Page 19 of The Regrettable Mistake

“Honestly, Denny-boy, I deserve an award for not hitting them, considering the week I’ve had.”

Principal James nodded and offered me an awkward smile before he reached out and fluffed Den’s hair.

The minute he was out of range, Den complained. “I hate when he does that. What’s the point in combing it just for him to come along and mess it all up?”

I chuckled at his sound reasoning as we carefully made our way back out to the parking lot.

“Mrs. Burton, Mr. James asked that I escort you out to make sure no one gave you any trouble.” I rolled my eyes. “I promise that it is your best interest that is at heart.”

“That may be, Tommy, but the press is going to throw a speculative headline up about me being escorted off campus for an entirely different reason. That seems to be how everything has been twisted recently – to make me the villain in my own horror story.”

“Sorry, ma’am. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to either of you on my watch for the sake of those jerks not being able to twist things around on you.”

Once Denmark and I were tucked safely away in the car, and Tommy created a diversion for us, we were able to get away smoothly. Thankfully, our neighborhood kept us relatively isolated and Den waited until we got back to start asking questions.

“Momma Steph, what’s going on? Why were those men taking our pictures and asking about Dad and that lady?”

“That lady is your mother,” I pointed out to Den.

“No, she’s not. I don’t know her and she’s never been here for me. I don’t care what Dad says. That lady isn’t my mom. You are.”

I hugged my boy fiercely because I needed someone to choose me for once, and he was the one stepping up to the plate, even though he had the biggest reason to choose her over me. I should have pushed him to do just that, since she was clearly aiming for a family reunion with the boys she left behind.

Once we were locked safely inside the house, I moved to the living room and patted the sofa next to where I plopped down. “Come here, buddy.” After Den sat beside me and snuggled into my side, I finally released the frustration I had carried around in a drawn-out exhalation. Then, there was no turning back. I needed to lay things out in a way that would be easy for my boy to understand without bogging him down in adult stuff he shouldn’t have to hear about.

“Some things happened not too long ago. Your dad and mom met up and I guess they decided that they wanted to get back together.”

“What about us?” Den asked in a panicked tone.

“Well, Ollie and Jia are your biological parents. You’re supposed to be with them. I am working with your grandma to make sure that I will be able to see you as often as possible. For now, you’re staying here with me where it is safe from all the bad men with cameras.” There were probably a few crazies in the mix who wanted to harm me because their favorite craptastic actress stirred up all this drama with her lies. I refused to tell Den that part though. One of us not being able to sleep in the house, for fear of what people might do to lash out, was more than enough.

“Why would he do this? Doesn’t he love you anymore? Does he hate me?”

“Buddy, this has nothing to do with you, I promise. Your dad still loves you very much and I think you’re the best person on the planet – remember?”

“Then why would he take me away from you? He hasn’t even been here to talk to me. You’re the only one. He’s just like her. He wants to ruin everything. They both hate me. I don’t want to go.” He threw his arms around my waist and held on for dear life as my heart broke.

“If they let me, I would keep you with me forever, baby. You will always be my boy, no matter what.”

“Even if your baby is another boy?” Den asked. I pulled back to stare down into his eyes. Before I could ask how he knew, he spoke again. “I heard Uncle Steve say something on the phone. It doesn’t look like you have a baby in your belly.”

“Not yet, but it will.” Shoot. I couldn’t ask him to keep it a secret from his dad. “I could have ten more babies and it would never make me love you less, Den. Never doubt that.”

“My dad doesn’t know, does he?” I shook my head. “I’m not going to tell him. That way, if they take me away from you, you’ll still have my little brother or sister to be all yours and keep you company until I’m old enough to run away and be yours again.”

I couldn’t have held my sobs back if I tried. I hated Jia for coming back into their lives and tearing us all apart. I hated Ollie for allowing it to happen. Any woman who would lie the way she did was not going to be good for Denmark. Damn the laws that meant I would have no say about it.

If I was a wealthy woman, I’d pack my boy up and take him far away where they’d never find any of us. It might not seem fair, since he wasn’t biologically mine, but they hadn’t been fair to me and Den with their actions. It made me wonder why the good people always came in last. I did everything right, but I was left to suffer the bulk of the consequences from everyone else’s actions.

Once I got Denmark settled, I started to look through my texts. If it wasn’t someone I spoke to regularly, the messages were deleted. It hurt to hear what people thought I was capable of, or to feel their pity through their words when they knew better. All of them, no matter the sentiment, just wanted the details. They were fishing for a story that was too personal to me to give. It sucked that a perverted version of the not even close to being true story was already out there for public consumption.

I studiously ignored Ollie’s texts, though I couldn’t bring myself to delete them just yet. It was still up in the air whether it would be best to throw his platitudes away or read what he had to say. Part of me didn’t care. It wasn’t lip service I had been paying to my mother-in-law the other day when I’d said it didn’t matter. His explanations truly didn’t hold any weight when the outcome of those actions meant my world was the one shattered.

As I sat there contemplating life, injustices, and whether or not to read his text messages, my brother called me.

“Hey, I’m not really in-”

Steve cut me off. “Turn on the TV to Channel 12.”

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