HH01 - A Humble Heart (39 page)

She was only allowed her MP3 player when she earned it so right now she was in heaven.

“Oh, don’t get me started on that prick. What kind of man first off neglects a woman like her, I don’t care if she was

carrying extra weight after giving birth. She had two kids almost back to back and was partially paralyzed. Give her a break!”

Edward hated hearing about that. Jeff left her by herself all day. She struggled to do everything and had no help with the

two young children. If it had been him he would have busted his ass so she never felt an ounce of pain or discomfort.

“True, then the prick cheats on her with, I’m sorry I realize I’m about to receive hate mail, but a dog and then marries her!

What the hell?”

“Do you think Edward would cheat on her?” Hank asked in a serious manner.

“Hmm, I’ve given that some serious thought. I don’t think so. He could have easily slept with hundreds of women, but he

was known for being a bit of a prude before he met Dana. He had a few model girlfriends and dated a few actresses, but he

didn’t go nuts. All of his ex-girlfriends have said he’s a nice guy, too nice. So no I don’t think he will. He seems to be crazy

about her if the tape is any indication.” Just to add emphasis to his point they played another clip.
“God I missed you so much,

Dana….I love you…..I love you.”

“I think we’ve gotten off track here, Hank. We’re supposed to discuss the ex.”

“Oh right, my bad, Trevor. I think the guy has balls of steel to give up his kids. You noticed he didn’t give a rat’s ass when

the little one, what’s his name, Cole?”

“Yes.”

“Cole gets burned because some psycho babysitter is too drunk to watch the kids, which I must say is every parent’s

nightmare. My heart goes out to Dana and Edward on that one. My wife freaked out and now has Nanny Cams all over the

house because of that. Anyway, they catch him on film and tell him what happened to his biological son and the son of a bitch

shrugs and walks off,” Hank said.

“True, I did want to bitch slap him myself.”

“But this hits the air and a little comment about his size is involved and the guy is flipping out giving interviews to every

Tom, Dick and Harry. What the hell?”

He was beginning to love these two guys. His hand twitched towards the phone, he couldn’t help it. He opened the phone

and dialed.

“Oh my God, I’m being told that Edward Pierce is on the phone right now.”

“Are you kidding?” Hank asked, sounding truly surprised.

“Nope.”

“Well, let’s put him on!”

“Good morning, Edward.”

“Good morning, guys."

“I’m a little surprised by your call. Isn’t your wife going to kill you?” Hank asked.

Edward chuckled. “No, she has faith in me and thankfully is a very forgiving person when I mess up.”

“Good to know. So, Edward, let’s cut to the chase, is this tape real?” Trevor asked with an edge to his tone. They

expected him to deny it.

“Yes,” he said, knowing there was no point in lying.

“Sweet Jesus!” Hank yelled.

“I only have a few minutes to talk guys,” he said, looking at the clock. “So, we have to make this quick.”

“Damn, okay….um, wow, I’m so excited,” Trevor said.

“Me too. I don’t know where to start.”

“Oh, has Dana cut you off?”

Edward chuckled. “No, it was an unfortunate incident, but we love each other very much and have no problem showing it.

It really upsets me that someone saw my wife and decided to take advantage. It should have been a very private moment

between us and it was exploited for cheap thrills.”

“As hot as the tape is I would have to agree with that. She sounded like she was in a great deal of pain. Hell, my wife

cringed when she heard it,” Hank said.

“I was sorry for that too, but it’s a side of effect of giving birth and I know my wife doesn’t regret our boys. I wish I could

have spared her further pain, but it was unavoidable,” Edward said.

“True, damn, Edward Pierce. I have to say you’re a stand up guy…with one hell of a hot wife,” Trevor said, making

Edward chuckle.

“Come on, Trevor, we only a few more minutes, let’s get to the juicy stuff before he hangs up. We have a responsibility to

our listeners to ask.”

“Yes, yes we do. Okay, Edward, we have to know. Does she feel as good as she looks?”

“You guys are going to get me in so much trouble,” Edward groaned, trying not to laugh.

