Chapter 21

Everything was making more sense to me. I turned to Toby for support as I wanted to cry.

“Why me?” I asked.

My head rested on Toby’s shoulder while I cried. Things were starting to come back to me. We stayed outside until my cries turned into sniffles. I took a deep breath before rising.

“I think Brett is an alcoholic. I think that he was somewhat drunk and wasn’t in the right state of mind. I’m really sorry that this happened to you.”

Toby gave me a hug and then kissed me on top of my head. He was going to make everything better. When I went inside, I heard Kyle eating in the living room while watching cartoons. Kyle was just being Kyle. That made me realize that everything was going to be alright. I smiled when I was watching what was going on. My phone was in my room charging and I had a feeling that Brett tried to get in contact with me. I saw that there was a voice mail and a text message. But how did Brett get my cell number if I never gave it to him? I searched my sent messaged and saw that a message was sent from my phone to Brett’s. That son of a b***h!

I was listening to the voice mail when Toby came into the room. He saw my face expression and knew something was up. Brett was apologizing for what he did to me and explained his alcohol problem. I was beating myself up for bring an idiot and riding in a car with someone who was under the influence. The next time I would see Brett would be with Toby present. The day was passing by fast because I was snuggling up to Toby. I wanted all of his love and smell all over me. Kyle wanted to be outside and playing. I wanted to be with Toby but outside also. There was a tree outside that was throwing off shade. Once Kyle was dressed, he got his bike out and rode the street. I sat in between Toby’s legs and was enjoying everything. We were watching Kyle when we thought it was time to go in for lunch.

I was not really hungry because I was still getting the feeling of Brett off of me. Once lunch was made, I decided that Toby and I would have a picnic while Kyle continues to play outside. The afternoon had passed slowly and I was getting closer to wanting Toby. I had to tell Toby about what Brett said in his voice mail.

“You need to know something,” I started to say.

“What is it that I need to know?” Toby looked down at me.

“Brett got into contact with me.”

“How?”

I felt Toby stiffen a bit. I could feel more emotions coming to my face all at once. I had to be strong when I told Toby everything.

“He left me a voicemail and a text message on my phone. I don’t know why he got my cell phone number but he has it now.”

“Did you listen to it?”

“Yes. He apologized for what he did to me and told about his alcohol problem. He also wanted to see me again. I didn’t call him back but I have listened to the voicemail over and over again.”

“May I listen to it?” Toby asked.

“Yes.” I answered as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Toby held the phone up to his ear while I was watching Kyle out on the street. I actually want Brett to man up and take responsibility for me. I could feel the anger coming off of Toby. We all stayed outside until the street lights and when the mosquitoes were hungry. As soon as we got inside, Toby turned around and crushed his lips onto mine. It felt good to be kissed but I was also itchy and burning from the sun. Tonight, I was going to take a cold shower to cool me down. I put on a clean pair of shorts and a t-shirt before going out into the kitchen to serve ice cream. Kyle was next in line to take a shower because he was outside all day. Toby had beaten me to serving ice cream. He took the ice cream out of the freezer and let it warm up. I surprised him by linking my arms around his neck from the back. He, then turned around and met my smiling face. Kyle was shirtless with a pair of shorts on. He went into the living room after putting his dirty clothes/towel in the wash.

Serving ice cream was not rocket science but working as a team made everything better. Toby was in charge of the chocolate syrup and sprinkles. Between the both of us, ice cream was served and the television was being used. I cozied up with Toby and wailed for the time to pass. Kyle started to yawn and was a sign of being tired. Toby was going to tuck Kyle into bed for me just to be kind and pitch in. I was doing the rest of the chores so the house was clean. It was bothering me that I was letting the house go out of order. I was feeling more accomplished once things were starting to get done. Toby came out of Kyle’s room but stopped to watch me clean. I caught his eye and stopped for a moment.

“What?” I said.

“Nothing. I just enjoy watching you clean.”

“Oh. If you’re tired, you can go to bed.”

“I’m waiting for you to stop and relax.”

I finished with what I was doing and decided to call it a night. Toby grabbed my hand and walked with me to our room. My room was a bit messy and was bugging me. Ten minutes later, I was ready to settle down in bed. Toby snuggled next to me as we shut off the light in the bedroom. I took a deep breath to try to calm myself down. It helped a little bit but I could still feel upbeat. Toby rolled onto his side so he could see the outline of my face and to kiss me. With the power of the kiss, I decided to take it to the next level. We were laying there, kissing each other and being put in the mood. Things were starting to come back from last night. Some were still a bit fuzzy but it would come back. Toby’s hands were all over me. This time he wanted to go slow and so did I. I wanted to try to have a child.

Toby was busy filling his mouth with me. I was starting to get antsy and wanting him. He slid his tongue down from the top to the bottom but stopped when my pants were off. I felt him pause for a moment and I was confused.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Toby didn’t respond but he did run his fingers over the bruises that Brett had made. He decided to kiss all of them before moving on.

