meet. “Alright, but I have a few conditions.”
“Anything,” Brody agreed, and sat up straighter, listening attentively to Avery’s conditions.
“Parker’s birthday party is in two weeks. You can come as long as you promise to keep your mouth shut. As far as anybody is concerned, you’re a friend from school. When the time is right, we’ll tell him together, but not before then, and not until I’m ready.”
“Deal,” he blurted out without giving Avery a chance to finish speaking.
“I have one more condition. Under no circumstances are you to swear around him. He’s in a phase where he repeats everything he hears, and the last thing I need to deal with is a cussing five year old when he starts school in the fall.”
“I think I can live with that.” Brody smiled and pulled Avery towards him, placing a tender kiss to her forehead. The conditions she set out may not be ideal, but it was start. He was going to meet his son for the first time.
Chapter 5
Brody glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings. It was the first time he’d ever ventured into this area of Sam’s Club before, yet, here he stood, surrounded by mounds of toys and a screaming toddler. Bravely, he marched past the dolls and stacks of pink boxes, past the crying toddler and frazzled mother, and to the middle of the aisle where a newly erected display of action figures sat on the shelf. He picked up a box and gawked at it. All boys love superheroes, right? Standing in the center of the toy aisle, clueless and out of place, Brody knew that he was way out of his league. He was more of a practical gift giver—books, savings bonds, gift cards—so he’d never, not once in his life, been toy shopping, not even for his twin niece and nephew. But it was Parker’s birthday, and he wanted to make a good first impression.
It took him almost a minute to realize that it wasn’t the squawking action figure making a buzzing noise, but his cell phone. Fishing the iPhone out of his pocket, he answered it just before going to voicemail. “Hello?”
A woman’s voice on the other end of the line began screaming in his ear. “Where in the fuck were you? I waited over two and a half hours for you to show up. Next time, you can meet me at my lawyer’s office instead of some two-bit coffee shop.”
Damn it! “Veronica.”
“Don’t “Veronica” me. The least you could’ve done was called, but noooooo. You were probably with that little bitch, Avery.”
“Keep Avery out of this,” Brody warned, his voice feral and menacing when he spoke.
“Like fuck I will. She’s the root of our problems. And did you call that doctor I told you about? I doubt that bastard kid of hers is even yours.”
Little did Veronica know that she was walking a very thin line, but Brody couldn’t afford to argue with her. As it was, she stood to get everything in the divorce. Who knew that Veronica could file for a divorce on the basis of infidelity even when he’d remained faithful to her. She’d claimed that another woman—Avery—was the demise of their relationship, and the courts had allowed her to file the papers. Now that Avery was back in the picture and there was a child involved, it made things a lot more complicated, but Brody didn’t care. If being with Avery meant that he had to meet every one of Veronica’s ridiculous demands, he’d gladly give her every cent he had, and then some.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“What?” Brody asked, snapping out of his daze.
“I knew you wouldn’t call that doctor, so I made an appointment for you.”
“You did what?” he hollered.
“It’s next Monday at eleven-thirty.”
Just as Brody was about to let loose on Veronica, the call waiting on his phone beeped. Holding the phone away from his ear, he glanced at the number on the screen. Great, just great! Brody knew better than to talk to his mom when he was in a foul mood. She had an eerie way of extracting answers from him against his will,
“Anything,” Brody agreed, and sat up straighter, listening attentively to Avery’s conditions.
“Parker’s birthday party is in two weeks. You can come as long as you promise to keep your mouth shut. As far as anybody is concerned, you’re a friend from school. When the time is right, we’ll tell him together, but not before then, and not until I’m ready.”
“Deal,” he blurted out without giving Avery a chance to finish speaking.
“I have one more condition. Under no circumstances are you to swear around him. He’s in a phase where he repeats everything he hears, and the last thing I need to deal with is a cussing five year old when he starts school in the fall.”
“I think I can live with that.” Brody smiled and pulled Avery towards him, placing a tender kiss to her forehead. The conditions she set out may not be ideal, but it was start. He was going to meet his son for the first time.
Chapter 5
Brody glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings. It was the first time he’d ever ventured into this area of Sam’s Club before, yet, here he stood, surrounded by mounds of toys and a screaming toddler. Bravely, he marched past the dolls and stacks of pink boxes, past the crying toddler and frazzled mother, and to the middle of the aisle where a newly erected display of action figures sat on the shelf. He picked up a box and gawked at it. All boys love superheroes, right? Standing in the center of the toy aisle, clueless and out of place, Brody knew that he was way out of his league. He was more of a practical gift giver—books, savings bonds, gift cards—so he’d never, not once in his life, been toy shopping, not even for his twin niece and nephew. But it was Parker’s birthday, and he wanted to make a good first impression.
It took him almost a minute to realize that it wasn’t the squawking action figure making a buzzing noise, but his cell phone. Fishing the iPhone out of his pocket, he answered it just before going to voicemail. “Hello?”
A woman’s voice on the other end of the line began screaming in his ear. “Where in the fuck were you? I waited over two and a half hours for you to show up. Next time, you can meet me at my lawyer’s office instead of some two-bit coffee shop.”
Damn it! “Veronica.”
“Don’t “Veronica” me. The least you could’ve done was called, but noooooo. You were probably with that little bitch, Avery.”
“Keep Avery out of this,” Brody warned, his voice feral and menacing when he spoke.
“Like fuck I will. She’s the root of our problems. And did you call that doctor I told you about? I doubt that bastard kid of hers is even yours.”
Little did Veronica know that she was walking a very thin line, but Brody couldn’t afford to argue with her. As it was, she stood to get everything in the divorce. Who knew that Veronica could file for a divorce on the basis of infidelity even when he’d remained faithful to her. She’d claimed that another woman—Avery—was the demise of their relationship, and the courts had allowed her to file the papers. Now that Avery was back in the picture and there was a child involved, it made things a lot more complicated, but Brody didn’t care. If being with Avery meant that he had to meet every one of Veronica’s ridiculous demands, he’d gladly give her every cent he had, and then some.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“What?” Brody asked, snapping out of his daze.
“I knew you wouldn’t call that doctor, so I made an appointment for you.”
“You did what?” he hollered.
“It’s next Monday at eleven-thirty.”
Just as Brody was about to let loose on Veronica, the call waiting on his phone beeped. Holding the phone away from his ear, he glanced at the number on the screen. Great, just great! Brody knew better than to talk to his mom when he was in a foul mood. She had an eerie way of extracting answers from him against his will,
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