Page 33 of The Regrettable Mistake

“Miss Luanne had no right to say those things to you and I will put a stop to that tomorrow. As for Steph – she will always be your mom. Of course, she wants you.”

Den shook his head. “Miss Luanne said she couldn’t be my mom anymore and then Grammy picked me up and said I was staying with her.”

I glanced up at my parents’ horror-stricken faces and felt like an even bigger piece of shit.

“Miss Luanne was wrong, Den. Grammy picked you up and planned to keep you for one night only, so Steph and I could talk about some things. She didn’t want you to see that she was angry with me. One of the things we talked about was you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, buddy. I’m having adoption papers drawn up, so Steph can legally be considered your mom and no one can tell either of you different.” I hadn’t been given the option to tell Steph that, but I was sure that Caleb had passed on that information to Hutch. Technically, I wasn’t lying to my son. It would happen. “Steph is already your mom in all the ways that count and she fought for you to stay in her life even if she no longer wants me there.”

“If you can never come home, what happens?”

“If we get a divorce, you’ll spend time with Steph and time with me. I really hope that doesn’t happen though.”

“Yeah, me too.” My boy admitted. “But my mom is really sad and if you make her that way, then I can tell her it’s okay with me to visit you somewhere else.”

A few months ago, my son might have phrased that differently. Hearing him mention only visiting me to spare Steph further hurt felt like another punch to the solar plexus. It knocked the wind out of me just as effectively.

“I promise to do my very best not to hurt you or your mom through my actions anymore.”

CHAPTER 13

Steph

I stared at the email that had been sent to me by the school board. It was official. I no longer had a job. After forwarding the email to Hutch, I called immediately.

“Hutch Wallace,” he answered.

“This isn’t fair!”

“Okay, is there something new I should know about?”

“Read your email.” My reply was far too testy, considering I’d just sent the thing and it wasn’t like the man didn’t have other clients or a life. My fuse was short and defied logic though. That was a new experience for me and probably everyone who knew me too.

“What the fuck?” Hutch’s response at least helped to validate my own feelings as he growled down the line. “This is not only unacceptable, it’s fucking illegal. I will deal with the school board. Don’t worry, we’ll get your job back.”

That was about the time that my defeatist attitude – also new – took hold. “Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“What? Why not?”

I sighed. “What’s the point in trying to work somewhere I’m not wanted? It will be nothing but added stress to an already crappy situation. Maybe this is for the best.”

“You said last night that you needed to work.”

“If Ollie gives me the money in that supposed joint account, it will hold me over until after the baby is born.” I thought out my expenses and what they would be like. “Well, it should if it doesn’t cost too much money out of pocket to have a baby. I’m going to lose my insurance, since I was fired.”

“You weren’t fired. You were-”

“I was fired and we both know it. They can pretty up the words all they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that I no longer have a job and I certainly didn’t leave my position willingly.”

“I’m so sorry, Steph. None of this has been fair to you.”

That was the understatement of the year. Not only did I have to deal with my husband having been unfaithful, but also his agenda when he married me, the loss of my job, the possibility of losing my stepson, and I had to face single parenthood while living through all that.

“Okay, well, I won’t push to have you rehired, but I think we should consider a wrongful termination lawsuit. Part of their justification included that you would need to be out on maternity leave shortly after coming back from being a security hazard to the school, so they saw no reason to welcome you back.”

“Thanks for that less than flattering recap.”

---