Because This Is Forever (6 page)

Leah
sat back in her chair and looked down at the table. “Look Mia, I don’t know how
to tell you this but…” she took a deep breath, “I’m moving out.”

Mia
didn’t know what to say. She certainly hadn’t expected this. Leah had never
moved out on her own. Even after she’d graduated high school, and Mia had been
open to her living in Chicago with her, Leah had decided to stay home. Her
sister had even stayed around when Mia moved back home and their small home had
become crowded with a new baby added. When Mia didn’t say anything, Leah
finally glanced up at her.

“I
know this is bad timing,” Leah said, breaking the long silence, “but I’m ready
to leave Detroit and move on.”

“Where
do you plan on going?” Mia asked, trying not to sound hurt or bitter. She
appreciated the sacrifices her sister had made to her modeling dreams in order
to help her with Mikey. Leah loved her nephew, and despite their own personal
relationship, Mia had come to rely on her support.

Leah glanced
at her. “LA, of course. When Jackson gets out, we’re leaving.”

Mia
frowned. “Really, Leah? Jackson?” she questioned, exasperated. Talks about
moving to Los Angeles to start her modeling career were nothing new, but taking
her old high school sweetheart with her definitely was. The influence Jackson had
on her sister leaned toward the negative, and the only reason Leah hadn’t
completely spiraled down with her bad news boyfriend—and seen the inside of a
jail cell herself—was because their mother had kept Leah on a tight leash. Now that
their mother was gone, Mia could only hope her sister knew enough to keep
herself out of trouble.

“Do
you really think you’re being realistic?” Mia continued. “You’re twenty-four and
broke. How do you plan to move and support yourself way across the country?”

Leah
narrowed her eyes at her. “Just because I don’t want to be some fancy lawyer
doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” she snapped. “You’re just jealous I’m actually going
after my dream when you never even finished law school.”

Mia’s
back drew up. That stung. But maybe she had it coming. Leah had always accused
her of putting down her dreams and it was obvious she was doing it now. She
just didn’t want her sister to get hurt. She had learned the hard way how
painful it was to live life under an illusion.

“Fine,”
Mia said quietly. “Do what you want.”

“I
will. I’m moving out at the end of next month,” Leah continued. “And I’m going
to use my share of the insurance money to get started.”

Mia let
out a dry laugh and shook her head. “So is that the pot of gold you’re hanging
your dreams on? You better start looking elsewhere.”

Leah straightened
in her seat. “What do you mean?”

Mia
gave her sister a brief detailing of her meeting with Mr. Freeman and the
insurance company’s decision. The news, however, didn’t seem to faze her sister.
Leah lifted her head with resolve. “I’m still leaving,” she said. “I have some
of my own money saved up and I’m ready to live
my
life.”

Mia
didn’t like the resentful tone in her sister’s voice. It was accusatory and…bitter.
“Last I checked,” Mia snapped, “no one forced you to stay here.”

Her
sister leaned toward her over the table, gripping its edge as fire burned in
her large brown eyes. “I stayed because Mama asked me to stay. You strolled in
here pregnant and pathetic. You think she wanted to be saddled with you and a
baby at her age? In her condition? I knew I couldn’t leave, especially not
after she got sick again. But it’s time for me to do
me
.”

Her
sister’s words rolled through her and Mia couldn’t speak through her pain.
Was I really a burden to you, Mama?
The
thought made her throat clog as tears burned her eyes.

She
swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “Then I would hate to stand in your
way,” Mia whispered stiffly, looking away. “Please don’t let me or my baby stop
you.”

“Whatever,
Mia,” Leah snapped. “Don’t try to guilt trip me. You know I love Mouse and
would do anything for him, but he’s
your
son. You need to start thinking about what’s best for
him
.”

Leah’s
last comment riled her like nothing else could.
How dare she?
Everything she did was for Mikey. “My son always
comes first,” Mia snapped. “Everything I do, I do for Mikey.”

Leah
raised a brow. “Right. So is that why he doesn’t know about his father? I bet
the next thing you’ll be telling him is that you’re his mother
and
his father, right?” Leah scoffed. “That
may have worked when Mama said it since our deadbeat dad chose not to stick
around. But no one knows why Mikeys’ dad isn’t around.”

“Because
it’s no one’s business,” Mia said through gritted teeth. “And it certainly
isn’t yours.”

Mia
had been lucky that she hadn’t had to explain to Mikey why he didn’t have a
father. Her son had asked once and she had easily sidestepped it by reminding
him he had a different kind of family that included only Mommy, Auntie, and Grandma.
But when he got older, and eventually entered school, she knew the questions
would come again.

Leah
rose from the kitchen table and dropped the stack of bills down. “You’re right,”
she said. “It isn’t any of my business. But it’s Mikeys’ and, good or bad, he
should know about Nate. Especially when the man can afford to take care of the
both of you.”

Though
Mia hated to admit it, her sister’s comments forced her to acknowledge her
decision to keep Mikey from Nate. She had always stood by her actions,
believing she was giving Nate the space and freedom he obviously wanted while
protecting her son. She remembered the way he had declared with cold finality that
he did not want children, and she would die before she let anyone make her son
feel rejected or unwanted.

Yet a
strange guilt began to plague her as she realized she was purposely keeping
father and son from knowing one another. She entertained the idea of going to
Chicago then immediately dropped it. Just the thought of going back to confront
Nate about this was daunting and caused her stomach to clench.

But
another, persistent part of her wouldn’t let the thought go.

She
spent the next several days making phone calls, trying to postpone the bank
from putting up the foreclosure notice. With the help of legal aid and her own
minimal knowledge from law school, she was able to negotiate a ninety-day
postponement on the foreclosure.

