Better Late Than Never (18 page)

“I will do my best. Now, go inside and pack a few toys. We are going to Grandma’s house.”

Wade nodded, and Randy reached for his cell phone and dialed his parents’ number. His mother answered quickly.

“Mom, I need you to watch Wade for me. I will explain later.”

His mother paused before agreeing to watch Wade. A short while later, he was driving toward his parents’ home. His mother stood on the porch waiting for them, and he gave her an apologetic look as he walked up.

“Thanks, Mom. I know this is last minute.”

Her look was full of curiosity, but she didn’t ask. “Which tells me whatever it is must be important.”

He sighed. “It is, Mom. I messed up big time with Kristen. I don’t know if I can fix things, but I have to try. I didn’t know what had been missing from my life until Kristen came back into it. I made the mistake of not fighting for her the first time. I won’t make that mistake again. If it is late I won’t wake you.”

She embraced him. “If you need to leave Wade here overnight you can.”

He kissed his mother on the cheek, always grateful for her. She was there whenever he needed her, and he appreciated it. He turned and left contemplating what he was going to say to Kristen. He would speak from his heart and hope she was willing to listen.

The drive to her house seemed to take longer than it had before, but he finally arrived. He cut the engine and took a deep breath to calm his nerves before opening the truck door and stepping out. He walked up the driveway to the walkway and stopped in front of the door. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. A few seconds later the door was opened and a glowering Keirra stood behind it.

“I was wondering if you would show up.”

Randy held his hands up as a peace offering. Keirra stepped back and let him in. He took a step inside and was confronted by Kayla. To make her mad was to get into serious trouble. Her tongue could be sharper than Keirra’s when it needed to be.

“This is what happens when they come in threes,” he muttered under his breath to himself.

“Look, I know you are Kristen’s sisters, and you care about her a lot, but this is something we have to work out.”

Keirra shocked him. “I agree. For some reason, my sister cares about you no matter how many times you hurt her. However, you better make it right. If you don’t, I will let Kayla tear into you, and whatever she doesn’t get, I will finish off.”

Kayla sputtered as Keirra pulled her from the room. If Randy didn’t have the ability to tell them apart, he would have sworn they had switched places. He turned and headed up the stairs before realizing he had no idea which room was hers. Walking to the second door on the left, he decided to try it first because it was her old bedroom from what he remembered. He knocked and heard Kristen call out for him to enter. Opening the door he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. She looked up in surprise cleaning her nose with a Kleenex. Beautiful didn’t begin to describe the way she looked. Even with swollen eyes, blotched cheeks, and a red nose. To know he was responsible for it made him feel like the jerk he was.

Kristen glared at him, and he paused. She had never looked at him with hostility. Not even when he signed Wade up for her day care center. He knew he was in deep, and it was going to take some serious work on his end to get out of it.

“What are you doing here?”

He walked over to the bed and had a seat. “I came to talk to you.”

Kristen put the stuffed bear she held aside. “Well, I can’t believe my sisters let you in.”

He gave her a kind smile. “I got lucky.”

The look she gave him was indescribable. There had never been a time when he hadn’t been able to tell what she was thinking, but this time, he couldn’t decipher what those brown eyes were saying to him. Right now, they were a blank slate.

“What if I told you I don’t want to talk?”

He sighed in frustration. “I would believe you, but I would still try to plead my case.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, and he knew he was in for a tough apology, but he went for it anyway. “I made a mistake, and I came back to correct it.”

Her expression grew even more shuttered. “It seems you have a habit of making mistakes. It’s too late.”

He smiled at her well-placed jab at him. “No, I don’t think it’s too late for us. If it was, you wouldn’t still be wearing the locket nor would you be holding the teddy bear I gave you.” He took the bear from her. “I can’t believe you still have this.”

“I can’t believe I have it either,” she muttered.

He ignored her and studied the bear. It was in pretty good condition considering its age, which told him she had taken good care of it. Like he planned to take good care of her for the rest of his life if she would let him. Randy handed the stuffed animal back to her. “I’m sorry for the mean things I said earlier. I was angry and let myself get out of control.”

Truth was she was a part of his life and was going to become a bigger part of his life if he had anything to do with it. It meant he would share his problems with her, and she would share her problems with him.

