T W E N T Y–T W O Family
Sarah’s POV
Our trip was fantastic. The boys decided they wanted to get big pictures made of the day they called Row ‘Dad’ for the first time.
They promised to wait until vacation, and they asked me to keep it a secret.
It was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do, but I did let him know we had something special planned, and he needed to pack some nice shorts and a polo or button-down shirt for it.
I told him it was a surprise for the vacation that the boys wanted me to help them plan.
He always had to dress up for things with them, and it could be something as average as going to the museum, but the boys liked looking their best.
“Men are always looking dapper for the ladies,” Carter quoted Row one time, and Row would not stop beaming for weeks.
He had his chest puffed out like the proud uncle he was.
We tried our best to play it off as normal.
We were on the beach, the two photographers ready to capture the moments.
We took a few posed photos and then a couple of me walking away, holding the kids' hands.
When the photographer shouted “Good to go, cheerio” and gave a thumbs up, the code Carter had come up with, he beamed up at me. I nodded to him.
“Dad!” he shouted, as we watched Devereaux.
He froze, then looked around, like it was someone else calling for his daddy.
Carter looked at me, worried, squeezing my hand tighter; Mave shouted for his daddy with the biggest smile on his little face, and I looked at Row.
His face had a look of pure shock, and before I knew it, he was walking, then running to us, arms open wide.
The boys took off out of my hands, shouting over and over…
“Dad! Daddy!” As they ran to him. I smiled, tears running down my face as he ran to and scooped them up, swinging them around and smiling at our boys. I slowly walked up as he set them down, kneeling in front of them.
“We’re a family. A team. We look out for each other forever, alright?
” He put his hand in like he was finishing up a team huddle.
I put my hand on his, and the boys followed suit.
“Family on three. Ready? 1, 2, 3, Family!” We shouted with him, and the boys jumped on top of him again.
I laughed at them, smiling and just letting the photographers continue taking candid shots for the next twenty minutes.
Life was sweet. We came home, the boys fully accepting of Devereaux as their father figure.
Devereaux slipped seamlessly into our lives.
We explained to the management company that he was giving up his apartment to move in with us.
They were so sweet, we didn’t have to pay the fee to break his lease.
The boys asked questions, some days were harder than others with their emotions, and how they tested us, tested him.
We kept steady, showing them we loved them.
That we were here for them. I think we were so focused on us, living in our bubble, that we didn’t notice it at first. It wasn’t until things in the day-to-day of our lives started being affected.
Mail was being delivered, without ever having gone through the post office.
Photos from my private social media started being placed under our windshield wipers, with ‘homewrecker’ and ‘whore’ written on them.
They were being delivered at our jobs, at the kids’ school, at our apartment building.
I was starting to get worried. Then, little things started happening.
At first, they were so random, I thought they were all a coincidence.
Just weird little things, and then the photos came.
I had no idea what the fuck was going on.
There were photos from my social media, then from school drop-offs and pick-ups with the kids.
It was freaking me out. I told Jenson and Petey, and they started working on it right away, and I knew my legal bill would be hefty for this one.
There was no way all this crazy shit could be covered under one favor he owed Row. I showed Row every photo.
One day, I was driving to the Board shop to go over some paperwork while the boys played in the kids’ corner, when I noticed a car following us. I kept my path and sent a text to Row.
Sarah : Someone’s following me. On the way to the shop. I’ll get us upstairs and safe.
I started working my speed up just a little, moving in and out of traffic, trying to find a pocket I could slip in and get a bit of distance between myself and the car following us.
I managed to get us to the shop and into the stairwell to my office, locking it behind us.
That’s when the banging started. The boys let out little screams, Mave starting to cry, wanting to get up.
I picked him up, grabbing Carter’s hand, and we raced up the stairs.
I quickly shut the door, locking it, holding my babies as they cried.
“Mommy! I want Daddy!” I pulled my phone out and called Row. When he didn’t answer, I called the restaurants, but he wasn’t in either place. I called Jenson, and thankfully, he answered.
“Sarah, I was going to call you.”
“Jenson. Have you heard from Devereaux? I’ve been trying to call him. There was a car following us, and they’re banging on the door leading to the upstairs part of the shop.”
