50. Olivia

Olivia

M y heart is about to burst out of my chest, with how fast it beats. While my eyes see the little boy who is the spitting image of Tyson playing on the rug with toys, my brain is yet to catch up with what is happening. He looks at me, his eyes like Tyson’s, full of recognition.

My soul and body, my entire being, recognize the little boy as mine.

“Mommy, you’re not in Heaven anymore?”

I crawl my way to him, not blinking, afraid that if I do so, he will disappear. My soul is telling me that the little boy is my son, but my brain keeps reminding me that Spencer is dead.

“Spencer,” someone wails. It is a moment later that I realize the sound came from me.

Spencer gets up from the rug, his little feet quickly taking him to me. I don’t dare touch him, still afraid that it is a trick of my mind. “Papaw and Mamaw said you and Daddy are coming tonight, but I didn’t believe them. Dead people live in another place. That’s what Papaw told me.” His little fingers press against my cheek. He is so warm. “Mommy, how was it in Heaven?”

I pull Spencer into my arms, my face burying into his neck. He smells like the day he was born. Tyson’s arms wrap around us, his shoulders shaking with emotions.

My son. In my arms. Alive. How?

One by one, Mose, Jasper, Ansel, and Rueben kneel around us, embracing Tyson, Spencer, and me.

I still don’t understand how Spencer can be alive, but I’ll worry about it later. Right now, all I want to do is cry and laugh at the same time. Life has never felt so perfect.

“It was lonely without you,” I finally reply to Spencer’s question.

“This is why you returned?” he innocently asks.

“Yes, because I love you so very much,” I whisper.

I try to stop the flow of my tears because it feels like I have been crying for a long time. The entire day has been too emotional. First, I began to realize that I might want the baby, and then Angel told me she was finally giving birth. Then after my nap, the guys told me they had a surprise for me, and they brought me to my grandparents’ house. I thought they were dead or worse, wanted nothing to do with me anymore. And lastly, I found out my son, my little Spencer, is not dead.

I need a few deep breaths to gain part of my composure and stop crying. I don’t want to scare Spencer. I’ll have time to cry later when I’m alone. Right now, I need to learn what happened.

“I am sure this is overwhelming for everyone, but please, have a seat,” Grandpa Jon says.

The guys help me stand. Tyson tries to take Spencer away from me, but I refuse to let go of him. What if this is a dream, and I wake up the moment Spencer is no longer in my arms?

I sit on the sofa with Spencer in my lap. My grandparents sit on either side of me and my men across from us. Spencer spends several minutes examining my face. He even turns my head around several times. Tyson’s eyes follow every movement Spencer makes. “You look younger in the photos Papaw and Mamaw showed me. Do dead people age?”

Rueben chuckles. “Some do. Have you ever seen a mummy?”

Spencer nods. “Once, on the TV. It gave me nightmares.” He hugs me tight. “You are not like a mummy,” he says, making everyone laugh, “you are pretty.”

I kiss his forehead. “You’re handsome as well.” I rub his back. “He speaks so well for his age,” I can’t help but comment to my grandparents.

Grandpa Jon ruffles Spencer’s short black hair. “He’s very smart.”

Spencer notices the necklace Tyson gave me. “A butterfly, like the one you have behind your ear.”

My brow furrows because I don’t remember having a tattoo or a birthmark behind my ear. Grandma Khloe, who is to my left, clears things for me. “It’s your hellstar mark. It represents love, hope, and rebirth.”

I remember the night in the rain when I made love to all my bondeds. I felt a tingle behind my left ear but I made nothing of it.

Who would have thought that my hellstar mark would represent hope and love when I lived without them for so long?

Grandpa Jon’s expression turns serious. “Spencer, go play with your toys and leave the adults to talk.”

My hold on Spencer tightens. I don’t want to ever let go of him.

“But I want to stay with Mommy and Daddy,” Spencer pouts before jumping down from my arms and running to Tyson, who cradles our son to his chest, his eyes shining with tears. My body already misses Spencer’s warmth. It takes all my self-control to not snatch him from Tyson. I don’t want to suffocate him even if I already crave to hold him again. “Can I, Daddy?”

Tyson is torn between not letting go of Spencer and not angering my grandfather.

“Spencer,” my grandfather says sternly.

“Yes, Papaw,” Spencer says and gets down from Tyson’s lap, who looks just as reluctant as me to let go of him.

“I promise we won’t leave,” Tyson says. “We just need to talk some things out that will for sure bore you.”

Spencer nods. He leaves, his shoulders slumped forward, dragging his feet after him. I feel like hugging him tight so he’s never out of my sight.

When he leaves the living room, I stand, wanting to go after him. I’m scared that he will disappear, that something will happen to him.

Grandpa Jon wraps his fingers around my wrist. I sit back next to him. “There’s a camera in his room. You can watch him while we talk,” he says and gives me his phone.

I watch Spencer entering his room and looking at photos on his dresser. Are those photos of Tyson and me? “He died in my arms. How is it possible that he’s alive?”

“Jason called us in the middle of the night and told us that you died in labor and that the baby was in critical condition in the NICU. We could take care of him or not. The only thing that he said was that you named the baby Spencer after he said the name of the hospital and then he hung up on us. We rushed to the hospital and we’ve been with Spencer since then,” Grandma Khloe says.

