Unobtainable (39 page)

“She has her father’s hair color,” Chelsea smiled. “I hope she has his green eyes too, as much as I want to forget he exists, he has very pretty eyes.”

“So, what’s my niece’s name?” Harley asked.

“Alice.”

Harley’s jaw dropped, his brows shot up and he stood shaking his head in horror. “Alice Cooper?”

“I knew you would like that,” Chelsea laughed. “I’ve been waiting since the day I found out I was pregnant to pull that one on you. You should see your face.”

“You’re such a bitch, Chels,” Harley scowled. “Just for that, I’m nicknaming her Alice.”

“Don’t you dare,” Chelsea warned, with a giggle. “I’m calling her Skye.”

“That’s pretty, Chelsea,” I said, carefully handing her daughter back to her. “Her father’s not going to be in her life? Don’t answer that, it’s not my business. I’m sorry for asking.”

“It’s okay, Dyson, you can ask,” she smiled. “Jake’s not capable of being a father, he’s too into his band, he’s scared that if his groupies find out that he has a kid, they’ll blackball him and the band. Harley knows who he is, it’s not like it’s a secret that the man is an asshole and I was stupid to ever get involved with him.”

“As long as Jake stays the fuck away all will be perfect,” Harley snarled. “He gave up any rights to that little girl long ago, fuck him.”

“Harley, don’t be like that,” Chelsea used Harley’s overused words and I laughed. “He has rights, if he wants to be part of Skye’s life, I can’t stop him, I wouldn’t do that to Skye. A little girl needs her daddy.”

“If he wants to see her, he’ll have to pay support,” Harley growled, snatching Skye from Chelsea’s arms. “You make sure he does, this little pickle is going to need lots of diapers and plenty of bling.”

Chelsea stuck out her tongue, making me chuckle. It was fun seeing them torment each other, it was a sibling thing commanded by the universe. I know, it was exactly the same with me and my brothers.

“Anyway,” Chelsea patted the mattress, suggesting I sit, so I did. “My little angel is the result of a two year affair. I’m ashamed to say, I was the other woman. It didn’t start off that way, well I guess it did, but I was unaware there was a Mrs. Tilley for the first few months of our relationship. When I found out, I broke it off, but things happened and we ended up together, despite moral ethics…when I found out I was pregnant, Jake went nuts, accusing me of getting pregnant to trap him into leaving his wife, which eventually happened without me.”

“The guy was a fucking jerk. If I could have gotten my hands on him I would have torn his head off and pissed down the hole in his neck.” Harley was comical, as he seethed with anger all while cooing his niece.

“Did the wife find out about your pregnancy?” I asked, since she was being so open.

“Yes,” she snorted, shaking her head. “The stupid bitch believed
him
when he told her he barely knew me and there was no way it was his baby.”

“I say you send him a copy of the birth certificate and demand a DNA test,” Harley said, placing Skye in the clear glass bassinet and tucking her in.

“Jake doesn’t want anything to do with either of us. His little girl will grow up believing he’s a deadbeat, a number one loser. I know it’s wrong but it will be better for everyone in the long run. I have a good job and a decent apartment. I won’t pretend it’s not going to be hard on my own, but that’s the price I pay for the bad decisions I made in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t give Skye up for the world, I just wish I could give her more.”

“You got me,” Harley said. “Anytime, night or day you call me and I’ll be there.”

“Us,” I corrected.

A nurse came in with a tray of food, setting it on the table and walking over to the bassinet. She peeked in and smiled. “I’m going to take baby Cooper to the nursery so you can have a bite to eat and get some rest before her first feeding. Daddy can stay but your guest will have to leave, visiting hours are over.”

“This is my brother and his husband, there is no father,” Chelsea said, holding her head high. “Would you know if we will be home for Christmas?”

“I can’t see why not,” the nurse smiled, rolling the bassinet to the door. “Once the baby is cleared of any health issues and you get checked out, you will be able to go home. I’ll ask your doctor and let you know.”

“Thanks.”

