Chapter 26

Lauren

We kept Jillian with us until Sammie and the baby went home. When we arrived at their house, everyone was there. They wanted Jillian to be with them when they took her new baby brother into the house. Carrie, Scott, and grandma were right there with Lance's parents. It was so cute seeing Jillian run over to see the baby. She already loved him so much. He was adorable, Lance was right about that.

The second we made it inside, Jackson and Jillian were all over grandma giving her hugs and kisses. Then they ran to Carrie and Scott. I guess I hadn't realized just how much Jackson had become one of theirs as well.

As soon as the kids were gone, grandma looked over at me.

“Let me see that ring,” she said. “Did my boy do good?”

“He did great,” I told her. “I'd wear a bread tie if it came from him though.”

“He's a lucky guy,” she said.

“What about her?” Lance asked when he walked into the room. “She's pretty damn lucky for catching me. I'm not sure that's the exact word I'd use though.”

“No lack of confidence there,” she said with a laugh. “You got two for the price of one. That makes you lucky.”

“You're right,” he said, as he pulled me down to sit on his lap once he sat down.

“When is the big day?” she asked.

“We're not sure,” he answered. “Sammie had to go and steal our thunder, so we haven't really talked about it yet. I say the sooner the better. I've got to make her mine before she realizes just how crazy you all are.”

“Us, really?” Sammie asked from her spot on the couch. “I didn't steal your thunder.”

“Whatever you say,” he joked, and everyone started laughing.

I sat back and watched everyone talking and joking as they passed the new baby around. That little boy would probably never know just how much love he'd have in his life. When he got to me, all I could do was snuggle him and look down at his cute little face. It had been a long time since I'd held a baby that small. There was something so relaxing about it.

“Let me hold my favorite nephew,” Lance said, and I heard his dad growl from the other side of the room.

“You leave that boy alone,” his dad said. “You've already claimed Jillian. I can't get any attention from her when you're around. I have to sneak her over when you're not looking.”

I got up and handed the baby to Lance.

“Traitor,” his dad said from behind me. “I'll remember that.”

I turned around and gave him a dirty look.

“Where did that shy girl go?” he asked. “The one that felt bad for calling me old.”

“I told you,” Lance said from his spot on the chair. “There's evil in there.”

“Shut your mouth,” grandma said. “You leave her alone. She's a good girl. She puts up with you. You better hold on tight to her.”

“Grandma,” Lance said. “Whose side are you on?”

“The Smith and Reid women stick together,” she answered.

Everyone burst into laughter again. When I sat down on the edge of Lance's chair, I noticed Carrie was looking at me from the corner of her eye.

“Now we have two boys to play ball with,” Lance's dad said to Scott. “Between you, me, and James, they can both be Pirates.”

“You won't pressure my son,” Lance said, and I turned quickly to look at him.

“What?” his dad asked.

It was the first time Lance had ever called Jackson his son, and it shook me to my core. I couldn't help the tears that came to my eyes. Grandma reached over and squeezed my hand. I knew she felt it too.

“I remember how you were with James. You won't pull that shit on my boy,” Lance said in a stern tone.

I'd seen him talk to his dad many times, but I'd never seen him pull his shoulders back and let him know how it was. Lance was right, I was the lucky one.

“My grandson can be anything he wants,” Lance's dad came back at him. “If he wants to be a Pirate, he'll be a Pirate. If he wants to sit behind a computer and play all day, he'll have the best damn computer there is. I'll be right there with him.”

“Play,” Lance growled out from behind me.

His dad had just called Jackson his grandson. More tears filled my eyes, and grandma squeezed my hand again. How were we the only two noticing, I wondered? When I looked over at her, she had the biggest smile on her face.

“I'm just messing with you,” his dad said, as he stood up and walked over. “You know I'm damn proud of you. If you didn't play on computers all day, we wouldn't have sassy pants over here.”

His dad leaned down and snatched the baby from his arms.

“You leave this boy alone,” his dad said. “Go find your niece.”

