*So here is the sequel to Life Unexpected. I hope that you enjoy the first chapter.*
BRIANA's POINT OF VIEW:
Almost 8 years of being behind bars I step outside the front of the prison allowing the hot Pensacola sun hit my face. I feel the warm breeze around me, hear the birds chirping and look up to see the beautiful clear blue sky with the perfect white clouds. I smile when I look down in front of me to see my family; my 7 year old daughter Ramona and her father. I walk down the concrete stairs and make my way over to them. "Mommy's free," I say with a smile as I take Ramona into my arms.
"I missed you, Mama," she says to me as she looks up at me with her dark brown eyes, her curly brown hair hanging to her shoulders. "Are you coming home with us today?"
"I am," I say with a smile. "Mama's out of jail." It only took me this long to get out of jail but I managed to finally get out on good behavior. It took a lot of work but I managed to get out on good behavior. "I love you."
"I love you too," she says with a smile as she takes my hand as I greet her father with a kiss.
"Hey, Baby," I say with a smile. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," he says as we walk to his car. "How does it feel to finally be free?"
"It feels great," I say. "No more crappy meals, no more 5 minute showers no more ass kickings. I'm finally free. Thanks for helping me out."
"No problem," he says with a smile as we get into the car. "So what are you going to do first?"
"I want to see Roman," I say. I have not forgotten about Roman and how much I love him. I want him to meet our daughter and I know he has our other daughter. I'm ready to be a family again. I'm surprised he wasn't here to see me or to help me get situated.
"Bri," he says, "Roman is gone."
"What do you mean he's gone?" I ask as my body fills with rage and fear.
"Him and Rachel left Florida a long time ago. They've been gone for at least 8 years almost."
"He told me he would wait for me," I say. "Where did they go and Rachel is still around?" I ask. I can't stand Rachel. She is the woman that has destroyed my happiness with Roman. Roman and I were supposed to have it all; a baby, a house, marriage; a family but she ruined it all. She took him away from me and took all my hopes and dreams away.
"Yeah, they got married right before they moved away."
"Where did they go?" I ask as we are driving down the road as I take in the scenery of the houses as we drive passed them.
"I have no idea," he says, "Roman got some coaching job and they left. I don't know where he went to coach but I know he's been coaching for about 8 years now. I'm not sure."
"Oh," I say, "is your father still their attorney?"
"Nope," he says. "As soon as they moved they stopped talking to him."
"Can't he find out where they are?" I ask.
"He tried but he can't. Wherever they are they don't' want to be bothered by anyone. All social media accounts were deactivated, all phone numbers changed and nothing listed. It's like they disappeared off the face of the Earth."
"I'll find them," I say. I will do whatever research I need to do to find them. I want to take back what belongs to me. I will get Rachel out of the picture and for him to move and not tell me I can't say that I'm not hurt. "He's famous how can he just disappear?"
"I don't know," he says, "he could be using a different name. I did everything I could."
"And his parents and her parents? His brother and sisters? Her sister? Did you get in touch with them?"
"I don't know. Her mom is no longer in Florida. Her mom moved to wherever she did and her father moved to Alabama. His family is no longer in Florida. Her sister, her husband and their girls moved to wherever Rachel and Roman are shortly after. As for his brother and sisters his brother lives up north and his sisters live here in Pensacola but they are very private people. I was unable to talk to them without them calling security on me."
"Roman is good I'll give him that but he will be found," I say. "I'll make sure I find him. What about his daughter Sky she has to be almost 16 years old which means she would be in high school. There has to be some information on her somewhere."
"Bri, you're getting obsessed again," he says, "just leave them alone. They have their own lives now and you have your own life with me and Ramona," he says as he looks back at our daughter in the backseat. He's right I barely even know my own daughter. I haven't been in her life for 7 years. I carried her for almost 9 months in that prison and shortly after she was born they took her away from me and gave her to her father. I've only talked to her behind glass, I never held her, never hugged her till today and I have missed so many things she's done; 7 birthdays missed, two first days of school missed needless to say I've missed almost her whole life. The only way I got to know her was through pictures that her father has sent to me. I know she likes gymnastics and she likes to play softball. She loves Disney Princesses and she loves animals. I need to take the time to talk to her and get to know her more than through pictures. "I mean they are the reason you were in jail in the first place. If they wanted to be found or they wanted to be bothered they wouldn't have gone through such lengths to be so private."
"I guess," I say, "I'll let it go for now but I want to see Roman."
"Well," he says, "I don't think that's a good idea. Can't you just focus on us? And let us be okay? What about us working on having another baby or us getting married?"
"I have no interest in marrying you. When you were the prison guard I told you that. I needed you for one thing and that was Ramona. I don't need another baby and I don't need marriage. I just want to see Roman."
He lets out a deep breath, "Bri, for the last 8 years that's all I've heard about. I'm tired of hearing about it. Can we just enjoy your first day of freedom by being a family and doing something as a family and not focus on the people that put you in jail in the first place?"
"Fine," I say, "you win. NO more Roman and Rachel talk it's all about us today and being a family."