“He’s here, hold on,” I heard shuffling, and then his voice. His deep timber came through the line, calming me in a way I hadn’t been prepared for. It calmed me so much that I could let the tears fall.
“Sarah?”
“Daddy! Daddy!” The boys cried for him.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
“We were followed to the shop. They’re banging on the back door trying to get upstairs to us.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, Row! They followed us. I didn’t recognize the car, and the boys were too upset for me to look out the windows.”
“I need you to go look, baby girl. I need to know who’s out there. I’ll call you back on my cellphone.”
I hung up the phone and pried the boys off of me, going to look out all the windows to see if I could see who it was that had followed us. I couldn’t see through most of the windows, but I opened the smaller one in the bathroom and peeked out. I saw the gold sedan, and then I saw her.
Paloma.
She was screaming outside. I picked up the call as soon as my phone vibrated.
“It’s her, Row. I’m calling the cops.”
“Good. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more,” I smiled softly, letting myself have a moment of peace.
I hung up the phone and called the police.
I was done playing around with this woman.
Seven minutes later, there was a squad car blocking her car in and an officer trying to figure out who she was and why she was screeching at the building.
Three minutes later, Row was pulling in, looking calm and collected.
Jenson got out of the passenger side, while Petey got out of the back, an envelope in his hands.
“Okay, boys. Daddy’s here,” I said from the bathroom window where we were huddled together. I watched as Row got his keys out, unlocking the door, and then we heard his voice shout up to us.
“I’m here, baby! Boys? Daddy’s here!” We made our way out, the boys clinging to me, scared after all of the banging and screaming earlier.
When we got to the top of the stairs, the boys looked down and saw him.
Carter wrapped his arms around my leg, and Maverick was in my arms. Row’s face changed from neutral to worried in two seconds.
He said something to the officer and then took the stairs two at a time to us.
He scooped Carter up, wrapping all of us up in a hug.
We all cried into his arms, the boys more than I did.
I tried to be brave for them, but the whole ordeal had shaken me up.
He gently guided us downstairs, his hand never leaving mine as he carried Carter.
He poked his head out first, looking around.
Leading us to Jenson, we got an update.
“I told him, as your lawyer, she’s trespassing, had followed you here, and we have documentation of her continued harassment.
” Row nodded, while more cars showed up, including Will’s work truck.
Just what we needed. The boys were still being fussy, but I was doing my best to hold Mave while answering the officer's questions as Will strode up.
“That’s my wife. Those are my sons.” I heard his voice in the distance telling the officers, and Row must have heard, because I felt his arm snake around me protectively.
I tried to focus on the officer’s questions as Will tried to push his way to us.
The other officers were yelling at him to stop.
The boys were amping back up from the shouting.
When they started shouting for their daddy, Will was insisting it was him, while the boys were reaching for Row.
His face looked pissed.
“Sarah! Are you and the boys alright?” He shouted over top of the cops. The officer I was talking to looked at me with an eyebrow raised.
“He’s my ex-husband. He gave up his rights to the boys for a lump sum of money,” I explained, trying to keep my voice low so Will couldn’t hear.
I didn’t know what was going on with him.
Our divorce was final. I had no idea what he was thinking.
It was like, now that I was doing better and had the love and support I needed to thrive and shine, he wanted me back.
It was like a kid pissed that someone else was playing with their toy.
It was sick.
There had to be something mentally wrong with him. There had to be something going on that we couldn’t see. Something had to have snapped for him to think that these were still his boys. They were mine. He gave them up for money.
His love was always conditional.
Not for her, but for us it was.
It was chaos, and eventually the cops sent everyone home.
It was labeled as a civil matter, but they took the documentation and made a report about it.
Jenson asked for a copy of the report so he could file a civil suit with the courts.
Row packed us up in my car while Jenson promised to meet us back at our apartment to go over what he was planning on doing with the civil suit.
I just wanted this nightmare to be over. Just when I think our little bubble is safe, they pop up again. Like flies or gnats. After today, though, maybe vultures were a more apt animal to describe them. I just wanted us to be able to live out our happily ever after.