Show Me the Scary Part, page 30
I smiled at him. “You had an exciting day.”
“I did, and now we’re all together now,” he gave me a beaming smile.
I wrapped him in a hug, and I saw Nadine walking over to us.
“Hey, Whit,” she says.
“Hey Nadine.”
She leans in, bringing our lips together in a quick but very satisfying kiss.
“What’s that amazing smell?” I asked.
“Dinner, I thought it would be great if we all sat and ate a meal together.”
“That sounds perfect,” I smiled at her and Ryder.
I forgot how great a cook Nadine is. Dinner was amazing, it was so nice eating as a family. I haven’t seen Ryder this happy in a long time.
After dinner and dessert, we sat on the couch and watched a movie. All of this was great, but there was something we still needed to talk about.
I grabbed the remote and paused the movie. Nadine and Ryder looked at me.
“That was the best part, Mom,” he whined.
“This has been great, but we still need to talk about your behavior in school. You have to start participating, buddy,” I said.
He held his head down. “I know, I’m sorry.”
“School is very important, Ryder, and you should be doing the very best you can no matter what,” Nadine says.
“Yes, okay.”
“You can always talk to us if something’s wrong, I hope you know that,” I tell him.
He takes a breath and looks between the two of us.
“I didn’t want to make you upset, Mama.”
“If something is bothering you, come to us. I don’t care what it is. We want to know what’s going on with you, Ryder, always.”
Nadine ran her hand over his hair.
“Okay,” he smiles at us. “Is it going to be like this every day?”
“I think breakfast together every morning and dinner together in the evening is something we should do every day,” Nadine said.
“Yeah, I like the way that sounds,” Ryder says.
We went back to watching TV until it was time for Ryder to get ready for bed.
“So, I think it’ll be a good time to take a trip to Maryland,” I said.
“I was thinking the same thing,” she says.
“Great, when do you think we should do it?”
She was going through the drawers looking for nightclothes.
“Whatever works for you, babe, you’re the one who’s working.”
I look at her curiously. “Are you regretting it?”
I watched as she placed the clothes on her bed and took a breath.
“I don’t regret it, I just don’t know what I’m going to do now.”
“Do you still want to practice law?” I asked.
“Practicing law in any setting will still keep me from you guys, so that’s off the table.”
“You’ve been going to school for seven years; there has to be something you could do.”
“There is something, I just don’t know what. The trip to Maryland will be good, I can talk to my parents about it and weigh out my options,” she says.
“You’re parents should be helpful.”
“I hope so.”
“We can fly out there next weekend,” I said.
She nods. “Sounds good.”
I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her.
“Great,” I looked at her suggestively. “Now wasn’t there something you had to make up for?”
She smirks at me. “I’m a bit foggy, Mrs. Thornton, you’re going to have to enlighten me.”
I brought our lips together for a deep and sensual kiss, pulling away when we were both restless.
“Is that enough enlightenment for you?” I questioned with a smirk.
She hummed. “I think I have it from here.”
My smile was big as she pulled me to her and had her sweet way with me all night.
* * *
Nadine
We only planned on being in Maryland for a weekend, but it was hurricane season, and hurricanes seemed to love Florida. Most of Florida was evacuating, and our weekend turned into an extended stay.
It was unfortunate because hurricanes were devastating, but it was nice getting time with my parents. I was also happy visiting Whitney’s grandmother; she’s always been very supportive of us. She’s been having problems with her health lately, so we spent as much time as possible with her.
Whitney, Ryder, and I decided to hang out today, taking advantage of this opportunity. One of our last stops was for ice cream, which was Ryder’s favorite.
“Let’s eat outside,” I said after I paid for the ice cream.
We found a clean table outside and we took a seat. Whitney was beside me, and Ryder sat across from us.
“Is this where you two met?” Ryder asked.
Whitney and I exchanged looks.
We never told him how we met, and we never thought about telling him. This was honestly the first time he showed interest in knowing.
“Here?” I asked, motioning to the ice-cream shop.
He shook his head in amusement. “No, I mean, did you two meet in Maryland?”
“We did, almost nine years ago,” Whitney answered.
“How did you meet?”
I looked at Whitney to answer that, too.
“Well, we met in high school.” she puts simply.
“That doesn’t seem very exciting.”
Whitney and I smiled. He didn’t know the half of it.
“Ryder, it was exciting, the day I met Mama is the day you were born,” she tells him.
“We met Mama the same day,” he pointed.
“Yes, that’s right. It was the best day of my life.” I said, smiling at Whitney.
It was the best day of my life, also the most traumatic.
“Mine too,” Ryder agreed.
Whitney and I laughed.
* * *
Whitney
“Ryder, be careful,” I warned.
We were still at Nadine’s parents’, enjoying their time as we sat in the backyard. Ryder was attempting some type of flip, and it was making me nervous.
