Chapter
12
Kevin
arrived with his wife, Kristin, right at 5:15.
“Hi, Kevin, come on in,” Tara said, answering the door. “Hey, Kristin.”
“Hi,”
they both replied.
“Hey
you two,” said AJ, coming into the foyer.
“I
hope you don’t mind that Kris came over,” Kevin said. “She wanted to help watch Maddie too.”
“No,
that’s fine,” said Tara, smiling. “Come
on upstairs, and I’ll show you all her stuff.”
While she led them upstairs to Madison’s room, AJ went into his room and
finished getting ready, making sure his hair was perfectly spiked, and
spritzing some cologne on.
Around
5:30, Tara had finished showing Kevin and Kristin around and was ready to
go. “We’ll be at the Hard Rock Café, and
then we’re heading to the Palace Cinema to go see a movie,” Tara told them as
AJ helped her get her coat on.
“Cool. What movie are you going to see?” Kristin
asked.
“Coyote Ugly,” AJ said, grinning. Tara rolled her eyes.
“We
should be back around 8:30 or 9:00,” she said.
“Ok,
sounds good,” Kevin replied. “Have fun!”
“You
too,” AJ said. “Be careful with our kid,
Kev.”
“I
will,” Kevin promised, chuckling. Then
AJ put his coat on and led Tara out into the garage. They climbed into the car and drove off to
the restaurant.
“Aje,
are you okay about leaving Maddie?” Tara asked in a small voice on the way
there.
“Oh
sure, hun, it’s no big deal,” AJ replied.
“I
know Kevin and Kristin will take good care of her, but I just feel kind of nervous
about leaving her at home without us,” Tara said.
AJ
was feeling the same way inside, but he didn’t want to tell Tara that. He had to play it tough so she wouldn’t
worry. “Tara, it’s okay. We’ll be back in a few hours, and everything
will be fine,” he assured her.
Tara
smiled at him. “I’m sure it will be,”
she said.
***
“So,
did you like the movie?” Tara asked on the way home, a few hours later.
“Dancing
chicks in leather pants and slinky tops.
How could I not?” AJ asked, his eyes gleaming.
Tara
giggled. “I thought it was good. There was more to the plot than just girls
dancing on a bar,” she said.
“Yeah,
but those girls sure did help,” AJ added, snickering. Tara rolled her eyes and smacked him
playfully in the shoulder. “Hey, not
while I’m driving!” AJ yelped, laughing.
They
reached home a few minutes later and bustled in the house to see how things
were.
“How
did it go?” AJ asked Kevin anxiously, once he was inside.
“Perfect,”
Kevin replied.
“Yeah,
Madison was a little angel,” Kristin added, smiling. Tara smiled back, relieved.
“Thanks
so much for doing this on such short notice, guys,” she said sincerely. “We’ll be sure to do the same for you once
you get going on starting a family.”
AJ
grinned and winked at Kevin. Kevin
ignored him. “Oh, anytime, Tara,” he
said. “We loved doing it.”
“Yeah,
I love kids. Maddie’s just so adorable,”
Kristin gushed. Tara smiled again,
rather sadly this time, as she remembered what Dr. Hall had told AJ that
afternoon. Kevin and Kristin didn’t even
know yet. No one did.
“What’s
the matter, Tar?” asked Kevin, seeing the sad look come over her face. Tara figured there was no use putting it
off. She knew they would have to tell
everyone sooner or later.
“While
Maddie and I were in the hospital, we had an HIV test run on her,” she
said. “Dr. Hall called today with the
results.”
Kevin’s
green eyes widened with concern. “And?”
he asked anxiously.
“She’s
positive,” Tara whispered, her big blue eyes filling with tears.
“Oh
no!” Kristin gasped. “Oh, Tara, I’m so
sorry.” She hugged Tara tightly. Kevin hugged AJ, seeing the depressed look on
his face.
“I’m
sorry, Bone,” he said sincerely. “If
there’s anything we can do, just tell us.”
AJ
shook his head. “There isn’t anything
anyone can do,” he said. “That’s the
problem.”
Tara
wiped her tears away quickly and turned back to Kevin and Kristin. “Well, guys, thanks again,” she said.
They
both nodded sadly. “Anytime,” Kristin
said again. “We’ll see you later. Take care.”
“Thanks,”
Tara said, forcing a smile. She and AJ
walked them to the door and watched as they climbed into their car and drove
away. Then they walked upstairs to
check on Madison, the most precious thing they had.
***
