| Part 18 ( bryan) The next day I woke up, still on the sofa, alone. I stretched and got up, there were noises in the kitchen. I wandered in, rubbing my eyes, Robyn was in the kitchen making breakfast. "Morning." She said. "Morning." I yawned back. "Have a good sleep then?" I nodded. "What time are you going at?" "About 2. What time is it now?" She looked at her watch. "Nearly 9." "Kids still asleep?" She nodded. "Taking Dylan today?" "I don't know. What do you think?" She shrugged her shoulders. Just then, Dylan and Jess wandered into the kitchen. "Hey you guys." "Hi." They both said and climbed up on the chairs at the breakfast bar. "Want some breakfast?" Robyn asked them. They both nodded. "Cereal?" "Yeah!" Jess cried, Dylan just nodded. He seemed really quiet. "You ok Dyl?" I asked him, feeling his forehead in case he was sick, he was a little warm. "Not feeling too good?" He nodded a little. I looked up at Robyn. "He's had a bit of a cough, maybe it's just a cold." She said. "Yeah, I noticed that." I said. "Want to go back to bed and watch cartoons after you've ate your breakfast?" "Can I?" He asked, smiling a little. "Yeah." I replied. "Robyn, can you keep an eye on him while I go to see Derek?" "Of course I will." "Can I go and see Uncle Derek with you?" Jess asked, the kids loved it there. I looked up at Robyn again. "Don't you want to stay here with me and Dyl?" She asked. Jess thought for a moment and then shook her head. "I want to play with the puppy. Can I, please?" She begged. A few days before we had gone on tour, Derek had bought a puppy, needless to say, the kids loved it. "Ok, if you promise to behave." "I will." "Ok. Eat your breakfast, then get ready, ok?" She nodded and they both started to eat their breakfast. After breakfast, Robyn put Dylan back to bed and me and Jess got ready to go and see Derek. We went shopping first, and then to Derek's. He was waiting anxiously outside the house, and got a surprise when he noticed Dylan wasn't there. "Hi, where's Dylan?" He asked, a little annoyed. "At home, he's not well." I explained. "Not well? What's wrong with him? Have you taken him to the doctor?" He asked, now worried. "Just a bit of a cough, I think, nothing serious. He's in bed watching his cartoons." "Uncle Derek." Jess was impatient, " can we go in and play with the puppy?" "Sure you can. I wondered why you had ants in your pants." He laughed a little. "But I don't have -" "In you go Jess." I laughed at house serious she took things. Once we were inside, Derek and I sat in the kitchen, while Jess played with the puppy in the living room. "Actually," he started, "I'm glad that you brought Jess today." "I wasn't going to, but she wanted to see the puppy." "Oh right. About Jess. I want a test done." "You what?!" I said, shocked. "You heard, I want to know." "I cannot believe you!" I cried. "Jess! We're going. Put your coat on." "Look, if you want, I can get a lawyer, make you do the test. I don't want that, and I don't think you do either." He said, calmly. "Ok, fine. I'll do it." I gave in. " I made an appointment already. Tomorrow at 11am. Can you manage that?" I nodded. "You and Jess come here tomorrow at 10am, then we can go, that ok?" "None of this is ok, Derek, but I'll see you tomorrow." "Ok then, that's sorted." "Why are you doing this to us, now? Haven't we lost enough? First Ally, now you want my kids too?" "You don't understand. Those kids are all I have left of her." He said, looking sad. "You still loved her, didn't you." He nodded. "Well, taking the children away from me won't bring her back, you know that, don't you?" He nodded again. "It's not as if you never see them." "I know that." "Dylan knows you want custody. He doesn't want to stay here, not without me and Jess." I explaine, remembering his fear on the plane. "You told him?" "No, he overheard me and Mark." I said, "so don't do this." "I'll think about it." He said, quietly. "Hey Jess, want a biscuit?" "No thanks!" She yelled back, still playing. "Going back in the living room?" I asked, and we both walked in. "You really like that puppy, huh Jess?" Derek asked her. She nodded excitedly. "Yeah, Daddy, can we get a puppy?" "No, Jess, sometimes we wouldn't be at home. If we go on tour again. There'd be no one to look after it." "But Daddy-" "I said no, Jess." Derek looked over at her sympathetically. "Maybe you could get a smaller animal." He said. "Yeah?" He nodded. "It can stay here if you guys have to go away." "Daddy? Can I?" She asked, excited. "We'll see." I sighed. "Ok Jess, time to go, I think." "Do we have to?" I nodded. " can we come back again?" "We have to come back tomorrow." I said. "We've got something important to do." "Yeah?" "Yeah. So grab your coat." With that we left. We drove back to the house, once inside, I collapsed onto the sofa. "How did it go?" Robyn asked, coming downstairs. "I got to play with the puppy!" Jess cried, running over. "I'm going to tell Dylan all about i!" She made a run for upstairs. "Best leave it until later on, he's sleeping." Robyn explained. "Is he ok?" I asked, getting a little worried myself. "Yeah, maybe if he's still sick tomorrow, we should call a doctor." She suggested. "It IS just a cold, isn't it?" "I think so, don't worry." She sat beside me. "So what happened?" "He's going to think about the custody thing, but he wants a paternity test on Jess." I explained. " he knows that Dylan doesn't want to go." "Can he make you take the test?" I nodded. "When?" "Tomorrow." "that soon?" I nodded again. "When will you get the results?" "2 weeks?" "Oh." So in 2 weeks, I would know if I was going to lose everything. |