"That's what I like to hear," he says as he gives me a soft smile and leans over to kiss my lips softly. As he turns his direction back to the road I roll my eyes and begin to plot in my head everything I want to do.
ROMAN's POINT OF VIEW:
"All right, Boys, good job, Hustle it in," I say as my team finishes their last practice before our big home game in the morning. "You're doing great. Your defense is on point and your offense is unstoppable. That's what I like to see. If you play like you did in practice tomorrow you're going to start the season off with a bang. I want to make it all the way this year. We came close last season but our main player got injured and we had to pull in the alternate. Not that we didn't do a good job but it could have been better. I want to go all the way this year. I want to be undefeated like we've been the last couple seasons. Can we do that?"
"Yeah," a couple of the football players say together.
"Good," I say. "Tomorrow is the big game. I want you to go home and get some rest. WE need to be back at the field by 8 in the morning so that we can start the opening game festivities tomorrow. I hope that you guys get in a good night's sleep and come ready to play tomorrow and if you have any studying to do get it done."
"All right, Coach," says my newest player. He just joined the team and was a high school superstar. I look forward to seeing his performance on the field in his first college game tomorrow. He is a defensive linesman and the best at what he does.
"See you guys tomorrow, Great practice," I say before I high-five most of them before they hit the showers.
As I am standing on the football field taking in the moment I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, Dad," says Sky.
"Hey, Sky," I say as I turn around to give her a hug. "How'd you get here?" I ask.
"My friend dropped me off," she says. "We were at Sky's The Limit helping out but all the kids left. Mom told me you were still here so I wanted to come watch practice but I guess it's over huh?"
"Yeah," I say with a smile as we walk off the field. "So were there a lot of kids there today?"
"Tons," she says with a smile.
"And how was school today?"
"The same old stuff. I had to correct my calculus teacher on an equation that he did wrong and I had to correct my history teacher on a couple facts but other than that it was okay."
I let out a small chuckle and say, "I'm not surprised."
"And Mom wants you to pick up Chinese food for dinner. She said something is going on and she didn't feel like cooking today. I don't know."
"All right," I say as my newest football player comes out of the locker room.
"See ya, Coach," he says giving me a wave.
"Gunner wait," I say with a smile. "I want to introduce you to my daughter."
"Okay," he says with a smile as he makes his way over to us. As soon as he looks at Sky his green eyes start to light up. "Hi," he says as he looks at her.
"Hi," she says back with a smile on her face and a sparkle in her dark brown eyes. She instantly starts to fix her curly brown hair. "I'm Sky."
"I'm Gunner," he says with a smile without taking his eyes off of her.
"Nice to meet you," she says shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you too," he says with a smile as I watch their interaction and grow uncomfortable. "So do you go to Georgia Tech?"
"Not yet," she says, "soon though. Right now I'm just in high school."
"She's not 16 yet," I say putting it out there to let him know he's too old for her but only by a couple years.
"But I'll be 16 in a couple weeks," she says, "and I'm in 11th grade so in a couple years I'll be here."
"That's good," he says. "I can't wait to see you on campus."
"She's my daughter," I say as I see their hands are still connected. "All right," I say as I break their hands apart. "I think Gunner has to go study and Sky we need to go pick up dinner."
"Yeah, I have to go study," says Gunner, "but it was really nice to meet you. Are you going to be at the game tomorrow."
"I don't miss any home games," she says, "I'll be on the sideline with my dad."
"Great," he says with a smile. "Have a good night."
"You too," she says, "See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," he says as they look at each other for a couple minutes before he walks away. I know that look in Sky's eyes; it's the same look Jenn used to give to me when we first met. I am not ready for this at all. I've gone this far without her having any crushes or asking about dating anyone. I don't want it to start now but she is growing up. There's not much that I can do to stop her. My biggest fear is that she's turning 16 years old which means she is at the dating age. That's the age Rachel and I agreed on but I'd rather it not be till she's out of college.
"Come on, Sky," I say snapping her out of her thought. "He's too old for you anyway. He's in college you're in high school."
"He's only 18," she says as we walk to my car. "I'll be 16 soon that's only 2 years of a difference."
"You can't look at anyone your own age?"
"Yeah right, Dad, do you know who you're talking to? The boys in my grade are way below my intelligence level and way below my maturity level. You know I'm going to be 16 years old soon."
"Yeah I know," I say. "What does that mean for me?" I ask as we get into the car.
"It means that I can date."
"Not college boys," I say, "and he's a football player. I don't think so."
"I didn't ask if I could date him. I'm just saying that I can date at 16."
"We'll discuss it when you turn 16."
"Speaking of are you getting me a car for my birthday?"
"I don't know," I say, "did your mom give you any idea what to get?"
"Yeah," she says pulling out her phone. "She sent it to me in a text."
"Great," I say as we drive to the Chinese food place to pick up the food.
We arrive home and Sky and I carry the food into the house. We walk into the kitchen to be greeted by Rachel. "Hey, Baby," she says holding our almost 3 year old daughter Rainbow.
