31. Peyton

PEYTON

A lex peeked her head in Peyton's door. "Safe to come in?"

"God, yes. I'm starving."

"Good. I was afraid Mad might've ruined your appetite."

"Not a chance." Peyton looked behind Alex. "Where are my boys?"

"Right here." Finn walked under Alex's arm and over to the bed. Jamison followed and sat on the other side of her.

"When will the baby come out of your tummy?" Finn rested his hand on her stomach.

"Sometime in December. Maybe she'll be a Christmas baby."

"Really? That would kind of suck," said Jamison.

"Why, Jamie?" Peyton asked.

"Cuz then she'd only get presents once a year."

"But she'd get twice as many presents, right, Mom?"

Peyton pulled Finn closer to her. "That's right. We'll make sure she never forgets how special she is to us."

"We could give her presents every day."

"That's stupid," Jamison said to his brother.

Alex held her hand out to him.

"What?"

"Stupid. That's a bad word. Hand over some of that money, cowboy."

"Stupid isn't a bad word. Right, Mom?"

"If Alex says it is, it is. Pay up, buddy." Peyton looked over at her friend. "See what a good mom you're going to be?"

Peyton didn't like the look that flashed across Alex's face. She'd try to remember to ask her about it once her parents took the boys home.

Peyton shifted in the small hospital bed and knocked over the pitcher of water on the bed tray. The icy cold water hit her legs, and she shrieked.

"Here." Maddox came out of the bathroom holding a bunch of towels. He tossed two at her while he stopped the flow of cold water dripping onto her from the edge of the tray.

"Maddox? What are you doing here?" she asked once they had the watery mess cleaned up.

"I came down to talk, but you were asleep, so I've been sitting here, watching you." He smiled, but was obviously embarrassed.

"Alex calls Naughton the dark and broody Scottish guy."

"Yeah? Does she call me the creeper?"

"She hasn't, but after I tell her this story, she'll probably start."

Maddox laughed. "I like you, Peyton. Not very many people can hold their own against Alex Avila, but I bet you give her as much shit as she gives you."

"We've been friends a long time."

"She's not one for hanging out with people she doesn't like."

"I'd ask about your relationship with her, but I doubt that's why you were watching me sleep."

"You're right. That wasn't the reason," Maddox said.

"What can I do for you?"

"They moved Brodie out of the ICU and into a regular room late yesterday afternoon. It looks like they're going to be able to save his toes."

"Frostbite?" she asked.

"Yeah. Listen, I promised myself I wouldn't do this, but here I am anyway."

"You sure you want to make a pregnant woman angry again?" Peyton said to Maddox.

"The thing I said a couple of days ago, about Brodie regretting what had happened between you two. That's the part that bothers you, isn't it?"

"How would you feel if I told you Alex regretted her time with you? Come on, this is obvious."

"What if she didn't regret our time together? What if she regretted how she handled something? That would be different."

"Of course it would be. However, if Brodie regrets how he handled leaving, that wouldn't be different at all. At least not how I'd feel about it."

When the nurse came in to see if Peyton needed anything, she asked for more ice water and a wheelchair.

"Where to?" Maddox asked when the nurse set the water on the bedside table and left the wheelchair near the door to her room.

"You don't have to push me. I can get around on my own."

"Yes, Peyton, I'm aware of that. Where to?" Maddox asked.

She huffed. "You're so much like your brother."

"Thank you."

She looked up at him. "Aren't you going to ask which one?"

"Nah. I like all of them."

Peyton smiled. "You're sweet."

"Shh. Don't let that get out."

"I want to go look at the babies. What if that gets out?" she asked.

"Damn, even worse."

Maddox pushed her over to the nursery window and grabbed a chair out of one of the nearby rooms.

"Do they let you hold them?" he asked.

"No. I think they look for volunteers in the NICU, but you have to go through a bunch of training to hold the preemies."

"I'm lost, but before you offer to explain, I'm good not knowing. ‘No' was enough of an answer for me."

"The nurse told me you were down the hall, looking at the babies with a guy that looked like a lumberjack," said Alex, walking up to them. "Had to see it with my own eyes. Is that really Maddox Butler checking out babies?"

"Hi, Alex." Maddox stood and offered her his chair, but she waved him off and leaned down to kiss Peyton's cheek instead.

"How's our girl today?"

"Me or the baby?"

"Both."

"Better now that you've delivered whatever food is waiting in the room."

"I didn't bring any today."

"You're a liar. I can smell it."

"No, you can't."

"Pregnancy superpower. You can smell deep-dish pizza from miles away."

Alex's eyes opened wide. "Damn. That is a superpower."

Peyton watched as a funny look flashed across Alex's face. The same one as the other night.

Maddox shifted on his feet. "Time to go check on my baby brother. Alex, can you get Peyton back to the room okay?" Before she had a chance to answer, he held up his hands. "I was just being polite. I know you can."

He knelt down and kissed Peyton's forehead.

"I'll see you later, sister." Maddox walked down the hall and turned near the bank of elevators.

"What's with the two of you?" Peyton asked.

"It's weird right now."

"Does it have anything to do with the freaky expressions I see on your face sometimes?"

"Like when?"

