Braxton (Station 47)

Chapter 11

ELEVEN

brAXTON

Tina’s sitting up in bed talking to Hannah when I walk into her room. The small amount of color on her cheeks fades when she realizes it’s me.

“Braxton,” she whispers, eyes filling with tears that quickly spill over.

As pissed off as I am that she kept my child from me, I still hate seeing her cry. Without even acknowledging Hannah’s presence, I head straight for Tina’s bed, taking a seat on the edge and grabbing each of her hands with my own.

“Hey, it’s okay. Why are you crying?” I haven’t said a word to her yet, and she should know me well enough to know I’m not the type of guy to kick a person when they’re down.

Her sobs grow louder, and soon she’s crying so hard she can barely breathe, so speaking is impossible. Unable to sit here and watch without at least trying to make her feel better, I drop her hands to wrap my arms around her frail body and pull her into my chest.

Tina’s head drops to my forehead, but her cries don’t stop. Using one hand, I rub her back and talk gently to her, hoping that soothes her.

“It’s okay, Tee. Please stop crying. It’s all good, I promise. All these tears can’t be good for you.” Hearing me say it’s okay and that we’re good does the job, and after a handful of moments, her cries slow before finally stopping. Her breaths come in choppy spurts, to the point it almost sounds like she has the hiccups.

I don’t let her go until her breathing is back to normal, but when I pull back, there are still tears coursing down her cheeks. Brushing them away with my thumbs, I study her face as she speaks.

“I’m so sorry.” The words come out as one long string. “It was stupid to keep him from you and not tell you I was pregnant, but I was so scared. I hope one day you can forgive me.” Like the thought that I won’t is enough to make her cry again, she tries to suck in a breath, but it gets stuck in her throat.

My head starts shaking as soon as she starts apologizing. “Don’t worry about that now. We’ve got way too much to talk about to get stuck in the past. Why don’t we focus on moving forward and what needs to happen now. Yeah, I wish you’d told me about him, and I damn sure wish this wasn’t how and why I found out now, but I’m not going to hate you over it either.”

“How can you not though? I hate myself for not telling you, but with every day that passed, it got harder and harder to do it, until finally, I just couldn’t. And I knew if I told my parents I hadn’t told you they would make me.”

Oddly enough, that actually makes me feel a little better. She didn’t keep it from me because she didn’t think I deserved to know. Fear is something I can definitely understand. I don’t hesitate to tell her that either.

“I’m just glad you didn’t keep it from me because you thought I’d be a deadbeat. Tina, I need you to know, you and Nathan can both count on me. I know what it’s like to have a father who couldn’t be bothered to act like one. I’d never do that to a child.”

Her body sags back against the pillows when she realizes I truly mean what I’m saying. Her eyes are shining again when our eyes meet, but this time, they aren’t sad tears. “I know we can, and I know you’ll be the father he needs. I’m so thankful you don’t hate me. I’ve played through so many scenarios in my head the past few months, and every single one ended with you pissed off at me and unable to forgive me for keeping him a secret.”

I take one of her hands in mine again, leaning in so our faces are close together and keeping my eyes on hers so she knows I’m so fucking serious. “I loved you, Tina. Part of me still does and always will. No matter what happened or does happen next, please know that. I could never hate you, not for more than a day or two anyway.” I grin down at her, and she smiles back.

We’re still in this position when the door to her room opens and an angry voice says, “What are you doing here? You need to leave.”

“Mom,” Tina says, her voice tired. Straightening her spine, she turns her head and glares at the older woman, prompting me to turn and look too. “We’re not doing this. Braxton has every right to be here, and I’m not going to let you chase him away. Besides, there’s something I need to tell you when Dad gets here. Where is he?”

Grace crosses her arms over her chest and glares right back. The stubborn expression on her face is one I’ve seen on her daughter’s many, many times. “Don’t you talk to me with that tone. He doesn’t deserve to be here, not after what he did.”

My eyebrows raise as I look between them. “What I did? I think you’re going to have to be a little more specific, Mrs. Davis.”

She turns her death glare on me and huffs. “You know what you did, young man. You got my daughter pregnant and left her to raise your child alone, not even giving her financial support. I don’t know how you were raised, but a man doesn’t do that.”

Okay, now I am pissed. I never met the woman when I dated her daughter, but she wants to act like she knows me and my character? Nah, I don’t think so.

Before I get the chance to tell her exactly that, Tina intervenes. “ Mom !” Shock at her mother’s words fills her voice, and her eyes are wide as saucers. She looks like she doesn’t know who the woman is either. “How can you say that to him? Did you miss where I said I needed to tell you something? I didn’t want to have to say this more than once, but you’re not giving me a choice.”

