The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) (6 page)

“God, I’m really nervous about telling Zak,” Maggie
said.

“Me too,” said Justin.

“Let’s practice the new Little Maggie songs to take our
minds off of things,” Maggie suggested.

Justin picked up an acoustic guitar and Maggie grabbed
the Harmony mandolin. They played the songs that Maggie had written with such
concentration that they were startled when Zak opened the door to the studio.

“Are those the new songs, Maggie? I like them, they must
sound great with a full bluegrass band.”

“I think they’ll sound good with some more work,” Maggie
replied.

Justin looked at Maggie very seriously for a moment and
then turned towards Zak.

“Zak, Maggie and I have something to discuss with you. I
think you might want to sit down for this.”

“Does this have something to do with the practice at
Spencer’s?” Zak asked. “Maggie told me that she’s attracted to you.”

Justin looked at Maggie for a moment.

“No, and she didn’t tell me that. It’s something else,
Zak.”

Zak waited patiently, but the longer it took for Justin
to tell him what was going on, the more nervous he became.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to tell you,”
Justin began.

“Well, we’ve been through a lot together, so it must be
something.”

“Zak, do you remember when Maggie was staying with
Tucker in Nashville when you were going through rehab? She was planning on
asking you for a divorce and then changed her mind when you successfully
completed treatment.”

“Justin, weren’t you also staying at Tucker’s?” Zak
asked.

“Yes,” Justin answered and then paused for a moment.

“I told Maggie then that I was in love with her. We
ended up making love the night before we came to get you in rehab.”

“I told the rehab counselor that I thought there was
something going on between the two of you. He told me that I was being paranoid
because of the detox from the drugs,” Zak said slowly.

“I’m sorry, Zak. I’ve been in love with Maggie since we
first met her in New Orleans. I didn’t want to say anything to anyone because I
didn’t want to hurt you.”

“It’s o.k., Justin. I’ve sort of known all along. Does
Tucker know about this?”

“Actually, I think he does, but that isn’t what we want
to talk to you about.”

Justin was having a hard time breaking the news to his
friend, so Maggie decided to help him out.

“Zak, I told Justin at Tucker’s that I was going back to
you and he wanted to make love one last time so that he would always have
something to remember. Apparently there was some sort of problem with the
condom.” Maggie decided to tell a white lie.

“I was suspicious that Jake might be my son,” Justin
said. “So Maggie and I took him over to the hospital in Lafayette and we did a
paternity test.” Justin thought he should be the one to break the news. “The
tests proved that I’m Jake’s father,” he finished.

Justin and Maggie were glad that they had asked Zak to
sit down. The color drained out of his face and he looked like he had turned to
stone. He didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes as he tried to comprehend
what they had just said.

“Are you sure about this,” he said quietly.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Justin answered.

Zak was silent for a few minutes and then he said in a
low voice, “Maggie, I can’t believe that you cheated on me with my best friend,
and Justin, I can’t believe that you fucked my wife and got her pregnant.” Zak
stood up abruptly and walked out of the studio and down the driveway to his
Porsche. He got in the car and revved the engine and screeched out of the
driveway.

Maggie and Justin looked at each other, shocked by Zak’s
reaction.

“That went well,” Justin said grimly as Maggie started
to cry. “He certainly didn’t react like that the last time that we told him
that I might be Gabriel’s father.”

“Probably because that was partly his fault. We wouldn’t
have slept together then if he hadn’t slept with Jacqueline. Zak has thought of
Jake as being his son for the last five years. You can’t blame him for being
upset,” said Maggie.

“No, I guess not. Maybe I should never have said
anything,” said Justin.

“I think you had to say something, Justin. It’s
important that Jake knows who his father is, there could be medical reasons
that it’s important to know that.”

“I just hope Zak takes it easy in that car. He shouldn’t
be driving when he’s upset,” Justin said.

Maggie and Justin both suddenly remembered the night
that Zak had the car accident when he was coming back to apologize to Maggie
for having slept with Jacqueline.

“What should we do, Justin?”

“I’m not sure there’s anything we can do, Maggie”

“Maybe Zak went to a bar to get drunk.”

