Home Is Wherever You Are (20 page)

Chapter 35 - Good Things

Addy was five months pregnant now. She looked so beautiful. Her little tummy was just peeking out at us, and we were going to have the ultrasound today. Ms. Jordan would be meeting us for lunch as well. We were making it official. Adam was staying with us for good.

My mom was keeping Adam for us today. I couldn’t wait to see our baby. I had just finished the screened porch for Dr. Stewart, and she loved it.

Addy’s knee bounced nervously, as she squeezed my hand. “Are you okay, baby?” I asked.

“Yeah, I guess I’m anxious to see if the baby is okay. It’s all kind of surreal. I’m afraid to believe it, you know?”

“Yeah, I think we’ll both breathe a sigh of relief, once we can see the little one kicking around.”

“Adeline Martin,” the nurse called, and Addy and I got up and made our way to the exam room. It was dimly lit, and a lady we hadn’t met sat down in front of the ultrasound machine.

“Just lay back, pull your shirt up and undo your pants,” the tech said, and my girl complied. The tech tucked paper towels around Addy’s clothes and then warned her the gel would be a little cool. Apparently, her warmer was broken.

Once the little wand hit Addy’s tummy, we heard a soft whooshing sound fill the room. “That’s the baby’s heartbeat. I’m sure Dr. Stewart has let you listen to it before.”

“Yes,” Addy said softly, “but it’s always nice to hear it.”

The tech went about her business, clicking on several things and typing away. Finally, after a while, I just had to ask, “Is everything looking okay? Is the baby healthy?”

The tech turned and smiled at me. “I’m not the doctor, but from what I can see, there doesn’t seem to be any problems. Your baby looks healthy.”

Addy let out a relieved sigh, and I leaned over and kissed her.

“So, would you like to know the sex?” she asked.

I nodded yes excitedly, and Addy giggled. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Well, see this here?” she ran the wand over the image, turning the screen toward us. “This is your little boy’s manhood.”

“Yes!” I shouted, jumping up, causing Addy to laugh.

“What if it was a girl?” Addy asked teasingly.

“I’m pretty sure I would’ve had the same reaction. I’m just excited that we’re having a baby,” I said chuckling.

The tech showed us our little man’s face and body. He wiggled and kicked the wand, getting annoyed with it, causing us all to laugh.

She clicked a few pictures, printing them out for us to share. She handed them to my excited wife, before she cleaned her off and left the room.  Dr. Stewart came in a few minutes later, grinning widely.

“Well, everything looks good, Addy.  You’ve stayed really small so far, but be prepared for that to change quickly.  Your little man in there is growing great, and you’ll definitely be showing it soon.  Make sure to rest well, and if there’s anything you want to do that requires any extended effort, I’d recommend doing it sooner rather than later. You’ll get tired out faster the further along you get,” she said, as she finished her exam.

That reminded me that our fourth anniversary was coming up.  Addy had given me so much and had been through so much that I had decided to plan something special for her.  We didn’t have much money, but a trip to nearby Houston for a weekend of fun and romance would be something I could probably swing. 

We met Ms. Jordan at the courthouse just before lunch, and she led us straight into a judge’s office.

“Welcome. I see here we have adoption papers to sign,” he said smiling.

We nodded excitedly. Addy had gotten really close with little Adam over the past few months. Once he found out she was pregnant, he took his role of big brother very seriously, and showed us just how intelligent he really was.

He was doing his best to make things easier for Addy. He cleared the table without being asked, and he would carefully pick up his toys, so she wouldn’t trip on them. He tried taking out the trash for her a few times, but it was a real struggle for the little guy, since he was still so tiny. I made a point to help him out and bought a couple of smaller trash cans he could help with. He wouldn’t let her pick anything up off the floor and would draw pictures to hang in the room for the baby. Adam was impossible not to love.

It was difficult to take the little girl stuff out of his room, but we did finally break down and buy Adam some bedding that was meant for a boy. The fact that he saw one with tools on it and got excited didn’t hurt any, either. I bought the matching curtains as well, and when we found out we were having a boy, I made plans to go get the matching crib set.

“It looks like everything is in order here,” the judge said and gave his little spiel on the importance of putting our kids first. We agreed, and finally we all signed the papers. It was official. Adam was our son and was now Adam Michael Martin.

“We’ll have to celebrate tonight, maybe take him somewhere special,” I said, as we sat with Ms. Jordan at lunch. Addy nodded in agreement, because her mouth was too full so speak.

Ms. Jordan reached over and squeezed Addy’s hand. “I’m so happy things are working out for you two.”

Addy had been doing really well in her therapy sessions with Dr. Turley. She knew it had been out of Ms. Jordan’s hands, when she had taken the girls. It had been court ordered, and so we had tried to let it go. She hadn’t asked us to take any more children other than Adam, knowing we still were trying to recover from the loss. Honestly, I was happy with just our two boys.

