Epilogue
BETHANY
Five months had passed since I started working at Gavin’s office. I re-enrolled in college to finish my last hours so I could graduate and start my career as a teacher. Principal Jones called me out of the blue last week and asked me about my progress. Once I told him that I was close to finishing, he said that there was another district he could refer me to. Things were too hard for him to keep me hired at Morris Elementary, but there were other districts that weren’t as strict. I was grateful for the opportunity, and I let him know that as soon as I became available, I would reach back out to him. Things between Gavin and I were moving along as well. As time passed, though, I completely put the question out of my head of whether or not he was going to propose to me. It had been months since I saw the website in his office, and I figured that if he didn’t ask by now, maybe he wasn’t going to.
I arrived at April’s home. She’d had a baby boy a month ago, but I was so busy that I didn’t have the chance to come by and see my new nephew. When I got to her house, I pulled my gifts out of the trunk, then headed inside. When I opened the door, April sat on the couch nursing Mark Jr. “Close the door, girl. I don’t want the whole neighborhood to see my tit.” I laughed then closed the door behind me.
“Aww, look at him,” I said, placing his gift next to the couch. “He is so little and cute.”
“He is sucking the hell out of my nipple. This stuff hurts so bad, but I am going to just deal with it for now. I hear that natural milk is better than Similac, so I don’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, it is better. It is healthier, you know? Gives the baby more nutrients.”
I sat down on the couch and watched him feed. He looked so small and innocent. I couldn’t wait to have one of my own, but at the rate things were going, it didn’t look like I was going to have one. “So, how’s life?” she asked.
“It’s okay. I am close to finishing school, and the principal at Morris called me earlier this week. He said he could possibly have a job for me in another district once I completed my degree. So, maybe I will have an easy road to the teaching career. But we will see.”
“That’s good. I am glad you finally buckled down and got serious about school. I knew it would open up doors for you.” Mark Jr. finished eating, so she propped him over her leg and tapped his back until he burped. “Oops, that was a good one,” April said, laughing. She picked him up and extended him towards me. “Now, this is your Aunt Bethany. She has been too busy for you in your first month of life to come visit you at home, so I think you need to spit up on her once or twice to welcome her.”
I laughed. “It’s okay, little one; you can spit up on me if you feel like it, I don’t mind. I will still love you the same.” I took him out of her hands and held him close. He opened his eyes and looked at me as if he was trying to figure out who I was. “He is beautiful. He has Mark’s wide nose and your eyes.”
“Yeah. I was hoping he would get my nose because Mark’s nose is like a curse.”
I laughed, “You are so mean. I thought you would get a little nicer after your pregnancy.”
“Well, you knew I was sort of an a-hole before I got pregnant, so I think I am rounding back into form.” A few moments of silence passed. Mark Jr. made gargle noises for a moment before he drifted off to sleep. “So, how are things with you and Gavin?”
I sighed. “Things are okay. I mean, I will say that they are moving kind of slow. I figured that he would at least have proposed by now, you know? Remember when I told you about seeing that website on his computer?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what that was about, but apparently it wasn’t about moving forward with me. I guess I need to be patient, but it is hard because I know what I want. Now, I am questioning if he wants the same thing.”
“Yeah, I hear you. But you’re right; you just need to be patient, that’s all. Don’t start doubting yourself or his love for you. I know he loves you. I only met him the one time you two visited the hospital after junior was born, but he seemed like a good guy. I could tell by the way he treated you that he loves you, so don’t give up. I think you two are a good fit.”
I looked at her with curious eyebrows lifted to the middle of my forehead. “Um, okay, that is weird. You’re not usually like this when it comes to me with other guys.”
“What? If you forgot, I am the one who set you up on that website to meet Gavin. I just didn’t like your ex-boyfriend. That bastard. Is he still in jail?”
“I believe so. I hope so. Last I heard, he was doing years for drug charges.” Mark Jr. fidgeted, so I got up to lay him in his bed. “So, I’m sure I won’t hear from him anytime soon.”
“Good. So, what do you have going on later?”
“I don’t know, but Gavin wanted me to come to his house. Apparently, he has something that he wants me to see, so I’m going to go over there and check it out.”
“Right. What time? I forgot about that.”
“About what?”
She paused. “Oh, um, never mind. I was thinking about something else.”
“Okay, weirdo.”
