Chapter 1: Philadelphia Story
She was two whole weeks overdue and she didn't like that much at all. Her ankles were swollen to the size of cantaloupes and her breasts were extremely tender and worst of all, she had to pee every two minutes it seemed. The only thing that made this more tolerable was Nick. Nick Marone who was like her own knight in shining armor as much as that cliché had always bothered her. He was always around, bringing her drinks and snacks, massaging her feet, asking her how she felt. He even read to her from baby books sometimes. It was sweet and Agnes generally didn't "do" sweet but she liked this nonetheless. No one had really ever spoiled her before but Nick did and the most interesting part was, sometimes she thought he did it not just for the baby growing inside of her but because he cared. About her. It was such a silly thought and she tried to convince herself she was imagining things but sometimes he looked at her in just such a way that she had to wonder, what if... what if he liked her more than just as his baby mama?
She looked up as he called her name, jarring her from her convoluted thoughts. She was resting on his sofa with her feet up on the dining room table (he had said he didn't mind that in the least) and he was standing in front of her, offering her a plate of crackers and brie cheese. Agnes grinned. "Won't that make me fat?" She joked.
Nick laughed and said, "No. You look just great to me."
Agnes actually blushed at that. "I'm a whale anyway so what does it matter if I gorge myself yet again?" she said as he passed her the plate. "But don't tell Bridget, okay? She really hates that I'm twenty pounds over the limit."
Nick smiled and dropped down beside her on the sofa. His arm brushed hers lightly and she shivered involuntarily. If he noticed, he didn't say anything thing about it. "It's our little secret," he said instead and mocked zipping his lips. "Now dig in while I find us something to watch on TV. It's Wednesday so that leaves us a choice of sitcoms or ... sitcoms."
Agnes laughed. "You know you don't have to babysit me. I am sure there's a bunch of things you could be doing instead of waiting on me hand and foot."
Nick shook his head. "Nah. There's nothing I like better than waiting on you," he said and looked at her and she saw that look again. The one that always made her wonder "what if". What if Nick Marone really liked her as a person, as a friend or even more, and not just the receptacle carrying his and his wife's seed?
Speaking of his wife, she thought. I should remember he has one even if she's not around a lot anymore. It seemed Bridget only appeared to harass Agnes and start petty fights with Nick over every little thing. She resented that Agnes spent so much time here but Aggie figured, she should deal it. It's not like Agnes and Nick ever did anything crazy. They just talked. And watched cheesy sitcoms.
Nick grabbed the remote next to her feet and clicked on the TV before also grabbing the TV Guide and flipping through it. "What'll it be? The Big Bang Theory again?" he asked with a little smile directed at her.
"Yeah, sure," Agnes said. "Those guys are always good for at least a smile. Maybe if it's funny enough tonight I'll laugh so hard this watermelon in my stomach will finally come shooting out."
Now, any other man would likely have been offended by her vernacular but not Nick. No, he just threw back his head and laughed, adding, "You should have a sitcom yourself."
Agnes laughed too and they turned to watch the TV as Nick flipped on The Big Bang Theory. At one point, she felt him watching her intently but she forced herself to keep her eyes on the TV screen.
XoXoXo
They ended up watching a string of sitcoms and then a movie; one of Aggie's favorites actually. Philadelphia Story. She wasn't a big romantic but that movie got her every time. Hepburn and Grant were just that good.
As the movie credits rolled, Agnes glanced at the clock. It was midnight. How had she stayed so long again? She sometimes got too comfortable here, way too comfortable. She was surprised though that Bridget hadn't come stomping in yet demanding to know why Agnes was taking up residence on her couch.
"Well that was great," Nick said.
"Yeah it was," Agnes said. "And I'd better get going. I'll call a taxi."
"No way, Agnes. I'll take you home."
"But -"
"But nothing. Cab services don't run this late and besides, I would be happy to drive you."
"Nick, you have better things to do."
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Nick said. "What's important than being there for my good friend Aggie?"
Agnes's eyes filled with tears at that and she looked away from him. She had never been thought of as anyone's friend; she had never really had anyone in her life besides Oliver that actually wanted to be near her. It was so humbling but she would blame it on her hormones if Nick asked. Which thank god, he didn't. Rather he reached for her hand and gave her a light tug upwards. Her fingers tingled in his and then he was dropping her hand and grabbing his car keys. "To Aggie's house we go," he said and smiled at her. He had a great smile, she couldn't help but think. Anyone would agree.
