Page 61 of Fight for Me

CHAPTER XIV

THREE MONTHS LATER

“Bye, Gary, thank you for everything. Take care,” I say and hug my, as of today, former employer.

“You too, Jenny, don’t be a stranger. All right? And tell that man of yours he better take good care of you, or he’s going to have my fists to answer to,” the man says playfully.

I chuckle and step back from his embrace. “I’ll tell him.” Then I check the time, and groan, “Shoot, I need to go. I’m still not packed, and I need to pick up Henry from his grandmother.”

“I thought Brody’s aunt is babysitting Henry,” Gary remarks as he walks me to my car.

I sigh and open the door. “Brody and I have been on the fence over the subject, to be honest. He thinks we shouldn’t leave Henry with Rita anymore because she’s not suitable for the role of a nanny, and that it’s better for him to stay with Ruth when I’m at work.”

The older man hums in his throat and asks, “What do you think?”

“I know he’s right, but Henry loves Rita, and I don’t want to subject him to so many changes in so little time. I mean, it’s been only three months since we moved in with Brody, and he’s getting pretty well-adjusted, but he misses the old hag.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re going to figure it out. But what I've come to learn in my own marriage after thirty plus years, is that there’s no better way to solve disputes than with a compromise.” Gary smiles and taps me on my shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess,” I say and scratch behind my ear. “Anyway, I better hit the road.”

We say our goodbyes one more time, and then after I get in and put the car in gear, I dial Brody’s number before putting it on the speaker.

As predicted, the voicemail picks up, so I leave a message, “Hey, babe. Just left Gary’s, and I’m heading over to Rita’s to get our little rascal. I know you’re busy with work, so call me when you’re on your way. I can’t wait for our first holidays together. Okay, bye.”

I smile to myself and think about how happy I’ve been lately. Things have been running smoothly between me and Brody since we decided to live together. After the first week, I couldn’t even remember the reason I was so scared to make the next move. I can’t imagine my life now without Brody in it.

Since it took a lot of hustle to drive between our place, Gary’s, and Rita’s house, and to make time for ourselves in between, I decided to look for a new job somewhere closer.

At the encouragement from Brody, I enlisted in some online courses to get my GED, and with a little help from Mark, I got a part-time position as a receptionist in the medical center. These were all big steps for me, but with the support of my wonderful man, and my new family, I feel like I can conquer anything life throws at me.

Since Brody’s schedule got a little looser next week, and it won’t be until next month that I start my new job, we decided to go on a little vacation to the West Coast.

I have never been anywhere further than Madison in my life, so to say that I’m super excited to see the sea would be putting it mildly.

With that in mind, I sing along with the radio as I park in front of Rita’s house.

I turn off the engine, get out and then come into Rita’s house without knocking.

“Hey, I’m a little earlier today because we want to...” I start to say as I breeze into the living room, where I know I’ll find the old grumpy woman. I stop in my tracks, however, when I realize there’s someone else in the room.

“Ricky?” I ask surprised and then address Rita, feeling the anger spike in me. “I thought I made myself clear about this. The court will decide if he’s allowed to see Henry.”

“Little Jenny.” Ricky smiles jovially and opens his arms as if he’s expecting me to greet him with a hug. “Is this how you greet your man who’s just got out of prison? The father of your child? Come on, you know better than that.”

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