I stayed there with her for another hour until I got up to head for Gavin’s home. I didn’t know what he wanted me to come over for, but I was excited to see him. I had been so busy with school for the last two months that we barely had time to see each other. A part of me felt like we were drifting away, but I was just panicking. I knew that he loved me; I only hoped that he loved me enough to want to spend the rest of his life with me. “Hey babe,” he said as I walked through the door.
“Hey, sweetheart. How are you?”
“I am good.” He kissed me on the lips.
Just behind him, Mike and Stacy sat on the couch right next to each other. I thought it was cute how Mike said that he wasn’t going to settle down at all, but now, he was starting to get serious with another woman. It gave me hope that love would find anybody when the time was right. “Hey, Bethany,” Mike said from his seat, “good to see you.”
“Hi, Mike. Hi, Stacy. What are you two doing here?”
“Just hanging out,” she said, “shooting the shit until you got here. We were in the neighborhood, so we just swung by.”
“Oh. Okay, that sounds cool.”
Just then, Vinny ran out of his room and met me in the front. He wrapped his arms around me, “Hi, Bethany. I’ve missed you.”
I kissed him on the top of his head, “I missed you too, Vinny. I’ve just been so busy with school work. I’ve barely had time to do anything else.”
“Yeah, that’s what Dad said. It’s okay, though. I understand.”
“Your dad tells me that you signed up for a pee-wee football league?”
“Yeah. I figured I’d try it out. I like football, so I just wanted to see how good I could be at it.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” I smiled as Gavin put his arm around me and led me to the couch. Things seemed different. It felt like something was going on, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Mike and Stacy smiled at me awkwardly. My eyebrows wrinkled as I glared at them. “Um, what are you guys smiling at?”
“You and Gavin,” Stacy responded. “You guys make a great couple. Don’t you think?”
“Um,” I looked at Gavin as he shook his head. “I guess so. I mean, I don’t know. Why are you guys acting weird?”
Mike stood up, “Well, I don’t know about you all, but I need a brew. Anybody else want one? Stacy? Gavin? Bethany? Vinny?”
“Vinny?” Gavin said.
Mike laughed, “Come on, man, you know I am just fucking with you. Get your fucking panties out of a bunch.”
Everyone laughed as he walked to the kitchen. “Wait, what the hell is going on, guys?” I looked at Gavin. “And why did you call me over here? What did you have to show me? Everyone is acting weird, and I don’t know what is going on. Are you guys about to play a prank on me or something?”
Stacy laughed, “Girl, calm your ass down. You are losing it. Nobody is going to play a prank on you at all; we are just here hanging out. That’s what friends do, you know?”
I looked at Gavin. Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up, “Hello? Yeah, we are all here. Sure, not a problem, come on by. Okay.” I kept my eyes on him, waiting for an explanation. “What? It was just one of my friends that you haven’t met yet. They are on their way over here to meet you.”
“Meet me?”
“Yeah. They are in town for a little while, and I told them all about you. No biggie.”
“But–”
“Alright, brewskis for everyone.” Mike tossed them to everyone in the room. “Oh, shit Gavin, what were you telling me earlier? I forgot.”
Gavin smiled. “Yeah, I was telling you how much I loved Bethany.”
He laughed, “Yeah, right. That’s what it was.”
The doorbell rang again. Gavin got up to answer it, but at the moment, I was desperately trying to figure out what was going on. Everyone was acting strange, and I didn’t understand it one bit. I looked towards the door. Gavin stood to the side and let Mark Sr. and April into our home with the baby. I rubbed my eyes as if I had to be clear of what I was seeing. “April? Mark? Okay, guys, what is going on? Somebody better tell me something!”
April kissed me on the cheek as Mark shook Gavin’s hand, then took a seat next to me. “Bethany,” Mike said, grabbing my attention.
I faced him with a curious glance. “Yes?”
He smiled and took another swig of his drink while I waited for him to open his mouth. Suddenly, I heard Gavin’s voice to my side. When I turned towards him, he was on one knee with a small box in his hand. My heart fluttered inside of my chest as everyone took out their phones and started recording. Vinny stood to his feet with a bright smile on his face. I put my hand over my chest as Gavin spoke, “Babe, I’ve had this ring for months. I was waiting for the right time to ask you this question and, in the middle of searching for the right way to do it, I realized that I couldn’t come up with it. I realized that the best way to do it was to face you like a man, in a room full of people who love you. People who care for you. I wanted you to feel the love in the room before I said one word.”
