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“Yes. Sorry Rodney, but that’s not the worst part. She mentioned something about the people paying her money for the child. She said that you were her money ticket when you were married and that now she’s going to get money for the child since you can’t support her anymore.”
“Wow.” Rodney’s eyes opened wide, and I could see his thoughts swirling as that news blew him away.
“I know. I felt the same way when she told me.”
“I have to find out what I can do to stop this legally. I can’t let her do that to my child.” Rodney sprang to his feet and started pacing in front of the sofa.
“You have to get a lawyer,” I said.
“Why did I ever cheat on you and sleep with that girl?” he asked then stopped pacing and covered his mouth as if he’d slipped up and said that.
“No, it’s okay. I’m over it now, but you could have chosen someone better to cheat with. Melody was a heartless little bitch then, and she is heartless now. The way she talks about the child, I don’t think she needs to keep it even if there is no adoption. And I must admit, for a while, I wondered if you would be any better than her. When you were with her, your worst qualities showed when it came to caring for our children. She brought out the worst in you,” I stated.
“Sad thing is, some of those memories have come back to me and brought me to my knees. When I have a flashback of Eva crying in her room and me not even asking her what’s wrong but instead making her clean the house, I get sad at how little I cared about her feelings. If going through this whole brain injury situation has taught me anything, it’s taught me who really cares about me and how to be better to the ones that matter,” Rodney said.
“I cared about you a lot when I was your
wife, and now I care about our children and their wellbeing, which means you have to be a good man to be there for them.”
“You’re right, Tameka.”
“So fight for your other child. Show all three of your kids that you’re there for them and raise them as family,” I said.
“I will do that. Thanks for letting me know what was going on because Melody has been avoiding talking to me. It seems she’s told you more about what’s going on than she’s told me.”
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have gotten involved, but it devastated me when she came up to me talking about giving away your child. It was the oddest feeling to be defending a child my ex-husband had with his mistress, but that child is my children’s blood brother or sister, no matter how I feel about it.”
“You know me better than I know myself right now, Tameka, so you should have known this isn't something I would do. I've done a lot of things that were wrong, but I'm working on myself, and I hope you can see that.”
“I do see it, and I commend you.”
Rodney cracked a small smile and stood up. He walked over to stand in front of me and reached out and grabbed my hand, guiding me up out of my seat. He embraced me, but this time the embrace wasn’t an attempt at him being romantic. It was an embrace of friendship and understanding, and I accepted it. It was hard to put my guard down around Rodney, but I tried to in that moment.
“Thank you for being a great mother, Tameka.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, smiling back at him.
“And…for being a great wife,” he added. “Even though I blew it when I had you, I think you deserve to know that you were great to me. You did everything right; I just didn’t meet you halfway.”
Rodney’s innocent stare gradually morphed into an intimate glare, and he hugged me again, tighter, leaning so that his face pressed against the crook of my neck as his breathing intensified. He always had to blur the line.
“Rodney…” I said, leaning away from him.
“I’m sorry for messing up our marriage, Tameka,” he said as he took a deep breath and dipped down as if he were going to kiss me on the mouth.
I pushed back from him and yelled, “Kevin , Eva! Come on down. Your father is here!”
“I crossed the line again… I didn’t mean to…it’s just—” he started explaining.
“Rodney, that door has closed a long time ago for us. I just wanted to let you know what Melody was up to, and you can handle it accordingly.”
“I still owe you an apology.”
“Accepted.”
“Dad!” Kevin and Eva rushed into the room both with the same giddy enthusiasm over seeing their father.
Rodney hugged them, and we all talked for a while. After Rodney and the kids left, I decided to take a quick shower and get dressed. I was already late meeting Kemara, Alise and Jayne for lunch so I headed to the car, deciding to call Jeb as I pulled out of the driveway.
