Everything is Everything Book 2

  Vanessa nodded her head. She felt a jolt of anticipation and fear at the mention of his name. Maybe this was just a wild goose chase and her grandmother had gotten it all wrong. Or maybe it was an old phone number—one prior to his imprisonment.

  The receptionist began to speak into the phone. “Hello Mr. Tremont? This is the receptionist from Wellington Assisted Living. Yes, sir.”

  Vanessa’s eyes grew large. Oh my God.

  “I have a young lady here that was asking after your mother. She asked that I call you. Yes sir.” The receptionist handed the phone to her.

  “He said he wants to talk to you.”

  Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod

  “Take the phone!” Charisma hissed.

  Vanessa took the telephone. “Hello?”

  “Vanessa?”

  Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod! It was Scotty—on the phone—talking to her!

  “It’s me-“

  “Vanessa! I’ve been looking-“

  They were talking over each other and both stopped.

  “I need to see you.” Scotty said. “Can you come here, or if you like I can come to you-?“ Vanessa looked at Charisma.

  “I’m staying with a friend and she drove me here-“

  “I can come and get you. Is that okay?”

  “Uh …”

  Charisma was nodding her head enthusiastically.

  “Yes.” Vanessa said. Vanessa heard sounds through the telephone as if he was rushing around.

  “Okay. Stay there. I’m on my way.”

  “Okay. Scotty I just got into town yesterday and heard about your release. It happened a year ago? How is that possible?”

  “My indictment was overturned and all charges dropped. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when I see you.” She heard him pause. “Are you okay, Vanessa?”

  She nodded, not sure if that was the truth. “Yes.”

  “I’m on my way.” The phone went dead.

  The girls went out and waited in the car after thanking the receptionist for all of her help.

  “I’m scared. What do I say to him?” Vanessa asked.

  “I don’t know. But you said he was your soul mate so listen to your gut.”

  Vanessa remembered all the crying she had done today and quickly looked in the passenger side mirror at the damage to her face.

  “Oh God! I look a hot mess! I should have told him that we could meet tomorrow-“

  Charisma dug into her purse for tissue. “You do not look a hot mess!” Charisma’s brow drew together. “You have no idea how beautiful you are do you? Even now with tears still in your eyes and dried snot on your nose, you’re still gorgeous.”

  Vanessa grabbed the tissue and began dabbing at her nose while shaking her head.

  “Look, if you want to spend the night over there-“

  Vanessa flashed her a quick look.

  “No! That is not going to happen!”

  “I’m just saying. I’ll watch Crash. And if you need me to come get you just call me.”

  Today had been long and filled with revelations. She felt nearly overwhelmed. And she was thankful for her friend with her no-nonsense attitude here with her. Charisma had always been a voice of reason. Vanessa hugged her.

  “Thank you for everything Charisma. Without you I don’t know what would have happened to me.” And she wasn’t just talking about today.

  Charisma returned the hug hoping that this would turn out good. She wasn’t so sure if the baby’s daddy was the best person for her friend. She thought Vanessa should have been with a performer or another creative type. But she felt that Crash would benefit from knowing his father and in honesty—the man had killed for Vanessa. That showed a great deal of devotion … or insanity.

  The car was running, keeping them warm and Do They Know It’s Christmas was playing over the radio. Vanessa was tense and quiet, and thankful that Charisma understood and didn’t try to engage her in trivial conversation. She just couldn’t handle that right now.

  After fifteen minutes, a car finally pulled up into the darkened parking lot. She couldn’t tell what kind of car it was only that it was dark.

  The car didn’t quite pull into a parking space as it just stopped in front of Charisma’s car.

  The door opened with the car still running and the headlights still blazing and Scotty stepped out.

  “Oh … my …DAMN.” Charisma whispered.

  Vanessa’s breath caught in her chest as she watched Scotty walk towards the car.

  He was dressed in jeans and a thermal shirt. Timberland boots were on his feet but were unlaced and he had on a coat, which stood wide opened, allowing her to see that he was still in great shape with a broad chest and a flat belly.

  Unruly blond hair fell into his face but Vanessa noted that it was still shorter than she was used to. His face was clean-shaven and he looked good; more than good. The sight of him took her breath away.

  Vanessa quickly opened the door and stepped out of the car. Her coat stood open as well revealing her in wool pants and boots, and a cashmere sweater. Scotty stopped abruptly at the sight of her. She could see the way his eyes swept over her, starting at her legs, up her body and settling on her brown eyes.

  In two steps Scotty closed the space between them and pulled her into his arms. Vanessa’s arms swung around his neck and she felt his strong body, unyielding against her. Scotty buried his face against her neck and she could feel him inhaling deeply. Suddenly her feet were no longer touching the ground as he lifted her.

  Vanessa’s heart thudded so loudly that she didn’t know if she just might have a heart attack. His arms around her felt so good. She’d forgotten what it felt like to be wrapped in his strong arms. Vanessa held onto him and buried her face against his neck and shoulder. She took a deep breath an inhaled him in as well.

  After a long time Scotty placed her back onto her feet.

  “You’re really here,” he said while studying her.

