The Long Ride Pt. 01

"That'll be perfect Cal!" Vanessa said, with a trembling voice.

"Shari likes unicorns, and you remember the side door?"

"The one that led to your father's den?" Vanessa asked, for clarification.

"Yeah, come to that door, I want to prepare her..." Blowing out a breath, knowing it was going to come out anyway, "she has been asking about you."

"She has?! What have you told her about me?" Vanessa asked, worryingly.

"Nothing, I was going to wait until she was older so she could understand what happened between us," Callum said, truthfully.

"Okay, I won't talk about that with her unless you're there. If she asks that is."

"Alright, I should head inside and see what chaos my father has wrangled Shari into," Callum said, looking back at the house.

"That sounds... amusing," Vanessa giggled, "thank you again for doing this Cal. We'll be there at eight."

"Text me before you get here," Callum said, texting Vanessa his number from his phone.

"I will."

******

Callum and his mother were keeping Shari entertained while his father snuck Vanessa and her husband into the den. He had a suspicion Vanessa would have jumped through however many hoops he had set up for this to happen as they texted over dinner. He prayed this was going to be good for Shari. He did hate not providing the things she needs to grow up healthy not just in body but in mind as well. Peering over the top of his mother's head as his father appeared in the doorway. Flipping the TV off, Shari's eyes instantly shot to him as his mother rose from her seat.

"Shari?"

"Yes Daddy?" Her voice had a very curious tone to it as she looked up at her father.

"You know how you wanted to see your mom?" Callum asked, lightly holding Shari's hand.

"Yeah," Shari said, going wide eyed.

"Your Mom... she wants to meet you, honey..."

"My Mommy wants to see me?!" Shari said, in a mixture of awe and on the verge of tears.

"Yes baby, do you want to meet her?" Callum asked, in a loving light.

"When!" Shari nearly shouted as she bounced in her seat.

"If you're up to it and if you can calm yourself silly," rising from his seat, "how about now?" Callum asked, holding out his hand to his daughter. A fatherly smile appeared on his face as Shari's fingers skimmed along the palm of his hand. "You ready?" Her curt nod was his answer.

That normal half a minute walk down the hall was the most nerve racking half a minute of his life as they neared the pocket doors that led to the den. Gently squeezing her hand before knocking on the door. The rollers whispered as they rolled on their hidden rail as Antonio and Gisselle pulled the doors open. Vanessa stood nervously beside the coffee table her dark blonde hair was held back. Her soft brown eyes quivered as they glanced from Callum then to Shari. Callum smirked at the sight of the old band t-shirt Vanessa wore eight years ago as she smoothed out her jeans as she knelt before Shari.

"Vanessa, let me introduce you to our daughter, Shari Eva MacRoe, Shari this is your mother Vanessa Jeda Chandler." Seconds passed as Vanessa and Shari stared silently at one another.

"Y-you're my Mommy?" Shari's voice broke the stalemate.

"Yes Shari." Vanessa's voice trembled as her brown eyes studied her daughter's face. "I'm your mother. I'm so very happy to meet-t-t... you," she said, catching herself from breaking down.

Shari's hand slipped from her father's. Vanessa's lower lip trembled as Shari's right hand caressed her left cheek.

"Mama."

"Yes baby," Vanessa said, on the verge of tears.

"Mama," Shari cried out falling into her mother. No one said a word during those five minutes they wept in each other's arms.

"You've grown so beautiful," Vanessa whispered her fingers brushed along her daughter's hair. "You named her after grandma, does Mom know this?" she asked, looking up at Callum.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask her about that."

"Would you mind if Henry and I speak with her? I'd really like to get to know our daughter, Cal," Vanessa said, with a pleading voice.

"Wouldn't have called you if you couldn't."

"Only if my Daddy stays," Shari said hastily, latching onto Callum's hand.

"Of course Shari," Vanessa nodded, "we wouldn't want to leave your dad out. After all he did do a remarkable job raising you," she said, lightly touching her daughter's arm as she reached out. Looking behind her as Henry quickly got out of his seat. Holding out her hand to him for the present they got for Shari. "Now Shari your dad told me you like unicorns," Vanessa said, feeling the corners of her lips lifting at the sight of her daughter's widening eyes as Henry handed her the bag that the store had placed the stuffed animal in. "I was hoping you could help me take care of this little guy with me. He's going to need our help don't you think?" Holding the bag out to her daughter who pounced on it without hesitation.

