Strong Safety Ch. 07

"Darren is right, dear. We were willing to let her have a fling with you so she could get it out of her system. I don't want her to end up like I almost did when I married Harold. You both would end up desperately unhappy. She needs to marry someone that Darren and I help her pick. We will send some extra money so that she can move into her own apartment and we'll help you cover the remainder of your lease but you need to end this quickly, Liam. I'm so sorry we let you two carry on, dear."

Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox, I'm sorry for creating the impression that I called to ask for your permission; I did not. I called to tell you that I'm madly in love with your daughter or stepdaughter. I have already asked Harry for her hand and he graciously agreed to grant his blessing. As far as your concerns, I'm quite certain that Lauren deserves the very best in life, including love and no one could ever love her more or like I do. I understand your reservations but I'm going to ask Lauren to be my wife. It will be her decision."

"LIAM! I forbid it! You cannot ask my daughter to marry you."

"Mr. Wilcox, with all due respect, Lauren is your stepdaughter and a grown woman. She will have the final say in what happens with her life."

"Liam, please don't make us turn you into a bad guy to Lauren. First loves are so special and I would hate to ruin her memories of her first love but I will absolutely do it if you make me," Samantha threatened.

"Mrs. Wilcox, don't threaten me or the people I love ever again. I'm going to ask Lauren to marry me and if she accepts then we will determine as a couple how much contact we have with you and Mr. Wilcox. Thank you both for your time."

"Liam, please wait! What will it take for you to walk away? Just give me a place to start and I'm sure we can come to an arrangement."

"Mr. Wilcox, what are insinuating?"

"Come on, Liam; it's not hard to figure out. I know that you see Lauren as both beautiful and from a wealthy family. She's every man's dream: sexy and rich." His voice was so creepy when he referred to Lauren as sexy. I wanted to strangle him through the phone. "But we both know that you two can't make this work. We'll insist on a prenup and then you'll get nothing. This way you will have had your fun and you don't walk away empty-handed."

I was about to explode! This imbecilic motherfucker was going to bribe me to abandon his stepdaughter! "I will speak with you both again when I have regained my composure. Right now, I cannot speak to you civilly." I hung up immediately and silenced my phone. In retrospect that was a mistake.

When they couldn't reach me, they immediately dialed Lauren. I didn't even know she was trying to reach me until 8 when I called her at a scheduled time. When I picked up my phone I saw that I had 6 missed calls and dozens of messages like:

Lauren: need to talk to you please call

Lauren: Liam, call me please it's important

Lauren: where are you, I need to talk to you

Lauren: whatever is going on we can figure it out. Please call

Lauren: LIAM!

My roommate was out so I hit the video call button. "Liam, what's going on?! Mom called me telling me I need to stay away from you and that she is going to come and move me out of our apartment. She is super pissed! What did you say to her?" Lauren's beautiful face didn't look super happy.

"Hi baby, it's great to hear your voice too." I chuckled. "Lauren, I wanted to surprise you but your mom is hellbent on stopping me. I'm trying to get everything ready so that I can propose to you."

"WHAT?! Liam, are you kidding me? You're gonna propose to me? Liam..." she started to cry.

"What's wrong, Lauren? I thought we both knew this where we are headed."

"It is you ridiculous boy. I'm crying because I'm happy! You want to marry me and I want to marry you. It makes me so happy. When are you going to ask me?"

"I am trying to keep a little mystery, Lauren," I smiled "but I have to warn you that your Mom and Darren are absolutely against us. They seem to think that I lack the assets to keep you happy."

"Well fuck them! The only thing I need that I can't earn is your love."

"You'll have that for my entire life and we will work to build our dreams together. I love you, baby."

"I love you too, Liam. What time will y'all be getting in tomorrow?"

"Bus leaves here at 7; hopefully we'll be home before supper. I can't wait to see you."

"Me too, baby. Goodnight and sweet dreams."

"Love you, goodnight."

++++++++++++++++++++

Not sure if Samantha and Darren flew or passed us on the interstate but they were at our apartment when I made it home. Lauren and Samantha were yelling at one another when I walked in the front door. Darren tried to block my way as I entered the front door.

