Second Chance 3: Ask Me Again 3: David's Story (8 page)

Chapter 19

David

"Mr. McConnell, sir, I hope that you don't think that I am too forward or anything, but I noticed your reaction to Madelyn when you stopped by my office over the weekend," I said to him at the end of the day on Wednesday, after most of the employees had left for the day.

"Come on in and grab a seat, David," he said as I leaned against his office door frame. I walked in and took a seat across from his desk in one of the comfortable wingback leather chairs. I looked at him expectantly for his explanation of his strange behavior. He cleared his throat as he seemed to contemplate where to begin. "I knew Madelyn's mother a long time ago. We met in the hospital during my wife's first miscarriage. Annie Stowe was kind to us and I never forgot her beautiful spirit. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, besides my wife. By the time my wife had her second miscarriage, we were already on rocky and shaky ground."

Mr. McConnell paused as he took a sip from a water bottle sitting on his desk. "Would you like something to drink, David?" he asked as an afterthought.

"No, sir," I answered in hopes he would resumed his story.

"Annie Stowe, was a nurse and she was present during my wife's second miscarriage, as well. The doctor urged her to not to try to have any more babies after the second miscarriage. My wife didn't listen. She blamed me for both miscarriages as time went on.” A faraway look entered Mr. McConnell's eyes. He became lost in another time and another place as he continued to talk. "My wife was in so much pain from the loss of our babies. I was in pain too, but I handled mines differently. The colder my wife treated me, the more I threw myself into my work. I went home later and later, because I got physically sick of her accusing looks. She couldn't stand for me to touch her. The only time she wanted me to touch her was when she wanted to become pregnant again."

Mr. McConnell took a deep breath and raked a hand across his eyes before speaking again. "One day, I walked into this little coffee shop out on Atlantic Avenue. I bumped into Annie, that day. She was still as beautiful as I remembered. I offered to buy her coffee and lunch. She resisted at first, but I convinced her it was harmless. Her amber colored eyes listened to me talk with compassion. It was so cold that day and I remembered it like it was yesterday. Looking into Annie's eyes warmed me to my soul." He picked up the water bottle and took another sip, as he seemed to reflect on what he wanted to say. "Annie was so easy to talk to. My wife seemed to hate me more and more. By my wife's third pregnancy, she had become hell to live with. Annie and I started seeing more and more of each other. It was all innocent at first, but eventually we became lovers. I came close to leaving my wife for her several times, and then my wife miscarried a third child. I could not find it in my heart to leave her. Annie and I had been seeing each other for almost three years, when she also became pregnant with my child."

I sat there and listened intently. My heart filled with emotion as he continued to talk.

"Annie and I were so in love, but when she told me she was pregnant I got scared. How could I confront my wife with my affair and tell her I had a child on the way after her three miscarriages? It seemed as if my wife was having a miscarriage every year. With the last miscarriage, she was forced to admit to herself that she would never have kids. We started sleeping in separate bedrooms. It was a big house and the rooms were far away from each other.

Then, all of a sudden, my wife moved back into our master bedroom. She became the loving bride that I married. I fell in love with my wife all over again. I had no choice but to walk away from Annie. It wasn't an easy choice, but it was the only choice I felt I had at the time," he said.

"My wife was always a fragile creature. There was no way I could have dumped my infidelity on her, or tell her that my infidelity produced the one thing she wanted most, a precious baby. I was wrong, but I ran as fast as I could to my wife and tried to forget Annie, but I never could. I stayed a faithful, loving husband from that point on. I recommitted myself to our marriage and our vows. In retrospect, I would make a different choice today. I wouldn't have deserted my baby. I would have found some way to do right by all parties involved," he admitted.

"How do you figure Madelyn is your daughter?" I asked him.

"I know she is. Not only does she look like her mother, but she looks just like mine as well," he replied picking up a framed picture from his desk and handing it over.

I took the picture and studied it in great detail. I had to agree, Madelyn did resemble the woman in the picture a lot. "I believe she is your daughter," I said giving him back the picture. "Madelyn was her only child," I added.

"A blood test would prove what I already know in my heart," he said.

"When will you tell her that you are her father?" I asked.

"I-I don't know," he stuttered. “I may have waited too long to approach her, so maybe it is best if she never finds out about me."

