Coming Home

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about tomorrow. You are gonna spend a whole morning and afternoon all by yourself while Colby and I go do guy stuff. Then I'm takin' y'all out to dinner at some fancy place."

"No. No way. You are not spending that kind of money on us and especially on me," she tried insisting.

"Oh, yes I am, and you're gonna let me because I have something to prove to you and you need to know I'm right."

Darby actually laughed then said, "Tray Johnson, you are a nut! A big old lovable nut!"

"That's me!" he said as though he was proud to be one.

"Okay, I'll play along. Lord knows I could use some alone time. No matter how much you love your child...."

"You need a break. I get it. And tomorrow you're gonna get a break and me and that boy back there are gonna have us some fun!"

Darby was up by 6am as she always was and when she went to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee, she looked outside and saw two white vans sitting there. One had the call letters of a local TV station on it and the other said TMZ.

"Oh, Lord," she said to herself.

Tray walked in an hour later and Darby said, "Mornin'. Take a look outside before you sit down, please."

Tray walked over to the door and took a peak.

"You gotta be shittin' me," he muttered.

"Do they ever go away?" she asked.

"Uh-huh. As soon as you quit singin'. Or die. I could give the TV folks an interview and they'd leave, but TMZ won't. They'll hound me day and night looking for some kind of juicy story to print. Sorry, Darby. I knew this would happen."

"It's okay," she told him. "You're famous. I guess we were lucky to get a little time alone."

"Yeah. I guess so," he said heading into the kitchen.

"So what's this big surprise?" she asked as Tray sat down next to her.

"Well, you are gonna be spending a day at the Belladonna Beauty Salon."

"Get out of here!" she said.

"Nope. It's true. You're getting the full package. Massage, hair, facial, body waxing—if you don't mind the pain—makeover, and then a shopping trip to the mall or any store you want." He smiled when she made a face and said, "Hey, we gotta give 'em somethin' to talk about or write about or whatever it is those creeps outside do."

"Tray, this is way too much. Seriously."

"No, it's the least I can do, Darby." He smiled at her and said, "You've just forgotten how beautiful you are, but I see it. Everyone else sees it, too. You're the only one who doesn't. And today, I want you to see it just like we do."

"Tray, I don't know. That's just so...."

"Mornin' Momma! Mornin' Uncle Tray!" Colby said as he walked in on them. His hair was a goofy mess from sleeping on it and he was wearing a pair of pajamas that were at least three inches too short.

"Looks like me and the little man here need to pick up a few things, too. You expectin' a flood there, Colby?" Tray teased.

Had anyone else said that, he'd have been hurt because he knew his mom didn't have the money for things like that so he just lived with it. But because it was his Uncle Tray, he even laughed.

"Just pj's, though, okay?" Darby said trying not to smile.

"I can't promise that, Mom," Tray said with a smile. "My man here has to look sharp, too."

"I do?" he said as he opened a box of cereal.

"We have company outside," she said.

Colby jumped up and ran to the window.

"Awesome!" he said. "Wait 'til all the kids at school see me with Uncle Tray! I'll be famous, too!"

"Be careful what you wish for, Colby. Fame ain't all it's cracked up to be."

When it was time for Darby to leave, Tray took Colby and went outside with her.

Just like flies, both vans emptied out and cameras started flashing and microphones were being shoved in faces.

"Mrs. Johnson? Is it true your brother-in-law is living with you? If so, if he sleeping with you? Tray? Are you and your sister-in-law in love?"

"Okay, listen up!" Tray said. "If you'll let my sister-in-law back out, I'll give y'all a private interview. You just need to make sure to publish a photo or two with my awesome nephew, Colby. Can you do that?" Tray licked his fingers and slicked the boy's hair down a little and winked at him.

And just like that, Darby was free and clear. She smiled at Tray then got in her car and headed out for her much-needed alone/girl time and Tray answered as many questions as he could stand before calling it quits.

"I know better than to ask one of you to leave, but I'm still gonna ask. Would you please give my family some privacy?"

The local news van was gone in less than five minutes while the other gossip-hungry reporters stayed—just in case.

"You ready to rock and roll, dude?" Tray asked Colby after they went back inside.

"I gotta brush my teeth after I eat or Momma will kill me," he said seriously.

"Okay, then you better brush your teeth. Oh, and run a comb through that bird's nest on top of your head, okay?"

