Accidentally Perfect (17 page)

“Yes baby, I think you are going to have lots of grown-ups playing dress up with you girls.”

“Nathan is comfy
mommy.  He took good care of us last night.  I like him a lot.”

“Yeah, Nafin is super.”

“I’m glad you girls think so.  I have something that I want to tell you guys.  Daddy and I decided that once Amanda is released today we aren’t going to go home. Once Bug is
released,
we will all go stay at Nathan’s until Addie is feeling better.  Then when Addie is all
better, then we can go home.”

“Why can’t we go home now?”

“Well Adele, you can’t get up and down the stairs.  I didn’t want you to have to stay on the couch because I’m not sure how long it will be until you’re feeling better.  Nathan’s home is
big, and one story so there aren’t
any stairs.  Will it be okay if we moved in with him for a while?  I’ll make sure all your favorite toys come with us.”

“I don’t mind mommy, but will daddy be able to come and see us at Nathan’s?  Can I still go to daddy’s apartment?”

“Yes of course you can go see your daddy.  I would never tell you
no
if you want to see him.  He can come over whenever he wants.  He’s your
daddy,
and that doesn’t change because Nathan is in our lives now.  Do you understand that?”

“Yes, momma.”

“Yes, mommy.”

“What if wes want to stay at Nafin’s? What if wes like
it there.  Are
wes
gonna have to leaves then?”    

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves Bear. 
Let's
just worry about Bug getting better.  We will see how things go when we are staying with Nathan.”

“So we’re moving in with Nathan?”

I smile.  “Yes, I guess we are.  We are moving into Nathan’s.”

“Over my dead body are you going to move my grand girls in with that overbearing maniac?
”  I see my mother standing at the door looking like walking perfection.  Her reddish brown hair is styled with long curls that fall just past her shoulders.  Her face is a work of art, probably from her on call makeup artist.  Her pencil dress is her typical navy blue color.  The diamonds my father bought her over the years hang from her neck and her earlobes. “Have you seen the latest headlines, Laney?”  She holds up a paper walking into the room completely letting the door close behind her.  The headline is bold. ‘
Mr. Whitmore May Be Off the Market, but his Temper is Still Going Strong.
“Not only do I have to deal with the fact that you were called a Ms. Nobody in last night’s edition, but now I have to read how your so-called husband is manhandling people and tossing them off your porch.  He could have seriously injured Michael, Laney.”

I grab the paper from my mother’s hands and continue to read the article. 

Sources say that Nathan Whitmore physically threw an unidentified man out of his new wife’s home.  Some say the man has been known for recently dating the new Mrs. Whitmore.  People close to the gentleman say that Mrs. Whitmore refuses to let go of her side piece causing Mr. Whitmore’s rage to get out of control.  A close family friend said that Laney has made it clear to Nathan that she would not be letting go of her recent relationship despite their current union. After catching his new wife in the arms of said man, Nathan picked the man up and tossed him out her front door. 
Sad really. Laney has the nerve to not only marry the hottest New York bachelor, but she has the gall to cheat
on him and do it all the while her daughters are suffering in the hospital.  We have not yet been able to confirm when the girls will be released.  With Nathan Whitmore’s past of bed hopping, no wonder he has been captivated by this vixen. Maybe Nathan has finally met his match.  Let’s see if this marriage falls apart as quickly as it came together. 

The girls are both wide-eyed looking between my mother and myself
. There is no reason for them to hear this; to even know the situation happened.  I am so pissed that my mother has not only continued to speak down to me in front of my children, but now she is talking nonsense about Nathan. She’s throwing this stupid rag in my face like it has all the
freakin’
answers in it.  She’s acting like it’s the Holy Bible. It’s just a gossip
paper,
and I am not going to allow her to damage the security those girls feel in Nathan’s presence.   “Get out!” My tone is harsh as I shove the paper into her chest.

Her eyes grow wide with shock.  “Excuse me?”

“I said get out, mother!  Now!  Get out of my daughters’ room! 
Now
!”
  I point and walk towards her placing my hand on her shoulder ushering her out of the room.  I turn to the girls.  “Grandma and I are going to have a little talk.  When daddy gets here, let him know I’ll be right back.”

I continue to push my mother out of the room and down
the hall.  “Get your hands off me, Laney.  What has gotten into you?”

“Nothing mother.
  But I’m not going to have you belittle me, my husband, or my decisions when it comes to my daughters.  You have no say and no right to do so.  Your opinions and your thoughts on my life are not wanted from you, so you can stop wasting your breath on how you think I should live it.”  I hit the button on the elevator to head down the staff lounge where Brad and I spoke the night before.

“Where do you think we’re going, oh daughter of mine?”  I push her onto the elevator.  “The front entrance is surrounded by reporters and paparazzi.  I almost lost an arm having to walk through that crowd this morning.”  I laugh at her. 

“Oh,
I’m sure you’re so surprised that the media has been camped out since the news broke last night that Nathan and I were married.”  The elevator doors close.  “I know it was
you,
mother.  I know you were the one to leak the story to the press.”

