Color of Forgiveness (58 page)

Dylan frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Sometimes you stare.”

Dylan swallows hard. “Oh. Well, that’s
because you remind me of someone. Someone that was very special to
me.”

“Mel?”

Dylan gulps and his eyes widen. “You
remember him?” he asks in disbelief.

Joseph nods. “I remember. Mommy thinks I
don’t, but I do. Mommy tells me he went to heaven. Can I go see
him?”

Dylan feels a tight, uncomfortable sensation
in his throat. He quickly clears it. “Sure. But I think he wants
you to wait a while. You know, to live and do happy stuff. But
he’ll be waiting on you.”

Dylan frowns when he thinks over the words
he just said…

…
To live and do happy stuff.

They’re such simple words, but they hit
Dylan hard.

To him, he has always viewed Joseph as a
painful reminder of what he lost, almost like a punishment. That he
was for some reason supposed to suffer every time he saw Joseph and
be reminded of what he could have had with Mel but never will.

But for the first time since Mel’s death as
he stares down at Joseph, he sees him in a different light. Joseph
is a blessing… a gift, a beautiful gift instead of a painful
reminder. He can watch his son grow through Joseph, and he knows
he’ll never look at him the same again.

“Is happy stuff like playing?” Joseph
asks.

Dylan smiles and gives him a nod. “It sure
is.”

“Okay. Let’s play,” he says as he hands
Dylan Scooby Doo.

Something catches Dylan’s eye, and he turns
towards the kitchen to see his mom and Myra looking on, both with
tears in their eyes. Sherri has her arm wrapped around Myra, and
Myra’s hand rests lightly on her stomach.

He studies both of them for a minute. It’s
like his past and his future have somehow converged.

Intertwined…

He smiles and nods at his mom to let her
know that he’s back. He’s home.

Then his eyes move to Myra’s and drops to
her hand resting on her stomach.

That’s his future.

As for Mel, he’ll see his son’s little face
again soon enough, he’s certain of that. But for now, he’s just
going to live and do happy stuff, with Myra, with his child and
with his family… until that day comes.

CHAPTER 16

Epilogue 1

8 Months Later…

“I just landed. You didn’t have her yet, did
you?” Susie hisses into the phone.

“No,” Myra responds with a snort. “I didn’t
have the
baby
yet.”

“It’s not a baby… it’s a
her
.”

“You don’t know that,” Myra sing-songs.

Susie makes an annoyed huffing sound. “I
would have to have the only best friend in the damn universe who
refuses to use the wealth of twenty-first century technology to
find out the sex of her baby.
Oh, no
. She has to drive her
best friend batshit crazy and revert to the ways of when the
dinosaurs roamed the earth.”

“Hey, you know that since this baby was such
a surprise, Dylan and I wanted the sex to be a surprise—”

“I know.
I know!
That still doesn’t
mean I’m not pissed off about it.”

Myra smiles. “It’s fun to annoy you.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying my agony because
I’m
not.
”

“I am,” Myra admits with a giggle.

“I know you are, and I hate you for it. I
swear to God I was completely convinced that you were going to pop
her out while I was in the air and I wouldn’t be able to do a
daggone thing about it.”

Myra laughs. “Well, I guess the little
conversation you two had before you got on the plane was
successful. I still want to know what you said. You better not have
said anything mean to my baby.”

“Pfft. Are you going to keep bringing that
crap up? I wasn’t mean. I was just stern in a very godmotherly way.
All I did was tell that teeny tiny sweet little baby girl that if
she dared to make an early appearance before I could get there for
the blessed event, that Susie, her fairy godmother, would give her
little virgin tushy a good tannin’.”

Myra gasps as she rubs her round stomach
with a soothing hand. “You threatened my baby with a spanking?”

“Yes, I most certainly did.”

“I cannot believe you! I knew you said
something mean to my baby.”

“Let me talk to her again.”

“No way,” Myra shouts.

“Please? I’ll apologize.”

“No.”

“Come on. Godmother Susie needs to beg the
little girlie girl for forgiveness. Please? Please. Please. Please.
You know I won’t stop. Please. Please. Please—”

“Oh, all right. Good grief.” Myra cuts her
off in a reluctant, ticked-off voice as she flips on the speaker
phone.

“Put me on your belly button and don’t put
me on speaker!”

