One Night Becomes a Liftime

Brent opened his eyes again and this time I saw the regret that laid in them. I wasn’t sure if he regretted bringing us here or if he regretted telling me the truth. My breathing had picked up slightly when reality began to set in and he opened his mouth to say something but Evan had walked up behind him and spoke before he could.

“Can I see my room now?” he asked coming to a stop next to Brent.

Brent and I stood staring at each other for a moment longer then he broke eye contact and looked down at Evan. “Sure thing buddy.” He said grabbing Evan’s hand then looked back up at me. “Can we please talk about this later?”

I just nodded my head and watched as they walked away from me and up the stairs. I began to feel like the room was closing in on me and I had to get out of there to be able to breathe again. I quickly moved to the front door and went back out but this time I was numbed to the cold air. I had no idea what to think or do, I stood there just looking around. For some reason it could have been me being paranoid or self conscious but I felt like people were staring back at me, watching the homewrecker.

Since Brent came back into my life I felt like things had gone completely chaotic and I was no longer in control of it. I moved half way across the country for him… I left my life behind for him. The tears started to fall down my cheeks and suddenly the cold air hit again. A shiver ran through my body and I wrapped my arms around myself squeezing tightly. When the door behind me opened and I heard Brent’s voice I just about jumped out of my own skin.

“We need to go.” He said causing me to jump. It wasn’t in fear, I jumped because I didn’t expect him to come out and I didn’t want him to see me crying. “Angela are you ok?” Brent asked and I could hear the concern in his voice.

“I’m fine.” I said shaking my head as I tried to quickly wipe the tears away.

“You’re not fine I can hear it in your voice.” Brent said walking to stand in front of me, I tried to turn away but he stopped me when he grabbed my arm. “Angela let me explain everything before you jump to any conclusions.”

“I should get my purse and let Evan know we are getting ready to leave.” I said shaking my head as I gave a small tug to my arm and he let it go.

I heard him mutter ‘fuck’ in a low voice as I walked back into the house. I had intentions of letting him explain I just wasn’t ready to hear him out yet. I wasn’t ready to hear if I was a homewrecker or not, I wasn’t ready to hear that I didn’t just ruin my life coming here I also ruined his. Brent came in behind me and I went to the kitchen to get my things while he called for Evan to come back down. I was taking slow deep breaths hoping to calm myself. I walked back to the front door and Brent was standing there with Evan.

“Are you ready?” Brent asked in a soft voice and I just nodded at him.

We went out to his SUV and left to meet with the movers. The ride there was quiet, Evan had fallen asleep in the back and Brent and I didn’t say a word to each other. The storage place he had gotten wasn’t far from where he lived so it didn’t take us very long to get there. Brent spoke with the movers while I waited by the car. I watched as Brent smiled and laughed with the men that had seemed to be memorized by him. It wasn’t long later that one of them was pulling out a phone and snapped a few pictures of him.

When the guy turned his phone towards me Brent quickly stepped in front of him. “Hey man I don’t mind taking a few pictures but my family is off limits.” Brent said shaking his head at him.

“Sorry Seabrook, it’s just my wife won’t believe me when I tell her you’re married.” He said.

I shook my head and was about to say something but Brent spoke before I could. “I understand but my family needs privacy.

“I understand.” The guy said as he shook hands with Brent.

The movers walked back over by the truck to start unloading it and Brent walked over to me. “Why didn’t you tell we weren’t married?” I asked him.

“It’s not their business and I don’t need to explain my private life to fans.” Brent said shrugging his shoulders. “Can we finish talking now that Evan is sleeping?”

“I need to make sure the movers don’t break anything and I really should make sure Evan’s things don’t get buried in the back of the unit.” I said walking around him and he quickly stopped me.

“You can’t keep avoiding me Angela.” Brent said in a low voice as he grabbed my arm.

“Can we do this when we are at your house and Evan is sleeping for the night?” I asked in a low voice.

“Are Evan’s boxes labeled?” Brent asked me as he released my arm and I nodded at him. “Get in the car where it’s warm and I’ll keep an eye on things for you.”

“Are you sure? I can do it.”

“I’m sure… it’s cold and you didn’t put the coat back on.” He said with a small smile.

I smiled back as I opened the door and climbed in where the heat was on and it was nice and warm. Brent closed the car door and walked back over to the movers and began telling them what he needed. I glanced back at Evan and he was soundly sleeping still. At that moment I wished I was the child and I could sleep as easily as he was. Between all the stress of moving and now knowing Brent had a woman living in the house with him I was exhausted.

I sent a text to Sarah letting her know we had arrived and I was sorry for not letting her know earlier. I figured it was safer to text than call her because she would hear my stress quickly and then begin questioning me about things I didn’t even have answers to myself. It took the movers a couple of hours to finish up with things and when they were done Brent paid them and we were on our way back to the house.