XoXoXo
They were halfway to Agnes's place when she felt the first painful contraction rip through her. "Oh shit," she murmured.
Nick looked at her in the darkened interior of the car. "What? What is it?"
"Uh ..." She suddenly felt a stream of warm, sticky liquid creep down her thighs.
"Agnes?"
"Let's just say you're going to need a cleaning service in here," Agnes answered through clenched teeth. "I am pretty sure my water just broke."
"Okay ... Well let's get you to a hospital and find out for sure," he said and offered her an endearing smile before reaching for her hand with his free one. She squeezed it very tightly as another contraction sliced through her body and she whimpered in pain.
"Just squeeze my hand," Nick said as he flipped a U-turn and headed towards Cedars Hospital. "I can take it."
Agnes nodded and did as she instructed. She then remembered Bridget. "I have to call your wife."
Nick nodded. "We can call her when we reach the hospital. Just focus on breathing like the Lamaze instructor taught you to, okay? Just relax."
That may have been a lot easier said than done but Agnes appreciated the sentiment none the less as they raced to the hospital and towards their own brand of fate.
TO BE CONTINUED
Chapter 2
1 –
Agnes didn’t stop at her place to gather her or Cassius’s things. She just headed to the airport and immediately booked a flight to Los Angeles. She figured she could easily get lost there and that she and Cassius would never be found.
As the lights of New York City faded from view, she looked at her son in his car seat. He was so precious and definitely worth running away for. He had always been her little protector and now she would be his. She reasoned that she knew nothing about this Deacon Sharpe guy. There was no way she was handing her pride and joy over to him.
She arrived in Los Angeles in the early hours. She thought briefly of going to see her brother but cast the thought aside almost immediately. Oliver would be sympathetic to her plight, yes, but he’d also have too many questions that she couldn’t answer.
She found a cheap hotel room and paid with cash. As she lay down with Cassius on the bed, spooning him into her arms, she tried to convince herself that she had done the right thing.
2 –
She had been back in Los Angeles for a week and looking over her shoulder every second. She needed a job and a real place to stay but was afraid if she flashed her ID around town, she would alert the cops – who were surely looking for her – that she was laying down roots here.
It was only when she could no longer pay the motel bill and feed Cassius too, that she knew she had no choice. She had to reach out to someone.
“Oliver, here we come,” she said as she stood on his doorstep at the beach house, raising her hand to knock. Cassius was on her hip, looking around inquisitively at his new surroundings.
The door opened in short order and a mocha-skinned woman stood there in a baggy blue tee-shirt. She looked sheepish and Agnes could relate. “Sorry, I must have the wrong address,” Agnes said.
“Wait, are you – are you Agnes Jones?” The woman asked, tucking a strand of her tangled black hair behind her ear.
Agnes paused on the doorstep – or froze, more accurately. “Uh… How – how did you know?”
“You look a lot like your brother. Plus he has a picture of the two of you on the mantle.”
Agnes sighed. “You and Oliver …?”
“Yeah,” she said. She smiled at Agnes and then Cassius. “Do you two want to come in? Oliver should be back in any moment; he just went out on a coffee run.”
“It’s alright; I’ll come back another time,” Agnes said. She started to turn away but Cassius suddenly burst into tears and she could smell that he needed a diaper change. She turned back around to face the woman. “On second thought…”
“Come on in,” the woman replied with a bright smile. She held back the door and Agnes cautiously proceeded inside as if she thought Deacon would jump out at her from behind the door, but of course, he didn’t.
Agnes learned in short order that the other woman’s name was Maya and that she and Oliver had been an item for going on three months now. She seemed very nice and Agnes relaxed in her presence enough to accept a bowl of Cheerios for Cassius and a cup of coffee for herself.
The two women were talking about the crazy weather L.A. was having when the door opened and Oliver walked inside. His eyes widened when he spotted Agnes sitting on the sofa, holding a baby in her arms. “Aggie?”
“Hey, little brother.”
3 –
Oliver was shocked to find out that Agnes had a son and that he had never known about. He said it made sense though that every time he had called, she would quickly hang up as if she were hiding something. Oliver said he didn’t understand why she would keep everything a secret. Agnes didn’t want to explain but in the end, she told him the truth about the one night stand with Deacon and everything that had gone on since then - including running away in the middle of the night.
