A MISUNDERSTANDING
Chapter Thirteen
Complications
Rose forced herself to look at
the two shocked men staring at her. There were so many more things that she
wanted to say, so many more feelings that she wanted them to understand . . .
but her mouth refused to open again.
Jack was in complete shock. Each
word she said had flowed to him slowly, and then sunk in to leave a deep
impression in his mind. In his wildest dreams, he could never have foretold
that this was what the day would progress to. Suddenly, he jumped up from his
seat. "I need to see him!"
"What? Who?" Rose had
definitely not been expecting this reaction.
"Who? Who? Jacob! I need to
see Jacob! Oh, I knew...I knew...I should have pieced it together sooner. I
need to see him! I need to see my son!"
At the words my son, something in
Cal snapped. He had listened to the story with intense concentration, and this
was too much. How had his life fallen apart so quickly? How had heaven melted
into hell so fast? "Not on your life! Get out of my house!" No sooner
had he said this than he flung himself at Jack, hands outstretched towards his
neck.
"Cal, no!" Blindly,
Rose jumped between the two men, using all her strength to keep Cal away. He
was so intent on Jack that he hardly seemed to notice that Rose was blocking
his way. She put her hands on his shoulders and made him look at her.
"What is the matter with you?" she implored. "You knew Jacob was
Jack's son. You always have."
"That's when I thought Jack
was dead. Do you realize what complications will arise now? It will be the ruin
of everyone's lives if Jack enters those children's lives."
Everyone was silent. The words
had slipped out of Cal's mouth, so even he was pondering the meaning. After
what seemed like hours, Jack held up his hands, signifying surrender, as all
the energy left his body. "Okay. I'll leave. I want what's best for them,
and I will never put my needs before theirs. We all know that you will make
wonderful parents for them. I won't complicate matters."
Rose couldn't believe what she
was hearing. This wasn't how she wanted things to be at all. How long had she
been trying to make her life perfect? Why hadn't she known that all she was
doing was screwing it up beyond repair?
Cal was also surprised by Jack's
words. It caught him completely off guard to be in the presence of someone so
selfless as to agree never to see his own children again if it meant they
wouldn't have a silly complication in their lives. As had been his habit
lately, the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. "No.
I'm wrong. I could never be half the father you are. Go. Go to the nursery and
hold Jacob in your arms. I'm sorry to have put these doubts in your mind. But
just hold him. I guarantee you'll never be able to let go."
Oh, how Jack wanted to do as Cal
told him. But he had doubts. He looked to Rose for reassurance. "Jack,
take it from someone who has made many mistakes in her life. Go to Jacob. Make
this day count, or you'll regret it forever."
That was all he needed. Sixty
seconds later, he was holding the sleeping toddler in his arms. In his sleep,
Jacob clung to Jack and a smile came to his sweet face.