Chapter 9

The big day finally arrived. It was late one day when I was sitting in the kitchen when Cap hollered for me. I went to see what was wrong and found her sitting on the edge of the bed holding her lower back and grimacing. “Dad, I think you need to get me to the hospital, our baby is telling me she’s tired of being cooped up.”

I of course ran to get the hospital bag and throw it in the car, then I helped Cap out too. On the way I made a call to Felisha’s school, Joey’s office and then to Bab’s. Yep that’s me, Mr. Cool and collected, at least on the outside. Inside I was hoping someone would be able to get to the hospital to help us through this because I was scared as hell.

We got there alive and the people there were amazing. Very little paperwork, lots of smiles, and no odd questions or looks about Cap calling me dad whenever the contractions hit her. I was sitting there, holding her hand as a new life entered the world. Cap smiled at me as our daughter was handed to her and then fed her for the first time.

I then headed out to find Joey and Felisha sitting in the waiting room nervous as hell. When I walked in Felisha came running over and wrapped her arms around me. I looked at Joey and told him that both of them were doing fine and that he should go on back. I sat with Felisha after Joey gave me a big hug and ran back.

“Pops, what was it like? Is she cute? How’s mom feeling?” she asked me rapid fire. I told her that her mom was doing fine, her sister was doing great and was cute as a button, and the experience from my perspective was both incredible and frightening at the same time. She looked at me questioningly. “What do you mean incredible and scary?” I told her if men had to do that, the human race would have died out just after Adam.

Joey came back and gave me another hug. “Thanks Dad. Without you I wouldn’t have a brand new daughter in my life.” Tears filled his eyes. “She is so beautiful.” Then Felisha hugged him and when he looked down she asked if she could go and meet her new sister. Joey led her head back together while I went for a breath of fresh air.

When I got back a nurse saw me and told me that Cap was asking for me. I followed her back to find the room was full with just the family in it. Cap looked at me and her face was the most peaceful I had ever seen it. Joey was standing there and handed me a clip board with some papers on it. “Caprica wanted you to see this before we gave it to them.” His face didn’t hint if this was good or bad.

It was the form for the birth certificate. Cap’s name, Joey’s name, and then my eyes filled. The baby’s name was going to be Melinda. They wanted to name her after my wife. My heart seemed to stop for a minute while the emotions went through me. I looked at the small baby suckling at Cap’s breast and felt it was right. I looked at them both and nodded my head. “Your mother would be honored and happy to know she had a legacy in this little girl.”

Felisha wrapped an arm around my waist and rested her head on me. Joey took the board and signed the rest of the papers. We all sat around being quiet as possible for the new one. Eventually she was taken to be checked out and such and Cap was looking very tired. I told Joey that I was going to take Felisha out to dinner and then home for the night. He agreed and reluctantly so did Felisha.

Just as we got home a car came pulling up and I saw it was Barbara and the kids. We all went inside and I filled her in on what happened and how things went. Felisha, Jessie and James all went into the living room to hear it all from Felisha. Barbara and I went into the kitchen so I could fill her in as well but from an adult’s point of view.

It wasn’t till I was finished and we were relaxing a little that I noticed the bags under her eyes under unusually heavy makeup. The more I looked at her the more I saw inconsistencies in her appearance. There was something wrong but she hadn’t been telling us over the phone. “Well now that you know everything that happened why don’t you tell me what’s been going on with you and the kids?”

“Oh same old thing. Nothing really different other than my husband is slowly becoming a bigger ass that ever.” Then she tried to laugh it away. I reached out and took her hand in mine. “Barbara, that is a huge pile of bullshit and I know it. You are doing horribly and trying hard to pretend you’re not. Now are you going to be truthful and tell me what is really going on?”