"How is that best for her? How is it best for you?" I questioned him. "Have you ever thought that, after all those miscarriages your wife had, maybe God was finally giving you a chance to be a father?" I couldn't judge him and I wasn't even going to try.
God knows I could never judge anyone with the things I had done in the past,
I thought. "She deserves to know that you are her father and she deserves an explanation of why you couldn't be there for her while growing up. Being truthful with her is the key, sir," I urged him.

"You really love Madelyn, don't you?" he asked me.

"I love her a lot," I admitted.

"I can see that son and I appreciate you being as outspoken as you are. I will tell her I’m her father as soon as possible."

"Come to dinner at my house on Saturday. You can tell her then," I suggested.

"What time shall I be there?"

"Six o'clock will be good," I said scribbling down my address on the back of my business card and giving it to him. "You won't regret telling her sir. Madelyn is a beautiful woman on the inside and on the outside," I said standing.

"Thank you, David," Mr., McConnell said coming to his feet as well and extending his hand. "Thank you for not judging me and listening to everything that I had to say."

"Everyone deserves to right their wrongs. I was blessed enough to right mines and I have a feeling that you will be blessed to right yours, as well," I said before leaving his office in high spirits.

Chapter 20

Madelyn

"This spaghetti sauce smells delicious," I said to David, as I sampled the meat sauce. "I didn't know that you were such a great cook. What other surprises are you keeping from me?" I asked him teasingly.

"There are many layers to me, babe. I have many surprises in store for you, but you have to promise to stick around to find out," he teased back.

"You can count on it," I said on a serious note. "I am not going anywhere," I promised. "You are stuck with me for the long haul," I said going up behind him to wrap my arms around his trim waist. I laid my head against his broad back and inhaled his masculine clean scent.

I closed my eyes briefly to luxuriate in the warm feel of him against my cheek. He stopped what he was doing and turned in my arms. I reached up to intertwine my arms around his neck to pull his lips down to mines. I meshed my mouth tentatively against his succulent lips.

His lips clung to mines for a brief moment before he slowly drew them away. He boldly took control and initiated another kiss. He made a statement without even saying one word. He let his kiss speak for him. The kiss said that he wanted me, but he needed me like he need oxygen to breathe. It said, he wanted me, but he needed me like he needed fresh water to quench his thirst.

David is a must in my life,
I mused between soul satisfying kisses.

He bestowed deep, sensuous kisses on my lips. Our tongues mated with the intimacy of making love. My receptive mouth received each thrust of his tongue with relish. I was becoming like a drugged woman intoxicated off his seducing kisses. His brand of sensuousness needed to be bottled and branded for all time, but consumed only by me.

The sound of the doorbell put a stop to us taking things any further. We pulled apart reluctantly. "Will you get the door for me?" he asked. "That should be our guest and he is right on time," he added before swatting me playfully on the bottom as I went to answer the door.

*

The meal is really delicious," Mr. McConnell said as he finished up his second serving of spaghetti. "My compliments to the chef," he added.

"Thank you sir," David said with a grin.

"There is no need for that sir business here, David. We are off the clock. Both of you, please call me Theodore," he jovially suggested, his glance including us both.

"Theodore it is," David agreed.

"Theodore, is right, David. This meal was delicious," I said rubbing a hand across my full tummy.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Will you do me a favor sweetie?" David asked me.

"Of course, what do you need?" I asked.

His green eyes clouded over with desire for a minute before he quickly hid it. “While I clear the table, will you take Theodore into the living room and keep him company?"

"Let me clear the table. You cooked us this wonderful meal," I offered.

David and Theodore exchanged a look, before Theodore stood. "Madelyn, I would be honored if you and I could get to know each other better."

I wondered to myself what the look between David and Theodore was all about. I smiled at the older man before standing and leading him into the living room as directed. I seated myself in a chair and he seated himself across from me on the sofa.
He gave me another of those penetrating stares before he began to speak. "My dear Madelyn, please forgive me if my stare disconcerts you. You look so much like your mother. She was such a beautiful woman," he added in a sober tone of voice.

"Thank you, Theodore, but how did you come about knowing my mother?" I asked hoping that he would answer my question this time.