“If I ever.”  She sounded shocked. 

“For the love of Godmother
, didn’t you think about what this would do to your granddaughters? Or were you just too thrilled with the opportunity to have the Jacob’s name in the headlines again.  You forget
mother
that last name is no longer yours. You're married. Jacobs and Vivian no longer go together. You are so damn laughable. You say I don’t put their best interest in front of my own, but you are so full of it.  You’re the queen of selfishness.  I’m actually shocked that I didn’t turn out to be a selfish bitch since I had such a prime example of what selfish looks like.”

“Laney, you have no right disrespecting me.” I put my hand up telling her to stop. 

“We can finish this conversation once we go somewhere private.”  I walked to the desk in front of the staff lounge where I came with Brad the night before.  “Hi, I’m Laney Whitmore, I was wondering if it would be alright to use the staff lounge for a while.”

“Of course, Mrs. Whitmore.
  Mr. Whitmore wanted to make sure you had everything you needed while your daughters are here.  Go on in, I’ll make sure you have some privacy.” 

“Well, for despising me so much for using the power your father’s name, you sure know how to do the exact same thing.”

“I am nothing like you, mother.  I would never use my father’s name or Nathan’s name for my own personal gain.”  I sit down at the table and gesture for my mother to sit as well.  She looks over the seat like it’s going to bite her.  “Just sit mother. It’s not going to kill you to sit on an actual wooden bench.”

“I don’t even know why we are here anyways.  This is a waste of my time and yours.  You should be up in the room taking care of your girls.”

“Yes, mother, exactly, but you feel that it’s alright to voice your opinions whenever you feel like it,
and I feel that I need to make certain your opinions are no longer verbalized in front of the girls.  Those days of
bullying, me are over.”

“You think I bully you, Laney?  You are very comical.  You are my daughter.  I have every right to tell you what you’re doing wrong when it comes to mothering.  I have been a mother for a lot longer than you have dear.  You should be so lucky to still have your mother around to lend a hand when you
obviously lack
in the maternal instinct department.”  Did I just hear her right?  Boy, she sure has some nerve.

“You have the nerve to talk to me about maternal instincts. Have you finally cracked mother? Have you finally fallen off your rocker?  Let me ask you, what color is the sky in the world in which you live in, because where I live it’s blue.  Where I live, I grew up with a mother who was more concerned with getting her name out there in the city.  She had no concern with whether or not her daughter
was
properly cared for.  It’s you
mother
who was born without an ounce of maternal instinct.  It’s you who has no right to tell me what I’m doing wrong when it comes to my kids.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Laney.”

“I have no idea, mother?  Where were you when I was sick?  Was it you who took care of me?  Was it you who rushed me to the hospital when my fever peaked?  Was it you who slept with me to make sure that I was alright while my fever broke?  I don’t think so mother, not once did I remember you caring for me.  It was always my father who did those things for me.  You never had time for me.”

“The view of how your childhood was
is outrageous.  You have no idea what you’re talking about.  You seriously need to stop living in the past daughter and figure out what you are doing with your life in the present.  I’m sure thinking about the future is far too much for you.  I don’t want to overwhelm you with life, Laney, so like I just said, why
don’t you
think about those girls and how your life is affecting them now.” 

“I am thinking mother.  I am well aware of what I’m doing.  I have no qualms on what I’m deciding when it comes to them.  Neither does Brad.”

“The first qualm you should have had was leaving their father in the first place.  That was your first mistake of many. 
Well,
I shouldn’t say the first.  The first was getting
yourself
knocked up.” 

“And it’s those comments right there that should have me keeping my girls as far away from you as possible.  How the hell can you tell me you’re concerned about the girls and then turn around and tell me they were
mistakes.”

“Those girls would have been better off being born to a couple who didn’t just give up Laney.  You should have put their needs first instead of
your own.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You should have decided right then and there when you found out that you were pregnant to put what you wanted on hold.  You have never put those girls or your family in front of your own selfish needs.  You did not have to work, to continue to go to school and get an education.  Your father and I made sure of that.”

“My father made sure of that.  There
was no you in that factor.”

“Think what you must Laney, continue to live in a dream world where your father hung the moon while I created all the brimstone in hell.”

“I don’t live in a dream world, mother.  If I
did,
then it would have been you that I buried all those years ago and not my father.”    

I knew when I found Brad with the girls without Laney there was going to be trouble.  Once I found out where she
went,
I took Natalie with me to find her.  The words I heard coming out of the fowl women’s mouth were
unbelievable
.  She was completely delusional. From what little I knew about their relationship and how Laney grew up, I knew she was full of shit.  I stood back and listened as my wife
was
verbally abused by her mother.  “Wow Nate, she could give
father a run for his money.”

“I know, isn’t it sad that a mother can have that much hatred for her child.  She should be ashamed.”

“Nate, just like father, she thinks that she’s right.  She thinks that her words and thought process are right while everyone else’s
are
wrong.  It’s sad because we had each other to lean on once mom passed.  She doesn’t have anyone but you.”