The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) (2 page)

The three children suddenly burst into the room, their
dog Chère trailing behind them. Chère walked slowly over to Maggie and lay down
with great effort on the floor next to her. Maggie reached down to pat her
head.

“God Zak, she’s really starting to look old. Her muzzle
is all white and she must have arthritis. She’s definitely not as spry as she
used to be.”

“Chère’s eleven now Maggie, that’s pretty old for a
large dog. But she’s hanging in there.”

“How’s Monroe doing?”

“He’s fine, he likes to hang out in the studio and sleep
on the rug where the sun shines in through the window.”

Maggie looked sad for a moment.

“I miss them. I guess they wouldn’t have liked moving to
Nashville though.”

“Maggie, we can get some pets if you want,” Tucker
suggested.

“Not now, Tucker. We’re touring too much. Maybe a little
later though. It’s nice having a dog and a cat in the house.”

Suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder. Maggie
jumped visibly and looked uneasy. Tucker reached over and held her hand. Ever
since she had been struck by lightning at the Grey Falcon Bluegrass Festival,
Maggie was terrified of thunderstorms. Jake ran up to her and gestured that he
wanted to sit in her lap. Maggie was happy for the distraction, and hugged her
young son close to her.

The rain let loose in a torrent just as a car came down
the driveway and parked in front of the house. It was raining so hard that they
couldn’t see who got out of the car. The door to the porch was flung open and a
man rushed inside. He pulled down the hood of his sweatshirt and then everyone
realized that it was Justin. Zak got up out of his seat and hugged his friend.

“It’s good to see you, man. It’s been way too long. What
are you doing home? We had no idea you were coming.”

“Well, the tour was over and I decided I needed to take
some time off. Spencer called and told me that Maggie and Tucker were going to
be in Louisiana to pick up the kids, so I thought I’d surprise everyone.”

“Well, you certainly succeeded, Justin,” Maggie said. She
didn’t know whether she was glad to see him or mad that he had stayed away for
so long.

Justin bent over Maggie and kissed her on the cheek and
then he reached over to shake Tucker’s hand.

“I hear congratulations are in order. Spencer told me
that you two are planning on getting married.”

“Spencer never could keep a secret,” Maggie laughed.

“Hey buddy, do you want something to drink?” Zak asked.

“Some water would be good.”

Zak and Tucker got up and went into the kitchen to get
Justin a glass of water and to check on dinner. Justin sat in the chair next to
Maggie.

“How are you doing Maggie? Has your vision gotten any
better since you were hit by the lightning?”

“Not really Justin. I’ve gotten used to it though. It’s
not that bad.”

There was another crack of thunder and Justin noticed
that Maggie started trembling a little. He reached over to take her hand and
then noticed her engagement ring.

“My god, Maggie. That’s the biggest diamond I’ve ever
seen.”

Maggie laughed and looked a little embarrassed.

“You know Tucker. The flashier, the better as far as
he’s concerned. I don’t even wear it that much because it kind of gets in the
way.”

 There was another flash of lightning followed by more
thunder and Justin held Maggie’s hand even tighter.

“Maggie, the real reason I’m here is that I need to talk
to you about something.”

“What Justin?”

“I’d like to wait until we’re alone if you don’t mind.”

Maggie felt nervous for a minute but answered, “O.k.
Justin, maybe we can go for a walk or something later.”

Zak and Tucker announced from the kitchen that dinner
was ready, so Maggie and Justin and the three kids joined them in the dining
room for some jambalaya.

“Too hot for you, Maggie?” Zak asked and smiled.

Maggie laughed and said “Of course not. I like it, it
makes me feel like I’m home.”

“It’s too hot for me, Mama,” Belle said.

“I’d think you’d be used to your father’s cooking by
now.”

“I think he makes it spicier when you come home,” Belle replied.

“Well, that’s thoughtful of him,” Maggie said laughing.
“He knows I like spicy food. But Tucker, maybe you should take it easy. You
don’t want to have stomach problems later.”

“Yes, Mom,” Tucker said and winked at the kids which
made them laugh.

