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At our brunch I can’t believe what I’m hearing Luke ask Anthony! Anthony just said that Luke can call him dad, but he did leave the final decision up to me. Luke had called Jeff daddy a few times as a young kid and he hated it. I finally nod that it’s okay for Luke to call him daddy. It really makes my heart swell because Luke isn’t his and he doesn’t care if he’s not blood related.
The next few weeks go by uneventful. I spent a week recovering while Luke was on spring break. Luke was an awesome kid, he’d just piled up in my bed with me after Anthony left and let me sleep. Apparently Anthony had shown him how to operate the television remote so that he could watch cartoons or something else that piqued his interest.
Last week I noticed that Anthony wore suits to work. I asked him why he wasn’t wearing his uniform and he said, “Court Lillybear, you don’t need to worry about it.” I always thought they wore their uniforms to court, but the only time I had been to court was traffic court when I was eighteen. Then the cop who had written me the ticket was only in court for like thirty minutes.
It’s a Friday morning and I get a phone call from Chris to get dressed in something nice, nothing flashy, and be ready to meet him in fifteen minutes. I question him as to why and he only says that he’ll explain it on the drive. I’m wondering if Anthony got hurt or something happened to Luke at school. I go into panic mode and hurry up to get dressed in a nice pair of black dress slacks, a pair of penny loafers, and a sea foam green button up dress shirt.
By the time I’m dressed Chris is pulling up to the gate. I meet him at his cruiser, he hops out and comes around opening the front passenger door for me. I get in wondering why he’s being so mysterious. “What is going on?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Chris says with a semi smirk on his face. I can’t tell if it’s a smirk hiding that he’s laughing at something or if he’s smirking because he knows something that I don’t know.
“I’ve got to pick up Luke from school in a while, I’ll need my car.” I tell Chris hoping he’ll shed some light how long I’ll be.
“Don’t worry Kathy is going to pick him up for you.” Chris replies.
“And when exactly were you and Anthony going to tell me about this?” I know that Anthony has something to do with this whole setup. He was so nonchalant when I asked why he was wearing suits to work over the last week.
“When we get there.” Was all that Chris had replied.
“Okay, fine be that way.” I said as I’m pretending to give up on questioning where we are going.
“Good.” He says as he turns his cruiser back towards town.
We drive for the next little while in silence when we pull up in front of the county court house I see Anthony standing there in his suit and sunglasses. He looks all official. It’s been weeks since we started sleeping in the same room as a couple. I’ve gotten used to him calling me by his pet name Lillybear. Luke has been calling him daddy and he’s responding to it just about everytime. Although we haven’t had sex, he hasn’t even attempted it with me, but I know that he wants it. I don’t know how I’ll react to even trying to have a sexual relationship. My body aches for sex, but I’m not sure that I’m mentally ready for it.
Chris parks in the official vehicle parking space and opens my door up for me. He escorts me to where Anthony is standing. They don’t say anything to each other, I’m almost getting the feeling that I’m in trouble. Anthony places his hand on my lower back. He’s very aware of where the colostomy bag is at and he keeps his hand from pressing onto it. He shows me inside the courthouse to a room that has red carpeting, and an elongated table in the center. Around the outside there is a printer and copier, a water jug with paper cups so that people can drink water during depositions and even a microphone and video camera. I’m curious as to why he’s brought me into the room, but he’s not telling me anything. He pulls out one of the office chairs that sit around the table. I take the hint and sit in the chair.
A few moments later two more men in business suits just like the one Anthony is wearing step in. They are having a discussion, but stop once they see me and Anthony in the room. Anthony nods at the men who quickly introduce themselves. A few minutes later an older man and a young woman come into the room. The older man is wearing a judges robes, while the lady who is with him is dressed in a blue skirt and a red blouse. She carries with her something that resembles a typewriter as well as a sweater. I’m starting to regret not bringing a light jacket with me because the airconditioner is so cold in the room I’m starting to shiver.
