"She's gone," Alesha said staring at the phone.
"Oh sweetie," Lori said taking her friend in her arms.
"I just…I can't believe…she was doing so well, and now…and now…" Alesha said breaking down in tears.
"When did you find out?" Lori said rocking back and forth, rubbing Alesha's back.
"My mom…my mom called me earlier today," Alesha said softly moving away.
"I'm so sorry Lesh. I'm glad I decided to fly back early."
"Me, too," she smiled sadly then she shrugged and looked away. "It's okay," she sighed. "It's not as if she was really here anyway."
"When does Nick get in?"
"Tonite. Sometime. He hasn't called me yet."
"Ahh," Lori said. "So…so…have you told Taelen yet?"
Alesha shook her head. "I umm…he isn't…he…no," she said.
Looking at her watch, Lori sighed. "I ummm…I have to go. Call me later, okay?"
Alesha nodded. "Okay."
Lori smiled. "It'll be okay sweetie," she said as she walked towards the door. "Nick will be here soon." She waved as she walked out the door.
Alesha sighed and lay down on the couch. She was almost asleep when she heard a car pull in the drive. She looked up as there was a knock at the door. "Who in the world?" she asked softly getting up. Walking over to the door, she looked through the peephole. "Oh god no," she whispered stepping away from the door a look of horror on her face. Walking back to the door, she put her hand on the knob and took a deep breath. "Umm…hi," she said after opening the door.
"Alesha baby," he said smiling.
"What do you want?" she asked without expression.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" he asked pushing past her.
"Oh. Sure," she said looking at him. "Would you like to come in? Oh. Wait. You're already in," she said sarcastically. "What do you want?" she repeated.
"You," Chad said stepping towards her. "And my son."
"I'm not yours to have, and neither is Taelen," she said softly.
"Oh yes. Bethany and Nick," he said caressing her cheek. "Well, Nick is in for a big surprise when he finds out about you my tamed beauty."
"What are you talking about?" Alesha asked fear finding it's way to her eyes.
"Oh, I met a friend of his last night. I'm sure the story she heard about you is on its way to your precious Nicky. And then my love, we'll be a family like we should have been."
"No!!" Alesha said stepping away from him. "You aren't taking Nick away from me."
"I'm not taking anything away from you my love. I'm simply providing a real family for our son."
"He's not your son. He will never be your son," Alesha hissed at him.
Pulling her to him, he pressed his lips to hers in a bruising kiss. "I love you Leshy. Always have. And I want to provide you and Taelen a home."
Trying to squirm her way out of his grasp she said mockingly, "Yeah, one full of love, joy, sex, and all the drugs you can provide for him?"
His eyes flashed with anger as his fist connected with her jaw. "Don't blame me for your shortcomings. I didn't force that needle in your arm," he growled.
"Yeah, well, you sure didn't try and sway me from it now did you," she glared.
His fist found her jaw again. "It's not my fault you were a junkie. Just because I provided it for you doesn't make me the bad guy. I gave you what you wanted," he said. Kissing her again, his hands roughly groped her body. The next moment the door was swinging open and Chad was being lifted off from her and being thrown across the room.
"What the FUCK are you doing in my house?" Nick asked walking over to Chad.
"You must be Nick," Chad said standing up and smiling at him.
Chad went sprawling to the floor as Nick punched him. "Yeah, I'm Nick. And you are messing with the wrong person. Get the FUCK out of my house."
Chad stood up again and glared at him. "I came here for my family and I'm not leaving without them," he mumbled holding his bleeding jaw.
"You are leaving with nothing," Nick growled his fists clenching and unclenching at his side. "Get out of my house now, or I'm not going to stop until your sorry ass is dead."
"Fine. But I'll be back for them."
"No, no you won't," Nick said following Chad to the door.
"I'll be back for you and Taelen," Chad threatened Alesha as he walked out.
Nick walked over to Alesha who was curled up crying. Taking her in his arms, he whispered, "You okay babygirl?" Wrapping her arms around him she buried her face in his shoulder sobbing violently. "Shhh…" he said softly.
"I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry," she mumbled.
"Shhh…shhh…don't talk," he said holding her close. Pulling away from her, his fingers touched the cut on her face. "Oh babygirl," he said tears filling his eyes. "Come on," he whispered helping her up. Walking her to the kitchen, he sat her down at the table. He went to the faucet and wetted a towel. Bringing it back over he wiped the blood off from the bruise. "I'm sorry," he said as she cringed.
She shrugged. "It's okay," she said softly looking at him. "When did you get in?" she asked squeezing her eyes shut at the pain.
"Umm…a couple of hours ago," he said walking back over to the sink and rinsing the towel.
"A couple of hours ago?" she asked opening her eyes.
"Yeah, ummm…I met…Sarah met me at the airport," he said walking back over. "She called me and told me she needed to talk to me."
"She…talked…about…what?" Alesha asked.
"Important stuff," he said looking at her. "Why didn't you tell me the truth?" he asked.
Alesha looked away. "I haven't told anyone the truth. I spent years telling everyone Taelen was Bethy's. It became the truth to me," she said.
"But the rest of it? The drugs, the drinking…the…the sleeping around?" he asked. Alesha knew he was hurt, but couldn't think of a thing to say to him to make it better.
"You never asked me my past Nick. It's something I don't ever talk about. Not to anyone. It's not something I'm proud of. I try to forget who I was," she said softly.
"But…did you think I wouldn't love you anymore?" he asked.
"Do you? Now that you know? Do you still love me?"
"Yes, I still love you. I'm confused as hell, but I still love you."
"But your feelings have changed. Haven't they? You don't love me the same as you did before. Your image of me has been tainted. You can't look at me without thinking of all the things that you have heard I've done and that bothers you."
"You're right. It does. What can I say? You aren't the person I thought you were."
"But it's the past Nick!!" Alesha cried. "I AM who you think I am. I am me, the person you fell in love with. My past MADE me who I am. My past, that thing that I don't talk about…it molded me into the person that you, up until a couple of hours ago, loved."
"I just…I just don't know how to deal with this. It's a lot of stuff. A lot of things that I just don't know…I just…" Nick shook his head.
"Would you like for me to leave?" she asked, the tears falling.
"No…yes…maybe…I don't know…" he said.
