Page 95 of Irons

I dried the cutting board and narrowed my eyes on her. “He won’t hide from her, Heather. He simply won’t go out of his way to see her, and I can’t blame him. I won’t stand in the way if she does turn up, but I won’t be disappointed if we leave here, and he isn’t forced to see her. Please tell me you didn’t mention his visit to her.” I really hoped dad talked to her about Paula.

“Of course not, and honestly I agree with you. She knows exactly how I feel about her actions concerning her son. I just hope he isn’t caught off guard by her when he’s in town during your visit. That doesn’t mean that I don’t hope for somereconciliation. I love Paula and we don’t agree on everything, but it would be nice to see a mother and son reconnect and build a healthy relationship. I agree it’s best to stay out of it though, so she won’t hear it from me.”

My heart calmed. “Thank you, like I said he’s not going to hide out in the house the entire time. We plan to meet up with some old friends and feel free to dine out as we please. Paula isn’t the point of our visit. It’s about you, dad, and Jacob. For me it’s about you guys welcoming him into our family.”

Heather opened the dishwasher to start unloading it. “Clint has fond memories of him. He always cared about him, and worried quite a bit over the years. I know he's proud of him, but we do have some concerns. We don’t really know him, and Clint hasn’t seen him since he was barely a teenager. I know he’s not just impressed with his achievements, but also proud, nonetheless we just don’t know him as an adult. We do worry you’ll end up hurt. You’ve moved your entire life to this…well I’m not sure what it is, but you’ve made some big moves. Sweetie, we’re your parents and we’re always going to have concerns, but this is a ginormous move on your part.”

I pulled the silverware tray from the dishwasher and set it on the counter. “He loves me, he always has, and I love him. I know it’s hard to believe after the years I carried so much pain and grief, but I have faith in us. Travis is a good man, and we will have the rest of our lives together.”

She reached up and put a large bowl in the top cabinet. “Well, I have faith in you, so as long as you’re happy then I am too. Clint told me about your childhoods together and it’s adorable.”

I smiled as I put the spoons in the right silverware slot in the drawer. “He is and always has been my greatest love.”

“You have my full support, and so does Travis with whatever he decides is best with his family.” She assured me.

Dad and Travis stayed on the porch together for a while. Dad came in to grab more beers, but I gave them space to get to know each other again. Heather and I hung out, mainly made a pot of stew and some cornbread, then sat in the living room to catch up, until Jacob came home from school. I figured my brother would throw down his back pack, say hi, then rush out the door, but that wasn’t the case. He went out back and sat with dad and Travis. My best guess was that he was curious about Delta Force, which did cause me a little jealousy since he never took much interest in my career. I guess the Marine Raiders aren’t as well known as the Seals and Delta Force, plus I was a girl. At Jacob’s age, boys probably aren’t too focused on females with badass jobs. Most people thought the Seals were the most badass military special ops group, when in reality Delta Force has always been the toughest and given more dangerous missions.

Dinner went great until I winced as Jacob begged Travis to go next door and play some basketball with him and his friends. I didn’t think Travis would agree, but he did.

Familiar Faces

Travis

It all just felt weird, and I wasn’t thinking about the slow and quiet kind of sex I just had with Wrenly in her childhood bed. A bed we slept in as kids, but it was way more innocent back in those days.

I was thinking about the entire trip feeling weird. Being in a house I spent my childhood visiting, playing basketball with Wrenly in what I considered the driveway of my childhood home, long talks with Clint, and of course the fact that my mother was only a few miles away in a home she shared with a daughter that she lovingly raised. Not to mention my father’s grave was only two miles away.

Wrenly was sleeping in my arms, which brought a smile to my face. I kissed her head and took in her scent before I looked back up at the ceiling. Playing basketball at Tony’s felt weird, but when Wrenly came out it was fun. Just like the old days. She was funny and absolutely adorable when she challenged those kids. She actually put effort into scoring more shots than a few eleven year old boys. I ended up throwing her over my shoulder and carrying her back to Clint’s so she would stop rubbing her win in the boys faces.

I finally fell asleep, but it wasn’t the most restful sleep. It was awkward and the past was constantly gnawing at me to stop ignoring it. I woke early and went for a walk, which led me to the cemetery. I visited with Tony, and the addition of the name Tyler Trenton to his head stone really brought Wrenly’s loss to reality. I was glad she put the baby with him, but also curious how Matt truly felt about it. It was kind of an odd thing to do in my opinion.

It was my first visit to Tony’s grave. I was only home the one time, and I wasn’t ready to see it yet. Seeing his name carved into that stone brought back a bad memory of seeing him in that casket. Then of course needing my parents to comfort me, instead I got sick alone in a bathroom and they left me there, with Tony’s dead body and an empty old house. I was sure the old man that ran the place was still around, but nonetheless it was the most alone and scared I ever felt in my life.

I looked up from Tony’s headstone and saw another headstone with Irons written in large letters. It was huge, which made me think more than one person shared the plot. I walked toward it and saw my grandparents names but next to them was Robert Irons. My heart didn’t just sink, it nosedived. It was real, my dad was really dead. On the grave was a little teddy bear and a photo frame. It looked brand new, like it was just left in the last few days. The picture in the frame confused me, it was my mother with a little girl. A girl that wasn’t his daughter, but the daughter his former wife had with another man. A small smile did Crack the surface when I saw the girl, she was adorable. On the back of the frame was “I miss you, Uncle Robert.”

I shook my head in confusion. Wrenly said my parents became close friends after the divorce, but how were they possibly that close?

That was when I heard something, a groan from the other side of the headstone. Come on, it was a cemetery, of course it freaked me the fuck out at first. But I wasn’t a chicken shit, I slowly peeked around the back and saw a kid asleep with an empty bottle of Windsor. He was half propped up on the stone, the bottle laying between his legs, and he was young. Not like Jacob, but an older teenager. He didn’t look familiar at all. His black hair was shaggy, and he definitely wore decent clothes, unlike what I would expect from a runaway. I took a look around the cemetery to see if I saw any other kids, but we were completely alone. I didn’t even see a car.

I tapped his shoe with mine. “Hey kid.”

Nothing, he didn’t even stir a little. I tapped it a little harder again, and he groaned. “Hey, what are you doing out here?

He groaned and barely turned his head.

“Well, at least you didn’t freeze to death last night, but you better wake up.”

His eyes fluttered and he reached for his head like he was in pain.

“Yeah kid, a hangover will do that to you. What are you doing out here?”

As I stared down at him, he fought to open his eyes, then they slowly trailed up from my shoes all the way up until he squinted, then his eyes grew. “What the fuck?” He jumped then looked at me again. “Dad?”

I chuckled. “Well, no I’m not your dad, but I’d really like to know what you’re doing passed out drunk in a cemetery. The last I knew the legal drinking age was 21 in these parts.”

“Wait.” He tilted his head and rubbed his eyes then looked at me again. “Dad.” He whispered. “Am I dead?”

I chuckled. “Are you dead? I sure as hell hope not, otherwise it means we’re both dead and I think I still have a pulse.”

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