Chapter 20 Piper
PIPER
“Mommy!”
A large object dove into my bed, landing directly into my side.
“Mommy, mommy, mommy. Wake up. I think Rock’s still here.”
“What?” I asked breathlessly.
“I smell coffee, but you’re here,” Gavin said.
“Mmm, maybe he is still here, then,” I said.
I could’ve sworn I had a conversation with him about him leaving, though.
Gavin slid off my bed and scurried down the hallway, his footsteps landing heavily on the staircase leading downstairs.
I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair, smiling at the beautiful ache in my bones.
I stood up and grabbed my clothes off the floor, pulling them back on before wrapping my robe around me.
I tied off the robe around my waist as Gavin came back into my room looking defeated.
“What’s wrong, sweet boy?” I asked.
“Rock’s not here,” he said.
“Oh, come here honey.”
“I thought he was here.”
I opened my arms for my son and picked him up from the floor.
I walked him down the stairs as the smell of coffee wafted up my nostrils.
He must’ve made some before he left, and it smelled incredible.
Rock always did know how to make a hell of a cup of coffee.
I never could figure out over the years what made his so much better.
Maybe it was simply the fact that he made it and not me.
Either way, I was disappointed that Rock was gone as well.
Waking up to him and sharing breakfast with him would’ve been a treat.
But memories of the night before assaulted my mind in all the best ways, leaving me with a fluttering feeling in my stomach I couldn’t explain.
I sat Gavin in his seat and went about making breakfast. I scrambled up some eggs and buttered some toast. I placed some jams on the table and cooked up some sausage.
I put a small plate in front of Gavin before sitting down my own, then went to get us some drinks.
“So, tell me. Did you have fun with Rock?” I asked.
I looked over and watched my son’s face light up with joy.
“We had the best time, Mom. We played dinosaur, and walked up and down the street, and played tag and hide and seek. We played games and he taught me how to wrestle, then he told me the most awesome bedtime story.”
“Do you remember it?” I asked.
“Uh huh. It was about a sad prince in a wooden castle in the forest.”
I dropped my spoon into my coffee as I cleared my throat.
“What else did that story have?” I asked.
“The prince didn’t want to see anyone until a princess arrived.
She yelled at him until he let her inside, and the prince liked her a lot.
But then the princess left and the prince got really angry, but then the prince decided to leave one day.
He left until he got tired, and then he knocked on a door and it was the princess’s house! ”
I swallowed thickly as I turned my head towards my son.
“How did the story end?” I asked.
“They lived happily ever after. All stories have to end that way, Mommy. It’s the rule.”
My hands trembled as I grabbed my coffee and held on tightly to his glass of milk.
“Here you go, honey,” I said.
“And then we went to the park and I met a friend. Rock pushed me on the swing, and slided down the slide with me--”
“‘Slid’, sweet boy. It’s ‘slid’.”
“Okay. And we had pizza for lunch! Can we get pizza for lunch today?” Gavin asked.
“If you’re a good boy for me today, then we’ll order some for dinner. How does that sound?” I asked.
“All right!”
I was taken aback by the bedtime story. It sounded an awful lot like the story of Rock and I.
Dumbed down for a kid’s imagination, sure.
But a wooden castle in the forest? That was the lodge.
And the princess yelling at him until he let her in?
That was practically what I had to do that summer with Rock to get him to open up to me just the smallest bit.
And he was a hell of an angry young man when I first found him.
Very, very angry. All the damn time. I sat there and sipped my coffee while Gavin continued to rattle on about his time with Rock, and part of me wondered if this was a sign.
If this was the moment I needed to tell Gavin that Rock was his father.
“Is that your phone?” Gavin asked.
“Huh?”
“Your phone,” he said. “What’s that noise?”
I listened intently before I heard it. The faintest ringing from my cell phone upstairs. And it was the ringtone I’d set for Rock.
“I’ll be right back, sweet boy,” I said. “You eat up now, okay? You and I have some playing to do today.”
“Okay!”
I took the stairs two by two and burst into my room. I picked up the phone just before it was shot to my voicemail and held it to my ear. Should I ask him about the story? Should I ask if it was purposeful to give that story some sort of a happy ending?
“Piper?” Rock asked.
“Hey there. Sorry. Zoned out for a second. I didn’t think I picked up the phone in time,” I said.
“Are you, all right?”
“I’m fine. Just a little winded. I was downstairs.”
“Running to take my calls, I see.”
“I can hear that grin of yours. Cut it out.”
“You’re no fun,” he said playfully. “I wanted to let you know that I’ve got some plans for my day. But I want to see you and Gavin for dinner tonight. Is that possible?”
“If you’re up for pizza again. I promised him pizza delivery if he was a good kid today,” I said.
“The fuck kind of question is that? I’m always up for pizza.”
“I should’ve known,” I said with a grin. “That’s fine, then. You know where to find us.”
“Good. I’ll see you guys tonight, then. Seven sound good?”
“We’ll be here.”
“Great. I’ll talk to you then. And Piper?”
“Yeah, Rock?”
“You’re so cute when you snore.”
“If you were here, I’d hit you with my pillow,” I said.
“Trust me. You’d never win that fight.”
I smiled over the phone before Rock and I said our goodbyes.
But the second I hung up the phone, nervousness hit me square in my chest. What was Rock handling?
I vaguely remembered something about him going to see Brewer.
Was something happening with the club? I hoped he wasn’t getting himself into trouble again.
That maybe it was something simple at the mechanic shop or whatever.
But something in the pit of my gut knew better than that.
I tucked my phone into the pocket of my robe and started back down the stairs.
I sat down and ate breakfast with Gavin, listening as he continued to chatter on about Rock.
But instead of listening with a curious sort of happiness, I listened with dread.
Would Rock bring trouble to my doorstep tonight?
Would I get some sort of a phone call telling me his ass was in jail again?
The last time it happened, Brewer had been the one to call me.
To inform me that he’d been hauled off and that it wasn’t good.
Did I need to expect another phone call like that?
Either way, I’d decided. This was not the time to tell Gavin that Rock was his father.
“What do you want to do today?” Gavin asked.
“Well, since you had such an exciting time with Rock this weekend, I figured we could watch a movie. Maybe bust out the inflatable pool and fill it up with water and bubbles. Possibly have a water balloon fight?” I asked.
“You’re awesome, Mom. I love you.”
My heart soared with joy at those words.
“You’re pretty awesome yourself, honey. And I love you, too.”
I cleared the table and stacked the dishes into the dishwasher, then ran upstairs to get cleaned up.
I settled Gavin on the couch with a movie before heading up so I could have a moment to shower.
My mind swirled with all the things Rock could be doing.
The trouble he could be getting himself into and the consequences of that trouble for Gavin and myself.
For a few brief hours, I had allowed myself to think that things could change.
That Rock could leave that life and come be a father to Gavin and a lover to me.
But every time I turned around, there was a reminder of the reality of his world.
Of the life he had chosen for himself. Sure, it had been fun when I was younger.
Sure, it had been action-packed and full of adrenaline.
But I had to grow up after I found out I was pregnant.
I had to put all of that petty nonsense behind me and conduct myself like an adult.
Was Rock capable of doing the same thing?
Because as it stood, I didn’t see how his life of danger and darkness could ever mesh with the light I struggled to keep Gavin in on a daily basis.