CHAPTER 17
Ryan
Why the fuck had I come over here?
I was at my parents for dinner, trying to right things before Elle’s arrival. My mother was drunk as always, but today she was rambunctious as well. She’d saved all her anger for me over the last few months. I stared at her as she paced the kitchen, waving her hands and raging about Brea.
Anger rose inside me as she called Brea a whore and a gold digger. I tried to hold it in as she accused her of just wanting my money and using me for it.
“You don’t even know her. You met her once and you were drunk that night. How the fuck can you judge anybody?”
“She’s nothing, Ryan. She has no family and isn’t part of our group. She’s going to take you for everything you have,” Mom raged. I dragged my hands through my hair.
“She’s everything, Mom,” I told her in an even tone as she reached for her cup again, emptying it one swallow. “Give her a chance.”
“That baby will probably be a whore like her mother. You couldn’t even have a son to take over the business!” I stepped forward as she continued to scream at me, feeling a mixture of anger and pity. My mother had once been a beautiful and compassionate woman, but since she’d started drinking fifteen years ago, she’d become this out-of-control bitch.
“Fuck you. I am not going to listen to you go on about this, and I’ll make sure you never see my daughter!” I roared as I moved closer, fighting the urge to hit her. I heard the vague sound of a door closing and saw my father step between us as he gave me a fearful look.
“Bianca, this has to stop,” he told her in a broken voice. “It’s been going on for years now and I can’t take it. It’s not just about us anymore.” He touched her face and took a deep breath. “I am calling a center tomorrow for you, and if you don’t go, this marriage is over. Your ties to this family will be gone.”
Mom started to sob as I looked at my dad with surprise. Dad never defended me. I watched as he took Mom into his arms and carried her to their bedroom. I followed and helped him tuck her in, looking at her plastic face with sadness, before he gestured for me to follow him.
Dad organized the takeout, which had been left at the door while we’d been fighting. We sat down at the kitchen counter with plates and water as he took a deep breath.
“That was a long time coming, Son.” Dad looked at me, and I noticed the lines in his face. “I pushed her problems aside for so long because I work so much. She functioned when she was out at events, and I thought we had the perfect life. I thought we could keep faking it, but she’s gotten much worse over the last few months.”
He took a bite of the noodles on his plate and looked thoughtful for a moment. “I have to apologize for the day at the doctor and ever since. I don’t know why… I guess I imagined a woman like your mother taking control of the business. My reaction shocked even me, and I have been doing a lot of thinking. A lot.” He sipped his water and shook his head for a moment.
“I don’t know Brea well, but I can see that she is a gentle woman with a kind soul. I read between the lines and recognized that her father suffered from alcoholism as well, and that hit me somewhere deep inside. I went into defense mode when I was really just worried about the same thing happening to your mother. With a baby coming, everything seems a lot more surreal now. I need things to change. I want my wife back.”
He gave me a sad look. “She wasn’t always this way. She lost her parents, and I suppose it hit her hard when she still had a son to raise. I was working all the time, of course. I was oblivious, and I just thought she had some wine with dinner like her friends. I thought she was just like everybody else.”
“I didn’t want to see it either, Dad. I wanted to believe she was just enjoying a drink, but it was so obvious by my senior year. I knew then.”
“The year she got arrested for driving drunk to get more alcohol,” he said with a slow nod. “I managed to cover that up and somehow still hide her problem from the public. She stopped coming to a lot of things, and I would blame a cold or the flu. I thought she did fine at the events she did attend, but it was exhausting to watch her all night. That took a toll on me and you. I know it did.”
I nodded.
“I know I started to pressure you about the bank back then, and I regret that. I just wanted some control in my life and you were the victim.”
“I understand. She’s your wife and my mom. We just want to see her get better, but she’s only getting worse.” I thought about the things she’d said tonight and a sharp pain overcame me.
I’d never tell Brea about this, not in detail. This talk with Dad seemed to be going pretty well, and I expected to have good news for her tonight.
“I just can’t let her talk about Brea like that. I can’t, Dad. I’ll keep her away from the baby if it doesn’t stop.”
“I understand, Son. It all became known when I came home to see that tonight. I knew I had to do something. I didn’t want to threaten her like that, but using divorce in the past has never worked. She needs to know that she’ll lose the only family she has left in this world.”
Mom was an only child like me, and when she lost both of her parents to homicide, she broke.
“She’ll lose you and her granddaughter now. I don’t want that to happen, but she needs to go along with my plan. I have a wonderful center in Syracuse to take her to. It’s far, but I think she needs the distance. I know I do.”
“She’ll do this, Dad. I know she will,” I assured him as pain crossed his face.
