Part 31
Kevin stood in the doorway watching as Annie played with her new puppy. He was still overwhelmed by the fact that he had a daughter and he was still trying to work through his feelings for Chelsea. She had been right about one thing…he didn’t want to hurt Dianne but that had already happened and he couldn’t deny the fact that he still loved Chelsea very much…more so now that he knew about Annie. How did he go on now without someone getting hurt?
Dianne…she had been so wonderful about the whole situation. She had spent the weekend fixing up a room just for his daughter as well as getting some girl things for Annie to have when Kevin brought her home. He knew she had so many questions and he knew too that she was waiting for him to be ready to talk about it.
The doorbell interrupted his thoughts and he turned as Dianne opened the door.
“Hey, ‘Dee’,” greeted AJ as he gave her a kiss. “I want you to meet my girlfriend, Chelsea.”
“Annie’s mom….it’s so nice to meet you,” greeted Dianne.
Kevin heard the friendly but aloof tone of Dianne’s voice and watched as Chelsea greeted her with the same aloofness. This was going to be interesting. And it hadn’t escaped his notice that AJ had introduced Chelsea as his girlfriend, a point that AJ was quick to make not to Dianne but to him.
“We just stopped by to see Annie before we headed to our place,” explained AJ as they made their way into the living room. Seeing Kevin on the other side of the living room, he greeted, “Hey, Kev!”
“Hey you two. How was the flight?”
“Smooth.”
Chelsea looked around as she asked, “Is Annie in school still?”
“She’s out back playing,” explained Dianne. “Kevin, why don’t you go get her?”
“Not yet,” spoke up Chelsea quickly before Kevin could move. As she took a seat on the couch with AJ beside her, she said, “Let her play a little longer.”
“Are you sure?” asked Kevin. “You look tired and I’m sure you want to get to AJ’s so you can get settled in.”
“I’m okay for now but we need to talk about Annie first.”
Kevin moved to take a seat across from her. “You mean about custody?”
“That’s part of it. Why isn’t she in school?”
“There’s a problem. We need to decide what her permanent address is going to be because AJ and I live in separate school districts.”
Chelsea sat back to take in what Kevin had said. This would mean she’d have to decide now about where Annie was going to live, at least for the rest of the school year.
AJ put his arm around Chelsea, “Baby, it’s not that much longer and you’re going to be off your feet for a while. Why don’t you let Kevin put his address down and we can have her on the weekends?”
Dianne spoke up, “That’ll give you and AJ some ‘couple’ time that I’m sure you want as well.”
Chelsea looked at AJ and then Kevin and Dianne. God, this was far harder than she had ever imagined. Another woman would be tucking her baby into bed at night and helping her with her homework but Kevin would be there too and he was Annie’s father. Softly, she said, “That’s fine, Kevin. You can put your address down. I was going to ask if she could stay here until I finished with the doctor and found out what he is going to do anyway.”
AJ heard the hint of jealousy in Chelsea’s voice and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze as Annie came bouncing into the room. As soon as she spotted her mother, her face lit up and she rushed into Chelsea’s arms.
“MAMA! You’re HERE!” squealed the little girl.
“Hey baby! Did you miss me?”
“Sorta,” hedged Annie not wanting to hurt Kevin’s feelings.
“Did you have fun?” asked AJ as Annie leaned to hug him too.
“Uh huh!”
“Excuse me?” prompted Chelsea.
“Yes sir,” she obediently corrected. “Guess what?”
“What?” asked AJ.
“I got to meet my other grandmother and two more uncles and TONS of cousins which Brian is one of too and ride a horse and see mountains and Daddy bought me a new puppy that’s ALL MINE!” she exclaimed in one breath.
“Sounds like you had a big weekend,” smiled Chelsea as she took the end of Annie’s pigtail and tickled the little girl’s nose. “Did you mind your manners?”
Kevin smiled, “She was the perfect little angel.”
“Mama, can you and Alex come see my puppy?”
“I’ll go with you,” offered AJ. “Your mom is tired and should keep her ankle propped up.”
“I really wanted Mama too,” pouted Annie.
“Why don’t you bring him in here to me?” suggested Chelsea.
“We have a ‘no dogs’ rule,” stated Dianne flatly.
Annie looked to Kevin who said, “We can make an exception this time. Go ahead, baby.”
Dianne shot Kevin a nasty glare that Chelsea caught as Kevin went with Annie to the back door. A second later, after Annie called, an excited light brown bundle came bounding towards the door that Kevin scooped up.
Chelsea’s heart jumped into her throat seeing the squirming bundle in Kevin’s arms. When she’d been Annie’s age, she’d had to have her tonsils out and as a treat, her dad had bought her a puppy exactly like this one. They’d been inseparable for the next four years, until they’d had to move again and couldn’t take him with them. Chelsea had told Kevin about ‘Bo’ so she now wondered if he’d bought the dog with that in mind.