“So this Deacon guy – is he a bad guy?” Oliver asked as he watched Agnes bouncing Cassius on his knee.
“I don’t know,” Agnes admitted. “I don’t know him.” And for the first time since this all began, she felt badly for Deacon. But she wasn’t about to turn around now.
4 -
Agnes and Cassius moved into the spare room at the beach house, at Oliver’s insistence. In a couple of days, Agnes asked her brother if he could help her find a job and he said he could. As much as she wanted to spend every waking moment with her son, it wasn’t possible. Oliver couldn’t afford to support two people and even if he could, Agnes wouldn’t ask.
In short order, Oliver got her a job as an assistant to Brooke Logan at Forrester Creations. It would be weird walking back into that place but she would do it. For Cassius. Everything she did; she did for her son.
Agnes enrolled Cassius in the company daycare. She would spend every lunch break in the nursery playing with him or just holding him.
People were happy to see her again, or so they said. Hope Logan had given her a big hug the first day on the job and they struck up a friendship. When Hope lost her fiancé Liam to his ex once again, Hope cried on Agnes’s shoulder. She gently pointed out that there were other fish in the sea. Hope sniffled. “Maybe…” she said. Agnes was aware that a guy named Wyatt was hot for her and she thought the two had couple-potential. In a few weeks time, when Hope and Wyatt were an official item, Agnes felt the smallest prickling of envy. She wanted to be adored, she wanted to be loved that way, but knew it could never happen for a woman like her.
5-
It had been three months since Agnes had fled New York City. Though she still looked over her shoulder sometimes, she wasn’t as scared as before. She started to believe that she and Cassius were safe. That no one could or would take them away from each other.
One day Agnes was at the office, having just dropped Cassius off at the daycare downstairs. Brooke spotted her walking off the elevator and moved over to her. She was in a huff. “Brooke, what’s wrong?” Agnes immediately asked, for she knew it was her job to do so. Brooke was an okay person but she and Agnes were not particularly close or even comfortable with each other. Brooke didn’t seem like the type of woman one befriended and vice versa.
“It’s Hope’s father – scratch that, he’s not her father. Just because they share DNA –“ Brooke broke off. “He’s here – with Hope. And I wanted her to not be so accepting of him after all he’s done but she welcomed him with a big hug. A hug! He’s going to break her heart all over again. I just know it.” Brooke shrugged and a tear rolled down her cheek. “No matter how much we want to protect our kids, we can’t, can we?” Agnes nodded as she looked away.
Brooke sent her on a few errands outside the office and when Agnes returned, she noticed that the door to Eric’s office was still closed. Hope and her Daddy must have a lot to talk about, she mused. She delivered a carafe of coffee to Brooke and then it was lunch time. She started to head down to the nursery when the door to Eric’s office opened. She was curious for some reason about Hope’s father. All she had ever heard about the unnamed man was that he was bad, bad news. A user, a rake.
Still, she was intrigued. He couldn’t be that bad. Hope had turned out to be a lovely woman. She certainly couldn’t have inherited all of that charm from Brooke.
Agnes pressed on the elevator’s DOWN button and was about to climb on when she heard voices. She looked up instinctively and couldn’t believe who she was seeing. The man with Hope was none other than Deacon Sharpe. The irony was not lost on her. She tried to run but Deacon spotted her then and rushed for her, grabbing her arm. She tried to shake free but he held fast.
“Let go of me you bastard!” she hissed.
Hope looked understandably perplexed. “What the – what is going on here, Deacon?”
“Hope, call the cops,” Deacon said. “I want this crazy woman arrested for stealing my son.”
“Your –“ Hope’s face showed a mixture of sadness and shock. “How? I mean, I think I would know if Cassius was kidnapped. Agnes wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh she would and she did,” Deacon said. He hissed at Agnes who was about to kick him in the groin and run. “Call the cops, Hope, please. She can’t get away with stealing your little brother from me - again.”
6 –
Deacon had wrestled Agnes into a chair and pinned her in it so she couldn’t get away. The commotion brought everyone in the office running. Oliver arrived and demanded Deacon get his damn hands off his sister. Deacon relented when Oliver punched him. Agnes tried to bolt but by then the cops were coming in the door. Oliver watched helplessly as Agnes was led away in handcuffs, tears streaming down her face, screaming to her brother, “Take care of Cassius. Don’t let Deacon near him.”