“Will you forgive me?”

She kept her expression neutral, and he realized this was going to be more difficult than he thought. “No, for the pain you have put me through, I would still like to hear you grovel a little. This is the second time you have made a decision with something concerning our relationship without consulting me. It’s irritating.” She paused. “No, it pisses me off. If we are going to move forward in this
relationship,
I need to know if I am I an
equal partner
.”

“You are,” he replied without hesitation. “I’m just not good at showing it.”

She sighed, and he knew she wasn’t convinced, but she was giving it consideration. “No, Randy. You aren’t good at showing it. What is it you want from me because I’m trying to figure it out, and I don’t
know.
”

Randy slid off the bed and got on his knees. “Be patient with me. Kristen, I don’t have all the answers, but I swear I’m trying.”

He closed his eyes. “I’m going to make mistakes along the way, but I can’t live without you in my life. I know because I have tried to before, and it sucked. I can’t give up on us, Kristen, because of what we have had.”

He gave her a pleading look. “We can have that again. It might not be the same exact relationship, but I don’t want it to be. I want us to build on that. Just like we have evolved into different people our relationship should as well.”

He watched as tears welled in Kristen’s eyes, and he closed his eyes. “Please, Kristen. I’m not going anywhere this time. I won’t give up like I did six years ago.”

He opened his eyes when she didn’t respond. There was an indescribable expression on her face. When she spoke her voice was soft but full of emotion. “It isn’t going to be easy, Randy. You aren’t the only one who can make decisions about us. I’m not saying I have a final say so in what goes on with Wade, but at least discuss it with me.” She paused. “He is a part of
our
relationship, and decisions concerning him affect us.”

He took her hands in his. “I know, and I’m sorry. You have my word. I will never do it again. I know Wade means a lot to you, and I respect you for accepting and treating him like he is yours. I know it’s been difficult for you.”

She gave him a look of surprise, and he smiled. “No, I didn’t read your thoughts. I read mine. I have thought about it a lot, and I would love for Wade to be ours. He already is in the ways that matter.”

Tears began flowing down Kristen’s cheeks, and he knew it was for a different reason this time. He wanted Kristen to be Wade’s mother, and with Lila having given up her parental rights, he was more than willing to make it official. He couldn’t think of anyone he would rather have as the mother of his children than Kristen.

She sniffled and gave him a watery smile. “That means a lot to me, Randy.”

His hands tightened on hers. “And you mean the world to me.”

She gave a slight nod. “And you to me.”

He stared at her before leaning closer to her giving her a sexy grin. “So I can say we are back together?”

She shook her head at his expression and laughed. “I just realized I’m not sure we were ever apart, but yes, you can say we are. Why?”

“I have to have good news to report to Wade. He told me I had to get you back, and I promised I would.”

Kristen smiled. “Well, you can tell Wade you were successful in getting me back.”

He reached over and pulled her into his arms, and she looked up at him. “So where do we go from here?”

Her smile widened, and he realized just how much he’d missed it. “I was hoping to continue to work on our relationship, but this time I want to get it right.”

She gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

He brought her hands up to his lips and kissed them. “I want a future with you. I want you to be my wife, and I want to add to our family.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Do you have a timeline to get this done?”

He nodded. “It will happen when we are ready for it to happen, but I just wanted to let you know what my intentions were. I don’t want to make the same mistake I did the last time.”

She laughed. “That sounds good to me.”

Randy didn’t pick up Wade until the next morning, but when he did, Wade was awaiting the news. His son couldn’t contain himself when he heard Kristen was back, and Randy let Wade bounce around uncontained. He couldn’t blame his son because his own excitement threatened to spill over. Just like Wade, he was looking forward to spending his future with Kristen, and it was beginning now.

The End

About the Author

Stephanie Morris resides in Fort Worth, Texas
. She has no children of her own, but has three nieces and one nephew and is proud to call Rocky, her three-year-old dog, her child. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, dancing, cooking, and spending time with her friends and family. She has been writing for several years now and has written several works in erotica and romance. This is her first published work, and she is looking forward to several more. She can be reached on MySpace at
www.myspace.com/stephaniemorrisbooks
or at
http://www.stephaniemorris.webs.com
.