“I’m going to be careful as much as I can. I don’t want to hurt you like Brett did.” Toby promised.

Trust me, Toby was careful when he started to lick before plunging in slowly. His goal was not to hurt me anymore than what I am. We went slowly so the two of us could match each other strides. It wasn’t until later that we both collapsed because of being tired. I had a really good night of sleep because I was next to the man I love. Toby was on top of me when he fell asleep. The only sound that was heard was the breaths of sleep. For once, I was asleep the whole night. Toby awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. I was in deep sleep when Kyle came into my room. He snuggled up with Toby and watched me sleep.

The hours turned into days and the days turned into night. For some reason, Kyle wasn’t really bugging me. But Kyle was having a good time being with Toby. Ever since the night I was at Brett’s I’ve been feeling a bit awkward. My stomach was acting up too appoint that I was puking. It wasn’t anything like when I had stomach cancer. Toby was with me when I threw up. He had noticed that my throw up was clear. It made Toby have a weird face because he was confused. Along with the throwing up, I was also getting a headache but it wasn’t like before.  Toby put two and two together to figure out why this was happening to me.

“Lucy, I think you might be pregnant this time.” Toby predicted.

Today was one of those summer days that it was too hot to be outside playing. To prove what Toby predicted, he went to the closest drug store and picked up a pregnancy test. He was kinda awkward when he purchased it. While Toby was out, I went online to see what the symptoms of a pregnancy was. Kyle was playing wii in the living room while I lied down on the couch. I was starting to get tired even though I’m finally sleeping at night. My stomach wasn’t agreeing with me and lying on the couch was somewhat helpful. When Toby opened the front door to come in, I was able to feel the heat from outside. He held out a paper bag as if it was a lunch.

“Here’s a pregnancy test. Go take it so we can end our minds jumping to conclusions.”

My face was pale considering the rest of my body is tan from the sun. Before using the rest room, I opened the bag and took the test out to see how I would read it. It didn’t look so hard. After using the rest room, I waited. I think the hardest part is waiting because now my mind is rushing thoughts at one hundred miles per hour. I couldn’t look at the results, knowing my hopes were up. Toby heard me calling him to the bathroom. He was the one who saw the results. Guessing from the expression on his face, it was good news.

“Lemme see.”

Excitement was there in my voice and Toby could tell. The other part of our dream was coming true. Toby and I were going to have children. He moved closer to where I was standing and gave me a hug. Now that I’ve learned that I was pregnant, I had to be careful in what I was eating and if I was going to eat. Toby was going to make sure that I ate because he wanted both me and our children to be healthy. And to make sure of this, Toby was going to learn how to cook. It was going to be Toby a cook and me the cleaner but I have to be careful in the chemicals I was using. Everything was going good as if a fairy tale came true. Tomorrow, Toby, Kyle and I are making a trip to Mrs. MacStar’s house for Toby’s first lesson on cooking. I had to finally face my fear and answer the numerous voice mails Brett has left.

This time, I settled on the couch next to Toby when I dialed the familiar number. It was about four rings before Brett’s voice answered the phone.

“I’m so glad you called me, Lucy. I was wondering if you were ever going to call me again.”

I made sure that I was up against Toby so he could hear my conversation.

“Well,” I said. “I was tired of having voice mails from you and I had to get over my fear. I know what you did to me and I hate you for it.”

“I know. I have an issue with alcohol and it showed.”

“I mean besides that. The following morning when I woke up, I had found bruising on my upper thighs and my private. Would you like to explain?”

“I took advantage of you because I was drunk. I was really nervous to meet you and I thought you would be something different.”

“That doesn’t mean that you take advantage of me. If I had known that you had an alcohol problem, I would’ve been more careful.”

“I’m so sorry. You had so much confidence in me and I blew it.”

“Damn straight you did.”

“Do you still want to see me?”

“When you are clean of alcohol and won’t take advantage of your daughter, we will talk. Until then, I don’t know if I can face you. I actually want to get a DNA test to see if I’m actually related to you. For all I know, you’re just a dude who is saying that you’re my father.”

“I will get a DNA test if it would make you happy. I will be a sober and clean of any drugs or alcohol. I’m doing this for you, Lucy. I want custody of you and be the father you never had.”

“Thank you. It means a lot to me that you will do this for me. I want to have access to both my mom and my dad. I’ll make an appointment for the DNA testing to be done and will let you know the date.”

“Thanks, Lucy. I’ll sober up for you and will be talking to you soon. Again I’m sorry for taking advantage of you.” Brett ended the call.

What Brett doesn’t know is that I’m pregnant. I’m hoping it’s not Brett’s and hopefully he will do what he was promised. Toby was using the computer to search the web for any information on Brett. I was busy resting and texting as I wasn’t really feeling all that hot. There were some people who needed to know about my family. Part of me wants my mom to know while the other part wanted to rest and not call anyone. I was attempting to text my mom when she called.

“Hey, Lucy.”