“You might be right Maggie. We could try calling some of
the local bars where we used to play. Zak might be at one of them.”

“O.k. let’s go back to my house. I’ll make some calls
while we wait for Tucker to get back with the kids. At least Ben’s mother was
going to drop off Jake after their play date, so we don’t have to worry about
him.”

“Maybe we should go pick him up Maggie, so we know where
he is.

“O.k. They live nearby, so it won’t take long.”

When they got back to Maggie and Zak’s house, Maggie
called Ben’s mother and told her that there had been a change in plans and that
she was coming to pick up Jake. Maggie and Justin took the van and picked up
Jake and brought him home. Half an hour later, Tucker showed up in his rental
car with Gabriel and Isabel. He joined Maggie and Justin on the porch while the
kids went into the living room and put on a video.

“So how did it go?” Tucker asked quietly.

“Not too well,” Justin answered. “Zak was very upset and
said some nasty things to us and then took off in his Porsche. We’re kind of
worried about him. Maggie made a few phone calls, but no one’s seen him.”

“Did you call his mother and brother?” Tucker asked.

“Yes, I called them first but they hadn’t seen him,”
Maggie said. “I also called his girlfriend Sarah but she didn’t know where he
was either. Knowing Zak, I’m guessing he’s gone to a bar somewhere to get
drunk.”

“That is probably a bad idea in combination with the
Porsche.” Tucker started to look worried too. “I think we’d better find him.”

Half an hour later, the kitchen phone rang. Maggie let
Justin answer the phone, she was afraid that it might be bad news. It was the
bartender at the Purple Peacock. He said that Zak was there and had several
drinks. He asked Justin to come get him because he didn’t think Zak should
drive. Justin hung up and told them he was going to get Zak at the Purple Peacock.

“Maybe I should go, Justin,” said Tucker. “I’m guessing
that Zak isn’t going to want to see you at the moment. He’s probably not mad at
me.”

“Good point, Tucker.” Justin gave Tucker directions to
the bar and then he and Maggie went into the living room with the kids.

“What’s going on, Mama?” asked Belle.

“Justin and I had to tell your father something that
made him very upset. Tucker’s going to get him.”

“What did you tell him, Mama?” Belle asked.

“We’ll tell you all about it later,” Maggie said.

Justin reached over and took Maggie’s hand in his.

“I’m so sorry Maggie,” he said.

She was so overwhelmed, she couldn’t think of anything
to say. They just quietly watched the video with the kids and waited for Zak
and Tucker to return. They hadn’t showed up by nine o’clock, so Maggie put the
kids to bed. She didn’t want there to be any kind of scene in front of them
when Zak got home. Two hours later, Tucker’s car pulled up in front of the
house. Maggie and Justin looked out the window and they could see Tucker
helping Zak to the house. Zak was so drunk that he could barely walk. When they
entered the living room, Zak looked at Maggie and Justin with a blank stare
like he was having trouble focusing.

“I think you two should leave,” Zak mumbled.

“Maggie, why don’t you and Justin go back to Justin’s
house. I’ll take care of things here,” Tucker said as he helped Zak to his
bedroom.

Maggie and Justin waited for Tucker to come back.

“Zak should sleep for a while,” Tucker said when he
returned. “I’ll stay here and make sure that he and the children are o.k. It’s
probably better if Zak doesn’t wake up in the morning to find you here.”

Justin and Maggie looked at each other. They said goodnight
to Tucker and then walked back to Justin’s house. They sat on the couch
together and Justin put his arm around Maggie. She leaned back against him and
after a few minutes, fell asleep. It had been a long, emotional day and she was
completely exhausted. Justin gradually shifted position until he was lying down
on the couch with Maggie in his arms. He lay awake thinking for an hour or two
and then fell asleep too.

They were awakened the next morning by the sound of the
Porsche roaring out of the driveway, and then Tucker knocking on the door.

“Zak’s decided to spend a couple of days at Sarah’s. So
maybe you should come back to the house and stay with the children, Maggie.”

“What are we going to tell the kids, Tucker?” Maggie
asked.

