36. Travis

It smellsincredible in the house; Mom and Aunt Lizzie are making sure we miss their cooking when they leave. Walking into the sitting room to join everyone, I look at the kitchen, and Mom and Aunt Lizzie laugh. I watch her for a moment. I never thought I would ever see this moment.

“Travis, Travis-” Poppy shouts, and I smile, turning to face her and kneeling to her. “Are you okay? Are you upset?”

Picking her up, she wraps her arms around my neck. “No, happy. So what have you been up to?” I glance over at Bea, sitting curled up tight as she can on the corner of the couch, away from everyone.

“School, and Logan has stopped skating, too,” she shouts, looking at Logan, who’s laughing. “He is being mean.”

“I’m sure he has a reason. Logan wouldn’t upset you.”

“I do, the teacher was pissing me off, and I’ve already got a new one to interview, so stop moaning to your boyfriend,” Logan tells her, not looking over at us, he’s watching the TV, but the group is all laughing.

“It was interesting to know this little girl is your girlfriend.” I turn to my mom, smiling at Poppy. “She’s cute; I’ve heard a lot about you from her.” Mom moves some of Poppy’s hair out of her face.

“About how amazing I am, I hope,” I turn to Poppy, shouting yes, and I see how she supports me when playing hockey. “See, she loves me-”

“Someone has to,” Blake shouts, and I tell him to fuck off.

“Language,” Mom snaps, and this time, I laugh because it’s a tone I’ve wished for. Putting Poppy down, I step closer to Mom.

“Sorry, Mom.” She kisses my cheek and wraps her arms around me. “You have no idea how much this hug means, Mom.” Now, I do feel the tears escape my eyes as I tighten my grip around her.

“It means everything to me too, Travis.” Mom kisses my cheek, and I pull away from her. But he holds me closer and stares at me. “Lizzie told me about Tessa-”

“Mom, can we just have a family meal tonight? At least let’s have a few days before…food smells amazing.” I smile. I know I have to talk about Tessa, but tonight isn’t the time to talk.

I go to move over to Bea, but she quickly stands up, wraps her arms around her waist, and moves quickly over to me, when there is a knock at the door.

“It’s not him,” I whisper to her. “Remember the phone call on the way back home?” She nods, trying to breathe, but it’s becoming difficult. “Bea, he won’t touch you. I promise.” Pulling her in, she wraps her arms tight around me. “I got you.” Kissing the top of my head, I look over at Blake and Logan, shaking my head a little and letting them know not to talk about my dad or make stupid jokes right now.

“Micheal,” I hear the happiness in her voice. “What are you doing here?”

I turn around, pulling Bea closer to me. “I invited him.” Everyone leaves the room except Michael and Mom. I keep Bea close to me. She needs to know she is a part of my life and everything in it, too. “Mom, come sit down.” I pull Bea to sit and wait for Michael and Mom to join me.

“Travis, you fed up with me already?”

“No!” I shouted, which I didn’t mean to, but Mom’s question threw me off. “I’ve finally got you, not letting you leave ever again. “Mom, you seem like you’re in a good place now, but-”

“I’m crazy.” Mom cuts me off, and I start laughing.

“You’re not crazy, just drugged up because of an asshole who will pay.” I turn to Micheal before continuing. “It’s stupid, but I dreamed of this, but…” I have no idea what words to say where I don’t sound like a fucking child.

“I think what Travis is trying to say is he had almost twenty years without his mom, and not just you, but for him, this is going to be a long road. You both have so much to catch up on, but with all the medicine you’ve been on, you will be very up and down until we get you back to normal.” Micheal stops and looks over at me to see if this is what I want to say, and I give him a nod because it is what I want to say without hurting her feelings. I’ve always wanted my mom to save me from him, stop him beating me up, stop him hurting us, but she was never there. Which was never her fault, but now I don’t know how to tell her everything without her blaming me. She blamed me for Tess’ death when I told her, so I have no idea how she will react to everything else.

