The Bad Boy and His Baby

Chapter Four.

"When you say "I love you", say it in a way she'll want to hear it. Look her in the eyes; grasp her hand; and lean close to her, so she knows you're truly serious."

"Hey Mommy?" Garrett spoke up, snapping Jennifer back into reality. He held up a book, but not just any book. A scrapbook. "What's this?"

Garrett handed it to his mother, letting her examine it closely. She opened the scrapbook to the first page, seeing pictures of her and Jase. A small smile grew as she looked closely at the pictures. "It's a scrapbook, sweetie. It holds pictures that you want to remember. Your father and I made this scrapbook together when we were started dating. 15 years old to 17 years old. We stopped once I found out I was having you."

"Why did you stop though?" He questioned, tilting his head to the side.

She chuckled. She loved when he did that; he looked adorable when he did it. He got that from his father. She didn't really want to tell him that her and Jase broke up, then he would wonder why. "Because... well, me and your father started drifting apart right when I found out I was having you. One day, I came home and he wasn't here. He left because he had some important business to deal with."

"Do you still love Daddy?" He asked, looking up at his mother with his big, bright blue eyes.

The sudden question shocked her. Did she still love Jase? No way in hell. Did she used to love him? Yes, very much. Just not anymore. She couldn't tell her son that though. It would break his heart into pieces to know that his parents don't love each other. "I don't know anymore, baby. Me and your father aren't really on good terms right now."

"Do you wemembwer all these pictuwes?"

Jennifer thought about it for a minute. She scanned through the pictures, smiling as she remembered most of them. Those were the best times of her life with him. "Most of them. They were the best moments of my life, especially when I was with him."

"Could you please tell me some of those memories?" Garrett pleaded, giving Jennifer his best pouty face. "And how you and Daddy got together? And what it was like being with him?"

She chuckled, but nodded. "Of course! Your father and I were completely in love. During school, he wasn't really a settle-down-for-long type of guy. One day, he asked me out, expecting only to go out on a few dates with me and not like me. After about four dates, he asked me to be his girlfriend cause... he fell in love with me. I admit, I didn't say yes at first. He was a player, while I was smart not to go out with him.

"Eventually, after he asked me every day, I said yes," She smiled, remembering the day she said yes to him. "That's when we had our first kiss. Well, actually he wanted to kiss me on the forehead, but one of his friends pushed him into me. Everyone kept saying how we were the cutest couple. When I got sick, he would go to my house every day to see me, and I thought it was sweet. When we graduated, he asked me to move in with him to a house he bought.."

"He got a difficult job," She continued. "At first, he was home all the time, having to go on business trips once every few months. Then it started getting to where he would leave often in the middle of the night. Finally, it got to where he wasn't home that much at all. I confronted him about it, and we often got into fights about it all the time. But, somehow, before he left for his business trips, he would tell me how much he loved me, that he would try to get home as fast as possible, and that he would call me everyday just to hear my voice. He really loved me back then."

Once she finished that last sentence, memories started flooding through her mind.

_________

Jennifer looked over at the digital clock that was on the TV stand. It was 2:30 A.M., and Jase still wasn't home. Every so often, she would glance over towards the front door to see if he was coming through the door quiety, but he never did. Please come home, Jase, she pleaded in her head. I miss you so much.