Tears filled her eyes and she hung her head down. “Dad, you’re right. Everything is falling apart and today was the worst.” She sobbed. She looked at me and the makeup was running down her face in streaks. “He has been doing a lot of late nights at work or so he says. Then this afternoon as soon as the kids were home I told them we were going to be coming down to help. I called Mike’s office and asked to talk to him and they said he had called in sick today. When I told them I was his wife and that he wasn’t sick or home the woman gasped and said she would inform his boss.”

She took a deep breath and let it out. “Half way here he called me on my cell and yelled at me for telling the office that he wasn’t home. Then he asked me what I was doing and I told him. He got mad and yelled at me more. Mike told me that if I didn’t turn around and come home I shouldn’t come home again.” Then she began to fold in on herself.

I moved over and took her in my arms. She held onto me like a person trying not to drown in a high sea. “Oh dad, what am I going to do? I’m so afraid.” I kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. “Well that’s easy, Cap isn’t coming back till late tomorrow at the earliest. As soon as I get Felisha off to school we will head back to your home, rent a truck and pack all of you and the kid’s things in it. Then once that is done we will drive back here.”

She looked at me stunned. “How can I do that? There’s too much going on here. You don’t need a broken family moving in with you at a time like this.” I shook my head. “It’s only broken when you’re not around. Do you have any friends that could come help you pack?” She thought for a minute while shaking her head. “Yeah I guess. But dang it Dad we can’t impose on all of you like this.”

I reached out and stroked her face. “Little love, it would be harder for us to be without you, knowing you’re in a bad way, than to have you all here with us. And having you to help Cap with the baby will be a boon to us all so stop arguing and use that phone to make those calls, we are going to need all the help we can get.”

As Barbara left to make a few calls I called Joey and told him what was going on. He agreed with what I wanted to do and told me that mother and baby were doing fine and sleeping. I told him to give them both a hug and kiss for me and then went to work. I got on the net and found a company that could do what I needed done and began to get all my duck in a row.

The kids came in looking subdued. Jessie came over and crawled into my lap looking sad. James came over and stood close to me looking the same. “Is mom going to be ok? We heard dad yelling on the phone and then we heard the two of you talking and then her crying.” Jessie asked with her head down. I pulled them against me tight. “Well I am going to go back to your home with your mom and we are going to pack your stuff up so you can come live with us.”

They both looked at me in shock. I hoped it wasn’t too much for them. “We are coming to live with you? But what about dad?” James asked. “Well you dad is going to stay in the city while the three of you come to live here. I think your mom and dad need to work things out.” James looked at me with a little fear in his eyes. “You mean we might have to go back someday?”

Ok that wasn’t exactly what I thought was going on in his mind, but then I shouldn’t be surprised. These kids didn’t like him. It seemed they were more worried they would have to be around him more than moving away. “Well if your mom and dad can’t fix things then you might be moving here for a long time.” They both wrapped their arms around me and held on. “I hope we can live with here forever and ever.” Was all Jessie had to say.

I was holding the two of them when Barbara came into the room. She looked at us and her smile seemed to cut through all the stress she had been feeling. When our eyes met I could see the love she had for me replacing the fear and worry in her heart. When the kids noticed she was watching they seemed a little shy but Jessie was the first to say anything.

“Mom, are we gonna live here from now on?” She asked in a small voice. Babs walked over and squatted down to look her daughter in the eyes. “What do you want to do Jess?” She bit her lips and looked at me and then back at her mom. “I want to live here with all of us together with Mr. Trey. I don’t want to go back to the city ever again.”

Babs looked at James. “And how do you feel about it James?” He looked at me with a very serious look, a man to man look. “I want Mr. Trey to be my new dad.” He turned to look at his mother with no doubt the same serious look. “Father doesn’t like us very much. He scares me, he makes you and Jessie sad, and he is never happy.” The boy looked at me and I saw joy starting to come to the surface. “Mr. Trey has been so nice to me and Jessie. I know he makes all of us happy and I want to make him as happy as he makes us.”

