Unfinished Hero 02 Creed (36 page)

Needless to say, being with Richard did not do wonders for my reputation.

People talked about me. People speculated. People said shit things behind my back, gave me ugly looks, sometimes even said things straight to my face. I’d learned to live with it and I’d learned to live without friends.

That didn’t mean having one again didn’t mean everything to me.

Fortunately, two days after Knight released Creed, Hawk Delgado called me. He had a job and not only was he interested in contracting with me, he also asked if Creed was still in town. Since Creed was and since Creed was good with hanging around longer and taking another job, Hawk hired both of us.

The job paid well and Hawk expected it to last a month so I had a reprieve. More time with Creed in Denver. More time to get my shit sorted. A couple more weekends with his kids before I moved in completely.

But I had to tell Charlene. She had to prepare.

And I had to prepare to lose her and the kids.

“Creed and I are trying for a baby,” I repeated what I’d said two seconds before.

Charlene blinked at me.

Then she turned her head to the window and stared blankly out of it.

I turned my head that way too and saw Creed’s tee drenched in sweat, the ends of his hair wet and curling around his neck. He had mirrored shades on and they looked really fucking good on him.

My mouth started watering.

“It’s been three weeks, honey.”

Charlene’s words came at me and I looked at her again.

“I know,” I replied.

She shook her head and reached out to curl her hand around my leg. “I get this. I get him. He’s a good guy. I get that. I get your history. I get it all, but, Sylvie, listen to me. A baby is a big deal.”

“I know that too, Charlene.”

“It changes your whole life. It changes the whole
world.
”

I put my hand on hers, leaned in and repeated, “I know, Charlene.”

Her hand turned and her fingers curled around mine. “I know you know but I also know you
don’t.
A baby changes your body. It changes your relationship. It changed the rhythm of your day. You have a child, you can’t drink as much as you do. You absolutely can’t smoke. He’s got two kids. They’ve met you once. They –”

I cut her off, “Creed loves them and they love him and they like me. They’ll be cool. He’ll take care of them. We both will.”

Her hand gave mine a squeeze. “You haven’t even settled into there being a you two again. Nine months, ten months, a year, most of that pregnant, you won’t be able to do that.”

She knew, I explained after we had our drama and got back together that Creed and me were, well, back together. Charlene was Charlene, she said little except she was happy for me.

But, right now, she didn’t get it so I explained, “There was never a time when we
weren’t
settled into the two of us being
the
two.”

Her head tipped to the side. “What?”

I leaned closer, lifting her hand and holding it to my chest. “This is Creed.”

“I know, but –”

I shook her hand before I pressed it to my chest. “Charlene, babe,
this is Creed.
”

She held my eyes as her lips parted.

She was getting me.

So I helped her get the rest of the way. “There’s no one but him. No one. I want our future, the one that was stolen from us. I want it for me and I
need
to give it to him. He was…” I hesitated, having shared a bit but not entirely and deciding not to, for Creed. “I can’t say. What I can say is that I explained it all came out and we worked it out. What you can guess is, we’re together so the reason he disappeared was understandable. So understandable, there’s not even anything to forgive.”

She sucked in breath.

Yeah, she was getting me.

I went on.

“It’s debatable who suffered worse,” I told her and she closed her eyes. She opened them when I continued, “And now that’s done. I want his baby growing inside me. I want a home. I want a family. I want to let Creed give that to me because Creed
needs
to give it to me. It’s what we’d planned. It’s what we’d dreamed. It’s what we went through hell for and it’s what we’re gonna
have
and we’re not going to wait. Not a month. Not a year. Now.”

“Your Dad did something to him,” she whispered her guess.

“My Dad did something to him,” I replied.

She licked her lips and turned her face back to the window but she held my hand tight. This time, I watched her face work instead of looking outside to watch my man work.

It took some time but finally she said quietly, “You should move to Phoenix. He should be close to his kids and your baby should be close to his or her brother and sister.”

See?

So totally told you that Charlene would want that for me.

“I am,” I said quietly back and her eyes came to me, they were stunned but they were also assessing. “It’s decided. Creed’s going to transfer his admin to you so you won’t feel that financial hit and –”

I stopped talking when her eyes filled with tears.