“We’re going to go,” Harley leaned in to kiss Chelsea’s cheek. “We’ll be back in the morning, you get some sleep.”

“See you in the morning,” I gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Bye boys and thanks for everything, I love you. Sorry I ruined your trip.”

“Love you,” Harley and I said in unison and laughed.

“Forget the trip, we can go back another time...maybe in the spring,” I winked to Harley.

Once we were alone in the elevator, I placed my chin on Harley’s shoulder, holding his hand as I crushed my chest against his arm. He turned his head and kissed my temple.

“Sorry our trip got cut short, I’ll make it up to you,” he said.

“Our trip may have been short but I enjoyed every minute of it, thanks.”

“Me too.”

“Chelsea should come stay with us for a while,” I blurted. “She’s going to need help. Babies require an awful lot of attention for the first month or so.”

“Who are you, Doctor Spock?” Harley chuckled.

“I have two nieces, three now, and two nephews. My sister-in-laws had their moms come stay for a few weeks. It wasn’t like my brothers were of any use to them.”

“I don’t know anything about babies,”

“What is there to know? Keep them warm, their bellies full, asses clean and dry and babies are happy. Babies don’t come with an owner’s manual, your little sister needs us. We have my old room, she’ll have plenty of privacy and we can help out.”

“Fine with me,” Harley pulled me out of the elevator. “The one to convince will be my sister.”

“I can be very persuasive,” I grinned into Harley’s face, giving him a quick kiss.

~Harley~

Thankfully as it turned out, Chelsea had her life all arranged by the time she checked out of the hospital. Not that I didn’t want her staying with us, but me and Dyson were still new to this marriage thing and a baby with two o’clock feedings etcetera was going to put a strain on an already strained situation. My past was still biting us in the ass.

I was screaming when my eyes popped opened in the wee hours of Christmas eve, my throat was raw, Dyson held my shoulders down as I lashed out. I spotted a trickle of blood leaking from his left nostril and freaked. What had I done?

“It’s just a dream!” Dyson yelled. “Calm the fuck down, it’s only a dream!”

I gulped in a quick breath and allayed myself. Still shaking, I reached my hand to Dyson’s face and stroked his left cheek. His eyes studied me cautiously before he let me go and sat back.

“You okay?” he asked, his tongue licking at the tiny stream of crimson touching the edge of his lip.

“Jesus Dyson, I hurt you.”

My heart stung as I realized my nightmares were becoming real in a way I had never imagined, they were now affecting Dyson on a new level.  I had physically harmed him, put him in dangers way. I was lethal, who knew what I was capable of doing to him during one of these nightmares? This was all kinds of fucked up. I needed to distance myself. If for no other reason than to save Dyson anymore pain. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. I rubbed my hands over my face and got to my feet, walking over to the window and throwing open the drapes. It was barely dawn.

“I’m okay, you didn’t mean to do it,” Dyson tried to appease me. “I shouldn’t have touched you, it’s my own fault.”

“Your fault?” I turned back to Dyson, holding up my hand to stop him as he walked towards me. “I hurt you, it could have been worse.”

“Well it wasn’t and it’s only a little blood,” he said, wiping his nose with a tissue. “Harley Cooper, don’t you dare think for a second that you’re going to push me away. Stop fucking over-analyzing what happened, you have no control over your dreams. You are not leaving me, so get that thought right out of your mind, now!”

“But-”

“But, nothing,” Dyson wrapped his arms around my waist, laying his cheek against mine. “I love you, we’re going to deal with this together. Do you have the shrink’s number? Give her a call, she said day or night.”

“I have it somewhere, I think I put it in the top drawer of my desk.”

“I think you need to talk to her, I should have never allowed you to cancel our last appointment.” Dyson held on to me tighter. “You and I can’t do this on our own.”

Feeling absolutely defeated, I held Dyson tighter than I ever had before, while stupid tears streamed down my cheeks, dripping onto Dyson’s t-shirt. His hand ran up and down my back, giving his silent support, he was my tower of strength when I needed him most. How did I get so lucky?