Everyone sat around the table, eating and catching up.
There was a lot of ground to cover. Justin told them about his new band and his
life in San Francisco. He had just rented a house in Sausalito with views of
the Bay and Angel Island and was looking forward to living in his new digs.
Maggie asked him if he was dating anyone in particular.

“Not really,” he said elusively. “I’ve gone out with
several women, but nothing too serious. There are a lot of beautiful women out
in California. How about you, Maggie and Tucker? When are you getting married?”

“We haven’t set the date yet,” Tucker answered. “We’re
still working out the details.”

“What about you, Zak?” Justin asked. “Spencer said that
you’ve been seeing someone.”

“That’s Sarah,” said Belle. “She’s nice. She used to be
our nanny for a while.”

Zak looked uncomfortable and Justin noticed a brief
shadow pass across Maggie’s face. He decided to change the subject.

 “I saw the article about you in
Time
magazine.
They said you were planning on going on a world tour.”

“They’re making the arrangements now for us to play some
dates in Europe and Japan,” Tucker said. “We’re really looking forward to it.
Maggie is hoping to take some time to go visit her grandmother’s hometown in Sweden. There are some relatives there that she would like to meet.”

“I’m sure you will enjoy it. I had a great time when I
was there,” Justin responded.

“I guess you must have, because you certainly took your
time coming home,” Maggie said.

They finished their meal, and took their dishes into the
kitchen.

“Maggie, why don’t you walk with me over to the studio,”
said Justin. “I’m going to put my suitcase in the apartment since you’re
staying in my house. I have some tapes of my new band that I want to give you.”

“Go ahead,” said Tucker. “Zak and I will finish cleaning
up and get the kids ready for bed.”

Justin took Maggie’s hand and they walked out to the
driveway. It had stopped raining, but there were large puddles everywhere.
Justin put his arm around Maggie’s waist and said “Let me help you avoid these
puddles, Maggie. They’re pretty deep.” Maggie felt like she was having a little
trouble breathing, Justin was so close that she could smell his aftershave. The
five years fell away in an instant, and she knew she was still as attracted to
him as she had been when he played bass in her band.

Justin got his suitcase out of his rental car and then
they walked down the driveway to the studio. They entered the apartment in the
back where Justin planned to stay. He put his worn suitcase on the bed and
unzipped a side pocket and pulled out several cassettes.

“Here are some tapes of me playing with my new band.
You’ll probably like it Maggie, since it’s progressive country/rock. It’s just
the kind of music that we used to play in the early days with the Bayou
Blasters. I heard your recent album with Tucker and I’m not surprised it’s
selling so well, it’s very commercial.”

“Maybe a little too commercial,” Maggie said. “I’m
starting to miss playing bluegrass music. I’ve been talking to Spencer about
getting Little Maggie back together to do another album.”

“I’d be happy to help out if you want me back on bass.”

“O.k., I’ll let you know after we decide what material
we might record. Spencer came to visit me in Nashville and we worked on a few
songs together. Tucker said he thought they were good.”

“Well, I’d certainly trust Tucker’s opinion, Maggie.”

“So what did you want to talk to me about, Justin?”

Maggie thought it was time to stop dancing around the
subject that she knew was hanging over their conversation.

“There’s something I’ve needed to talk to you about for
a long time, Maggie. I was going to come back when I heard that you and Zak
were getting divorced, but then Spencer told me that you had moved in with
Tucker with the kids. You didn’t waste much time.”

“I didn’t want to stay here after I found out that Zak
was having an affair with the nanny. Tucker invited me to stay in his guest
house and then one thing led to another. We’d always been great friends and
then without Zak in the picture, it became a little more.”

Maggie thought she discerned a look of disapproval on
Justin’s face.

“I know you think that Tucker is too old for me and
can’t make me happy, but I am happy Justin.”

“Maggie, only you can decide what’s best for you. Let’s
sit down on the couch for a minute.”

Maggie sat down on the edge of the couch and waited for
Justin to get to the point. Justin reached over and took Maggie’s hand in his.