He took a deep breath before he stood and began to pace back and forth across where I was seated. "Madelyn there is just no easy way to say this, so I am just going to blurt this out," he said with trepidation in his tone. 

I sat with my hand demurely folded in my lap as I chewed my bottom lip nervously, awaiting his answer. I had a nervous feel right in the pit of my belly. He suddenly stopped in front of my chair and held my glance with a piercing glance of his own. "I am your father," he said in a rushed voice.

My eyes widened in shocked surprise. My mouth opened and closed like a fish on dry land gulping for air. Tears filled my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. David walked into the room right on cue. I stood and flew into the arms of my protector.

Deep sobs racked through my body as he held me close against his chest. "It's going to be alright, baby. Listen to the man and give him a chance to explain."

I peeled back and looked into the eyes of the man I loved. "How long have you known?" I asked. I wasn't angry, but I hoped he hadn't kept this fact from me for a long period of time.

"I’ve only known a couple of days. I talked to him about his odd behavior towards you and he confessed everything to me."

"Maybe I should leave," Theodore said in a defeated tone.

"No!" David and I spoke in unison.

I walked back over to the man, who claimed to be my father.  "Are you sure?" I asked almost too afraid to believe this was true.

"I am positive, but if you need a test to convince you what I know is true, I won't have a problem with it," he said.

I nodded my head back and forth, still not quite believing that the man standing before me was my father. "Don't go," I finally said. David pulled me over to sit on the sofa beside him. My father took the chair across from me. "I need some answers," I directed my stare towards him.

"Ask me anything you want and I will answer you as truthfully as I can," he replied.

"Why did you walk away from my mother and me? Did you ever love her?"

"What I am about to say doesn't excuse my absence in your life, Madelyn. I will understand if you want nothing to do with me after this. I owe you nothing but the truth. I was a broken, married man when I met your mother. We met and fell in love. We had a loving relationship for almost three years when she became pregnant with you. I was scared. I didn't know how to handle the situation, so I ran away and went back to recommit to my wife. My wife had already had three miscarriages. There was no chance of her ever conceiving another child with her last miscarriage. I couldn't chance her finding out about my affair with your mother, so I left. Leaving was not an easy choice," he stated in a matter of fact voice. "If I had another chance, I promise you I would do everything differently. I would not have deserted you. I would have been a father to you and loved you more than life itself. My punishment for not sticking around to see the birth of you, my baby, was to miss out on the beautiful woman you have become."

Tears filled my father's eyes and spilled down his cheeks. "My wife died years ago. I should have looked for you then. I should have found your mother and asked for her forgiveness. It wasn't a day that went by that I didn't wonder about you. I didn't know whether I had a son or daughter, but when I saw you for the first time in that office, I knew without a doubt that I had fathered a daughter," he said.

David continued to wipe my tears away with the pad of his thumb as I sat there and listened to my father with rapt attention.

"I didn't think I deserved a chance with you before now, but after seeing you with these old eyes, I am begging you to find it in your heart to forgive me. If I have to ask you again and again, I am not too proud to do so," he stated.

I looked through glassy eyes at the repentant man before me. My mother never had a harsh word to say about the man that impregnated her. In reality, she never said a word at all about him. I felt that if she knew he was married, she knew what she was getting into. I needed to ask that question to find out. I was not sitting in judgment of anyone, but I needed to know. "Did my mother know that you were married when you first met?"

Theodore bent his head in shame before answering. "Yes, she knew, but it was I who relentlessly pursued her until she gave in. I am the one to blame," he replied.

I looked over at David. He squeezed my hand reassuringly. He gave me a gentle kiss on my lips before releasing me. I looked over at my father who had asked for my forgiveness.

"I forgive you, I said really meaning it. “There is no reason for you to ask me again. You can't be all bad if my mother fell in love with you the way she did. I think she truly loved you until the day she died."

My father's head bent, his shoulders began to tremble as silent sobs racked his body. I stood and went over to him. He looked up at me and, for the first time, I saw myself in his eyes. He rose to his feet. He opened his arms and I stepped willingly into them. I embraced my father –my daddy– for the first time. I knew the road ahead wouldn't be easy in getting to know him, but I was willing to try. We had to start somewhere and it was no better time than the present.