Then I started talking fast, holding her hand still to my chest, I leaned close and said gently, “I’ll come up. So will Creed. I mean, he can’t come up every two weeks to mow your yard but we’ll come up. Take the kids so you have time and –”

Charlene interrupted me.

“You’re happy.”

I blinked and asked, “What?”

“I didn’t see it or, I should say, I didn’t believe it.” She swallowed. “Now, I see it.”

“Charlene –”

She yanked her hand from mine but then grabbed me by the shoulders, pulled me close, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hard hug.

I felt her body jerk with her sob as her voice broke with it when she said, “Always, I saw it, that hurt in the back of your eyes. Like you were lost in a way you couldn’t get found.” She gave me a squeeze. “Now it’s gone. You’re found and I’m so happy you’re happy, Sylvie.”

God, friends… freaking…
rocked!

Suddenly she pulled back but her hands framed my face and she yanked mine close to hers. “I want you to make lots of babies. Lots and lots of them. You’re so cute and pretty. He’s so handsome. They’ll be beautiful. They’ll be brilliant. They’ll be loyal. They’ll be funny. They’ll be
fabulous.
”

Shit, I was
so
over this. Now Charlene was gonna make me cry.

“Charlene –” I started, my voice sounding hoarse but that was all I got out before she pulled my face even closer to hers, her wet, shining eyes were all I could see.

“Make him give you lots of babies. Make him, Sylvie.” It sounded like she was begging.

I didn’t think I would have a tough time convincing Creed to do this but still, I gave her what she wanted.

“I will, Charlene.”

She let my face go so she could throw her arms around me again and give me a deep, sweet, close hug.

I held her back just the same.

She did it sobbing quietly.

I did it breathing deeply.

We kept doing this until we heard shouting from outside, “Who the fuck are you? That’s
my
lawn, asshole.”

We both shot away from each other, our heads turning and I stared as I saw Douchebag Dan stalking toward Creed.

I reacted faster and moved quicker than Charlene, who was sitting frozen on the couch, staring outside, her mouth hanging open.

My eyes went back to the window to see Dan advancing on a Creed, who’d stepped away from the lawnmower and turned his not unscary attention on Dan. I grabbed Charlene and shook her firmly but gently.

“Kids,” I hissed and looked down at her to see her tear her eyes away from the scene in the yard to bring them to me. “Keep them in the back. Don’t let them hear their Dad.”

“But, Danny’s back. I should go out –”

“Kids, Charlene. Now.”

She held my eyes a second before seeing the wisdom of my instruction and nodding.

I took off.

I hit the front door just in time to see Dan, for some Douchebag Dan reason, rearing a fist back and aiming a punch on Creed.

A second later, I stifled a laugh but not my smile when Dan ended this maneuver on his belly in the turf with his arm yanked up his back and Creed’s knee in his spine.

“You can’t assault me on my lawn!” Dan yelled.

“I can defend myself when you try to assault me, moron, and if you don’t shut the fuck up and calm the fuck down, I’ll show you what assault actually is,” Creed returned.

This exchange went down as I was making my way to them and it ended when I stopped three feet away.

“What are you doing here, Dan?” I asked and Dan twisted his neck, yanking it back in a way that looked kind of painful since he hadn’t quit struggling so Creed hadn’t loosened the pressure.

He looked up at me.

“Who the fuck is this guy?” he snapped.

“Charlene’s new boyfriend,” I lied and Dan’s eyes widened to huge and his mouth dropped open.

“Sylvie,” Creed rumbled.

I grinned at him with him shaking his head, his lips twitching.

Then I looked back at Douchebag Dan to inform him, “She traded up.”

“Get him off me,” Douchbag Dan demanded, still struggling.

“Uh… just a reminder. He did tell you that if you shut the fuck up and calm the fuck down, he’d let you up.”

“He told me he’d
assault
me if I
didn’t
do that.”

I shrugged. “Tomatoes, toe-mah-toes.”

Dan scowled at me as best he could, seeing as his face was mostly in grass.

Then he said, “Okay. Whatever. I’ll calm down. Tell him to let me up.”

