Soldiers in Love

Chapter 5: Donovan-4

“I’ve come to see my son, Paul,” Daniel answered evenly. “I didn’t come to make trouble.”

“Where were you when he needed you? Ah yes, playing soldier.” He narrowed his eyes on Daniel. “I’m here. I’m the only father he knows and will ever know. There’s no room in his life for someone who drops in from time to time when he’s not out playing with his tanks.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Daniel’s fist clench. I put a hand on his arm.

“Don’t,” I whispered. “It’s what he wants you to do.”

Paul grinned. “You might want to listen to your lady,” he sneered

“Why are you being so cruel?” Daniel whispered. “That’s my son. All I want is to see him. I won’t interfere with the two of you.” The baby blew a raspberry, catching Daniel’s attention. He reached out a hand to touch the child’s tiny hand. The longing on his face to hold the child broke my heart. Debbie and Paul just stared at him with a hateful sneer on their faces.

Just as Daniel took the boy’s hand in his, Debbie snatched the child away, causing Daniel to pull his arm inadvertently.

Instantly, the boy began to cry. Daniel’s eyes widened and he walked over towards the baby. Paul shoved him in the chest. Debbie tried to comfort the child.

“Look what you did!” she screamed at Daniel. “You hurt him!”

“You jerked him away. You caused him to get hurt. You!” I said to Debbie.

She knew I was right. But she refused to give Daniel a chance to comfort his son. She handed him to the woman fretting in the shadows.

“Rosa! Rosa, here,” she said, handing the still crying child to the caregiver. “Please take Donovan upstairs and tend to him. Perhaps you can take him outside to play.”

Rosa slowly took the baby from Debbie and walked away. She looked over her shoulder to Daniel who was watching her leave. She offered him a kind smile but what could she do? She had to keep her job.

After she’d taken the baby outside, Paul turned back to Daniel.

“You can leave too, Bernhardt. There’s nothing here for you.”

“You can’t keep me from him, Debbie,” Daniel said softly.

“Actually,” she said with a mean smile. “ I can.” She went into another room. We could hear her rummaging through papers. Moments later, she was back. “This is how I can keep you away from him.”

She held up a folded piece of paper. “See this little bitty piece of paper can keep you 500 feet from this house, from Donovan and from me.”

“A restraining order? You seriously got a restraining order against me? Why? On what grounds?”

She blinked rapidly until tears formed in her eyes. Oh she was good. Sniffling delicately, she said, “I’m afraid of what you might do to him or to me,” she said softly.

Paul put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “We can’t take a chance that you’d run away with him, Bernhardt. Nor can we risk you flipping out and hurting Debbie.” Paul took the restraining order and handed it to Daniel. “Just go away, Bernhardt. Leave us alone. Debbie has been through enough.”

Daniel stared at the paper in his hand as if it were going to bite him. “Debbie has been through enough?” Daniel said from between clenched teeth. “What hell you claim is nothing compared to what I’ve been through. It can never compare. I’ve seen and done things that would have you screaming in fear. And the only thing that kept me alive was knowing that I had a wife and child waiting for me. I had to get home. You didn’t want me, fine. I can handle that. But you’re telling me that I can’t see my own flesh and blood,” Daniel shook his head. “That’s the worse thing you can do to a man.”

Debbie’s face was a mask of stone. “That’s why I want you out of his life. You’ve never been in his life. He doesn’t know you.”

“He can get to know me,” Daniel argued. “And I can get to know him.”

Debbie shook her head. “And what happens when you deploy again? You’ll be gone another two years. Or more. And meanwhile, Donovan is growing up without a father. No. I won’t do that to him again. I won’t. He has a father who is here every day. A father he can be proud of. How will you answer him when he asks why your face looks like that? Or when he gets picked on because his dad’s skin looks like someone peeled him like a grape? What then?”

I gasped out loud at her cruelty. This was the father of her son, for God’s sake! And she was treating him like less than a man.

Daniel met her gaze. “I will tell him the truth. I was burned trying to save four men from a burning tank. He doesn’t need to hear about the other things that happened to me.”

And just when I thought Debbie couldn’t get any meaner, she surprised me.

“But you didn’t do it, did you? You let two of them die, didn’t you? You got out and they didn’t. Some commanding officer you are, letting your troops die.” She stepped forward, her face twisted in anger and hatred for the man who was the father of her child. The man she’d at one time loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with. “It should have been you,” she whispered.

I felt the color drain from my face the same as Daniel. Even Paul seemed shocked by the venom in her voice.

Daniel cleared his throat. His feelings were hurt, I could tell. But he faced her without flinching. “All I want is to see my son,” he repeated quietly. “I don’t want to cause trouble for you. I can see him in a public place or you can drop him off.”

“No.”

“The courts will grant me visitation, Debbie.”

“You want to go to court? Fine. But they will see your name isn’t on his birth certificate. Paul’s is. He’s been there since day one.”

Daniel stared at her in disbelief. “After you did what you did to me in the hospital, I didn’t think you could go any lower. You just proved me wrong. I guess I’ll be seeing you in court.”

She shrugged, tossing her hair back. “You may try.”