Evan had woken up when Brent went to carry him in and the two of them had decided to play a couple of video games while I sat there watching them. The smile that was stretched across both their faces was still amazing to see. After a few hours of them joking around and a small dinner Evan’s sleepiness was beginning to show again. He wasn’t happy when I told him it was bed time but that didn’t stop me from making him go up anyways. Brent and I went up behind him to tuck him in, I stood back and let Brent help Evan get ready. Once he was in bed and tucked in I walked over and kissed his forehead before shutting the light off and we both left the room.

When we walked back into the living room I began cleaning up the small mess they had left behind. “I can do that.” Brent said walking over to me.

“I got it.” I said as I sat down in front of the TV and began putting all the stuff back. “Who is Abby?” I asked glancing back at him and he raised his eyebrow in confusion. “You said you had Abby pick a coat up for Evan, is she….”

The smile the stretched across his face had confused me and I turned my whole body to face him. “Angela, Abby is Patrick Sharp’s wife.”

“Oh…” I sucked in a deep breath and slowly released it knowing it was time to ask the question I had been avoiding. “I should have asked this the day I agreed to move to Chicago but I wasn’t thinking at the time.” I said and he sat down on the couch as he nodded at me. “Are you married?”

“No.” he said shaking his head.

“No you’re not or no you aren’t anymore?”

“I’ve never been married and before you ask Evan is my only child.” He said with a small smile and I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until I released in relief. “I had a bad feeling that was what was going through your head.”

“Who was the girl and why did she leave?”

“Her name is Christy and we had been dating for a couple of years.” Brent said as he sat back on the couch and I tucked my legs under me. “She had known about Evan, I told her a little after we started dating but I guess she figured I would never see him.”

“Brent, why did she move out?”

“We had started fighting when I told her I found Evan, and then you and I agreed on you moving here so I could see him more.” He said shrugging his shoulders. “Yesterday when you called me she was in the room getting ready to go meet with a few of the other wives.”

“She was mad you told me to stay with you.” I said and he nodded. “Brent I should not have come here.”

“Angela she was going to leave either way.” Brent said sitting up straight. “She didn’t want kids and I chose my son over her.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Yesterday Christy told me it was her or you guys and my answer pissed her off.” He said with a smirk and I raised my eyebrow at him. “I told her to go to hell and that I would always choose you and Evan over her.” I was stunned and had no idea what to say to him. “I need to sleep I have practice in the morning, I should show you where the rooms are before I lay down.”

“Ok.” I said as I went to get up and end up having a small dizzy spell causing me to stumble back down. Brent quickly moved to squat down in front of me with a concern look on his face. “I’m ok.” I said trying to assure him.

“What happened?”

“I just got up too quick, I haven’t rested well in quite some time.”

“Let me help you up.” Brent said wrapping one of his arms around me and held out his other hand for mine.

“I’m ok.” I said shaking my head at him.

“Angela please just humor me.” He said softly and I just placed my hand in his.

Brent led me up the stairs and when we were at the top he let me walk without his assistance down the hall. He was in the master suite next to Evan’s room and showed me the other two rooms across the hall. I told him I would stay in the smaller of the two, it was the only one that didn’t seem to have a feminine touch to it. I didn’t feel right staying in a room his girlfriend had decorated. Brent tried talking me into taking the other room because it had more room but gave up when I didn’t budge.

After bringing my bags up and getting somewhat settled in I had finally climbed in bed and fell asleep quicker than I thought I would. All the sleepless nights had finally caught up to me and I got the sleep I needed. When my eyes finally opened in the morning I had almost forgot where I was when I glanced around the room. Shaking my head I went to sit up so I could go check on Evan that is when I noticed a piece of paper placed over my cell phone. I picked it up to see what it was and there was note on it from Brent.

“Evan was awake when I woke up… I didn’t want to wake you because last night you said you hadn’t slept well so I took him with me to practice. The house is all yours for a few hours, explore and get to know the place. We should be home about noon… Brent”

He was smart enough to leave me a note so I couldn’t be mad that he took Evan with him. So I climbed out of bed and grabbed myself some clothes and went to the bathroom to shower. As I shower I stood there thinking about all the things I needed to get done. Now that I actually made the move I needed to quickly find a school for Evan and touch base with the hospital I was due to work at. I still needed to try and find an apartment to move into so Brent could have his own life back. When the water began to run cold and my brain couldn’t take thinking of my new to do list I got out of the shower.

After putting my things away I went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. Just as I came to the bottom step the front door opened and a beautiful blonde walked into the house. We both froze at the sight of each other, she stood there looking me up and down. It only took me a moment to realize that she was sizing me up and I became extremely uncomfortable. She was dressed like she had just walked off a runway and I stood there in a pair of tattered jeans and off the shoulder sweater and a pair of flats.

“Is Brent around?” she asked as she moved further into the house.

“No, he had practice.” I said as I stood on the last step watching as she removed her coat. “I have no idea when he’ll be back.”

“Well you should learn to keep up with his schedule if you think you can handle his life.” She said shaking her head at me. “What time did he leave for practice?”