“I’m being careful, Mom,” he fussed.
He could be a lot sometimes.
“Are there going to be more kids in the future?” Teresa asked.
That question took me by surprise. Nadine and I have never discussed that.
“That’s something we have to discuss first, Mom,” Nadine says.
“You haven’t had this discussion?” Alex wondered.
“No, we haven’t.”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to more grandchildren,” Teresa said.
Nadine rolled her eyes.
I just smiled. I loved Nadine’s relationship with her parents. They picked on her a lot, and I liked watching her reactions.
That conversation was put on hold when we heard a crash, and I immediately looked for Ryder.
“Ow, ow, ow,” Ryder whined.
We all popped up from our seats and rushed over to him. He was getting up from the ground before we got to him, and all I saw was blood running down his arm. Nadine and I immediately assessed the situation.
I lifted his arm and saw that there was a huge and deep gash on the back of his arm. I looked around to see how this happened, and I saw a broken flower pot that had some of his blood on it.
“You’re going to need stitches,” I said.
“Let me get a towel, and we’ll go to the hospital,” Nadine says.
Nadine goes into the house, and I look at Ryder, who has tears running down his face. I tried comforting him the best way I could until Nadine came out with the towels. I pressed the towel against his wound to stop the bleeding, which caused him to cry more. We quickly got into the car and made our way to the hospital.
Nadine dropped us off at the ER so she could park the car, and I took him inside, and they immediately admitted him.
In the emergency room, we were stuck with the worst intern in the world; he was doing way more harm than good.
“Okay, stop. You have no idea what you’re doing. Get me another doctor,” Nadine said to the intern.
“We’re packed today, I’m the only doctor available,” he said arrogantly.
Just then, another doctor passed by.
“Excuse me, doctor?” Nadine stopped him.
“What can I do for you?” he says, turning to face us.
My eyes stretched, and it didn’t even dawn on me that I could run into him.
“Well, this is a surprise,” he says.
“Scott.”
TWENTY-NINE
Whitney
Of course, there was a chance of running into Scott. He and my parents worked at this hospital. I was just thinking about the well-being of my child at the moment, not who I would run into.
“Whitney, Nadine, you’re the last people I’d expected to see here,” Scott says.
“We weren’t expecting to run into you either, honestly,” I said.
I watched as he observed the scene. His eyes stopped when he saw Ryder sitting on the bed. He was in pain because of this dumb ass intern.
Scott approached him. “Stop! What are you doing? Are you trying to butcher this boy’s arm?”
“No, sir,” The intern cowards.
“Move,” Scott grabbed a pair of gloves. “Go chart,” he demanded.
“Yes, sir,” he says, getting up from his seat.
Scott sat in the seat the intern just left, then looked at Ryder.
“You got quite a scrape, didn’t you, buddy?” Scott said.
Ryder nodded.
“How’d you manage to do that?” he asked.
“I was doing flips and I fell on my Nana’s flower pot,” he shared.
“Were you practicing to be a ninja or something?” he joked.
Ryder smiles. “It would be cool to be a ninja.”
“I know, I wanted to be a ninja growing up, but I decided to be a doctor instead.”
“Being a doctor is cool.”
Scott smiled at him and touched the area of his wound. “Can you feel that, buddy?”
Ryder nods. “Yes.”
“Yeah, you’re not supposed to feel that. He didn’t numb you enough.”
Scott numbed him more and started stitching him up, all the while carrying on a conversation with him. It was like Ryder was in an interview, and he wanted to know everything about him. Ryder liked talking about himself, so he gladly answered him. Nadine and I didn’t say anything; we just let the two talk. It was a little nerve-wracking.
We were here with the man who fathered my child.
“You’re a cool little dude,” Scott said, putting a mesh bandage on the fresh stitches. “I want you to take care of this, okay?”
Ryder smiled at him. “I will.”
“Great. Tell your moms to take you for ice-cream, yeah?” Scott said, standing up.
That excited him. “Yeah, I love ice cream!”
“It was a pleasure meeting you,” Scott said, touching his shoulder.
He then looks at Nadine and me.
“He’s all good to go; a nurse will come with discharge papers and instructions on how to take care of those stitches,” he says.
Scott looks back at Ryder longingly.
“Have a good afternoon,” he says as he walks away.
I looked at Nadine. “I’ll be right back.”
She gives me an understanding look.
I followed Scott quickly to catch up with him.
“Scott,” I called.
He turned around and walked up to me.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped back there,” he says.
“You didn’t overstep. I wanted to say thank you for stepping in.”
“No problem.”
I give him a slight smile. “It’s nice to see you, even under these circumstances.”
“You too, Whitney, you look great, so does Nadine. And Ryder’s a man now,” he says.
“He’s grown a lot since you’ve seen him, but he’s still my baby.”
“I know, and not a day has passed that I haven’t thought about him. He’s extraordinary, Whitney. You and Nadine have done an amazing job with him.”
