The Legacy Tree: Chapter 9
Story continued from our Premiere Issue
Click here to view the last installment
Erik hung up after leaving another message on Robyn’s machine. Several times during the week he had tried to reach her from his hotel in San Diego, each time without success. The two e-mails he’d sent had also gone unanswered…he hoped that she was all right.
He was just unpacking his dirty laundry when his doorbell rang. He had already spoken to his parents today to wish them a happy new year, so that left George as the impromptu visitor. The question was, was he alone? Hurrying to the front door, he cringed as a baby wailed loudly. He threw open the door to find George and his new daughter on his doorstep.
“Hey bro.” George greeted him and stepped inside. “Welcome home.”
“Thanks.” Erik shut the door and followed his older brother and niece into the living room. “What’s going on?”
“Eh, nothing.” George jiggled the baby against his shoulder as Erik sat down on the couch.
“Where’s Bernie?”
Frowning at the mention of his young wife’s name, he plopped a big diaper bag onto the coffee table. “Could you pull out the bottle in there?”
Erik rooted through the bag for a moment. With a ‘tah-dah!’ he handed George a bottle of formula.
George rearranged his daughter before sliding the bottle’s nipple into her mouth. “Bernice went to visit her parents.”
“Oh.” he paused, squinting up at George. “Where do they live?”
“Texas.”
Erik’s eyes widened. “She flew to Texas without the baby?’
“She thought the baby would slow her down since she was only staying the weekend.” George muttered.
“And her parents didn’t want to see their granddaughter?”
George tried to shrug, jostling the baby accidently, then cursed when the bottle slipped from her mouth. He readjusted and settled her again. “I have no idea…I’ve never spoken to them.”
“So, how are you handling her alone?”
“It’s no big deal. Bernice doesn’t spend too much time with Jessica.” George answered bluntly, his voice softening when he said his daughter’s name. “She’s a pretty easy baby as long as she stays fed and dry.”
Erik nodded sagely as if he had any idea what George was talking about. “George…do you regret marrying Bernie?”
“I can’t regret anything that brought me this little bit.” George slid down onto a chair next to the couch.
“But you didn’t have to marry Bernie to have Jessica.” Erik protested.
“Jessica is worth every effort I’ve made with Bernice.” He lifted the baby to his shoulder and rubbed her back. “I know what kind of man I was before this, Erik. But it’s all different now that I have her.”
“Bernie?”
“Jessica.” When the baby let out a little gulp of air, George smiled. “Can you hold her for a sec? I need to go take a leak.”
“Uh…” Erik put out his hands to protest, then gulped as George set the baby in his arms.
“Like a football, Erik. Don’t panic, I’ll be right back.” he strolled off down the hallway to the bathroom.
Erik huddled Jessica close to his chest and looked down into her tiny scrunched face. “Well, here’s hoping you don’t grow up to look like your dad.” He grinned when she waved a clenched fist at him as if to salute his statement. “There, you’re not such a big deal, are you?” A few seconds later, he had a complete change of heart when Jessica opened her miniature mouth and let out a very loud shriek.
Appearing with a grin, George scooped up the wailing baby. With a free hand, he dug through the diaper bag for changing essentials.
“I didn’t do anything.” Erik protested.
“She just needs to be changed.” George told him as he laid out a towel on the coffee table. “Two minutes and she’ll be a happy camper.”
“Damn, she’s loud.”
George laughed as he cleaned and changed the squirming infant. “She likes to make her point known quickly.”
“I see.”
“So, you wanna order a pizza and watch the game?” George asked, smiling down at his daughter. “She’ll sleep for a couple of hours now.”
“Sure. Pepperoni?”
“Don’t forget the buffalo wings.” George called after him.
****
Robyn dropped onto her couch, her entire body aching. She had returned to work on Wednesday without any explanation to her coworkers. Each of the two days she had worked this week was packed as full of jobs as possible…some keeping her at the office until late in the evening. Having today off from work had turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. She hadn’t had to face the office and her coworkers, but she’d had to deal with her own thoughts. She had tried desperately to stay busy in the house all day so she was more than bone-tired at the moment.
She spoke to her mother each night to reassure her that everything was fine. True to her nature, Melanie backed off when she saw Robyn returning to what looked like a normal life. But for Robyn, it was anything but normal. She didn’t answer her phone unless it was one of her parents and didn’t leave the house except for work. Erik’s repeated phone messages made her cry and his e-mails created a lump in her throat at work.
No matter what she felt, she had to contact him. She needed to withdraw slowly so as not to arouse suspicion. Forcing herself to pick up the phone, she dialed his home number. After the third ring, he picked up.
“Hello?”
His greeting seemed distracted and there was a lot of noise in the background. Swallowing silently, she tried to speak normally. “Hi, Erik.”
“Robyn?”
The sounds behind him disappeared. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. How are you? I haven’t talked to you for a while.” his rebuke was softened by his tone.
“Fine, just busy. Working late a lot.”
“Well, I’m sure glad to hear from you. I was worried that the flu had won.” he joked.
She closed her eyes. “It sure knocked me for a loop.” With a start, she heard a baby crying in the background.