My eyes filled with tears of joy as he continued. “I’ve known from the very first day that I sent you the message on the internet–”
“I can’t believe you two met on the internet!” Mike blurted out.
“Mike, you shut your ass up right now!” I snapped.
Stacy snickered as Gavin continued, “Ever since that day, I knew you were beautiful. But, what I didn’t know is that you were beautiful inside and out. It only took a few dates for me to realize that you were the perfect woman for me. Bethany, I can’t see my life without you in it, and I don’t want to imagine what it would be like if you weren’t around. You complete me. You are my better half, and it would do me a great honor to be able to call you Mrs. Gavin Wallace. Baby, will you marry me?”
I didn’t say a word. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as he kneeled in front of me. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, I can’t. I’m sorry.” The smile on his face dropped to the ground like a bag of bricks. April was confused, and Mark searched for the words to fill the awkwardness. Vinny was on the verge of tears while Stacy and Mike sat with their mouths halfway open. “And that’s what you all get for creating all of this suspense when I got here!” I smiled, then extended my hand to Gavin for him to put the ring on my finger. “I would love to be your wife, Gavin.”
There was a brief pause. “So, is that a yes?”
I wiped the blurry tears from my eyes, “Yes, Gavin! Yes, I will marry you! I will marry the hell out you!”
I lunged forwards and threw my arms around him, knocking him down to the floor. I guess dreams did come true, and as far as those books went? I tossed them all in the trash. There was no longer a reason for me to read any more of those books because now, it was officially my reality.
Get my never released free book Boarded for a limited time.
By Naomi Niles
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Naomi Niles
Chapter One
Ezra
I reclined on a park bench as a group of children ran around on the playground 15 feet away from me. My dark shades shielded me from the bright rays of sunlight that blanketed the area. I hated that I could only have my boys one out of four weekends each month, but it was better than nothing. Their mother was nothing more than a witch with blonde hair and a nice set of breasts, but I didn’t realize it until after our second child together.
“Hey, Nolan, buddy, wait a minute,” I said as I got up from my seat. He froze like a statue as his brother raced to the slide with another group of boys.
“Daddy, I have to go with Tanner,” he said impatiently as his eyes blended in with the clear sky above.
I kneeled to the ground. “Hold on, buddy. I’ve got to tie your shoe. You don’t want to faceplant into the ground, do you?”
“Face plant?” he asked, while I looped his shoe strings around each other. “What is a face plant?”
I pulled his shoe strings tight. “It means you’re gonna fall flat on your face and your nose is gonna get pushed into the back of your head.”
“Nuh uh, Daddy! It won’t!”
“Yes, it will. And then you’re gonna walk around here looking like a pancake, and I’m gonna have to explain what happened to your mother, and that won’t go well at all.”
After I had finished tying his shoe, I looked towards him. We were eye level at my kneeled position, and as the sun shone on us, it highlighted the similarities in our features. His small, button-shaped nose and bushy eyebrows both came from me. His cheeks were reddened, much like mine were when I was his age, but I knew it had everything to do with the fact that he had been running around with his brother for the past hour in the hot California sun. I made sure his haircut was buzzed because I hated dealing with the long blond hair after his mother let it grow out.
For some reason, she never took him to get it cut. She never took either of our boys, and I know she did it to piss me off. She took every opportunity to piss me off, even if she had to go out of her way to do it. That was just her modus operandi with me. Ever since our breakup, she set out to make my life a living hell. Shit, I was fine with it, though. I’ve been through hell since I could remember, so by now, the flames were already a part of my life.
I tapped him on the behind, “Alright, Nolan. Go and play.” He smiled, and in a flash, he ran towards the playground. I glanced up to search for him.
“Hey, Dad!” he said at the top of the slide. “Watch this!” I folded my arms over my chest as he flung himself down the long, winding slide. He flew off the bottom and tumbled onto the soft, cushion-like material that shielded the impact of falls such as that.
“Are you all right?” I asked, as he pulled himself up.
“Dad, that was awesome!” he yelled, as another young boy walked beside him and slapped him five.
“Watch your brother, kid,” I said to Tanner, while pointing at Nolan. He was on his way up the steps as Tanner quickly got up and ran behind him just in case he lost his balance. The two of were separated by two years; Tanner was 5 and Nolan had just turned 3 almost a month ago. They were both big for their age, though. People said that they had gotten that way because of how much I lifted weights. I thought it was bullshit because that wasn’t how genetics worked, but I’ve seen crazier things in my lifetime, so it wasn’t impossible.