Anthony must have picked up on the fact that I’m cold because a couple of seconds after I realized how cold I am his jacket is hanging loosely on my shoulders. It’s warm and smells like him. I hate to admit that it actually calms me down some. I realize that Anthony has become a sort of security of security blanket;when he isn’t there, I miss him. After the Judge and secretary get seated Anthony finally sits down in the chair next to me.
The judge clears his throat and says, “Alright gentleman lets get this started.” He then nods to the secretary and she starts to type away at the small typewriter.
The first lawyer slides a packet of papers to Anthony, the judge and one to me. I look at the packet with confusion, no one has told me what I’m doing here or what this is about. The judge pulls out a set of reading glasses and places them low on his nose and proceeds to read the paperwork.
After a couple of minutes of him looking over the paperwork he tells the attorneys that it looks satisfactory to him. Then he clears his throat and says, “Lilly Aniya Watson, I know that you have no idea why you are here. It had to be done this way.” He pauses momentarily and looks at Anthony before he begins again. “If you look at the packet in front of you Mister Anthony Sharp has had drawn up over the last few days. Inside the packet you will find a set of documents that you will need to sign, and some that Anthony will sign.” He pauses for a moment as I flip through the stack of papers in front of me filled with legal jargon.
I realize the pause was to give the secretary time to catch up to what the judge was saying. He clears his throat after making sure that everyone has pens that needs to sign the paperwork. “Okay if you look at the first page make sure your name is spelled correctly and initial next to it.”
I look and see my name listed on one of the lines amid the legal jargon, then is listed Lukes name. Before my name is listed Anthony’s full name is listed. I must have gotten a shocked look on my face when I saw his full name. Anthony Eugene Sharp, why does that name sound so familiar. Oh yeah, the Sharps own about fifty oil rigs in Texas and are multimillionaires, there was a rumor years ago that one of the sons went crazy and killed his wife and almost killed his own kid. Now it all makes sense why he’s got the house and could afford to stay with me at the hospital. I figure he’s protecting his assets, now that I’ve figured out who he is.
“The judge clears his throat again and says, “If you turn the page the legal jargon here basically says that you will receive three thousand dollars a month until Luke is eighteen. Then the stipend will be decreased to one thousand eight hundred dollars until you die.” Wait is he paying me to live with him? We are going to have a talk about this when we get somewhere private.
“If you agree to these figures initial on the line at the bottom and turn the page.” I see Anthony initial without any hesitation. I glance over the legal jargon and there are no stipulations on how the money is spent, but I’m sure that there will be some kind of stipulations somewhere in this packet, its too thick not to.
We turn through a few more pages where he’s set up a trust for Luke, it will get eighteen hundred dollars a month until he turns eighteen, or if he goes to college his twenty first birthday. I can’t touch the funds in Luke’s account unless it is to pay for medical expenses. We get to a set of pages entitled Last will and Testament. The judge explains that I need to know some of the finer details of Anthony’s most recent changes to his will. He’s given me the house in case something happens to him, God forbid. He leaves me his vehicles, which he has five of. There are some other little nit picky things but mostly he’s taking care of me for life even if he’s not here to be with us. I had been shocked to see that he hadn’t made any stipulations that I marry him or that I continue to live in the house. He’s left it open ended that I can move on with my life. However, I’m sure he wants me to stay and not move away.
I’m waiting for the other shoe to fall what’s he going to want me to do for him in return for the money he’s giving me and Luke. Nothing in this world is free, everyone wants something in return. Who am I to question his motives? Just a woman who has been in an abusive relationship for over two years.
We finish up with the paperwork and everyone except for Anthony and I leave. When the door closes he pulls me into his arms and kisses me on the forehead. I don’t know how I’m supposed to react to everything that I’ve just learned about him being rich, as well as everything that he is doing for me. I know that he’s probably going to hold it over my head if I go to leave.