"It would probably be a good idea to give them some space to talk this out. Why don't I take you out for a bite to eat?" He asked with the slimiest smile I had ever seen.

"Mr. Wilcox, you're in my home and you're blocking my way. I suggest you move and let me in before I remove you for trespassing."

"Liam, I'm just trying to give Lauren and her mother some space. I think you should do the same."

"Mr. Wilcox,"

"It's Darren, Liam you know that we are close enough for you to call me by my first name," he interrupted and refused to move out of my way.

"Mr. Wilcox, my live-in girlfriend sounds distressed and you are preventing me from checking on her wellbeing. Move out of my way."

He put his hand on my chest to prevent me from moving forward. I looked at his hand and then at him, "Remove your hand and step aside, Mr. Wilcox."

"Listen, Liam," he pressed harder as I tried to move into my apartment. I grabbed him by his shirt and walked him backward quickly before the back of his knees bumped into the sofa and he fell into a seated position.

I continued past him and into the kitchen area. I walked directly to Lauren and pulled her tear-stained face directly into my chest. "Are you okay, love?"

"Liam, they're trying to force us apart. They say they're going to take away my school money, sell Tate, and kick me out of their life if I don't break up with you."

"What do you want, sweetheart?"

"I don't...don't...don't want to lose you!" She struggled to get out between sobs.

"Liam, I don't think you can be of any help to our family right now. It would be best if you left this to us," Samantha insisted.

"You're in my home, Samantha. You can't tell me to leave my house. If you want to speak to Lauren or me, you and Darren can sit your asses on that couch and give Lauren a moment to compose herself. Otherwise, I will call the police and have you arrested for trespassing. I am clear?!"

Her jaw went slack and she immediately shuffled to the sofa next to Darren. I held Lauren until her sobs subsided and she caught her breath. "Lauren, I going to speak to Darren and your mother. Do you want to be a part of the conversation?"

She nodded and took my hand. I grab a dining chair and sat it beside our upholstered chair. I sat Lauren in the comfortable chair and sat beside her in the wooden one.

"Liam,..." Darren tried to start.

"Shut up! Mr. Wilcox. This is our home and so far you two have managed to piss off the only person whose opinion really matters. Lauren is going to get the first opportunity to speak and she will do so without interruption. Clear?"

"Liam," This time it was Samantha.

"Shut the fuck up or get out of my house!" I screamed at them.

They nodded their understanding. "Mom, Liam and I are in love and have decided that we're going to spend our lives together. He came to you out of respect and you have disrespected both of us by invading our home and demanding that I abandon him. If you make me choose between Liam and you then I will choose Liam but you don't have to make me choose."

"May I speak now?" Samantha all but sneered. I didn't like her tone but I nodded my agreement.

"Lauren, you and Liam might be in love but it takes far more than love to have an enjoyable life. Where are you going to live and how will you survive if your father and I"

"Stepfather," Lauren interrupted, "Darren is my stepfather. You stole my real father from me through lies and manipulation, but I've seen all of this before Mother and I won't be falling for it again."

"Fine! Stepfather! How are you going to survive if your stepfather and I aren't paying for everything? We're just trying to help you see the flaws with your choices."

"You're paying for my education this semester but not much more. Amy has hired me and made me a part of her business. I'm paying my way just like Liam is. If you don't want to help then don't but don't expect to cut me out of your lives and then expect me to include you in mine."

"Lauren, your mother and I aren't trying to cut you out of our lives. Quite the opposite, we want to remain close to you and take care of you, like we always have. I'm sorry you don't consider me to be your father, especially after all I've done for you, but your relationship with Liam is becoming unhealthy for you. You ignored our advice when we tried to help you in Wyoming, you moved into this tiny little box forcing us to stop your stipend, and now you two are considering an ill-advised marriage. It needs to end and you need to refocus on your priorities."

"What are my priorities, Darren? What's my major, my GPA, my career path? Where am I planning to move and start my career? What are my friends' names and what do we like to do?"

"Sweetheart, Darren is simply trying to point out that life isn't as easy as you think it is and..."

"Alright, Mom same questions?"