“ How can I say that to him? You’re the one who told us he didn’t want anything to do with the baby when he found out you were pregnant. How can you be so quick to forgive him? He doesn’t deserve to know that sweet little boy. Your dad and I already told you, we’ll take care of him, always . We meant it.”

Tina’s face gets more red with every word out of her mom’s mouth. “Enough . Like I said, I only wanted to have to say this once, and I really didn’t want to do it right this second. Braxton. Didn’t. Know. I never told him . I was embarrassed and scared, and I knew you would make me, so I LIED .”

She’s breathing heavy when she finishes telling her truth, and all Grace can do is stare at her, mouth hanging open in disbelief. She doesn’t get to ask any questions before the door swings open again and a nurse hurries in and to Tina’s side.

“Honey, your monitors are going crazy . What’s going on in here?” She messes with the machine next to the bed that Tina’s hooked up to, then turns her focus to Grace and I. “Do I need to make the two of you leave? We can hear y’all yelling from down the hall. Stress isn’t good for Christina, and I have no problem overruling her and telling you both to go.”

Tina’s voice is strong when she tells her, “For now, they can stay.” The look she gives her mom, one eyebrow raised in challenge, has me coughing to hide my laugh. This is the Tina I know and fell so hard for. It’s nice to see she still has her sass. “I’ll press my call button if I need you to come get them though, Nancy.”

Not even twenty-four hours and she has her nurse wrapped around her finger. Hell, it’s not even ten in the morning, so really, less than three hours and she has her nurse wrapped around her finger.

Grace looks like she wants to protest, but must decide to keep her mouth shut because she doesn’t say anything else.

It’s a good thing for me though, because now that the truth is out, I can ask, “Where’s Nathan?”

Tina echoes my question, but adds, “Is he with Dad? Why didn’t you bring him in?”

Grace is still pissed about her daughter standing up to her and the nurse basically telling us both off, so she crosses her arms over her chest and refuses to answer.

“Whatever,” Tina mutters, picking what must be her cell phone up off the bedside table and typing something out on it.

The voice that says hello is definitely her father, and when she asks, “Is Nathan with you?” His response is “Yes, of course. Where else would he be?”

“Just wondering. Can you bring him up here?”

That prompts her mom to speak, finally. “They said your immune system is too compromised for him to be that close. You can see him when they say it’s safe.”

Now Tina’s the one crossing her arms over her chest in a move that perfectly mirrors her mother. “Mom. Who cares about my compromised immune system ? We all know I’m not going to leave this hospital anytime soon, if ever.”

Her words make both me and her mom flinch, plus I hear the way her dad sucks in a painful breath. “Christina Marie,” Grace starts, but Tina holds up a hand.

“Come on, Mom. We have to be realistic. I want to spend as much time with Nathan as I can, and I want him to get to know Braxton as soon as possible. They need to start building a relationship, because we don’t know how long I have left and I want them to be comfortable together.”

The way she’s so matter-of-fact about her own mortality both has me in awe of her and freaks me out a little. I know for damn sure I wouldn’t be able be so nonchalant about mine.

As much as I want to spend time with Nathan, and have him know who I am to him, he needs to spend time with her more, and she needs him more than I do right now. “Tina,” I start, trying to figure out how to word what I want to say. “Thank you for telling your mom the truth. You’ll never know how much I appreciate that when we both know you didn’t have to. It would’ve been my word against yours, and as much as I want Nathan to know I’m his dad and your parents to know I’m not a deadbeat, I’m not here to throw you under the bus or make you look bad either.”

Tina nods, opening her mouth to say something, but I cut off whatever it is with my next words. “I want to spend time with Nate. I want to spend time with both of you, with all three of us together. But, I also know you need to spend time with him too, and the two of you plus your parents need time together too. I’m going to head out and let the four of you do that. We can talk later about how to introduce me and who I am to Nathan. Do you still have my number? It hasn’t changed.”

Grace is looking at me like she can’t quite believe I’m real. But, let’s be honest, I have a lifetime to spend with Nathan, and so does she. Tina? She’s only got weeks, possibly months. I’m never going to be the guy to take that time away from her, or my son.

Once I know she has my number and she sends me a text so I have hers, I leave them to it.

Then, when I walk out of the room, it’s to see Doctor Douche cornering Hannah down the corridor and I see red when he touches her face. Nope, not today asshole. One side of my mouth kicks up in a grin as I realize I’m going to get to use this guy to release some of my lingering frustration. I make my way to them, right as I hear him say, “You aren’t usually on this floor, so naturally, I assumed you must have come looking for me. What other reason would you have to be up here?”

What is this guy, a cartoon villain? Who in real life says stuff like that?