Spencer starts playing with his toys.

“We did investigate if what Jason said about you was true. Your father sent us a copy of your death certificate and even the obituary entry about your passing. It was a very emotional and stressful time for us. We almost lost Spencer in several instances. We tried to contact Tyson a few times, but he told us that you cheated on him and he wanted nothing to do with us anymore. He blocked us before we could tell him about Spencer,” Grandpa Jon explains. My gaze goes to Tyson who looks guilty as fuck. Apart from Camila, my grandparents were the only ones who knew about Tyson. I told them about him because I wanted to know if I was doing the right thing when I started going out with him. They not only supported us but were ready to help us get married. “The moment we saw Spencer, we knew he was Tyson’s son. But when he refused to talk to us, we thought that he wanted to have nothing to do with the child so we hired a lawyer and adopted him. We never told your parents anything about Spencer since we knew they would try to harm him because of his father. After we erased any trace that might lead to us, we took Spencer and moved here.”

I’m so relieved that my grandparents took care of Spencer but I don’t understand why Jason called them. He always said that Spencer is dead and it’s all my fault.

“Tyson came here earlier and mentioned what happened to you, but why would your father and brother do that to you?” Grandma Khloe asks.

I glare at Tyson. “It wasn’t your place to say anything.” I never wanted them to know what my father and brother put me through. They would for sure blame themselves for what was done to me.

“I know, but I wanted them to understand that you were yet another victim of your father.” Tyson’s gaze goes to my grandfather. “And Azael.” After a moment of silence, he adds, “We need to talk in private.”

Grandpa Jon stands. “My office is this way,” he says and leads Tyson out of the living room.

Grandma Khloe takes my hand into hers. “Introduce me to these fine men.”

At least she’s not asking about what was done to me.

I go to Jasper and sit on his lap. He seems slightly embarrassed, especially when I kiss him. “This is Jasper. He loved me when everyone around me hated me. If not for him, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Jasper wraps his arms around me. “Little Love,” he murmurs before pressing his lips to my cheek.

“He is also screwing Tyson,” I add before moving to Ansel. Jasper looks mortified especially when Grandma Khloe laughs. “My grandparents won’t mind. They were swingers even before many knew what that meant.”

My men look at me because they don’t understand how I can speak like this around my grandmother, but truth be told, I always could talk about anything with my grandparents. In a way, they felt more like my parents than my father and mother.

“We still are,” Grandma Khloe says and winks at me.

I turn my attention to Ansel. “I don’t know if you remember Ansel. He is…special.”

“More special than Tyson?” my grandmother inquires.

“In a different way. He…” For a moment, I struggle to find the right words, “was ready to die for me. He almost lost two of his wings for me.”

Grandma Khloe frowns. “Two of his wings? How many does he have?”

Ansel tries to shush me, but I reply anyway. “Four.” I go to Rueben. My left arm comes around his shoulders and my right palm rests on his chest. “This is Rueben.” I chew my bottom lip. “I owe him my life for killing his sister.”

Rueben runs his knuckles against my cheek. “You know that I no longer blame you for what happened that night. It was an accident. Besides, she took something that didn’t belong to her, and…shit happened. If someone’s to blame, that would be me.”

I kiss him. “We should stop blaming ourselves for things that we can’t change.” Lastly, I move to Mose. “This is Mose. He also knocked me up recently.”

“That was my demon,” Mose tries to defend himself.

It takes a moment for Grandma Khloe to realize what I said. “You are pregnant?”

I nod. My grandma starts to scream, “Jon! Jon! Come here right now!”

My men look like teens caught in my room at night.

Grandpa Jon takes a few moments to return to the living room. “What’s happening?”

I press my lips together because I know what’s going to happen next.

“Olivia is pregnant,” Grandma Khloe huffs, but I can see how happy she is. I get up from Mose’s lap.

Grandpa Jon narrows his eyes. “Which of you troublemakers is the father?” Behind him, Tyson smiles. He knows the games my grandparents are playing. “Well?”

Mose mumbles something. Grandpa Jon yanks Mose to his feet. “Welcome to the family, son,” he says before hugging him. “All of you. While I’m not happy about how you treated my granddaughter, I am willing to give you a chance. But only if she loves you.”

A wide smile spreads across my face. “I love all of them with all my heart.”

“Olivia,” Rueben murmurs and pulls me back into his lap.

I should have waited for a more intimate moment to tell them how I feel, but this is as good of a moment as any other.

Half an hour later, we are sitting at the table, eating while we listen to my grandparents telling stories about Spencer while they show us photos of him they took over the years.

My gaze falls on a photo of Spencer and a young man. I pass it around to Tyson. Spencer, who is next to Tyson, sees it. Pointing at the photo, he says, “This is Asa. I met him a few weeks ago. He’s very nice.”

Ansel’s fork falls to the ground. “Can I see the photo?” Tyson gives it to Ansel who turns pale. “Shit. Shit. Shit. We need to get out of here.”

“What’s going on?”

“Ophyr knows about Spencer.”