23
Next day…
I wake up and Tammy isn't in bed. I hear movement downstairs, I’m assuming she got up with the kids, so I could get some sleep. That woman is going to have a red ass. I told her multiple times to wake me up in the morning to help. She refuses to do so. I get up from the bed and stretch. I groan when I feel my muscles in my back tighten up, then loosen. I head to the bathroom to take a piss and then I grab a pair of PJ pants.
After getting them on, I slowly make my way downstairs. I see Tammy at the stove cooking and the babies are in their chairs, clapping their hands together. “Hey baby,” I say loud enough for Tammy to hear me and she squeals jumping away from the stove. I move fast and I stand beside her. “What’s wrong, baby?” I ask in a panic. Did she burn herself? Tammy shakes her head giggling.
“Nothing, you scared me. I didn’t hear you coming downstairs,” she replies.
I can’t help but snicker. She slaps my bare chest. “Ouch,” I hiss rubbing the spot she hit and she glares at me.
“Oh, suck it up,” she hisses and I raise a brow. “Baby, the only who does the sucking around here is you, sucking my cock,” I murmur and she gasps, looking from the kids, then at me.
“Dalton, the babies,” she growls.
“Baby, they don’t understand much, yet,” she grumbles under her breath and goes back to cooking.
“What are your plans for today?” I ask her. She looks at Jackson then back to me.
“I’m going to clean up a bit today and then when Mia is napping, I’ll be doing the same,” she says and then I’m about to open my mouth to ask her what Jackson will be doing. “I was thinking maybe you could head over to Destiny’s with Jackson for a supervised visit. I know she doesn’t deserve it because of what she’s done. But she’s still his mother,” she adds sighing, she fills a plate with pancakes and sausages and hands it to me. I take a seat at the table and dig in. She brings me over a coffee. God, I’m lucky to have her.
“So, are you going to take him over to see her?” she asks and the fork stops just before my mouth.
“If you want me to take him over to see her, I will. But I’m telling you, she’ll be fucked out of her mind, when I get there.”
“Still, I find it weird that she hasn’t been texting or anything because of the papers the lawyer’s office sent over. I just want you to check how everything is going over there and what her angle is.”
“Fine, I’ll head over after breakfast,” I say and she grins at me before placing a small teasing kiss to my lips. The babies start whining in their high chairs and I grumble, ‘cock blockers’.
Tammy gasps and looks at me with shocked eyes. “Dalton. They are not cock blockers. Don’t say that,” she says in a teasing way.
“Baby, last night when I went to bed. I was right behind you with my arm around you. My cock was so fucking hard, I’m sure I got blue balls. I wanted you last night badly, but I knew if I woke you, there would be a monster to deal with,” she gasps and mutters ‘fuck you’ and I lose it. I love it when she says the word ‘fuck’, it travels right to my cock every time and it’s so hot coming from her lips.
After I finish eating, I head upstairs to take a shower then get dress while Tammy’s feeding the little ones’ downstairs. I’m in and out of the shower, then I get my clothes out of the dresser. Today’s going to be a long day, I just know it. It’s like there’s something’s wrong, but I’m not sure what it is. I get dress and head back downstairs where Tammy is cleaning up Jackson and getting him dressed. Mia is in her swing, not having a care in the world about anything. Jackson is fussing a little while she dresses him. It’s like he knows he’s going to see the mother, a mother that doesn’t want much to do with him.
I can’t shake the feeling that something horrible has happened or is going to happen, it’s stuck in my bones like a warning. I don’t like the idea of leaving Tammy alone, but she would have a fit if she knew that I wanted to just stay here and be with her and Mia and Jackson. I don’t want to go see Destiny, but I have to at least see if she wants to see her son. It’s not like I owe her anything, her actions speak louder than words. Even after everything, she hasn’t done right, she still has a right to see him. This will be the last and final attempt to see if she’ll get her acted together. I just hope she’s not fucking drunk or high when I get there.
Twenty some minutes later…
I turn down Destiny’s street and I apply the brake, when I see an ambulance and the police near Tammy’s apartment down the road. It couldn’t have anything to do with her. I shake my head and continue down the road to her place. I start to worry because they seem to be right there, at her apartment building. Jackson whines a little in the back. “It’s alright, little man,” I say, trying to calm my son but he seems beside himself.
I park the car not far from the apartment and turn off the engine, with everyone there I could get boxed in and I don’t want to be around here for hours. I get out of the car and open Jackson’s door, removing the car seat. I slowly make my way to the apartment, the closer I get, I feel the lump in my throat. I see a whole bunch of yellow tape and that’s something I try to stay clear of. It’s not something good, when you see that kind of tape.
Jackson has gone quiet in the car seat. I look down and his eyes are wide looking around at everyone. I walk over to an officer, I don’t like cops never have and never will. He looks me up and down judging me before I even get to him. “You can’t go any further,” he growls out and I stop and grunt my reply.
“I’m here to see the mother of my child,” I hiss out and he looks down at the car seat and his eyes come back to me. He looks nervous and I start to question what the hell is going on.
“Sir, you’ll have to wait here,” he mumbles walking off to another cop but this one looks like he’s the one in charge.
He comes walking over to me and puts his hand out. “Sergeant Daniels,” I shake his hand.
“Dalton Cole,” I reply, he releases my hand.