I shook my head at his dad.

“Sassy pants,” I said.

He let out a laugh and went back to his own chair, guarding the baby so nobody would take him on the way there.

I looked over and noticed Carrie looking at me as if she were studying me. We'd seen each other a few times during the time I'd lived with Lance, and she'd never done that before.

“You okay,” Lance whispered, as he pulled me back against him.

“Perfect,” I said, as I snuggled in against him.

“How have you been?” I heard Carrie ask.

When I turned to look at her, I noticed Scott giving her a warning look. How did I know that look? All the men used the same damn one.

“Good,” I said.

“Have you heard from your mom?” she asked.

Grandma snapped her head toward Carrie and narrowed her eyes at her.

“No,” I said. “I haven't. Since my dad left years ago, she'd distanced herself from me. I don't know why I didn't expect what came after my grandma's death. My grandma was the one that wanted me there. I wouldn't be surprised if my mom wasn't trying to find my dad to get back with him. She loved him more than she did me.”

Lance wrapped his arms tighter around me.

“I'm just glad I have Lance,” I said. “He's shown me just how wrong my mom was about me and about Jackson. I can't imagine treating Jackson the way she treated me. I don't care how many mistakes he makes, I'll be right there with him. I'd do anything for my son. I don't see how any parent could turn their back on their child.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Carrie asked, and I could see Scott give her one more look of warning.

“Just let her go,” grandma said. “Let her get it out of her system. You know you can't stop her once she gets something in that head of hers.”

“Fine,” Scott said.

I looked between the three of them and instantly felt nervous. Lance must have sensed it, because he pulled me back against him even more.

“Your dad's name is Randy Lee,” Carrie said more as a statement than a question.

“Yes,” I said.

“I know he left when you were eight, but do you remember what he looked like?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said, as I pushed up from Lance's lap and walked over to grab my purse. “When I left the house, I grabbed a few pictures. Do you think you knew him? That would be so cool. Then you could tell me about him. I know I shouldn't want to know, but I do.”

I reached into my purse and pulled out a picture. He was so deep into the game and hadn't noticed that I had crawled between his arms and snuggled in against him. I looked over the picture for a moment before handing it to her.

“This is the only one I have with him in it,” I said, as I handed it over.

Her eyes widened, and she turned to show it to Scott. Grandma wasted no time grabbing the picture from Carrie's hand to look at it herself. The second her eyes hit that photo, her other hand went up to cover her mouth.

“Did you know him?” I asked with excitement filling me.

I was young when he left, and my mom and grandma hadn't said much good about him while I was growing up. If Carrie knew him, she could tell me things I didn't already know.

“Do you have a picture of your mom?” Carrie asked with a serious tone in her voice.

I went through the small stack of photos that hadn't left my purse once since I'd left. When my eyes landed on my grandma, tears instantly filled them.

“I'm so sorry,” Carrie said. “I shouldn't have asked.”

“No,” I said. “I just haven't looked at them since I've left, and I miss my grandma so much. Here's the one of my mom. It's pretty old too. I don't have any new ones.”

I handed her a picture, and a look of concern crossed her face. Scott looked over her shoulder at it and shook his head. The look on his face worried me even more than hers. It almost looked like anger. Did they know my dad and my mom somehow, I wondered?

Carrie took the picture of my dad back, and Scott looked it over again.

“You knew him?” I asked.

Scott nodded.

“You sure?” I asked.

“My fist remembers his face well,” he said with a rumble in his voice.

I'd never heard Scott be anything but happy, but there was something behind his words.

Carrie handed the pictures back to me without a word.

“You were his least favorite player,” I said. “I'm guess it had nothing to do with your ball playing skills.”

“It did not,” he said.

I saw tears forming in Carrie's eyes and instantly felt bad.

“I'm sorry,” I said. “I shouldn't have shown you. I had no idea it would upset you.”

She shook her head.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Lauren,” she said, as she got up, walked over, leaned down, and pulled me in to hug her.

“What is going on?” James asked. “How do you two know her parents?”