  She laughed anxiously and nodded, her arms still around his shoulders and his arms still on her hips.

  “How is this possible? How are you out of prison?” She asked in a whisper while looking deeply into his familiar eyes.

  It seemed to take him a moment to hear her because he was looking at her so hard.

  “That’s a long story. Can we go somewhere to talk? There is so much for us to talk about and I want to see my son.”

  Vanessa froze in surprise.

  “H-how did you know I—uh, I mean we had a son?”

  Scotty looked at her as if he thought she’d disappear if he averted his eyes. His stare pinned her in place and then he spoke.

  “His name is Matthew and he was born April 27 … premature. Is he okay? I want to see him.”

  “Yes. Of course you can see him. He’s at Charisma’s parent’s house. But how-?”

  “Anthony Johnson. He’s studying to be an attorney. He and some of his colleagues work with a program where they help people from bad neighborhoods get help with their legal cases.” Scotty ran his hand through his hair.

  “It’s cold. Let’s get out of this parking lot. Will you take me to see Matthew and I can tell you the rest in the car?”

  Vanessa nodded.

  “Let me go tell my friend Charisma. We can follow her back to the house.”

  Scotty nodded and Vanessa had to step out of his hold. His hands were back on her hips until she turned and opened the door to Charisma’s car.

  “He wants to see the baby,” Vanessa said quietly.

  “Yes,” Charisma seemed to be giving her permission. “He should see the baby. Is everything okay?” She asked with concern.

  “I think so. But there is so much to talk about.”

  Charisma gnawed her lip and nodded. “I can imagine. I’ll meet you back at the house and I’ll make sure Mom and Dad aren’t going to be all up in your business.”

  Vanessa smiled. “Thank you.”

  When she turned around, Scotty had the passenger door opened f
or her and she climbed into the car. It was not the BMW, not by along shot. But it was clean and it was definitely warm.

  When Scotty got into the car he put on his seatbelt and made sure she had hers on. He reached out and gripped her hand briefly and then gave her a half smile before he began following Charisma back to the house.

  “Anthony looked for you,” Scotty continued while watching the road as he drove. “He knew someone that could trace your social security number, which is how he knew about the baby. But then it was like you fell off the grid.”

  He glanced at her. “I did try to find you.”

  Her mouth had fallen open. “I was too young to get work unless I got paid under the table. So I didn’t use my SSN. And I was staying with Charisma at her apartment so I didn’t need to use it.”

  Scotty’s brow drew into a frown and he nodded.

  “How did you and Anthony get in touch with each other?” There was lots she wanted to know but this was first. “How long have you been out? How did it happen?”

  Scotty detailed how Anthony had gotten in touch with him and how the team had made a motion to re-evaluate use of his permanent records.

  “They were able to argue that had it not been for my prior record, I would not have been charged. And that was all it took for my charges to be dropped.”

  He peered at her as they stopped at a light. “How did you manage up in New York?”

  “Are you asking if I became famous?”

  “Not really. I know it takes time.”

  “It’s hard to do when you’re a single parent,” she said softly.

  He nodded wordlessly.

  Vanessa stared at him. “I know that you didn’t really want a baby-“

  Scotty’s brow gathered and he looked at her again. “That’s not true. Before you I never thought I’d want a child.”

  Scotty thought about how easy it is for a man to orgasm into a woman and create a life but how difficult it is to do right by the person you create. He hadn’t wanted to add to the numerous people already scuffling and eeking out a way to survive this world. All it took was for him to look into the eyes of his brothers and sisters to see that no one had done them any favors by creating them.

  He felt the same way.

  But then he’d fallen in love with a woman that was so different than anything he thought he’d known. And when he’d first made love with her it felt clean and new. And then he had realized that he hadn’t put on the condom. For a moment it scared him to think that for the first time in his life he’d allowed his seed to flow into a woman and that it might bring another unwanted child into the world.

  But in that second he knew that a baby that came from Vanessa’s body would never be unwanted. He would love the life they created. And more then that is that he wanted it.

  But he wanted it the right way. He had never wanted Vanessa to have to be a single mother. He didn’t want his child to wish for a father that could never be there for him.

  He continued to speak. “The first time we made love I knew that I wanted to have a little you or a little me—but only with you. Vanessa, I want our baby and I’m sorry that I ever made you think I didn’t.”

  Vanessa looked at him without speaking. She turned to watch the road ahead of them. It was easy to say that now—that he didn’t mean it, and that he was sorry. But once upon a time he’d written her a letter breaking up with her right after she’d told him that she was pregnant, and it had torn a piece of her heart out.

  With a sigh she pointed. “We’re almost there. Just park behind Charisma’s car.”

  A moment later he did and when she made to get out of the car he gripped her hand. She looked at him and he studied her face.

  “I was wrong. I should have never asked you to leave and I knew it after I got out of solitary confinement. Honey, I figured out my mistake before I knew that you were pregnant. If I had known I would have never told you to leave-“

  “Scotty, how can you say that?” her expression was angry and he watched her rapidly building anger with surprise.

  “I sent you a letter telling you about the baby and weeks later I get a letter back telling me that you needed to focus on your jail time and that you were breaking up with me. You didn’t even have the decency to fake something nice about the pregnancy!”

