Chapter 87
Later in the morning, Tyler woke to find Kevin asleep in the chair beside her. He held her hand in his, their fingers locked together. She smiled as she watched him sleep; his hair in those damn cornrows and he hadn’t shaven in a couple days.
‘God, I love you,’ she thought. Tyler glanced around the room when she heard someone move. Howie was stretched out on the second bed in the room.
Howie rolled over and smiled, "’Bout time you woke up, ‘Sunshine’. How do you feel?"
"Like a truck ran over me. Have you been here the whole time too?"
Getting up to join Tyler, he said, "No, I took Tiffany back to the hotel
and AJ spent the night. Brian and Sonja are here to see you. They’re waiting
outside until you wake up."
"Go tell them to come in. Where’s Scott?"
Howie pointed to the bassinet at the foot of her bed. "Kevin told them that he was to stay here with you and he’s been feeding him along with everything else."
Tyler looked over at Kevin. "How did I get so lucky?"
Without opening his eyes, Kevin said, "I’m the lucky one."
"I thought you were asleep, ‘Boo’," said Tyler as Kevin squeezed her hand.
Sleepily, Kevin opened his eyes to see his wife. He pulled his hand to his lips kissing it softly. "I woke up when you did. ‘D’, give us a few minutes."
Howie left the room and Tyler watched as Kevin got up. He went to the bassinet carefully picking up Scott and bringing him to Tyler. As Tyler held him, Kevin sat beside her, wrapping the two of them in his embrace. Tyler looked up at him lovingly and he kissed her.
Running his finger along her jaw, Kevin said tenderly, "Baby, you are absolutely amazing. Your body grew this beautiful little miracle and you’ve been so strong holding up to EVERYTHING Joey, Lou, and the press has put you through. And now, your body is making what it needs to take care of this little one even more. I am SO proud of you."
Tyler had a tear rolling down her cheek which Kevin wiped away with his
thumb. "’Boo’, you’re my strength. Thank you for standing by me
through all this."
"Forever, baby! This is forever," replied Kevin as he kissed her, his
hand running through her hair, his tongue tasting her, teasing her.
Tyler whimpered and as Kevin pulled away, Scott let out a small cry. They both looked down at him, their foreheads touching. Kevin took Scott’s little fingers in his.
"Hey there, ‘Little Boo’. Don’t worry, I’m gonna share Mama with you."
Tyler laughed, "Now this is how I want guys fighting over me. Kevin Scott, I love you so much."
There was a light knock on the door and Brian stuck his head in, "Mind if we come in?"
"Come on in, Bri," said Kevin.
The two came in and Brian handed Kevin a bag. "I brought you some clean clothes and stuff to shave with."
"Thanks, cuz. Baby, while you visit with Sonja and Bri, I’m gonna get a shower."
"Do me a favor?"
"Anything."
"PLEASE...take those damn cornrows out."
Brian and Sonja laughed as Kevin pretended to pout. "I thought you liked my hair like this."
"It was cute at first but I like running my hands through your hair."
"I’ll take them out," said Kevin as he gave her a kiss.
While Kevin got his shower, Tyler talked with Sonja and Brian. Howie came back too with breakfast for Kevin. They talked about the baby while each one took their turn holding Scott. Howie also told Tyler that he was going to a local radio station later to explain why the shows were being postponed.
When Kevin came out, he joined them and eventually, Nick, AJ, Kryss, and Tiffany joined them. The nursing staff wasn’t very pleased having so many people in the room with Scott but the guys put on their best performance sweet-talking them into letting them stay. They also sang for the nurses.
It was when everyone was there and talking that Tyler realized that Lex and Fiona weren’t there. "Guys, we’re missing two people, aren’t we?"
AJ spoke up, "No, everyone’s here who’s suppose to be here."
Everyone looked at AJ and Nick not knowing what had happened and Kevin asked,
"What’s going on, ‘Bone’?"
"Lex walked out last night and took Fiona with her."
"They couldn’t deal with our relationship with Tyler," said Nick quietly.
Tyler looked at Nick and saw how hurt he was. AJ on the other hand could care less and it showed. She knew he’d eventually call Ali and he’d be just as happy...maybe. Tyler motioned for Nick to sit beside her while the others continued talking. She asked softly, "Are you okay?"
Nick shook his head, "Not really. Ty, I really love her."
"Then why didn’t you fight for her? I take it this was AJ’s doings?"
"Sorta...It was a fight between Lex and AJ and Lex pulled Fiona into it so AJ pulled me into it. I agree with AJ though. If Fiona can’t accept how I feel about you, then there’s no sense being together. Ty, you’re like a big sister to me, just like Kev’s my big brother, and I really look up to you two. I want a relationship like you two have. God, Kevin loves you to the point of willing to be the father to a child that’s NOT his. How much more can a man be in love than that?"
Tyler smiled and brushed Nick’s hair out of his face in a motherly fashion. "Nick, you have to talk to Fiona and work this out if you love her that much. Maybe she let Lex talk her into something that SHE really didn’t want."
"I don’t know, Ty. She IS jealous of you and I’m not going to change how I feel about you. Maybe it’s for the best."
"You make the decision and if you need to talk, I’ll be glad to listen."
"Thanks, Ty."
As everyone was getting ready to leave, there was a knock at the door. Being the closest, AJ reached over and let the person in the room.
The man, dressed in a suit, looked around the room and asked, "Tyler Dorough Richardson?"
Tyler motioned, "That would be me."
The man made his way to the bed and handed Tyler a package of papers. "You have been served," he said and he turned on his heel making his way out of the crowded room.
Everyone looked at Tyler as Kevin took the papers from her. He read through them quickly and said through clinched teeth, "The SON OF A BITCH!"
"What is it?" asked Howie.
"He’s going through with the custody suit."
AJ said quietly, "I told you not to let him in here."
Tyler’s eyes were even wider with that comment. "What do you mean? Joey was here?"
Kevin shot an angry look at AJ and then said to Tyler, "He showed up EARLY this morning and you were sleeping. He stayed about an hour, holding Scott and talking. I told him that you gave Scott his name and about the delivery and he held Scott."
"Why didn’t you wake me?"
"Baby, you had so much in your system from the operation, I couldn’t have
woken you if I’d tried."
"What are you going to do now?" asked Brian.
"Well, I think it’s time to call Christine. She needs to know about this and hopefully she’s already done the same thing to him. Of course, this could be his response to us," said Kevin. Looking at Tyler, he saw the tears in her eyes. "Guys, why don’t you clear out and let Ty get some rest? Besides, Scott needs to eat."
Everyone said their good-byes and left the couple alone. Brian was taking Tiffany back while Howie went with AJ and Nick to the radio station to do the announcement.
When the room was empty, Kevin handed Scott to Tyler and she began to nurse him. She focused on the little form in her arms nursing contentedly trying to block out everything except him.
Kevin watched her and knew she was losing the battle as he saw the tears well up in her eyes. He sat facing her and reached over to stroke her cheeks, wiping the tears that spilled over. He whispered, "It’s going to be okay, baby. I promise."
"I’m just scared, Kevin."
"I know but we’ll get through this....TOGETHER." Kevin leaned to her and kissed her tenderly. "I love you, Tyler."