With the TMZ van in tow, the 'boys' started their day at in indoor rock climbing place.

Colby had never done it before and he had a blast both climbing and serving as Tray's belay man holding the rope.

"That was so awesome, Uncle Tray!" he said on the way out. "What are we gonna do next?"

Tray put his arm around Colby, leaned down and said, "How about...go-karts!"

"Awesome!!!" he yelled forgetting his manners.

A few minutes later they were at the I-20 speedway which billed itself as the 'fastest kart track in east Texas.' Tray lost track of how many laps they drove, and as long as Colby was having fun, he didn't care.

"So what'd ya like better? Rock climbing or go-karts?"

"Rock climbing was fun, but go-karts were so cool!" Colby told him.

"Yeah, I agree. That was pretty amazing. So...you up for a game or two of laser tag?"

Tray and Colby 'hunted' each other then worked as a team to 'shoot' other people inside the very large, air conditioned, two-story building where they played laser tag for a full hour. In spite of the AC, they were sweating when they walked out.

"Lunch time and then we're gonna do one more fun thing today. And trust me, this one is gonna top all the others."

After sub sandwiches, Tray told Colby to hold on when they got back in his truck. He'd ditched the paparrazi many times, but never with a nine-year old along for the ride. The TMZ driver was obviously new at this and after three quick turns and rapid accelerations, they were free and clear of the cameras.

Colby whooped and hollered as the truck banked and sped up as Tray hit the brakes, cut the wheel, and floored it. Both of the them were laughing hard by the time it was over.

Tray drove out to an airstrip where a plane was parked next to an old abandoned building.

"What are we doing, Uncle Tray?"

"How would you like to go skydiving?" he asked.

"No way!"

"Yes, way! You want to try it?"

"Really? Momma said I could do this?" he asked.

"Well, she didn't tell me you couldn't," Tray said failing to mention he hadn't asked.

Another 'awesome' from Colby and they were soon up in the air. This was an 'off the books' jump an old friend had agreed to do. He was still a certified instructor but he wasn't with any skydiving school and it was illegal as...heck.

"You're gonna tandem jump with my friend, Ace over there, and I'll go out solo right after you guys, okay? I'll be recording the whole thing with this helmet cam," Tray said while showing it to Colby.

Ace hooked the boy up and told him, "All you gotta do is enjoy the ride, buddy."

Two minutes later they were over the drop zone.

"Three, two, one, GO!" Ace said and out they went.

Tray jumped right behind them and quickly caught up. He waved at Colby and spun around in a circle and did a flip just showing off. Then he backed off as Ace was getting ready to deploy the chute.

He pulled the rip cord and the chute blossomed as advertised. Once Tray knew they were good, he pulled his and floated down behind them catching everything on video.

"I got it all on tape," Tray said pointing to his helmet cam again once they were safely on the ground. "Just don't tell your mom quite yet, okay? She might not exactly be ready for this."

On the way back Tray asked Colby what he thought.

"Are you kidding? This was the most awesome thing on the most awesome day—EVER!"

"High five?" Tray said as they headed back to town.

"Okay, my man. It's time to go get those new pj's."

"Ah! Do we have to?" Colby said.

"You know me better than that by now, right? Do you think I'd just get you a pair of boring old pajamas? But we got one other stop first, okay?"

Tray took Colby to get his 'bird's nest' tamed. By the time the barber was through, he looked like a rock star.

"You like it?" Tray asked.

"Oh, yeah!" he said as he admired the new style. "You think Bekka Palmer will like it?"

"If she don't she's crazy," Tray told him.

From there he took his nephew shopping, further risking Darby's ire. It just killed him to know Colby had the oldest, most ill-fitting clothes of any kid and school, and by the time they finished up, he had the coolest clothes in school.

"No designer junk in there, either. That's all real-deal stuff, my man. Levis and all the kind of clothes real mean wear."

He leaned over in the truck and said, "Bekka's gonna be all over you tomorrow so be careful with all this new cool you got goin' on, okay? And when your mom gets all mad at me, that's okay. Just show her the new pj's that fit then blame me, okay?"

"Today was even more awesome than yesterday, Uncle Tray!"

Tray mussed up his new 'do' and said, "Yes it was, my man. Yes, it was."

Darby was enjoying her day almost as much as her son. After a full spa treatment that included a makeover and getting her nails done, the woman at the counter handed her a note.

Darby opened it and it had instructions to go a nearby mall and then to a specific store.