Callum winced as his daughter released a high pitch squeal as Shari held the white with a purple mane unicorn in her hands.

"I love it! I love it! I. Love. It!" Shari cried out as she spun around.

"Shari what do you say?" Callum asked, in that fatherly voice.

"Thank you!" Shari said, throwing her arms around her mother and then rushing over to Henry who looked at Callum as Shari hugged his legs.

"You're very welcome Shari," Henry said warmly, lightly patting her back.

"Would you like to sit with us?" Vanessa asked, as she stood beside her daughter. Holding back her tears as Shari nodded vehemently. She couldn't believe this was going so well. She would have thought Cal would have told her to fuck off. Never to bother them again, she legally had no right to see her daughter, and she wasn't about to screw this up. Not after the last few months that have become her and Henry's life. That was why they had moved back to her hometown of Deadwood, South Dakota; so she could be close to the only child she would ever have.

Seconds turned into minutes and before long Vanessa, with Henry interjecting every so often, was chatting up a storm with her daughter. She held her daughter's hand all throughout their conversation. Noting how Cal left for a few minutes only to return with a beer in hand. Smiling at Cal when he handed one to Henry. She was very please the two of them were getting along so well. She didn't want Cal or Henry to be at odds with one another. Vanessa wanted, no, needed this to work out. She had once thought she had all the time in the world to start her own family when she met Henry. How that was taken away from her when one of her fertilized eggs got lodged within her Fallopian tube and the doctor that was supposed to repair it ended up making her barren. After coming to terms with that world crushing news and suing the pants off that doctor and the hospital. The money was nice it had helped them move back home, yet the one thing she wanted most in the world she could never have and she gave it away so long ago. How she worried as the weeks rolled by and no word came from Cal as they fixed up the home they had moved into in hopes that her daughter would come to call it home as well; or that was her hope anyway.

"Why didn't you want to be my Mama?" Shari asked, out of the blue as they sat on the couch. Vanessa's gaze quickly shot towards Callum who arched an eyebrow waiting for her to answer his daughter's question.

"Shari..." Taking her daughter's hands into hers, "when you were born, I was only eight years older than you are now. I wasn't ready to be a mom, I wasn't even ready to be an adult yet. But your dad, he was ready to be a father the moment I told him I was pregnant with you," Vanessa said, her thumbs brushed lightly against the back of Shari's hand. "I'm forever going to be grateful to him for that, because if he hadn't then you and I wouldn't be here and I'd be missing out of the most precious thing in the world," she said, not missing the look Callum shot her. She knew it was so unlike anything he would remember her saying about children -- namely their child. She never said anything bad about Shari, she would never do that, it was just the girl Callum once knew had her whole life ahead of her, the woman he is now faced with knows of the sorrow of never having any more children. Henry had held her numerous time when she cried herself to sleep.

"I want to try to be your mom now, I know I have a lot to make up for Shari, to you and your father, but I want to make it work. Will you give me that chance Shari?" Vanessa asked, with baited breath. Squeezing Henry's hand as Shari slid off the sofa and ran over to Cal. She watched intently as they whispered between one another.

"I don't know Shari." Her nerves were frayed as she watched how the two interacted. Wondering if she and Shari would ever be that close. She so hoped they would be.

"Please Daddy?!" Vanessa bit her lip knowing her mother was going to love her little girl as Shari did the cutest little stomp she ever saw.

"Do you really want her to?" Squeezing Henry's hand tightly as he rubbed her back with the other as they waited patiently. Biting the inside of her cheek as she watched her daughter nod to her father.

Then a thought shot across her mind, she couldn't believe she had forgotten about it. "Shari?!" Vanessa called out snapping off a few pictures of her gradual smile as it formed on her lips. "She's so... beautiful," she whispered to Henry as she leaned in to him.

"I know, just like her mother," Henry replied as he kissed her temple.

"Listen..." Callum rose from his seat, "it's getting late and Shari has school in the morning," holding up his hand when Vanessa began to speak, "Shari here was wondering if you would like to read her a bedtime story," Callum said, looking directly at Vanessa.

"I would love to Cal, if that's what you want Shari," Vanessa spoke as her eyes centered on her daughter.

