Chapter 14
Cody
The curtains are closed, and I sit in darkness. Most of my office work is done from home now. I shake my head as the word home slips into my thoughts. Is it really home if they aren’t here?
I force myself to focus on the computer screen, listening to the voices speaking behind the glass of my laptop. But all their logical sounding words are nothing but noise to my ears.
“Daddy.”
I pause.
“I must be hallucinating,” I say out loud to the empty room. A dry laugh escapes me. I look at the time in the corner of my laptop and give a tight nod. It is almost time to see her parents.
“Daddy.”
The sound comes again. It sounds exactly like my daughter this time around.
I spin toward the door just as the ring of the doorbell accompanies the voice. I stand clumsily from the couch, my knee catching the edge of the cushions, nearly turning over my laptop in the process. I rush forward. The moment I reach the door, I pull it open.
My eyes widen.
My kids are standing on the welcome mat.
Before I can form a word, they rush toward me, their small weights clashing against my legs.
Shock ripples through me, but it doesn't hold me back.
I drop to my knees on the floor and pull them into my arms, burying my face in their hair to inhale their scents.
They scream in my ear, “Daddy, I missed you!”
Can words even be enough to express how beautifully these children have made me smile? I press kisses everywhere my mouth can find, over their cheeks and foreheads, the bright giggles of my daughter lifting the weight off of me.
“I’ve missed you, Daddy,” Samuel pitches in, his small arms locking around my neck.
I pull back just enough to kiss his forehead, too. “Did you grow taller, son?”
He just laughs, wrapping his arms around me again.
“I’ll come pick them up by ten.”
The voice cuts through the air. That is when my brain finally does the math.
I was so caught up in the fact that my children were physically present that I didn’t care to know how they came around.
I look up, my gaze climbing past my children’s shoulders to come face-to-face with that grasshopper of a man.
Anger burns in my veins. The irritation causes my jaw to lock as he turns toward me, possessing the nerve to smile, stretch forth his hand, and greet me.
“Hey, I’m Mario.”
I have a thousand questions spinning in my head.
I look down at my son, and Samuel gives a small nod.
At least we have an understanding; he will let me know what is going on later.
Trying to maintain the composure of a gentleman for the sake of the kids, I meet his grip, commensurate with his handshake.
“You don’t need to pick up my children,” I say, putting a hard dose of force on the word children. “I’ll do it myself. I’ll drop them home.”
The words leave my mouth with a hidden intent. I have no idea where Rain has taken them. The letter gave me nothing, and her parents are silent. If I drive the kids back myself, I will finally have her address. I will find out exactly where my family is hiding.
“Uh, sir, with all due respect, she said she wanted me to do that,” Mario says, his tone perfectly even.
I know exactly who she refers to. Hearing him say her name like that lights something possessive in me, and I cannot stop myself from pressing further.
“Who said that?”
“Rain.”
Rain. He calls her by her name, not your wife. I give a tight nod, my fingers tightening against the doorframe. “But I can drop them off myself,” I persist, desperate for the location.
“I’m sorry, but Rain says they’ll come with me.”
I nod slowly, the compliance tasting like ash in my mouth. My chance to find her address slips away through my fingers. Sure. That is fine.
Should I be pissed that this is happening? Yes. But I know I shouldn’t show it in front of the kids. I take a deep breath, forcing my shoulders to loosen. “What time will you be coming?”
“Ten.”
My brain does a quick backtrack, recalling that he had actually told me that a second ago. I give a single nod.
I am about to close the door when he shifts his weight, rocking back and forth on his toes. “I more than like your wife, Cody.”
My jaw goes tight.
“What?”
“What?” Samuel’s voice echoes from beside my hip, and Rose’s tiny voice follows soon after.
Before I can demand an explanation, a voice calls my name from the laptop speakers. I turn toward the sound of the system, then look back at Mario, my features freezing into a hard frown. “I will speak with you at ten.”
I slam the door on his face, the wood clicking shut.
“Daddy, did he say he liked Mummy?” Samuel asks, looking up at me with wide eyes.
I give a vague nod, my mind spinning as I walk back to the couch to unmute my microphone so I can respond to the conference call. I pull Samuel onto my good side, anchoring him against me.
“How often does he come around?” I whisper to him.
“He’s at home every day except Sundays,” Samuel explains, his voice small. “He brings Mom back from work, then he comes to pick us up. Since every day is school, that means he comes every day.”
“What about Saturdays?”
Rose offers the answer from my other side, her small fingers twisting the fabric of my sleeve. “He goes with Mummy to the hospital.”
“Yeah,” Samuel follows soon after.
A cold knot forms in my stomach. “Your mother is sick?”
Samuel shakes his head. I turn to look at Rose, where her head is resting against my shoulder, and see she is shaking her head, too.
“She’s just going to give me a baby brother.”
My world stops.
“Mr. Hamilton,” the voice from the laptop carries across the room again.
But all I hear is a ringing sound in my ears. The room goes still. Everything pauses.
“I think they are calling you, Dad,” Samuel’s voice fades into the background, sounding miles away.
“Your mum... she’s pregnant?”
“Yeah,” Samuel responds.