  Scotty’s frown deepened and he shook his head. “Vanessa I lost mail privileges when I was in solitary confinement! I never got any of your letters until weeks after my arrest. By then I’d been in a fight and I thought my time was going to be about me fighting to stay alive!”

  A look of confusion began to replace Vanessa’s angry expression.

  “I figured that I was going to have to fight my way through the next fifteen years and I didn’t want you to see the stitches in my head or the cast on my arm. I didn’t want you to have to live through what I was sure I was about to live through! That’s why I wrote that letter.

  “Then I got out of solitary and the first thing I wanted was to see you baby. I just wanted to see you. And that’s when I got my mail and learned that you were pregnant.” He watched her sincerely. “I swear it.”

  Vanessa placed her fingertips against her lips. “I thought you would change your mind when you found out about the baby … and when you didn’t I thought you were like the rest of them; my dad, Jalissa’s dad, your brothers and sister’s dads-“

  Scotty leaned back in his seat and looked at her with a pained expression. “No. I’m not like them.” The muscles in his cheeks clenched. “You’re not the only person who was hurt. All this time I felt as if you were using the baby to hurt me. Because you didn’t make any attempt to tell anyone news about the baby. How is that fair?”

  Vanessa shook her head. “I thought you knew about the baby and you didn’t care-“

  “That’s your justification for not telling Phonso or Miss Gloria or the others?”

  Vanessa pulled her hand from his grip and climbed out of the car on shaky legs, slamming the door behind her.

  Scotty closed his eyes and bounced his head off the headrest of the car.

  Fuck!

  He hadn’t meant to tell her about his hurt and he hadn’t understood her misunderstanding. Damnit! Scotty pulled the key from the ignition, climbed out of the car and followed Vanessa to the house where her friend Charisma was standing in the doorway, evidently watching their argument.

  “Vanessa.”

  She didn’t stop walking.

  “Look, you have a right to be mad because I was stupid and thought I was right to push you away. But I have a right to my pain too!”

  Vanessa stopped walking and after a moment she turned her head and looked over her shoulder.

  “I know. And I just can’t face you. I just don’t know what to say.”

  Scotty placed a gentle grip on her arm and turned her to face him.

  “I love you Vanessa White. I love you. You are my soulmate. Do you remember telling me that?”

  Tears dripped from her eyes. She nodded, unable to find words that could express the depths of her sorrow.

  “My love for you has never diminished. I want you now, as much as I’ve ever wanted you. You are my past, my present and my future. And if it’s okay with you, I don’t intend to ever let you go again.”

  Vanessa felt her heart soar at his words and when she tried to look down he tilted her chin up so that she was looking into his eyes.

  “Tell me you love me,” he whispered.

  Vanessa nodded and sniffed back her tears.

  “I love you.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her lips. He did it twice more, only lingering for a moment before he pulled back and looked into her shimmering brown eyes.

  “Now introduce me to my son.”

  Vanessa smiled. “Okay.

  Chapter Nine

  Charisma let the couple into the house. They were hand in hand and even though one was white with blonde hair and blue eyes and the other was brown skinned with brown eyes they looke
d right together. The two belonged together and it went beyond what could be seen on the outside, but something that exuded from within them.

  After a brief introduction she left the room.

  Crash was already in his jammies and when he saw his mother he squealed happily and hurried to her in his side-to-side gait.

  Scotty froze and stared as Vanessa stooped down to scoop up the toddler as if she didn’t notice that there was a metal bar keeping his feet spread.

  Once she had him in her arms she looked at Scotty.

  “He has bilateral club foot and has to wear this bar to turn his feet outward.”

  Scotty reached out and touched one of his shoes.

  “He can take it off for about an hour a day,” Vanessa continued. “Usually just when he’s bathing but sometimes he won’t let me put it on so I let him go without it for a few minutes in the morning when I’m getting him dressed.

  Scotty stared down at the face of his son. He reached up and touched the little boy’s hair. It was just like his except more golden. And his eyes were the same blue-grey.

  “Hey, Matthew,” Scotty said in awe. “I’m your daddy.”

  Matthew looked at Scotty with interest.

  “We call him Crash.”

  “Crash?” Scotty couldn’t stop himself from touching his son’s hair, his little hand and his feet. Crash didn’t seem to mind since he was holding a toy car in his chubby fist.

  “Crash because a crash cart had to be used on him when he was first born. He stopped breathing and a tube had to be placed down his throat.”

  Scotty’s mouth fell open as he listened.

  “Do you want to hold him?” Vanessa asked. Scotty nodded and lifted his son from his mother’s arms.

  Crash stared at Scotty as if he was an alien.

  “I’m your daddy,” Scotty repeated. “Can you say daddy?”

  Instead of answering, Crash drove his car up his father’s chest and made zooming noises.

  Scotty smiled and looked at Vanessa. “He’s smart. Say Crash,” He cajoled to his son.

  “Cwash,” the toddler said matter-of-factly.

  Vanessa cheered. “He said it!”

  Scotty kissed his cheek. In just one minute he was head over heels in love with the boy.