"Tray!" she thought to herself wanting to be mad but smiling the whole way.

Someone was expecting her when she arrived and by the time she left, she had three new outfits, shoes, and accessories to include jewelry and a new bag. She hated herself for giving in and accepting all of this, and yet she knew Tray really, genuinely cared and this was how he showed it.

Most all, she'd hated to admit he'd been right, but he had. When she saw herself in a full-length mirror wearing one of the new outfits, she couldn't believe it was her. Her hair was beautifully styled, her makeup was perfect, and she also had to admit her figure was still there. She was a size 6 now after being a 4 most of her adult life, but she was rocking the dress and the heels and felt better about herself than she had since Ray was still alive.

To her great surprise and delight, the TMZ van was gone when she drove in. Fifteen minutes later, Tray pulled up and the 'bad guys' still weren't there.

Colby went in first and when he saw his mother he stopped and stared even more so than he'd done before the viewing.

"Momma? Is that you?" he said hardly able to believe his eyes.

Darby looked at her son and said, equally surprised, "Colby? Is that you?"

"Yes, it is," they both said at the same time.

"Wow! You look beautiful, Momma!" he said.

"And you look so handsome!"

"I take it you approve?" Tray said having just walked in.

"Uncle Tray? Doesn't my momma look beautiful?"

"Yes, but I already knew that," he said smiling at Darby. "I just needed to convince her I was right."

He looked at Darby then at Colby and asked, "Is this okay?" referring to the new haircut and clothes.

"I want to be angry with you Tray Johnson, but I can't." She looked down at her handsome boy and said, "I just can't."

She walked over and hugged Tray then said, "Thank for everything. It was way, way over the top, but...thank you."

"So...are you gonna tell me I was right?" he teased.

"Maybe," she said coyly but didn't actually say it. "So what did my boys do today?"

"All kinds of things, right, champ?" Tray said.

"Momma! We went rock climbing and rode go-karts and...."

"And we went to the barbershop and bought a few things. We had the best time ever, right, Colby?"

"It was totally awesome, Momma!"

"Bekka Palmer's gonna fall in love with him," Darby said.

Colby turned beet red. "How do you know about her?" he asked sheepishly.

"Oh, mothers know everything about their children, Colby. Trust me," she told him.

"They do?" he asked looking at Tray.

"Well, not...everything," he said. "Right, Darby?"

"Oh, pretty much. We're a lot like Santa Claus only moms are real," she said bending down to hug her son.

"So what else did you have planned?" she asked Tray.

"Only dinner at the nicest place in town," he said as the TMZ van pulled back up out front.

"Oh, great. The Pappa Nazis are back. We kinda ditched 'em today so they're not gonna be real happy."

As they were leaving the house, the cameras started clicking again and then came the questions.

"Why did you try and get away today, Tray?"

"I didn't try, boys. I did," he said with a smile.

"Does this new look for your sister-in-law mean you two really are dating?"

"No!" Darby said. "Tray just did something nice today. That's all."

"Where did you go when you shook us today, Tray? Did you meet some other woman?"

"There is no other woman, jacka....my friend," he said. "We're going out for dinner now and I know you're gonna follow us. Just try and be reasonable for once, would ya?"

He led Darby and Colby over to his truck and helped her in. They arrived at the Kiepersol Restaurant and Steakhouse a few minutes later and Tray helped Darby get out then took her hand on the way in.

There was an immediate buzz when they walked in as people began to whisper, stare, and then point. Some smiled and a couple folks even waved.

By the time they were seated two people were asking for his autograph. Then, right on schedule, two TMZ-ers asked for a table as close to Tray as they could get.

"Just ignore 'em," Tray said when he saw Darby glaring at them.

"I swear I couldn't be as nice as you are to them, Tray," she said quietly.

"Hey, even sleaze bags gotta make a living, right?"

Darby laughed and did her best to forget they were there.

The food was delicious and the conversation very enjoyable until Colby said something about playing laser tag.

"You didn't mention that this morning," Darby said.

Colby got quiet so Tray jumped in. "We weren't hiding anything. We just forgot to mention it. That's all. Right, buddy?"

Colby didn't speak.

"Colby Johnson? What are you not telling me? You're hiding something from me. I can see it in your eyes."

"It's nothin'," Tray told her. "No big deal."

"How about letting me be the judge of that?" she said still being polite.

"Colby? I'm waiting."

