Emerge Victorious

Chapter 8

Ben was watching Michael pace the living room floor as they were waiting for Mel and JR to return from dinner. They didn’t have too long to wait.

“That place sucks!” JR exclaimed as she burst through the front door. Mel was right behind her.

“Hey, Honeybun!” Michael greeted his daughter cheerfully. As cheerfully as a man could, who thought his daughter’s mother was going to take her away. “How was dinner?” he asked, totally oblivious to JR’s grumbles. Ben did his best not to roll his eyes.

“Daddy, pay attention!” JR demanded with a slight stamp of a foot. “Dinner sucked and the restaurant was yucky. I think I saw a bug in the ladies room.” JR shuddered and Mel made a distasteful facial expression.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I never knew that place was that bad. When I used to drive by, I thought it was kind of quaint.”

“We should have gone to the diner or Emmett’s place,” JR groused.

Before Mel could say anything, Ben interceded. “Sweetheart, you have school in the morning. Please go up and look over your homework. We’d like to talk to your mother,” Ben said.

“But if it’s about me, don’t you think I have a right to be here?”

“Honeybun...”

“JR, don’t argue,” Mel began.

“Sweetheart, I promise full disclosure after we talk,” Ben said calmly and reasonably. “We need to settle things.”

“And you don’t want to do it with a kid in the room. I get ya,” JR snapped.

“No, Baby, that's not it,” Michael began to whine.

“JR, don't be disrespectful!” Mel scolded as she stepped into JR’s personal space.

“Can we all keep calm?” Ben quickly interjected. “JR, we’re going to have an adult conversation and frankly I don’t know how long it will last. What I do know is that it’s a school night. You rushed through your homework to spend time with your mother. I’d like you to carefully check it over. If you have any questions about your homework or anything else, we’ll be happy to answer them after we’re finished,” Ben said giving JR a very poignant look.

JR carefully considered Ben. Ben smiled as he opened his arms for a hug. JR didn’t hesitate to move into his arms. Ben kissed the top of JR’s head then she turned and ran up the stairs. Mel was stunned into silence. She had her doubts that Michael could ever be a competent father in spite of how Hunter turned out. But seeing Ben with her daughter, any arguments she may have had about JR staying with her fathers went right out the window.

“Mel, would you like a glass of wine or a beer?” Ben offered like the congenial host he was.

“Yes, that would be nice,” Mel replied as she sat on the sofa. She looked around the room that was fashionably comfortable but not pretentious. Ben brought her a crisp summer wine. Mel took a large gulp.

“Melanie, I, we’d like for JR to stay here,” Michael stated mustering up as much courage as he could.

“I know. And it’s obvious JR would rather stay here. I think she loves you more than me,” Mel admitted pitifully.

“That’s not true,” Ben interjected. “She’s confused. This has been hard on her, on all of you. We live a quiet life here, Mel. Perhaps that’s all she needs, just a nice quiet place without any stress. And of course the rest of her family is here.”

“And her friends, yes I know. She’s told me that she doesn’t want to leave.”

“Mel, it’s not forever and it’s not like you’re halfway around the world,” Michael added. And then regretted his words. Oregon wasn’t down the street either. “I mean, we can put her on a plane for the winter break and maybe the spring break, if she wants to go.”

“But she’s my daughter!”

“And Michael’s and Lindsay’s,” Ben added.

Mel finished off her wine then stood up.

“Mel, no one’s taking her away from you,” Michael said as he looked to Ben for support. Ben nodded at his spouse. “We’d just like to share her more and get to know her better. You’ve been a great mother for most of her life. We’d like the chance to be her daddies. Please, Mel, give us this chance,” Michael pleaded.

Mel looked into Michael’s eyes. Kind eyes, Mel thought. It was one of the reasons why she had chosen Michael to be the father.

“Okay. I know you both love her. I promise I won’t make any trouble. Or make it harder on JR. You’re right about it being quiet and calm here. She didn’t have that this past spring. There was always something we were arguing about. It was bad for her, for me and Linds too,” Mel admitted with tears in her eyes. She quickly swiped at her eyes. “I better be going, my flight leaves at the crack of dawn.”

Ben sprinted up the stairs to get JR while Michael gave Mel a hug. “I promise we’ll take good care of her.”

“I know you will, Michael. I know how much you love her.”

“What’s not to love? She’s perfect,” Michael smiled as JR coming stomping down the stairs. “Graceful too,” he teased, eliciting a grin from Mel.

“Come here, Baby,” Mel said as she opened her arms for a hug. JR went to her mother. Ben and Michael went into the kitchen to give the girls more privacy. “You be good for your father and Ben. Study hard. And I’m only a phone call away.”

“Okay, Mama. Thank you,” JR said as she hugged the petite woman harder.

“Oof, have you been taking hugging lessons from Debbie,” Mel teased.

“It’s in the genes.”

