Forgiveness and Second Chances (3 page)

Up in his room, Jeremy tried to put his baby to sleep and study at the same time. At first, it had been very hard for him. He knew nothing about babies, but with the help of his parents and siblings he’d gotten through the first couple of months. Now she was his life. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.

Usually when she was tired she would grab his shirt with her tiny fist and suck on her thumb until she fell asleep.

He rocked her to sleep and kissed her nose. “I love you, princess.”

His little brother Jack entered his room. “I miss her too, you know.”

“You miss who, Jacky?”

“Malanie.” Jack and his dad were the only people in his family who had known he and Malanie were more than friends, until the baby. “She always stuck up for me when you tried to beat me up.”

Jeremy laughed, remembering those times. He would tell his mom they were studying, but in reality they just wanted to be together, and Jack would always interrupt them. “I bet wherever she is, she misses you too.”

“I’m praying she’ll come back one day.” With that, he turned and left and closed the door.

There was a soft knock on his door, and his dad entered. “I have good and bad news. Which one do you want first?”

Jeremy looked up at his father and closed the book he’d been studying for his finals. “I guess the good.”

“I found Malanie’s father.”

Jeremy got excited and jumped, almost waking the baby. He rocked her a couple of times, then gently placed her in her crib and turned to his dad. “You found her!”

The look on his father’s face answered his question.

“Son, I contacted her father, and he was even worse than her mother. He said he didn’t want anything to do with her, or her child. I’m sorry, son, I’ve tried everything to find her.” His father hugged him. “At first I was disappointed in you, but now I’m so proud of you. You’re graduating with honors and you’ve accepted your responsibilities.”

His mom entered his room with a baby bottle in her hand. “She must be hungry?” she asked, searching his room, walking toward her crib.

“Mom, I already fed her. She’s down for the night,” he said, thinking about Malanie, wondering where she could she be, if she was okay.

“We won’t be here tomorrow when you come home from school. I’m taking her to Mommy and Me playgroup.” She tossed the words casually over her shoulder as she left his room.

“Can you believe your mother? Only months ago, she was saying ‘what would people think,’ and look at her now. She would be lost without Alanie.” His dad cleared his throat. “Good night.”

Jeremy stared lovingly at his daughter. “I pray she’s okay. You deserve to know your mother.” He laid a feather-light touch on her chubby cheek. “I hope she didn’t leave you because of me.”

Right after he graduated from boot camp, Jeremy applied for an officers commission program called Seaman to Admiral, which allowed him to spend more time with his baby girl. He also convinced Derrick William—they’d practically gotten each other through boot camp—to apply. Both were accepted. The Navy paid him to go to school and finish his degree in Human Resources.

He always put his daughter first—in everything he did, Alanie came first. He gave up on searching for Malanie and put all his efforts into raising his daughter and being a better man. He made sure he scheduled his classes around her needs.

Four years had passed by so fast. He stood in front of his peers, celebrating his accomplishment. His father, mother, and daughter sat in the front. After his commissioning ceremony, with tears in his eyes, his father grabbed him.

“We’re so proud of the man and father you’ve become.”

Jeremy sat next to his daughter Alanie, his sister Carolyn, and her two boys, Tomas and Blake. He smiled, observing his little girl. She’d grown up so fast. It seemed like only yesterday when she learned to walk, but look at her now: ten years old going on twenty. She reminded him so much of her mother. Alanie was a bookworm, just like her. She had her brown eyes, but favored him, especially her dimples.

“Daddy, can I have some ice cream? I ate all my food.” She showed him her plate.

“Yes, she ate all her food,” Carolyn seconded. “But you two haven’t.” She looked at her boys, wiping Blake’s hands. They gave her their puppy-face look. “No….”

“That’s okay, boys. I’m going buy you guys ice cream.” He laughed, looking at Carolyn, knowing she didn’t approve.

“Thank you, Uncle Jeremy,” his five-year-old nephew Tomas said, while his three-year-old brother Blake clapped his hands.

“Yeah, thank you, Uncle Jeremy,” Carolyn said sarcastically, giving him an arched brow.

“You’re welcome.” He chuckled.

They ordered the kids ice cream. Carolyn’s boys made a mess, but Alanie kept looking out the window. She hardly ate from her vanilla sundae.

“Let’s go clean you guys up, thanks to your uncle,” Carolyn said, getting up with her boys and walking to the bathroom.

“Daddy,” she said, still looking out the window, with her hand against the glass.

“Yes, baby?” he asked, now looking in the direction she was staring at. There was an African American woman and a Hispanic man arguing or fighting, but it didn’t look pretty. The lady was covering her face. There was something really familiar about her, but he ignored it and looked back at his daughter.

“Alanie.” She had a weird look on her face. “Alanie, stop staring.”

He couldn’t help himself. He stared out the window again. His heart stopped for a few seconds. “Oh God,” he whispered.

The woman had uncovered her face and started fighting back. Jeremy was in shock. He couldn’t speak, move, and the color must have drained out of his face, because when he turned to look at his daughter, she had a questioning look in her eyes.

He couldn’t even speak to ask her what was wrong.

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Daddy, is that my mom?” she whispered in sadness.

After all these years they’d finally found her and some guy was manhandling her. For a moment, Jeremy couldn’t think how his daughter knew it was her mother, but of course, he’d given her all the pictures he had of her.  Malanie still looked the same, just a little thicker. He snapped out of it, and without thinking, he got up. Seeing his sister approaching the table, he looked down at Alanie and pointed. “Wait here.” He rushed out the door.

