Chapter 27
Joey startled Tyler when he grabbed her but before she could scream, he kissed her forcefully. She could taste and smell the alcohol on his breath and she fought to get him off.
Pushing him back, Tyler said, "Joey, stop it! What are you doing?"
"Taking back what’s mine," said Joey as he started to pull her to the back door. "You’re coming with me."
"Joey, Kevin told you earlier, I’m not some trophy you can show off. Now, let me go. I love Kevin and I’m going to marry him."
"No, you aren’t some trophy but you’re carrying MY baby and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let Kevin Richardson raise it."
Pollyanna came down the hall and saw Tyler and Joey arguing. She quickly went to get Kevin and Howie before Joey realized she was even there.
"Kevin! Howie! Quick! Tyler needs your help!"
Thinking that she’d fallen or something, Kevin asked concerned, "What’s wrong?"
"She’s arguing with Joey and he’s trying to drag her out the back."
Howie said over his shoulder, "Call the cops, AJ, and get ‘Bull’."
Kevin and Howie rushed to the hall but stopped short as they saw Tyler slap Joey and say, "Kevin and Howie were right about you all along and I was too naive to see it. You don’t care about me! The only time you get any balls is when you’re drunk and when you’re sober, you let Lou control you. I had hoped that you’d change for the baby but I guess I was wrong. Now get your hands off me, Joseph!"
"You slut!" said Joey as he started to hit her.
Kevin grabbed Joey’s arm and spun him around. "You touch her and I’ll kill you."
Joey got in Kevin’s face. "Is that a threat?"
Kevin was bigger than Joey and not intimidated by him. His only concern right
now was Tyler as he saw her holding her stomach. "Take it any way you want
to!"
Howie took Tyler in his arms as she began to cry and ‘Bull’ came up
behind them. He asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"Take Mr. Fatone somewhere away from Tyler until the police get here,"
said Kevin. "And make sure they use the back entrance. WE don’t need the
publicity of having this scumbag arrested."
‘Bull’ took Joey to a back room but before he was gone, Joey looked at Tyler and Kevin and said, "You’ll never see this baby after it’s born."
When ‘Bull’ closed the door, Kevin moved to Tyler and she went into his arms. He held her as she cried, stroking her hair and whispering, "It’s okay, baby! He’s gone and he’s not going to hurt you."
Howie asked softly, "Do we need to call an ambulance?"
Tyler looked up at Howie, "NO! I don’t want to cause a scene. It’s bad enough the cops are going to be here soon."
Kevin said, "Baby, you need to be checked out. I can tell you’re in pain and this stress can’t be good for the baby."
"I’m just having cramps."
Howie said, "Let one of us take you to the hospital."
By now, the rest of the group had gathered around and Paula asked, "Tyler, what’s wrong?"
"I’m just having cramps."
Ann said, "The stress of the confrontation could have caused her to start having contractions."
Tyler had a terrified look on her face and Kevin said, "I’m taking you to the hospital."
Kevin picked Tyler up easily and started for the door. Howie, Nick, and AJ started to follow but Tyler said, "No, guys! Y’all stay here and have fun. This party is for Brian and Sonja too."
"How are we going to have fun worrying about you?" asked Sonja.
"Don’t worry about me! Kryss, Lex, and Fiona went to a lot of trouble. Celebrate for us," said Tyler.
Ann spoke up, "I’ll go with them and call as soon as we know something."
Paula said, "I’ll drive you there, Ann."
The others looked at each other and Howie said, "Fine, but call the second you know something."
"We will," promised Kevin.
Nick, AJ, and Howie gave Tyler a kiss and the girls all said good-bye with tears in their eyes. Then Kevin carried Tyler out to his truck and put her in. His mother and Paula went to their car and followed Kevin to the hospital.
At Tabu, the police arrived shortly after Kevin left. Howie told them what had happened and about the restraining order. They took Joey into custody and led him away.
Tyler was taken into an examining room as soon as Kevin walked in the door with her. He stayed with her as the nurses took her vitals He sat beside her brushing her hair back and wiping the tears.
Tyler said, "I was so wrong about Joey. Thank you for being there for me...again."
"I’ll always be there for you, Tyler."
"You were so right about Joey and I was too blind to see him for who he really is."