“I don’t know what is going on here but Brent isn’t here.” I said as I stepped down off the stairs.

“I know exactly what is going on.” She snapped at me. “Why couldn’t you and that damn kid just stay out of our lives? We were happy without you meddling in.”

“Don’t ever disrespect my son that way again!” I snapped at her as I took a step closer to her. “You could say whatever the hell you want about me but the minute you bad mouth my son… no I am going to put this the right way… the minute you bad mouth mine and Brent’s son I will beat your damn ass.”

“You are using his kid to meddle yourself into his life.” She snapped at me as she took a step closer. “Do you honestly think I believe it was just a coincidence that you were in the same place as Brent after all these years? Admit it you just want him in your life because of his money and fame.”

“I was happy with the life I had, I don’t need his fame or money.” I snapped at her. “I moved to this damn city so Evan could get to know his father and be with him… I moved here for my son not Brent.”

“Brent was happy without either of you in his life… we were happy and you and your kid ruined that!” she snapped at me and I was about to flip out on her but the next voice we heard stopped me.

“What the hell did you just say to her?” Brent snapped and we both turned to see him and Evan standing in the open door. Neither of us realized it was still open until that moment. He held Evan’s small hand in his own as he looked down at Evan with a small smile. “Hey buddy why don’t you run upstairs and play while the grownups talk?”

“Ok daddy.” Evan said smiling back at him and walked towards me. “Hi mommy.” He said as I leaned down to give him a hug.

“Hey little man.” I said with a smile. “Did you have fun?” I asked as I pulled back and he nodded. “I’m happy you did… now go upstairs and we’ll let you know when lunch will be ready.”

Evan nodded his head and began going upstairs, I looked back at Brent and he looked upset but I wasn’t sure if it was with me or her. “Brent…” she began to say but he cut her off.

“No.” he said sternly and she closed her mouth. I watched him as he watched Evan go up and when Evan was out of sight he turned and glared at her. “What the hell did you say to Angela?” he snapped at her.

“Brent I just told her we were happy before she came here.” She said shaking her head at him.

“No I heard you say that they ruined it.” He snapped at her in a low voice. “Nothing was ruined… I have my son back in my life and I couldn’t be any happier than I am now. I told you two days ago that if you couldn’t accept that Evan and Angela was a part of my life than you couldn’t be in it.”

“Brent this is not fair to me.” She said shaking her head and I stood there in shock. “I am the one that has been here not her.” She snapped as she pointed at me. “You don’t even want her… look at her and look at me.”

“What the hell is your problem?” I snapped at her getting both of their attentions. “This isn’t about who is prettier or more successful, this is about a father and son being with each other.”

“This is about who knows Brent more, when he has a bad game do you have any idea what to do or say?” she snapped at me and I didn’t bother answering her. “Do you know his likes or dislikes?”

“I didn’t come here to be his girlfriend or mother.” I snapped at her. “I am only here because of Evan.”

“Like I said you are just using that damn kid to get to him.”

“Hey!” Brent said loudly and at the same time I went to lunge at her but I was quickly pulled back, Brent held me tightly to him and wouldn’t let go. “Christy you need to leave now!”

“I told you the next time you say something about my son I was going to kick your damn ass.” I snapped as I tried to get out of Brent’s hold and she quickly scurried out of the door. “Let me fucking go now!” I snapped at Brent.

“Angela calm down.” Brent said in a soft voice.

“Do not tell me to calm down.” I snapped at him as I looked at him over my shoulder. “I told that damn bitch if she said something about my son again I was going to beat her damn ass and you stopped me.”

“He doesn’t need to see that.” Brent said in a low voice as his eyes trailed up the stairs. “Hey buddy what’s up?”

I looked up the stairs to see Evan standing there looking worried. “I just wanted some water… is mommy ok?”

“I am fine sweetheart.” I said as Brent released me. “I just got a little mad at daddy’s friend.”

“Everything is alright, I’ll bring you some water in one minute.” Brent said and Evan nodded and walked back to his room.

“Thank you.” I said looking back at Brent and he nodded at me then walked to the kitchen.

I stood there and ran my fingers through my hair breathing in and out slowly trying to regain my composure. When Brent came back out the kitchen I watched as he walked upstairs with the bottle of water. I walked over to the living room and sat down on the couch and closed my eyes. I had never lost my composure like that before when Evan was near me and I felt like shit for doing it and him seeing it.

“Are you ok?” I heard Brent ask and I opened my eyes to see him standing there looking down at me. I shook my head no and felt the tear slid down my cheek. “Hey don’t cry.” Brent said as he sat down next to me. “I have no idea what she said before I got her but don’t let that get to you.”

“It’s not what she said… it’s how I acted.” I said shaking my head. “I’ve never acted that way in front of him before.”

“Angela you’re a great mom to our son and I see that.” He said in a soft voice. “I’ve done worse, Evan actually saw me fight and that was with a good friend of mine and his because I couldn’t control my anger.”