When we got home, I set the papers in front of Adam, and he looked at us confused. “You’re officially Adam Michael Martin, Son,” I said, pulling him over onto my lap. “We thought it was important that you became a Martin before your brother got here. We didn’t want any confusion on who the big brother was,” I teased.

He looked at the papers and then back at Addy and I. “You’re keeping me?” he asked timidly.

Addy nodded yes.

“Really, for good?  You’re not sending me away?”

“Nope, never, you’re official our son and the first Martin brother.”

“Really?” he asked in awe.

“Yup, so when you start school, you’ll be Adam Martin, coolest pre-kindergartener in the world,” I said, tickling him wildly. He wiggled and kicked, trying to get free.  He squealed in delight, when I told him we were going to the pizza place for dinner to celebrate. He did his own version of a celebration dance, and I joined in. I would forever be thankful that Adam had come into our lives.

My mother had continued seeing Leon, and now they were officially dating. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, until one night, I heard my mother laughing. “You should’ve seen his face, Leon. I wish you and Evette had been there. Matt was always the joker, so he was just stunned speechless, when I turned the tables on him.”

I slipped out of hearing range, giving them privacy. My mother still loved my father best, and she understood that Leon felt the same about Evette. I was surprised when she came home sporting an engagement ring with a nervous Leon standing behind her.

I was staring at it stunned, as my wife hugged them both, and Adam danced around them, asking if that would make Leon his grandpa. Leon picked him up, hugged him and told him yes, and he was looking forward to it.

“Matthew?” my mother asked in a worried voice. I finally looked up to her face. “Matthew, please, say something,” my mother begged.

“Are you happy?” I asked.

She smiled at Leon and nodded. “Yes, I am, and let’s face it, it’s time I gave Addy back her house.”

I looked at the women in my life confused. I had never heard of any contention between them, but from the looks they gave each other, it looked like there might have been some at some point.

“Have you picked a date?” Addy asked, changing the subject.

“Yes, since this is our second marriage, we were just going to do it at the courthouse. Keep it small and simple and maybe have a little luncheon in the backyard with the family.”

“That’s the plan, but we haven’t told Kelly, though. I’m not sure how she’ll react. If it’s positive, I think we’ll have a hard time keeping her from inviting the whole town and hiring a wedding planner.”

“You should do a sneak attack,” Adam said, jumping out from next to the couch. “Just surprise her and get married all at the same time.”

“Actually, Adam, that’s a very good idea,” Leon said, with a mischievous smile.

Two weeks later we were standing on the courthouse steps. Kelly came rushing forward, with Jason on her tail. “What’s this about? Did they tell you?” she asked.

“They’re getting married,” Addy said straight out. She was always good at getting to the point.

“Married? Wait, right now? Today? But we didn’t plan anything! Is there even flowers and a cake? How can they do this?” she panicked and ran inside.

My mom was able to settle Kelly down, promising her that there was indeed a cake, and the florist was on her way just now. Moments later, a portly lady came in with a few bouquets, handing the largest to my mother and the two smaller ones to my wife and soon-to-be stepsister. The women pinned boutonnieres on all of us men and even little Adam, who was given a pillow with the rings tied to it.

We all stood in the judge’s office. The men stood by Leon and the girls by my mom, and little Adam stood in the middle holding the rings. The ceremony was short, and the judge took pictures of us all together, and we took one of him with my mom and Leon. All in all, it was simple and sweet, just like they had wanted.

We went back to Leon’s house and had lunch, and cake. Afterwards, Jason and Leon helped me move my mother’s things to Leon’s home. I was nervous about going into her room and seeing my father’s things, but my mother seemed at ease around them, as she packed them up to take with her.

When I unloaded the last box at their home, I noticed there were pictures of Evette everywhere. There were touches of her all over the place. I walked down the hall, where I was putting the boxes to be unpacked, when I found my mother and Leon going through a box. “We can put them up along the mantel, and there’s space on the far wall. I’m okay with rearranging some of mine to make room for yours,” Leon said tenderly.

My mother looked up at Leon with tears in her eyes, and that was when I noticed the box she had been looking in was full of pictures. “Thank you, dear.”

He leaned down and kissed her lips softly. “I just want you to be happy.”

I knew then that Leon would take care of my mom, and that neither would forget the loves of their lives, but they would be happy with the love they had in each other as well.

Chapter 36 - Wish I Had Done Things Differently

Some scenes of your life you replayed over and over, making you wonder if there could have been a different outcome. Those scenes haunted us and kept us from looking forward. I was stuck in one of those loops now, wondering what I could have done differently.

I ended up just praying to god to please save my wife and child, as I tried to keep it together, until I heard back from the doctor. I looked down at my bandaged arm and wondered, if I had leaned a little more to the left, maybe the bullet would have gone into my into my bone, stopping it from hitting my wife.

