Contractual Obligation: The Trilogy (16 page)

They were so nervous coming home from the hospital. Michael made sure the car seat was just right, and as they wheeled his wife and son to the vehicle, he realized this was it. There was no fall back, it was all on him. This wasn’t a dress rehearsal, it was the real deal.

Looking to his wife after they settled into the car, pressure mounted. He needed to figure this out. He needed to take care of them, provide, and be a good husband and father. He ignored the dizzy feeling in his head, his heart pounding in his chest, and gripped the steering wheel. He got as far as the parking lot.

“Are you okay? You look pale.”

“I don’t feel so good.”

“Breathe, baby.”

He was tugging at his collar, aching for air to fill his lungs.

As the panic rushed through him, his fists clenched. He white knuckled the steering wheel, holding on for dear life.

“Breathe.” Natalie tried to hide the panic in her voice. This wasn’t what she planned. She pictured them going home together, and having a picture perfect first day. Instead, she was unbuckling the baby from the car seat, and walking with Michael back into the hospital.

“Excuse me, my husband can’t breathe.”

“Right this way, sir.” A nurse brought a wheelchair over quickly. “Sit down.”

“We were in the car, about to go home. I just gave birth. His chest felt tight. He couldn’t breathe.”

“Okay, follow me. Sir, can you talk to me?”

“I’m here, I’m okay.” The room was closing in on him. His heart raced as his head got cloudier.

While Michael thought he might be having a heart attack, it turned out he was having an anxiety attack. As his body finally relaxed and the moment passed, medication helping his heart to slow, the nurse spoke in a soothing voice, explaining what had happened.

“Anxiety attack?”

“They happen.”

“But I don’t get them.”

“Congratulations, you’ve had your first.”

The doctor sent them back on their way, with a prescription in hand for anxiety medication and a note to see his family doctor. Thankfully, Jack slept most of the time, nuzzled into his mother. As they headed back out to the car, Natalie settled in.

“Will you be okay to drive?”

“I’m okay now,” he said calmly. “Promise.”

On arriving home, everybody was exhausted from the day, except for baby Jack, who was now waking up. Diapers, feeding…they were both afraid they would do things wrong. They figured it out as they went, and what started as a nerve wracking day ended with them curled up on the sofa, all napping together.

They’d figure it out, just like every other family does.

Michael’s new job had him flustered as he was learning new information. He picked up on most of it quickly enough. The one part of the job he wasn’t looking forward to was the travel. He enjoyed it when he was single, but now that he had a family, the thought of being away without them didn’t make him happy. Either way, he was grateful for the job.

Some of the stress was alleviated when he got his first paycheck. The reality that he wasn’t going to run his own company right now hit him hard, but once he accepted it, he was glad he had this to fall back on. He was lucky the job was here for him. He just had one more thing to do if he wanted to move forward. He needed to visit his father.

The idea was in his head, but he wasn’t ready. He thought he would be after seeing the birth of his son. He felt it in his heart, but now that the moment had passed, a wall stood before him. He knew he’d scale it eventually, but in time. There was no hurry. His father wasn’t going anywhere.

***

When he got the call that his father had a stroke in prison and was being transferred to the hospital under guarded care, Michael knew he had to see him. He hoped it wasn’t too late.

Seeing him, he didn’t look the same. His once silver hair that was always perfectly in place looked faded, like dishwater – a dirty gray. His skin was paler. He was thinner. There were bags under his eyes. And he couldn’t speak. Kent Davidson looked at his son standing at his bedside, but couldn’t say the words he wanted to. His body wouldn’t let him speak.

“I have a son.” Michael wiped a tear from his eye. “I should have told you. He’s tiny, so small, and perfect. We named him Jack.”

His father looked blankly at his son, frustrated that he couldn’t respond.

“Dad, I’m sorry I didn’t come see you sooner.”

No words were returned. He was silent, only a tear running down his cheek. He wanted to speak, wanted to say something, but he couldn’t make his body cooperate.

Michael lowered his head. “There will be time. You’ll get better.”

Kent Davidson
looked at his son.

Michael squeezed his father’s hand. “I should go.” Truthfully, it was too painful to stand there before his father, seeing him so vulnerable. He’d never seen his father this way. Even when he was going through the trial, he looked tired, weary, but not broken.

