Stronger Than Ever (My Best Friend) (6 page)

She g
rabbed Kay’s hands, “I pray, God please let my mommy not have any more bad dreams, amen.”

Jason and Kay just looked at her with amazement. Kay had a tear r
an
down her cheek.

“Don’t cry Mommy.”
She
wiped her tear
s
with her tiny hands and kissed her.

Jason kissed
their little girl
. “Thank you
.
Mommy needed that.”

Jason lay next to the two most important people in his life.

They talked and giggled for a while
,
tr
ying
to cheer Kay up, but he could see the sadness in her eyes.

Angel
kissed them both and went to her room to play.

“Kay, tell me what you’re feeling, I want to help you.” he said caressing her hands

She pulled her hands away. “It was just a bad dream.”

“Are you sure? Is there something else I can do for you? You know you could tell me anything.”

“I’m fine,” she lied, obviously get
ting
annoyed.

“I’m driving you to work from now on.” He strode to the bathroom.

“No, you aren’t. I can drive myself. I’m not going to let him win.”

He walked back out from the bathroom. “Kay, I know you can drive, but I’ll feel much better.”

Kay looked at him. “Are you going to take me everywhere I need to go? Jason, you can’t always be with me. I’m okay, I survived and I want to continue with my life.”

She got out of the bed and headed to the bathroom. Jason followed he
r,
she
began
taking of her clothes, getting ready to jump into the shower. Her beautiful brown neck, arms, and chest were covered in bruises. He walked over to her and
started
kissing every bruise she had. She pulled away. “Jason, please stop.”

He stopped kissing her, “Baby, I wasn’t….” He slowly
walked over
and opened the shower door and
turned on
the water.

“This is the last time we’re going to talk about what happened yesterday. I want to forget that it ever happened.” She walked in the shower.

He went into the kitchen
to
g
e
t Kay some breakfast.
Why us again?
H
e sighed and picked up the phone again and dialed.

“Son.”

“Dad.” He
started
crying on the phone.

“Jason, it’s going to be okay. She’s strong and you are strong, too. We wanted to come over, but I don’t think she’s ready.”

“How can I help her?”

“Just be there for her. She just needs to feel safe and protected. Tell her you love her. If she needs to talk, just listen. She’s been through something traumatic.”

“She won’t talk to me. She said from this day on, she doesn’t want to talk or even mention what happened to her. I can see the hurt in her eyes, and I can’t bear it. I’m falling apart because I can’t help her. Dad, she’s everything to me. When she hurts, I hurt. I’m so angry at myself for not being there for her. She was dressed that way because of me. God, she came to my office to surprise me.” He took a deep breath.

“Jason, it’s not your fault. I understand she doesn’t want to talk to you now, but eventually she will open up and tell you how she’s feeling. She has to go through the phases. Just be there for her. We’ll be there for her whenever she needs us. We’ll come by when she’s ready.”

“I feel like hunting him down and taking care of him myself, to show him how it feels to feel helpless.”

“What will that do, son? You’ll end up in jail, leaving your wife alone, and she’ll only blame herself. Let the authorities handle that coward. Don’t be the cause of more hurt and disappointment.”

“Dad, thank you for always being there for me, and helping me see the light. I love you.” He wiped the tears from his face.

“I love you, son.”

When he entered their bedroom with a tray in his hands she was already in bed. He put the tray down on the nightstand and joined her in bed
,
put
ting
his hand on her stomach. “This wasn’t planned, but I’m so happy.” He leaned down and kissed her stomach.

She placed her hands on his. “This is you and me.”

The OB/GYN’s screen brought back memories of four years ago, when
Jason
sat with
her
looking at Angel on the monitor. Back then, Kay really thought that Tommy would accept being a father, but that never happened.
Last time she saw Tommy was at the mall three
years ago
, when he tried to kiss her
, but since then she’d heard he was doing well for himself
.

Memories
started
coming back to Kay, of the day she had told Tommy he was going to be a father and how he
’d
told her he didn’t want any more kids because he already had three, and that he never cared for her.

Jason had loved Angel from the first time he heard her tiny heartbeat.

Kay looked at Jason and grabbed his hand
, smiling
he had the same look he had when he first saw Angel on the monitor. “That’s
our
baby.”

He leaned over and kissed her. “The heartbeat is so strong.” He looked at the doctor and asked her for a picture of the sonogram, she punched in some numbers on the computer. He still after all these years couldn’t figure out the picture, but he knew that was his baby in that screen.

The doctor explained the baby’s size and pointed out the baby’s organs and answered all their questions. After the doctor point
ed
at the screen, he finally got the picture.

“Your baby is healthy, the trauma your body went thru didn’t affect the baby. You’re about ten weeks. Everything is progressing on track
.
I’ll see you next month. You guys can stop by the reception desk to pick up your pictures.” She walked out.

He kissed her stomach. “I can’t wait to see you little one, daddy love’s you.” He leaned up. “She said you’re about ten weeks. That means you got pregnant about the time my Grandfather died.”

She got up and
started
getting dress. “Yes, I have a feeling the baby was conceived that same night.”

