A/N: I know it's been awhile. I'm trying to get the ball rolling again. Tell me what you think about this update. I know it's short. Please don't kill me. Do some of the words get deleted when you copy and paste the text on here?
Chapter 8 Diving For Hearts
The door is swung open and my nose is invaded with the sickly smell of bleach. "Hey, you came." He answers the door with tousled hair and dark circles.
"Um, yeah, I brought a few things. I didn't know what flavor he liked, so I had to guess. I hope cherry and strawberry are ok. I bought a couple of other things too. Um, yeah, I didn't know what you already had." Jacob steps closer to me and gently takes the heavy bags from my hands.
"Thank you, this is perfect." He whispers. "Kenny is just waking up from his nap. I gave him ginger ale, but he was vomiting foam . Um he's in the living room right now." He leads me into the living room on his way to the kitchen and I take a seat next to a lethargic Kenny, barely watching the We Bare Bears marathon on Cartoon Network.
"Hey Kenny, how are you feeling?" His listless eyes look up at me and all I can do is place him on my lap.
"Mommy, I'm thirsty." His voice is so horse, and his lips are so chapped, I can tell he's dehydrated. I pull him even closer to me and rest his body on mine.
"Jacob! Bring me the pedialyte. He's dehydrated." I yell into the kitchen. I bring my attention back to Kenny and he's starting to close his eyes. Jesus, Jacob should have called me sooner he's starting to pass out. "No, don't fall asleep yet baby. I'm gonna give you something to drink so you can feel better. Keep your eyes open for me, ok." He gives me a soft moan and his eyes flutter open.
Jake comes back into the room with Kenny's Spider Man sippy cup. I place the rubber straw between Ken's pale lips telling him to "take a small sip". I take a deep breath and try not to get angry. "Jake you have to keep him hydrated. You can't let him just take naps and hope the vomiting stops. I mean, how many naps has he taken?"
"I don't really know. This week has really been tough for me. I just really need some help with him, you know. It's hard for me to ask for help." I look away from his pitiful face and focus on Kenny. I'm so sick of falling for assholes. He needs to pay more attention to his kid. The last thing I need is fall for another Mike. Selfish, self absorbed,and irresponsible. Can you really help who you're attracted to?
He takes a seat on the couch next to me and I instantly feel my shoulders start to tense up. He's sitting a little too close for comfort. His eyes wonder around the room before they settle on me. "You're so good with my son, it's unbelievable. Do you have any siblings?"
"No, I'm the only child." This is all he can come up with?
"So, do you just like kids then?" I roll my eyes. Yeah, why else would I be a teacher? I love kids.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that. I love to see the smile on a kid's face, you know. It just makes me feel warm inside no matter what's going on in my life."
"So how long have you been a teacher?" He rubs his hands together nervously. He's not as smooth as I thought he would be. How did he get a kid with social skills like this?
"I've been a teacher for three years now."
"Your friends with Leah right? Are you guys roommates or something?"
"No. Leah moved in with her boyfriend Sam." I give him a knowing look. Everybody knows Leah and Sam are back together. They always have their tongues down each others throats.
"Why are you being so dry with me. I'm trying to make conversation." Conversation! This is conversation?
"Why are you asking so many questions?"
"I'm just trying to figure out why my son is so attached to a woman he barely knows. I mean he's been in your classroom for a couple of months and calls mommy. I mean I can't get him to tell me how his day was, but he calls you mommy. Do you know how many times I hear what mommy said. Mommy said we should share our toys. Mommy said I did well in class today. Uncle Paul was mean to mommy."
"You have a sweet boy, Jacob. It's really something beautiful to have someone love you back unconditionally. If letting him call me mommy brightens his day then I don't have a problem with it. You didn't see the way he cried in my arms. It reminded me of all the times I cried in my room alone as a child. I may have lived with my mother, but I know what it's like to not have a mom." I stop myself before I go down memory lane. The last thing I want to do is start crying in front of this man.
"Mommy, my mouth is dry." Kenny croaks into the side of my neck. I quickly pick up his sippy cup and let him take a small sip. "I'm c-c-cold."
"Jacob he has the chills can you get him a blanket?" I look up from Kenny to see Jacob's dark eyes staring deep into mine.
"Why don't you just take him to his room. His bed is big enough for the both of you." I held Kenny in my arms as Jacob led us to his bedroom. Kenny's room had transformers Optimus Prime toys, Speed Racer posters and a Spider Man bed set.
"Dear lord, can you pick a theme?" The mirth seeping through my former irritation.
Jacob gives me a warm smile. "What can I say? He likes Transformers and Spider-man, and Speed Racer. I just try to make him happy. Whenever I'm not working, I try to do things with him. All he talks about is superheros and a mommy. I can only give him superhero toys and posters and whatever toy he points his fingers at. Sometimes I feel like i'm trying to fill a void, you know." His smile fades as the light in his eyes dim.