He knew he’d be back. They were family. He needed to get better so he could meet his grandson. He was a grandfather now. It would give him something to fight for. He had more time to serve, but he could do his physical therapy, speech therapy, all of it there. He’d be better. He’d get stronger. He’d be like Michael had always known him, a powerful, strong man.

Reality pointed to a weaker man. It pointed to a man that was growing older every year, and one that was smothered in stress. Michael’s father wasn’t going to recover, but Michael wouldn’t give up on him, not yet.

When the day came that he got the call, Michael Davidson dropped to his knees. He wasn’t ready to lose his dad. They hadn’t spoken enough. He forgot to tell him he forgave him. He forgot to tell him about how baby Jack smiles when you tickle him, and makes the cutest little noises. He hadn’t told him that he and Natalie adored one another and truly had found love. His father never met his son. Now like Michael hadn’t known his mother, his son wouldn’t know his grandfather. The pain was unbearable. He thought he’d recover, thought he’d be a survivor. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

Natalie tried to comfort him, but there were empty promises, words that weren’t spoken, and time that they couldn’t make up for. All she could do was listen to him. At first he didn’t want to talk. He had a far off stare, lost in his own mind, and his shoulders fell like that of a broken man. His heart was heavy, filled with regrets. He should have fixed things sooner. His father would never know all the things he did appreciate about him. How he taught him to throw a ball, and how to be a business man. He taught him how to be fearless. He taught him how to keep going, even when you fall down.

Finally he spoke, his words and voice cracking. “He doesn’t know how much he meant to me. I shut him out, told him I wanted nothing to do with him.”

“He understood why.”

“I shut out my own family.” He stared at her, his eyes glazed over. Water formed a thin layer over his eyes, but the tears wouldn’t fall. “I cut him loose, like nothing. And then when he was lying there in the hospital bed, he was just staring at me. I don’t know if even realized it was me or what I was saying. Maybe he shut me out in his heart too, and didn’t want me there.”

“Of course he wanted you there. And you went, you showed up. He knows that.”

“I’m a bad son.”

“No you’re not. You were hurt. You’re human.” Natalie ran her hand over the curve of his shoulder. There were no words she’d be able to say to take away the pain. More than anything, seeing Michael wallow in his remorse, she desperately wanted to make it all better.

“Do you think I’m a bad person?”

“Of course not.
You’re a loving husband and father – and son. This other stuff that happened, that was just near the end, and it wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have been more understanding.”

“Michael, you did the right thing, and you got to see him before he passed. He knows you were there.”

“I hope so.” The tears silently fell, finally being freed. They stained his cheek as he silently got lost in his thoughts again.

As the time passed, it was nearing the six week mark which meant sexual intimacy could be integrated back into their love life. They could still snuggle up and pleasure one another, but intercourse was out of the picture until Natalie got the doctor’s okay.

The last few months had been a rollercoaster of emotions. Things were slowly getting back to normal. Between Natalie falling, the baby being born, Michael’s panic attack, his father passing, and starting a new job, Michael was thrilled when things seemed to be quieting down. He needed a break from the stress of life. It seemed like one thing after the other.

On a night where Jack fell asleep early, Michael was off from work, and Natalie had gotten an afternoon nap in, the look in Michael’s eyes spoke to Natalie. She’d gotten the go ahead, but was honestly nervous it might be uncomfortable. She shared her fear, and he promised to be tender with her. They’d take their time, and see how she felt.

She sighed as he put his hands on her body. It had been so long since they took this path. His hands kneaded her soft, plump breasts. Her nipples hardened at his touch. Michael adored the extra curves that padded her body both during and after her pregnancy.

Natalie arched into Michael as he caressed and stroked her, his fingers barely grazing across her skin. Moving across her breasts, down over her sides, his hands settled on her hips. Pulling her closer, they kissed, his mouth needing a taste of his wife. He couldn’t control his hands; they wanted to rove, to touch, and to feel her again. His fingers found the space between her thighs. She was damp, aroused, and with a tender motion he moved a finger through her crease, causing her to sigh with pleasure.

Natalie was ready to connect with her husband again, her fear subsiding. She knew he’d be gentle. His mouth covered her skin, milking her neck, sliding down to her chest, his tongue flicking at her breasts, teasing a nipple. Natalie pressed into him, lost in the pleasure he offered.