“I named him ‘Bo’ cuz Daddy said it fit,” announced Annie proudly as Kevin knelt down beside Chelsea.
Reaching out, Chelsea rubbed the soft fur as ‘Bo’ tried to lick her hand. Her eyes were locked on Kevin’s as she said, “Your daddy’s right…it does suit him.”
“Alex, can I have him at your house or do I have to leave him with Daddy?”
“He can come to our house, ‘Pumpkin’,” smiled AJ as he reached out to pet the puppy too.
“Good! I’m going to go get his stuff so we can go.”
As Annie started to leave, Chelsea broke her gaze with Kevin and said, “Whoa! Don’t go yet, Annie. We need to talk.”
“Whaz up?” questioned Annie sounding very much like her father.
“I have to go to the doctor tomorrow to see what he’s going to do to fix my ankle. I’m going to be having surgery and off my feet for a while so I asked your dad if you could stay with him for a while.”
The smile on Annie’s face disappeared. “What about school?”
Chelsea looked at Kevin first and then back to Annie. “Kevin is going to take you tomorrow to enroll you.” A tear fell as Annie looked down but she didn’t say anything and Chelsea knew something was going on. Softly, “Kevin, I need to talk to her….alone.”
Kevin nodded that he understood and as he stood, “You two are staying for dinner, aren’t you?”
Chelsea looked to AJ who said, “It’s up to you, ‘Beautiful’.”
“Let me talk to Annie first and I’ll let you know what we’re going to do.”
“We’ll give you a few minutes then.”
As soon as Kevin and Dianne were out of the room, Chelsea looked at Annie. “What’s going on, Annie?”
“I just wanna go home with you,” sniffled Annie as AJ gathered her in his arms pulling her into his lap.
“It’s not that we don’t want you with us, sweetie, because we’ve both missed you a lot. It’s just that your mom is going back into the hospital to get her ankle fixed and there isn’t going to be anyone to take you to and from school and look out for you.”
“Why can’t you keep me?”
“Who’s gonna take care of your mom while she’s in the hospital?”
“Daddy can stay with her.”
“Sweetheart, you said you had fun in Kentucky with your dad. Why don’t you want to be with him now?” asked Chelsea.
Annie hesitated, then said, “I DO want to be with Daddy.”
“Has Dianne said or done something to you?”
Annie tucked her head trying to avoid the question.
“Annie, you need to answer your mom.”
Looking up, she whispered, “I don’t want to make Daddy mad.”
“You won’t but we can’t fix this if you don’t tell us what’s happened,” said Chelsea.
“Well…as long as Daddy is around, everything is okay but…”
“What happens when
it’s just you and Dianne?”
“She wants me to call HER ‘mama’ and she’s always asking me questions about you.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Stuff like how much did you leave me with a babysitter and how much you dated and would I want to live with her and Daddy all the time.”
Chelsea shook her head. “Okay. Baby, you don’t have to call her ‘mama’ if you don’t want to. I’m sure your daddy won’t mind but I really need you to stay here while I’m in the hospital. I promise, as soon as I’m out and can move around, you can come live with us.”
Annie gave a deep sigh. “Okay but will I get to see you?”
“Every day, ‘Pumpkin’,” promised AJ. “If your dad doesn’t bring you to see your mom, I’ll come get you and you can bring ‘Bo’ with you too.”
Annie beamed as she hugged AJ. “Thank you.”
“I’ll talk to your dad about Dianne, sweetheart, so you don’t feel so uncomfortable around her,” promised Chelsea.
“Thanks, Mama.” Annie hesitated, then asked, “Do I have to stay here tonight?”
“Tell you what, we’ll hang around until you go to bed,” offered AJ. “Your mom can read you a bedtime story and tuck you in.”
“That works!! Can I go back to playing with ‘Bo’?”
“Sure!” smiled Chelsea.
Annie hopped down and raced back outside leaving Chelsea and AJ alone temporarily. Chelsea put her head on AJ’s shoulder as she wove her fingers with his. “She’s going to try to push Kevin for custody.”
“He’s not going to do it though…you know that.”
“Yeah, but it’s going to make things tough for a while. I guess Kevin and I need to put this all in writing….make it legal.”
“You know what’s best, ‘Beautiful’,” whispered AJ as he pressed a kiss into her hair. “What are you going to say to Kevin?”
“I don’t know yet. You’d better go tell him we’re staying for dinner. I’m sure Dianne’s gonna love that,” sarcasm dripping from her words.
“Back in a minute,” promised AJ as he gave her another kiss, this time on the lips.
