Chapter 10
Once Jasina knew Arielle was asleep, she closed the door fully and took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she held her cell phone in her hand. It was non-traceable so Mark wouldn't be able to find her and kill her. Damn it, this wasn't her fault! Taking another deep breath, Jasina flipped her cell open and dialed the number she got from Arielle, closing her eyes as it rang. He answered on the second ring, sounding frantic.
"Mark," She began quietly. "It's Jasina." She held the phone away from her ear as he began to scream bloody murder at her, waiting until he was calmed down. "Listen to me, Arielle overheard you and Steve talking about me being her mother." She had to hold the phone away again, feeling tears stream down her cheeks, finally hanging up.
"Mark, you just yelled at her!" Lashonna scolded. "I thought you were past all that?"
"I fucking lied!"
"Mark-"
"Uh Trish, darlin', I wouldn't..."
"Arielle went to see Jasina."
"Oh, well, that's good right?"
The phone rang again in his hand and when he answered, it was Jasina's turn to talk. "Shut up. Shut up right now Calaway." She ordered in a deadly voice, the anger flowing through her body. "Now you're going to keep your mouth shut and LISTEN to me for ONCE. Arielle overheard you and Steve talking and found out I'm her mother. She found out where I am through Trish's Houston Journal, somebody gave her the information." She had to take a breath, knowing she had to be strong. "She arrived earlier tonight. I don't know how she managed to get here, but I want to make it CLEAR that I had nothing to do with this. She shocked me when she arrived at my doorstep, Mark. Now you can either yell at me like a banshee and throw a fit, or you can talk to me like a civil adult. Though if you start screaming at me again, I'm hanging up."
"Deep breaths." Steve coaxed, watching as Mark gripped the phone so hard he was likely to shatter it. "Inhale, exhale."
"Do NOT pull that pregnancy shit on me, Steve!" Mark snapped, slapping his hand over the receiver, taking a deep breath before narrowing his eyes. "Where are you so I can come get her?"
Steve flashed a thumbs up at the civil tone, groaning when Mark tossed a nearby pad of paper at his head.
"I will bring her back myself." Jasina stated, not wanting Mark to know where she lived. She liked living after all. "I'll leave tomorrow and be there hopefully by five o'clock." It was a long drive, but this would give her more time with Arielle. "I'll bring her to the shop." Jasina didn't want to let her little girl go, not when she just got her back, but knew she didn't have a choice as she take another deep breath. "Is that alright with you?"
"Yes, that's fine." Mark said softly, suddenly feeling drained. "Thank you, Jasina, for calling."
"Tell her I'm pregnant!" Trish squealed.
"Please tell me you heard that."
"Now tell her far along and how fat I've gotten!"
"Here, talk to Trish."
"Did you think I wouldn't call Mark?" She softly replied, making him hold the phone, knowing he was relieved. "I would never keep her away from her father." She heard Trish was pregnant and smiled, knowing Steve was the father. "Now you can give the phone to Trish." She closed her eyes when her friend got on the phone, hearing Trish's bubbly voice that she missed over the past year. "Hey girl! Congrats on the baby. I know you'll make an excellent mother."
"Yeah, I know, I've had a nursery made adjacent to my office so I can still work AND take care of the baby myself." Trish gushed.
"What the hell am I?"
"Male, not a babysitter, hush, the grown-ups are talking." Trish said sweetly, giggling when he growled. "So you'll be in town tomorrow? You HAVE to stay the night with me, at least one night, we've got a year worth of catching up to do!"
"I think I can do that. I'll leave Sunday morning and come back home." Jasina softly replied, wondering if Trish could be any happier, then decided not to question that. "Listen sweetie, it's been a very emotional night and I'm exhausted. I'll be leaving early in the morning, please tell Mark that." When she agreed to do so, Jasina smiled. "I can't wait to see you, Trish. Bye honey." She closed the lid to her cell phone and sunk down on the couch, proceeding to cry her heart out. She was getting it all out before having to say goodbye to Arielle the following day.
Mark waited until everyone was gone before sitting down at his kitchen table with an old photo album in front of him and a case of beer beside him on the floor, cracking one open and draining it in one swallow. He had to go to the basement to find this, but...Cracking open a second beer, this time sipping, he flipped through it, pictures of him and Jasina when they had first met, their wedding, her pregnancy...Had he really been so blind not to realize she had a problem? Why couldn't she have come to him with it in the first place?
~!~
Around five thirty the next evening, Jasina pulled up in front of Mark's shop and put the car in park, taking a deep breath. She was wearing blue jeans with a black tank top, black sunglasses over her eyes. She hadn't cried, not once, around Arielle, knowing the little girl was probably very emotional right now.
"Your father is waiting sweetheart." When Arielle asked her to walk her in, Jasina nodded and stepped out, taking her hand and guided her inside the shop, the bell dinging above them. Jasina slid her black sunglasses up on top of her head, brushing the hair from her face just as Mark walked out from the back.
"Uh hi daddy." Arielle flashed him the most sweetest, charming smile she had, knowing it usually caused him to melt.
