For the Love of Jade

Landon was standing in line at his favorite Chinese restaurant when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey, you,” he smiled, nervously.

“Hey,” his ex-wife smiled brightly. “How are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Yeah, you look good. But that’s nothing new.”

Is this chick flirting with me? Landon thought. It had been nearly two years since they’d seen each other. The two didn’t exactly part on good terms and their divorce turned ugly. Even though Landon knew how desperately Gabrielle wanted children, he never told her he couldn’t give her any because of a vasectomy he’d had years before. Then she, in turn, had an affair with a fellow colleague and ended up pregnant. Gabrielle had sincerely hoped they could move on and be a family again but Landon wasn’t interested. And that’s when things got nasty between them.

“So what are you doing here? As I recall this wasn’t exactly your favorite place.” Landon smiled.

“Yeah, I know,” Gabrielle said, as she fidgeted and looked to the ground. “Uhm, I was hoping to run into you. As a matter of fact, this is the third day in a row I was hoping to run into you,” she blushed.

“What are you talking about, Gabrielle?” he frowned. “You know where I live. You could’ve just come by the house if you needed to talk to me.”

“It was supposed to look like a coincidence.”

They both laughed.

“So what can I do for you?” Landon asked, after they had taken a seat. “Why does a beautiful, sexy young woman have to hang out in a Chinese Restaurant she hates looking for me?”

“Maybe because you’re the only man that ever made me feel beautiful and sexy,” she smiled. “I miss you.”

“Oh,” Landon uttered, with his eyes wide with shock.

“I know that probably sounds odd considering how things ended between us, but I’ve been thinking about you quite a bit lately. I just wanted to know how you are, what you’ve been up to, if you’ve met anybody . . . you know, all that good stuff. More than anything I was hoping you and I could be friends again. I really do miss you, Landon.”

“I miss you too, Gabrielle, and I’d love it if we could be cool again. It’s not a nice feeling knowing you have enemies in the world.”

“I’m not your enemy, Landon.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”

They talked for nearly an hour over lunch catching up on each other’s lives. And although Landon was enjoying himself, he couldn’t let go of the feeling that Gabrielle wanted something from him and had yet to say what it was.

“So do you have any pictures of your son?”

“Yes, I do,” Gabrielle beamed. “You really want to see them?”

“Girl, let me see the pictures and quit tripping.”

“Okay,” she smiled then pulled out a small photo album from her purse.

“As a matter of fact,” Landon said, as he reached in his back pocket for his wallet, “I’ve got pictures to show you too.” They swapped photos and both smiled. “Oh my goodness, Gabrielle, this boy looks just like you!” he said of the bright skinned, big brown eyed toddler. “He’s beautiful.”

“Thank you, Landon. And look at these gorgeous kids here. I can’t believe how big Dane is now. He’s such a little man. I can totally tell how much he loves these angels. He looks very protective of them.”

“Oh yeah, Dane will kill you if you mess with his girls. And they love him to death. It’s sickening,” Landon laughed.

“Check you out, the proud uncle whipping out pictures.”

“What can I say? I love those little monsters. But that baby girl has some kind of power over me. She be having me jump through all kinds of hoops for her. All she has to do is bat those little hazel eyes at me and I turn into a big ole pile of mush.”

“Just like her mom, huh?”

“What?” Landon frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I never told you but I used to be extremely jealous of Jade. She had your heart in a way I never could,” Gabrielle admitted. “I always thought you had a thing for her.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep.”

“Wow, I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“There’s nothing to say. It was probably just my insecurities anyway. I mean, who wouldn’t be jealous of Jade. She’s exquisite.”

“Oh, my, exquisite, huh? She’d love to hear that. Well, I’m sure she hears it everyday from that husband of hers. He’s probably more in love with her now than when they first met. It’s just the sweetest, most sugary mess you’ll ever see in your life! Those two are nauseating,” he laughed.

“I’m really happy for her, though. Jade went through a lot and I’m glad she found her prince . . . a little jealous maybe, but glad.”

“Girl please, I’m sure you’ve got the fellas lining up for you. You don’t have to be jealous.”

“Yeah right, they’re kicking down my door.”

Landon and Gabrielle stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before he spoke.

“So do you think you’ll have more kids?”

“Oooh, I don’t know. I mean, I love Darrell and all but I don’t know.”

“You love who?” Landon asked, with his eyes wide as saucers.

“Oh, my son’s name is Darrell.”

“I don’t know whether to be flattered or scared.”

“Why would you be scared?”

“Come on, Gabrielle, you have to admit that’s kind of bizarre. Why would you choose my middle name to call your son?”

“It’s not just your middle name.”

“What do you mean?”

“My son’s full name is Darrell Landon Campbell.”

Landon stared at her with his mouth opened. “I don’t understand. We both know I’m not his father so why would you name him after me? I mean, I would think the way things ended with us would make you not wanna say my name let alone give it to your son,” Landon stated, still shocked. “What did you family have to say about that?”

“Nothing much. They just think he’s named after his dad.”

“What?” Landon shrieked. “So let me get this straight. Instead of telling your family that you screwed around and got pregnant by somebody else you let them believe that I divorced you and abandoned my own child? Is that what you’re saying, Gabrielle? Your family thinks Darrell is my son?”

“He is your son, Landon.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Gabrielle? You know damn well it’s not possible for him to be my son! What kind of game are you playing?”

Thankfully Landon and Gabrielle were the only two diners in the restaurant otherwise he would’ve caused a huge scene.

“Calm down, okay, and let me explain. See, Dr. Jacobs didn’t believe he was the father and demanded a paternity test, and it turned out that he’s not Darrell’s father. So that only leaves you, Landon. There are no other choices. Some of the other nurses and I did the research to find out if a man can become fertile again after having a vasectomy and it is possible. It’s what they call recanalization. It’s uncommon, but it does happen. And it looks like it happened with us.”

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” Landon snarled.

Gabrielle stared at him sternly for a few moments. “Yes it is. April Fools!" she declared triumphantly.