Accidentally Perfect (6 page)

“Ha! Once you meet my mother you will notice that she doesn’t miss a thing.  I wouldn’t be surprised if she picked out my split ends.  Come on lover boy, let’s go see my girls.”  He places his hand on my arm stopping me.   He looks into my eyes with so much intensity.

“I’m here for you.  You are not alone.  You will never be alone again, do you understand?”

“Yes.”  That was all that was said between us.

It didn’t take long to see that I just walked into a bigger nightmare than what I first imagined.  Not only was my mother there with her husband, but my ex-husband, who looks like he’s been through the ringer, was sitting next to none other than Michael.
Christ, what was he doing there.
  “Brad how
are
they?”  They all look up not noticing that we were approaching. 

“Amanda is fine, just banged up.  They are keeping her for a day or two just to make sure there isn’t anything internal that comes up.  Addie is out of surgery and doing well.  The doctors have given them both something to sleep for now.”

“Where have you been, young
lady?”  Ugh, my mother.  I feel Nathan’s hand come up to my shoulder and squeeze letting me know that he is here.

“I went away, mother
.  Stella and I had a weekend planned, um,
recently,
and we went to Vegas.  Brad knew about it.”

“To Vegas, while your daughters are laying in a hospital bed fighting for their lives.”

“They are not fighting for their lives, Vivian.”  Brad stands to come to my defense.  “The girls are fine and if I knew that you would pull your witch hat out, I wouldn’t have told you in the first place.”

“How dare you Brad, I am their grandmother. I would expect that you, out of the two of you, would see how important I am to them.”

“You mean how you showed me how important I was to you my entire childhood, mother?  Sometimes I wonder if you even carried me for nine months, let alone actually be my mother.”

“Oh, I can promise you, my dear, that I did, in fact,
carry you for nine months.  My body grew to
a monstrous size,
and things were pushed into places that they shouldn’t be able to go.  I also had to endure twenty hours of miserable labor in order to bring your self-absorbed, selfish-minded person into this world.”

“Enough!”  Nathan’s voice was both harsh and threatening.  “Now is not the time to attack anyone, especially for things that were not that person’s fault.”  My mother stood there staring in shock, completely speechless. 

“Sorry about that man.”  Brad tries to break the tension.  Michael takes this moment to stand and come up
to
me.  “I’m Brad Richards, Laney’s husband.”

“Ex-husband.”
  I pipe up having Brad look at me.

“Right, sorry, ex-husband.”

“I’m Michael, Laney’s boyfriend.”  That was something that I didn’t expect.

“Ex-boyfriend,
”  I
confirm.

“Laney, come on, you know that we just need to talk it out.  That was a misunderstanding.  What you saw wasn’t what it looked like.”

“From what Laney has told me, it was exactly what she saw.  Or is it normal to dig to China with your tongue in between your neighbor’s legs, while your girlfriend is trying to save lives of cancer patients?  Or maybe I’m missing
something because I believe what you did, um Michael gives Laney all the rights to call you her ex
-
boyfriend.”  Michael didn’t have
to come back
.  He just took a couple steps back to get out of the line of fire. 

“Laney.”

“Mom, please, not now.”

“Not now, then when Laney?
  Who is he to even speak to anyone that way, let alone me?”

“I’m her husband; that is what it makes me.”

“No.” 
This from me.
  This is not how I wanted this to go.

“Yes.”  Nathan’s hand squeezes my hand.

“Laney,
”  Michael
speaks up.

“Not now, Michael.”   

“When are you going to grow up and get your life back on track, Laney seriously?  You have two girls that are just going to grow up and mirror everything you show them.  You hop from one man to the next, not working it out with their father, now this. You get married to a man you don’t even know. He is a nobody and no one, and you better not expect to allow him anywhere near my grandchildren.  Brad and I will make sure you will never be able to harm them.”

“Vivian, stop.”

“That is
enough. 
I have already warned you once.,
Mother or not, you will not speak to my wife that way.”  Nathan turns from my mother not giving her another moment of his time and walks up to Brad.  “I’m Nathan Whitmore. It’s nice to meet you, Brad.”

“Nathan Whitmore?” 
This coming from my mother.
  “You mean Nathan Riley-Whitmore?
From the Whitmores?
 
The
Whitmores?”

“I don’t use my father’s name. There is no reason to give a parent the honor of carrying on their name when they were no parent to begin with.”   His tone was
flat, there was no hint of patience left.

