Page 87 of Takedown

I shrug at her and say, “I never wanted money. I wanted a father’s love. The inheritance has been nothing but a slap in the face. It’s like he’s trying to buy his way out of being a father to me, and I’m not for sale.”

She kisses my temple and caresses my face. “I’m sorry you never had a father in your life. You deserved that.” She cups my face with her hands and looks in my eyes. “But you have a wife’s love. A wife who would burn down this entire world for you.” I close my eyes and pull her close. We don’t speak for several minutes. I simply hold onto her and absorb her warmth and her strength.

“Then that’s all I need, love,” I say minutes later.

While we eat the delicious dinner she prepared, she runs a hand soothingly down my thigh. “How about this?” she says between bites of food. “We go see your mom, and if she’s okay with this, which I’m positive she will be because she’s awesome, we’ll give them one dinner. We can have them here or go out. If I get even the whiff of assholery, we’re out.”

I reach over and kiss her greasy lips. I smile, touched that she thinks so highly of my mother.

“Because,” she continues, “I think it counts for something that they’ve tried for so long, Adam. I think family is important to them. If they’re jerks, we’ll know soon enough. I’ll know in the first five minutes, but you owe it to yourself to find out. I think you want to.”

“I don’t want to if it’s going to upset Ma and make you pull away from me like you did last night. It’s not worth it if I end up losing the two most important people in my life.” She smiles at me, but her smile is sad. She puts a soft hand on my cheek and looks me in the eyes.

“You are allowed to do something for you. They are your family, and they want to get to know you so much that they are here even though you’ve been telling them to get lost for almost a year. Maybe they don’t want to be anything like your father either, and maybe he was a shitty father to them too.” She grabs both of my hands and says, “Your mom loves you more than anything on this earth, Adam. She’s a wonderful mother who always puts you first. She will want this for you. As for me, I’m not going anywhere. I love you too much. You’re my husband and my best friend. I don’t care what we fight about, I’ll always come back to you. I’m done putting up walls, and there’s nothing that can ever make me walk away. You make me happier than I’ve ever been. Let me help you through this. We’ll do it together.”

I smile at my wife, and she smiles back at me, holding my stare. I put a finger in the little dimple in her cheek. I run a hand over her head and tug at her ponytail. Something inside of me bursts. I love her. I’ve always loved her, but right now with her taking care of me, I realize I need her just as much.

“If you think so, Mel, that’s what we’ll do. I trust you.” She beams at my words and kisses my cheek. I make a face and wipe the greasy spot. She bunches her napkin and throws it at me.

“Let’s change the subject to a more important topic. How many more hours until I can strip you naked and climb between your legs? You are so going to pay for what you did to me last night? My balls still haven’t recovered.”

43

Just like I predicted, Molly was stunned when we told her about Adam’s siblings tracking him down.

“See! I told you she’d be upset!” Adam shouts when she starts to cry in front of us. He runs to her and puts an arm around her. “I won’t see them ever,” he assures her.

“Oh, Adam, you big, sweet, lovable idiot.” She reaches up and hits him upside his head. “I’m just relieved that they want to get to know you. I always wanted to give you siblings, but I never met anyone I loved enough to settle down with.” She grabs his hand and points to the couch. She does the same to me, and when I take my place next to my husband and join our hands, she smiles.

“For years I felt so guilty about not just sleeping with another woman’s husband but having a child. Not that I regret you, Adam. Not ever. Not for a second, but I couldn’t give you the traditional family you deserved. And even though he came around sometimes, your father never really took an interest in you, but I’m grateful he took care of you financially. That’s the one thing he did right. But, Son, listen to me. Part of being a good parent is wanting the best for your child, and that’s what I want for you. If you want to get to know them, I would never try and stop you. I want that for you, and I hope they are everything your father was not, everything you deserve.” She pulls him into a tight hug, and when she pulls away, tears are streaking down her cheeks.

The three of us hug on the couch until the front door opens and we hear footsteps.

“Adam! Is that you?”

“It’s my car, Uncle Finn. Who else would it be?” Adam yells so loud, I almost jump off the couch.

“Bar? How do you know I went to a bar?” Uncle Finn comes strolling into the living room wearing dark blue skinny jeans he has no business wearing and a button-down shirt that has the buttons straining over his considerable belly.

“What happened to your date?” Molly yells.

“My mate? Not gonna happen. She smells like cat piss. Got the hell out of there real quick. What do the kids say? I had to G-T-F-O. What’s going on here?” He leans down and kisses my cheek right before he messes Adam’s hair. “Am I getting a grand niece or nephew?” He surprises me when he reaches down and touches my stomach. “Nope. That womb is bare. Adam! Are you shooting blanks?” He cackles, runs to the kitchen, and comes back with a beer.

Adam tells him the news about his siblings, and Uncle Finn almost drops his beer. He lowers his hefty bulk onto the loveseat instead.

“Are you all meshugana? No! I don’t like this at all. Adam! No! You’re not to see them, do you hear me? I forbid it! I met your father once. An arrogant prick is what he was. I almost punched him in the nose.”

Adam drives slower than usual tonight. The traffic on Commonwealth Avenue is unusually light for a Thursday night. His hand squeezes my thigh so tight it’s almost painful, but when I lay a hand on top of his, he loosens his grip.

The calls continued the past two days. He answered this morning and agreed to come to dinner. I’ve never known Adam to be nervous. All these years, he’s been nothing but sure of himself whenever we interact, but he’s been too quiet.

“Five minutes,” I tell him. “If anyone says anything out of line in the first five minutes, we’re gone. We’ll bring Uncle Finn back and let him deal with them.” I jerk my thumb backwards to prove my point, but I don’t get a laugh out of him like I normally would. All I get is a nod.

He pulls onto a quiet side street lined with nothing but million-dollar brownstones. For the middle of the city, the street is like one you might find in the suburbs. Clear, quiet, and void of passing traffic.

He pulls over and parks in front of the largest brownstone on the street.

“This place?” I ask, and he nods. “Jesus. Are they renting it? It must be at least fifteen grand a month. At least.” I let out a loud whistle at the sight of the house. It’s all brick with a huge black door. The front looks newly done and there are big flowerpots on each of the front steps leading to the door.

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