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Chapter 38
Jesse sat in a yard chair, her feet curled under her, as she watched Richie playing ball with Stevie. It was fun to watch them – father and son playing ball – only, Richie wasn’t Stevie’s father. Stevie was a natural and Richie pushed him to do better. The bond was there; it had been there ever since Richie had walked into their lives.
A strange car pulled in the driveway as Stevie ran to get a ball that had gone by him and he stopped in his tracks. “Mama, who’s that?”
Jesse looked around. “I don’t….” she stopped as the driver became clear to her.
Richie saw at the same time. “Stevie, go inside,” he instructed, his tone not leaving any room for debate. Stevie obeyed immediately and Richie moved to Jesse as she stood. “Jess?”
“I see.”
As Kevin parked and stepped out of the car, Richie put his arm around Jesse protectively. Softly, he said, “Glad I decided to surprise you.”
“Me too,” she answered putting her arm around his waist. Then, “Hey, Kevin.”
“Hey, Jesse….Richie.”
“What are you doing here?” Jesse hadn’t meant for her tone to be so demanding but he had thrown her off-guard showing up without a word.
“I came to see Stevie and go to his opening ceremonies. I also wanted to talk to you.”
“Opening ceremonies are tomorrow,” stated Richie.
“I wanted to spend some time with him getting to know him. Pictures don’t afford that luxury.”
Jesse felt like she couldn’t breathe as Richie said, “I take it you aren’t giving up your rights.”
“No, I’m not. He’s my son and as you pointed out, I should take more responsibility for him outside of the financial aspect.”
An awkward silence fell and Jesse looked at her feet. Her ‘picture’ of the family she desperately wanted had been shattered. She felt hot tears brimming over and she turned into Richie’s chest.
Richie wrapped his other arm around her holding her close and feeling her tears through his T-shirt.
Kevin looked away, a sudden rush of anger filling every inch of his soul. Looking back at Jesse, he growled, “Why the hell did you offer me joint custody if THIS was how you were going to react?”
Jesse turned to him and hissed. “BACK OFF! You haven’t been around for five damned years. It’s going to take time to get accustomed to you being a part of his life. Not to mention, you could have CALLED instead of just showing up!”
“Why? So you could have Sambora here whisk you away so I couldn’t find you or Stevie?”
“NO!”
A small voice interrupted the argument. “Mama, Uncle Tony wants to know if you and Daddy want a beer.”
Richie let go of Jesse to pick Stevie up. “Come on, let’s go back and get drinks for everyone. Kevin, a beer?”
“Yeah, sure,” he answered indifferently, his eyes fixed on his son in another man’s arms.
“Richie, I just want a Mt. Dew.”
As soon as Richie and Stevie were gone, Kevin turned his blazing green eyes back on Jesse. “He’s already calling him ‘Daddy’. What have you told him about me?”
“I could have told him what an ass you are but your little ‘agreement’ to keep my mouth shut wouldn’t allow me to tell him ANYTHING until he was eighteen,” countered Jesse with the same fury. Seeing that her words had the desired effect on Kevin, she toned her voice down and said, “Relax, he knows Richie isn’t his real father but he was desperate for a father and Richie didn’t mind. And for the record, Richie was concerned about Stevie calling him ‘daddy’ as well now that you are in the picture.”
Kevin hung his head, kicking the dirt as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t mean for it to be like this, Jesse…the arguing.”
“What DID you mean for it to be like….me running into your arms, grateful for whatever morsel you give me….to be the ‘other’ woman….for us to be your other family on the East coast?” she asked.
“I didn’t expect your anger, that’s for damned sure,” snapped Kevin.
“We won’t get into the last five years but I told you last Saturday and I haven’t heard the FIRST word from you since then. Of course I’m angry. Then, you just show up….unannounced?! I could have at least had time to prepare Stevie for what was about to happen.”
Richie returned carrying the drinks and handed Kevin his beer first, then Jesse her soda. “Let’s sit down.”
“Where’s Stevie?” asked Kevin.
“He’s with my bodyguard.”