“I can’t wait to meet the baby, Ryan. I think about her a lot, and the fact that she’s a girl means nothing. If she has the mix of Brea and you, she’ll be just fine.” He looked at me. “I did a little homework on her. She’s been through so much and still has that degree. It’s impressive.”
I smiled in agreement.
“You’re going to go far too, family business or not. Your gram always told me you were born for so much more and that was why she left you that money. I was a stubborn fool to hold you to these conditions this long, but we’re all getting a baby out of it. There is that.”
“I thought you were crazy when I was younger and you set these conditions. I didn’t want a girlfriend, much less a wife or a baby. I was angry for years, and I really thought I hated you. Then I got older, met Brea, and knew I could settle down.”
“Are you going to settle with her?” Dad asked. I smiled slowly.
“We’re going to move in together soon. We want to live together when the baby arrives.” I glanced at him. “Her name is Elle Marie Hall.”
Dad’s face softened as he twisted some noodles onto his fork. “Marie,” he repeated as he thought about his mother. “She’d love that.”
“I know. We hadn’t talked about names too much, but that combination hit me the day of the ultrasound.” I watched him wince. “Brea loves the name Elle, and I thought about Gram. I was always so close to her, and she left me all that money to build something with.”
“It’s a shame she won’t meet her great-grandparents as well as her grandpa. Will Brea’s mom come to see her?”
“I think she’s warming up to the idea. She keeps sending things in the mail and FaceTiming with Brea. We’ll see.” I laughed and glanced at him. “Lucy is claiming aunt of the year already. She’s going to be great at it.”
“I went to some of the galleries to see her work. It’s beautiful.” I looked at Dad in surprise. “It’s easy to keep up with things with technology. Your aunt tells me stuff as well. She sounds like a good girl.”
Apart from her still dating Lewis, I agreed. She was going to be a good friend and aunt, someone Brea would need.
“Yes, she is.”
“Seeing how things are later, toward the holidays, I was thinking of having Christmas here with the whole family. It’s been a long time, and it might be nice, assuming your mother has made a decision by then.” I grinned at the idea, thinking it over.
“That sounds nice, Dad.”
“I’m going to hire that chef again if I can find her. Nancy. If not her, someone else. I don’t cook well, and your mom needs to take care of a few things before she settles back into it. I am getting tired of takeout,” Dad admitted, and I laughed. “Does Brea cook?”
“I’ve been too busy spoiling her to find out, to be honest. We’ll see. If not, I’ll teach her or we can learn together.” I remembered making the suggestion to her before. I smiled and he nodded.
“That sounds wonderful, Son. When do you plan to move in together?” he asked.
“I might need a little help with that.” I leaned in as I started to talk, seeing his grin widen on his face. We cleaned up after dinner, and Dad tossed the rest of the food, claiming he was calling Nancy in the morning. There were enough basics in the fridge to get by until next week. I hugged him tightly when we were finished.
He walked me to his office and we sat down as he pulled a folder from his desk drawer. Dad turned it around in his hands, careful not to spill the papers inside.
“I’ve called the lawyer and set everything up. The money is yours. You’ll have to go into the office for a visit to make it official, but you can take it and make all your dreams come true. You can set up a house for Elle.”
“Thank you,” I said as I hugged him again. “If you need any help with Mom or anything else, call me. I’ll be here.”
“I will, Son. I’m hoping that she sees my side of things and fixes herself. She is a good woman underneath it all.” I nodded and glanced at the stairs. I wanted to see her, but I knew Mom was sleeping. I’d talk to her later.
I made my way out to the car and looked at my childhood home. I hoped it would be a place of happiness from now on, somewhere I’d be proud to bring my daughter down the line. It used to be good here, before Mom lost her parents. I just hoped it could be again.
I started the car and thought about how strange life was. It had only been a matter of months, but I was having a baby in a few weeks and fixing things with my family. Sometimes, the oddest of circumstances gave you the best results. Had I settled, I wouldn’t have been with Brea. I would have been with a gold digger from my social circle and Mom’s accusation tonight would have been true.
She didn’t see people clearly in her state of mind, but she would see Brea for what she was soon enough. I pulled out of the long driveway and headed toward the penthouse.
Brea had worked a double to cover someone’s shift tonight, against my wishes, and I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her home. The idea made me laugh a little as I pulled onto the main road and headed toward Manhattan. Now that I was getting the money, she could pay off her loans and relax. We’d move in together and get ready for our baby, and she’d have her baby shower next weekend at Lucy’s.
Life was going to be good. I glanced at the folder beside me at a red light. This was really happening. I was getting my dream and my family back. I kept going down the road and got onto the freeway before I saw the screen on my car light up, telling me that Lucy was calling.