"Just a few more days, Craig baby, and we're outta here." Drew said taking a gulp of his beer. Craig looked around the bar and sighed. What in hell was he doing here at 2 in the afternoon drinking with Drew? He shook his head. He didn't know. Drew had been irritating him lately with his 'holier than thou' attitude. When it came to Forest Fire, Craig was as committed as any of them had been. Drew just didn't seem to understand -- or care, Craig noted -- the kind of crap that had been going on in his life lately. He wanted the band to take off, he wanted the big time. Craig wanted those things too but lately what seemed to be important was Mandie and this 'illegitimate' baby that everyone liked to tell him was his! He picked up his beer and drank half of it in one swig.

"I think if there ever was a time in my life, Drew, that I would become an alcoholic, NOW would be that time!" Craig said and finished off the beer. He held the glass up to the bartender while he swallowed the rest of the beer. Drew patted him on the back.

"Hey, man, I know what you're talking about. I've got some problems myself. Beertender, another one here please!" Drew said holding up his empty glass. Two fresh beers were served up promptly.

"Listen, Drew, you don't even know fucking problems until you've stepped into my shoes!" Craig said solemnly. Drew gulped the next beer and turned to Craig.

"Like what, man? What could be worse then not having a fuck for a week or more?" Craig chuckled.

"How about being engaged to a woman you adore, having her pregnant with your baby and then another chick coming and telling you that her baby is yours?" Drew whistled.

"Wow! Sounds like a fucking soap opera!" He said and then laughed. Craig downed the beer. He needed another and signaled the bartender. Yeah, soap opera! At least soap opera's had happy endings, didn't they? Well, Craig couldn't see the light at the end of this tunnel ....

"Man ... what about this baby? And how come this is the first I'm hearing of it?" Craig sighed.

"Well, what do you want me to do, take out a fucking ad in the newspaper?" Drew laughed out loud. He was feeling the effects of the alcohol and was certainly one to ride the tide ....

"I thought we were friends, Craig." He said throwing an arm over Craig's shoulder. Craig regarded it slowly.

"Well, Drew, we are but .... " How could he say this without pissing off his friend and his bandmate? "Sometimes you ...." He trailed off and thought a moment. "You are a bit involved with your own life to notice." He thought it was diplomatic. Drew, on the other hand, looked quite surprised. He drew in a deep breath and then breathed it out.

"I am?!" Drew asked, feigning injury. Craig shot him a look. "Please, tell me I'm not so self-absorbed!"

"Okay, I won't be the one to tell you!" Drew looked thoughtfully down at the glass he held in his hand.

"Craig, what the fuck is going on in your life? Man, you have been distant for a few months now. Forest Fire used to be your top priority and now ... you're like a stranger to us." He turned to Craig who stared down at the top of the bar, not blinking. "Well, we're a bit worried about you. And we got this record deal and all ... So, what is it?" Craig sighed. His chest felt heavy and he wasn't really in the mood to talk about it but he thought that maybe, just maybe if Drew had some insight into what his life had been like the last few months he wouldn't be so angry with him all the time. Craig turned to Drew and began to spill the details of what had been going between him and Mandie since his trip to Chicago to see his brother some months ago. He told him about the ex-boyfriend, the rape attempt, Mandie's pregnancy, and then finally, Charlotte and Charles. When he was finished Drew gulped down the last of his beer and nearly choked trying to swallow it all.

"Motherfucker!" Drew managed to say between coughs. "How the hell have you not committed suicide lately?" Craig managed to laugh.

"Well, that's encouraging!" Someone stuck a quarter in the jukebox behind them and The Dixie Chicks began singing a song about love lost and shotgun found. Craig regarded the woman singing and the twang that she sang in. He shook his head. Why hadn't he run away? He asked himself. He didn't know. The pull was Mandie. Mandie, his Mandie. The woman who made his whole life worth living. Mandolyn Tucker. Soon to be Mandolyn Scanlon. She loved him, for all that he was worth. At this point, it wasn't much. But she put up with his losses and appreciated his gains. She tolerated Charlotte and the baby. How could she? He wondered. He knew how he would feel if she had a baby from a previous relationship. He would hate the child. Or would he? It wasn't a child's fault who his parents were. They didn't get to pick and choose. Drew patted Craig's back.

