CHAPTER TWELVE
Ryan
AFTER MEETING WITH the social worker, we agreed that James would meet with his dad on Saturday afternoons. Sundays were reserved for getting together with Cassandra’s parents and we didn’t want to break that habit. It was Friday and I couldn’t stand the thought of James going to Michael’s house tomorrow, so I called up the guys and asked for a huge favor, one they all readily agreed to.
James came downstairs for school just as Cassandra was walking out of our bedroom. “Hey, buddy. You aren’t going to school today.”
“I’m not?”
“Nope. You’re coming with me and we’re going to have a guys day.”
“Really?” His face lit up and he started jumping up and down. “What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to meet with my friends and play paintball.”
“Awesome! Mom, did you hear that?”
Cassie had a big smile on her face and nodded enthusiastically as James jumped into her arms. I had cleared everything with her earlier in the week because I didn’t want to end up breaking a promise to James if she didn’t say yes.
“Why don’t you go upstairs and look in the loft. I put some clothes up there for you to wear today.”
He did a fist pump in the air and then ran upstairs. I laughed and ran a hand across my jaw. That kid was so awesome. Thoughts of him going to his dad entered my mind, followed by the anxiety of him liking his real dad more than me. My chest actually hurt at the thought of him not wanting to do stuff with me if he thought his dad was cooler.
“It’s going to be fine. He hasn’t even met him yet. Stop worrying.” It was like Cassandra could read my thoughts. The crazy part was that I had told her not to worry until there was something to worry about. Now she was cool as a cucumber and I was over here sweating my balls off. She wrapped her arms around me and held me. Just her touch could soothe me and I found the pain dulling in my chest.
I put a smile on my face and vowed that I wouldn’t let my worries ruin my day with James. We were going to have a great time and forget about Michael.
✯✯✯✯✯
We were stalking through the woods trying to find the other team. Since Cole, Sebastian, and Sean all had formal training, we never let them all be on one team. This time Cole, Sean, Drew, and I were on a team with James while Jack, Sebastian, Luke, Logan were on the other team. Sebastian seemed to think the teams were unfairly balanced since we had the kid with us, which put a big grin on James’s face.
The guys had insisted that we all wear face paint to give James the full experience. The kid was dressed in head to toe camouflage that I had picked up for him when I decided to take him with us. Cole’s hand on my shoulder had me stopping and doing the same to James. He stopped in front of me like we talked about and slowly lowered himself to the ground.
“Two to the left and two straight ahead. They didn’t cover the right side. I say we send the kid in while we cover him,” Cole said.
I grinned at James who was looking at us wide eyed. Sean and Drew came belly crawling up to us to find out the plan.
“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. Drew, you go far left. Sean you follow. We’re going to draw their attention and keep them focused on us. Ryan and I are going to stay over here. James, you give us your jacket and we’ll make a dummy to make it look like you’re sitting next to us. We’ll draw fire and in the meantime, you crawl to the right and go around them. Come up behind them and take them all out. Got it?”
“Yeah. I can do it.”
“Good. When you’re ready to take ‘em out, make sure your shots are true and fast. The longer you take, the more time the others have to react. Take Sebastian out first. He’s the best shot.”
“Alright.” James started taking off his coat as Drew and Sean started making their way to the left. Once James was out of his coat, he army crawled his way along the right. Cole quickly set up a dummy with James’s coat, then signaled the others and we started firing at the other team. A few times, we changed positions to keep them guessing.
About ten minutes later, I saw one of the guys making his way toward James’s location. Not wanting him to get caught, I sprung out from behind the tree and darted toward the other team, running in and out of the trees. It worked. Whoever was moving toward him saw me and turned his attention on me.
I moved closer and closer to the center of the other team to keep their gazes trained on me. I was just about to return fire when I was hit in the shoulder. I looked over to where I assumed James was, but I couldn’t see him. Damn. He must have fallen behind.
Just as I was thinking that, I saw one of the guys fall and then heard swearing. I squinted through the trees trying to see where the shots were coming from, but I couldn’t find him. I saw the other three looking around and they couldn’t find him either. Cole, Sean, and Drew continued to fire until there was only one person on the other team standing. By the way he was moving, I was guessing it was Sebastian. He was smart in his movements and he was successfully avoiding all shots from my team. Then I saw it, a shot of yellow splattering across his chest. He looked down and threw his gun to the ground when he saw the yellow on his gear.