"Mmmhmm," Shari hummed as she nodded causing her dark blonde hair to bounce.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Vanessa said, with a broad smile on her face as she looked at Shari and Callum.

"Go say bye to Nana and Papa," Callum uttered as he looked down at Shari. A warm half smile formed on his lips as his daughter took off running. He was not expecting the hug that Vanessa wrapped him in.

"Thank you so much! You don't know how much this means to us," Vanessa said, her voice was muffled by his chest.

"The moment you hurt my daughter..."

"Vanessa and I swear we only want what is best for her. We are not here to rock the boat as the saying goes. We would just like to be part of her life as much as you and she allows," Henry said, wrapping his arm around his wife.

"So you aren't after your rights?" Callum asked, skeptically.

"No Cal, you're her parent, you raised her when I ran off to go party, drink, and do whatever the hell I felt like at the time. You were right, I didn't want to be a mother then, but I do now, we aren't here to make trouble for you or Shari, we just want to be part of her life. I know it couldn't have been easy..."

"You have no idea."

"Maybe you can share the load some, when you're comfortable with us," Vanessa said, with hope in her eyes.

"For now let's see how supervised visitation goes, hmm?" Callum mused.

"Anything you want Cal," Vanessa nodded.

"Daddy!" Shari called out as she came racing into the room.

"You want to follow us?" Callum asked, as he hugged Shari against him to which Vanessa vehemently nodded.

Callum whistled as he noted the dark blue BMW in his parent's driveway that was parked behind his old Toyota truck as he held the passenger door open for Shari. "Life must have been good for her," Callum said to himself.

"We'll be right behind you Shari, okay," Vanessa said, through the open window as Callum walked around the front of his truck.

"Okay!" Shari said happily, as she smiled at her mother. "Thank you Daddy," she said, as Callum started up the engine.

"Shari you don't have to thank me baby, I just hope this will be good for you."

******

"It's not big, but its home," Callum said, ushering in his daughter, Vanessa, and Henry into their home. He intently watched how Vanessa's eyes roamed around noting while toys littered the floor in the living room, the house itself was neat and orderly.

"None sense Cal, this is the home you raised our baby in, it couldn't be more perfect," Vanessa said, her eyes roamed over all the pictures that lined the wall.

"That's when me and Daddy went to the zoo!" Shari exclaimed pointing to the picture.

"We go once a month when the weather allows," Callum added.

"Did you like it?" Vanessa asked, looking down at Shari.

"Mmmhmm," Shari nodded, "I like the butterfly house, the giraffes, the tigers!"

"Oh my," Henry whispered causing Callum to chuckle.

"Shari, it's time to get ready for bed," Callum said, he could see how Shari's puppy dog eyes were wearing Vanessa down. She was going to have to learn how to be firm with their daughter or Shari would just run right over her. "Why don't you show your mom where your room is, and all your friends..."

"Not Bernard," Shari huffed as she crossed her arms. Which caused Vanessa and Henry to look over at him for clarification.

"Definitely not Bernard," Callum agreed, whispering to them that he would tell them later.

"Kay!" Shari latched onto Vanessa's hand and dragged her towards her room.

"So who's Bernard?!" Henry asked, as Callum shut the front door.

"Oh, just one of her stuff animals my mother got for her a few years ago. Shari heard the name Bernard and it just stuck," Callum said, shrugging his shoulders. "Can I get you something while you wait? It might take a while," he said, hearing the chatter coming from his daughter's room.

"Water'll be fine," Henry said, politely. He knew the moment he saw the house, whatever extra Callum made went back into his household; from keeping the house in order, food on the table, bills paid, to whatever Shari needed, and only seeing to himself last. "So I take it you're not seeing anyone?" he asked, as Callum handed him his glass.

"No, not at the moment. Hard to date when you're a single parent," Callum said, offering Henry a seat on the couch while they waited.

"So... can I call you Cal?" Henry asked, Callum nodded in response. "What do you do for a living?"

"Own my own shop, it lets me be home in case something happens."

"Like a wood or automotive shop?"

"Car and motorcycle garage," Callum stated.

"You know Vanessa's mom?"

"Yeah, what about her?" Callum asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You should have heard her cry when Vanessa called her on the ride over and told her Shari's full name."

