The Weekend Pt. 05

Author's notes:

I feel like I start each of these chapters with an apology. Well, here goes.

I know that I left you guys hanging with this chapter for months now. I wish there was a good reason for it, but to be honest, there isn't. Life happens to all of us. Sometimes, things just leave you exhausted. People suck the energy out of you, and all you wish for is a moment to not have to do anything for anyone else.

I have read stories from time to time, and have answered a few comments when they pop up, but for the most part the desire to write wasn't there for me.

I have been feeling a little better lately. One of my regrets is leaving this story hanging. So, I will finish this series out. Thank you all for the emails; even the ones that weren't so nice.

And...I'm sorry.

So, for those of you who still care about these characters, I am finishing this. This is one of two chapters to finish this off. The next one will be the conclusion. I hope you enjoy.

Thank you.

***

Synopsis of the last four chapters:

Chapter One: Regina went away on a vacation with a co-worker; Brian. She was trying to escape the despair that she felt in her marriage, which came as a result of Lee's earlier infidelity. Though she was conflicted about her choice, she had sex with Brian. Naturally, she returned home to a hurt and angry husband. After an argument, Lee stormed out.

Chapter Two: Regina had a talk with her sister in which she was forced to think about her insecurity surrounding not being able to have children. This was exacerbated by the fact that Lee mistakenly impregnated the woman he cheated with. This was the rage that pushed Regina to make the impetuous, ill-fated decision to run away in the first place. Being confronted with her rage made her rethink her marriage and wonder if it was worth it.

Meanwhile, Lee was dealing with his own issues surrounding the situation. He felt guilty for his own infidelity yet was angered by his wife's. His own was a bad choice made at a weak moment. His wife's was a calculated, planned out process. He too was on the cusp of the decision of determining if the marriage was worth salvaging.

Chapter Three: After her talk with her sister Trudy, Regina was finally ready to begin building a bridge across the gap of communication that had been severed. However, Lee was still dealing with his anger. He wasn't ready to talk.

The latter part of chapter one and the entirety of chapter two happened on the day Regina returned from her trip, so chapter three found the two trying to navigate their way around each other the next morning as they prepared for work. The communication barrier continued to grow.

As the two went their separate ways to work, they had different experiences. Lee found that he needed a day off to process things. His best friend, Daryl, offered him a place on his couch while he got his head on straight. When Lee went home to pack a bag, he found Regina's bag that she took on her weekend trip. The contents of that bag held evidence that made Lee feel like she was trying to replace him. It broke something inside of him, and he decided to make this temporary hiatus a little more permanent.

Meanwhile, Regina's work day was filled with her trying to come to terms with her conflicted feelings regarding Brian. He pursued her relentlessly. His confidence that he was better for her than her husband made his pursuit justified; at least in his mind.

She came home that evening to find that Lee had left her.

Chapter Four:

For the first time, the couple had face life without the other person.

Regina coped with Lee's absence with mixed feelings. She was relieved to have some breathing room away from him silently judging her on how she was dealing with her issues, yet she missed him immensely.

After repeated attempts to talk to him, she finally got him on the phone. The conversation was an honest one, but not one that put the couple in the best place to move forward together. After it ended, Lee stopped taking her call.

She also had to deal with her feelings about Brian. He was not letting her go and was making it very difficult for her to concentrate on fixing things with her husband. He felt entitled to her love; like he deserved it.

But that wasn't his choice to make.

Meanwhile, Lee was dealing with his past actions. His mistakes held grave consequences for his life, but it also brought the gift of a son. The realization that he was going to be a father started to dawn on him.

It was time for him to grow up. He made a vow to his unborn child to do everything in his power to give him the best life possible. Right now, keeping that vow was the most important thing in his life.

__________________________________________________________________

"Why do you keep coming back here? I told you, I don't want your help."

Jennifer protested Lee's existence from her reclined perch on the couch. Her face was scowled with irritation as she threw ugly at him with her eyes.