Laughing, I got up and made my way over to the other team. We were still all looking around trying to find James, but he was hidden well.
“James! You can come out now!”
I looked around and still didn’t see him. This kid was good. Cole came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder, then pointed up. The kid was right between where the guys had been hiding, up in a tree. How he got up there without anyone hearing, I didn’t have a clue. I laughed as he expertly climbed down from the tree and landed on his feet.
“Are you shitting me? We all got taken out by the kid?” Logan asked.
“I told you the teams weren’t fair with him on their team,” Sebastian said as he fist bumped James.
“How did you get up there without us hearing?” Luke asked.
“I’m a kid. I climb trees all the time,” he said as if we were all nuts for asking.
“I should have you come train with my teams. We need someone to keep them on their toes.” I didn’t think Sebastian was serious, but the way James’s eyes lit up, he was going to be there training whether Sebastian was serious or not.
✯✯✯✯✯
We were walking James up to Michael and Alisha’s house. It was practically a mansion, not that I could say anything because my own house was pretty big, but everything about this house screamed pretentious. I hated it already and would gladly turn the car around if I didn’t like what I saw inside. Cassandra had insisted on seeing the inside of Michael’s house before dropping James off and Michael had said that was fine.
For some reason, I got the feeling that Michael didn’t actually care if James was there or not. If anything, Alisha seemed to be the one that was excited about all of this. After ringing the doorbell, I almost punched Michael when I saw him open the door. Just the sight of him had me clenching my fists in anger.
I was pissed that he hadn’t wanted James for all those years and that he had left Cassandra alone. I was pissed that he was trying to interfere now and I was pissed that there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.
“Hey, James. Alisha’s excited you’re here.”
“And you are too,” Cassandra said with a look. Michael glanced at her and nodded.
“Yeah, I am too. Come on in and we’ll show you around.”
We followed the prick into the living room where Alisha was sitting, looking like something out of the fifties. She had tea and come kind of cookies sitting out on a tray.
“James. It’s so good to see you. Please sit down. Would you like some tea?”
“Um..”
“Do you have anything a kid would drink?” I interjected. Cassandra kicked me from behind, but I didn’t give a shit. If they were going to have James over, they were going to have things that he would like.
“What kind of things do you like to drink, James?” Alisha was at least paying attention to James. Michael was reading the paper in a chair on the other side of the room and ignoring all of us. I left Cassandra to deal with Alisha while I went to have a talk with Michael.
“Do you have a minute to talk?”
He put his paper down and glared up at me. “What do you want? It’s our time with my son. I think you should leave.”
“I understand. I just want to let you know about a few things first. How about we go somewhere to talk?”
He nodded and led me into an office off the living room.
“Okay. What do you need to tell me?”
“I just wanted to see what you had planned for this afternoon. You know, in case it was something James didn’t like, I could give you a heads up.”
“I don’t really know. Alisha made the plans.”
“This is supposed to be about you spending time with James and getting to know him. Are you saying you won’t be involved?”
“I never said that.”
“Let me tell you something you son of a bitch. James is here because the court ordered it, but if I find out that you aren’t treating him right, I’ll make sure you never see him again.”
He smirked at me and slid his hands into his pockets. “That’s up to the courts. I’m afraid you’re shit out of luck.”
“I never said anything about leaving it up to the courts. It’s amazing what a wood chipper and some bleach can do. I have six hundred and forty acres of land, mostly wooded. I doubt they’d ever find your body. At least, not enough pieces to give you a proper funeral.”
His face turned to stone, but I didn’t give a shit. No one was messing with my son. “Listen, asshole, he’s my kid-”
I grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him close. I expected him to try to counter me in some way since he had been in the military, but he didn’t even try. Instead, he looked scared.
“He’s my son.” I growled. “You may share his DNA, but in every way that counts he’s mine. If you try to take him from me, you’ll regret it.” I shoved him back and took a few deep breaths to calm my breathing. I didn’t want James and Cassandra to see me upset. When I returned to the living room, Cassandra looked pissed and James was staring at the wall.
“Everything okay in here?”
“How long do I have to stay here?” James asked.
“Just a few hours, buddy. We’ll be back to get you in no time.” I walked over to him and knelt down in front of him. “You know I wouldn’t leave you if it was up to me, but the court said that Michael is allowed to spend time with you. If you ever feel uncomfortable, you call me and I’ll come get you.” He nodded and sighed. “Remember what I said when we first talked about this, we handle this like men.”