“Come on, please! Millions of men around the world will never experience it, you could at least let us know. Please!”

Trevor begged.

“Better.” Edward grinned.

“I knew it!” Hank yelled.

“They’re real too, right?”

“Guys, come on, I have to get going so ask better questions,” Edward said.

“Oh, I have one. This is something a lot of listeners, admittedly men, have asked. Will you consider letting Dana pose for

Playboy?”

“Oh, that is a good one,” Trevor breathed excitedly.

“Hmm, let me think about that, how about….No!” Edward said. The men grunted and complained, making him laugh.

“Are you going to the awards show tonight?” Trevor asked.

“Yes, we’re presenting.”

“Sweet, make sure you stop and say hello to us.”

Edward looked at the clock. “Oops, guys I really have to go now."

“Wait, can you get your wife to sign a copy of her Maxim magazine issue and send it to me?” Trevor asked.

“Me too!” Hank said eagerly.

“I tell you what, gentlemen, get me off the air right now and I will give you the number for my assistant. Give her your

addresses and I’ll ask Dana.”

“Get him off the air!” Hank snapped.

In a minute he was off the air, music was playing and he was giving up Amy’s number. They thanked him for the interview

and for the autographs. They begged him to bring Dana to the studio and to do an interview. He told them he would consider it,

and he would. The guys were pretty decent, pigs, but decent pigs. There was a difference after all.

********

saw they were at school so she handed back her MP3 player. She straightened her uniform and helped him carry the boxes of

cookies to her class.

“Good morning, Elizabeth!” her teacher said cheerfully. She was a fifty something year old woman who absolutely adored

the children and didn’t give a rat’s ass who their parents were. All of the children were treated equally and got away with zip,

which is why Edward liked this school.

“Good morning, Mrs. Goodfellow.” Elizabeth said shyly. “Daddy brought me to school today. We brought cookies!”

“I see that. You did a good job remembering. Do me a favor, sweetie, say goodbye to Daddy and put your bag away and

sit in the circle for story time. Stephanie is about ready to start,” Mrs. Goodfellow said, sending Elizabeth off, but not before

she looked at Stephanie and groaned. This was clearly Mary’s sister.

It was confirmed when Edward looked at Stephanie. The girl looked him up and down and actually licked her lips

provocatively in front of the kids. She was a pretty girl, but had nothing on his Dana. She also had a bitchy look to her. He

wasn’t sure if he felt that way because he knew she was trashing his wife or he really thought she did. He didn’t care either

way.

“Mrs. Goodfellow, I need to have a word with you and the principal,” Edward said.

“Oh, is there something wrong, Mr. Pierce?” she asked. Damn if she didn’t look like his Grandmother.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

She nodded solemnly and picked up the receiver from the large phone on her desk. “This is Mrs. Goodfellow, can you

send Mr. Paulson down here. Mr. Pierce needs to talk to us….yes thank you.” She hung up. “Five minutes.”

“Thank you,” Edward said.

Several little girls and boys walked up to him. “Hey, I know you! You’re on the poster in my sister’s room. You’re cute!”

a little girl with pig tails said.

“Yeah, my sister has his poster, too. She says she’s in love with him! But she shouldn’t because he’s Elizabeth’s daddy

and her mommy is super nice!” another little girl said.

“Is Dana coming by again?” a little girl with fiery red hair asked. “She’s fun. I like it when she’s the parent helper. The

babies are so cute!”

“I’ll ask her,” he said, bending down so he could talk to them.

A little boy gently grabbed his sleeve and pulled. “What’s up little man?” he asked the adorable little boy with messy

blonde hair.

“I’m going to marry Dana,” he said confidently.

“Oh, that would make me very sad, buddy. What will I do?” Edward said.

The little boy shrugged. “I’ll trade you my favorite game for her!”

“Hmm, what game?” he said, considering his choices.

“Boppy Bubbles!” the little boy replied with a firm nod.

“I don’t know. That’s a good game, but Dana cooks really well. I don’t know. What else do you have?” Edward asked.