He stepped outside the restaurant and ran up to them. “Malanie!” he yelled, and then she turned to him, her mouth bloody.

Her eyes got big. “Jeremy!”

She remembers me
.

The Hispanic guy she was with tugged her by the arm, forcing her to break their connection.

“Who the fuck is he?” he yelled, “That’s why you left me?” He swung at her face again, but this time she backed away and he missed, hitting her stomach.

Jeremy rushed up on the guy, pushing him away, and the guy stumbled. “Don’t touch her!”

“It’s not your fucking business!” The guy managed to gain his composure.

“I’m making it my business.” Jeremy turned and moved next to her. “Lanie.” She just stood there crying, holding her stomach. “You’re pregnant.” Her face was even more bloody. Jeremy’s anger boiled over. He turned and rushed on the guy again, punching him, connecting with his jaw first. Then he grabbed him by the throat, practicing a few moves he learned in self-defense training. The man tried to get away from him and he threw him on the ground and continued to beat him up. “How does it feel to get beat up by someone your own size?”

People started gathering around, trying to get him off the guy, but he was too angry. He couldn’t be stopped. “How does it feel to pick on someone that can fight back?”

Malanie ran over. “Jeremy, stop! I don’t want you to get in trouble. You don’t know who he is.” She grabbed his arm, trying to pull him off. “He’s not worth it.”

“I don’t fucking care who he is, he has no right to touch you!” He knew he needed to stop before he did serious damage, but the image of her bloody face made him more furious, until he heard Alanie.

“Daddy, please stop!” Alanie screamed from a distance, with his sister behind her. “Please!”

He stopped pounding the guy to look back at Alanie. Malanie turned back at the same time. He could see Malanie was overwhelmed. She was about to start walking toward his daughter, when she collapsed to the ground. “Lanie!” He got down on his knees next to her, caressing her cheeks.

The asshole got up and ran toward his car, leaving.

He looked up at his sister and daughter. “Carolyn, take her home with you. Alanie, baby, it’s going to be okay.” He picked Malanie up and carried her to his SUV.

After he made sure Malanie was buckled in, he went over to his daughter.

“Daddy, is she going to be okay?” Alanie asked in tears.

“Baby, I hope so.” Jeremy kneeled down to his daughter’s level and kissed her forehead. “I’m going take her to the hospital and make sure she’s all right, so I need you to go home with Aunt Carolyn and as soon as I know anything, I promise, I’ll call you.”

She had tears running down her cheeks. “Okay, Daddy.”

“I love you.” He wiped her tears away, wanting to stay with her and make all her worries disappear, but he needed to get Malanie to the hospital. “Everything is going be okay.” He kissed her one more time and ran back to the car.

Malanie’s eyes fluttered open.
This has to be a dream, it can’t be real.
Jeremy was here with her, after all this time. He looked the same, but his features had become more manly. His brown hair was tapered on the sides. His hazel eyes—oh God, those hazel eyes still took her breath away. His body was completely different. Back then he’d been skinny. Now he was built, lean and muscular. After all this time he still affected her, even with the pain she was feeling.

She’d searched for him and her daughter for years. She knew she’d made a mistake, but by the time she realized her stupidity, Jeremy’s father had been transferred to another base somewhere, and no one would help her. She even got a private investigator, once she could afford it, but he came up with nothing. She always thought he’d taken advantage of her, and she found it hurt too much to get her hopes up and try again.

“Jere…my,” she whispered in pain.

He leaned in. “I’m here, Lanie. I’m right here.”

“Where is she? I want to see her.” He had a worried look in his eyes. “I understand if you don’t want me to see her, after all these years.” His expression changed. He looked relived.

“Lanie, I wouldn’t keep our daughter from you.”

She couldn’t believe those words, after what she’d done. “Why are you being so nice? I abandoned her.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I hurt you. You didn’t ask to be put in that situation. I forced myself on you and every day I have to live with what I did to you. I’m so sorry, Lanie.” He took her hand in his.

“We were kids, and you were so drunk. It’s no excuse, but I forgave you so long ago.” She caressed his cheek, seeing the emotion in his eyes.

“You don’t know how much I needed to hear that.”

“Do you forgive me?” she asked, her eyes getting heavy with sleep.

“I have nothing to forgive you for. You did what you thought was best for her. You were a kid yourself. You didn’t leave her because you didn’t love her. Thank you for giving her life and not taking it.”

Tears started rolling down her cheeks. “I had no choice….” She wiped her eyes with the sheet. “I had no one, no money, no place to go. I was so afraid and lonely. I knew your family would love and protect her.”

Jeremy just stared at her as she dozed back to sleep.

When she’d asked him,
“Where is she? I want to see her,”
he’d thought Malanie was referring to the baby girl she was carrying.

The doctor said they’d tried everything to save her baby, but it was too late. He saw the little girl before they took her away. She was so tiny, but complete.

He watched Malanie as she slept. Her right eye and top lip were swollen. She also had bruises on her arms. What kind of a man would want to hurt a woman as precious as Lanie, and his own unborn baby?

“You’re still here,” she said, trying to smile. “Why?”

Jeremy just stared at her, wanting to tell her the truth.
It’s because I never stopped loving you
. “Because I still care about you.” He took her hand. “Lanie, I called the cops. They’ll be here to question you. The doctors reported it, too. Who is he?”

“The cops.” She chuckled. “They didn’t do anything all the other times.”

“He hit you before?” He asked, balling up his fist, feeling protective.

She turned her head. “Yes…” she whispered, embarrassed. “He was my boyfriend.”