Chapter 15- Untitled
"My… son?" Patrick stammered to grasp on to what Marianna had just said.
"This is your little boy, Patrick," she repeated. "His name is Micah
Stump."
Patrick felt faint. This woman was standing in front of him claiming
that this little boy was his son. He looked to the little one standing
at his mother's side. With his strawberry blonde hair and bright blue
eyes, and he felt sick to his stomach. Just then Cara came to the door,
seeing who had knocked.
"Patrick, what's going on? Who is this?" Cara asked, eyeing the leggy
red-head.
Patrick didn't know what to say to her. How was he supposed to tell
Cara that he was a father? It felt like his esophagus was closing off.
All he could do was stare at the small four year old, who was looking
up at him with those big blue eyes.
"My name is Marianna Miller. I used to date Patrick. But when I broke
up with Patrick, and he went off to form his silly band, I found out I
was three months pregnant. I thought I could handle it; being a mother.
But I can't. It's Patrick's turn to take care of him," she spoke with
such coldness that it sent chills down Patrick's spine. How could
anyone talk about an innocent child that; in front of the baby.
Cara stared at the woman for a minute, not believing what she was
hearing. Then she looked at the little boy. He was the spitting image
of a baby Patrick. Cara felt sick herself. Her head whipped around to
look at a lightly green tinted Patrick.
"If you don't mind, I have a plane to catch," Marianna said. Patrick
was torn out of his stupor.
"You mean you're leaving?" he said. Not even one hundred percent sure that his child was his.
"Yes," was all she said, as if she didn't see anything wrong with
abandoning your child in a stranger's house.
"No, you can't!" Patrick exclaimed.
Cara saw the look on the little boy and knew that this was something he
did not need to hear.
"C'mon inside for a minute, let the grown-ups talk," Cara said, taking
the small child by the hand.
Once inside, they heard Patrick and Marianna starting to yell at one
another. The little boy looked up at Cara with big eyes.
"Does my daddy not want me?" he asked sadly. The little boy spoke with a slight lisp.
Cara panicked. She didn't know what to say. The boy continued to stare at Cara, waiting for his answer. Cara racked her brain to come up with an answer.
"Um, no that's not what this is about," Cara began, not knowing how to
explain it to him, "It's very new to him… uh… what's your name?" Cara
asked, not wanting to call him "little boy".
"It's Micah," he replied, still waiting for her to finish.
"Oh, okay… Micah. Anyways, it's not that your daddy doesn't want you;
it's just that your mother has never told him of you. So he didn't know
he had you for a son. I'm sure once he talks to you, he'll be very glad
that he knows about you," Cara said.
It seemed to comfort the boy, because he began to smile. They sat there in an awkward silence until Patrick walked in from the outside; he was alone. Cara began to freak that the mother had left. Patrick had no
clue on how to handle this situation. He had been a father of all of
ten minutes and he was freaking out. The boy was staring up in wonder
with glassy eyes at his father.
"I'm sorry mommy never told you about me. She said that you didn't have time for me, that you wouldn't want me," Micah squeaked. "But I am happy to finally see you. I see you on TV all the time though, but…"
he trailed off.
Patrick just stared at him.
"How could Marianna tell him that?" Patrick asked himself furiously.
"Why wouldn't I want you?" was all Patrick could say.
The boy looked up at Patrick and said "Because I'm a burden… a mistake."
He could kill Marianna. He hadn't know the boy very long, was growing a pit of sympathy for him. It sounded like he had been mistreated.
"You are not a mistake. No human life is a mistake. You might be an
accident, but not all accidents are bad things. And if she thought you
were a burden, she didn't deserve you," Patrick spoke softly to the boy.
Micah looked to Patrick with watery eyes. He jumped of the bed and ran into Patrick, throwing his arms around him. Patrick felt his chest
restrict. He didn't know if could handle this. He slowly wrapped an
arm around the boy. Patrick looked to Cara, who wouldn't meet his eyes. He wondered how she was taking this.
The Wentz's and Leila went out to one of Pete's favorite, Gibson's Bar
and Grill. They had a back, quiet room where they were all seated.
Leila was still reeling over the fact that Pete had a twin. It was just
strange, in a good way. He was just as good looking as Pete, minus the
tattoos and guyliner. It was in the middle of dinner when Leila's phone
rang. She looked at it and saw that it was Cara. She silenced it,
because she thought it rude to talk on the phone at the dinner table.