“I think you should wait a few days and then maybe you
and Zak should talk to them together. Justin should probably be there too.”

“They’re probably going to have a lot of questions that
I can’t answer,” Maggie said.

“You never know with kids,” said Tucker. “They might
surprise you.”

Tucker turned out to be right. A couple days later, Zak
came home to help break the news to Jake and his brother and sister. First they
took Jake aside and explained to him that they had found out when they went to
the hospital that Justin was his father.

He seemed very confused by this.

“So you’re not going to be my dad anymore?” he asked
Zak.

Zak looked at Jake and said, “I will always be your dad.
But Justin is your biological father. You’ll understand what that means when
you’re a little older. It also means that your last name is Boudreau and not
Robichaud.”

“Does that mean that Gabe and Belle aren’t my brother
and sister anymore?” Jake asked.

“No, they’re still your brother and sister because I’m
everyone’s mother,” Maggie said.

“Oh, o.k.,” Jake said but he still looked somewhat
confused.

Then they called in the other children to try to explain
the situation to them too. They said that they had just found out that Jake had
a different dad and that it was Uncle Justin. Gabe and Belle’s dad was Zak and
that everyone’s mother was Maggie. The kids didn’t seem overly disturbed by
this news.

“O.k., can we go now?” Belle asked.

“Don’t you have any questions?” Maggie answered.

“What about Tucker?” Gabe wanted to know. “I thought he
was going to be our new dad.”

“He will be your stepfather when we get married,” Maggie
explained.

“Just like Dad is Jake’s stepfather?” Gabe continued.

“I guess so, Gabe,” said Maggie feeling a little
confused herself.

“And is Uncle Justin our stepfather too?” Gabe said with
a frown trying to work out the new relationships.

“No Gabe, because Justin and I were never married,”
Maggie admitted.

“But I thought you couldn’t have a baby unless you were
married, Mama,” said Belle.

“This is something that we’ll have to discuss when you
get a little older. O.k. kids, I think you can leave now.”

Maggie looked relieved as the children left the room.

“That was difficult,” she said. “And I’m certainly not
prepared to bring up the birds and the bees yet.”

“It won’t be long before you have to Maggie, and I’m
going to stay out of that conversation. It’s in the divorce agreement that it’s
your responsibility,” Zak said and laughed briefly.

Maggie smiled at him and felt some hope that they would
all get through this eventually.

.

Chapter 8

Zak decided to go back to Sarah’s and Maggie
and Tucker moved back into her house so that they could stay with the children.
Justin was happy to move back into his own house. Maggie and Tucker discussed
what they should do next. Tucker decided to go back to Nashville by himself as
he had some business to attend to. Maggie would stay in Louisiana for a couple
weeks while everyone got used to the new situation. Tucker felt that Justin and
Jake needed some time together to get to know each other. He was sympathetic to
Justin’s situation since he had been divorced multiple times and had been estranged
from his own daughter. Then Maggie and the children would fly down to Nashville and join Tucker as they had previously planned.

Maggie felt bereft when Tucker left for the airport. She
had gotten used to depending on him and they hadn’t been separated for several
years. Justin was still trying to figure out where he stood with Maggie. He was
secretly hoping that now that she knew that he was Jake’s father then she might
be interested in a relationship with him, but she seemed committed to staying
with Tucker.

 Maggie was sincerely fond of Tucker and their musical
partnership had developed into a strong bond. She not only admired his musical
talent, but also his generosity, sense of humor and mature perspective. Like
Zak, he had problems in his past with drinking, drugs and women, but had
managed to overcome them. He had reached a point in his life where he was happy
and content. Although other people might have been concerned about the age
difference between Tucker and Maggie, it had never been an issue for the two of
them. They had always accepted and appreciated each other and tried to provide
mutual support for one another.

So after Tucker left for the airport, Maggie tried to
make sure that nothing happened between her and Justin. She stayed in her house
and he stayed in his, and their interaction mostly revolved around the children
and playing music. Maggie tried to make sure that there weren’t too many
opportunities for her to be alone with Justin. She knew that in spite of her
love for Tucker, she was still attracted to Justin.