"You’re not stupid, Tyler. One of the things I love about you is that you always see the good in people," said Kevin. Then, giving her that sexy grin that he knew she couldn’t resist, he said, "I told you, you might as well accept the fact that I’m ALWAYS right."
Tyler laughed through the tears, "I’m starting to get the message. Thank you for not saying ‘I told you so’."
Kevin teased, "But I want to SO BAD!"
"I know and so do a few others, like Howie."
"I really don’t need to say it though. You said it just fine for me," said Kevin as he ran his finger down her nose. "How do you feel now?"
"A little better."
The doctor came in to examine Tyler so Kevin stepped to the door. Paula and Ann joined him to give them both support.
"What happened tonight?" asked the doctor.
"I got into an argument with my ex-boyfriend who just happens to be the father of my baby. Is the baby going to be okay?"
"I expect so. What I want to do is a non-stress test which will monitor the baby’s heart rate and any contractions. We’ll know more from the results what’s going on. I see on your chart that your blood pressure is elevated. I expect this was brought on by the stress of the argument."
Kevin asked, "How long are you going to keep her?"
"Not long. Maybe an hour or so. Then I want her to take things easy for a couple days."
Paula said, "She will."
Tyler looked at Kevin, "What about Tiffany?"
"Don’t worry about that right now."
Ann said, "Kevin, why don’t you call the others while the doctor is setting things up?"
Kevin looked at Tyler and she nodded her head that she was okay. He went out to make the call leaving Tyler with Paula and his mother.
When Kevin returned, Paula asked, "What are you going to do when they release her?"
"I’m going to take her back to our place."
Paula looked confused and Tyler said, "I moved in with Kevin today. Mami, why don’t you and Mom go on back and enjoy the rest of the party? There’s no sense in you two hanging around here."
"Are you sure?" asked Ann.
Kevin said, "Yeah, Mama! Both of you go on and have some fun. You flew all the way down here for a party."
Ann said, "A party to celebrate your engagement, son."
Kevin said, "Mom, we’ll be okay. Go on back with Uncle Harold and celebrate Brian’s engagement!"
"Okay! I’ll go. Call me at the hotel if you need me, both of you."
Paula and Ann gave each of them a kiss and left the couple alone. Kevin went to sit beside Tyler and he took her hand in his. Tyler leaned back into the pillows to relax. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Kevin asked, "Are you in any pain now?"
Tyler shook her head, "No. ‘Boo’, will you sing to me?"
Kevin began to sing softly and Tyler relaxed listening to his voice. It was better than any medicine the doctor could have given her to relax.
The nurses checked on Tyler frequently and when the hour was up, the doctor
came in to check the results. He said to them, "Everything looks normal.
The heartbeat is strong and there are no contractions.
"That’s good, right?" asked Kevin.
"That’s excellent," said the doctor. "Take her home and do more of whatever you were doing for her over the last hour."
Tyler smiled, "He was singing to me. Thank you doctor."
The doctor said, "Try not to get into any more arguments."
Kevin said, "She won’t if I have anything to do with it."
The doctor left and Tyler got up to get ready to go home. When she was ready, Kevin took her out to the truck and they drove straight home.
At the house, Tyler went up to change into something more comfortable while Kevin went to get a drink. When she came back, he had put in ‘Top Gun’ and was sitting on the couch. Tyler joined him laying beside him with her arms around his waist and her head on his stomach. Kevin put one arm around her to hold her while he held his drink in the other.
"I’m sorry about the party."
"It’s not your fault, baby. Besides, I’d rather be here at home where it’s quiet and we can be alone."
Tyler was quiet for a few minutes as she thought about the next question she was going to ask. Then she said, "Kevin, be honest with me. Would you really have been upset if I had lost the baby tonight?"
Without hesitation, Kevin said, "Yes, because it’s a part of you, Tyler. Why would you think that?"
"Well, it’s not YOUR baby," said Tyler as tears welled up in her eyes. "Kevin, I’m having a really hard time with all this. Tonight, when I started having the cramps and I thought I might lose it, I was really scared. I’ve come to love this baby but I’m also feeling guilty about it."
"Why are you feeling guilty, Tyler?"
"Because it’s NOT your baby and I care so much about it. Then there’s also the fact that it was conceived due to a rape and I have to face that every time I look at him or her."