Barbara looked at me and the pain was mostly gone. Her face almost glowed from the way she felt. “Well if Mr. Trey doesn’t mind I would like to come live here too.” I took a deep breath and shook my head. “I don’t think I could let you guys go home after saying all of that, so it looks like you will all have to come live here.” That was the most dangerous thing I had ever said in my life and it almost killed me. I say that because the chair couldn’t hold the three of us, especially when Babs threw herself at me too. The chair collapsed and we all fell down and back.

I was laying there looking at the ceiling trying to figure out if we were all ok as the others rolled away, scared they had hurt me somehow. I sat up and smiled at the three scared faces. “Is everyone ok?” They all nodded. I nodded. “Well then let that be a lesson. No more family hugs while I am sitting in a wood chair. Only on couches and in bed ok?” Then I was smothered again with hugs and kisses.

Eventually we all separated and I ordered some delivery for us all. The three kids talked about how fun it was going to be with all of us living here while Babs and I thought about what had happened as they did. Eventually all the conversation revolved around the baby and Felisha talked about how cute she was. She did smile at me though when she was surprised at how fair her sister’s skin was compared to her or her mother.

Once everyone was down for the night Barbara and I curled up together. Neither of us were really thinking about sex with all the things that were going to happen if a few hours. We did talk about what to do tomorrow and how things were going to work out. Eventually my back rubs took their toll and Babs drifted off. I knew what had to be done and how I was going to do it so sleep came a little easier than I thought it would.

I took Felisha to school and when I got back Barbara had found a day center that could take the kids while we took care of business. Soon afterwards we were on the road and both very nervous on how things were going to work. We were lucky that the apartment complex had a back entrance for people moving in and out with a large elevator.

Babs opened the front door to her home and gasped. The house was a mess with furniture thrown around and a few smashed pictures on the wall. As I stood behind her looking at what seemed to have been a major hissy fit Barbara’s shoulders seemed to set solidly. “Yep, not a day too soon to get the hell away from here.” Was all she said.

She left for a few minutes and when she came back she was followed by a large lady about my age or a little more. The woman looked around and shook her head. “What a mess. You would think a grown man wouldn’t do something like this.” Then Babs introduced me. “Linda, this is Trey. He and his family are going to take us in till the kids and I can get settled away from this place.”

Linda reached over and shook my hand. “Thanks for being so nice to Barbara and children. Not many people reach out in a situation like this.” I shook my head. “Well it is kind of old fashioned but then that’s how I was raised, you help out friends when they are in need.” She smiled even more and then looked around. “Well we have our work cut out for us today. I don’t think we can do that much with just us.”

“Oh don’t worry about that too much. I have a truck coming with a few mover to help us get this over with as fast as we can.” Linda gave me a look of interest and nodded her head. “I like a man who thinks ahead, are you single?” I tilted my head to the side and looked down. “Yes, my wife passed away two years ago.” Linda seemed to know what that meant. “I’m sorry.”

Then she turned away and looked at Barbara. “Well girl, the first thing you need to do is get what you need. Clothes, photo albums, pictures, that kind of thing. Things that you need to have, not want to have. After that is all boxed and gone, and if we have time, then we move to things you want to have. Don’t worry about things you can replace at wallymart, they can be replaced.”

The two of them went in the back of the apartment while I waited for the movers. I got a call and met them at the elevator. They had a pallet of boxes and packing material loaded onto two carts. I gave them a rundown of the situation and they both nodded. “Don’t worry sir, this isn’t the first time for us doing this. We will work as fast as we can.” I told them if they did I would give them a little off the books gratuity.

With all the help we had and Linda riding herd on Barbara we were finished and out the door in four hours. The kid’s rooms were stripped to the walls while the rest of the house was left mostly alone. Barbara didn’t want anything that would remind her of Mike in the least. Other than clothes, a little jewelry, some bedding and a few photo albums she didn’t take anything else really. She even left her wedding set on the dresser as we walked out of the apartment for the last time.