The threesome moved to the lawn chairs beside the house. It was an awkward silence at first with Richie hovering over Jesse, being extremely protective of her.
“Jess, I talked to Kris about this and we’d like to have joint custody with him attending school in California.”
Richie spoke up feeling Jesse’s body tense. “Are you going to pull him out now?”
“No, he can finish the year here.”
“That means he’ll be with you the majority of the time,” pointed out Jesse, her voice cracking with emotion.
“It’ll allow you to be with Richie,” offered Kevin.
“He’s NEVER been around you or Kristen. I’m all he’s known for five years, ever since he was born. It’s going to scare him.”
“That’s part of why I’m here now, to get to know him. We can take the summer to ease him into it and Kristen is going to come with me for his pre-school graduation in June. He’ll meet us on his grounds.”
Jesse looked to Richie who said softly, “Baby, it’s a good plan and we can go out to Malibu during my next break.” He brushed her hair back as he spoke. “We’ll all ease him into this and he’ll be fine.”
“Why change schools?” asked Jesse.
“You said he was being teased and now everyone thinks Richie is his father.”
Richie looked at Jesse and knew she was in turmoil. He needed to talk to her to make her see this was the right way to go if he couldn’t adopt Stevie himself. He turned to the house, the window of the family room behind them, and nodded as he said, “Kevin, Jesse and I are going to talk about all this.”
“Okay,” he said hesitantly.
A minute later, Stevie appeared and moved to his mother and Richie. Politely, he said, “Hello.”
“Stevie, this is Kevin Richardson,” introduced Richie. “He’s an old friend of your mother’s.”
“I’ve seen a picture of you on Mama’s desk. Aren’t you a Backstreet Boy?”
“I use to be,” acknowledged Kevin. “Until I decided to start my own family.”
“Do you have a son?”
“Yes, I do. His name is Mason.”
“Does he play baseball?”
“Not yet. He’s a couple years younger than you.”
“Stevie, why don’t you play some ball with Kevin?” suggested Jesse. “He use to be pretty good when he was younger.”
Stevie’s eyes grew big. “You use to play baseball?”
“Sure did. I was a catcher and my cousin Brian was a pitcher. Got an extra glove?”
“There are a couple in the shed with the other baseball equipment,” offered Jesse.
“Thanks.”
Looking down at her son, she said, “Go easy on, Kevin. He tends to be a little slow at times, like Eeyore.”
“Okay, Mama.”
Kevin stuck his tongue out at her and she reciprocated. Putting his hand on Stevie’s head, he led him over to where Stevie had been playing with Richie when he’d arrived.
Richie took Jesse’s hand and pulled her up with him and headed towards the front porch to be out of earshot of Kevin and Stevie. They sat on the steps, Richie on a top one and Jesse below him between his legs. He put his arms around her from behind and as she leaned back against him, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Jesse, Kevin’s obviously thought this through to make sure it’s the right thing for Stevie. It’s a good plan. What’s holding you back?”
Jesse looked down, tears immediate, falling on Richie’s hands, as she remained silent.
Richie waited, then said, “You gave him two choices, Jesse. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I know I did. I just wasn’t expecting him to choose to be a part of his life…I expected Kristen…..”
Richie hugged her. “You were hoping I’d be able to adopt Stevie, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“It’s okay, Jess. With Kevin in Stevie’s life, you’ll be free to have a life and not feel guilty about leaving Stevie behind or worry about his education.”
Jesse was silent, thinking about what she had to tell her son. “Will you help me tell him?”
“Of course. Why don’t we take him out to eat?”
“He’s going to want to eat at McDonald’s.”
“That’s fine but he’s got practice first.”
“Let Tony take him and we’ll pick him up for dinner. That will give us time to talk to Kevin and work out the details.”
Jesse sighed, “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
“Me too, baby. Do you know where Kevin is staying?”
“No clue. We didn’t get to that.”
“Come on, let’s go watch them play.”
Arm in arm, the couple walked back to watch Kevin and Stevie playing ball until it was time for Stevie to go to practice.
