Brian drove up the driveway and turned the ignition off.  It was good to be in Kentucky. His parents didn’t know he was coming to visit. He had to get away from Florida. There were too many memories he didn’t want to relive at the moment. Kentucky was his only choice to regain what he had lost. Home was the place where any problem was made better.

He got out of his BMW and headed to the house. Brian felt the trepidation slowly fading from his body.  He opened the door.

“Hello! Is anyone home?” He yelled loudly. Quickly he took his shoes off and made his way into the kitchen.

“Brian, what a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming to visit.” She was carrying a toddler on her hip.

“I wanted to surprise you. Who’s this cutie?” He placed a kiss on his mother’s cheek.

“This is Shane. Say hi Shane.”

The little boy hid his head in Jackie’s neck. How was she going to tell Brian that Josie was back and living in his bedroom?

“Let me go put my bags in my room. I’ll be back.” Brian left before she had a chance to say anything.

Quickly she took the stairs two by two. She knew Brian was going to be confused.

“Mom who’s staying here?”

“About that Brian. It’s kind of complicated.”

Brian didn’t want or need any other complications in his life at the moment. That is why he came to Kentucky. He wanted to simplify his life and get over the pain he was feeling.

“Okay, mom. What is going on?” He stood against the wall of his childhood room.

“We have another visitor here.” She set the little boy down. He walked over to the little bear and sat down.

“Who?” He said sharply. His head was pounding.

“Well…umm…you see…”

“Stop beating around the bush. Why are you so afraid to tell me?” He interrupted.

“Josie’s back.” Brian inwardly flinched. Jackie could see the pained look on his face.

Brian hadn’t seen her since the morning she left the tour. They had a big fight and as always she ran away. That time was different she didn’t come back like she usually did. He hadn’t seen or heard from her in three years. This wasn’t going to be a peaceful, relaxing trip after all.

“Where is she?”

“Josie’s at work.”

“Why is she staying with you?” Brian felt himself choke up. He started to cough.

“About two weeks ago, she came back and had nowhere to stay. I couldn’t let her sleep on the streets.” Jackie sat on the bed where Shane had cuddled up with his bear.

“Is that…her…her…son?” He whispered with barely a sound.

“Yes, Shane Thomas is her son.”

“How old is he?”

“Two.”

Panic coursed through Brian’s body. Could it be? He wasn’t sure. Shane was adorable. He looked nothing like Josie. He was the spitting image of, no it couldn’t be. Why wouldn’t she tell him? How was he going to face her?

Jackie noticed the cloudy look in her son’s eyes. Her statement put him in a daze. “Brian are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I need to get out of here for a while. I’ll be back.” He rushed out.

-----------------

Brian found himself sitting at the park where he spent most of his childhood playing.

Life wasn’t fair. Things just kept getting worser him. The breakup with Natasha practically killed him. He thought they would be together forever. He was getting ready to ask her for her hand in marriage. Instead she broke his heart by cheating on him with a close friend.  So not only did he lose the woman he loved, he lost a good friend.

Now Josie was back in his life. After three years it was going to be hard to speak to her. When she left things were unsettled. He wanted to resolve them, but she was a coward and left.

They had been best friends since kindergarten. He had shared everything with Josie. He had supported all of her dreams. She was there for every honor and special moment in his life. The last three years without her had been torture. He kept a lot of it to himself. No one would understand the way he felt. Nick, his best friend knew some of what transpired that day three years ago. He did share his feelings with him, but the younger guy kept telling him to get over it and move on. His heart wouldn’t let him.

Shane. That little boy looked just like him. Could he be his son? What were the odds? Why would she not tell him that he was a father? The Josie he knew would never not tell someone something so important. It saddened him to know that he might have lost two years of his son’s life? Brian knew he was jumping to conclusions. Who knew what Josie was up to after she ran from him? He didn’t think of her as that type of woman, but people changed.

What was he going to say to her when he saw her? He couldn’t go back and pretend nothing happened. He was affected by the actions of that one night, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself.

--------------------------

I walked into the kitchen where Jackie was feeding Shane.

“Hi Shane.” I gave him a kiss. “How was he today?”

“Shane is an angel like always.”

“Mama…I miss you.”  He smiled at me. My heart melted.

Things were starting to get better. I had a job at Wal-mart. It wasn’t what I had envisioned myself doing, but it would pay the bills. Back in college, I thought I would become nurse. Oh, how things changed.

“I miss you lots.” I turned to Jackie. “Thanks for all your help. I couldn’t do it without you.”

“It’s no problem. You’re family. I adore Shane. I need to tell you something. You may not be thrilled about this.” Jackie said seriously. I was nervous about what she wanted to tell me.

The door to the kitchen opened and the one man I never wanted to see appeared.

“Josie.”

“Brian.”