I looked back at Creed who was still fighting a smile. “Although you aren’t deaf, just in case you missed it, he says he’ll calm down. You can let him up.”

Creed’s grin broke through and he waited a full five seconds before he pushed off and straightened away from Douchebag Dan. This, incidentally, made me love him more and I already loved him a whole fuckuva lot.

Dan struggled to his feet, swiping at grass clippings on his clothes as he took a healthy, and wise, step back from Creed while glowering at him.

“Are you seriously seeing my wife?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Creed lied. “She’s hot,” Creed did not lie.

Dan looked to the house, muttering, “I don’t believe this shit.”

“I don’t know what’s not to believe, Dan,” I stated. “Life goes on. Bills need to get paid. Women need to get laid. Lawns need to get mowed. Bonus for the kids, Tucker here,” I indicated Creed with a swing of my hand, “actually likes them.”

I saw Dan blanch even as his eyes narrowed on me.

“That wasn’t cool, Sylvie,” he said quietly.

Oh shit. I was getting mad.

I knew Creed knew it because he took a step toward me but I didn’t tear my eyes from Douchebag Dan.

“Are you kidding me?
That
wasn’t cool?
You
left them,” I reminded him.

“Maybe my head was screwed up but she’s fuckin’ another guy!” he shot back. “I’ve only been gone two months, for fuck’s sake.”

I leaned toward him. “Two months and a week,
Dan,
” I clipped. “You won’t know this because you didn’t do fuck all while you were here, so let me educate you. That extra week is a lot when you got three kids to take care of, one a toddler, one special needs and you got a lawn to mow, storm windows to take out, faucets that leak, a mortgage that needs to get paid, a car that needs fixed and a second job to get so you can try to make ends meet. You didn’t even leave her the new TV so she could hock it and maybe buy groceries for a couple of days.”

“I wasn’t gone long and she had the savings,” Dan returned.

“She had
half
the savings, Dan, and no word from you. She had no idea you’d come back. Hell, you didn’t even give her a head’s up you were going.”

“Then she’s blind and deaf, Sylvie, and you’re her best friend so you fuckin’ know it,” Dan shot back.

I hated to admit it but he was right even though the action he took wasn’t.

“So that’s okay, your nonverbal, man communication shoots by her because she’s got three kids to take care of and a full-time job? She should have known something was wrong and fixed it? That lets
you
off since
Charlene
didn’t make the effort to drag it out of you?” I threw an arm out. “Jesus, Dan, if you’re serious about that crap you’re more of a douchebag than I thought and I thought you were the King of Douchebags.”

“You don’t get how it is,” he retorted.

Oh yeah. He was pissing me off.

“Clue in, Dan,” I ground out. “I’ve been over here nearly every morning since you took off. I only have forty-five minutes a morning of it but I
still
know how it is. I also know your wife does not complain. She loves those kids, that house, her family, her life and she used to love
you.
You fucked up, asshole,
huge.
”

“Sylvie, go inside. See to the kids. Get Charlene out here.”

This was Creed ordering me around and, in doing so, we’d discovered a time when I wasn’t real fond of him being bossy.

Therefore I replied, “No way.”

“I’m not moving and if I don’t like how it goes down between them, he’s gone and she’s inside. Yeah?” Creed returned.

I took in a big breath and countered, “How about if you figure
I
won’t like what goes down, he’s gone and she’s inside?”

“Sylvie, just go get Charlene,” Creed kept being bossy.

“Creed –”

“Woman, there is no way in fuck I’m gonna let this motherfucker who walked out on his wife and kids pull shit on her,” Creed declared before he stressed, “No fuckin’ way. You know that. You know me. You got nothin’ to worry about. Now, baby, go the fuck inside, get Charlene and see to the kids.”

“Baby?” Douchebag Dan asked at this juncture and I controlled my blood pressure by looking at him which didn’t exactly help.

“I forgot to mention, he’s my man, too. We do three-ways. They rock. See? You totally missed out. You hung around and acted like a decent guy, who knows what would have happened?”

After delivering that, verbally marking my score at the look of shock and hunger that cut through his features, I ignored Creed looking to the sky and shaking his head and stomped into the house.