Agnes spent the night in jail, unable to see any visitors. In the morning, she was to be arraigned. But in the wee hours she learned that she had been “sprung”. She thought Oliver had done it but when she was released, none other than Deacon was waiting at the gate for her. She couldn’t believe it and barked at him, demanding to know what he wanted.
“My son,” Deacon said. “I want to be a part of my son’s life. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
“You can’t be near Cassius. You’re a bad influence.”
“Says everyone, but before you decide that, why don’t you get to know me? I swear I’ll be a good father to Cassius. All I want is the chance.”
“No.”
“I will get custody, Agnes, one way or another. And if you try to run again, I will have the book thrown at you for real this time and get custody of our son anyway.”
“He’s not your son! He’s mine.”
“You didn’t make him alone, Agnes, dammit. That makes him mine too. I’ve made a hell of a lot of mistakes but all I ever truly wanted was to know my kids. I haven’t had that opportunity because I never got to raise even one of them.”
“How many are there? How many women did you run around knocking up?”
“Stop it. There’s Hope, Little Deacon who’s not so little anymore, and now Cassius. I am asking you, Agnes, to give me a chance to prove myself to him.”
“You’re not going to try to redeem yourself using my son.”
“Our son,” Deacon corrected her. “Face it. He’s mine. I will have a DNA test done so I can get it in writing. I will go for sole custody and I will win because a father has rights and a crazy woman who kidnaps the kid can’t be trusted. But I’m giving you a chance here. Don’t run; stay. Let me be a part of our son’s life.”
Agnes felt her chest clench painfully. Her eyes burned. “Why did you post bail? To get on my good side?”
“Maybe a little of that,” he allowed, “but mostly it was Hope’s idea.”
“She took my side after everything?”
“Yeah. She told me about some guy named Graham-something. How you saved her from him when he was going to do his worst. I appreciate that so much.”
Agnes looked away as a teardrop and then another rolled down her face. Thinking of Graham… That’s really how it had all began; how she became the reclusive, cold person she was today. He took her innocence and it had been a downward spiral ever since. She had been running from him, from her past, from everyone, including herself, and she was tired. Maybe she had to stop running. Maybe she had no choice.
7-
In the end, Agnes didn’t run even though she wanted to. Every day she second-guessed her decision not to abscond with Cassius again but she knew if she was found, this time, she would lose her son for sure. Deacon had the paternity test done and it revealed what they all knew already. He was Cassius’s undisputed father. When he secured visiting rights with Cassius, Agnes again was tempted to run away but knew she had to stay put.
Still, putting Cassius into a virtual stranger's arms was the hardest thing she had ever done. Cassius at least looked content with Deacon though. He didn’t fuss when Deacon picked him up and set him on his hip and talked to him, calling him “Little Man” and “Little Cass.”
“It’s Cassius,” Agnes corrected him immediately. She watched Deacon shrug and move towards the door. Her heart ached. “Wait!” She called after them. “His bear – his favorite bear. He will want it when he takes his nap.”
She hurried from the room and returned with Cassius’s well-loved, stuffed toy. Cassius beamed as he reached for Mr. Bear and held him tightly. Agnes leaned over and kissed Cassius’s cheek as a tear rolled down her face. “Have fun, baby,” she whispered. She pulled back and waited for Deacon to walk out the door and take away all of her sunshine. But he paused.
“Aggie?”
“Don’t call me that,” she said frostily.
“Alright, Agnes then. Do you want to come with us to the park?”
Agnes felt her heart soar but then wondered if Deacon was pulling her leg. But she looked into his eyes and from what she could tell, he was serious. “Yeah, yeah I’d like that but it’s not something that you have to do.”
“I know but hey, it’s something I want to do.” Deacon shrugged at her and then Agnes grabbed her bag and they all walked out together.
8 –
They sat in the park with Cassius who was playing on the blanket between them, nibbling on - what else? - but his favorite snack, Cheerios. Soon enough Cassius fell asleep and Agnes started to reach for him but saw the longing look in Deacon’s deep blue eyes. “Your turn,” she said. Deacon smiled as he scooped the baby into his strong arms and tucked him protectively against his chest. Agnes listened to him talking in dulcet tones to Cassius as he rocked their son.