Myra smiles as she puts the phone close to
her belly button. “Go ahead,” she shouts, listening intently. She
made the mistake of not putting Susie on speaker earlier… that
won’t happen again.

“Hey, little precious angel… This is your
fairy godmother, Susie. I just wanted to say how proud I am of you
that you stayed put inside your mommy’s little belly and waited
until I could get there. I just love you to pieces already, and I
need to apologize for being a mean fairy godmother earlier. I can’t
wait to see you and give your little beautiful face lots of kissy
kisses. Because with Dylan as your daddy and Myra as your mommy?
Girly, you’re going to knock men dead with your gorgeous little
self. I love you, sweetie pie, and I’ll see you really soon.

“Okay, Myra,” Susie shouts loudly.

Myra blinks her eyes watery and quickly
takes it off speaker phone.

“You listened, didn’t you?”

“No.”

“Liar!”

Myra giggles.

“I knew it. That was supposed to be a
private conversation, you sneaky evil eavesdropper you.”

“Sorry. I couldn’t help it.”

“Yeah, right...” Susie says. “I just can’t
wait to see you and your big belly and Jackie and Dylan’s family
again, especially Chad. God, I love that big beefy goofball. How
long has it been since I was there last? Three months? Or has it
been four?”

“Closer to four…”

“Ugh, you’re right. Wow, time flies. So
who’s picking me up since Dylan won’t let you drive? That
overprotective lump of luscious manly god-like delicious
tool-carrying hunk of—”

“
Stop!
It’s Jackie
,
” Myra
says, cutting Susie off as she laughs. “Jackie’s going to pick you
up.”

“You know I love your man, right?”

“Yes, I am well aware of the fact.”

“I just don’t understand why you can’t share
him. Why do you have to be so selfish?”

“I’m not selfish. Dylan is all mine.
Besides, you have Jeff,” Myra says before she giggles when she
hears Susie making gagging sounds. “Bye, Susie.”

“Wait! I want to talk more about that tool
he’s got between his—”

Myra hangs up her phone and laughs, shaking
her head. She has missed seeing her crazy friend so much, and she
was thrilled when she found out that Susie could fly out to Boise
to be with her for the birth. She smiles down at her huge stomach,
putting both of her hands on it. She can’t wait to see this little
person that has been kicking her for the last few months; she
absolutely cannot wait.

* * *

Dylan groans when his eyes dart to his phone
again, which is on the floor next to the tub he’s installing. He’s
lost fucking count of how many times his eyes have repeated that
shit in the last damn hour.

“Ah, fuck it,” he grumbles, setting his
wrench down and grabbing the offending thing. He quickly punches
the number one speed dial button before he sticks his head out the
door and looks both ways down the hallway. With a sigh, he sits
down on the floor and leans his back against the tub, stretching
his long legs out in front of him.

“Why are you calling me?” Myra answers in a
teasing voice.

He smiles like an idiot.

“Is that any way to greet your man? How’re
my babies doing?”

He grins even wider, feeling like a fucking
fool when he hears her giggle. “We’re doing fine and quit ignoring
my question. Why are you calling me?”

“Because I miss you…”

“You just left the house two hours ago.”

“So?”

Myra laughs. He could listen to that sound
all day long. “Are you worrying again?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“I told you not to work today if you were
going to worry about me.”

Dylan stretches his back and scratches his
neck. “I know.”

“Then why did you leave?”

“Because… I was going goddamn crazy at home,
following you around like an asshole.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Well, I felt like I was. Have you had any
contractions?”

“No. Nothing, I feel great.”

Dylan frowns. “Nothing? Are you sure? No
cramps? What about your back? They say that shit sometimes starts
in the back.”

His frown gets deeper when he hears Myra
laughing again. “I promise you, no cramps… and my back feels great.
I love you, silly. Why don’t you come home?”

“Are you sure? I won’t drive you fucking
insane?”

“Do you know how cute you are?”

Dylan groans and rolls his eyes. “Jesus
Christ, I’m not fucking cute.”

“Yes, you are,” Myra says with a snicker.
“You’re adorable, and I love how you worry about me and the baby.
You could never drive me crazy. You make me feel loved.”

“You are loved. I think I love you too damn
much because I’m driving myself crazy.”

“Well, come home. I don’t want you to drive
yourself crazy.”