Tray knew his nephew wouldn't tell his mother a lie so he answered for him.

"We went skydiving."

Darby turned toward him and said, "You did what?"

"We were havin' so much fun, and I wanted to do something special with my nephew."

"Tray, you had no right! How could you?" she said her voice growing louder.

"Keep it down, Darby," Tray said nodding at the hawks sitting two tables away. They were recording all of this and Tray knew it.

"I don't care about them, Tray. I care about you deciding to risk my son's life without asking me if it's okay! How dare you!"

"Darby. I'm really sorry. I thought it would be fun and...."

"It was, Momma. We had the best t...."

"Colby? Mind your own business, young man. This is between me and your uncle."

"Yes ma'am," he said quietly.

"Colby is all I have left in this world and you could have taken that away from me today," she said her voice filled with anger.

"I'm very sorry, Darby. Please forgive me."

"No. No, I can't forgive you, Tray. In fact, I don't even want to be around you. Colby? Come on. We're leaving."

"But Momma...." he started.

The cameras were clicking and the video was rolling.

"Don't get up," she told Tray. "We'll get a cab."

He went to give her some money and she said, "Keep it! I don't want your money."

She grabbed her son's hand and walked out then called a taxi.

"Mrs. Johnson! Did your brother-in-law have permission to take your son skydiving? Will you be pressing charges? Will this affect your...."

Darby was so angry she couldn't speak. She refused to even look at them then hurried Colby and herself into the cab when it pulled up.

As children are wont to do, Colby was blaming himself for the problems between adults.

"Momma? Please don't be mad at Uncle Tray. We were just having fun. Honest."

As angry as she was, she didn't blame her son. She slid over and put her arm around him and said, "I don't blame you, baby. None of this is your fault."

She kissed the top of his head then hugged him tight. "It's just that you're all I have left in this big old world, Colby."

"You have Uncle Tray, too, Momma," he told her as he tried his best not to cry.

Darby didn't answer, but she knew her son was right. Tray was a good man under a lot of pressure; more pressure than she could ever deal with. Deep down, she also knew he was only trying to bond with her son and that driving home in a taxi was probably more dangerous than skydiving. Even so, she needed time to forgive him. For now, she was still angry as hell.

Tray paid for the meal even though no one ate a bite and left another hundred dollar bill for a tip. The papparazi dutifully followed him out and then all the way to the hotel he checked into for the night. Chances were they were in the room right next to his or across the hall, but he didn't give a damn this time.

He called the funeral home to make sure he knew when Joe's service would be, then ordered a bottle of the best whiskey they had and drank himself to sleep.

He woke up with a raging hangover the next morning and spent most of the day in bed recovering. He finally answered his agent's texts and told him he'd be back in two days as Joe's memorial service was the following day at 2pm.

Tray ordered room service for dinner and spent most of the evening thinking about Darby and Colby and what he'd done and why he'd done it. He still thought she'd overreacted, and yet he knew she was right. He had no right to do that. Hell, even if he'd been Colby's father, that was a decision for both parents to make.

His hangover was gone, but it had been replaced by something much worse. A deep-seated feeling of guilt bordering on shame. After he finished eating, he decided to call her and apologize. The phone rang a half dozen times then went to voicemail. It was obvious she wasn't picking up.

He left a message that said: "Hey, Darby. I know you don't want to talk to me and I get that. I really messed up. I had no right to do that, and I'm as sorry as I can be. I don't expect you to forgive me, and if you never want to talk to me again, well, I guess I'll have to live with that since I made my own bed here. Sleepin' in it isn't a whole lot of fun, though." He paused for a second then continued. "Darby? I...I just wanna say I'd never do anything intentionally to hurt you. Or Colby. I love that boy and, well, truth be told, I been doin' a lot of thinkin' since I got back in town. Mostly about you. I know this isn't the right time or place to say it, but if I don't say it now, I might never say it." He paused again then said, "I think I might just love you, too. I'm not too good with words, but I've been lookin' for a way to tell you that since we...you know. I thought maybe I could get up the nerve after dinner, but, well, that didn't go so well. And I also wanna say you looked so beautiful it took my breath away, and I hope you won't forget that again. Well, I don't know if you'll even listen to this, but I am as sorry as a man can be, Darby. And...and I really do love you. And Colby, too. Please tell him that for me and give him a big hug from his Uncle Tray. So...okay, I guess that's it. Um...bye."