Their son.
That was the very first time Agnes had ever thought of Cassius that way. He had always been just hers and no one else’s …
She bit her lip and Deacon noticed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on. Seriously. Just tell me.”
“I don’t want to share Cassius with you or anyone. I know I have to but I am –“
“You’re scared.”
She nodded. “Maybe, yeah.”
“Well that makes two of us,” Deacon said. She looked into his eyes then and saw the truth. He was sincere, something she hadn’t previously thought him capable of. “I messed up so many times but thank you… Thank you for letting me know my son.”
Agnes nodded and said nothing. They faded into a not totally unpleasant silence. Agnes cell phone rang and she dug it out of her purse, seeing her brother’s name flashing across the screen. As soon as she had put it to her ear, Oliver was asking her if she and Cassius were alright. Really alright. Agnes looked at Deacon rocking their boy and she almost smiled.
“We will be,” she said.
THE END
Chapter 1
1-
They hooked up at a party. She didn’t know his name and didn’t offer hers as he tugged her inside a closet, hiked her pretty red dress up her toned thighs and fucked her. They walked away afterwards, the taste of each other on their lips, and didn’t think of each other again for some time. Random hookups in New York City were de rigueur after all, especially considering the circles they both ran in.
Agnes had stopped being scared of sex sometime ago. She had lost so much when Graham Derros had done his worst but her innocence shattered completely when she fell in love with Nick Marone and he cast her aside. After Nick had broken her heart, she had sought affection where she could get it. Shameful, maybe. A way of life now, yes. Sex became a weapon.
She was flying free for awhile afterwards though tethered to her demons still. She was flying free that is until she got sick every day, until her breasts began to ache, until she peed on a stick and she couldn’t deny the truth anymore. She was pregnant. If she narrowed down the timeline, it was certainly that man at the party who had knocked her up - the one who was dangerously easy on the eyes and had worked her over good in a coat closet…
He was going to be a daddy and she didn’t even know his name.
2 –
The choice to keep the baby was surprisingly easy. She wanted and needed something to remind her that she was still alive. Losing Bridget and Nick’s baby – even though she was “just” a surrogate – had been a devastating blow; one she’d never quite been able to put aside.
Yes, she still hooked up with random men until she became too big and no halfway decent looking man would touch her. She still loved her potato chips and devoured chocolate muffins daily that she picked up from that bakery on Thirty-Seventh. Her doctor said she was putting on a little too much weight but that she was perfectly healthy, that carrying the baby to term was no problem, even after all the abuses that had been heaped on her body.
In November, on a cold, stormy night, she gave birth to a healthy little boy. She named him Cassius. Cassius Adam Jones. Cassius because it meant “protective” and that’s what she needed – a protector, someone to help keep her remaining sanity intact. Adam because it was her long dead father’s middle name. It sort of made sense, somehow, to honor him even if he hadn’t always been there for her.
No one was there with her to witness the event - not even her dear brother Oliver, because she didn’t want him to be. He didn’t even know she was pregnant; she had never seen fit to tell him. This baby was hers and no one else’s. Cassius was her hope and her future and right or wrong; she didn’t want to share him with anyone.
3 –
Christmas rolled around soon enough. She bought her beautiful boy a ton of presents, probably more than he would ever play with and a lot more than she could afford on her administrative assistant’s salary. Maternity leave would be over soon, right after New Year’s actually, and she hated to think of leaving Cassius with some random stranger.
Oliver called her on Christmas Eve and they chatted until Cassius cried and then she quickly made an excuse to hang up before Oliver could figure out what was going on.
Despite all her many faults, she was a good mother. She doted on Cassius and was very careful with him, making sure if he dropped his pacifier even, that she sanitized it thoroughly. She loved her son. He was possibly the one thing she had ever done right.
4 –
Dropping Cassius off that first day at daycare was even harder than she thought it would be. The baby cried a bit – he was already used to his mother – but she cried still harder. She walked the six blocks to work in tears. People of course stared but no one said anything, no one asked if she was alright, not even her coworkers. She walked into the office bathroom and wiped away all her runny mascara and then got right to work. She was informed at noon that they had a new patient coming in for a dental cleaning. Her fellow glorified sectary left for lunch and she manned the office. It was slower at this time of the afternoon and she had a free moment to call the daycare and check on Cassius. She was assured he was fine and taking a nap. She hung up and felt depressed.