"Like now, with the aroma superpower."

"Ready?" Alex released the lock on the wheelchair and pushed Peyton toward her room.

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Not yet."

"Bet it's going to feel good to sleep in your own bed," her mom said, tucking her in after she was released from the hospital.

"It is, although this isn't my bed."

She fluffed her pillows and opened the bedroom window. "It used to be."

"Actually, it didn't. This was my bedroom, but this is a new bed."

When her mom straightened the books on the nightstand for the second time, Peyton put her hand on her mother's arm.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, Peyton." Her mom sat down and put her face in her hands.

"Are you crying?" Peyton tried to pull her mother's hands away, but she wouldn't budge. "You're scaring me."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." She stood and wiped her tears away. "Let me get your father."

"Didn't you hear the doctor say I'm supposed to avoid stress?" Peyton shouted at her mother, who was already partway down the stairs.

She didn't feel any better when her father walked in a few minutes later with an envelope in his hand and his face ashen.

"Dad, what is it? You're scaring me too."

"I'm sorry, Peyton. There's no easy way to tell you this."

"Just say it," she snapped.

"Lang has filed a petition for joint custody."

"Over my dead body."

"That's what we're afraid of," her father muttered.

"This is ridiculous. He wouldn't know the boys if he saw them."

"He has seen them."

Peyton flew out of the bed, but her father grabbed her arm.

"When?"

"He's been attending their basketball games."

She clenched her fists. "Oh my God. What have the boys said? Has he approached them?"

"Not yet, or at least not that anyone saw. I'm sorry, Peyton."

"They know better than to talk to strangers, and that's what he is to them," she seethed.

"He's also their father."

"No, he isn't. He's their sperm donor. He doesn't know anything about those boys. He hasn't seen either one of them in seven years. Seven years. Two or three basketball games don't make up for it."

"I know, honey. But they're granting him a hearing."

"When?"

"In two weeks. I'll call Stan."

Stan was their family attorney. He'd handled her divorce from Lang and the subsequent hearings when he got behind on child-support payments. Stan would understand her ex had no business asking for visitation, let alone joint custody. If she wasn't so scared that something would go terribly wrong and he'd somehow manage to get the judge to side with him, she'd laugh this off as being ridiculous. What judge in his or her right mind would give a man who'd abandoned his children joint custody?

Alex answered on the third ring. "What's up, girlfriend? You bored out of your mind yet?"

"Alex, Lang wants custody of the boys."

"I'll be right there."

"But—" Too late, Alex had already disconnected the call.

Peyton rested her head on the pillow and looked at the ceiling. If Kade were alive, he'd know exactly what to do. Her parents were wonderful, but they'd encourage Peyton to handle this the "right way." They'd tell her to let the courts do their job, and surely, everything would go the way it was supposed to. Unfortunately, Peyton knew of too many horror stories where a parent's rights were respected more than the child's. If they were to get a judge sympathetic to Lang, who he managed to convince he'd made a mistake and wanted a second chance, he may be given it.

The door slammed, and Peyton heard Alex take the stairs two at a time.

"No f'in way this is happening. Over my dead body."

"I said the same thing to my dad, Alex. He's talking to Stan now. How'd you get here so fast?"

"I was with Maddox."

"Oh. Is that on again?"

"Not exactly. It's complicated. By the way, Brodie is coming home today."

"That's nice."

"Yeah, that's what I figured you'd say. Maddox won't share what the two of you cooked up. He tells me to stay out of it, and it'll work itself out."

"Stop right there. I don't have anything cooked up with Maddox Butler. He has some twisted idea that Brodie is going to have an epiphany in which he sees the error of his ways, and for some reason, when that happens, I'll forgive him."

"Would you?"

"It isn't about me forgiving him, Alex. He left me. Even if he tells me he's sorry, what difference would it make? He left . It's something he can apologize for, but he can't change what made him leave in the first place."

"Maybe he was scared."

"You wanna know what really happened, Alex? We had sex, and when we were done having sex, Brodie apologized for it. He regretted having sex with me. He regretted it so much he left the country. He didn't come out and say it specifically, but the part he probably regretted the most was having unprotected sex with me. And sure enough, his worst fear is coming true. That sex he felt so sorry about resulted in a pregnancy. Do you think there's a chance in the world I would accept he didn't regret it the way he told me and Maddox that he did? And why? Because I'm pregnant? Or maybe he'll look at me and decide he has to do the right thing. God, it makes me sick to think about it."

"I didn't know."

"No, you didn't. Do you have any idea how ashamed I am to know a man found me that distasteful?"

"No, Peyton. I'm so sorry."

"Now that you know the whole story, I'm sure you understand how it would be impossible for me to ever talk to Brodie Butler again, let alone forgive him. What the hell is there to forgive him for?"

When Peyton began to cry, Alex reached to hug her.

"Don't. Don't touch me, Alex. Don't pity me. Don't feel sorry for me."

"I don't pity you, Peyton. I'm sorry you've gone through this alone. That's all. I wish I would've known sooner."

Peyton rested her head on Alex's shoulder. "I have far worse things to worry about than Brodie Butler. Right now, the evil bastard I have to figure out how to get rid of is Lang Becker."