"Craig. I really am sorry that all this shit has been going on. I thought my life sucked. What do you think you're going to do about this baby?" Craig thought a moment and then turned to Drew.

"Drew, I'll fucking tell you what I'm going to do." He cleared this throat before speaking. He was well on his way to being plowed but this subject helped him to sober up. "I am going to accept this baby if it is truly mine. I am going to hope and pray that Mandie will support me. I am going to marry the woman I love and we are going to have our own child, our own firstborn. I will be there for all of them, through thick and thin, better or worse, and I'm going to be the best damned fucking husband there ever was. And, hopefully a great father as well. " He had stood up while speaking and held his head up high. Drew regarded him with pursed lips and his chin resting on his hand on the bar. He blinked slowly a few times before standing up and throwing his arms around Craig.

"I love you, man!" He said tearfully. They broke apart. "You got a heart of gold! Hell, if I was a woman I'd want ya!" Craig burst out laughing and then Drew joined him. The two boys sat back down on the barstools and drank silently.

"I'm sorry if I've been hard on ya lately Craiggy boy." Drew said quietly.

"I'm not worried about it Drew. I know Forest Fire is the main focus in your life. And it is in mine too. And it won't be long before we're all together, away from the problems, making the record. That's what I'm looking forward to next, making the record."

"I am too. It will only be just a few more days ..."

Charlotte left the car running and burst into her cousin's house. It was after 10, everyone was asleep except for Beth who sat curled up in a LazyBoy rocker, feet tucked underneath her, the latest Stephen King novel lay open in her lap. She looked up as Charlotte breezed in. She took off her reading glasses and set them on the table next to the chair.

"You're early." Beth said to Charlotte who tossed her coat down on the couch and knelt down to Charles who was fast asleep in his rocker. Charlotte pulled back the blanket and kissed her baby lightly on his soft cheek.

"It wasn't that busy." Charlotte said to Beth standing up and then sitting down on the couch. "It's getting cold out there." She said.

"It's BEEN cold out there, honey, where have you been?" Beth was not a fan of winter and the arctic chill it brought with.

"It hasn't been to bad, I don't consider temps in the upper thirties, lower forties cold. What'cha reading?" Charlotte eyed the book in Beth's lap.

"It's a new Stephen King. He is the very best writer of novels above all else." Charlotte raised one eyebrow.

"Even Kafka?" She teased.

"Especially Kafka!" Beth responded! They were both forced to read Kafka in high school literature class. They read it together. Charlotte thoroughly enjoyed it where Beth was bored to tears. She ended up buying the Cliff's notes and barely passed the test. "That guy has the least amount of talent of anyone I have ever read. It just goes to prove that if some idiot writes it, another idiot will read it!" Charlotte laughed. She pulled her feet up on the couch and rested her head. She was weary. Even though it wasn't busy she was on her feet constantly. She would rather it was busy and then time went by quickly. Today it was just slow, slow, slow. And when it was slow, tips were poor. She still had to go Christmas shopping and couldn't for the life of her, figure out when she would get the time and where she would get the money. She glanced down at her baby. He was such a delight to her. She didn't know what she would have done without him. She worked for him, she kept the apartment for him, she lived just for him. Having him made her life worthwhile. She thought about Craig. She wished she had a nickel for everytime she thought about him. Then she could quit her job and live in luxury! Every single day since her sixth month of pregnancy she scolded herself for ending their relationship. But the union wasn't headed anywhere ... Craig was in Forest Fire and they were just a bar band. She, on the other hand, had high aspirations of a modeling career. She had been told by numerous men that she should be in Playboy. She wouldn't even consider it, she wanted a serious modeling career. Glamour, Cosmo, Maxim ... those were the rags she on which she wanted to see her face. Maybe even the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue ... She was a shoe-in for that. She could wear a g-string like second skin. And, wow, now that she is breastfeeding, did she have the breasts. She remembered the first time she and Craig were intimate. She pulled off her tight babydoll tee to expose her full, erect set. His eyes opened wide and he licked his lips spontaneously. He even asked if he could touch them! Like they were an exhibit to be gawked at only. He took his time with them, touching, tasting, molding, squeezing ... Suddenly she felt herself squirt from a nipple. She sighed disgustedly. These breastfeeding breasts were somewhat annoying, everytime you even thought about them they filled up and leaked.