She picked up the framed picture of Cassius she had brought with her and hugged it to her chest as she twisted back and forth on her rolling chair, trying to hold back the tears. She was soon interrupted by a male voice saying, “I am here for my appointment.”
“Oh yes, of course,” she said, trying to discreetly dab at her eyes as she set aside the picture. “What’s your name?”
“Deacon Sharpe,” he said. She typed the name into the computer and finally looked up at the man. Even through her watery gaze she knew who he was. He recognized her too; she could see it in his crystal blue eyes.
He smiled. “Long time no see,” he quipped.
Agnes shifted on her chair nervously, turning the baby’s picture over as discreetly as she could. There was no way, no way in hell; she was going to share her son with some random guy. She offered him a weak smile. “Yeah … Anyway, Dr. Waters will see you shortly. You can take a seat over there.”
He nodded and moved over to a chair in the small waiting room. She felt his eyes on her and she feigned being very busy typing something. Finally he spoke again. “What’s your name?”
“Agnes,” she said. She wanted to say it was none of his damn business but she couldn’t afford to insult a paying customer and possibly lose her job.
He smirked, a shit-eating grin if there ever was one. “Nice to finally put a name with a face.”
Agnes looked away.
5 –
Deacon returned to her office a week later. He claimed he had a checkup and he did but she thought it was an excuse to chat her up. He tried but she kept her end of the conversation very stilted. “You’re kind of a cold fish,” he said, “You know that right?” She said nothing. “You weren’t the least bit icy the night we –“
She held up a hand to stop him. “That’s fine. No need to remind me.”
“So it wasn’t good for you? It was good for me, I remember that. The way your legs locked around my waist –“
Agnes so badly wanted to tell him to go fuck himself but she resisted, remembering she was in an office, and not just any office but her place of work. If she lost this job how would she support Cassius? She didn’t want to raise him in a cardboard box under some bridge.
“You know,” she said instead, “I don’t really think bringing up something that happened three years ago-“
“It wasn’t that long ago, I know that much.”
“My mistake,” she lied. “Anyway, I’d appreciate it very much if you stop harassing me at my job.”
“So I can ‘harass’ you elsewhere?”
She grit her teeth. “No.”
“Hmm, you really seemed to like being ‘harassed’ in that coat closet…”
“That was a long time ago. So much has changed.”
“What? Are you married now, have some kids?”
“No,” she said before she could stop herself. “I don’t.” Her face burned with the lie.
“So what’s changed?”
“Everything.”
6 –
A week later, she emerged from the office after a long day of work, to find him leaning against a refurbished Chevy – probably from the seventies, probably – seemingly waiting for her. She rolled her eyes as snow began to fall around them.
Against her better judgment she walked over to him and poked him in the chest. He smirked. “Why are you here?” She asked.
“Can’t a guy just lean on his car without it having to be some big thing?”
Agnes shook her head. “Why are you doing this? Why do you keep coming around?”
“I want to talk to you.”
“Just talk? I find that hard to believe.”
“Okay I’m lying. I want to find your defrost button and make all that iciness melt away.”
He laughed as she pulled a face. “Is that the best line you can come up with? It’s pretty pathetic.”
“It wasn’t my best one. I can try others if you’d like.”
“I’d like for you to stop coming around here.”
“Well I would but you’re a challenge and I like challenges.”
“Another line. And another bad one at that.”
Deacon moved closer to her. “Fair enough, those were bad lines. I guess the one I used when we met is more your speed – ‘hey, nice to see you. Wanna join me in the closet? I’ll fuck your brains out’.”
Agnes’s face colored and she fumed. “Goodbye.” She turned on her heel and started walking – well, hurrying – down the street. She expected him to follow but when he didn’t, she was almost disappointed.
7 –
He came around every week like clockwork for the next few months, sometimes more than twice or even three times a week. He would try to engage her in conversation, she would tell him to fuck off, and they’d banter a bit before she’d stalk away. One night he showed up, asked her where she was always off to in such a hurry. She retorted that it was none of his damn business. She thought that’d be the end of it but he kept pestering her.
“You rushing home to a man?” He asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She shot back. There was no way she was sharing Cassius with him. Cassius who was now almost six months old, already crawling and babbling like crazy, always smiling with a smile that was too similar to Deacon’s to be denied or ignored. He was a great baby and she loved him and no one was going to mess with him and live to tell about it.