"Baby, you aren’t betraying me by loving this baby. It’s a victim of this just like you are and I could NEVER resent you or the baby," said Kevin as he pulled her hair back off her face. "Tyler, I think you need to get some help with dealing with Joey raping you and the pregnancy. Will you look into that between now and when we get married?"
"If that’s what you want me to do?"
"It is, baby. I wanted to talk to you about the baby and after it’s born and now seems like a good time so that I can reassure you of my feelings."
"Talk about what?"
"Tyler, because I love you with all my heart, I love everything about you, including the baby. After he or she is born, I want to adopt him, raise him as my own."
Tyler was surprised by Kevin’s reaction and she said, "But what about Joey?"
"Screw Joey!"
Tyler laughed, "No thanks!"
Kevin smiled, "You know what I mean. Look, we can talk to Christine about the legal aspect of it. I mean, Joey either has to have his parental rights taken away by the courts or..."
"I don’t have to put him down as the father of the baby."
"Yeah."
"Let’s talk to Christine about the legal side of it all. Joey knows it’s his baby and I’m sure that he’s going to fight us on it but I love the idea of you being his father. I think you’ll be a wonderful father!"
Kevin gave Tyler a kiss and then they went back to watching the movie. They did adjust so that Kevin was laying behind Tyler and he had his arms around her. When they got to the part where the guys were singing in the bar, Kevin started singing to her.
Tyler laughed and said, "I have NOT lost that loving feeling. It’s pressing against me!"
Kevin kissed Tyler on the neck, "Baby, I can’t help myself when you’re next to me!"
"See, I told you you were trouble!" teased Tyler.
Kevin started tickling her and she was laughing trying to get away from him. Kevin said as he tickled her, "Say ‘uncle’!"
"No!" laughed Tyler.
"Okay! Say, ‘I love you and you’re always right, Kevin!" said Kevin as he continued to tickle her.
"I love you!" laughed Tyler.
"And you’re always right, Kevin! Say it, Tyler or I’m not going to stop!"
"No!!"
"I’m not going to stop until you say it!"
Tyler was laughing so hard that she had tears rolling down her cheeks. "Okay! You’re always right, Kevin!"
Kevin stopped tickling her and moved so that Tyler could look him in the eyes. "Tyler, I can’t think of another woman that I want to share everything with! You are my heart and soul, baby."
"Good! Go get me a pickle and some ice cream."
Kevin hung his head, burying his face in her hair. "Do I have too?"
"You’re the one who said he wanted to share everything with me. Well, I’m having a craving for a pickle and ice cream."
"What flavor?" asked Kevin as he started to get up.
"I don’t care.......no, wait, make it cookies and cream."
"I’ll be back in a minute."
Kevin hurried to the kitchen and got what Tyler wanted. He came back and handed her the pickle but he kept the HUGE bowl of ice cream.
"I thought you got that for me," pouted Tyler.
"I did but I need practice."
"Practice for what?"
Kevin scooped up some ice cream in the spoon and moved it to Tyler. "Practice feeding a baby."
Tyler took the ice cream as she said, "Just don’t get it all over me."
The two sat on the couch facing each other while they took turns feeding each other ice cream. Occasionally, it would drip down Tyler’s chin and Kevin would lean to her and lick it off. Tyler would laugh and pretend to be disgusted by it but deep down, she loved it.
By the end of the movie, Tyler was laying on the couch with her head in Kevin’s lap and asleep. Kevin used the remote control to turn the movie off and looked at his watch. It was late and he figured the others would be home soon.
Kevin wasn’t off by much. About thirty minutes later, Brian and Sonja returned home and Kevin signaled for them to be quiet.
"Is she okay?" asked Sonja quietly.
"Yeah, she’s fine. The doctor said it was the stress of the argument."
"Joey has done nothing but cause her trouble from day one," said Brian.
"She’s realized it now," said Kevin as he looked down at her. "How was the party?"
"It was great. Everyone, the families too, are going to meet at the park tomorrow when we take Tiffany. Nick is going to get Aaron to come too."
"Cool!" said Kevin.
"It should be a blast!" said Sonja.
"I’m going to take Tyler to bed now," said Kevin. "We’ll see you in the morning."
"Good night, Kev!" said Brian and Sonja as they watched Kevin take Tyler up to his room.