“I’m tired of turning into a sappy dishrag,” I said, wiping my face angrily.

The idea of escaping quickly left me. I kissed the side of Dyson’s neck and let out a sigh.

“I’m going to go find that number. I’ll put on some coffee, you go back to bed and get some sleep.”

Dyson pulled back, his eyes meeting mine. He took off his shirt and wiped my tear stained face, he smiled kissing his beautiful full lips to mine.

“The only place I’m going, is with you,” he took my hand and led me over to the dresser so he could throw on a clean shirt and led me downstairs.

Fresh coffee was brewing, the wonderful aroma filling the apartment, as I sat at my desk, searching for Doctor Kravitz’s business card. I found it right away and reached for my phone, but it wasn’t on the corner of the desk where I left it last night.

“Dyson,” I called out. “Did you move my phone?”

“Nope.”

“I thought I left it on the desk!” I hollered.

“Come have breakfast and I’ll help you find it later.”

Odd, I wasn’t usually so absent minded. I was a creature of habit and had been most of my life. I liked routine, knowing exactly where to put my hands on things when I needed them. It wasn’t like me to put my phone just anywhere, the only other place it would have been was on my bedside table. I raced up the stairs and searched the room. It wasn’t there.

“Dyson, do me a favor and call my phone?” I yelled over the balcony railing.

“Give me a second.”

The old fashioned ring tone came from downstairs. I ran down the steps and listened. It was coming from the direction of the apartment entrance where Dyson was standing staring at the floor. The phone was ringing and vibrating wildly in a circle.

“What the fuck?” I bent to pick it up. “I guess I dropped it out of my coat when we came in.”

“You had it in the kitchen after we came in,” Dyson said, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess it’s a mystery.”

“Yeah, it’s a mystery.”

Wouldn’t I have heard it fall? A cell phone doesn’t hit a hardwood floor without making a racket. And why would it be nearly six feet away from the coat rack? I sat at the kitchen table staring at the phone, perplexed. Dyson set my coffee cup in front of me and laughed.

“Over-analyzing again,” he joked. “Get over it. We have lots to do today, it’s Christmas Eve. Do you need to do any last minute shopping?”

I shook my head as I fiddled with the phone. I gasped and swallowed over the lump in my throat when I saw the picture on the screen. Like a madman, my fingers sprinted to delete the picture. When it was taking too long to locate the right button, I slammed the phone on the corner of the granite countertop. It shattered into a million pieces at my feet with a resounding boom. Dyson jumped back, wide eyed.

“I guess that means we’ll be shopping for a new phone?” Dyson attempted humor to alleviate the bad situation but fast changed his tune. “What exactly was that all about?”

“Nothing,” I said, fetching the broom and dustpan from the pantry, cleaning up my mess. “The fucking thing was broken. The screen was fucked.”

Not a lie, with the face of a demon plastered on the screen, I was never going to be able to use it again. How a selfie of Bruno got into my phone was beyond me. I wasn’t even interested in saving the SIM card, I’d retrieve my phone list from my computer, thankfully I kept it on file.

“I’ll run out later and replace it,” I said, walking behind him, hugging his waist with my palms on his abs, trying to grab onto the sense of security he always managed to provide me with.

Being wrapped around Dyson just felt safe, he was my safety line when things got bad. Should I tell him? Was it wise to worry him needlessly? Perhaps the picture was sent to the wrong person or it had been there for some time, going unnoticed until now. Who was I fooling, I knew it wasn’t there before. Was it Bruno playing with me or had the witch decided she wanted more?

“Do you have anything planned?” I asked, reaching over for my mug, taking a sip as my other hand caressed Dyson’ ribs. “We could meet later for lunch, it shouldn’t take me long to run by the office and get a new phone.”

“Okay, why don’t you call me when you’re ready?” Dyson said, spinning in my arms, holding my face and draping his arms over my shoulders. “I have plenty to keep myself busy here…are you okay?”