On the long drive home she looked out the windshield with a calm face. About halfway back I saw a few tears drip down her cheek and asked if she needed to talk. She shook her head and smiled at me. “I don’t need to talk, I need to think about my future. I gave it everything I had and more, that man doesn’t get anything more out of me.” She actually relaxed against the door. “My daddy’s taking care of me and before you know it I will be back on my own two feet and doing him proud.”

“I’m already proud of you Barbara, you stood up for yourself and your children by doing this.” I could feel her starting to feel happy again. Don’t ask me how but I could tell so much about her just by feeling her near. Then she slumped a little. “So now what do I do?” I chuckled a little. “What do you mean?” “Well how do we work the sleeping arrangements? With the baby coming home there isn’t going to be much room in that house.” “We set up the kids beds in my living room after moving some of my things out to the storage shed.” I could hear the implications in her voice when she said. “And where do I get to sleep daddy?” “Well, I think it would be best for you to sleep in the same room with them, at least until things are settled with Mike. We will have plenty of time together while they are at school if you are so inclined, but until the kids are blended into the family situation more I think it would be best if they didn’t see us getting too close all at once.”

Barbara leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. “I was hoping you would say something like that. I owe you all so much and would gladly do anything you wanted me to, but I would feel better about the kids learning about the two of us later.” She nuzzled my shoulder and I wanted to wrap an arm around but I was driving.

“I am a little worried about how James and Jessie will react to the life you had with your family before we came along. I don’t want us to get in the way at all, and Cap and I have discussed it. She has told me how much you healed her family with being there for them all. I couldn’t stand the thought of us being a problem for all of you, but I still haven’t found a way to tell them.”

I began to wonder how much this woman actually knew. “Well you don’t have to worry about me and Cap. With the baby here she won’t feel like doing much for a few months. That will give us plenty of time to work something out.” She nodded and settled against me.

By the time we got to the house everyone was home and Barbara got to see little Mel for the first time. The movers were right behind us and while the kids and the ladies fawned over the baby, Joey and I dealt with the rest. The movers were great at helping us move things around and out as we converted my living room into a temporary living space for the family expansion.

When Jessi saw the boxes and where they were headed she followed and became unusually happy to see her bed set up where it was. The girl danced around and asked to movers to help her set things up. Her sweet smile and even sweeter nature quickly had them wrapped around her finger as they asked her where she wanted what.

The room was large enough that we set the beds against either wall and split the room with the dressers side by side but facing opposite directions. Not much privacy, but it was all we could do for right now. In the end Jessie was happy with it all and that was what mattered.

When we were all done I gave the movers a reward for all their help and they both looked at me in askance. I assured them that their expedience and help was well worth it and they left happy. I went to see Cap and Mel and found them alone as everyone had left them to calm down.

I sat next to Cap and she smiled at me as I just looked at the two of them. Now that she was home I could see our baby better than before. She did have very light skin and what hair she had was straight and fine. Neither of us talked but the looks we shared told each other so very much. She held the result of the love we shared in her arms and it would last forever.

I left them to get some rest and joined the family. Joey was exhausted and was almost asleep on the couch. Barbara was in the kitchen and by the sounds of it doing very well. The echo of the kids in their new digs told me my life of being able to get some quiet time were over. I plopped into the big chair in the living room and Joey looked over at me.

“Well dad it looks like we went from the three of us to the seven of us in just two days.” He shook his head. “We may have to put off building a lake house for a while if we are going to get someplace we can all live.” I nodded at that. “Yeah, I thought it might have been a possibility to build out there for all of us to live but the thought of babies and lakes scared the bejeezus out of me.”

Joey sat up straighter and looked at me. “Well I think we should give this life a little more time, see if everyone can stand being this together for a month or so before we start calling any realtors. Then when we know where we stand with the butthead in the city we can get serious about living arrangements.” I shook my head on that. “It’s not going to change. If you had seen Babs and what he did to the house before we left you would understand. This move was the last straw for her and I know the kids will do whatever it takes to stay with us from now on.”