I swallow hard, a thick dryness clogging my throat. Dropping the children beside me on the cushions, I lean forward to press the unmute button. “Yes.”
“Sorry, sir, we were asking if you had any contributions to the proposal?”
I cannot speak. My tongue feels tied, and my mind refuses to stop chanting the same two words: Rain’s pregnant. Rain’s pregnant.
Before I can form a professional sentence, Rose chimes in from the couch, her voice bright and loud enough to reach the computer. “Yes! Mummy is going to give me a brother!”
A flurry of congratulations immediately floods the meeting, the voices overlapping through the speaker.
I shake my head, trying to clear the fog, the overwhelming weight of the information crashing down on me.
A wild mix of conflicting emotions rips through me.
When did she get pregnant? Was it the night we shared before I left?
How am I supposed to get her back now? She is actually carrying my child.
“So, yeah,” I cut in, my voice rough as I try to silence the cheers from my colleagues. “I hear you. And, uh... forget what you just heard.”
I clear my throat, forcing my mind back to the digital documents. “And I am thinking we could go with that idea.”
As the people in the meeting continue to discuss the files, I sit in the darkness of my thoughts, the question hammering behind my eyes: What do I have to do to get her back?
***
Hours later, the night air is cool. I am standing outside on the patio with my kids, wrapped in the stillness of the evening.
A wooden bench is arranged near the path where we are seated.
Rose rests against my side, already deeply asleep in my arms, her small blanket covering almost her entire form.
“Son,” I murmur, looking down at my boy. “So, you’re not telling me about your new school and your home?”
I feel him shake his head against my side, his chin digging into my shirt.
“Mummy said if I do, she will not let me see you again,” he whispers, his fingers gripping my sleeve. “I don’t want to not see you again, Samuel.”
A wave of moisture stings the back of my eyes, but I force myself to blink it back, refusing to let the tears fall in front of him.
“Promise me you’ll come often?”
He gives a firm nod.
Just then, the bright glare of headlights cuts through the darkness, shining toward the patio. The car pulls up to the curb. The cornball is back.
I reach into my pocket and slide out a note I had written hurriedly while the kids were playing. I press the paper into Samuel’s small palm, closing his fingers over it. “Please give this to your mother.”
“What’s in it?”
“It’s a love letter.”
He lets out a small, amused laugh.
“Yeah, son,” I say, a faint smile touching my lips. “A love letter.”
The car door opens, and the click of the boot unlocking follows. Right on time, Mario steps onto the gravel.
I stand up, balancing carefully on my good leg while cradling my sleeping daughter against my chest. Samuel stands immediately beside me.
We walk to the vehicle, and I settle them into their seats, kissing their faces to my heart's content.
Through the glass of the windshield, I watch Samuel slide into sleep, his head lolling slowly until it rests against the cold pane.
“Come,” I tell Mario, stepping away from the passenger side.
“I’m alright where I am, Cody. I need to go home to Rain,” he says.
My back is turned, but the way he drops her name hits me like a physical provocation. He is actively trying to taunt me.
I spin around immediately, the distance between us vanishing in a single stride. My index finger drives forward, poking him firmly in the center of his chest.
“Now, you listen to me, cornball,” I growl, my voice dangerously low. “That’s my wife. Those are my kids.” I fling my arm toward the car. “I do not care if you have a thing for her, but you will not speak of my wife in that manner when you are standing in front of me.”
I see a flash of fear cross his eyes, his posture stiffening under the pressure of my stare. But he holds his ground, refusing to step back.
“Like I said, Cody,” he says, his voice shaking slightly but remaining stubborn. “I more than like your wife.”
My fingers curl, my arm pulling back to swing a punch straight into his bleached smile, but he instantly lifts both hands in the air, a gesture of surrender.
“Just hear me out,” he pants, his eyes locked on mine.
I hold my position, the muscles in my jaw twitching. “Go on.”
“I like her. I more than like her,” he says, and I can hear my teeth grinding against each other in the silence.
This man is intentionally trying to make me lose my temper.
“But like you said, she’s married. And then again, I’m not her only admirer.
There are a lot more people at the office who like her. ”
“Are you trying to get me pissed? Is that your true aim?”
“Wait, let me finish,” he says, a small, frustrating chuckle escaping him.
“Despite the fact that I respect her status, I won’t close my eyes forever.
What I am trying to say, Cody, is that if you waste too much time trying to fight for what is supposed to be yours... another man will do just that.”
I stare at him, the anger I feel dissipating a fraction, replaced by a cold, sobering reality.
“And in this case,” Mario adds, looking me square in the eyes, “that other man might be me. Have a nice night ahead, Mr. Hamilton.”
He turns and walks toward the driver’s side.
“I heard she’s pregnant, and you’ve been taking her for her prenatal sessions,” I call out after him, my voice tight.
He pauses with his hand on the door handle, giving a single, calm nod. “Thank you.”
He looks back at me over his shoulder as he unlocks the vehicle. “It’s my pleasure.”
He slides into the seat and drives off, the red taillights fading into the dark street. I remain standing in front of my house, my arms folded, my fingers clamping down so hard that my knuckles turn white under the moonlight.
I want to follow the car. I want to trace the roads to find out exactly where she is staying, but…