She was careful not to speak too loudly. Cradled in her arms and softly suckling at her breast was the blessing named Malcolm.

Lee ignored Jennifer. Her irritated words to his presence were beginning to lose their power. Ever since she gave birth, they'd been doing this song and dance.

Go away!

I don't need you here!

Stay away from me and MY son!

Instead of responding with pleas and/or arguments about seeing his baby, Lee simply took comfort in the realization that if she really wanted to be rid of him, all she had to do was not open the door when he rang the buzzer.

But she always did.

He silently went about his business of putting the groceries that he bought in her fridge. He had to make room by throwing out a half empty gallon of spoiled milk, a loosely wrapped Subway sandwich with crusty bread, and some questionable Chinese food.

"I thought you ate healthy. What's up with all this fast food?" he asked, as if he was oblivious to her obvious irritation of him.

She snarled at him from her reclined position on the couch. Careful not to scare Malcolm, she whisper-yelled, "And I thought I told you that we don't need anything from you! Go home to your wife!"

Hearing Regina mentioned caused Lee to pause momentarily. His eyes darkened with the blackness of residual anger. "Don't bring her up." He said simply before he threw an empty carton of eggs out and replaced it with the ones he bought.

The offhanded statement caused Jennifer's eyebrows to arch curiously. She took notice of the gloomy cloud that had descended on him with the mere mention of "her".

A small, cruel part of her wanted to press that hot button to see what kind of response she would get. That was overruled by the reminder that she'd just got Malcolm quiet, and she didn't want Lee blowing up and disturbing the small slice of silence that she was currently enjoying.

Besides, no matter how deep her distain for him went, she didn't really have it in her to kick him in a vulnerable spot. While she would like to believe that it was common decency on her part, the scary truth was Lee's presence wasn't as much of a nuisance as she was making it out to be. Yes, he was a complete jackass who was married to an even bigger jackass, but he was all she had right now. Going through this pregnancy alone had been tough for her. Depression and fear became as much a part of her as the child growing in her womb. Her super religious Christian family had long ago labeled her the rebellious reprobate beyond redemption. Pastor Malcolm Williams III couldn't have his perfect family's image sullied by the tattoo wearing, premarital sex having, alcohol drinking, weed smoking harlot.

God's love truly at work.

Even bringing their grandchild into the world wasn't enough to be granted a reprieve from their ostracization. They say that a woman is closer to death in the delivery room than she is at any other time in her life, yet the only person who cared enough about her to show up at the hospital was a stubborn one-night stand who wouldn't go away. He flat out refused to leave, even when she screamed that she didn't want him there. When the nurse tried to send him away for fear that his presence was too upsetting, he reluctantly compromised by sitting in the waiting room.

And that was where he stayed until he saw his son's face for the first time, which was nearly 6 hours later. Even then he had to be content with viewing Malcolm through a glass window.

So, for all her bluster, this pigheaded man was just what she needed in her life right now. Her issue, the reason she could never trust him, was because she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Guilt is a powerful emotion, but it is also a fleeting one. Once a guilt-ridden soul feels that he/she has paid their penance, they are free to ride off into the sunset.

Was this good dad act born of a guilty conscience, or was it genuine? The guy in her kitchen right now wasn't the man that she reached out to months ago.

"You hungry?" Lee asked, noticing the cooling in her temperament as her thoughts ran away with her. Her face had involuntarily softened as she briefly forgot that she was supposed to hate him.

She felt Malcolm start to squirm in her arms, though his lips still stayed latched onto her nipple. Looking down at him, she saw his face grimace. She knew what that meant. Switching him from his cradling position to her shoulder, she pulled at the hem of her shirt to cover her exposed breast.

As she gave Malcolm's small back firm pats to release the burp that needed to come, she cut her eyes at the man who refused to just disappear and die. She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself.

But her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since breakfast.

She silently cursed her body for betraying her as she reluctantly gave Lee a stiff nod. If he wasn't going to go away like a good little lying snake, he might as well make himself useful.