"I'm not sure what your major is sweetheart and it really doesn't matter. You need to get your degree and then focus on marrying the right kind of man. A man that can take care of you and provide for you. Liam is a fine young man but he can't do those things."

"How do you know?" I couldn't remain quiet any longer. "Tell me about my assets, skills, intellect, or any other thing about me."

"Liam, we aren't trying to put you down. We're just trying to do what's best for Lauren. Samantha and I want to ensure that Lauren spends her life with someone that can make her happy and take care of her." Darren deflected.

"Once again, how do you know that I am not that man?"

"Okay, Liam" Samantha smirked at me, "how do you plan to provide for yourself and Lauren while you are a college student on an athletic scholarship from a small division two school?"

"I plan to ask her to marry soon and then allow her to graduate with her degree in agriculture business. After her graduation, we will marry at a time of our choosing. In the meantime, we will continue to live as we currently are. I provide at least 50% toward the necessities of our household and will continue to do so even after Lauren graduates. Following my graduation, we will determine the direction for our life together as partners." Lauren smiled at me when I said these words directly to her. "She doesn't need me or any other man to hold her up. She wants a friend, partner, and lover to spend her life with and I intend to be that man."

"What about the wedding, a home, and money to board her horse?" Samantha started to try to poke holes in our dreams.

"It's taken care of," I shot back. "You don't have to provide a single thing from here on out if you feel it would be improper. We have enough to take care of everything you just mentioned."

"Well, I don't it would be responsible to hold on to Tate any longer," Darren once again upped the pressure. "I mean, after Lauren graduates and the wedding she won't be able to board him at the school any longer and she won't be returning to our home in Georgia permanently at that point."

"Fine, what do you want for him?" I asked.

"What do you mean? You can't possibly think of purchasing." He was flabbergasted.

"That's exactly what I mean, what are your terms?" I reiterated hoping he didn't know much about horses.

"We gave $30,000 for him 6 years ago. Of course, he and Lauren won the college women's title so that makes him more valuable as a breeding horse, so how about $50,000?" Darren said haughtily.

"Tate is a gelding; he can't breed anything. He's a 14-year-old horse that will be out of rodeo competition in just a couple more years. I'll give you $20,000"

"I thought that he was a male. Why can't he breed?" Darren asked confused.

"They castrated him. He doesn't have any balls." Lauren shot back.

"It doesn't matter. I still can't accept that much for a loss. I need at least the $30,000 back."

"Liam, I love him but you don't have that kind of money without dipping in your college fund. I will miss him but we can let him go, sweetheart" She assured me.

"Trust me, Lauren. I know what I'm doing." It was my turn to assure her.

"Fine, $30,000." I stuck out my hand to shake his hand.

"Lauren, when Liam fails to follow through on this deal, I hope you will reconsider our conversation." He said as he shook my hand.

"Would you like certified funds or will you accept a check? I will need his papers and a bill of sale." I said with a smile.

"A check will be fine since we're about to be family." He tried to squeeze my hand. I don't know how such a stupid man had ever become wealthy. I returned his squeeze with one of my own, just enough to make him recoil from my hand.

"I'll be right back," I announced and headed back to my room. I returned just a moment later with a checkbook. "To you personally or to..."

"Liam, this has gone far enough!" Samantha jumped in. "If you write a check for that amount and the bank returns it for insufficient funds then you could be prosecuted for fraud. Don't make a fool of yourself by trying to be Lauren's hero."

"Samantha, Darren and I have an agreement and I am going to honor my end of our contract. I expect the exact same thing from him."

"Yes, Liam. Darren Wilcox as the payee will be fine. Please understand son, if this check is returned then I will proceed with prosecution. It's not too late to back out." He challenged again.

"It's perfectly fine Darren. Deposit it at your convenience." I was unsurprised but still annoyed when inspected the check.

"Liam, this is a check from a brokerage account." He was obviously surprised.

"Yes sir, it is and there's plenty of money in that fund to cover it. Please send the necessary paperwork as soon as the money is made available to you."

"Liam, how much money do you have in this account? I could..."

"Darren, my personal finances aren't really any of your business. We have a deal that we have shaken on and you have accepted my money. We were already taking care of Tate's expenses and we will continue to do so."