“So Travis thought, having me around a few days in the week to help you through, not just his, but your new life. This is a big moment for you both-”

“Travis, I’m so happy you invited Micheal for dinner. You know he used to play Scrabble with me. Can we play?” she asks him, and I lean back onto the couch.

“Cara, did you listen to anything I just said?” Micheal asks her, and I close my eyes, knowing the meds have fucked her head up enough, and with all the information she’s been getting, it’s messing her head up even more.

“Yes, I have my son back. Everything I want is sitting right in front of me. I made dinner with my friend; you have to meet her,” Mom tells him. I open my eyes and see her pulling him to stand to take him into the kitchen to show him. She’s not even told me what she’s made yet.

I feel Bea’s hand rubbing my thigh. “Give her more than a day; you’ll be begging her to leave you alone next week.” I hear the humor in her tone, and I turn to face her as I sit up, kissing her.

“Or her asking us when we’re getting married or giving her grandkids.” I joke with her because that’s not been happening for a while.

“Lover boy, we’re hungry. You want to join us so we can eat?” Blake shouts, making Bea and I both laugh, telling him to fuck off.

“Let’s eat.” I get up, pulling Bea with me, and I think we are about to sit at the dining table since we got this place. Even on Thanksgiving, we sit in front of the TV watching football. But tonight, the table looks fantastic, and my mom is smiling ear to ear. “This looks amazing.” I pull out a chair for Bea, and my mom sits on my other side.

“Are you planning on coming to practice tomorrow?” Logan asks.

“What do you play sweetheart?” Mom asks.

“Hockey, the three of us do.”

“Lizzie told me you three have been keeping her on her toes. And someone has a sweet tooth,” she raises her eyebrows at me, making me laugh. “I will have to make you my brownies-”

“Your brownies, which are the ones I make. I stole your recipe when you weren’t looking once I was at your house-”

“You stole it?” my mom snaps, and the three of us don’t stop smiling as we watch them.

“Yes, you told me and Maddie it was your secret, so we both planned to steal it. And we did, and those brownies were made every weekend. These three boys would finish them in record time, and Travis always found the one I hid.” Aunt Lizzie looks at me, shaking her head.

“You hid them in front of me, Aunt Lizzie. How was I meant not to eat them?” I ask, and the guys both burst out laughing.

“And the three sugars in your coffee?” Bea adds to the conversation, and I turn to my mom, laughing, too.

“You are my son; I have three in mine, too.”

Is this our life now, our moms laughing and joking, what we always wanted? I know it will take my mom time, but everyone around this table will help her, and they will help me, too. This is my family, and I can’t wait to see where it takes us.

“How is your girl?” Coach asks me. I look out the door and see Bea sitting on the bench. She hasn’t stopped looking around, even though Blake and Logan are just outside the main door, so I know nothing will happen to her.

“Nervous, but better. I’ve got her.” Turning back to Coach. “I know things between us haven’t been going well, and I’ve missed weeks of practice. And I’m willing to do anything to get back-”

“Travis, I never kicked you off the team. I wanted you to be at practice to get out of the hospital. How many laps shall I give you?” I laugh, but I’m not sure if he’s joking. “I think ten would be a good warm-up.”

“Coach-”

“Warm up can be fifteen-”

“No, no, no. Ten is a good number.” I quickly get up and leave his office before he changes his mind. Ten is already going to kill me, and I have a feeling he will add to that once I finish.

“So?” Bea asks.

“Ten laps to start with. I’ll be sleeping like a baby tonight.” Bea wraps her arms around my waist.

“Amazing, I get to watch you warm up again. It’s a sexy sight.” Walking out to the rink, I look at Blake and Logan, who skate over to us. “Before you even say it, I know they are watching me while you get changed, and I’m not to leave August and Meadow.” I look over at August, and Meadow looks at us.

“Quinn will be here briefly, but don’t leave the rink.” I kiss her and quickly get changed to start my laps before the coach adds more to my already high number.

