A Just Kidnapping

Finally, I said. "You continue to amaze me. I feel like the luckiest man in the world."

She smiled, "You're in bed with a bullet wound that barely missed your heart. You have handcuffs shackled to your bed. You have charges of parental interference still pending against you. And you can't mow lawns in that condition. What the Hell makes you lucky?"

"I have my wife and my son."

"You mean Trudy and Brian?"

"No, you and Jason." I had trouble calling him his birth name.

"Well, I guess I do qualify as your 'common-law wife.'"

"Not for long, I hope. Leila, will you marry me?"

"Are you sure, Andy or are you overmedicated? By the way, my real name is Julie."

"I am very sure whatever your name is."

"Yes, but can we get married before you go to jail, if you go to jail."

"Do you think that Jason, I mean Brian, would like to be my best man?"

A voice from the doorway shouted, "You bet I would, and you can call me Jason. You have the right. You are my father." He came over and hugged my while trying not to cry.

"I understand that you have been seeing Trudy. How has that gone?"

"First, I was angry because her husband shot you. I thought she might have been in on it. Once I was sure she wasn't, it was just awkward for a while. She has confessed everything. I know she's in a lot of trouble, but I hope she doesn't spend too much time in prison."

"I don't guess she wants to talk to me."

"She doesn't think you would want to talk to her."

"I really would like to know why?"

A woman's voice was clear but soft, "Because I was selfish, stupid, and naive. Darren seduced me and convinced me that you were keeping us from our fair share of the money. He was so dominant whereas you were, well more submissive. It didn't take long for me to realize what a mistake I made. Before I knew it, Brian had been taken from me and that was all that I could think of for years. Darren kept giving me hope that he would be found and returned to us. It seemed too much trouble to divorce him. We knew you were the father, but he was our son in our minds. A piece of me was missing for years, no, wait, two pieces of me were missing for years. Now, I have them both back only to know they will be taken from me when I go to prison. I know, 'do the crime, do the time.'"

"What do you think of the job Leila did in mothering your son?"

"The more I learn of her, the more I am grateful for what she has done. She's a real jewel, Andy. Take good care of her."

"I plan to. I plan to."

EPILOGUE

Trudy gave up her custodial rights to Brian/Jason before she left for prison. Leila and I were given custody. We made sure he got to visit her regularly. The only break in our visiting her was when Leila and I went on our honeymoon. I never could get used to calling her Julie.

Darren was sentenced to 15 -- 20 years for attempted murder and filing false charges against me. He was having a tough time adjusting to prison. After a couple of stabbings, he took his own life. His shares in the company were split between Trudy and me according to his will. Trudy gave me proxy rights over her shares. I was back in charge of the company. Leila became our CFO. I was proud when Jason said that after college that he wanted to come work for me.

When Trudy got out of prison, she took over as CFO for the company, and she still had her original shares plus half of Darren's. Leila had more important duties: being a stay-at-home mother to Jason's little brother and sister. Trudy lived by herself in a small house. She never went on a date although there seemed to be several men who hoped she would change her mind. Right now, she is concentrating her attention on one particular young man who is about to go off to college. She says she might be interested in another man later.

Sometimes I get asked if I was sorry that I kidnapped my son and took him from his mother. I say, "No, no, and hell no. It was not just a kidnapping, it was a Just Kidnapping."