The pic on the side is of Adam
Every time we stopped, he would demand if I was okay. I told him yes every time, but he still asked.
We walk into the hospital.
Mom stands up the second she sees us.
Charlotte comes running to me, tears gushing down her cheeks.
I squat down and pick her up into a tight embrace.
Mom hugs me.
"No word yet." She says.
"Have you tried?"
"No." she says.
"Mom, this is...uh..."
"Jace." He says.
"He drove me here because my car broke." I say.
"Nice to meet you, Jace." Mom says.
Mom sits back down and Jace sits on a loveseat.
I march right over to the counter.
"I would like information on my brother, please." I say.
"Who is your brother?" the lady asks.
"Adam Michael Dugby." I say.
She types into the computer.
"We don't have any information yet."
"Okay, thanks."
She nods.
"Rylee, is he lives, I want you to take Charlotte."
"What?" I ask.
"She calls you Mommy sometimes. He is not fit to be a parent, whether he stops with this or not. She wants you. Look at the way she's clinging to you."
"Mom...I'm not...I can't-"
"She can't keep living like this." Mom whispers. "This is what Nikki would've wanted."
"No, Nikki would've wanted her to be with her father!"
"Well she can't! Her father isn't right in the head! He can't be a father! Your fit to be a mother. If he couldn't be her parent, she'd have wanted you!"
"But she deserves a mother and a father." I whisper.
"Well she can't have both right now. She needs her mother. Like it or not, that's you. One day you'll get married and she can have a daddy. For now she just gets you."
"If he shapes up, he gets her back." I whisper.
"Sounds fair to me." She says.
****
We wait hours. I told Jace he doesn't have to stay nine times, and each time he told me he's staying.
I want him to leave.
A doctor comes downstairs at midnight. Charlotte is sleeping on my chest.
"Are you guys here for Adam Dugby?"
"Yes."
"He's awake. He wants to know if Rylee is here?"
Everyone looks at me. "He wants to talk to you." he says.
I hand Charlotte off to Mom and follow the doctor.
"He didn't die from blood loss, he died from the drugs. We pumped his stomach and he's awake and stone sober."
He holds a door open for me.
I walk in and he shuts it.
Adam looks at me.
"I'm sorry for hitting you." he whispers.
I sigh quietly.
"I know you are." I say.
I don't tell him it's okay, because it isn't.
It's not okay.
"I want you to be Charlotte's Mom." He whispers.
I look at him and raise my eyebrows. "She can't live with Mom. She has more of a chance of having a Dad with you. I want her to go to you. I want her to know that your Mommy." He says. "She needs to stop calling you Auntie."
"What if you shape up? What if you get help?"
He shakes his head. "I can't be her Dad." He says. "I'm not a good role model. I only way I would've been able to do it would've been with Rikki. She's gone. She wouldn't want me to be Charlotte's Dad after all of this. I really want you to be her Mom. Please, Rylee? Please?"
I nod slowly. "Alright." I sigh.
"That means when she's acting up, you can tell her to knock it off. When I get let out, we'll go to the courthouse and make it official."
"But what if I get married? She'll-"
"Call him Daddy." He nods. "I'll be okay."
"Alright." I sigh. "I'll do it."
****
He was let out a week later. Jace still won't leave.
We go to the courthouse and change the name on Charlotte's birth certificate so her mother's name is Rylee Harper Digby.
She's already started to call me Mommy.
We have to change everything.
I now claim two, myself and Charlotte.
I already feel different, like a certain amount of responsibility is on my shoulders.
I'm a Mom now.
They didn't let Jace out until late, and it's seven when we get to Mom's.
"Jace, you really don't have to stay.
"I'm staying, Rylee." He says.
Sighing, we all sit around while Mom makes dinner. Charlotte plays on the floor.
"Coming home you?" Charlotte asks. "You my Mommy."
"Do you want to come home with me?" I ask.
"Ya!" she grins.
"Well then I guess you are." I smile. She squeals, excited, and she plays with her toys.
We all eat.
Most people wouldn't even know that my Mom that I call Mom isn't my birth Mom; she's my step Mom who was a bitch when she raised me. She got Dad arrested for bullshit. My real Mom is somewhere.
My real Dad is...
God knows where he is.
That's why I miss my Dad.
He was forced to leave us by the police, and he fought for custody, and when he lost, my step Mom filed a restraining order.
The courts had us stay with her because they couldn't find my Mom.
Dad was pleading and screaming while he was dragged out of the courtroom.
He promised Adam and I he would find us again.
Jace is being very quiet.
I must've zoned out, because Adam is gone.
"Where's Adam?" I ask.
"Kitchen." Jace sighs.
Adam walks in with a bottle of Rum.
I swear my Mom is keeping it in the house because she wants Adam to drink it.
I make a move to sit up and take the bottle, but to my surprise, Jace does. He snatches the bottle right out of Adam's hand and walks to the kitchen.
I hear it get poured down the sink. The bottle hits the bottom of the garbage can.
"You know what I don't understand?" Jace blurts. He's not looking at me, or at my Step mom.
No, he's looking right at Jace.
"What?" Adam asks, irritated.
"You gave up your daughter. You hit your sister! You are ripping your family apart, and you don't care!"
"I am not!"
"Bullshit!" Jace shouts.
"Jace," I begin, standing up. Adam stands up too.
"How am I ripping them apart?"
"Your kid was crying hysterically when I got there with your sister! Your mom was crying! You hit the shit out of your sister but she's still fucking here for you! You shouldn't be doing this! I get it, alright? I get you lost your wife, and that sucks, and if I lost your sister, I'd probably lose it too, but if I got her pregnant, I'd man the fuck up and take care of my kid! You've got a beautiful daughter that deserves her father. Your wife wouldn't have wanted this! You are the man of the house, and you're fucking it up!" Jace grabs the front of Adam's shirt. "Man the fuck up, stop snorting and shooting and drinking and go the fuck to rehab. Fix yourself, come back, get your fucking kid, and start your life over again, with your kid. Make your wife proud! She's up above us heartbroken! You're a path of destruction! Fix it!"
If I lost your sister, I'd probably lose it too.
Does he like me?
Jace disappears upstairs and ten minutes later, he comes down with bags and bags and bags of cocaine and marijuana and heroin and crystal meth.
He takes it outside and tosses it in the neighbors trash.
Then he walks back into the house.
"Rylee, can we leave please?" he asks. "I can't sit here and watch people get their hearts broken for another second."
I have a sudden respect for Jace.
He may be an arrogant dick, but he's got a soft spot.
I nod slowly and put me and Charlotte's dishes away.
I pick up Charlotte and follow Jase out the door. I have Charlotte's clothes in a backpack. Jace lifts the seat and tosses the bag there. He gets on his motorcycle, I get on, and then I lift Charlotte between us. Charlotte's tiny fists clutch to Jace's back. I hold onto him, my mind racing.
I don't even know him! How the hell would he like me already?
So who likes Jace?
Wasn't his freak out at Adam true?