"Well, they would have known that, yet they didn't want anything to do with us..."

"That was wrong of us Cal," Vanessa said, as she gently closed the door after she had helped her daughter into her pajamas, introduced to all her friends minus Bernard, something she rightly didn't understand as Shari was speaking so rapidly as she showed off her room to Vanessa. Watching how her daughter gazed at her as she read a chapter from the book her father was reading to her. She had snapped a few photos of her room so she could pick up some things that would make the room waiting for Shari, at her house, for when she visits to feel less alien to her. Walking lightly over to her husband, sliding down into the seat to Henry's right and within reaching distance of Callum. "I know I'm asking a lot here Cal. Tell me to shove it if I'm being too pushy on you or Shari, but Mom and Dad would like to meet her?"

"I thought they moved down to where it was warmer?" Callum asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"They did, but we came back here... I'm not going to lie to you Cal. We were going to leave you to live your lives not knowing about me or Henry. But something happened to me, to us," Vanessa said, holding tightly to her husband's hand. "Something which has caused me never to have children, ever again. I was so heartbroken at the news. No matter what Henry tried and he tried a lot. I love him all the more for it. It just wouldn't break me out of it. How can you get over the fact that you can no longer have children when you're at the age of twenty-four?" she asked, looking at Callum. "We were trying for a baby, and one of my eggs got caught within my Fallopian tube, and the incompetent doctor removed the wrong one and they had to go back in and take the other one out which left me barren," Vanessa said, wiping away her tears. "When that happened I reexamined my life. It was almost as if I didn't recognize the woman before the operation from the one that left that table a broke woman. Then we moved back here once the lawsuit was closed out, hoping against hope that you and Shari were still within the area."

"And you visited my parent's home once a week just to get me to talk to you, is that right?" Callum asked, listening to it all before making a judgment on everything Vanessa had said.

"Mmmhmm." Looking over as Henry leaned to his left as he reached into his back pocket and handing her the check he was holding. "I know this won't make up for the past eight years of being an absent parent," Vanessa said, holding out the check for forty-eight thousand dollars of back child support. "But I hope this will show you I want to help take care of Shari, we'll get you this month's child support by the end of the week," she said, firmly.

"Why're you doing this? You don't have any..."

"She's my only daughter, the only baby I'll ever have Cal. How could I think of raising a child with Henry if I can't take care of the one you and I have together. I'm hoping that you'll let me into her life Cal, I really do want to make up for everything," Vanessa said, not bringing up the fact that she had noticed how his home lacked any pictures of women that weren't related to him or Shari. So she knew Callum had been putting his life on hold to raise the daughter that she so foolishly gave up. "I know it will take time for us to earn your trust with Shari's safety Cal. I realize that, so whatever you set in place I'll do. All I ask is that you let us see her when you and she aren't busy."

"I have to think of Shari's safety first..."

"And we so get that Cal," Henry said, inching forward in his seat. "I know we are only here because of your good graces and we certainly don't want to upset that. You don't know me, you lost touch with Vanessa so we're strangers to you who've come into your lives. I swear to you, we only want what's best for Shari. We are not here to butt into your or Shari's lives. We're just hoping, maybe you'll let us peek in every once in a while, until you and Shari are comfortable with us."

"You probably didn't want to contact me, did you?" Vanessa asked, to which Callum nodded. "Why did you?"

"I've told you, for Shari, her welfare comes before my own feelings towards you. Shari's had it rough here lately," Callum said, softly.

"Tell me Cal," Vanessa said, reaching out her hand lightly covering his.

"I can see it in her eyes every time one of her friends gets something new that she really likes but we can't afford it. Plus the kids are at that age now where they're picking on her since she's only has me. I know they don't mean anything by it, but Shari doesn't know that."

"Oh Cal," Vanessa cooed, "I'm so sorry, I know how tough it must have been raising Shari on your own."

"It was, but," looking over at his daughter's bedroom, "I wouldn't change it for the world."

"I'm sorry I missed those years with the two of you Cal. I promise I won't be missing anymore," Vanessa said, firmly.

"You really are going to stick this out aren't you?" Callum asked, seeing the truth in her eyes.

"Oh yes, we are not going to be leaving my baby ever again, unless you allow us to take Shari on trips with us, but I know that's down the road for us," Vanessa said, smiling lovingly at her husband.