Michael entered his wife. She wrapped her thighs around him, her emotions overwhelming her. “I love you so much.” She whispered the words as they spilled from her with such urgency that she had to get them out.

Together once again, intercourse tying them together, Michael and Natalie shared in their lust. As they neared their peak, the couple’s moans filled the bedroom. Natalie wrapped her legs tighter around her husband, and with one final thrust, the couple collapsed. Natalie’s body wanted to buck and bend as the orgasm rushed through her, but the weight of Michael against her left her pinned to the mattress, her body molded to his.

Time passed quickly. MD Insulators was still alive, but just barely. Word got out they were pushing liability to the companies and opted to knowingly use a toxic chemical. Michael realized he’d be in the line of fire over it all. He was grateful it was in his past. His sales experience helped him climb, and with so many contacts, Michael was in line for a raise and promotion. It was hard to believe an entire year had passed.

Jack had taken his first steps the other day, and he’d been lucky enough to see it. Natalie was nearby, trying to catch it on camera, but before she could snap the picture Jack had settled onto his bottom, then went into a crawl.

The amount of pictures she took was staggering. There was video, too, which she sent to Jack’s grandparents. Natalie’s parents tried to come into town every few months, and grew to love Michael as much as she did. He was an engaged father and loving husband to their daughter.

Natalie’s brother came by once, and they hoped to all get together for the holidays if everyone had the time off.

Looking back at her life, Natalie never would have imagined she’d be satisfied to settle down with a family so soon. When she first got to New York, she had visions of high fashion modeling jobs, her face splashed across magazines, and her name well known. Now she was “Mama” and it was the sweetest sound in the world when her son Jack cooed it.

Never in a million years would she have thought she’d sign some kind of ludicrous contract offering her money to marry a man. And then when she did sign, she never dreamed she’d lose the money and marry the same man for love. It all worked out how it was supposed to. Michael and Natalie found love.

Michael’s life was never what he planned. He didn’t want a wife, kids, or any of that sappy stuff. Not when he was on top of the world, his family business thriving, and out partying every night. He thought he had it all. Now he realized that what he had wasn’t everything he thought it was. It was empty, cold, and lonely.

Now he had purpose, passion, and a family. He saw possibilities in Jack’s eyes. He saw life. He saw love in Natalie’s eyes, and compassion in her face. Michael used to think he had it all – boy, was he wrong. It took falling down, starting over, and finding love to understand that Natalie and Jack were what he needed all along.

Michael was complete. This was what life was about. The love of a good woman, seeing the world through your child’s eyes, and being part of something more special than anything he could imagine. Life had only just begun for Michael Davidson, because now he was fully living.

When the letter came through, he wasn’t sure he wanted to open it. He sat looking at it, his fingers tracing the edges of the padded envelope. He hadn’t seen James since – well, in a long time. His father’s lawyer and lover hadn’t tried to contact him before this point. Staring at his name, Michael was filled with regrets. He wished he’d known his father had found love. He’d gone through woman after woman, and Michael always saw him as a cold man. Knowing he had love made him feel better.

He put it on the shelf and walked away. Maybe just leaving it there would be best. Michael got half way down the hallway, and went back to it. Sitting with the envelope on the sofa, he couldn’t bring himself to open it – not yet.

When he finally slid his finger down the top flap, unsticking the glue that held the flap on, he slipped his hand inside and found a letter with some pictures.

Dear Michael,

I thought you might want some of these. I’m sorry for your loss. It broke my heart to lose your father, but as you know, we were separated with jail time. He meant the world to me, and I thought you might like to have some of these. I’ve included some pictures.

Best, James

He inhaled deeply, his eyes tearing up. Slowly going through the pictures, he found snapshots of his mother and father together, along with pictures of his father with James, smiling and happy. Something deep inside softened. His father looked happy and in love in all of the pictures. He’d found his peace.

Sharing the pictures with Natalie, he was able to open up and talk about his feelings. He never cared who his father loved, just that he found love, just as Michael had with her.

With his past behind him, Michael Davidson was ready to move forward. With his family at his side, he could take on the world.

THE END

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Book 1 - Contractual Obligation: The Contract

Book 2 – Contractual Obligation: Closing the Deal

Book 3 – Contractual Obligation: High Risk

Coming in 2014, you won’t want to miss the hot series “Knox Regional Task Force” where bad boys play on the good side of the law. If you like hot cops, you’ll want to check it out.