"So ... " Charlotte began, pulling Beth away from her book once again. "What did you think of Craig when he was here yesterday?'

"Ummmm," Beth began, looking upward as if it would help her remember clearer the encounter. "He sure is handsome." She smiled. Charlotte grinned back at her.

"Yeah, he is." She said quietly.

"He was awfully polite. And, I'll just tell you this, he seems awfully taken by Charles." Charlotte's eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open.

"Charles?" She asked. Beth nodded.

"Yeah, he talks to him and touches him. He even seemed hesitant to hand him over to me." Charlotte closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.

"We're talking about Craig Scanlon, right?" She asked, incredulous.

"Sure, if that was Craig Scanlon that brought the baby over here yesterday." Charlotte nodded.

"Yeah, that was him. And he seemed to love the baby?"

"He seemed to love that baby! He even said to Charles that 'grandma seemed to like meeting him.'" A huge smile spread over Charlotte's face and she blushed.

"Well, I'll be!" She said happily. Maybe he was coming around! Maybe he was facing the fact that Charles was his baby! Maybe he would start sending her child support checks .... Charlotte frowned then, okay, maybe pigs can fly ... He was still in Forest Fire and going no where fast and still had no daytime job. There would be no child support in the near future. She sighed. "So what did you think of him?" She questioned Beth. Beth smiled slightly.

"He's got a great bod!" She said and grinned. "I was watching that ass as it walked away, mmm, mmm." Charlotte smiled a sly smile. "And those eyes, could you melt just looking into them?" Charlotte agreed. She did melt almost everytime she was alone with him. "He'll come around Char," Beth said with a sigh. "He just needs time. All this is so new to him. You just wait and see." Charlotte felt an aching in her heart that only Craig could fulfill. She hated herself for letting him go and especially now that Charles had been born. They would have made a beautiful family. Craig with his statuesque good looks and Charlotte with her model beauty. Charles is going to be so handsome he will make girls cry just to look at him!

"I hope he does, Beth. Charles needs his father. Craig needs to spend quality time with him. I just wish there was some way he and I could get back together." Charlotte said, a little downhearted. Beth swung her legs out from under her and sat up on the chair.

"Well, honey, you never know!" Charlotte looked quickly at her.

"Oh I know!" She said. "He's with a woman he loves and will never leave. She's very successful and I think they are somewhat well off." Beth clicked her tongue and sighed heavily.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it honey. Just remember, Charles is the bond that glues you two together come rain or shine! No matter what woman or whatever he is with you will always be in his life thanks to little Charles." Beth said and smiled triumphantly. Charlotte managed a smile.

"Yeah." She said. She didn't just want to be in Craig's life, she wanted Craig. She wanted to hold him when he was blue, she wanted to laugh with him, explore new worlds with him, watch Charles grow up with him. Most of all she wanted to make love with him, late at night, in the dark, hot, passionate sex. Tongues, hands, body parts ... she wanted it all. It hurt her to the core that she couldn't have it. The kiss she'd stolen the night before was so much that she dreamed erotic dreams of him that night and awoke in a thin layer of sweat. The sex they used to have was fabulous. He had no inhibitions, they would do it anywhere and at anytime, God how she missed that! Again, sorry for breaking it off with him, she sat up on the couch and looked down at Charles.

"I guess, little boy, it's time we motorvate." Beth got up and began to gather up Charles' things and threw them into the diaper bag. Charlotte slipped into her coat and, with Charles in one hand, diaper bag on the other shoulder, she gave her cousin and hug and took off out the door.

"Same time, same channel!" Beth hollered as she buckled Charles into the car. Charlotte waved as she got in, buckled her seat belt, and then pulled out towards her dark, cold, unfriendly apartment -- alone.

Return To Top