"Hey, Baby Girl," I say greeting her with a kiss. "What's up?"
"We need to talk later," she says with a smile. "I don't want to do it in front of the kids."
"All right," I say with a smile as I take Rainbow from her. "Hi, Rain," I say with a smile.
"Hi, Daddy," she says with a smile as she looks at me with her dark blue eyes as she brushes some of her light brown hair out of her face. Rainbow is our miracle baby hence the reason we named her Rainbow. Shortly after Storm turned 2 we had gotten pregnant but it was ectopic so they had to remove it before it caused any damage to Rachel's tubes. We got pregnant again shortly after but ended up having a miscarriage. We went through three miscarriages before we got Rainbow.
"Are you hungry?" I ask.
"Yes," she says with a smile. She looks just like Rachel and it makes me smile as I hold Rachel's mini me in my hands.
"Okay," I say as I put her in her booster seat at the table. "Daddy got you some rice okay?"
"Okay, Daddy," she says as I get her food for her as Summer and Storm come into the kitchen. Summer is on the phone talking and Storm is dressed up like Superman.
"Summer, time to get off the phone," I say as I put a bib on Rainbow before she eats. "It's family time."
"Okay, Daddy," she says as she tells her friend she has to go and hangs up her cell phone.
"In fact I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to have your cell phone for a couple days. Give it to me," I say.
"Sorry," she says, "It's just Gabby was asking if I could spend the night at her house and go to the movies tonight. I had to talk to her on my cell."
"You didn't have to you chose to after I told you no cell phone until you started to follow the rules better. Clearly you don't know how to follow the rules yet," I say as she hands me her phone. "No phone for at least three weeks. And you're not going to any sleepover."
"Dad, that's not fair," she says.
"Neither is life," I say. "Rachel, no phone for her."
"I told her and she didn't listen to me but then everything happened so I was just like whatever. Sorry."
"It's fine. I'll keep it with me." Summer is our challenge child to say the least. She is still as wild as she was when she was little. She's almost 8 years old and full of attitude and believes she can do what she wants when she wants to do it but not in my house. She thinks she's an adult to say I didn't know how to handle her after having Sky that never got in trouble I would say I'm a pro at discipline. She definitely knows how to push those limits. Storm on the other hand is very laid back like Sky was and very rarely ever crosses the line. Rainbow is in between it depends on her day which way she's going to go but life in our house is never boring to say the least.
Later that night after the younger kids are in bed and Sky is in her room on the computer Rachel and I sit down in the living room to talk. "So can I just tell you that I think Sky has her first crush," I say as we're sitting on the couch as I hold Rachel in my arms.
"Really?" she asks.
"Yeah, you should have seen the way she was looking at Gunner today."
"Gunner as in the new defensive linesman for Georgia Tech?" she asks.
"That's the one," I say, "and he was giving her the same look back."
"I'm sure you were loving that that," she says with a smile. "I can only imagine."
"I hated it," I say, "the last thing I want is for her to get involved with some boy some football player. I was a football player before. I know what kind of guy I was. I am sure Gunner has those same tendencies. My daughter is too young to look at college boys."
"This is Sky we're talking about though," she says. "She would never fall for someone in high school. She's too mature for that which is probably why she hasn't mentioned a crush or going out before."
"Probably but I don't her to go out with someone that's too mature for her. That's how pregnancies happen and I will not let my daughter ruin her life. She has a good thing going for her right now."
"No one said anything about pregnancy. Relax, Roman, she's a girl that has her first crush. No one is getting pregnant. Just let her be a teenager in love. It isn't a crisis."
"It is a crisis if she's my little girl," I say. "So enough about that what do you want to talk about?"
"Oh," she says nervously. "She's out."
"What?"
"Briana she's out," she says, "she got out this morning. She's free, Roman."
"Fuck," I say. "As long as she stays in Florida but I went great lengths to not be found including changing my name as a coach so that she can't find us. I think we should be all right."
"I know but she's crazy and just the thought of her being free scares me."
"She'll have a lot of digging to do before she finds us so in the meantime that gives us the time to work on the plan we came up with if this ever happened."
"All right," she says, "but I'm still scared. What if she does come after us and hurts one of the kids or something. I don't like it, Roman. I really don't like it. As long as she was in prison I knew she wasn't a threat to us but now that she's out no one can control her. I'm just scared," she says as she breaks down into tears as I wrap my arms around her to comfort her. All of a sudden my daughter dating isn't that big of a deal to me because the one person I truly despise in this world is walking free.
*A/n: Is it a keeper or not? What do you think? What do you think about Briana being free? What about the fact that the prison guard she slept with is Roman's and Rachel's attorney or was their attorney? Do you feel bad for Briana's daughter? Is Briana already to start trouble? What about SKy and her interaction with the football player? How is Roman ever going to be able to handle SKy dating especially a football player? If Sky does date will that distract Roman from the fact Briana is out or will the fact that Briana is out distract Roman from paying attention to Sky dating? Finally what kind of plan do you think Rachel and Roman have when it comes to Briana? Please review and thank-you for reading.