“Matthew.” It was my mother.  She was winded, because she had run in from the parking lot. Leon and Daniel were on her heels. “Daniel ran the lights, so we could get here faster, baby.  What happened?”

I closed my eyes, trying to fight back the images and failing. It was supposed to have been a romantic weekend getaway with just the two of us. It was our four-year anniversary. I couldn’t believe we had been married that long, it didn’t feel like it. Everything had been going so good for us…adopting Adam, my business, Addy pregnant with our son.  Why couldn’t we catch a break?

“Boy, look at me!” Daniel yelled, shaking my shoulder. I winced a little, when he gripped where I had been shot. He looked at my arm and frowned. “You weren’t trying to be a hero, were you?”

I looked down at the ground, trying to figure out if I had been, but truth was, I couldn’t turn my back and walk away. Not when I heard what I had heard. Not when I had seen what I had seen. Besides, Addy would not have let us walk away, and I would have never been able to look myself in the mirror again if I had, either. No, we weren’t being heroes, we were just being parents. “The girls,” I spoke softly, trying to figure out where to begin.

My mother looked up at me confused. “I don’t understand.”

“We found the girls.”              

“What?” Daniel snapped. “Please tell me you didn’t go trying to kidnap them!”

“No,” I shook my head. If only it were so simple.

Leon pulled some chairs closer to me and grabbed my hand, squeezing it for support. “Just take your time, Son.”

I nodded, trying to find where to begin.

“We were leaving our hotel, when we heard crying and shouting...”

We had been staying in a less than nice neighborhood, because we didn’t have the money to go to a fancy hotel. I had spent all my money on flowers, dinner and a trip to some art gallery. Not to mention the drive to Houston itself.

I was glad we were there, purely by the grace of God no doubt. I didn’t know what would have happened to our babies if we hadn’t been, the horrible things that could have happened at the hands of that monster. It was everything Addy had been afraid of. I didn’t understand how it could have happened. I had thought they were keeping an eye on the girls. I had thought they were going to be checking on them. I had never expected to find them in an alley in trouble.

My recount of our misadventure was interrupted, when I heard a few sets of footsteps come into the waiting room. “I’m looking for a Matthew Martin,” a deep voice called. An officer and a social worker had come looking for me.

“Here,” I said, barely keeping it together. I had to hold it together for my girl…for my girls.

“I know you’re in a very stressful situation, Mr. Martin, but I was hoping I could get a statement from you, so we can get the ball rolling.”

I looked at the social worker in a grey pencil skirt and asked, “How long have they been lost?”

She squirmed, not answering, and the officer went back to trying to get me to talk. I looked at my family and then the officer. I guess they would all find out what had happened at once. “My wife and I were on our way back to our hotel. We’d come to Houston for our anniversary,” I shook my head. I couldn’t wish we had stayed home, but I couldn’t wish we were here getting shot, either. I wanted it all to be different.

“We’d just parked the car, when we heard a man’s voice. He was loud, angry that someone didn’t have money to pay him. I didn’t even bother to look, until I heard his next words. He was going to take the payment from the little girls. I heard a woman yell no and a child scream. My wife and I quickly moved to the alleyway that the fight was happening in. I told her to stay back, as I pushed forward. She didn’t listen.

“The woman was yanking on one of the girls’ arms, and the man had the other and was kicking at her to get her to let go. I yelled at him to back off, and he started shouting at me to mind my own business. That’s when everything changed. Gabby remembered me.”

My mother let out a gasp of shock. I noticed Daniel’s glare became more pointed at the social worker.

“She called to me and started running to me, she cried for me, calling me daddy,” I sobbed into my hands.

“Oh, my god,” my mother cried. “Please, tell me the girls are okay. Tell me you didn’t take them from our home just to throw them into danger,” my mother snapped at the woman. She had the good sense to shrink back, and the officer stepped between them.

“Mr. Martin, could you please go on.”

I nodded. “Gabby was free, and I told her to go to Addy, who had her arms open and was calling to her. They were yanking on Genny, who was getting flung around like a rag doll. I was sure her shoulders were dislocated. The guy just wouldn’t let go of her. He didn’t realize I hadn’t left when he’d told me to. I punched him, trying to get him to let go of Genny, and it worked.

“He was surprised and let go of her arm to come after me. Genny fell back on the woman, and was screaming.  God, you could tell she was in so much pain. I wanted to go to her, but that guy wouldn’t let up on me. He kicked me back, knocking me to the ground.” I lifted my scraped hands, looking down at the dried blood. “He shouted that I’d pay for interfering with taking what was his. The woman shouted that she’d get the money. He turned to her and shot her. There was blood everywhere. Genny was screaming louder. I was so scared he’d shot her.”