Today is the day I’m going to help Bea get back to what she loves: swimming. I know it’s not been long, but I don’t want her to keep putting it off. The longer she does, the harder it becomes for her. I won’t let him take this from her; he has taken enough.

Staking out onto the ice, I go over to Blake and Logan and look at the girls, laughing, yet Bea is looking around.

“Every time you’re not with her, she’s going to be looking over her shoulder, even knowing we haven’t taken our eyes off her,” Blake tells me. Bea finally looks at me, and I smile, which she returns.

“Do you blame her? Our fucked up dads did kill her.” I hear Logan, and he has a point. She’s scared they can do it all again, but I’m going to kill him before he can even think about it.

“Travis laps!” the Coach shouts, making the rest of the team laugh. I shake my head and get skating. The coach has started me on ten, but I know there will be more. I’m not doing any practice today; laps only.

I look over at the door, and when I hear it slam open, I see Quin walking through. He looks up at Bea, Hitting the wall with my stick. I begin skating backward. If this is all I’m doing, I might as well make it a little fun for myself.

“Are you still going with Bea?” Blake asks as I slam my locker shut. Thirty fucking laps, my legs had nothing left in them, but I’m still going.

“Yeah. My legs are fucked, hope she will stop me from drowning.” I joke, grabbing my bag, and we walk out to the cars. “You guys home?” I ask.

“Yeah, Meadow is taking Poppy to skating, and I’m not in the mood for that. August has dinner with her dad, so the two of us are watching the game-” Logan stops talking when Blake talks.

“You might need to help your, girl.” Blake nods his head towards Bea, who’s standing behind August and Meadow. I can’t see who they are protecting her from, but that doesn’t stop me from running towards her.

“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” August shouts at Bea’s dad, then pushes him away. She’s Blake’s girl, alright, learning from him.

The three of us pull the girls behind us. My girl is so scared she can’t even tell her dad to fuck off. I want my girl to fight again, but I’m not sure she will return for a while yet.

“Why are you here?” I ask him, and I feel Bea holding my hand tight.

“I wanted to see if you would-”

“You talk to me, not her.” I cut him off so he knows to look at me.

“I wanted to give her this-” he puts out his hand with a cheque, which I slap out of his hand. “Please.”

“How much did my dad give you to walk away? Bea knows, he made a comment that made me think about it. So how much?” I ask him.

I should have looked into it initially; it was more about her dad. But then again, why would I? I didn’t look into Bea, so her dad wasn’t on my radar.

“Was all this money his?” He nods, and her hand tightens around mine. “You think she will touch the money from the man who tried to rape her, raped her mom-” I stop talking because I have to laugh. The bastard doesn’t even know what his wife and daughter went through. “Why the fuck do you think he wanted you to get out of the house, and for some money, you did. You come anywhere close to her again, and I’ll put you six feet under the ground before your time is up.” I go to take a step away but stop when Bea doesn’t follow, and she stares at her dad for a moment.

“Remove me from your contact list, and when you die, tell them not to call me. You’re already dead to me.” Bea lets go of my hand and punches him in the face, which makes me smile. There is my girl getting some of her fight back.

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pull her closer as we return to the car. “Are you going home?” I ask Quinn, who’s watching Bea like a hawk. She has more people watching her than ever; she’s one of us now; this is her family.

“I have a date.”

“How many are you dating?” Bea asks him, and I hear Blake laughing behind us. Those were the questions we used to ask each other only a few years ago. “You’re becoming a whore.”

“Well, one of us has to continue; now you’re all Miss One Man Woman.” Quinn pushes her a little, and she goes to push him back but doesn’t get close to him as he moves out of the way.

“I’ll hear all about it in the morning.” Bea stops when he gets to his car. Quinn looks over at me, and I give him a nod, letting him know I will protect her in the water. After giving them a moment, I walk over to the guys, who are laughing about something on Logan’s phone.

“You look tired,” Meadow looks at me.