"I was just going to offer to help you with your investments. You know I work in the financial industry and could probably help you build your portfolio."

"Thank you but no thank you. I have been with my advisor a long time and we have a great relationship."

"A long-time? You're only 19 years old; how could you've been with an advisor for a long time?"

"Mr. Wilcox, thank you and Samantha for stopping by. It's great to see you both; please come back sometime soon."

Darren and Samantha rose to leave, casting bewildered looks at the two of us. "Lauren, I know you think you know what you're doing but you need to ask yourself if you want to be married to a man that has to work an hourly job for his entire career," Samantha added her parting shot.

They walked out the door and I knew that I had some explaining to do. "Liam! How could you just blow your entire college fund on my horse? Your Mom is going to kill us!"

"Lauren, that wasn't money from my college fund. Let's go sit in the tub together and I will explain my finances."

15 minutes later we were relaxing in a hot bathtub with her nestled into my chest and my erection pressed into the small of her back. I need this after dealing with her mother and stepfather.

"Okay, baby, let me explain everything and then you can ask anything you want to know. My Mom started investing the survivor's benefit from Social Security for me when I was three years old. All of it. For the first three years, she needed the money to get by but after that, her business started taking care of our needs. She took the money and put it into an investment account and added to it each month. We never touched it. Remember those lessons on compounding interest from pre-Algebra? The money has grown and now we have some money to start our life together."

"Is it rude of me to ask how much?" She asked nervously. "I don't want you to think I care about the money but I am curious."

"Sweetheart, you can ask me literally anything. After that check clears there'll still be about $450,000."

"That's a lot of money! You're Mom is truly an incredible woman."

"Yeah, she tried her best to make sure I didn't suffer from her mistake."

"I'm sorry, Liam. I didn't mean it like that."

"I know, I know, I just kept help but wonder about what if."

"What if we take this to the bed and I kiss all these boo-boos that are all over my hero?"

"I might not ever let you stop."

"I think I can bring everything to a happy conclusion," she said with a wicked smile.

+++++++++++++++

The following weekend we were at home for Delta. I was pumped because we just needed this win to secure our playoff berth. The worries that had surrounded our inexperienced defensive backfield never materialized. We played together almost as well as the linebacking corp.

Delta played a run-heavy run/pass option offense. They had two fantastic backs that kept the sticks moving by averaging 4.7 yards per carry. This week we would lean into our 4-3 scheme and I would be playing a true strong safety role. I wanted to leave an impression on both of their backs.

The game plan came together fabulously. We were keeping them under 3 yards per rush and their QB was gun-shy after throwing two early picks. As the 3^rd quarter was reaching its midpoint, we finally broke it open on a scoop and score. Their running back thought that a defensive back would be an easy target for some punishment. I thought that a running back would be an easy target for some punishment. The defensive coordinator told me after the game that he heard the pop of our pads in the booth.

The hit jarred the football loose and our defensive end got his first touchdown of his college career. It was only 25 yards and he was glad that it wasn't longer because he was carrying a receiver and their QB on his back when he crossed the goal line. The touchdown put us up 24-7 and we cruised to another win.

Lauren needed to have a sit down with Mom about the coming month so she followed Grandpaw back. Her plan was to stay the night and come back on Sunday. She asked me to come but I told her that I had to check in with the treatment staff on Sunday. My collision with the running back had left a massive bruise on my shoulder. More importantly, it was a convenient time to get Alicia's help with ring shopping.

"You do know what Lauren likes, right?" I asked her.

"Of course! She's been telling me every detail since she found out that you're planning to propose." She started impersonating Lauren's voice, "It doesn't need to be huge or anything but I would like a gold setting and I princess cut stone. I would prefer a solitaire but would also be happy with small stones on the band."

"Well, we can't get to Tuscaloosa or Mobile in time to shop in person so I need you to help me do some online shopping."

"You still have to buy me dinner."

"Agreed, the cafeteria, okay?" I asked with a chuckle.

"No way, Jose! Speaking of Jose, how about that Mexican place?"

Okay, Okay but you have to get a combination plate. I'm about to spend all of my money and I don't want Lauren to not get the ring of her dreams because you had to splurge."