“So you do have an old man?” Deacon asked. “That’s why you –“
“Haven’t jumped your bones? Maybe you just weren’t all that good the first time.”
“Liar. Woman, I rocked your world. You screamed so loud I thought everyone would come running… I bet I was the best you’ve ever had.”
Agnes couldn’t resist it any longer. She slapped him. Hard. He rubbed his cheek and shook his head. “I get to you. One day you’re going to have to admit that.”
“You don’t ‘get’ to me. You repulse me. I am not some cheap tart you can just treat like crap and expect to keep coming back for more.”
“I haven’t ever treated you like crap,” Deacon returned. “You don’t let me treat you like anything. I hoped you’d be the one person to give me a chance to prove myself.”
“Deacon –“ she said but he was already heading to his Chevy, hopping in and peeling down the street.
8 –
She didn’t seem him for the next two weeks. It bothered her even if it shouldn’t have. She was sickened with herself for worrying about him, wondering what he was up to. Yes he was beyond attractive and he had those bedroom eyes and a fantastic tongue that had made her go wild for the hour they spent in that closet. Most of all, he had given her the greatest gift of her life – her son. Her son who was still growing like a weed. She felt every time she turned around, he was bigger and that she was missing really special moments having to work so hard to keep a roof over their heads. She wanted to be with him all the time and she couldn’t be. It broke what was left of her.
Every night after work she found herself waiting around for a minute or two searching for Deacon and his car. Then she’d tell herself she was pathetic and hurry off to the daycare to pick up her son and take him home where she could hold him and hug him as much as she wanted to until his bedtime.
9 –
One morning Agnes woke up with the feeling that things were about to shift in a big way. She didn’t know why or how, but things were changing, the ground was moving beneath her feet and she couldn’t at the moment figure out why she felt that way. She got up early, fixed herself some coffee, took a shower and then went to get Cassius ready for daycare.
At work, the day passed uneventfully. She thought maybe she was wrong about some major something coming her way.
After work, she looked for Deacon’s car for a moment. Seeing it wasn’t there, she quickly turned away and headed for the daycare several blocks away.
She was entirely unprepared for what she walked in on. Deacon was there. He was holding Cassius. Cassius looked oddly comfortable with the stranger. Agnes’s heart plummeted into her toes.
“What the hell are you doing here? You know what? I don’t even care. Just give me my son.”
“Don’t you mean ‘our’ son?” Deacon snapped. “Don’t even lie to me. This little guy is mine too. I know it.”
“No he’s not. He’s-“
“He looks just like me!”
“No he doesn’t and even if he did, that proves nothing.”
“He’s mine. He’s why you’ve kept your distant from me. For whatever reason you didn’t think I would be a good father to him. But dammit I could be. You didn’t give me the chance. No one ever does.”
Agnes frowned as she reached for Cassius, snatching him from Deacon’s grasp. The baby whimpered and tears shimmered in his crystal blue eyes. “Look at you! You’re scaring him. He doesn’t know you.”
“Because you never bothered to tell me about him. I had to find out on my own.”
“Well never mind. You’re never getting your hands on him. From what you said, it sounds like you have other kids so why don’t you go raise them and get out of my face before I have the police on your butt? How Arlene even let you near my son –“
“Our son!” Deacon said. “You’re not going to keep me away from him, Agnes! Not ever again. I am demanding a paternity test and then when it’s proven he’s mine, I’m suing for full custody.”
He lightly touched Cassius’s cheek and then giving Agnes a fierce glare, he stomped out of the daycare. Agnes’s eyes burnt with tears. What the hell was she going to do now?
She spotted Arlene, the director of the whole facility, walking over. Arlene was cringing. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let him see Cassius, let alone hold him, but he kind of said all the right things and I for a moment just let my brain get all fuzzy and –“
“Save it,” Agnes said. “You had no right to pass my son over to a total stranger. And that’s what Deacon Sharpe is to Cassius – a stranger. He fathered my kid, okay, but he’s not his Dad!”
Agnes then grabbed Cassius’s diaper bag and hurried out of there. She thought she would run away – get as far away from New York City as she could. She thought she’d head back to Los Angeles. Anyone could get lost there and never be found in all the crowds of people. Plus, Deacon would surely never think to look for her there.