“You try doing that many laps and look refreshed.” I bite back, and Blake and Logan start laughing. I know they’re laughing at me because I’m tired, and all I want is my bed, but first, I need my girl to be happy again.

“Ready to go?” Bea asks, wrapping her arms around me.

“We’re staying,” I say, throwing my stuff in the truck and grabbing another bag. Telling the guys I’ll see them later tonight, I take Bea”s hand and walk towards the swimming pool.

“Travis-” Bea pulls my arm to stop me from walking closer, but I continue to walk. “Travis, I don’t-”

Finally stopping, I turn to face her. “Do you trust me?” I ask her.

“Yes, you know I do.” Bea looks over at the building while answering. “I just don’t think… I’m ready.”

“And you’ll never know until you don’t get in.” We start walking again and get to the changing rooms, knowing no one will be there. I spoke to the swimming coach yesterday, asking if I could use the pool one of the days to help Bea get back on the team. She agreed so fast, wanting to get Bea back on the team. She told me that the pool is empty, and I can bring Bea every week, and that’s my plan.

“I’m more than happy to undress you; one way or the other, we are getting out there.” Taking my t-shirt off, I get changed into my trunks. Even though it’s empty, I don’t know if the coach might be around to see how she is doing, so naked is not a good idea,

I sit on the bench waiting for Bea to get changed while she takes her time. The only good thing is that she isn’t shaking.

“Travis…this is—” she stops and takes a deep breath in. “It won’t. Can we take it slow?”

“As slow as you want, Firecracker.” Standing up, I take her hand, pulling her closer to me. “I’m right here, not leaving.” Walking out to the pool, I sit on the side, putting my legs into the water, and I look up at Bea, staring into the water. “Sit down, that’s all.”

Bea takes a few deep breaths before sitting down, keeping her legs out of the water. I had a plan before I came here, but now it’s going to have to change because I’m not sure how to go about it.

I get in the pool and turn around to face Bea, my hands on her leg, which are crossed over. She can’t even get her legs into the water. “Bea, one step at a time. It’s me and you; no one else is here.” She looks around to ensure I’m telling her the truth, but I don’t think it’s because she thinks I’m lying, more because she’s been doing it since she left the hospital.

Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath, my hands on her legs as they slowly move into the water. She opens her eyes, and a small smile appears on her lips. “I’ve missed the water.” She whispers to herself as she softly moves her legs in the water.

“Bea, talk to me.” She looks at the water moving around as she kicks her legs. Bea doesn’t look at me, but her eyes are starting to fill with water.

“He… he’s taken everything…from me.” Her words break as they escape her, and her body begins to shake again.

The bastard is not taking this from her. I won’t let him, and she needs to know that, too. Cupping her face to look at me, wiping the tears away from her cheeks.

“Don’t let him take this from you; you have the power to fight this. My girl is a fighter, and he won’t win. Because you won’t let him, I won’t let him win.” I pull her slowly towards the end of the part she’s sitting on, wrapping her legs around my waist. “All I can promise is I will protect you from everything I can and always be there for you no matter what. But please don’t let him win this fight.” Pulling her closer, her hands wrapped around my neck, and they are tightly placed there.

“Will you always be there?” I pull her off the side and put her into the water. Her body is trembling so much that she needs to breathe. “Don’t…drop me.”

“You need to breathe, Firecracker. I”m never going to drop you.” I move into the water more, rubbing her back to soothe her. We will take it slow, however long it takes. One day at a time.” She leans her head on mine, taking a deep breath in and out, following me. “Slow and steady, we got this.”

“With you by my side,” she whispers against my lips, planting a small kiss.

I know it’s not going to just take her one time in the water to return to her normal swimming routine, but I’ll be with her every day until she is ready. Moving around the water, Bea is tight against my body, but her body has finally stopped shaking, which means she’s starting to relax.

“Remember, one day at a time,” I tell her, she nods.

I know she will be back in the water in no time. My girl is a fighter, and no one will win against us.