Laney was not kidding when she spoke about her mother.  If I were in the picture longer, I would have kicked her sorry ass out after the first vile word came out of her mouth.  But this is Laney’s call, not mine.  “It’s nice to meet you, Nathan.”  Brad squeezes my hand. I’m sure he’s trying to show his strength.  He is the past, so I’m not worried about him.  He was the first man to make a mistake in Laney’s life.  I should send him a box of cigars, or maybe courtside seats to the Knicks, thanking him for his stupidity.  I look over to Michael.  I think he may be a problem.  He seems younger, maybe a little full of himself.  Maybe he thinks because he has that shaggy blonde hair or those baby blues that he has the key to Laney’s heart, but the problem is for
him;
her heart is no longer hers.  She gave it to me the moment she said ‘I
do.' I’m not giving it back.

“I don’t understand,” Michael
speaks up.  “How can you be
married when just two days ago, you and I were together?
  How could you do this?”

“I don’t even know why you’re here Michael;
we broke up.  You screwed
up; you made the choice to throw us away.”

“I called him.  I couldn’t get a hold of you, and Brad was in the emergency room with the girls.  I didn’t know that you two were no longer an item.”

“We should still be an item.”  Michael still thinks there’s a chance.

“Are you really going there Michael, because I believe that Laney was done with you the moment she stepped on that plane to get away from you. 
Even more so when she met me and I know she was completely over you every time she came around my cock.”

“Nathan.”

“I’m sorry, Laney Bear.”  I pull her next to me kissing her temple.  A gasp comes from behind me, only belonging to Vivian.

“What did you just call her?”  Her tone was accusatory.

“Laney Bear?”  I turn to answer her.  “Is that a problem?”

“My father used to call me that,
” Laney whispers next to me.  Another sign, this was meant to be.

“Oh baby, I’m honored that you allow me to continue such a loving term of endearment.”  I lean down and kiss her gently on the lips.

“Mr. & Mrs. Richards?”
 
the doctor calls from over Laney’s shoulder.

“It’s Mr. Richards and Mrs. Whitmore, doctor.  I’m Nathan Whitmore, Laney’s husband.”

“Yes, of course, Mr. Whitmore.  I would like to bring everyone up to date on the condition of the girls before they wake up.  I’m sure Mrs. Whitmore you are anxious to see them.”

I look over at Michael,
who is sitting next to Vivian’s husband who hasn’t said one word.  “It’s time for you to run along Mikey.  We’ve got it handled from here.”  I turn my back to listen
to
what the doctor has already been saying. 

“The break was on her growth plate.  There is a possibility that she may have problems in the future with the growth of her right leg.  I am hopeful the bones will mend since she is still so young.  I don't see any reason why she can't grow just as normal as her sister.  I’m not sure there will be a difference in the leg length, but right now we just have to wait and see.”

“I’m going to make some calls. My family has given enough money to this hospital that I can call in some favors to get the best pediatric orthopedic physicians over here.”

“You don’t need to go through the trouble, Nathan.”  Brad thinks I’m just going to stand back when there is something I may be able to do to help Laney or the girls. 

“It’s no trouble, Brad.  I’m doing what needs to be done to help my family.”

“Nathan, please.”  I know Laney doesn’t want the fight between Brad and me.

“I’m not doing anything out of the ordinary, Laney. Addie needs help, and I’m going to make sure that she gets it.”

“The doctor said she will be fine.”  Really Brad?

“I said there is a good possibility that her leg will be fine.  But having a specialist is always welcomed.  Whatever we
can do to make sure Addie makes a full recovery.”

“It’s settled then, let me make the calls.”

“Nathan, like I said, you don’t need to go through the trouble.”  I look over to
Laney,
who is standing there with tears falling down her cheeks.  Her pain makes my decision for me.

“Brad, I am doing this for my family.  I will always do for my family.”

“Those are
my
girls that are laying in those beds; they are
my family.”

“I don’t deny that Brad, but Laney is my wife, they are my
step
children,
and I will always do what’s best for them, and for her.  You lost the right to call them family when you cheated on your wife and children.”

“Nathan-.”

“Brad please,” Laney
speaks up.  “I need Addie to be alright.  I need this.”

“Fine, I’m going to sit with the girls.” 

Nate doesn’t even put up a fight when I decide to go in and see the girls on my own.  There really isn’t a reason for him to be upset that I didn’t include him, he doesn’t even know them.  How did I not know that he was Nathan Whitmore?  Everyone knows who Nathan is. I guess the pictures in the magazines and the gossip blogs don’t do him justice.  He is so much better looking in person.  This is just another bump in the road.  I’m a mother, I’m not a diva, or the latest up and coming in the social circles that make up Manhattan.  I’m a nurse, a mother of twins, and now, I’m a wife.  He isn’t big into flaunting who he is and what he has.  That might be why I didn’t notice who he was when I first met him. 
That,
or the fact that I had a shot of every color under the rainbow coursing through my body when I first met him.  Those eyes and that smile did me in, hot damn they would make you forget just about anything.  But now, what’s important, are
my girls.