“I guess it is. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mama,” JR said as she walked her mother to the door. “Daddy, Mama’s leaving!” JR shrieked toward the kitchen.

“Voice lessons too,” Mel said sticking a finger in her ear. JR blushed.

The guys came out from the kitchen to say goodbye.

“Thank you,” Mel said as she gave each of the men a kiss.

“Thank you, Mel,” Michael repeated. Ben nodded.

“Good night,” Mel said as she left.

There was an awkward silence as JR stared at the closed door. Michael wanted to rush his daughter into hug. Ben held him back for a moment with a shake of his head.

“So I guess that’s it,” JR said as she took a deep cleansing breath.

“Are you all right with it?” Ben ventured.

“Yeah, I am. I’ll never stop hoping that Mama comes back but I really want to stay here.”

“What about your mother?” Ben asked. Michael was still too in shock to say much of anything.

“I love Mommy but I think she needs this time to really get to know herself, and we promised to have dinner or do something at least once a week. Besides, she doesn’t need to worry about me right now.”

“Parents never stop worrying about their children,” Michael found his voice.

“I know, Daddy, but Mommy was so unhappy.”

“You’re not blaming yourself, are you?” Ben asked sensing something in JR.

“Sometimes,” JR admitted as she looked down at the floor. “All that shit that happened around PRIDE. Maybe if I wasn’t so...”

“No, Honeybun! This has nothing to do with you. Your mommies were having problems for years.” Michael drew his daughter into his arms. “I promise you, Baby, this has nothing to do with you.” Michael held JR tightly as she sniffled. He looked up at Ben for help. Ben just smiled. Michael was doing just fine.

“So that restaurant was really bad?” Ben said after a while.

“It sucked!” came a muffled response somewhere from Michael’s chest. Michael and Ben chuckled.

“Well let’s see if we can rustle up something for you to eat, then we can go over your homework,” Ben suggested.

“Okay, Dad,” JR said as she wiped her eyes and moved out of her father’s arms. “But um, no tofu, okay?” JR looked up at the big man.

Ben laughed heartily. “I promise, no tofu.”

“Yes!” JR shrieked thrusting her fist up in the air as they walked to the kitchen.

 

*****
 

“Linds, it’s Mel,” the voice came across the phone line.

“Yes?” Lindsay asked guardedly. She had truly not expected to hear from her wife again.

“I … I called to say goodbye, and to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m not your responsibility anymore,” Lindsay replied frostily.

“I, I know that, but it doesn’t mean I don’t worry.”

“That’s very noble of you, I’m sure.”

“Linds, can we at least try to be friends?”

“We might have a better shot at that than at being married,” Lindsay said bitterly.

“We have children together. I think we should be able to communicate with each other … for their sakes.”

Lindsay sighed heavily. “You’re right,” she admitted. “And speaking of our children, what have you decided to do about JR?”

“She’s going to be staying with her fathers … for now. I’m hoping she’ll come visit me during school breaks.”

“I’m sure she will.”

“I understand that she has been spending time with you.”

“Yes, we seem to be getting along reasonably well. This divorce has hit her hard.” Lindsay couldn’t keep herself from adding that piece of information.

“I’m aware of that, but you know it’s for the best.”

“Yes, I believe it is,” Lindsay stated.

Melanie was more than a little surprised to hear Lindsay say that. “Are you glad to be rid of me?”

“As you said, it’s for the best that we end our marriage. I don’t think it was working for either of us,” Lindsay admitted to Melanie and to herself.

“We did have some good times though, didn’t we?”

“Yes we did,” Lindsay replied and left it at that.

“My plane leaves at the crack of dawn, so I better say goodnight and get some sleep.”

“You do that,” Lindsay said. “Goodbye, Mel.”

“Bye, Linds.”

Lindsay set down the phone. She thought about this unexpected call. Maybe Mel had some regrets too. They had been through a lot together. A little tear trickled down her cheek. Sweeping it aside, she drew in a deep breath, picked up the phone, and hit the familiar number.

“Gus, it’s mom. I just talked to Mel and I wanted to fill you in on what she had to say…”

 

*****
 

“Hi, Bree, whatcha lookin’ at?” Ashley asked as she joined her friend at recess.

“Her,” Bree replied staring at the girl who was sitting on a curb reading a book.

Ashley followed Bree’s line of sight. “Who’s she?” Ashley wanted to know.

“That’s Hope. Her mother teaches me piano. She comes with her every time I have a lesson.”

“Why are you staring at her?”

“I’m trying to figure something out.”

“Figure what out?” Ashley asked screwing up her face. She couldn’t figure out why Bree was so interested in this girl.

“Hope doesn’t like me,” Bree stated.

“That’s stupid. Everybody likes you,” Ashley declared.

Bree smiled. “Not everybody, but I never did nothin’ to her. I don’t know why she doesn’t like me.”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

Bree looked at her friend. Maybe that was the best thing to do. “She probably won’t talk to me,” Bree said.