“Dad!” Nolan yelled as I looked towards the top of the slide. “Watch this!”
“Nolan, be careful. Your brother just faceplanted, so I don’t want–”
Before I could finish my sentence, he flung himself down the slide the same way his big brother did. He went down feet first, but when the tubed slide spit him out, he was head first like the day he was born. He fell onto the same spot his brother did as I ran towards him. “Nolan! Are you OK?” his brother yelled from the top of the slide as I helped him up.
He looked down at his arm and brushed the dirt off, and then, with a wide grin on his face, he yelled, “Wooow! I want to go again, Daddy!” He escaped my grasp and ran to the slide again as I stood up and stepped out of the way before the next little kid came crashing into me.
“Tough little boy you got there,” a woman said as she stood beside me. I looked to my side as she stood with her arms folded behind her. Her long brunette hair blew softly as the breeze floated her vanilla crème perfume right into me. She wore a tightly fitted T-shirt and a pair of shorts that stopped just above her knees. The tan on her body looked as though it was hand-painted as she smiled in my direction.
“Yeah,” I said, removing my shades. “I take them out to wrestle sharks on the beach during the weekend, and for a few days out of the week, I make them wrestle bear cubs. They are as tough as they come.”
She laughed. “Wrestling sharks and bear cubs, huh? Yeah, I bet they are tough with that schedule.”
“Indeed.” I extended my hand to her, “My name is Ezra Hammond.”
I checked for rings as she enjoined her bare hand with mine. “Angela Stevenson.” Her touch was soft on my rugged hands. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“Yeah. My boys wanted to come to the park today, so I figured I’d let them. They can spend all of their energy, and I don’t have to spend a dime in the process. It’s a win-win for me.”
“Yeah, I hear you. I have two myself.” She pointed into a sea of children, “The one right there with the long, red ponytails and the other one who is–” she lifted her voice, “Johnathan! Stop pulling her by the arm like that! She is not a little boy! Stop it, or we are going home right now!”
The little boy released his sister and hung his head for a few moments until another group of boys whizzed by him. He picked his head up and trailed them as they ran towards the jungle gym. She looked back at me, “I am sorry about that,” she said, her beauty more radiant than it was before. “That boy is a handful sometimes.”
“Yeah, I know it. I have two of them, so I completely understand.” I slipped my shades back on, partly to conceal the fact that I was stealing glances at her flattened stomach and the breasts that sat perfectly above it, protruding from beneath her shirt. She was my type, exactly. There were shades of her that reminded me of Tanya at the beginning of our relationship. A slim body with thickness all in the right places.
“Ezra?”
I knew that voice from anywhere. I turned around to see Tanya standing with her arms folded over her chest like a pretzel. I hung my head as Angela assessed the situation. “Wife?” she asked, with Tanya standing almost 10 feet away.
“No. Bitch is more like it. She is the mother of my two boys.”
“I see,” she said with a smile. “Well, it looks like you two have some things that you need to discuss. It was nice meeting you, Ezra. Maybe I will see you around another time.” She walked away before I could respond. I stole glances at her behind as she walked away. If I just had a little more time, I thought to myself as Tanya stepped closer to me.
“Aren’t you supposed to be watching the boys? But instead, you are out here talking to these whores right in front of your sons? What kind of example are you setting for them, Ezra?”
She stood with a Gucci purse hanging in the crease of her elbow. “The boys are fine. They are right over there near the jungle gym.”
“Whatever, Ezra.” She looked at them. “Boys! Come on! Let’s go!” she yelled, with a voice full of annoyance.
“Wait, Tanya. Can we talk for a minute?”
She curled her lip, “Talk about what?”
“Damn. Just talk. It’s not about us, so I don’t want you to get it twisted. It’s about the boys.”
She rolled her eyes and looked at her watch. The diamonds glittered beneath the sunlight as she exhaled. “Fine, Ezra. You got five minutes. Talk.”
I hated talking to her about anything involving my heart because she took advantage of every chance to kick me while I was down. My boys were everything to me, though, and there was just some pain that I was willing to take if it meant that there would be a positive outcome for them. That’s what fathers do. Two women strolled by us on the sidewalk, pushing babies that were cradled in strollers. A flock of birds flew above our heads in unison as they fluttered into a nearby tree.
