Part 48
“’Papa J’, who’s car is that?”
AJ put the car in park and looked at the car beside his. A frown spread as he said, “No one important. Do me a favor when we get inside…go straight to my office and watch TV for a little while.”
“Why?” questioned the little girl.
Climbing out and opening the door for her, AJ said, “You don’t need to be around this person.”
“Is it a bad person?”
“No, she’s not but she might cause problems and you don’t need to hear it.”
“Is she your girlfriend?” questioned Annie, tears in her voice.
AJ stopped and knelt down in front of the little girl. Taking her hands in his, he said, “’Pumpkin’, your mom is my girlfriend and I love her very much. You have nothing to worry about. Sarah used to be my girlfriend and she gets upset whenever I start seeing someone new.”
“Is she going to be mean to my mom?”
“I hope not but there is a chance. Now, are you gonna go to my office like I asked?”
“Yes sir.”
Giving her a kiss on her forehead, he said, “Thank you.”
AJ stood up, took a deep breath, and opened the door. His worst fears were realized – Chelsea was up and Sarah was in her face.
“Sweetie, you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. AJ will be all lovey-dovey for about a month and then he’ll dump you like a hot potato and he’ll come back to me. There’s …..”
“That’s enough, Sarah.”
Sarah and Chelsea turned to see AJ and Annie at the door and Sarah rushed to give AJ a hug.
“Hey, ‘Poopy’!” she simpered.
Dodging the hug, AJ asked coolly, “What are you doing here?”
Sarah heard the irritation in his voice and avoided the question by turning her attention to Annie. “Well! Well! The flavor of the month has a daughter.”
She fingered Annie’s long hair causing the little girl to clutch AJ’s leg and bury her face against him.
AJ put his hand on Annie as he said, “Leave her alone.”
“SO, are you dating the mother or the daughter? I know you like them young.”
From behind them, a deep voice spoke up, “That’s MORE than enough, Sarah.”
“Daddy!” cried Annie and rushed into Kevin’s arms.
“Daddy? She’s YOUR daughter?!”
“Sarah, it’s time for you to leave,” commanded Kevin as he picked Annie up in his arms.
Sarah eyed Kevin and then AJ. Both men’s expressions were solemn telling her they weren’t going to hear any more. Deciding her best bet was to simply leave, she said, “I’ll talk to you later, Alex.”
“Hold on Sarah. Where are the dogs?”
As AJ followed Sarah out, Kevin moved to Chelsea who was leaning on her crutches, tears falling hard. Seeing that she was about to collapse, he quickly set Annie down and scooped Chelsea up in his arms. She clung to him for safety as her tears fell even harder and she buried her face in his chest. He moved to the couch to sit down with her still holding her as she sobbed.
“Hey now!,” he soothed. “She’s not worth all this, baby.”
“Take…..take us home….with you,” gasped Chelsea.
“You don’t mean that, Chelsea,” responded Kevin calmly.
Seeing her mother this upset unsettled Annie. “Daddy, is Mama gonna be okay?”
“She’s going to be fine, ‘Princess’. Why don’t you go play with ‘Bo’ while I talk to your mom?” Seeing her hesitate, he added, “I promise, I’ll fix this.”
Reassured that her daddy would fix this, Annie scurried off to AJ’s office to watch cartoons.
Alone, Kevin gently commanded, “Chels, look at me.”
Chelsea pulled back and looked up at him, her eyes red and tears still rolling freely.
Kevin gently wiped the tears. “Baby, you can’t let ex-girlfriends upset you like this.”
“She was right though! Who was I fooling thinking I was his type?”
“You are BETTER than his type of girl!” countered Kevin.
“This was a mistake, Kevin. I should never have let it go any further than having dinner with him.”
AJ had heard Chelsea and his heart was in his throat thinking he was going to lose her. Tears glazed his eyes as he sat on the table in front of them and took her hand. Pleading, he said, “Chelsea, I love you. Please, let me fix this.”
“How can you fix this?” sobbed Chelsea pulling her hand out of his.
Kevin spoke up, “You two need to talk. Why don’t I take Annie and ‘Bo’ and head out for the afternoon?”
“Please don’t…..”started Chelsea.
Kevin looked at AJ. “Give me a minute with her.”
“I’ll go get Annie for you.”
Kevin watched AJ leave and then shifted Chelsea off his lap being careful not to hit her ankle. “Baby, you need to stay here and tell him what Sarah said to you.”
“NO! It’s NOT going to change anything.”
“What is there to change? AJ’s feelings for you are still the same. He loves you more than all those others put together and he’s different….he’s grown up. He’s ready for a commitment…a commitment with you. Chelsea, I know I hurt you really bad but AJ isn’t going to do that…I promise. You can’t go through life not loving and not having someone to love you! Didn’t you get lonely all those nights…no one to hold you and make love to you?” Chelsea gave a half-nod and Kevin continued, “Your love for AJ is not a mistake.”
“But….how can you be so sure, Kevin?”
“I’ve known AJ for thirteen years. I also know his relationship with Sarah. When they were together, it was a lot of things and none of them good. When AJ loves a woman, he gives his whole heart and soul to her. Sarah took advantage of it and hurt him deeply.”
“They were together when he went into rehab, weren’t they?”
“Yeah, it was her friends who dragged AJ into that world. Chelsea, he’s a new man and he loves you. Talk to him, tell him what happened, and let him reassure you that you are the one he wants to make a commitment to.”
“You don’t mind taking Annie?”
“Not at all and before you ask, Dianne is fine with it too. I’ll tell you what….I’ll keep Annie until dinner time…that will give you and AJ the rest of the morning and all afternoon to work this out. If things don’t go the way you want them to and you still want to come stay with me, call me and I’ll come get you too….but I don’t think you’re going to call me for that.”
“Really?”
“Really. In fact, I’d be willing to lay odds that you two will be doing the horizontal mambo within the hour.”
“KEEEE-VINNNN!” exclaimed Chelsea pretending to be shocked but laughing when Kevin scrunched his nose and laughed too. “Thank you, ‘Boo’.”
Kevin wiped the last of the tears and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Any time, baby.”
“Daddy, how long am I gonna be with you?”
“Until dinner and then I’m gonna bring you back to your mom and Alex.”
“It’s ‘Papa J’, Daddy! He said last night that’s what I could call him if I wanted to.”
“Okay…’Papa J’ then,” smiled Kevin as he tousled the little girl’s hair. Looking up at AJ he said, “Fix this. You have a good woman who loves you and you both deserve each other.”
AJ couldn’t take his eyes off Chelsea as Annie gave her mom a hug. How could this be happening to him now? He had to make her realize that Kevin was right, she was the one he wanted to spend his life with.
