After the Storm {Book 2}

Chapter 2: Distraction

"She's going to kill me."

"That's OK. You have life insurance, right?" He said, laughing.

I gave him the most blank expression ever. "Shut up."

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"Honey, I was thinking about redecorating the house." Cindy said as she was unpacking the groceries.

I put the leftover plastic bags in the recycling bin. "How so?"

"New colors, new furniture. I hate these floors. They're so boring. I just want change!" She exclaimed.

"You like change?"

"Change is good. It keeps life interesting."

You won't be saying that later.

"I see. Why this new fascination for change?" I took some of the goods out of the bags.

"I don't know. I just feel we need to spice things up around here, ya know?" She opened the refrigerator and put the eggs in.

"If you say so. How much is 'spicing up' going to cost?"

"Money isn't a factor! I just need something new!" She said, cheesing from ear to ear.

I looked at her. "You're crazy, girl."

"And? That's why you love me."

I backed her against the counter. "I do."

She planted a kiss on my lips.

"Hey, girl. The baby is right in the other room. You know how loud you are." I said, winking at her.

She giggled. "Like that's a bad thing."

I grinned and backed away from her. "Would you ever want anymore kids?"

She looked at me with a slight grin. "Not right now. Why do you ask?"

I nodded. "Just asking."

"Why? Do you want more kids?"

My heart seemed to stop for a second. That was one question I couldn't honestly answer. "Um, I don't know. I guess it's a possibility."

"I think we're fine how we are now. That's one thing that I don't want to change."

I nodded, with my hopes lowering per second. She must have noticed my mood change because she asked, "Are you OK?"

I raised my eyebrows, then lowered them. "Yeah, I'm fine. So, how was your day today?"

"Well, Annah and I went to the park and I pushed her in her stroller for a while and then we went to the store..."

I seemed to tune her out, getting lost in my own miserable thoughts. Lamar's statements from earlier seemed to be taking over.

The longer you wait, the more angry she's going to be.

But I had no choice but to wait! I didn't want to ruin her good mood. I watched her as she rambled on with great enthusiasm. I didn't want her smile to turn into a permanent frown.

But I didn't want to keep being depressed and feeling guilty, either.

"Jason, are you listening?" She said, waking me from my dangerous mind.

"Of course, dear."

She put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Then what did I just say?"

"That's easy. You said you love me and that I am the best guy in the world." I said giving a huge smile.

"Wrong! How come you weren't listening?" Her mouth turned down.

"I'm sorry babe. I just...have a lot of things on my mind."

"Oh really. Well, I will just be one less thing you have to think about." She slammed down the can she was holding and stormed out of the room.

"Cindy, come on. Don't be like that." I followed her out of the room. She picked up Annah and stomped up the stairs.

I tried to catch up with her but the door slammed in my face and the sound of the door locking echoed through the hallway.

I sighed. "I don't know why you have to always overreact." I mumbled and  walked away from the door.

I went back downstairs and laid on the couch, staring at the TV blankly. I have no clue what was on nor did I care. All that was on my mind was Ryan - and Cindy. I wasn't going to let the kid feel alienated forever. Eventually, I would have to invite him over to meet Cindy and Annah, and my parents too. I had to make sure he knew he still had some family left.

If Cindy didn't agree with that, then I would just have to go through the process by myself. After all , he's my son. It's not like he's some random kid I found on the street. He had my blood and genes in him. I had to make up for all of the lost time. I wasn't going to be some dead beat dad like Carson proved to be.

Then my thoughts wandered to a whole new problem. What about his other siblings? I don't think Bridget ever found out who the rest of the fathers were and I didn't know how long her parents were going to agree to keep them. Especially considering the fact that they kicked Bridget out the first chance they got. I wasn't going to make the rest of Ryan's life a living hell like Bridget had.

I couldn't put this off anymore.

I got up and marched up to our room and stood in front of the door. After a few seconds of fearsome hesitance, I knocked on the door.

"Come on, Cindy. Open the door."

"What do we need to talk about?" She yelled through the door.

I sighed, my patience decreasing.  "A lot."

"Well, I don't feel like talking."

"Cindy, I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear what I have to say from outside of a door."

"Whatever you have to say can be said through the door!"

I had enough. "So you want me to tell you that I have another child through the door?!"

A few seconds went by and the door swung open. Her eyes became dark . "W-what?" She stammered.

The silence spoke volumes.