Getting Back Up

Rebecca had waited until Sunday to call Brad to discuss Tyler meeting him. She told him that Tyler was still hesitant to meet him, but agreed nontheless. They agreed to meet at the same restaurant as before, next Saturday. Brad thanked her repeatedly and said he looked forward to seeing her again. He said that he hoped they, along with Tyler, would be able to spend more time together while he was in town. She told him that she would be willing to spend time with him, but she wasn't sure if Tyler would.
Brad said that any time he could get with them he'd appreciate. Brad thanked her again and said he would see her this weekend.

Rebecca still couldn't believe that this was happening. She had come to terms with the fact that she and Tyler were on their own. She tried to raise Tyler the best she could without a father figure in his life, and she was happy with how well he'd turned out. But now that Brad was here, she began to think that Tyler needed to get to know his father, more than just from one meeting. He was, afterall, half of Brad. She has always been able to see Brad in Tyler. His eyes, his mannerisms, even his sarcasm. It was all from Brad.

She would have to really get through to Tyler if she was going to convince him to spend more time with Brad before his illness takes him away from them. She hoped that Tyler would be able to recognize the gravity of the situation and be able to deal with it as an adult. Although he's only fifteen, he's very mature for his age, he should be able to handle it.

Rebecca hadn't told Tyler the details of Brad's return, she figured it would be better coming from him. She wondered if she should tell him part of the story. Maybe that would help open his mind to the possibility of getting to know his father. Brad had been through so much, way worse than the pain he had caused them. All of her suffering paled in comparison to what he had gone through, and continues to struggle through.

Tyler came home from his friend's house to find his mother sitting on the couch staring blankly at the television. "Mom? Everything ok?" He asked as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah sweetie. Everything's fine. I just got off the phone with your father. We're going to meet him for lunch on Saturday."

"Joy," Tyler said under his breath.

"Tyler, I know you don't think you want to see him but I think it will be good for you. He's your father. He's made mistakes. I've made mistakes. Alot of things have happened since he left and he's trying to be a better man because of it. I've decided to forget about everything that happened and move on. I think you should too. Before it's too late."

"What do you mean, before it's too late?" Tyler asked.

"I thought it would be something he should tell you, but I think you should know before you see him. He's got cancer. He's very sick and in town to receive treatments," Rebecca said as she looked at her son.

"So that's why he wants to see us all of a sudden?? Because he's sick and possibly dying? We weren't good enough for him when he wasn't sick, but now that he's dying he wants to have a relationship with us? That's crap ma. I'm sorry but I don't care that he's sick, I'll meet him because you want me to, but after that I'm done." Tyler was visibly upset and Rebecca moved closer to hug her son.

"If that's what you want, Tyler. I won't force you to have a relationship with him if you don't want to," she said as she kissed him on the forehead.

******************************************************

"I told you she would call. I'm going to meet my son on Saturday. I'll finally be able to have them both back," Brad said to his sister.

"One meeting does not a relationship make. You don't even know if your son is going to want to have anything to do with you," Meg said.

"It's not him I need to convince. It's Rebecca. He won't have a choice once she comes back to me," Brad said optimistically.

"I still say you're delusional if you think this is going to work," Meg shook her head at her brother. "I can't believe you've been planning this for so long. Why not just move on? There are plenty of women in this world, and yet you're hung up on her."

"Look, I loved her. Yes we were young, but I loved her with my whole heart. I haven't been able to forgive myself for leaving her. But I also couldn't have lived my life without our parents' money. If killed me to leave, but I didn't see any way around it. If I wanted to get the money from the trust, I had to play by their rules. You know how it was, you had to do the same thing."

"Yes, but I didn't do anything like this," Meg said, "this is low, even for you."

"What would you have me do? Tell her the truth? Tell her that the reason I left was because our parents hated her and forbid me to marry her, regardless of the fact that she was carrying my son? Tell her that I left because I wanted the trust fund more than anything in the world? I'm sure she would be real receptive to that," Brad said as he rolled his eyes.

"Do you think the truth will never come out? What happens when she finds out what really happened? What are you going to do then?"

"I'll deal with that if it happens," Brad said as he walked out of the room.

******************************************************

Rebecca and Tyler were watching G.I. Joe, which Rebecca only agreed to watch because of Channing Tatum and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, when her phone began to ring on the coffee table. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Scott.

"Let me guess...you sensed that I was looking at Channing Tatum and wanted to distract me..." Rebecca said sarcastically.

"Ummmm no, but I'm glad I called you then. Can't have you pining over some hot actor guy instead of me," Scott joked.

"So you think Channing Tatum is hot? That's one thing we have in common," Rebecca laughed.

"Nice. The guys would have gotten a kick out of that. So what are you watching?" he asked.

"G.I. Joe. What are you up to? Are you in North Carolina yet?"

"Yeah, we just got to the hotel. Gonna head out to dinner with the boys in a few," Scott said as he sat on the bed. "How's Tyler?"

"He's good. He's watching the movie with me. And making faces," Rebecca said as she swatted Tyler's arm.

"Ow! That's child abuse!" Tyler exclaimed and laughed at the same time.

"What's he making faces for?" Scott asked, semi-knowing what the answer would be.

"Us. He thinks he's funny. So what's up?"

"Nothing really. Just checking in. Wanted to see how you both were doing. I miss you guys," Scott said as he tried not to sound like a wuss.

"Oh, we're good. We miss you too. Tyler will give you a full review of your games when you get back," she chuckled.

"Good. I need an outside look at our games," Scott laughed. "I look forward to getting his input. Maybe he should come to a game and see it first-hand..." Scott regretted making the offer immediately. He didn't want Rebecca to think that he was trying to buy her son's approval. He liked Rebecca, but he has never dated a woman with kids before and didn't quite know how to navigate the situation. He hoped that he didn't overstep when he intruded on her conversation with Tyler at dinner last week, but she had initiated it with him there. He meant what he said when he told them he would be there to help them deal with the return of Tyler's father. He wanted to help them with whatever they needed.

"I think he'd love that," she said as she looked over at her son, "Scott said you should go to a game sometime. So you can give him a proper review."

"Ohmygod really??!!" Tyler yelled and took the phone from his mother's hand, "are you serious? I've never been to a game before! When can we go?"

"I'll see which game still has tickets left when I get back and I'll let you know," Scott said. "You'll have to bring your mother and explain everything to her."

"Absolutely! Thanks so much Scott! Here's mom..."

Rebecca took the phone back from Tyler and said to Scott, "I think you just made his year. You're not going to spend too much on them are you?"

Scott laughed. "No, they give us a few tickets for free. It's only if I need like twenty or thirty tickets that I'd have to pay for them."

"Oh, okay. I don't want you to go out of your way for us..."

"It's not a problem. I'd do anything..." he stopped mid-sentence but then decided to finish, "...for you."

Rebecca didn't know how to respond. "Me too," was all she could say.

"Well...the boys are waiting for me in Claude and Brayden's room. I'll call you tomorrow after morning skate okay?" Scott said as he smiled to himself.

"Sounds good. Talk to you tomorrow."

Rebecca hung up the phone and went back to watching the movie with Tyler. "I really like him mom," Tyler said as she placed the phone on the coffee table.

"I like him too. And he really likes you too. I know we haven't really known him too long but I like spending time with him. Do you?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah. He's fun," Tyler said. "I don't know what you think, but I'd be alright if you wanted to marry him," he said with a laugh.

"Okay, we are not even close to thinking about marriage. We've only seen each other a couple times," Rebecca laughed.

"Well, I'm telling you now. I'm okay with it," he smiled.