Chapter 119: Amelia Haughton
*I’m sorry I’m not the perfect daughter that you want me to be. At least you have the perfect son. – Amelia*
The next week, Evie waited everyday for Amelia to come see her. When she did not stop by, she checked the girl’s schedule and left a note with her homeroom teacher, Nathan O’Donnell, for Amelia to come see her. The following week she did not stop by either.
She left messages with her other teachers. They all swore that they gave her the notes. And they all agreed that she seemed very depressed.
After two weeks, Mr. O’Donnell contacted her parents and requested a conference. He then told Evie that her parents would be in the following Tuesday afternoon.
Sunday morning her phone rang well before the sun was up. Ink shifted under Evie and grabbed it off the bedside table.
“Pet? Who’s Nathan O’Donnell?” he asked groggily.
“Math teacher.” She replied reaching for her phone, she clicked the green button and held it to her ear. “Nathan?”
Ink could hear a masculine voice. Tank stirred on the other side of her. He kissed her bare shoulder as his hand rested on her belly.
“Yeah, they’re both here.” At that comment, both men looked at each other, afraid of what was going to happen next. “No!” she screamed and began sobbing.
Tank gently took the phone from her as Ink offered her comfort. Strong colorful arms held her close as tears flowed freely. Tank clicked the speaker phone button.
“We have you on speaker. Tell us what’s going on.”
“Has she told you about Amelia Haughton?” Came an emotional response from the other end of the line.
“Yes. She’s been quite worried about the girl.” Tank replied as Ink murmured against her hair.
“She killed herself overnight.” He said, voice cracking and full of tears and pain.
“Oh, Evie, pet.”
“One of us will call you back.” Tank disconnected the call and wrapped his arms around Evie and Ink. “We’re here, luv, we’ve got you.”
They held her while she cried. As the tears began to slow, Ink kissed her before slipping out of the bed. He started the water in the bathtub before finding himself a pair of Golden Girls pajama pants.
He brushed some hair behind her ear and kissed her temple. Tank handed over her phone and Ink headed downstairs. On the second ring, Nathan picked up with a sorrowful hello.
“It’s Ink.”
“Are you the one I met at the breakfast before school? Big, bulky and scary as hell?”
The smell of coffee and bacon greeted him halfway down the stairs. “No, Tank is scary as hell. I’m lovable as fuck.”
Athos was getting bacon out of the cast iron skillet as Ink walked across the room. “I heard Evie scream, and not the way you two usually make her scream in the morning. Is she okay?”
Shaking his head no, he told the younger man; “One of her students died last night.”
“Not the one she was worried about?”
“Yeah, that one. She killed herself.”
His hands froze for the briefest of moments before he began placing more bacon in the skillet. “I’ll bring breakfast up. You go take care of her.”
The older man didn’t move and Athos sighed.
“Ink, she’s not my woman. But damn it, she’s still mine. She needs both of you.”
“You’re a good man, Athos. Let me talk to this guy, and I’ll head back upstairs.” Ink said as he sat down at the bar and Athos put a cup of coffee in front of him. Scooping sugar into the mug, he turned his attention back to the man on the phone. “Sorry, I had to fill in my little brother.”
“I get it. I’ll tell you what I know.”
He quickly went through everything that he had been told. She went to take a shower and after nearly an hour her dad busted down the door. They found her in the bottom of the shower, water still running and a cut along her left forearm going almost completely from wrist to elbow. On the counter was her latest report card. All high A's except for one 93 and an 89.
I’LL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU
It was written on the mirror in permanent marker. It was both accusation and fact. Her brother, the freshman team quarterback, barely scraped by with 80s and was praised for his efforts. She had two grades that slipped below a 95 and a huge fight had broken out.
It had been the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. Already struggling with depression and when she told her parents that she needed help, they told her high school is hard, get over it.
Ink hung up the phone and went back upstairs. He found Evie sitting between Tank’s legs in the oversized tub. The bubbles were up to her chin and when he put his hand in the warm water, he found the other man’s hands exactly where he expected them to be. On her growing belly.
Tank could tell you what sized fruit they could be compared to. What milestones they would be hitting. He could tell you that soon they should also be able to feel them moving. And not just the little fluttering that she kept describing.
Ink admitted that he had the same app on his phone. He knew that at the next sonogram they would get to know the sex. The Ladies had already declared that they were doing a gender reveal at the clubhouse. Neither man was dumb enough to say no.
“Athos is making you some breakfast.” Ink said softly and she nodded. “Do you want anything, pet?”
“No. I should have pushed a little harder.”
“Her mind was already made, luv. You did everything that you could.”