He clears his throat. “Destiny Bishop is your…umm,” he trails off and I put him out of his misery.
“She’s the mother of my son, nothing more, nothing less.” He nods his head.
“I’m sorry to be a bearer of bad news Mr. Cole, but Destiny was found in her apartment by a neighbor. She was found dead in the living room, she had taken something and slit her wrists. She left a note for her parents and one for Viper. I’m not sure who this Viper person is,” I cut him off from speaking further.
“I’m Viper,” I mention.
“I’ll be releasing the letter to you as soon as her parents arrive. I’m sorry Mr. Cole, but we did read the letters. The one that was addressed to her parents and yourself, it’s mandatory in a suicide.” He declares.
“I understand,” I reply and he nods his head and walks back over to where he was overseeing things.
I’m in total shock by what the hell is happening. Destiny took her own life? Did she care so little about her life and Jackson’s for that matter? I shake my head because she lost out on raising our son, watching him grow up and enjoying life. I don’t know what to think right now. I’m flabbergast.
A few moments go by and I catch my bearing’s. Destiny’s parents just show up. There’s someone in the car with them, a woman walks out and she looks so much like Destiny that I was sure it was her, but it’s not. Destiny is in a body bag right now inside the house. Ready to come out and get transferred to the morgue.
Laura comes up to me sobbing. “Oh my God, is it true? It can’t be true. My baby,” she sobs as she hugs me. Jackson is on the ground and he begins to cry. Laura sobs harder when she hears Jackson. She lets me go and leans down and unties Jackson and holds her to him. Henry comes over and comforts his wife. She holds on dearly to Jackson like she’s afraid he’ll disappear. The woman that was in the car with them comes up to me, her eyes are puffy and red. She sniffles and straightens herself in front of me.
She holds her hand out and gives a small sad smile. “Hi. I’m Destiny’s older sister, Taryn.” She says softly. I grab her hand, shaking it.
“I’m Dalton Cole,” I murmur and she nods.
“I know who you are. I’m sorry that we haven’t met before now. Even if you and my sister weren’t together. I should have tried harder to see my nephew.”
“It’s okay. I honestly, didn’t know that Destiny had a sister. She has never spoken about you,” I mention sympathetically.
“She wouldn’t talk about me either. We had a fall out a couple of years ago,” she mumbles lightly. I nod my head, I’m not going to pry.
Laura hands Jackson to me and she takes off screaming. I look over towards the apartment and see the body bag coming down the stairs. My heart stops for a second, I can’t fucking believe this is happening. I can’t seem to get my head around it. Taryn’s hand shoots into her mouth and she gasps. Henry takes off after his wife, holding her back from the black bag that now holds their daughter. Henry pulls Laura away and brings her back over to where Taryn and I are standing. Laura is a mess, she looks like she’s ready to drop any second. She looks at me and in her eyes, I see the hurt and the loss. I feel for her. I don’t know what I would do if anything were to happen to Mia or Jackson, there are my life.
Sergeant Daniels comes back over to us with two envelopes. He stops in front of us and nods to Henry, then at me.
“Mr. Bishop, Ms. Bishop, there’s a letter addressed to you from your daughter.” He hands them the envelope and then hands me the one with my name. It feels so heavy in my hand. Dread rolls up my spine as I see Destiny’s handwriting on the front, nicely written is my name ‘Viper’. I close my eyes. I might not have loved Destiny but she did give me my son. I have some feelings towards her for that fact alone. But it’s not love, it’s respect. She gave me something precious. I’ll forever be thankful.
Henry looks at me and down to his broken wife, his eyes showing unleashed tears. I know he’s trying to stay strong for his wife, his family. I nod to him and one tear slides down his face and he wipes it away quick and he nods back. Laura looks at Jackson with a lost look and she sobs lightly. “The baby will never know how good his mother could have been, how she was before that wicked job of hers,” she cries and Henry holds her to him, rubbing her arms trying to soothe her. Laura looks at me. “Dalton, please don’t keep Jackson away from us. My heart won’t bear it,” she says softly, her voice so broken for crying.
“I would never keep Jackson, from you. From either of you,” I announce.
“Thank you, Dalton. Jackson is the last part of Destiny that I have and I don’t know what I would do if I lost him too,” she whimpers, her lip trembling.
“You can see Jackson anytime you want, Laura. I mean that. You’re his grandmother.”
She nods her head and she turns away from me watching everyone doing their jobs. Henry looks at me and I should get home. I need to get away from this. Jackson seems to be getting fussy with being around all these people. The noise is getting to him.
“Henry, I’m going to get going. I need to get back to the house. Tammy and Mia are probably wondering what’s taking me so long,” I say regretfully and Henry shakes my free hand.
“I understand, Dalton. Go be with your family. We’ll contact you soon,” he mentions turning around holding his wife.
I walk away numb to the core. Once I get Jackson in the back seat and secured in. I seat in the front seat staring at Destiny’s handwriting. My name jumps up at me with urgency. I close my eyes and take a deep breath before opening the envelope. I tear the seal and remove the letter.
I look out the window and it feels like she’s right there sitting beside me. My head turns to the empty seat in the car. My eyes mist as the words leak from my mouth. “I promise,” I clear my throat. “Destiny, I promise,” my voice cracks some, choking on the emotion, that is threatening to spill from my throat as I stare outside.
My eyes misting and blurry. “I promise,” I whisper again.