"Ham and cheese sandwich okay?"

Another wordless nod

"Coming right up." He said with a small grin, amused by how painfully hard that was for her.

As he made her meal, he noticed that she had her head turned slightly in his direction; like she was trying to watch him without appearing like she was watching him. He wished he could hear what was going on in her head.

Once he was done fixing her food, he poured her a glass of orange juice and brought both over and placed them on the coffee table in front of her.

"Enjoy." He said and walked away without waiting for her to thank him. Not that she was, anyway.

This would be the point that most people would disappear. Having done their good deed for the day, they would be free to go on their merry way, doing what it was they really wanted to do.

But not this guy.

She knew what came next. They'd been doing this for a few months now. She almost let out an audible groan as she watched him walk over to the broom closet and began pulling out the vacuum cleaner.

"Wow. A cook and a maid. Who knew you were so multitalented?" she snarled sarcastically. There was extra bite in this statement though, because she felt irritated that he deemed it necessary to clean her apartment for her; like she was either incapable of doing it herself, or just too lazy.

Lee grimaced slightly, bit his tongue, and fought the urge to take the bait. He knew what sort of reaction she wanted, and he was determined to leave her perpetually disappointed.

Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm here for you and Malcolm. I know you don't want me to be, and I'm sorry for that. But I made a promise to him, and I'm going to keep it; even if that means living with your constant disapproval."

Those words hit her where the flesh was softest. She tightened her lips into a straight line to keep them from quivering and blinked to keep the waterworks at bay. With a slight shake of her head, she cleared her throat and maintained her stony demeanor.

As a defense to guard her emotions, she forfeited her desire to not hit him where it hurt.

"Why?" she asked with hard eyes. "Why now? You suddenly want to be father-of-the-year after you find out that your skanky bitch of a wife fucked another guy? You two deserve each other!"

Now it was Lee's turn to tighten his lips. That dark cloud returned, shading his eyes with mixed emotions of anger, sadness, regret, and loneliness.

But there was also something else gathered in his momentary storm; the urge to protect his wife. No matter what Regina did, he didn't like people talking about her like that. He could say whatever about her; she was his wife. No one else earned that right. Even his best friend had to endure a conversation abruptly ending because he allowed one to many loose words about Regina to slip.

But Lee again reminded himself again to not take the bait. He couldn't shut down this conversation like he did with Daryl. He needed to keep her actively engaged. Each interaction between them was like a swinging axe chopping away at the base of a tree. He would make lumber of her distain for him if it killed him.

He turned off he vacuum cleaner and took a seat on the couch with her. With sincerity, he looked her in the eyes and said, "Look, Jenny..."

"My friends call me Jenny." She icily interrupted.

He let out a loud, frustrated breath before saying, "Fine, Jennifer." He paused with a raised eyebrow. When she gave him a stiff nod of approval, he continued. "First off, I was a jack-ass before. The way I treated you was inexcusable. For that, I'm sorry. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I'm not asking you to forgive me; or even like me for that matter. I don't deserve any of that from you."

"You goddamn right you don't."

"But Malcolm does." He finished making his point as his eyes fell to her shoulder.

He could see her tree take a deep hit.

Her face visibly softened; her eyes blinked away the hard glare that filled them. In an even, calculated tone, he said, "This is no longer about us. It is about him. I made a promise to him, and I'm going to keep it. Like it or not, his best chance in life is for both of us to be a team for his sake. So, while you can hate my guts with every fiber of your being, you will have to learn to work with me whenever he is involved."

Jennifer looked at him as if trying to measure the sincerity of his words. She still didn't trust him; not fully. He sounded genuine enough, but men lie; especially this one. She'd been fooled before.

Nonetheless, he was right.

She looked at her baby boy's soft face when a small burp escaped his little body. His head then laid down on her shoulder, like getting that pocket of gas out of his belly tuckered him out.

"Fine, Father-of-the-year." She relented. "You want to get involved, you can start by taking this little bundle of joy."