Paul stepped forward. “Stay away from my son, Bernhardt or I’ll have you arrested.” He pushed the paper back towards Daniel when he tried to give it back. “So you can remember.”

I gently took his arm. “Come on, babe,” I said softly. “There’s nothing else you can do here.”

“You should listen to her Daniel,” Debbie said. “Though why you want him is beyond me. But I guess you are of the same ilk. I hope you’ll wise up and get away from him. This man is crazy. He’s bad news.”

“You can’t keep him from his son. We’ll fight this in court.”

“Paul and I are both family law attorneys. And we have enough connections to bury you and Daniel forever. Don’t play with me, little girl. You’ll get your feelings hurt.”

It was then that I realized that for all her fine house and fancy degrees, she was from the river just like Daniel and I were. The only difference was that she tried to hide it and use her money to hurt others.

“Let’s go,” Daniel said, interrupting my thoughts.

And we walked out of that house, away from his ex-wife and her husband’s grinning faces. As we went down the steps, Rosa was coming around the side with Donovan in a stroller. Daniel paused outside the car, watching them. I knew he wanted to go over to them and hold his son. But we didn’t know whether Debbie and Paul had set this up and were watching and waiting for any excuse to get Daniel jailed.

Rosa walked past us, pushing the child in front of her as if she didn’t see us.

“Vamos al parque, Donovan,” she said to the baby, loud enough for us to hear. “Vamos a jugar con la columpia. Pero solamente vamos a quedar una hora. Tengo que darte de comer.” We’re going to the park, Donovan. We will play on the swings. But we can only stay for an hour. I have to get your dinner.

She ambled on down the street, singing a song in Spanish to the baby. Daniel watched her until she turned the corner before getting into the car. He wouldn’t meet my gaze and I felt so bad for him.

“She’s taking him to the park,” he said quietly. “They’ll only be there for an hour.”

“Do you want to go over there?”

“Yes.”

I glanced at him. “Are you sure? This could be a set up. They could be trying to get you to violate that restraining order so that they have a reason to call the cops on you.”

“I want to see my son,” he said softly. “You can drop me off if you want to. I can get back home.”

I sighed as I started the car. “I won’t leave you, Daniel,” I said. “I just don’t want you to get hurt or thrown in jail for something stupid.”

“Seeing my son isn’t stupid. If I get arrested, then I guess I’ll stay in jail until my hearing. I’m going to see my son.”

I said no more. He was adamant and nothing I said or did was going to change his mind. I was pretty certain that he’d jump out of the car if I went the wrong direction.

We pulled into the parking lot and I turned off the engine. Daniel sat there, watching the families playing. I knew he was feeling badly about not being able to do that with Donovan. I hated the fact that his ex was keeping him from the child. I wished that there was something that I could do to help, but it was out of my control and none of my business.

I too scanned the playground. Sure enough, Rosa had Donovan in the swing, pushing him gently. I pointed to where they were and Daniel got out of the car. I followed him, not bothering to ask him if he wanted me to come along. He’d have some flippant answer in the mood he was in now.

Rosa looked up as we approached. She looked around, I guess making sure that Donovan’s mom and stepfather hadn’t followed them or were parked somewhere nearby watching. I too looked around but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Daniel only had eyes for Donovan. He knelt in the sand in front of the swing, pushing it gently. The baby seemed to recognize him and he smiled. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and caught that smile on camera. I would have the pictures printed for Daniel to keep in his box.

He looked up at Rosa. “Puedo abrazarlo?” Can I hold him?

Rosa looked uncertain. She looked around again then back to Daniel. “No sè si debo…..” she said slowly. I don’t know if I should…..

“Por favor, Señora,” Daniel said. “No voy a secuestrarlo. Solo quisiera abrazarlo un rato.” Please ma’am. I’m not going to kidnap him. I just want to hold him for a while.

Rosa hesitated. I knew what she was thinking. If her employers caught Daniel holding Donovan or even here at the park interacting with him, she could lose her job. I wondered if she had children of her own.

Finally, she nodded. Daniel waited for her to take Donovan from the swing. She held the child, talking softly to him. Daniel opened his arms to the baby and the child went into his arms readily and without hesitation.

I felt a lump rise in my throat watching Daniel hug his son for the first time. His eyelids fluttered closed and he hugged the tiny body close. He buried his lips in the child’s hair. Donovan giggled and squirmed in Daniel’s arm at the tickling sensation. Daniel laughed, a real, heartfelt laugh. I took that picture too. Rosa smiled at the two of them.

“He don’t go to much people,” she explained haltingly. “But he go to him like he know him for a long time.”

I nodded. Rosa was right. Daniel and Donovan looked like they were super close. Donovan with his blond hair and Daniel with his darker locks, made a charming picture. Daniel set the boy on his feet and Donovan promptly took off running. His father chased him around the grassy area. I’ve never seen Daniel like this, smiling, laughing. He looked so relaxed. So free. It was like 20 years had been shaved off of his face. I managed to get that picture as well. That one was going to be for me. To remember this moment when Donovan was not with him and he went back to being the sad, angry man that he’d been since before I’d met him.