“I need more time with the boys, Tanya. I mean, this one weekend a month shit is not cutting it for me. They are getting older, and they need to have more of a man’s presence in their lives. They need to see how men do things. I can’t be an example with one fucking weekend.”
“Um, Ezra? That is what we agreed on. That is what the judge said, and that is what I am sticking with. Now, if you want to go to court again, that is on you, but I am not changing anything about the routine we have now.”
“Tanya, come on,” I said. “It doesn’t even have to take all of that. All you need to do is say the word, and it is done.”
“The word? I’ve already said it, Ezra. No. What? Do you want to set an example for how to be a whore and talk to all of these other women so they can grow up and be like you?”
I exhaled. “Tanya–”
“Or, how about teaching them how to have a failing acting career like their father? Yeah, teach them how to tell everyone that you are an actor when you’ve only starred in low-budget, made-for-TV movies and dumbass commercials for shit that nobody uses. I still don’t know what the hell roll-aide is.”
“Roll-aide. Because sometimes in life, you need to roll with the pain,” I said, speaking one of the lines I had in the commercial. “It’s working, though; I have some of it on right now.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Ha, real funny. You know what? Any chance that you had of getting me to change my mind is out the door.” She looked at her watch. “And, your five minutes is up.”
“Fuck, no! That was like three minutes, Tanya!”
“Boys,” she called out again. “Boys! Come on! We have to go! Now!”
I shook my head, and moments later, the two of them ran towards us. They were both out of breath, their cheeks reddened from the heat. Tanya looked at her watch, prompting me to say my goodbyes to them. I kneeled. “All right boys, did you have fun with Dad?”
“Yeah,” they said together.
Tanner spoke up, “How long before we can see you again?”
I looked at Tanya as she turned her head away from us. I knew she didn’t want me to throw the question at her and I wasn’t. I didn’t want my boys to know she was the reason I couldn’t see them as much as I wanted to. “You know the drill, Tan the Man. I will let you know when it is time, all right? Do you remember all of the days I circled on your calendar?” He shook his head in agreement. “Good. So, when you get to the next circle, it is going to be time for us to see each other. But like I said, I will call you and let you know, too.”
He sighed. “All right, Dad. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I wrapped my arms around the both of them, and as I stood up, I looked at Tanya one last time. She removed lip gloss from her purse and coated her lips, then rubbed them together. She knew I loved the fullness of her lips, and sometimes, I felt she was toying with me. As much bullshit as she put me through, it didn’t change the fact that she was gorgeous. “All right, boys. Let’s go.”
I watched them walk down the path to her black Expedition. Tanner looked back a few times as if he hated that he had to go. I put my shades back on to block the tears that started forming at the bottom of my eyes. I hated it more than him.
As I left the park, I called my agent. I was tired of Tanya using my career as a way to keep one foot on me, and I knew things weren’t going the way I envisioned. Something had to change. “Marc? Hey man, what’s going on?”
“Nothin’ much, Ezra. What’s up?”
I unlocked the doors on my Nissan Altima. “I need to get some more work, man. Something legit, too. I’m tired of these dead-end movies and commercials. I need something big, Marc. Something that can really get my career off the ground. It’s been, what? Almost five years now. If you’re not the one for the job, then let me know, and I’ll find somebody else.”
“Hold on, Ezra. I completely understand your frustration. These things take time, though. I mean, a lot of stars don’t get big until their mid-30s, and what? You’re like 31 now, aren’t you? Just hold on a bit. You’ve got the look, and you’ve got the talent. Just bear with me.”
I slammed my door shut and stuck the key into the ignition. “I’m giving you as much time as I can, Marc.”
“All right. I’ll tell you what. Give me a few days, and I’ll have something for you, all right? Something new. Something big. Just make sure that your game is up to par because it can lead us right through the door and we won’t ever have to look back after that. All right?” I remained silent as the air conditioning swirled through my vehicle. I was bluffing. I didn’t have anywhere else to go or anyone else to call. He was my agent, and if I wasn’t going to get in the door with him, then I wasn’t going to get in with anyone.
“All right, Marc. A few days, but that’s it.”
“All right. I’ll be in touch, man.”
I hung up my phone and tossed it into the passenger seat. Something had to change. I mean, after all, this was Hollywood. I was in the same area code as every dream I’ve ever had, and I was too close for it not to come true.