“Thanks, we’re proud.”
“You should be.”
“How have things been for you?”
He didn’t seem too eager to answer my question.
“I wish I had made some different choices.”
“Is everything okay?” I wondered.
“I’d rather not talk about it here,” he said, looking around.
Was it that bad?
“Okay.”
“I would like to talk about it, but not here,” he says.
Looking at him now, he looked like a fraction of the guy I knew before; something was bothering him. He’s been there for me when I needed it; it would be wrong for me not to do the same for him.
“Maybe you can come over to Nadine’s parents later on,” I suggested.
“Will that be okay?”
“Absolutely.”
He thought about it before nodding. “Yeah, okay, I’ll be there later on.”
“Great. It was good seeing you, Scott.”
He smiles. “It’s always great seeing you, Whitney.”
* * *
Ryder went out with his grandparents; they wanted some one-on-one time with Ryder.
“Won’t Scott be here any minute?” Nadine said.
We were in bed, and I was on top of her, kissing her neck.
“Yeah, now I’m starting to regret inviting him over.”
She giggles.
“We can pick this up tonight.”
She flips us over so that I am on the bottom, and she gives me a quick kiss.
“Have a good time with Scott, but not too good a time,” she says.
Nadine gets off the bed.
I sat up. “Wait, you’re not going down there with me?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, I’m going to apply for jobs.”
I smiled at her, but didn’t get to respond because of the doorbell.
I got off the bed and kissed Nadine quickly before leaving the room.
Nadine’s parents have been very insightful about the type of job she should pursue, and she was open to anything that offered nights and weekends. I knew that Nadine would get on her feet soon. I was just here to support her in whatever she does.
Lenny answered the door, so Scott was waiting for me in the living room.
“Hello, Scott,” I said.
“Hey, Whitney.”
“Let’s go sit in the backyard,” I told him.
He nods. “Sounds good, I need some fresh air after being in a stuffy hospital for twenty hours.”
I smile at him. “Follow me.”
Once we got to the patio, we sat quietly for a moment before Scott decided to break the silence. He asked about Nadine and Ryder, and I answered him, and we just talked casually.
“My father saw the two of us talking earlier,” he says.
There was a chance of him seeing us, so I wasn’t necessarily shocked.
“Oh yeah, how did that go?” I wondered.
“He questioned why you and I were together; he knew about our history. I guess he just wanted to make sure it wasn’t repeating itself.”
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth. Your son came in for an injury, and I treated him.”
“I’m sure he’s told my parents that I’m here,” I said.
“Yeah, I was going to get to that next. Your mother approached me, asking questions about where you are. She was overtly concerned about you.”
I shook my head. “She was overtly concerned about her disappointment with a daughter?”
“You’re not as big a disappointment as you think,” he says.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Chris dropped out of college, withdrew every penny from his trust fund, and left the country. Morgan met this pro hockey player, ran off with him, and got married. She’s a simple housewife now. I don’t think you’re such a huge disappointment now.”
I was so shocked to hear this. I hadn’t spoken to my brother and sister in years. It was insane hearing that they weren’t pursuing a medical profession that our parents wanted for us. They were always so obedient to our parents, so this took me for a loop. I was never close with my siblings, but I’m happy to hear that they broke free of our parents’ control.
“I bet they are dying of embarrassment,” I said.
“I know they are, I’ve heard so many people saying so much shit behind their backs. I hate how those same people smile so widely in their faces. I fucking hate this lifestyle. Money is great, but the people it attracts aren’t as great. The most genuine friends I’ve ever had have been you and Nadine.”
“What about your wife?” I asked.
“We’re divorced,” he says.
I was shocked. “What?”
“A couple of years ago, we were expecting our first child together, a girl. I was thrilled. I’ve always loved the thought of having a daddy’s girl. I catered to her every wish, and I took off work to be by her side during her entire pregnancy. I regretted not being there for you when you were pregnant with Ryder. I didn’t want to do that again. So, I was there every step of the way. In the delivery room, I was in for the shock of my life when I saw her come into this world. She wasn’t mine,” he shared.
“Wait, what? How did you know that?”
He chuckled dryly. “Well, I came to that conclusion when the child’s skin was several shades darker than either of us.”
“No!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, the child was bi-racial. Her real father is black. She had been cheating on me with a colleague of mine since before we were married.”
“Holy shit, I’m so sorry, Scott.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. She’s a beautiful little girl, I’m just not her father. Sometimes I think all the shit going on in my life is some sort of karmic retribution for not being there for you.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged in a joking manner.
He laughed. “My life is a fucking shit show.”
“You’ll see better days, Scott, you’re still young.”
He smiled at me. “Today was a good day, seeing Ryder was indescribable.”
“You two clicked well.”
“He’s a little hardheaded, isn’t he?” he asked.