“Maggie, this is really hard for me to tell you. Do you
remember the last time we slept together at Tucker’s before you went back to
Zak after he finished rehab?”

“Yes, you said you wanted to make love one more time
because you knew that I was going to end our relationship. You said you wanted
something to remember always.”

“Maggie, I know you think that we just made love that
one time, but we made love a second time in the middle of the night while you
were half asleep. I don’t think that you remembered that the next morning.”

“Why are you telling me this Justin?” Maggie had a
nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Maggie, I didn’t use a condom the second time. I think
there’s a chance that I might be Jake’s father.”

 Maggie heard a rushing noise in her ears for a minute.

“Maggie, are you o.k.?”

“Justin, Zak is Jake’s father. We made love the next day
when he came home from rehab and we purposefully tried to conceive a child. Why
didn’t you mention this before?”

“Maggie, I love you and Zak. I didn’t want to do
anything that would hurt your relationship. Since you aren’t together any more,
I thought this would be a good time to determine who Jake’s father is. I
thought we should do this before you get married again.”

Maggie couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Justin
put his arms around her and started kissing her hair gently. Suddenly they
heard the screen door squeak as Tucker entered the building. Justin pulled his
arms away from Maggie.

“What’s going on you two? Why are you crying, darlin’,”
Tucker asked quietly. This only made Maggie cry even harder.

“Oh my god, I don’t think I can tell you,” Maggie
sobbed.

“Honey, you can tell me anything. I don’t want there to
be any secrets between us. You know everything there is to know about me, warts
and all.”

Tucker searched Justin’s eyes, but Justin had a guarded
look on his face.

“It’s up to Maggie to tell you, Tucker,” he said.

Maggie waited for a moment and then said, “Justin just
told me that he thinks that he might be Jake’s father. We slept together at
your guest house the night before I went back to Zak.”

“I always wondered about that,” Tucker said. “I knew
there was something going on between the two of you. I saw you kissing once
through a window when I was walking Belle back to the guest house. So what do
you want to do?”

“I would like to have a paternity test done. If Jake’s
my son, I would like to know that,” Justin answered.

Tucker looked over at Maggie who had tears streaming
down her face.

“I agree with Justin, Maggie. It’s important that we
know who Jake’s father is.”

“We could take Jake over to the hospital in Lafayette,
Maggie. I’m sure they could perform the test there,” Justin suggested.

Tucker walked over to Maggie and took her hand in his.

“Maggie, this isn’t going to change the way I feel about
you. But I think we should get this done before we get married.”

“What about Zak?” Maggie said.

“I think we should wait to tell him until we have a
definitive answer from the hospital. It might turn out that he’s Jake’s father,
and I don’t want to upset him unnecessarily,” Justin responded.

 The three of them walked back to Maggie and Zak’s
house. Zak knew by their somber faces that something had happened.

“What’s going on guys?” he asked.

“Nothing, Zak. We’ll tell you later,” Justin said.

“Well, I just hope that everyone’s o.k.”

Zak could tell by Maggie’s red eyes that she had been
crying but he could tell by her silence that he needed to respect her privacy
at that moment. He knew that she would tell him what was going on when she was
ready.

.

Chapter 3

The next morning, Justin called the hospital
and made arrangements for them to do the paternity testing. They made an
appointment to go into the lab in two days. Both Maggie and Justin anxiously
looked forward to having the issue resolved. In the meantime, they tried to
enjoy their time at home.

 Maggie noticed that the children had all grown a lot
while she had been on tour and decided they all needed to go into town to buy
new sneakers. Tucker borrowed Zak’s van and drove everyone to the shoe store. The
salesman measured everyone’s feet and discovered that Jake needed sneakers two
sizes larger than what he had been wearing. Maggie felt guilty that his feet
had been pinched in his old shoes. Jake seemed to be a lot bigger than Gabriel
was at the same age. Maggie wondered if this was because he was Justin’s son.
Justin was several inches taller than Zak and larger boned. She wasn’t sure
though, because Maggie was tall herself.