Not two minutes later, it went off again.
Silencing it again, Leila told the table, "I'm sorry about that, maybe
she won't call again." They just smiled and told her it was alright.
Within another three minutes, Leila got a text message. They told her
to check it, when she said that she was just going to turn her phone
off. Leila opened her phone, as the other's started talking about
Hilary's schooling.
"I know you're probably doing something with Pete and his family, but I
thought you should know that Patrick has a son… Cara."
"What?!" Leila exclaimed loudly, grabbing the attention of everyone at
the table.
Pete looked over at Leila in surprise, repressing the smile that was
trying to form.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
Leila's eyes were still bugged out over the message that she just read. All she could do was hand Pete her phone. Pete, who had started
laughing at Leila, quickly stopped and reacted the same way Leila did.
By this time, everyone else at the table gave their undivided attention
to Pete and Leila, wondering what was going on. Pete excused himself
from the table, and walked out of the room; taking his phone out along
the way. That left an awkward silence over the table and all the
attention on Leila. She wished now that she hadn't made such a scene.
If finding out that Pete had a twin wasn't enough to send her mind on a
loop, it was finding out that Patrick had a son. She wondered why he
never told her about it. Pete walked back into the room a few minutes
later, with a weird look on his face. Leila felt a bit relieved that he
had returned and the attention was back on him.
"Well, are you going to tell us what's going on, or not?" Mrs. Wentz said.
"Um, Patrick just found out that he has a son," Pete said, sounding
puzzled by the whole thing.
It was a mixture of reactions across the table. Mrs. Wentz just gasped
and stared wide-eyed at Pete, Mr. Wentz looked just as confused as Pete and Hilary and Andrew had their jaws in their laps.
"How old is the boy?" Leila asked Pete. Pete furrowed his brow, thinking.
"He's four years old."
"What?!" Leila exclaimed again. "How could Patrick not know he had a
four year old boy?"
"It's easy when the mother doesn't tell you that she's pregnant. And
just shows up one day and is just like 'Surprise'," Pete said to the table.
It was Leila's turn for her jaw to sit in her lap. The thought of
someone keeping a child away from its father for four years and not even telling the father is just amazingly cruel.
The dinner didn't last much longer than that, as the news of Patrick's
son sort of killed the evening. They all headed back home, where Leila
and Pete slept in the same room, but different beds; Pete couldn't fall
asleep for Leila laughing at the hilarity of this. Finally, he joined
in, knowing that it was funny that they were in different beds.
Patrick had his bags by the door, getting ready to fly to his parent's;
the only place he knew where to turn to. Cara had hardly said anything
in the past day, and Patrick was worried.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" he asked, really wanting
her to come with him.
"I told you Patrick. This is a lot for me too. I don't know if I can
handle this. I feel like you should give this child you're all, and I
don't know if I'm going to fit in your new life," Cara said sadly.
"What are you saying Cara? Are we breaking up?" Patrick asked, not
knowing how much more he could take. He needed Cara to be with him now, more than ever.
"No! That's not what I'm saying. I just have to think about things, is
all," Cara said, looking right over Patrick's right shoulder, to the boy
sitting on the couch watching SpongeBob Squarepants.
Patrick just sighed and gave Cara a hug. He looked back to Micah.
"C'mon on Micah, we're leaving," he called out.
Micah jumped off the couch that he had slept on last night, wearing the
same clothes he had on yesterday. His mother hadn't left him anything;
no clothes, no toys… nothing.
"Where are we going?" he asked, looking up at his father.
"We are going to see your grandparents, but we have to ride on a plane.
Have you ever ridden on one before?" he asked.
"No, but I've seen them before, way up in the sky," he said in fascination.
"Well, you get to today then," Patrick, picking up the entire luggage and started to carry it out to the cab that just showed up.
"Really? Oh boy, this is going to fun!" Micah squealed.
And as the cab drove away, Cara shut the door. A tear leaked out of her eye and rolled down her face. A child? Her head was still reeling. Was she able to cope with the fact that the love her life has a child?
Patrick looked out of the back window as the cab drove down the corner. He couldn't believe that things were going to be left this way between them. He didn't know what the future might hold. The only thing that seemed rock solid at this point, was his little boy sitting next to him. He was still uncomfortable around him and didn't always know what to do or say; but Micah seemed to pick up on that and always try and make it better.