The little boy’s face scrunched up as he thought about it. “You can take my sister! She’s really annoying, but pretty! I

wouldn’t mind making the trade, honest!”

Edward chuckled. “I’ll have to think about it.”

“Really?” the little boy grinned hugely.

“Yup, but I have to warn you she’s very strict about video game and television time, only an hour a day,” Edward said in

a soft warning tone.

The boy’s face dropped. “Forget it, you can keep her!” He stormed off.

Edward chuckled. Mrs. Goodfellow was trying her best to hide her laughter, but doing a poor job of it.

“My brother has her magazine under his bed. Why does he do that? Isn’t it going to get wrecked?” the girl with red hair

asked.

“Er….” Edward was at a loss for words.

Mrs. Goodfellow let out a snort of laughter and quickly clamped her mouth shut. She couldn’t help at the moment even if

she wanted to, and he suspected she very much wanted to steer the conversation another way.

“My brother has it in his bathroom. I think he really likes the articles, because it’s worn out and he’s in there for like

forever.” the little girl with pig tails announced.

“My Daddy has the magazine in his sock drawer
and
in the bathroom!” a little boy announced.

Edward looked up at Mrs. Goodfellow for help, but she was past being able to help. What was he supposed to say to

these kids when he himself had a copy of the magazine in the bathroom, hell he had the eight by tens pinned up around his desk

in the office. Dana rolled her eyes every time she looked at them. She didn’t understand because she wasn’t a guy. He liked a

little eye candy now and then and she was like a freaking candy factory for him, and apparently for many of the men in these

children’s lives.

“My brother’s magazine is wrecked, the pages are stuck together,” one little boy complained.

His jaw dropped.

“Oh lord,” Mrs. Goodfellow mumbled.

“They just really like the magazine. It’s very interesting. There are a lot of good stories in it. But perhaps you shouldn’t

touch them. Remember it’s not nice to touch someone’s stuff without permission,” Edward said, proud of himself that he was

able to form a coherent sentence at the moment.

“He’s right, children. When we don’t ask what do we do?” Mrs. Goodfellow prompted the children.

“We ask for trouble,” they said in unison.

“Let’s go sit down,” Mrs. Goodfellow said, clasping her hands together. They turned on their heels quickly and ran to the

reading circle.

“I’m sorry about that,” Edward said, feeling a little more than embarrassed that they’d been inadvertently talking about

other men jerking off to his wife. It made his stomach turn when he thought about the lascivious thoughts other men had about

his Dana.

“Oh, don’t be. Dana is a very beautiful woman and the article they wrote in that magazine was very nice. It’s good to see a

woman struggle through hardships and come out on top,” Mrs. Goodfellow said adamantly.

“Mrs. Goodfellow?” Mr. Paulson said, popping his head into the room.

“Stephanie, can you watch the students? I’m stepping into the hall for a moment.”

She nodded and did a once over on Edward again. It made his skin crawl the way she looked at him in front of his

daughter. He went into the hall. Mr. Paulson shut the door behind him. Thankfully no one else was in the hall. This was going to

difficult enough to talk about without witnesses.

“What do you need to talk to us about, Mr. Pierce?” Mr. Paulson asked politely.

“I want my daughter removed from this class,” he said.

Mrs. Goodfellow’s face dropped. “What’s wrong? I didn’t know she was upset. Is it something we can fix? I really enjoy

having her in my class. She’s a bright and funny girl and goes out of her way to help with the shyer students.”

He felt bad that she'd gotten the wrong impression. “Oh, it’s nothing about you, Mrs. Goodfellow. She adores you and my

wife thinks you’re the best, but as long as Stephanie is an aide in that class my child won't be.”

Mrs. Goodfellow heaved a sigh. “I should have known she would be the cause of this. I’m really sorry, Mr. Pierce. I told

her to stop harassing your daughter about you. I wrote her up several times and informed Mr. Paulson.”

He nodded. “Yes, I know about those, I’m referring to her calling my wife a whore and my sons bastards.”

She was at a loss for words, but Mr. Paulson wasn’t. “She said what?” he asked through clenched teeth.