I'm not sure what to say. I just want to fix it. Fix whatever is broken. Maybe we can help each other. I wouldn't mind a sweet boy calling me mommy. His small arms wrapped around my neck. Yeah, I think I like the mommy title.
"Um, It's getting pretty late and It looks like there is a storm coming. You should stay the night." He walks away from the window and heads toward the door. "If you need anything just call me. I'm gonna get ready for bed. Um, there's an empty bucket on the other side of the bed if he can't make it to the bathroom in time."
I pull the sheets back and lightly place a sleeping Kenny in the center of the bed. I slid in next to him. I smooth his hair away from his face and fall asleep listening to the soft whisper of his breathing.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
A crack of thunder woke me up with an uncontrollable yelp. I looked down to see a dark pair of eyes that matched Jacobs staring back at me. "Hi" Kenny whispers to me.
I laugh lightly. "Hi there. Feeling any better?" I run my hand through knotted hair.
"Yeah, I'm so hungry! I want chocolate chip cookies. Can you make chocolate chip cookies, mommy?" His eyes light up so bright. the way He says mommy make me melt.
"Maybe when your tummy feels better. We should start out with something light. Do you like applesauce? In the morning you can have that and maybe a piece of toast."
"What's going on in here? Someone's feeling better, huh." Dear lord he looks like a Native American god standing there with only a pair of track pants on. I just want to run my hands down those abs of his. I bite my lip to keep from embarrassing myself. His sex hair isn't helping either. I wonder what it would be like, held in those strong arms…
"Daddy, daddy come lay with us. We are talking about all the food I can eat tomorrow. I'm so hungry daddy. Mommy said when my tummy feels better, she will make me chocolate chip cookies."
"Is that so?" Jacob slides into the other side of the bed as Kenny give him a big nod of confirmation. "Alright, lets get some more sleep. I have to go to work in the morning."
We hear another crack of thunder even closer than the last. It sounds like a tree hit a car somewhere on the block. "Wow, it sounds really bad out there." I guess I'll never get used to the bad storms that make their way to rainy forks.
"Yeah, you should see the damage to the reservation when these storms hit. You know, with all the trees around here, it's always somebodys car or house that gets wrecked."
We close our eyes and drift off into sleep.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"No, no, no ,no, no!" I burst into tears as I look at all the damage this huge fucking tree did to my car. "SHIT! Why me! I can't do this anymore. Fuck!" My hands grip into my hair even tighter. I don't have the money to pay for this damn car. The entire roof of my car is demolished under this giant tree. At this point I'm outright sobbing. My life cannot not get any worse.
I hear steps coming down the porch behind me. "Shit" I look over to see him observing the damage. "This is fixable. I don't think it's as bad as it looks."
"I'm screwed, I mean, I'm gonna have to call my insurance. Talk about my premium skyrocketing! Then I have to find a fucking an auto bodyshop . Which is gonna be some place in Port Angeles. This is going to cost me a fortune. I'm gonna have to work the damn hotline till three in the morning for months to pay for this shit." I blubber through the tears. The hysteria is causing my vision to blur. My shallow breathing is making me light headed. I think I might faint.
"What! No, no! Why would you do that. You can't!" Jacob raises his voice at me. He is starting to get upset.
"Work the hotline? I have to! That's the only way I can make enough money to cover this!"
"No! I'll fix the car. Paul and Embry do auto body repair. We can fix this, just don't, don't do the hotline thing, ok?"
"It's not like I do it for fun Jacob. I have to pay my bills. And I'll have to pay you back!"
He comes closer to me and wipes away some of the tears. "Don't worry about paying me back. Calm down. Let me fix this. I can fix this. Stop worrying." His soothing voice calms my sobs down to whimpers. He comes a little closer and takes my face into both his hands. "I just talked to Embry on my cell. The landlines are down, there are trees blocking the road. We're gonna be stuck here for awhile. Hell, probably the whole weekend. Just stay here with me and Kenny until things clear up. Don't stress, ok?"
I nod my head as we look into each others eyes. I whimper a small "ok".
His forehead leans into mine. And my breath hitches as I inhale his fresh ivory scent. "You're eyes are sort of beautiful."
"You're sort of beautiful." Oh my God. Did I just say that out loud!
He gives me a vibrant laugh. And surprises me with a passionate peck on the lips. He pulls me into his side and walks me toward the house. "By the way,call me Jake. Nobody calls me Jacob unless they're mad at me."
I pick up a waiting Kenny as we step inside the house.
"I'll hunt down some fresh clothes for you. They might be a little big but, hey it's better than nothing."
As he heads down the hall, I feel my blush deepen. My free hand touches my lips as I play the last few minutes back in my head. If it weren't for the tingle in my lips, I wouldn't believe what just happened.
