Tobias

The Shenandoah Brothers

 

Andi Grace

Copyright © 2017

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

 

He was totally screwed!

The constant screams from the room down the hall woke him from his slumber. Turning restlessly, he flung back the covers and sat up, swinging his feet onto the cold hardwood floor. He had barely laid his head down on his pillow when the screams began. He had to be up at dawn for an early breakfast meeting with some bigwigs from Japan but instead of getting plenty of rest, he spent the day at the hospital, yelling and screaming and thanking everyone for fucking up his life.

It was their fault. They should have considered all contingencies.

They failed, and he planned to sue them.

All he wanted was an hour or five of good solid sleep. He had worked late to get ready for the merger with Teiko Industries. The merger was going to make him millions, and after working his ass off for the last two years, tomorrow was the day his baby was gonna hit the big time.

His company, Blue Jacket Industries was the leading telecommunications company in the United States, leading the way in semiconductors, weapons, and security. The deal with Teiko Industries was to expand his company and take Blue Jackets global. A dream he had worked on from the very beginning.

But three days ago, fate reared her ugly head.

He was sitting down to dinner at Club Neo with investors and bankers when he had gotten the call. Like any dutiful husband, after finishing his drink and apologizing for the interruption, he made his way to Manteca General Hospital. It took him over an hour to find a decent parking place, not wanting to scratch his brand-new Benz. He loved his new car and wanted nothing to harm her. So, after finding a suitable parking spot, he made his way towards admitting. When he reached the desk, a cute little redhead perked up and smiled sweetly at him. After flirting for a few minutes, he was told to head to the fourth floor.

Upon reaching his destination, he watched as several nurses and doctors rushed around screaming at each other as if the hospital was on fire. Stepping out of their way, not wanting to interrupt their work, he sat down in one of the chairs and took out his blackberry and began to check his messages. After reading and sending several emails, he got up and noticed the hall was calmer. He found a man in a white coat and nicely asked him, what room his wife was in after introducing himself.

The look on the man’s face was eerily solemn as he began his dutiful spiel.

He stood there, listening as the doctor told him they did everything they could. That’s when he felt his heart skip a beat as reality soon flooded his body. He ran into the room, to find the floor covered in blood, his wife’s lifeless body staring up at something on the ceiling. Nurses moved around him, talking quietly over an incubator. It was then he heard the scream.

Looking to his left, he saw the thing.

It was alive.

It lived. His wife didn’t.

He turned to leave, and that same doctor who minutes ago told him his wife was dead, asked if there was anything he could do?  All he did was pick up his phone and dialed the first person that came to his mind. Waiting, as the phone rang and rang, he sighed when she answered, “Hey you.” After telling her what had happened, she assured him she was on her way, and he believed her.

He stayed at the hospital until he couldn’t anymore. He listened as the nurses told him what to do, and he followed everything they said to the letter. But apparently, they were wrong because the moment he closed his eyes, it began to scream, and it had continued to scream since it entered this world.

The loud constant shrieks echoed from down the hall, as he placed his head in his hands.

Wanting so much to ignore them and go back to bed, he was exhausted. Four hours ago, he was filling out discharge papers and other mundane records as he watched a man in a black suit wheel his wife’s body into a hearse.

He just sat there listening to the loud cries. Looking over his shoulder, the pillow next to his was untouched, the sheets still in their place, the side empty. He was alone in the room.

Sighing, he got up and walked into the bathroom, and used the facilities. When he was finished, he slowly washed his hands, as the continuous cries from the room down the hall vibrated throughout the house.

He was alone.

She had left him, and he blamed her. This was all her fault. She should have known better. She should have taken better precautions. She was to blame. His only regret was that he wished he found the time to attend all those classes, and then he would know what to do, but nobody could blame him, he had a company to run, deals to broker, money to make. It was her job to make sure that everything else was taken care of. She chose to do this. She said she would take care of everything and he believed her.

She lied.

Leaving his room, groggy and wanting more than five minutes of sleep, he shuffled slowly down the hall to the constant reminder of what never was going to be.

Opening the door, the loud screams pierced his ears. Walking towards the commotion, he reached the loud noise and looked down. Bundled in pink, smaller than a bag of sugar, the thing screamed. Her red little face bunched as if in pain, and he felt nothing.

She looked just like her mother. A tuff of blonde hair sat atop her little head, her long slender finger curled tightly as if she wanted to hit him for not coming sooner, but it was her piercing blue eyes, the only thing she had inherited from him that bore into his soul.

She knew him.

She saw through him.

She knew he was a failure and she condemned him. He didn’t blame her.

Picking up the four-day-old child, he held her from his body, feeling the wetness of her little sleeper. Carrying her over to what he assumed was the changing table he laid her down, as she continued to scream her little head off.

“I’ll give you a thousand dollars if you shut up!” he shouted, hoping it would work, but the only thing it seemed to do was to aggravate the little imp more. Her face furrowed, and within mere seconds she howled out a bone-curdling scream that grated him right down to his bones.