He sat up straight and held out his hand to me. I looked at it for a second and then pulled him in for a hug. “Just because we’re men doesn’t mean you can’t hug me.” I whispered. He hugged me back for a second and then pulled back. The doorbell rang signaling the social worker had arrived.
After talking with her for a few minutes and her assuring me that she would be with James at all times, Cassandra and I walked out of the house and headed back to my truck. It was tough as shit to walk away from him. Somehow in the matter of a few months, I came to think of James as my son and the most important person in my life. Cassandra was right up there with him, but he needed protecting and therefore, was the one I needed to think of at all times. I finally understood what it was like for Cassandra. She had been the only one to look after him and make decisions for him. It must have been hard to let me in, but I hoped that now she completely trusted me with her heart and her son.
I thought back to when Jack and Harper split up. Something that Cole had said ran through my mind. He had been yelling at Jack for not giving everything to Harper. He had said that Jack should have done anything for her, that any one of us would do anything for the love of a good woman. Looking at Cassandra, I finally understood what that really meant. It wasn’t just about loving her and giving myself to her. It meant that she came above all else, even my own happiness. I would give anything in my power, move heaven and earth to make sure she got everything she deserved because she made me a better man by giving me her love. She selflessly gave to me day in and day out and she did the same for her son. We were her number one priority and it was about time that I showed her that she and James were mine.
✯✯✯✯✯
I excused myself when we got back home and called Sebastian. Something didn’t sit right with Michael and I was determined to find out what it was.
“Hey, Ryan. What’s up?”
“Hey, man. Is there a chance you can check out Cassandra’s ex for me? He was in the military for the last ten years. He just got out, but he doesn’t seem like he even knows how to fight.”
“What’s his name?”
“Michael Scott.”
“Michael Scott? About six feet, medium build. Brown hair, brown eyes?”
“Yeah, that sounds like him.”
“No shit?” Sebastian laughed on the other end of the phone. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, man.”
“Care to explain?”
“He came here looking for a job a few months back. I checked into him and was sorely disappointed. His superiors don’t say much good about him. Apparently, he wasn’t good for much other than pencil pushing.”
“I confronted him and he looked almost scared of me. It didn’t make any sense. Shouldn’t he be at least trained if he was in the military for ten years?”
“Not everyone serves in the same way and some guys just aren’t cut out for going into the field. He was one of them. I’m not saying that he wasn’t a good soldier, but he definitely wouldn’t have fit in here. He lacked experience and gumption. He would have gotten someone killed on the first job.”
“Thanks for the information.”
“Any time.”
I got off the phone and tried to decide what to do with this information. I wasn’t sure if telling Cassandra would accomplish anything, so I decided to keep it to myself. Whether or not he saw action, he still served his country for ten years and I didn’t want to ruin his image in James’s eyes.
Cassandra wasn’t in the living room and I was just about to look for her in the bedroom when I heard chopping coming from the kitchen. She had vegetables all over the counter and about five pounds of carrots chopped up. She was currently working on the celery.
“Babe, what are you doing?”
“I’m making a roast for dinner. I figure that the tea and crumpets that Alisha’s serving probably won’t be very filling. He’s going to be hungry.”
“I don’t think we’re going to need that much for a roast. You chopped up a whole bag of carrots.” She finished chopping the celery and pulled out the onions.
“Babe.” She just kept chopping. She wouldn’t look up at me or acknowledge me in any way. “Babe.” I walked over and put my hand over the one she was holding the knife with. She stopped and turned to me with tears running down her face, that I was sure had nothing to do with the onion.
“It’s going to be fine. The social worker is there with him and James is a good kid. Nothing will happen.”
“I know. I just hate that I had to leave him there. I’m his mother. It’s such a crock of shit that I don’t even have a say in this.”
“I know, but we only have a few more hours before we can go get him. Then he doesn’t go over there for another week.”
I gave her a hug and let her cry while I stroked her back. I would give anything to take this pain away from her.
“Tomorrow, we’ll all go to your parent’s house and it’ll be back to normal. Just our family hanging out and having a good time. We won’t even think about Michael when we leave. He’s nothing more than a sperm donor and time will prove that to the courts.”
When we picked James up later, he practically ran out of the house and into our arms. I had never seen either of them so happy to see each other and more importantly, the social worker saw it too. I saw the way she looked at Michael and Alisha when she left and she didn’t look impressed. Not that I was happy that James hadn’t had a good time, but it would only work in our favor later.