“Are Mom and Jilly still there?”

“Of course... You think she’d leave after
the way you threatened her this morning?”

“I didn’t threaten her,” Dylan grumbles. But
he knows that’s a big fucking lie because he
did
threaten
her.

Myra laughs lightly. “Okay… whatever you
say.”

“Is Susie there yet?”

“No. Jackie went to pick her up.”

“All right… I’m coming home. I’ll let Chad
finish this job. Tell my mom she can leave but not until I get
there.”

“I love you, do you know that?”

Dylan tries hard to mask the dumb, happy
grin that wants to split his face wide open, but fails miserably.
“I love you more,” he says quickly before hanging up.

He smiles at his phone for a second before
his body jerks violently, his eyes popping open wide when his
dumbass brother’s huge body jumps in the doorway. “
Oh, god, baby
girl, I love you more than the stars in the motherfuckin’ sky,
”
Chad imitates in a high-pitched girly voice to the hammer he’s
holding. He bats his eyelashes at it and puckers his lips up,
making ridiculous smooching noises.

“You goddamn motherfucking jackass…” Dylan
mumbles under his breath while he climbs to his feet. His heart’s
about to pound out of his chest because the stupid oaf scared the
shit out of him. Chad begins howling with laughter, and Dylan has
an overwhelming urge to snatch that hammer from him and club him
over his dumb head with it.

“You should have seen your face.” Chad
points at him before, bending over and slapping his knee repeatedly
while laughing like an idiot.

Dylan’s lip turns up into a snarl as he
ignores him and quickly gets his tools together.

“Oh shit. My gut’s killin’ me,” Chad moans.
“That was hilarious.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Dylan says, grabbing his
tool bucket roughly.

For some reason, Chad laughs even harder.
“We all told your stupid ass not to work today, but you wouldn’t
listen. Take your lovesick ass back home and don’t come back until
she’s had that baby, got it?”

Dylan nods.

“I’ll see ya tonight at Ma’s or at the
hospital, whichever comes first,” Chad says.

Dylan brushes past him and out the bathroom
door. “Ma’s making peach cream pie tonight,” Chad yells out behind
him, “so tell Myra to keep her ass cheeks squeezed tight ‘cause
I’ve got me a cravin’ for some pie.”

Dylan shakes his head and flips him the bird
while he keeps walking. He hears Chad’s cackles echoing behind
him.

Once outside, Dylan glances at his old work
truck where the words
Lawson & Sons Contracting
are
displayed along the side. The corner of his mouth tugs upwards as
he hefts his tool bucket into the back. It feels fucking awesome to
be back working in the family business again.

As he drives home, he can’t stop worrying
about Myra and their baby. Her due date is in two days, and so far
she’s had a worry-free pregnancy other than that damn morning
sickness that she had for over four months. He thought that shit
would never go away. At Myra’s last doctor’s appointment, she was
dilated to one, which the doc said was normal. So now it’s just a
waiting game, and Dylan is not a patient man.

He will admit he has been a bit
overprotective of her, not letting her lift a finger for anything.
Myra tells him that she likes how he hovers over her, but he just
feels like he’s being an annoying ass. When Sabrina was pregnant
with Mel, she had a C-section that was scheduled way in advance so
there wasn’t any of this waiting shit. They just went to the
hospital and had him. All this waiting, water breaking, and labor
shit… it’s all brand new to him.

It’s a Friday in November, two weeks before
Thanksgiving. He was officially going to call it quits after today
and stay home with Myra until the baby was born. But both his dad
and Chad and everyone else in his family told him not to work
today, but he didn’t listen. Of course they were all right. He just
needs to be with her every minute. Just in case…

He pulls into his driveway next to his mom’s
car and smiles when he looks up at the house that he and Myra now
call home. They picked this particular house because it was so
close to his family. They’re only about five minutes from his
parents and both of his brothers. Myra tried to buy the house with
some of the cash she had sitting in her bank account that he knew
nothing about... close to a million fucking dollars. He had no damn
clue that she had that kind of money, but he wouldn’t let her touch
a penny of it. She inherited that money from the deaths of her dad
and Grampie so that shit had more than just a monetary value to it.
So he’d insisted on getting a mortgage and paying for it himself.
Myra had fought him on it until he agreed to let her pay the
utilities.