that beautiful chapel in Welton.”

“I would be proud to be your wife Rich.  The sooner, the better.”

“Great.  You’ve made me so happy Brandy.  I never thought you’d go out with me, and here we are with a family.”

“You must be the most wonderful man on Earth Rich.  You didn’t blink an eye when I told you that I had a son at seventeen that my parents put up for adoption.  You didn’t blink an eye when I told you that it’s very possible that the child I’m carrying is most likely another man’s.  You didn’t even blink an eye when I told you I was bringing Joey to live with us, even though it meant that I had to spend a night with Gabe.  Sometimes I think you’re too good to be true.”

“I love you Brandy.  Before I met you I didn’t think that real love existed.  When most girls look at me they see a stoned truck driver who’s somehow managed to pass random drug tests and keep his job after five years.  They see a guy with long hair and piercings and think that I might be okay to spend the night with, but not a lifetime.  But you’re different.  You always saw past that.”

“Probably because I got tired of people looking at me as an ex junkie that used to go out with a drug dealer, or just another girl who was sleeping with Gabe.  No, really.  I stopped looking at people on the surface after my parents made me get an abortion.  It kinda makes you look at life a little differently.  How do you pass random drug tests?”

Rich grinned.  “I haven’t exactly passed all of them.  I flunked the first couple pretty hard.  Now Alton gives me a heads up when there’s a ‘random’ test coming.  He doesn’t mind if I smoke a little weed as long as I don’t come to work stoned or do it at work, and can still do my job.  His wife grows a few plants, smokes a lot herself.  She gets migraines.”

“You quit didn’t you?”

He looked guilty.  “I took a couple hits after Joey went to bed last night but it was the last of my stash.  I won’t buy anymore.”

“I think it might be okay when the kids are a little bit older, but not now.”

“When they’re older?  Darlin,’ I plan on having at least three more with you.”

“Five kids Rich?  Really?”

He laughed.  “I love kids.  I’ve always wanted a big family.  But really, if you don’t want to have that many, I don’t care.  You’re so beautiful when you’re pregnant.”

“I don’t feel beautiful.  I’ve already gained five pounds.”

“You’ll always be beautiful to me.”

“You’re so sweet.  Do you think we have time for a quickie before Joey wakes up?”

“He’s never up before nine babe.  I think we have time for a long one.”

“Good,” she said and let him lead her to the couch.

It was a few minutes after nine by the time they had made love and both showered.  Sure enough Joey made his way out of bed and to the bathroom a short time later.  She made Joey breakfast while Rich looked up houses online.

Houses were relatively well priced where they were moving.  They were able to find several that they thought they would be able to afford the payments on when Rich used an online mortgage calculator.

Joey asked about a dog again.  Brandy promised him that they would look for one as soon as they moved into their new house.  Rich promised him that he could have a kitten too, which she made a face at because she had never liked cats.  But Joey seemed happy with the idea so she let it go.  Rich promised he would clean up after it even buy one of the expensive self-cleaning litter boxes so she wouldn’t have to worry about it when he wasn’t home later in her pregnancy.