He hugged her and whispered. “This is our gift. That night God took an angel and sent one back to us.”

He waited for her to get dressed and then they walked out to the reception desk to pick up the pictures of the sonogram. Jason was still amazed by the picture in his han
d.
T
his tiny baby will be here in about six and a half months. He grabbed Kay’s hand and headed out.

Kay turned. “I’ll see you later. I love you.”

He kissed her
gently
on the lips. “I love you more, baby. See you after work.”

Jason arrived to work with a smile on his face. It was his birthday. His day
started
off great, he was awakened by his beautiful, loving wife and his energetic bouncy beautiful daughter, they sang happy birthday and made him breakfast.
My family, we’ve been through so much from the start, but we are still so blessed. Thank You God
, he thought. He stepped of the elevator and made his way to his office. Susan stopped him.

Susan had been his secretary for about six months
. H
is
firm had hired her from a temporary agency after his last secretary had retired. It hadn’t been obvious at first, but there was something different about the way she looked at him.

“Mr. Anderson! Happy birthday,” she said. Susan was an attractive blonde, tall, about five eight, with hazel eyes. She was wearing a white jacket with a button up shirt that showed too much of her cleavage, but her black skirt and pumps were conservative enough.

He looked at her face. “Thank you.” He kept walking to his office. When he opened his office door he was surprised. There were balloons on his desk. He smiled and thought
Kay
.

Susan came up from behind him. “Do you like? I got them for you.”

His smiled vanished. “Yes, it was sweet of you.” He walked toward his desk and sat down.

He looked up to see her turn just a little upset and walked out his office.

After a while there was a knock on his door. “Come in.”

John stepped in looked at the balloons. “Nice, happy birthday man.”
He
laugh
ed
. “Your wife is something else.”

Jason looked up at him. “It wasn’t Kay, it was Susan.”

John gave him a strange stare. “That woman has a thing for you
. Y
ou need to watch out
. C
rushes like that don’t end well.
I think you should let her go. I see the way she watches and treats you. Man temptation is not a good thing.”

Jason was getting annoyed. “John I would never cheat on Kay, Susan is my secretary. I know sometimes she goes overboard, but she’s harmless, not what you and Kay think.”

John came closer to his desk. “Man even your wife sees it. Dude look at the balloons. They have hearts and kisses all over them.”

Jason ignored him. “Whatever. You didn’t come here to talk about Susan. What was it?”

“I came here to talk about the Morrison case. I left the files on your desk yesterday.”

“I looked it over and I think you should talk to the insurance company. You should ask for a settlement, because you and I know your client is lying.” Jason said.

“You’re right. I just thought you would find a loophole or something I didn’t.” He grabbed the file from Jason’s desk. “Did they find that bastard that attacked Kay?”

“No, but I have Patrick working on it. He said he found a lead and will be checking it out. He better pray I don’t get my hands on him before the cop
s do,
because
I’m going to make him wish he were dead. Not a day goes by that I don’t call her every hour. She’s getting tired of me, but I have to make sure she’s okay.”

“Count me in, if you need backup.”

“Let’s change the subject,” Jason said.

“Thank you for the gift. Amy is due any day no
w, I
can’t wait to see him.” John leaned on the desk.

“You’re welcome. Wait until you see your baby for the first time, man. It’s amazing.” Jason stared at the picture of the sonogram he had on his desk.

“Hey, if I were you I would hide those,” John said before he
turned to
walk to the door. He
turned around
. “Watch your
back
,
she wants you.” He walked out of the office laughing.

Minutes later, there was a soft knock on his door, and he looked up. “Come in.” It was Susan.

She walked closer to his desk. “Jason?”

He stared at her. She’d never used his first name before.

“I have a surprise for you,” she said. She
began
unbuttoning her shirt, stopping in front of his desk. “Jason, I know you want this as much as I do.” She stared down at him.

Jason stood up. “Stop! What the hell are you doing, Susan?”

“I’m giving us what we both want. I see the way you look at me. Your wife is not good enough for you. I can give you everything you need.” She play
ed
with the last of the shirt buttons.

He got up, walked around his desk, and grabbed her hands. “I said stop. I don’t know what have gotten into you, but I don’t want you. I’m in love with my wife and she is more than enough for me.”

She forced her hands away from him. “Kiss me and you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

“Susan, get out of my office.” He tried to remain calm, to keep the anger from his voice.

Before he knew it she had planted a kiss on his lips. He pulled away, but it was too late.

Way too late.

Kay stood in the doorway. She had balloons and a cupcake in her hands. She let the balloons go, dropped the cupcake in the trash by the door, and turned around.

Jason pulled away from Susan.

Susan grabbed him. “Let her go. She doesn’t deserve you.”

He removed her hands, ignored her, and ran after Ka
y, but
she had already made it to the elevator. He ran down the stairs to the front of the building. He stopped, catching his breath. Kay was walking fast
,
ca
tching
up with her, grabbed her arm and turned her around. She had tears in her eyes. “Kay, it’s not what you think. I would never hurt you like that,” he said, out of breath.