Now
she had until the end of September to pay the bank but still didn’t know how
she would manage to get all the money.

Unless
she went to the one man she had vowed never to go back to.

Mia immediately
repelled the thought then shoved her pride aside as she rationalized her
approach. Whether Nate wanted children or not was irrelevant now. He had one and
the least he could do was ensure they didn’t go homeless. What she had to do was
cast her feelings aside and ask for his help.

The
next day, she began making arrangements for their trip to Chicago. She was moving
without feeling, mentally preparing for the most important, the most unnerving reunion
in her life. A million scenarios crossed her mind as she thought about their
initial meeting. None of them were comforting. She wouldn’t back out of this
though.

“Auntie!”
Her son’s shriek signaled her sister’s arrival. Mia turned as Leah strolled into
the kitchen carrying a giggling Mikey in her arms.

“Look
Mia. I caught us a mouse.”

Mia
smiled over her son’s giggles. She reached for him and held him up. “Hmm, what
should we do with him?”

Leah’s
eyes sparkled. “I think we should eat him.”

Mikey’s
dark eyes widened in horror as Mia brought her face down to his tummy.

“Mommy,
no!” he shrieked but Mia continued her soft nibbling as his little body squirmed,
wiggled, and shook with laughter.

She smiled
over her son’s wild, carefree laugh. Mikey was the best thing that could have happened
to her, the one thing she and Nate had gotten right, and she would do anything
for him. She hoped she was doing the right thing by taking him to Chicago.

Later
that night, after she had put Mikey to bed, Mia went into the living room where
her sister sat painting her nails. Mia fell into the seat beside her. “I’m
going to Chicago tomorrow,” Mia blurted.

Her sister
looked up at her with a faint smirk on her lips. “Going to finally tell your ex
he’s a daddy?” she drawled, recapping the nail polish and waving her hand in
the air.

Mia
shrugged. “That and ask him to help me save the house.”

Leah
lost her mocking grin. “Why? You should just let the bank take it.”

Mia gaped
at her sister. “And go where? This is our home.”

“Not
anymore,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “Not without Mama.” Leah
glanced away but not before Mia saw the tears glistening in her eyes.

“Why
don’t you just get him for child support?” her sister suggested. “That way the
money you’ll get over the years will be more than what this house is even
worth.”

“No,”
Mia said curtly. “I don’t want this to turn ugly or drag Mikey through the
middle of some legal battle. Having a home for him is more important to me
right now.”

Leah
shrugged then returned to polishing her toes. “And what if he refuses to help
you with the house?” her sister asked. “You’ll have to go after him for
something. Mouse is his son too and he should help.”

Mia
looked down at her hands. She didn’t want to have to think about that. “I guess
I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

Leah
shrugged. “Well good luck with that.”

“Will
you be okay here by yourself?”

“Yes,
ma’am,” Leah said, rolling her eyes. “I’m not twelve.”

Yeah,
but sometimes her sister could conjure up trouble without even trying. Like
when she had decided to borrow their mother’s car without permission one night,
supposedly to pick up a friend from the airport, Leah had ended up stranded far
from the airport, with the car stolen.

“Anyway,
Jackson will be out soon so I’ll probably end up spending my time with him.”

Mia
groaned inwardly. There Leah went, conjuring up trouble. Jackson had always
been bad news. But whatever she had to say about him, her sister wouldn’t
listen so Mia didn’t bother.

“I’ve
booked a motel for us to stay in. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone, maybe a few
days, but I’ll leave you the address before I go.”

That
done, Mia went to her bedroom and began making a list of things they’d need for
their trip. She didn’t want to forget anything. The drive would be long for her
son and she wanted it to be as comfortable for him as possible.

It
didn’t take her long, however, to realize she was just putting off the
inevitable. Pushing the notepad aside, Mia went searching for the navy blue
address book she kept Nate’s number in.

She
stared at the number for a long while.
What
if the number didn’t work? What if he wasn’t even in Chicago anymore?
Before
Mia could talk herself out of it, she grabbed her phone and dialed his number.

Her
heart pounded and her palms grew sweaty as the other line began to ring. Even
her tight grip couldn’t steady her hold on the phone and as the seconds ticked
by, another depressing thought struck her.
What
if he was with someone right now?

Nate was
an attractive guy and it was late enough. He could easily be entertaining
company at this hour. Before she lost her courage and slammed the phone down, a
low, deep voice answered.

“Hello.”

Mia’s
voice lodged in her throat as the warm, masculine voice sent a wave of intense
emotion that rocked her to her core.
God,
I miss him.

Silence
crackled over the line between them while she tried desperately to rein in her
wild emotions.

“Mia?”

She
nearly dropped the phone at the sound of her name softly spoken. His voice had
been like a gentle caress. She tightened her grip.

“Hi
Nate,” she whispered.

Silence
filled the line for a heartbeat before he replied. “Hi Mia.”

More
awkward silence filled the line before she asked, “How’d you know it was me?”

He
chuckled softly. “I don’t get many calls from Michigan, especially at this
hour.”

Mia unconsciously
glanced at the bedside clock. It was a little after ten. Nine o’clock, his time.
“I’m sorry for calling this late,” she rushed out. “I hope I’m not—”

“I
wasn’t complaining,” he interrupted gently. “It’s actually nice to hear your
voice again, baby,” he added softly.

Mia’s
heart lurched and she closed her eyes as the warmth of his words coursed
through her. Excitement and longing sprang up in her, followed by guilt. She
knew it was dangerous territory, but she’d like to think maybe he missed her as
much as she did him.

“Is
everything okay?”