Firestone (18 page)

“
I want to be sober,” Tink
said. “I think Aden’s right.”

“
Me too,” Charlie said.
“But I didn’t want you to think that I’d love you less if you
relapsed. We just have to keep trying to be sober because that’s
where life is good.”

“
I . . .
um . . . I love you too.” Tink blushed bright red
and looked really cute.

Charlie leaned over and kissed her even
though she tasted like tuna sandwich.

“
Hey!” Sissy said as she
walked to the table. “None of that.”

Charlie leaned back in his chair. Sissy and
Tink started talking. Noelle and Ivy came over. Charlie watched
Tink light up when she talked to her friends. If possible, she
looked even lovelier. Heather came over to check to see if Tink was
okay. And he saw Sandy taking a peek at him.

Charlie just played it cool.

After all, he was in this nice place with
Tink. In a few minutes, Sissy and Noelle and Ivy would go away and
he’d have Tink to himself again. Sure enough, Sandy gestured to the
girls and they went back to their table to eat.

“
Sorry,” Tink
said.

“
For what?” Charlie
asked.

“
It’s our date
and . . . they . . .” Tink
said.

“
I like to see you happy,”
Charlie said.

Tink blushed. Charlie had just put a french
fry in his mouth when Tink leaned over the table and kissed him. He
almost choked, but it was totally worth it. She grinned at him.

“
I think this is happily
ever after,” he said.

“
I think you’re right,”
Tink said.

Charlie grinned.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday evening — 7:42 p.m.

Rodney kneeled down next to the bathtub to
help Jabari. He could have easily bathed the small boy in the big
kitchen sink. But the child wanted to be treated like a little boy,
not a baby. Rodney thought that any child who was as brave as
Jabari deserved to be treated however he wanted to be treated.

Jabari ducked his head under the water of
the tub and popped back out. Rodney laughed. He lathered up a
washcloth and began scrubbing the child.

“
How come you’re still so
dirty?” Rodney asked. “I know Yvie’s scrubbed you down a few
times.”

“
I don’t know,” Jabari
said. “I didn’t have to take baths at my mom’s house.”

“
Why is that?” Rodney
asked.

“
She said that boys as
dark as me didn’t show the dirt,” Jabari said. “So it was a waste
of her time to bother.”

Rodney nodded.

“
You’re a lot darker than
me,” Jabari said.

“
That’s the truth,” Rodney
said.

“
Do you take baths?”
Jabari asked.

“
Showers,” Rodney said.
“Sometimes twice a day.”

“
How come?” Jabari
asked.

“
I like the warm water and
the feeling of being clean,” Rodney said. “Plus, you’ve met my
wife?”

Jabari gave him a big smile.

“
Yvie likes it when I
smell good,” Rodney said. “I want her to be around me.”

Jabari nodded like he understood.

“
I think we’re making
progress on you, Jabari,” Rodney said. “One more bath like this and
you’ll be good as new.”

The little boy fell silent, and Rodney kept
scrubbing.

“
Could I stay here and be
your little boy?” Jabari asked.

“
I think you’re Jeraine’s
little boy,” Rodney said.

“
I know,
but . . .” Jabari looked at Rodney. The boy’s eyes
filled with tears. “I like it here.”

Rodney nodded. The little boy looked into
Rodney’s face.

“
I’ll tell you,” Rodney
said. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. I’d bet
your daddy’s going to take you home soon, though. Then you’ll live
with him and our Tanesha.”

“
But what about you?”
Jabari asked. “Don’t you need a little boy?”

“
Tanesha is our little
girl,” Rodney said. “If you live with Jer and Tanesha, you’ll be
our grandbaby. That means you could come over any time you want.
You could stay in the guest bedroom and sleep in the big bed and
hang out with Yvonne.”

“
And Mr.
Chesterfield?”

“
I think Mr. Chesterfield
wouldn’t hear of anything different,” Rodney said. He confirmed the
idea with a nod.

Jabari imitated Rodney’s nod.

“
Is Tanesha also called
Tannie?” Jabari asked.

“
Only by her mother,”
Rodney said.

Jabari smiled.

“
Tannie is
your
little girl,”
Jabari said. “So I’d be
your
little boy because she’ll be my mom.”

“
That’s right,” Rodney
said.

Jabari seemed to like that idea. He
squealed, and Rodney laughed.

“
But you don’t want to
call her Tannie.”

“
How come?” Jabari
asked.

“
It’s a name her mother
uses,” Rodney said. “She doesn’t like it much.”

“
My mommy calls me
Jabber,” Jabari said.

“
That doesn’t seem very
nice,” Rodney said.

“
Is it like Tannie?”
Jabari said.

“
No,” Rodney said. “Tannie
is a little girl’s name and Tanesha isn’t so little
anymore.”

Jabari nodded.

“
Do you think she wants to
be my mom?” Jabari asked.

“
Do you want her to be?”
Rodney asked.

Jabari nodded.

“
Sounds like everything is
going to work out really good for you,” Rodney said. “I’ll tell
you. Jeraine’s parents are my best friends. They can’t see you now
because of the fight with your mom, but trust me. You’re going to
love them.”

“
I get more grandparents?”
Jabari asked.

Rodney nodded.

“
That’s really good,”
Jabari said. “I’m glad I came all this way.”

“
You know what?” Rodney
smiled. “I’m glad you did too.”

Jabari laughed like that was the funniest
thing he’d ever heard. He laughed so loud that Yvonne came in to
see what was going on. The little boy just kept laughing. Rodney
got him out of the tub, and Yvonne helped him into his new soft
pajamas. They tucked the child into the big bed together.

“
If I’m your grandbaby,”
Jabari said. “That means I
belong
to you.”