“Hold on a sec…” After a few minutes, the crying faded away. “Sorry…George is here with his daughter. She just woke up and evidently isn’t very happy about it.”
“Oh.” Tears clogged her throat so she couldn’t force any other words out.
“How was your Christmas?” he asked.
“Fine. Yours?”
He paused. “Are you all right? You sound funny.”
“Cordless phone.” she choked out before covering the mouthpiece with her hand.
“Oh. Yeah, Christmas was good. Everyone spoiled Jessica, even though she had no clue what was going on.”
“Jessica?”
“Yeah, that’s George’s daughter.”
“I see.”
“She’s cute, for a baby. And George is totally smitten…though he doesn’t seem equally smitten with his wife, Bernice.” he said softly.
|
“The stripper.”
Laughing, his voice lightened. “I’m told she was a waitress.”
“Hooters?”
“Excuse me?”
“Was she a waitress at Hooters? You know, that place where they make the girls wear short skirts and white tee shirts to show off their…assets.” Robyn explained.
“Oh…I have no idea. Though I’m sure she’d qualify.” he confirmed. “Hey, it’s really good to hear your voice.”
She cringed and hoped he would let it go at that. He didn’t.
“When can we get together?”
“I don’t know…I’m really busy now.” she answered, tapping her fingers against the arm of the couch. “How’s the San Diego project?”
“Keeping me on my toes. If I’m not careful, they may offer me a job.”
Robyn felt her heart crack at the thought of him moving across country. But he wasn’t hers to pine over. “Wouldn’t that be a great opportunity?”
“Sure, if I wanted to live thousands of miles away from my family and my best friend.” he said wryly. “As it is, I don’t feel like I see enough of you all and I still live here.”
“But could you really pass it up if they made the offer?”
“There will be other offers.” he shrugged it off. “Not that they’ve actually made an offer.” Humming softly, he lowered his voice. “But everything I need is here on the east coast, no question.”
She bit her lip. “Hey, I’ve got to run.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll call you soon, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“And maybe we can catch up on the messenger at work since I’m home for at least a week or two.” he suggested.
“Right.” Not likely, since she didn’t log on anymore. She was going to stick to her guns and avoid him as much as possible without calling attention to it. “Happy New Year, Erik.”
“You too, Robyn. Thanks for calling me. Talk to you soon.”
“Tell George I said hi.” she told him before hanging up. It was hard to talk to him, having to act cheerful when inside she felt horrible.
After having spoken to Erik, she was sure she would never be whole again.
****
Robyn clutched the phone to her ear, panic written all over her face. “No.”
“Why not?”
Erik’s voice had lowered with disappointment. It pierced her heart, but she stood firm. “I’m sorry, Erik, but I’m working this weekend.”
“Robyn, do you realize that I haven’t seen you in almost five months? I miss you. I’m driving down.” he said firmly.
Yes, she knew almost to the day. And the past month she had been avoiding him with a vengeance. Strangely, the moment she had backed away, he had clung to her. “I won’t have any time to see you.”
“Robyn, what’s going on? You can’t find time to see your oldest and dearest friend?” hurt rang loudly in his voice.
“They’re laying off people at work and I’m fighting to keep my job.” she blurted. She was glad he couldn’t see her face as it was flushed with her lie.
“What?”
“Look, no one knows about this so please don’t bring it up, okay?”
“Not even your mother?”
“No.”
“Honey, why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “You can tell me anything.”
She wanted to wail with pain. “It’s not the first thing I want to discuss with people.”
“Can I help you…with anything?”
“No.” she whispered. “I just have to keep working hard.”
“All right. But next time, just be honest with me. You had me worried that you didn’t like me anymore.” he teased.
“Lets change the subject. How’s George?”
“He’s really enjoying Jessica. I’m amazed at how in love he is…and at how much he’s changed.” he told her.
“How?”
“He’s matured. He truly is a dad, you know? He treats her like a precious jewel. I’ve never seen him so devoted to anything or anyone like this.” There was surprise mingled with awe in his voice.
“Oh.” Staring up at the ceiling, she felt the ache deep in her soul. “That’s wonderful for him.”
“I’m worried about his wife, though.”
“The stripper?”
“The waitress.” he said firmly.
“What’s the deal with her?”
He was silent for a moment. “She doesn’t seem interested in either her daughter or her husband.”
“She’s young.”
“She was old enough to get pregnant.” he scoffed.
“Get pregnant? George had nothing to do with that?”
“That’s not what I meant, Robyn.” He tried to explain again. “She could have said no, or chosen not to keep the baby…and she wasn’t forced to get married.”
“And again, George was not involved?” she asked shrilly.
“Robyn!” he exclaimed. “What’s with you?’
She dug a fist into her stomach and curled over. “Nothing. I…I have to go.”
“Hey…”
“Goodbye, Erik.” she spat before hanging up.
Her fault…that’s what he would think if she ever told him. It was as if he weren’t involved…immaculate conception or something! The phone rang under her hand but she didn’t bother to check the caller id. She wanted nothing more than a hot shower and bed.
Stay Tuned For Next Month's Installment!
|
Do you have a question or comment for the author? Would you like to share your thoughts about this article with our readers? Click here! |
|
|
|