Soon they were boarding a plane, headed for Chicago.
"Hey Danielle, can we talk?" Joe said, turning his head from the TV to look at her.
"When have you had to ask to talk to me?" she laughed.
Joe shrugged his shoulders, smiling at her. "You know I love you, right?"
Danielle looked at him curiously. "Of course I do."
"And you also know that you are my everything? I couldn't live without you. Ever. You even stand by me when I'm gone for a long time on tour. It means a lot to me, you know that?"
Danielle sat up and turned to Joe. She didn't know where he was going, but she liked the sound of it so far. "Of course I do."
"Then, knowing all of this, will you spend the rest of your life with me?" Joe asked, reaching in his pocket, pulling out a small velvet box. Danielle gasped; she had not seen that coming. She stared at Joe as he pried open the small box, revealing a medium sized diamond, perched on a white gold band. Joe took the ring out, waiting for her reply.
"Oh Joe… I… I don't know what to say," she stammered. "Yes I do. I would love to spend the rest of my life with you…" her voice dropped down to a whisper; Joe barely even heard her answer.
Joe's smile spread from ear to ear as he slid the engagement ring onto Danielle's left ring finger. She surveyed the ring on her hand, loving the sight of it. She looked up at Joe, misty-eyed.
Pete was fixing some cereal to eat when Leila walked into the kitchen.
"Oh Pete, cereal at one o'clock in the afternoon?" Leila questioned him, raising one eyebrow.
"Don't judge me!" Pete said in mock offense. As Pete drank the last of his cereal milk, he heard a knock at the door. He announced that he would answer the door and walked out into the front hall. He pulled the big door open and saw Patrick standing there.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to your parents?" Pete asked, watching his friend carefully. He looked worn and tired. Just then a small boy appeared from behind Patrick's legs.
"Is this my grandparents' house?" he said.
Pete looked down at the small child and knew who he was. He looked back up at Patrick, who looked like he desperately needed some help.
"No, this is my parents' house. I'm sure you're going to your grandparent's later today, but for now, you can stay here," Pete told the small child.
"Who are you? I've seen you on TV with my daddy before," Micah said.
"My name's Pete. I'm your daddy's best friend. And what's your name?"
Seeming to trust him when he found out that he was a friend of his daddy's, he replied, "Its Micah Stump."
Pete opened the glass door to let them come in. Pete noticed the boy didn't have any bags; he wondered what that was about.
"Hey Hil, can you come here for a minute?" Pete yelled up the stairs. A few seconds later, Hilary came trotting down. Upon seeing Patrick and his little boy, she stopped. Pete walked over to her.
"Can you just keep an eye on him for a few minutes, I know you're so good with kids; I just want to talk to Patrick in private," Pete asked her.
"Yeah, I can do that. What's his name?" she asked and Pete told her, turning back to Patrick.
"Hey Micah, I'm Pete's sister Hilary. Would you like to come and watch cartoons in the living room?" she said in a very sugary voice.
Micah's eyes lit up, "Yeah!" and following Hilary into the living room. Patrick and Pete went into the kitchen to find Leila. Leila looked up and saw Patrick following behind Pete. Leila went to go to Patrick, but Pete held up his hands.
"Let's go up stairs, Micah is in the living room with Hilary," Pete said.
Leila looked confused and then the answer hit her. She walked to the living room door and peeked in. There sat the cutest boy she had every seen. She immediately felt sorry for him. Leila turned back and rushed to catch up with the boys going up the stairs. Once inside Pete's bedroom, Leila ran to Patrick and hugged him. They had become really good friends since Pete's near death experience.
They broke apart and Patrick began retelling the events that led to his child. When he got to the part about Micah being dropped off without any personal belongings, Leila got red in the face.
"You mean to tell me that he has no clothes? No toys? Nothing?" Leila asked furiously. Patrick could only nod. Leila jumped up off one of the beds, throwing her hands into the air with frustration. Pete had learned that that was never a good sign of her mood.
"My mom might have some of mine or Andrew's old clothes around here. We'll find him something to tide him over until we can get him some new clothes," Pete said, trying to comfort Patrick and calm Leila down all at once.
"He needs a bath too," Leila said, sitting back down next to Pete, "he's filthy."