“
That’s right, we
all
belong
together,” Rodney said.

“
You won’t forget me?”
Jabari asked.

“
When would we forget
you?” Yvonne asked.

“
When I have to go back
and live with my mom,” Jabari said. “She had lots of money and she
gets whatever she wants.”

“
I’ll tell you this,”
Rodney said. “I have lots of money.”

“
You do?” Jabari looked so
surprised and delighted that Rodney laughed.

“
And lots of friends,”
Yvonne said.

“
And lawyers,” Rodney
said.

“
We won’t ever forget you.
We’re
family
now.”

“
We are?” Jabari said.
“Real family?”

“
Do you love us?” Rodney
asked.

Jabari nodded.

“
We love you,” Yvonne
said. “That’s what makes a family.”

“
Even if I wet the bed?”
Jabari asked.

“
We put on your special
pants so if that happens, it’s no problem,” Yvonne said.

“
But we’d love you even if
it we had to throw the mattress out,” Rodney said.

“
You would?” Jabari looked
astounded at the thought.

Yvonne kissed the boy’s cheek, and Rodney
tucked the covers in around him. They turned off his light and left
the room.

“
What do you think?”
Yvonne asked.

“
I think that I’m going to
fight like hell to make sure that he doesn’t have to go back to his
mother,” Rodney said.

Yvonne smiled.

“
What?” Rodney
asked.

“
I knew you’d love him,”
Yvonne said.

They walked down the hall to their room.

“
There’s one thing,
though,” Rodney said.

“
What?” Yvonne
asked.

“
That boy is not four and
a half,” Rodney said.

“
That’s what Jeraine says
he is,” Yvonne said.

“
He looks like Jer,”
Rodney said. “No question. It’s
just . . .”

“
He seems like he’s three
or maybe younger,” Yvonne said. “Except he’s so mouthy.”

“
Like Jeraine was,” Rodney
said. “Remember?”

“
That boy could talk your
ear off when he was two years old,” Yvonne laughed.

“
Just another mystery,”
Rodney said.

Nodding, Yvonne followed him into their
room.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday evening — 8:35 p.m.

Jill stuck her head out of the nursery and
listened.

The loft was silent.

No twins crying. No Katy
laughter-tears-screams-giggles-conversation. Jacob was working in
the office they shared.

The twins were fed and asleep. Katy had
given her last kisses and special hugs and was now sound asleep.
Everyone was safe, tucked in, and cared for.

Jill sighed.

She wanted to
do
something — watch a
movie, go for a run, head downstairs to talk to Sandy about the
Grand Jury and what happened with Seth, call Heather and find out
what was happening with Blane, hear the latest about Jabari from
Tanesha, or maybe just make popcorn. She couldn’t decide
what
she wanted to do.
She just wanted to
do
something.

She’d been taking care of babies for too
long. Tonight, she was going to have fun.

She sat down on the cozy loveseat outside
the nursery and tried to pick something. Scooter jumped up onto the
loveseat and settled in next to her. He put his head on her
lap.

“
Jill?” Jacob came out of
his office a few minutes later. “Jill?”

She was sound asleep. Not wanting to wake
her, he covered her with a blanket and went back to the office.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday evening — 9:02 p.m.

“
How’s Tink?” Heather
asked Blane in a low voice.

She was sitting on the bed rocking Mack.

“
Asleep,” Blane said. “She
and Charlie had a nice time tonight.”

“
After that awful
hearing . . .” Heather started and shook her
head.

Mack was asleep in her arms. Blane held his
arms out for his son, but Heather shook her head.

“
He just fell asleep,” she
said. “Let’s give him a few minutes.”

Mack opened his large blue eyes. He looked
at Heather, and she smiled at him. He looked around until he saw
Blane. He laughed like he’d just found something special. Then he
looked back at Heather. She rocked him.

“
I’m sorry about Chet,”
Blane said.

“
I know,” Heather said.
“We can’t take him and have you get your treatment. Risa is looking
for a temporary placement so Chet can move here after the first of
the year.”

Blane nodded.

“
How do you feel
about . . . everything?” Heather asked.

“
Everything?” Blane
asked.

Heather watched him.

“
I feel grateful for you
and my life,” Blane said. “I feel a fierce, heart-wrenching love
for our children — Mack, Tink, and our baby boy on the way. I go
back to feeling deeply grateful for you. I love you.”

She smiled, and he sat down next to her on
the bed.

“
And of course, Jake and
Sam and everything else and all the awesomeness in my life,” Blane
said.

“
I know, it’s pretty
great,” Heather said. “Do you want to run through the procedure
again?”

“
Tomorrow, I’m going to
confirm with the doctor that we want to go through with treatment,”
Blane said. “I will schedule the procedure in the next two weeks.
In the meantime, I’ll wrap up at Lipson, and in my acupuncture
practice, and go into the hospital. They will destroy all of my
bone marrow. They will then seed my system with Tanner’s cord
blood. I will lie in bed and try not to go completely crazy. I will
stay there and hope the cord blood reseeds my bone marrow. If not,
they’ll try with Bladen’s cord blood.”

Heather nodded.

“
What are you going to
do?” Blane asked.

“
Worry a lot,” Heather
said.

He smiled.

“
Tink’s going to help me
with Mack,” Heather said. “Jill and Sandy are going to help too.
Sandy’s going to pick up Tink from school and keep her at her house
until I can come get her. Jill and Honey will help with Mack so I
can stay with you as much as I can. I know Jake, Sam, and Aden are
going to be there too. We’ll do what we can to keep our lives
going. But we’ll miss you horribly. I’ll miss you horribly. When
the month is over and you’re disease free, you’ll come home to us
and our lives.”