“Do you want me to ask her?” Ashley volunteered.

“You’d do that?”

“Sure.”

“She’ll probably yell at you, and be really rude.”

Ashley frowned. Who was this scary girl? “I can do it,” Ashley said knowing that she would do just about anything for her friend.

“I should probably be the one.”

“You don’t want to talk to her, do you?”

“No, she’s mean.”

“You’re not afraid of her, are you? You’re not afraid of anything,” Ashley reminded her friend.

Bree knew that wasn’t exactly true. There were some things she was afraid of, and one of them was Hope. However, she really wanted an answer as to why Hope didn’t like her. “I guess I could go talk to her,” Bree said uncertainly.

“I’ll be right here,” Ashley said. “If you need help, just call me.”

“’Kay,” Bree said standing up straight and walking towards Hope. “Hi, Hope,” she said as she neared the girl.

Hope raised her head from her book and saw who had spoken to her. “What do you want?” she asked nastily.

“What are you reading?” Bree asked hoping to break the ice and get Hope to talk to her.

“None of your business. Go away.”

“Why don’t you like me?” Bree asked when the other tactic didn’t seem to be working.

“Why should I like you?” Hope demanded with an annoyed look on her face.

“I didn’t do nothin’ to you,” Bree said.

“You’re a spoiled brat,” Hope replied and went back to reading her book.

“I am not!” Bree declared.

“Go away.”

“I’m not a spoiled brat, and I don’t hafta go away.”

“Then I’ll go,” Hope said standing up and looming over Bree. She started to walk away, looking for a new place to read her book in peace.

“You’re awful mean,” Bree said to her back.

Hope whirled around. “What do you know about anything? You’ve got two fathers and I don’t even have my one father most of the time. He’s always away and I never get to see him. And you don’t appreciate anything because you’re a childish, spoiled brat. I hate you!” Hope shouted as she marched away.

Bree blinked back tears that started to sting her eyes. Nobody talked to her like that. She stared at Hope who went to a big rock on the playground and sat down to continue reading her book. Before Hope opened the book, she looked over at Bree, glaring at her. When she saw that Bree was upset, an evil smile spread across her face. Bree shuddered at the sight.

“Are you okay?” Ashley asked as she ran over to Bree.

“She’s an awful person,” Bree said gulping back tears. “She said I was a childish, spoiled brat,” Bree quoted.

“Wow! She is mean.”

“I know.”

“Are you going to tell your dads?”

Bree thought about that for a moment. If she told her fathers, they would probably make her stop taking piano lessons with Hope’s mother. She wanted to continue her lessons. But if she kept quiet, Hope would say more bad things about her. Bree shook her head. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I think you should tell your dads,” Ashley said decisively.

“I don’t know,” Bree replied with a frown. She looked over at Hope who smirked at her, and then returned to the pages of her book.

Thankfully the bell rang so Bree didn’t have to make a decision right then.

 

*****
 

“Hi, sweetheart,” Justin said as Bree ran up to the car.

“Hi, Daddy.”

Justin helped her get situated in her booster seat in the car. Bree’s mind was running through the possibilities of what she might say to her father about Hope. Patrick arrived and got into the back seat beside Bree.

“Did you have a good day at school,” Justin asked the children as he got behind the wheel and pulled out of the school parking lot.

“It was okay,” Patrick replied.

“It was okay, ‘cept…” Bree began then hesitated to tell her father what had happened with Hope.

“’Cept what?” Justin asked with a frown. He looked at his daughter in the rearview mirror wondering what was making her look so unhappy. “Did something happen?” he asked.

“Um…”

“You might as well tell Uncle Justin, Bree. We know something’s wrong.”

Bree looked into her cousin’s hazel eyes. They looked so much like her Dada’s. “Hope was really mean to me today. She called me a childish, spoiled brat,” Bree blurted out, all her resolve to keep it a secret gone.

“Hope? You mean Faith’s daughter?” Justin asked in surprise. “She called you that?”

Bree nodded as the tears welled up once again. “She’s really mean.”

“I didn’t know she was like that,” Justin admitted. He had never taken much of a shine to the girl, but he didn’t think she would be cruel like that to Bree.

“She’s weird,” Patrick contributed.

Bree’s pigtails bounced as she nodded her head in agreement. She could always count on Patrick to support her.

“We need to talk more about this when we get home,” Justin said. “Maybe we should find you a different piano teacher.”

“But I like Miss Faith,” Bree said. Her worst fears were being realized. She was going to lose her piano lessons.

“There are other piano teachers,” Justin informed her.

“But I like my lessons,” Bree protested.

“We need to discuss this with Dada,” Justin stated. “Then we’ll decide what to do. Okay, sweetheart?”

“I guess so, Daddy,” Bree mumbled. Everything was going wrong and it was all Hope’s fault.

Patrick reached over and held her hand. That always made Bree feel better.

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