The boys looked at each other, not really wanted to give him one; being young men, that hadn't really had to deal with babies. Leila looked between the two, giving them a look.
"Do you want me to do it?" Leila said, having plenty of experience with babies and young children.
Patrick looked relieved, and nodded. Leila got up and walked out of the room and down the stairs. She ran into Mrs. Wentz on the way.
"Oh, Mrs. Wentz, do you still have any of Pete's or Andrew's old clothes from when they were four?" Leila asked her.
"You mean for the little boy out in the living room?" she asked confusedly.
"Yeah, his mother didn't leave him with anything," Leila said, getting angry all over again. She left Mrs. Wentz with a promise that she'll go look for some and Leila joined Hilary and Micah in the living room. Micah took to Leila immediately. It might have been due to the fact that Leila would actually watch the cartoon with him and really laugh. After about an hour, Leila turned to Micah.
"So, Micah. Would you like to get out of those dirty clothes and take a bath?" Leila asked the little boy gently.
Micah thought about it for a minute, "but Leila, I don't have any clothes."
It tugged at Leila's heart strings, "Yes you do. Pete is going to let you borrow some of his old clothes, until we can get you some new ones later."
It was then that Micah agreed to a bath and fresh clothing. Leila led the way the second floor bathroom. She was surprised at how Micah wasn't very shy. She had offered to wait outside until he got in the tub, but he said that he didn't mind her staying. It was when he took his shirt off that Leila noticed something that made her sick.
He had several bruises on his arms and stomach, and when he took off pants, he had several more bruises on his legs.
"Micah, where'd you get those bruises?" Leila asked, afraid of the answer.
Micah got nervous and looked away from Leila, "I-I fell."
"Tell me the truth Micah," Leila said softly.
"Mommy told me never to tell anyone."
It made Leila want to throw up. That was the worst thing in her mind, was abusing an innocent sweet child. She vowed right then to do everything that she could to keep it from happening to him again.
"Micah, you're safe now. No one will ever hurt you again. I promise," Leila said, placing her hand on his head. Micah looked up at her with puppy dog eyes. He ran to her, burying his head in her neck. Leila was shocked, but engulfed him into a tight hug, bound to keep him safe. Leila felt a tear crawl down her face.
After she got him bathed and dressed into comfy clothes to sleep in, she put him in her bed for a nap. She found Pete and Patrick in the living room with Mr. and Mrs. Wentz. She looked at Patrick.
"Patrick, we need to talk. I have to tell you something," Leila said, not really wanting to tell him in front of the whole group.
Patrick was exhausted, besides everyone knew what was going on, "You can tell me in front of them."
Leila looked a bit uncomfortable, and Pete noticed it. He turned to give her his full attention.
"Well… It's about Micah," she began.
"Where is he?" Patrick asked.
"He's taking a nap in my bed. But I noticed something while I was giving him is bath. Patrick, his mother abused him. He has bruises all over his arms and legs. And when I asked about it, he told that he just fell, but then said that his mother told him never to tell," Leila finished, with a sad look at Patrick.
Another blow to Patrick. His boy was abused, by his own mother. He put his head in his hands. Pete looked like he was ready to kill, and his parent's looked like they were supporting him. All of them thought that hurting a child was a horrible crime.
"What did you tell him," Patrick's muffled voice came through his hands.
"I told him that he was safe now. That no one would hurt him again, as long was he was with us."
Patrick stood up and went to Leila, hugging her.
"Thank you Leila… really," Patrick said to her shoulder.
The next day, Patrick and Micah borrowed Pete's car and went to his parent's house. When he told his mother about Micah, she was upset. He had hoped that she would have calmed down by today.
He walked through the front door with Micah at his hills, wearing some of Andrew's old school clothes. Patrick found his mother in the kitchen.
"Hey Mom," Patrick said, and startled his mother.
"Oh Lord, Patrick… you scared me," she said. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she saw Micah. Patrick saw his mother's eyes go soft. She walked around the counter to get to the boy. When she was right in front of him, she knelt down. She looked at him; from his blue eyes to his strawberry blonde hair. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes. All she could do was smile at the boy.
The boy, who had been wishing to see his grandmother, asked, "Are you my nannie?"
It melted her heart.
"Yes, Micah. I'm your nannie," Mrs. Stump said to him. His eyes lit up and flung himself in her arms and she clung to her grandson.
-note from the author-
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more!!