“Hi, mom. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing all right. I called because I was having this weird feeling about you.”

“Well, a couple of weeks ago, I did meet up with Brett. Toby went with me and get Brett at the mall.”

Once Toby realized what I was talking about, he asked Kyle to play hockey with I’m downstairs to get him out of hearing sight.

“What did he talk about?”

“He was drunk when we had lunch together. After, he brought me back to his house and offered me a drink. It turned out that he drugged me and then raped me.”

“That definitely sounds like Brett.”

“I didn’t know of this until I had Toby check out the bruises that were around my vagina. I also called him earlier and had asked for a DNA test and for him to sober up before seeing me again.”

“You’re doing what is best for you. You’re growing up so fast that you don’t have time to enjoy your teenage years.”

“There’s something else that you need to know.  Toby and I are expecting our first child.”

“WHAT!”

“Mom, I’m pregnant.”

Linda was shocked that I was carrying her grandchild. I was happy that my mom called because I have been missing her a lot more than usual. Once she told me how proud she was. She had to go to back and do her duties. I went to the computer to look up the DNA lab. There was one that was in the next city over. I grabbed the phone from the cradle and dialed the number listed when Toby reentered the living room. The lady on the phone had an opening two weeks from today. I didn’t want to call Brett again because I wasn’t in the mood. Being pregnant has made me very moody. Toby pulled me to the ground so I could sit up against him underneath the fan. I was in the mood for swimming but I didn’t want to go out into the heat. The days were passing slowly because we were inside while the weather was hot.

The air conditioner was supposed to cool everyone off. I was trying to get comfortable but I was beginning to have hot flashes. I could not stand to sleep next to Toby. I moved out into the living room where I knew I could be cool. The living room wasn’t helping and I remembered that my mom’s room was the coolest room in the house. I stood in front of the closed door and took a deep breath. My breathing started to get a little freaky. Toby realized that something was wrong and was alerted. I started to cry but was able to control myself. I closed the door behind me and lay down on my mom’s side of the bed. The cool air felt really good against my skin. Every half hour, I would wake up and use the bathroom. It was getting so bad that I decided just to stay in the bathroom.

Two months pregnant and I wasn’t showing just yet but school was around the corner. Kyle was spending this whole week with Tom so I could do school shopping with Toby. Between Toby and I, we split the clothes shopping fifty-fifty. He would look at clothes in Kyle’s size while I would look for some clothes that would fir me and my pregnant belly. After hours of shopping, the clothes part of school is finally done. Toby also bought some new clothing for himself. Next was going home to unload Toby’s truck that was now full. I had wanted to go back out and finish shopping before I spend the rest of the day inside sorting and washing the new clothing. I feel bad for Toby because he had to drive me everywhere I want to go. Soon enough, I will be in the driver’s education course so Toby doesn’t have to drive everywhere. But Toby doesn’t mind it because it’s more time that he spends with me. We went out for a while that didn’t respond to any of school. This only took a couple of hours as it was special for both of us.

Once we got home, Toby and I brought everything in. I let him get the last couple of bags as the phone rang. The phone spoke to me and told me that the call is from Tom’s cell phone. I was starting to panic just a little. When I started to answer, I heard Kyle’s voice in a panic.

“Kyle, what is wrong?”

“No one is here but me and dad never leaves without his cell phone. Something is wrong and I’m scared. Lucy, I want you to come over here.”

“Kyle, listen to me. Lock the doors and wait for Toby and I to come on over. The secret knock will be a pause in between the three knocks.”

“Okay. Come quick.”

Nothing like this has ever happened and for Kyle to ask for me means that something is up. I told Toby what was going on and he agreed that something freaky is happening. At Tom’s apartment, Kyle locked the doors under Tom’s order, NOT mine. Tom was trying to lure me in without me and Toby knowing about it. Toby shut the engine off once we were in the parking lot of Tom’s apartment. Something fishy was going on. Taking the steps two at a time, we made it to the second level in no time. Between Toby and I, we alternated the knocking sequence. Tom had had Kyle at gunpoint before opening the door.

Toby was the first to enter as he wanted to make sure that everything was alright. I followed Toby and that was when everything had started to change. The door closed shut once I entered the apartment. It scared me and instantly, I was turning around to see Tom with a gun up to Kyle’s head. That scared me most but I had to pull it together for the sake of Kyle and Toby.

“Tom, we don’t have to do it this way.” I tried to keep my voice steady.

“This is your entire fault, Lucy. I would’ve never divorced your mom if it wasn’t for you.”

 “What are you talking about?”

“This divorce is your entire fault and I’m going to make sure that you and your brother pay for this.”

Toby moved from where he was standing and Tom moved the gun from Kyle’s head to point it at Toby.

“Don’t move. Just because you’re her boyfriend doesn’t make a difference.”

Toby made sure that his eyes were on Tom while his hand was in his pocket ready to dial those three digits. The gun went back to Kyle’s head as he was speaking to me. The police just happened to be in the neighborhood when a knock was heard on the door.