Chapter Twenty-Eight:

I opened my eyes to the guys getting ready for school. I smiled and rubbed my eyes. It’s nice to know that some things don’t change. I decided not to move. I’m not hurting right now and I know the moment I do, I’ll be in pain.

“Come on, Doug. Someone needs to stay with Ace today.” Brian told Doug. Doug just shook his head.

“I’ll be here with her and I have people staying with her while I leave. The police have patrol cars driving by every hour. She’ll be fine, Brian. I appreciate your concern, but you can’t miss school.” Doug said, despite Brian’s best efforts. Brian opened his mouth to protest again, but Doug held up his hand. “My answer is final. I don’t normally need to resort to this, but don’t make me call your parents. You know I will. There is no reason that your education should suffer. You’ve been out of school enough the past couple of weeks.” Doug laid down the law. The look on Brian’s face was priceless. I was laughing so hard.

“He’s right. I’ll be fine.” I assured him. He grumbled something under his breath but didn’t say anything else. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed food with the rest of the guys. Zacky strolled into the living room with us and sat down on the end of the couch that my feet couldn’t quite reach, while I was laying down.

“You get deal with me until my appointment.” Zacky told me.

“Oh?” I asked.

“I have to go to the dentist in a few hours. I convinced Dad to let me skip until after lunch.” He grinned, directing it to Brian, who scowled back.

“You guys are impossible.” I told him.

“That’s part of the charm. You know you love it.” Zacky argued.

“Yeah, that’s true.” I agreed. We didn’t talk much while everyone else was getting ready for school. I waved as they made their way to the door. Brian knelt down in front of me and gave me a kiss that made my knees weak. Jimmy gave me a hug and Matt smirked at me and then they were gone. The house is freakishly quiet when the guys are absent.

“Were you ever married to Zacky’s mom, Doug?” I asked him. He looked over at me from his armchair in surprise.

“Um,” Zacky said, looking at his father nervously. Doug nodded.

“It’s alright, Zachary. I don’t mind talking about it.” Doug told me. Why did my question make Zacky so nervous? “To answer your question, Sweetheart, I was married to Zacky’s mum for about five years. We got married a year before we had Zacky. Two years after he was born, we found out that we were pregnant.” He explained. Zack cleared his throat.

“I’ll let you guys talk. I’ll be back down in a bit. I, uh, forgot something in my room.” He announced as he left the room. I sat up, grimacing as I moved, and faced Doug.

“About four months into her pregnancy, we found out that we were having a daughter. I was happy. I couldn’t believe I was being blessed with a second child. I think that I was so caught up in my own excitement that I couldn’t see that she wasn’t as excited as I was. Two months later, she told me that she lost the baby.” He told me. My hand flew to my mouth.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.” I told him. He gave me a sad smile.

“It wasn’t until a year later, when his mum had been drinking a little too much, that the truth finally came out. She told me that she wasn’t ready to be a mother and she couldn’t bear to have another child. She had an abortion and faked the miscarriage.” He whispered. His eyes look glassy, like he’s holding back tears. “I’ve never felt so betrayed by anyone before that moment. I kicked her out of our house and we were divorced not even a month later.” He confessed. I pushed myself up off of the couch and went over to him. I hugged him to my stomach. “It seems I have awful taste in partners, I’m afraid. I’ve always wanted a daughter. When Zacky told me about your situation, it was like I was getting a second chance. You’re like the daughter I wasn’t able to have… because mine was taken away from me before I had the chance to take care of her.”

“How did you get past it?” I asked him in a soft voice.

“I’m still struggling to. After a few years, it got a bit easier, but every day is hard.” He responded, pulling away from our awkward embrace. I rubbed his arm, trying to comfort him. My heart is breaking for him.

“You really need to re-evaluate your choice in women.” I told him, trying to lighten things. He laughed.

“You’re something else, Lydia.”

“Something good?”

“Yes. I imagine that if my daughter had lived, she’d be lucky to turn out as wonderful as you are, Sweetheart.”

“Dude, you’re gonna make me cry.” I rasped. He chuckled.

“Let’s get Zacky and tell him it’s safe to come downstairs, shall we?” He asked. I nodded.

“Does he not like talking about his mom?” I asked him. He shook his head.

“It’s a sore subject for him.”

---

We spent the morning watching bad telenovelas and trying to guess the dialogue. It was nice. Zacky and Doug left for his appointment and the two guys that stayed with me at the hospital came to the house. They made themselves comfortable and didn’t really bother me. I opted to stay downstairs with them. I’m not ready to be alone yet.

I think the closer I get to the Baker family, the more I’ll learn about what Doug does for a living. Not knowing doesn’t really bother me. Ignorance is bliss – or so they say.

I’ve always been told that you can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends. But, I’ve also come to learn that family doesn’t stop with blood. The rag-tag group of characters that I’ve known through my life, they weren’t blood, but they’ve been more of a family to me than my parents ever have. This morning with Zacky and Doug, it’s one of the first times that I got to experience what a normal, loving family must feel like. It’s great. I don’t understand how so many people can just throw that away. Nothing is worth losing that. Maybe my perspective is biased, because I’ve never really had it before. I know that I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the people I’ve come to love.

I may have only known them for a short time, but the guys, especially Zacky and Doug, they feel like family. It’s an awesome, courage-inspiring feeling. It gives me hope that things will get better. They have to.

Notes

Thoughts? Comments?

I'll try and update tomorrow, but work normally leaves me exhausted and not motivated at all on the weekends. New chapter will be up for sure by Sunday.

Xo,
Katie