“The girls are going to be fine, Mr. Martin,” the officer reassured me.

I took a deep breath. “He didn’t like all the screaming Genny was doing and pointed the gun at her. I got up off of the ground and lunged at him, trying to wrestle the gun away. It went off, grazing my arm and then hitting my wife, who was further up the alley behind me. I didn’t know it had hit her, though. I was still trying to get him to let go. I finally got the gun twisted in his hand. He just had to let it go, but he didn’t,” I said, shaking my head. “He pulled the trigger instead.” I slumped down. “He shot himself in the neck.”  I looked down at my blood-covered shoes.

“Once he fell to the ground, I went to check on Genny, and that was when I heard Gabby screaming my wife had been shot.” I fought the tears, but it was useless, I was all-out bawling, and my mother took me into her arms. She was sobbing as well. I didn’t want to lose my wife.

There was some sort of radio thing going off on the cop’s shoulder. He answered back okay and said to save it. “Your wife called 911 when you went down the alley. We have it all recorded. I’m sure it’ll just back up your story. It should be enough to put Mr. Trevino behind bars for good.”

“He’s alive?” I asked.

The cop frowned. “Barely, they were able to stop him from bleeding out, but they don’t know if he’ll be more than a vegetable when he wakes up.  If we can convict him, though, we can pull the plug on him.”

“And the girls? How is Genny? I know she was hurt.”

The social worker answered, “Her arms were dislocated. They’ve popped them back into place, but they’re keeping them wrapped against her body for the next two months to be sure she doesn’t have any lasting tendon damage.”

“Were they healthy?” my voice broke. I wanted to ask, but I was afraid of the answer. “Had anyone…touched them?” I asked, silently pleading that she understood what I was asking.

“No, they’d only been missing a few months. They weren’t sexually abused during that time. They were malnourished and dehydrated, but they’ll be fine,” the woman said, doing her best to reassure me.

I leaned back, letting out a sigh of relief. I looked over at my mother and then the woman again. “When can we take them home?” I asked.

“What?” she asked confused.

“I’m taking my girls home.  They were mine and my wife’s, before you took them and gave them back to that woman who you mistakenly called a fit mother.  When can we get them back?” I stated, a little more forcefully.

“I…I…I…” she stuttered.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to use a cell phone in the hospital,” I heard the cop say, but Daniel just glared at him.

“Hello, Ms. Jordan, Sheriff Stratton here. I’m at the hospital with Matthew and Addy, along with Genny and Gabby. The girls’ mother was shot and killed tonight by either her drug dealer or pimp, we don’t know which yet. Matthew would like to take the girls home once they’re released.”

He nodded a couple of times, saying okay and then looked over at the social worker. “She’s right here. Let me pass the phone to her.”

The woman paled a little, but she took the phone. She said, “Yes, Ma’am,” a lot and then looked at me. “She wants to talk to you,” she said timidly.

“Please tell me you can help me,” I said immediately.

“I can. Now, am I right to assume you want to keep the girls for good and want to adopt them?” she asked.

“Yes, please, can you make that happen?” I asked hopefully.

“You got it. What hospital are you at? I’ll be there as soon as I get the papers drawn up.”

“Thank you, we’re at St. Joseph’s Medical Center.  I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

“Alright, I’ll be there soon,” she said and hung up.

I looked up at my mother with a sad smile. “She’s bringing the adoption papers.” I glared over at the woman, and she was staring at her shoes.

Leon, who had been relatively quiet, finally spoke up. “I’ll call Kelly, she’s watching Adam. I’ll have her set up a room for the girls.”

“Thank you,” I said gratefully.

“That’s what family is for, Matthew.”

“For Adeline Martin?” a surgeon called, grabbing our attention.

“Yes, I’m her husband. How is she and the baby?” I asked, slightly panicked. The guy was giving away nothing with his facial expression.

“They’re both going to be fine, but we’re going to keep her for a couple of days to monitor the baby and make sure there are no complications. We want him to stay in there and cook a while longer,” he said with a smile.

“Can I see her?”

He looked at his watch. “They’re just moving her, and she’s still out. I can take you back to her room to wait for her.”

“Yes, please,” I begged, and he nodded okay.

I followed him back to the room and watched anxiously, as they wheeled my sleeping girl in. Her left shoulder was all bandaged up, and they had cleaned up her hair, face and neck. All had been covered in blood, so much so, that I hadn’t been sure where she had been shot.

“She won’t be able to use her arm for six weeks, and then she needs to take it easy for the next few months.” I nodded, listening to the doctor’s directions.

Once he stepped out, I took my place at her side, holding her hand and kissing her cheek. The doctor said it would be another thirty minutes until she woke up, but I didn’t mind waiting. My wife and baby boy were going to be fine, and the girls would finally be coming home for good.