"You are in trouble." He announced softly, staring at her, his eyes making sure she was alright. "We'll discuss it later, Arie. Come here." He dropped to a knee to hug her tightly, just glad she had come home safely. Lord only knew how many things could have gone wrong with her hopping a bus and taking off like that. He looked past her to Jasina. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She softly replied, keeping her emotions in the best she could and looked down when Arielle pulled away from Mark to stare up at her. Jasina dropped down in front of her, smiling tearfully. "I told you everything was going to be fine. Just remember no matter what you do, your father loves you regardless, and so do I. Now come here." Tears slid down her cheeks as Arielle threw her arms around her neck, causing Jasina to hug her close, knowing this was goodbye. "I love you Arielle Marie Calaway." She whispered, pulling back and tapped her nose with a smile. "Be good for your father, alright?"
"Wait, you're leaving already? You can't! Not that I finally just got to meet you." Arielle glanced back at her dad. "Tell her she can't go!"
"Arie, lil darlin'-"
"DAD!"
"Jasina…" Mark swallowed down his pride. "Would you like stay and have supper with us? Here."
"I'll order pizza!"
Those green eyes penetrated her soul as she stared back at him, swallowing hard, and nodded gently. "Sure, I'd like that."
She smiled when Arielle began jumping up and down before zooming into the office to grab the number for the pizza place in town. Jasina wiped her tears away that had fallen while she was saying goodbye to Arielle, clearing her throat, wanting to say so many things. No...she said it all in that letter she wrote Mark. If he had more questions for her, she would answer them, but other than that Jasina was leaving the past behind her and moving on.
Mark dropped down behind the desk, watching as Arielle began writing down what she wanted on her pizza. "You best be asking Jasina what she wants, maybe she don't like pineapple and ham." He teased, knowing they were going to be having a long night when they got home.
"Oh...Jasina, what do you want on your pie?" Arielle asked, glancing at her mother.
"I'll eat whatever you want, sweetheart." Jasina replied softly, sitting down in a chair in Mark's office, and smiled when Arielle sat on her lap, wrapping her arms around her waist. She knew Mark would be punishing her and, honestly, Jasina didn't blame the man. She'd been scared when she opened her door to find Arielle on her front doorstep, one because she thought Mark was there and two, she had no legal rights to this little girl. "After the pizza I have to get going okay?" She told her softly, seeing her nod, and ran her fingers through her chestnut hair that matched Jasina's perfectly.
Mark placed an order for three pizzas, all of them larges, each one separate toppings, remembering what Jasina used to like on her pizzas, and it wasn't pineapple. "Be here in forty-five minutes." He grunted when he hung up.
"See, we have plenty of time." Arielle said with a grin, snuggling up to Jasina. "Now...tell me...hmm...Do you have any brothers or sisters?" She asked, deciding to start with the easy questions.
Mark hid a smile, knowing Arielle was going to use forty-five minutes to drive Jasina crazy with her constantly running mouth. "Darlin', just remember to let her answer before ya spring another."
"No I do not." Jasina answered with a smile, hearing Mark place an order for a pepperoni pizza and couldn't believe he actually remembered. That made her heart swell as she got more comfortable, refusing to let her daughter go. The last time she had been with both Mark and Arielle was when they dropped her stuff off. "By the way, did you get that playground?" She asked suddenly and grinned when Arielle nodded enthusiastically, holding her hands up when Arielle stated it was HER asking the questions. "Well yes ma'am, go right on ahead then."
"How bout a mom and dad, everyone has those. Well, almost everyone." Arielle said, sounding sad for a moment before grinning again.
Great, now his daughter was guilt tripping him out. "You girls want something to drink?" He asked, standing up and clearing his throat.
"Sprite!"
He looked at Jasina.
"Sprite is fine, Mark." She replied quietly, tightening her hold a little on her daughter and cleared her throat. "My mother is dead, she died awhile ago." She didn't miss the shock in Mark's eyes, but chose not to acknowledge it, focusing on answering her daughter's question. "I never met my father so I don't have one." She smiled down at her daughter to keep her spirit up, rubbing her back up and down. "And you do have a mother and father. As long as you want me in your life, Arielle, I'm not going anywhere." She promised, refusing to let her little girl go and knew Mark wouldn't deny their daughter anything, especially that.
Mark quietly got them their Sprites, retrieving himself a water. "Here."
"Thank you, dad." Arielle said, taking them both and handing one to Jasina. "So I can call ya mom now, right? I like Jasina, but mom sounds better, don't you think dad?"
She was trying to mess him up, his beautiful angel had her horns on today. "I think Jasina is a beautiful name, Arielle, you call her what ya like."
"I don't want to pressure you into calling me that, Arielle. If you feel comfortable with it, then I'd love it if you called me…mom." She replied softly, smiling tearfully when her daughter called her mom for the first time, and wrapped her arms around her after turning her, burying her face in her hair. She was getting her second chance and Jasina wasn't going to blow it for anything. "You know, you really stir up one's emotions, Arielle." She stated, pulling back and smiled when a tissue was handed to her. "So what else do you want to know? I'm an open book."
"First off, can you call me Arie?" She asked, scrunching her nose. "I like my name, but...I like Arie better."
Mark shrugged when Jasina arched an eyebrow his way. "Steve started calling her that when she was two."
"Yep. Steve's my uncle, well, he's not really my uncle, he's like adopted." Arielle explained. "I adopted him, right dad?"
He began laughing, remembering how when she had been five she had given him a handful of pennies in order to buy her Uncle Stevie. "You sure did, princess."