Carrie looked over at her mom with a questioning look in her eyes.

“You don't have a choice,” was all grandma said. “You've got your answer.”

“I was hoping I was wrong,” Carrie said, as she looked back at me. “I know there's a lot going on right now for everyone, but I need to talk to you and James in the other room.”

Lance's grip on me tightened, and he pulled me closer.

“No,” he said sternly. “I don't know what that was all about, but you need to talk to her right here.”

“Lance,” Carrie said.

“I'll be fine,” I said.

“No,” he said. “Right here.”

“James,” Carrie said, as she looked at her son.

“You will tell him in front of me,” Scott said, as she stood up, walked over to where James was sitting next to Sammie, and sat down next to him. “My son will be with me when he hears this.”

“Mom,” James said with concern in his voice. “What's going on?”

Carrie looked over at Lance and me.

“Shit!” she mumbled to herself. “This could change things.”

I felt my body tense at her words. Lance pulled me closer and whispered in my ear.

“I don't care what she has to say, nothing will change for any of us.”

“Mom,” James said again.

I watched Scott's hand grab tight on James' knee. Then I watched him nod at Carrie.

“I don't know how to say this,” Carrie said.

“What's wrong?” James asked.

I could see Carrie's hands shaking. She looked back at her mom and then between me and James. Then I saw the tears in her eyes start to slide down her cheeks. She took the pic from my hand again and looked down at it one more time, almost as if she hoped it would change and she would have been wrong.

“This is your father,” she said, as she looked at James.

“Lauren's father,” he said.

“Your father,” Carrie said again.

“Mine?” James asked pointing to his own chest.

Carrie nodded.

“You're sure?” James asked.

Carrie nodded again. He looked over at his grandma.

“I could never forget him,” she said with aggravation in her tone.

I sat frozen looking between them all as if it weren't my dad they were talking about.

“He didn't want me, but he wanted her,” James said, as he looked over at me.

“My dad didn't have kids,” I said, finally snapping back to reality. “He said a million times that he'd never wanted any. I was a mistake. If he'd already had one, he wouldn't have gotten her pregnant by accident. I'm the reason he left. He didn't have kids before me.”

I shook my head as I spoke.

“It's him,” Carrie said. “I've seen your mom before.”

“How?” I asked. “You knew my mom too.”

“When we got back together,” Carrie said, as she looked down at Scott. “We were out to dinner. Your dad was there with a woman. Your mom was that woman.”

I was so damn confused, and she knew it.

“She knew about James,” she said.

“What?” I snapped.

“She didn't know his name,” Carrie said. “She heard me tell Randy that I'd kept the baby and not done as he'd requested. His words were pretty nasty that day when he found out.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Scott knocked him on his ass, and we left,” she answered in a sad tone.

“My mom knew,” I mumbled.

“Yes,” Carrie said.

“She knew I had a brother, and she didn't tell me,” I said aloud to myself. “How could she have stayed with him knowing he wanted you to get rid of your child? How could she marry him? How could she get pregnant by someone like that? She let me blame myself all those years. It was her fault. How could she have a baby with a man that didn't want his child? Shit!”

I struggled to pull free of Lance's arms, but he wouldn't let me go.

“She didn't want me to have Jackson,” I said. “She told me so many times that no man would ever love me with a baby.”

“She what?” Lance's dad growled from across the room.

“She's just as sick as he is,” I said, as if nobody was there in the room with me. “Those two deserve each other. How the fuck could he walk away from not one but two kids?”

The tears streamed down my face. Lance pulled me back against him, and I buried my face in his chest. When I finally opened my eyes again, I looked at James who was still frozen in place.

“Not only did he do it once, but he did it twice,” I whispered, as I stood up and walked over to James. “A brother.”

I stood in front of him.

“I have a brother,” I said. “All those years, I felt so damn alone. I felt so bad that he hadn't wanted me. I thought I'd done something wrong. I can't believe this. How could she not tell me? I have a brother.”