Running his hands through his hair, he took a deep breath trying to control his temper when the realization hit that just maybe his daughter inherited something more from him.

His temper.

Fuck!

“I don’t think she understands the concept of money quite yet,” a soft voice said coming to stand beside him.

“She won’t stop crying!”

“She is a baby, Tobias.”

“I know that!” he yelled frustrated and blanched when she arched her eyebrow at him, “Sorry Mom. I just can’t deal with this. I have that big merger in the morning.”

“Tomorrow is the funeral. Postpone the merger. They will understand,” His mother said softly as she began to change her granddaughter, soothing her in the process.

“I can’t. I have spent two long years for this. The funeral is at one. The merger is at nine in the morning. I will make it, but I must make this deal, or thousands of people are going to be out of a job. I stand to make over one hundred million dollars, mom. I can’t just ignore this,” He explained as he watched his mother swiftly and efficiently change a diaper, put on a clean dry sleeper and soon had her wrapped up tightly like a sausage. Instantly the little noise maker yawned, and he watched in shock as her eyes closed and soon she was back asleep.

“How did you do that?” He asked.

“Years of practice,” She smiled as she held her close to her heart. Walking over to the rocker in the corner, she sat and looked up at her son, “Tobias, I am worried about you. Since Bridget’s death, all you seem capable of doing is work. What are you going to do when I must go home? Have you thought about childcare, a nanny, anything? Peanut here is going to need round the clock care, something I fear you’re incapable of doing. Have you given any thought to what we discussed yesterday?”

“Mom, you pick…I really don’t care. I can’t think of mundane things like that. My only concern is the merger. Once it is done, I will have time to think of everything else.”

“Tobias Ross Shenandoah, my granddaughter is not a mundane thing. She deserves a name.” his mother scolded him.

“Your mom is right you know. We can’t keep calling her peanut,” Gabriella said walking in with a warm bottle. Gabriella Rose Shenandoah was married to his twin, Theodore and one of the sweetest women he knew, but she like the rest of the women in this family was strong and determined. Tobias watched as Gabby handed the bottle to his mother, smiling down at the sleeping baby. He sighed when Annalise soon followed Gabby and said, “Peanut deserves a name worthy of a Shenandoah, and it is up to you to provide it.”

The soon to be the newest member of the family, Annalise Nicole Taylor had agreed to marry his oldest brother Truman not even five months ago. They had a wonderful engagement, that he and his very pregnant wife, Bridget attended. It was also the last time he and his wife had spent more than five minutes not fighting.

“I can’t do this. I have to be up in a couple of hours. You ladies seem to have everything under control, I am going to bed.” He said and turned to leave, only to be stopped, by another female.

This one, he feared. Not because, she scared the living shit out of him, but because she brought reinforcements. Behind her, stood all his other brothers and his father, “Good evening Tobias, I see that it only took you ten minutes this time to get your ass out of bed to get my niece. Have you picked a name yet?” she asked, looking him squarely in the eyes.

Out of all the women in his family, this one, this little five foot nothing woman, held this family together with a firm hand. Married to his brother Thomas, not much ever riled her, but from the moment he met her, he never could weasel his way around her, but that never stopped him from trying.

“You look mighty pretty tonight Amelia.”

“Cut the crap Tobias and get the hell out of my way,” She said pushing him to the side. Faced with his brothers before him, Tobias turned and followed the woman, with his brothers on his heels.

“Well, since we are all now awake, I think we can all take five minutes to pick a name for the newest member, any suggestions?” Amelia said, commanding the room.

“How about Bertha Mae, after my mother?” his father, T.H. Shenandoah suggested. The whole room turned to look at him, and he quickly held his hands up in surrender, “Okay, maybe not.”

“I like Penelope,” Jackson suggested.

“We are not naming your niece after a hussy you have hanging on your wall, so forget about it,” Amelia admonished.

“Courtney Rose Shenandoah, that has a nice ring to it,” Taylor suggested, looking at the little creature in his mother’s arms.

“She doesn’t look like a Courtney, but I like Rose,” Theo said, and then suggested, “Hey how about Sheena?”

The look Gabriella gave her husband soon had him backing away seeking shelter behind Thomas, who was about to suggest a name when a very alert eight-year-old, came in shouting, “Who woke up Bethy Jane. I heard her all the way downstairs.”

“Bethy Jane, who in the hell is Bethy Jane?” Tobias asked confused.

Abigail walked over to the sleeping baby, and gently touched her cheek. The little creature opened her eyes and smiled. “This is Elizabeth Jane. She lets me call her Bethy Jane for short. She likes it. She smiles every time I call her it. See…watch.”

The whole room moved closer and watched.

“Hi Bethy Jane, you gonna smile for me. Don’t forget, I’m bigger, so you gotta listen to me. Come on Bethy Jane, smile.” Abigail said smiling at the baby. When the baby smiled, Abigail giggled, “See, she likes it!”

“Well…Elizabeth Jane Shenandoah, welcome to the family,” Tobias said looking at his daughter.