What Have I Done and What Am I Going to Do Now? (A teacher/student mishap)

Chapter 42: The Devil in the Mix

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Chapter 42: The Devil in the Mix

It took a few days for us all to digest Veronica's story and wether or not we believed if it were true. I'd like to think that she was honest but there was a chance she was protecting her ass. We'd hopefully find the answers we sought in one of two places, either the hospital in Albany or at my parent's house, maybe both. That's precisely why the three of us, Nash, Fenix and I had set out for our home town of Albany. We, Carver's three parents for all intents and purposes, had stopped briefly at the hospital to visit our son, before we set out on our journey. His transplant was but a week away and Nash, being so gracious as to not only donate his marrow but give his hand at pseudo-fatherhood a try, had some pre-op testing that needed to be done before the procedure, so it seemed like the perfect time to do both.

It would be a terribly painful physical process for Nash when they bore deeply into his pelvic bone with a very large needle to take out a chunk of bone containing the marrow. It would also be emotionally taxing on him, knowing he was Carver's one and only chance for survival. As much as I may have doubted his determination after our first conversation the day after we discovered we were his parents, I could now see that Nash was wholeheartedly invested in Carver's wellbeing. Not only had he taken the steps necessary to donate his bone marrow in what would hopefully be a life saving endeavor, but he had opened himself up to our son in a way that I didn't think he would, or was capable of doing.

Nash more than befriended the boy, as he had previously done before he knew he was the father, but had grown closer to him. He showed Carver how to do puzzles and games he played as a child and gave him lessons of what his father had taught him as a boy. Nash also told him stories of when he was our son's age, in an attempt at bonding with him. Carver loved the attention and took to Nash quite nicely. He was definitely growing on the boy and becoming something of a new favorite 'uncle', as he referred to him as Uncle Nashy.

We hadn't told Carver the truth about his parents yet because we weren't sure if he'd understand the situation at his age, and didn't want to set his health back. Such a stressful event may have caused postponement of the transplant which none of us wanted, however Fenix was strongly considering telling him anyway. He had already told Carver that his 'mother' wouldn't be in to see him for a while, which he took rather well for a hospitalized four year old. I suppose with so many new playmates around he may not have missed her so much after all, because he was already showered with attention.

In fact, Fenix had pretty much banned Veronica from seeing Carver altogether, saying that it was detrimental to him and even went so far as to have his lawyer draft legal documents stating her involvement in the paternity mixup, which she deposed and signed under pressure from him, and to have her parental rights waved. Fenix had yet to make her sign the latter, but I knew he would if he was forced to. I believed she would comply out of guilt or fear of legal repercussions, as did he, which made it all the better for us.

She had no rightful claim to our son and technically neither did he, but we were willing to work with Fenix and integrate him into our family as long as he had the child's best interests at heart. Veronica, on the other hand, seemed perfectly accepting of his terms so far and I would suspect wouldn't cause us any more trouble. As of late, we hadn't alerted the authorities to the illegal matter of the baby swap, but it would only be hours before they got wind of it, especially after we made a visit to the hospital director in Albany, demanding answers.

So there we sat, in Fenix's black charger, barreling down the interstate on our way to Albany to find the answers we so desperately needed and deserved. Nash sat quietly in back, just listening to our conversation yet trying to keep himself out of it, and singing along to the 'redneck song' as he referred to it, by Blake Shelton. I could see that Fenix was preoccupied by what we'd find in Albany by the way he chewed his bottom lip, a tell to when he was nervous. I was a little anxious myself, not knowing for certain whether I'd be forced to confront my parents, but knowing full well that the possibility was highly probable. The last thing I wanted to do was see my parents, but if that was where the clues led us, then that was where we'd follow.