Chapter 72

Avery 

When I woke up, he was on the bed next to me playing with Amelia. She was already showered and dressed and so was Jake. I looked at him and he smiled at me. 

“Today is Saturday, and I’ll spend the day with my little Princess. I gave Landon two weeks off. Andrea and Cassy wanted to go home, so I let them. Your father and your cousin are over at your place with Sherry. I need you to do something for me love”, he said.

“Anything for you”, I said. 

I sat and listened as he told me what happened last night. When he said Suzanne, I was a bit shocked. I got dressed and had a late breakfast, then left for the hospital. When I got there it wasn’t hard to find their room. I knocked on the door and went in. The minute Suzanne saw me she smiled and came over to me. 

“Hello Mrs. Woods, what are you doing here”?. 

“Really, Suzanne? Mrs. Wood. You’ve always called me Avery and that will not change”, I said. I looked at the woman sitting on the bed and I saw similar features between her and Jake. 

“I’m sorry for dropping in on you like this, Ma’am, but my husband told me what happened last night, so I came by to check on you both”, I said.

“Oh, dear, thank you and thank your husband for us also. My name is Julia. If your husband hadn’t shown up, lord knows how long that man would have kept us”, she said.

“If I may ask Julia. Why did he do that to you? Jake said you mentioned a brother Suzanne”?, I asked her, I saw the forlorn look that came onto Julia’s face and I saw that sadness in her eyes. 

“Yes, my brother Nathan. He was taken away by our father when he was five and we. Well, my mother and I have been searching for him for years”, Suzanne said, sitting next to her mother and holding her hands. 
“I... “I don’t understand”, I said. Julia looked at me and smiled, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. 

“My husband and I were happy when we found out we were going to be parents. I was twenty-five years old, and Kenneth was twenty-seven years old. When Ken found out we were having a boy, he was so happy over the moon, but after Nathan was born, Ken realized that he didn’t want to make sacrifices”, she said with a sigh.

“I raided Nathan alone. When Nathan turned five, Kenneth…. Well, alcohol and drugs got a hold on him. It was shortly after Nathan’s fifth birthday, to be exact, when I found out I was pregnant with Suzanne here. That was when the abuse started. I couldn’t tolerate it, so I ran. I was four months pregnant when I left. I got Ken so drunk that he couldn’t move. I packed a small back and what little money I managed to save and ran” she said.  

“I knew if Kenneth found us it wouldn’t be good. I went all the way to Bennington. Most people didn’t want to give a pregnant woman a job or one that had a five-year-old child. I don’t know if it was by luck or fate that I found that bookstore. It was a small bookstore; an elderly couple ran it, and they needed someone to watch it in the evening. They were always open. I opened up to them about my situation. They told me they couldn’t pay me a lot, but they had a small apartment at the back that I could use, so I took it”. 

“I would run the store in the nights and Nathan was asleep right where I could check on him. I saved every penny I earned. I was free and happy for once, but I was cautious of Kenneth finding us. I was eight months pregnant when it happened. One night, I was in the bookstore when Ken walked in like it was something he had been doing forever. The minute he saw me, he smiled and said to me” Did you really think you could keep my son away from me?”. He came over to me and started hitting me. I guess my screaming and crying woke Nathan up because at that same time he walked out crying”. 

She began crying and shaking her head. Suzanne just held her mother. 

“The minute Ken saw him he grabbed him and ran out of the store. Ran after him yelling and screaming, trying to get someone’s attention, anyone’s attention. I couldn’t catch up with him. I passed a police officer and told him what happened, and they took off after him. I went into Labor that night. Suzanne was born prematurely. Luckily, the elder couple who I worked for helped me. I told them what happened, and they visited the police station on my behalf”,

“Mrs. Woods, that was the last time I saw my son. The minute I was released from the hospital, I went searching for him on the streets of Bennington. With his picture. I visited hospitals, orphanages, police stations and nothing. I never gave up. When Suzanne was five, I saw Kenneth in a bar, and I called the police on him. They arrested him but he just laughed. All I wanted was my son back, but he refused to say anything. The police beat him, but he still wouldn’t relent and tell me where he was”.

“When Suzanne turned ten, he was released from prison. He showed up at our door. He beat me that day. I thought I would die. Luckily, Suzanne came home in time and yelled for the neighbors. That was when I told Suzanne everything, and she convinced me to leave Bennington. We moved around a lot so he wouldn’t find us. There isn’t a police station I haven’t visited looking for my son. That bastard died three years ago in prison for fraud, and he still refused to ever say what he did with Nathan”, she said. 

I could see the pain in her eyes and hear it in her voice. “So how did you get mixed up with The Mayor”? I asked 

“ I had posted our story online, which was shortly after your situation with everything. I don’t know how the mayor found it, but he contacted me saying he wanted to help, and it would be his good deed of the year, so we agreed. My mother has been in pain and regret every day since my brother got taken away, so we agreed. He met us at the hospital and had them take a DNA sample from me. He said he would send it abroad to find matches. He returned about four months later saying he had found a match”.

“We asked who it was, but he said he wanted it to be a surprise. He invited us over to his place and said my brother would show up. I remember he served us drinks and after that he had us locked up there. He refused to tell us who my brother was. He asked my mom about how she lost my brother, and I knew he was up to something, so I made her lie”, Suzanne said. 

“Okay. Do you have any pictures of your son”?, I asked. 

“Yes, I do. I kept all his pictures”. Julia said 

“Okay. Can you give me some of his pictures? My husband has a lot of influence here and abroad. I’ll try and see what I can find out”, I said. 

“Thank you, you are truly a god sent. Suzy, go home and take Mrs. Woods with you”.

Jake

I was doing some work in my office with Amelia. Well, she was asleep. It's been well over four hours since she left. I was starting to get worried about her when I heard a knock at the door and she came in. She sat down in front of me and looked at me. 
“Princess, What’s wrong”?, she just shook her head. 

She opened her bag and put an envelope down in front of me. I looked at it, then at her. She nodded at it. I was hesitant about opening it. I opened it and pictures fell out. I picked up the first one and dropped it. I opened the bottom draw on my desk and pulled out the picture I had hidden there. I handed it to her and sat back. She was my mother. 

She looked at the picture and then at me. “She didn’t abandon you. Your father took you away. She’s always been looking for you. Your mother loves Jake and she never stopped. Suzanne showed me all the presents. Every year for your birthday she, bought a present and kept it hoping to see you again one day”. 

I walked around the table and hugged her.” I love you Avery”.

“I love you too, Jake. They will be here for dinner tonight. You finally found your mother”, she said.

“You, you are the reason I found her. If I hadn’t seen you I wouldn’t even be here”