James stood up and looked into my eyes.

“I didn't know,” Carrie whispered over and over. “I'm so sorry.”

Scott got up and pulled Carrie in and hugged her.

“If I ever see that fucker again,” he said, as she held Carrie tight.

“A sister,” James said. “I have another sister. I'm so sorry that he left you too. If I'd known, I would have helped you. I would have gotten you away from her. I would have been there when she told you to leave.”

James looked down at Lance with so much emotion in his eyes.

“Thank you,” he said to Lance. “Thank you for being there when I wasn't.”

“You didn't know,” I told James.

“Doesn't fucking matter,” he said, as he shook his head. “I had two parents that were good to me.”

“I had my grandparents,” I said.

“You're here now,” he said, as he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me. “I'll never let anything happen to you or Jackson. Jackson! I have a nephew.”

I pulled out of his arms and looked down at the baby still in Lance's dad's arms.

“I have a niece and a nephew,” I said.

“You stay over there,” Lance's dad said. “Blood or not, leave the boy where he is.”

I turned to Carrie and it hit me.

“You were the one,” I said.

“What?” she asked.

“You were the one that got him into baseball,” I said, and she nodded.

“For the record,” she said. “Scott was his favorite player before that restaurant.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“For what?” she asked.

“For giving me the only good memory I have of him. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have that. Thank you for telling us. I can't believe that I have a brother. You have no idea how many times I dreamed and wished that I had one. It just took a little longer than I would have liked to get one.”

James wrapped his arms around me again.

“At least I have one sister that likes me,” he said with a laugh.

“James,” Scott said.

“One of these days, you'll meet Cassie. She thinks she's better than all of us,” he said.

“I hope you're not mad,” I said to James. “I swear I didn't know. Please don't think that he wanted me and not you. He didn't. You were so much better off without him in your life.”

“My sister,” James said. “That's pretty awesome.”

Then he looked down at Lance.

“Better watch it pal,” he said. “You hurt my sister, and I'll fuck you up.”

“Shit!” Lance said. “I'm doing your sister. You know what that means? Now I get to make jokes and you get to hear them.”

“Bullshit,” James said.

“Paybacks are a bitch,” Lance said with a laugh. “You want to know what we did last night?”

“Do not finish that thought,” James snapped out, as he pulled Lauren closer.

“That means we'll be brother and sister married to a brother and sister. How cool is that?” Sammie asked from the couch.

“You would think of something like that,” Lance said.

“She's already my sister-in-law,” Sammie said, as she stuck her tongue out at Lance before looking at me. “You don't have to marry him if you don't want to. You'll still be one of us.”

“I think I'll keep him,” I said, as I wrapped my arms around Lance. “He's alright sometimes.”

“Alright,” Lance snapped, as he pulled his hand back and smacked my ass hard. “I'll pull you in the other room and show you how alright I am, Woman.”

“Stop,” James snapped. “Give me one day before you make me want to kick your ass.”

“I would have said the same thing yesterday,” Lance said.

“Yesterday, she was your woman,” James said “Today, she's my sister. Get your damn paws off her.”

Lance's dad got up, handed the baby to Lance's mom, and walked over to us. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me away from Lance.

“You're our daughter now. If I find out that nasty woman ever tries to contact you, I will personally kick her ass. So you hear me?” he said, as he lifted my chin for me to look at him. “She doesn't deserve your love. You're ours, and we love you.”

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him back.

“I love every single one of you,” I said.

Lance pulled me back into his arms.

“Go hug your own woman,” he told his dad.

I shook my head and laughed. Then I looked back to James. I couldn't believe I really had a brother.

Before long, Carrie, Scott, Lucy, and grandma were all hugging me and telling me how glad they were that I put up with Lance.

My life was better than I could have ever imagined. It was my grandma that pushed me to go to Lance when he wouldn't talk to me. I knew she was up there looking down on me and said a silent thank you to her for everything she'd ever done for me, including not fixing her will. I couldn't imagine my life being any more perfect than it already was.