A surprised smile crept on Lee's face when she leaned toward him and handed Malcolm to him. That smile twisted as his face soured when the smell hit his nose.

"Oh yeah, he needs to be changed." Jennifer added in a dead-panned voice as she grabbed a diaper that was sitting next to her and tossed it to him.

With her hands now free, she grabbed the sandwich that had been waiting for her and took a hungry bite. Without looking back in Lee's direction, she said, "Next time...use more mayo."

"Duly Noted." Lee said with a satisfied smile. Her tree was starting to look wobbly

Looking down at the face of his future, he marveled at the wonderful gift of life that he now held. A gasp of awe escaped him as he saw smaller version of his own face, curiously looking up at him.

This was his son.

"Hey there, buddy. It's me, daddy!"

That stubborn tear fell when Malcolm gave him a gummy smile, like he was saying, "Nice to finally meet you dad."

_____________________________________________________

Lee walked out of the apartment building and towards the parking lot. Maybe it was an illusion created by the sky's orange hue due to the setting sun, but there was something different about him. He looked taller, like a man with a lot of weight lifted from his shoulders.

Wait a minute; was he whistling?

He doesn't look at all like a man who left his wife. Regina thought bitterly as she roughly swung open the car door to get out. Her slamming it made him turn just in time to see her storming over to him.

Yes, she was stalking him. It had been three months since their last phone call; five since he left. Radio silence was the worst way to live. At this point, even divorce papers would have been better than this.

Finding him pulling out of the shopping center more than two hours ago was purely coincidental. In fact, if it wasn't for the giant "Patriots" sticker on the back bumper of his truck, she wouldn't have even known it was him.

She almost caused an accident screeching into a sudden U turn.

She called his phone as she followed him from a couple cars back. As always, it went straight to voicemail. A surge of irrational anger almost caused her to hit the gas and speed up until she was right beside him.

Almost.

There was a small, curious nugget that wanted to see where he went. Until now, she had no idea where he was staying. She figured that he was crashing with his best friend, but Daryl had moved a year ago and she didn't know where his current residence was. Until recently, that bit of information was inconsequential.

"Easy girl. Hot heads get no answers." She thought to herself as her foot eased off the pedal.

She allowed a controllable distance to separate them as she tailed him. When he finally pulled into an empty parking space in a parking lot, a large fifteen-story apartment building stood in front of them.

Regina surveyed the building with piqued interest. It was underwhelming to say the least. The neighborhood wasn't the best, and the dilapidated building looked like the its maintenance office wasn't even pretending to care.

This couldn't be Daryl's. Daryl and Lee worked for the same company. Both made pretty good money. Furthermore, Daryl was a perpetual bachelor with no kids and no responsibilities. He drove a Corvette and his last place was a stylish condo.

A sudden, horrible thought made her heart drop. What if this was Lee's new apartment?

A string of questions followed, each one worse than its predecessor. Was he moving out for good? What did that mean for their marriage? Was she going to get a visit from some server with a thick, manila envelope?

Panic further flooded her when she saw him exit his car with a hand full of groceries, confirming her fears. "How could he?" she thought angrily as her breath was caught in her lungs.

When he reached the lobby door, however, he stopped at the intercom box and pressed the button. A wave of relief made her breath again. He waited until a voice blared from a speaker, saying something that Regina couldn't really make out. She was able to hear him reply saying, "It's me. Open up." Moments later, the door made an annoying sound signaling that it was unlocked.

She was now more confused than ever. This place wasn't his, nor Daryl's. Who was he here to see?

She noticed something that she missed before; something significant. Among Lee's groceries was a colorful box tucked under his arm. It caught her eye because it was a box that she knew well. When she was pregnant, she often perused the baby section at Walmart with hopeful tears in her eyes.

In his arm was a box of new-born diapers.

A gasp escaped her mouth as she thought, "Not her!" Her heart wouldn't even let the possibility be real. She actively denied that scenario. It was too horrific to be a part of this reality. It was like something plucked directly from the depths of her worst nightmares.