Henry (The Beck Brothers) (17 page)

Henry's eyes cracked
open, his glassy drugged gaze barely focusing on her. "Hey, Darlin',
”
he rasped.

Claire smiled.
"Hi, how do you feel?"

"So good,
”
he breathed, his eyes closing
again.

Claire leaned in and
gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "Why don't you get some sleep,
”
she murmured.

Henry nodded and
almost immediately drifted off. Claire brought his hand up to her mouth and
kissed his knuckles. She slid his glasses off his face before moving to the
chair next to the bed. She couldn't help but smile when he started snoring
lightly. He looked so handsome when he slept.

                                                 
~~~~~

Sebastian ran through
the parking lot of the hospital, desperately trying to make it there before his
mother. He had called her this morning to tell her that Henry was in the
hospital, and had been since last night. Well, she freaked the fuck out,
screaming and yelling at him. So as soon as he got off the phone, he raced out
of his apartment to get to the hospital to warn Henry and Claire that his
mother was on a tirade. He had tried to call Claire, but she didn't answer. He
figured she was sleeping.

The front desk gave
him Henry's room number, but when he got there, the door was closed. Sebastian
knocked then opened it, peeking his head in. The room was dark except for a
sliver of light coming from a space between the curtains, and he could hear
Henry snoring lightly. No way was that Claire snoring. Sebastian moved into the
room, closing the door behind him. He spotted Claire on a cot on the other side
of Henry's bed. Sebastian walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. Claire
sucked in a sharp breath as her eyes flipped open, startled.

"Sebastian?
”
she asked, confused and still
half asleep.

"Hey,
Claire."

“
What are you doing here?
”
Claire asked as she pushed up into
a seated position.

“
You weren't answering your
phone, and I had to warn you about my mom. She
’
s
seriously pissed and probably on her way,
”
Sebastian whispered.

"God dammit,
”
Claire bit out, "What the
hell is her problem?"

Sebastian sighed
heavily and shook his head.
“
No
one and nothing is good enough for her sons. She had always been like
this.
 
Growing up with her was
insane. She was always in our business, getting involved in things that she
didn't need to. I can't say that she's gotten worse, but she hasn't gotten any better
either."

Just then the door
swung open and the overhead lights flicked on. His mother stormed into the
room, looking furious. Even in her haste to get here, her hair was still
perfectly in place and her makeup was done. She was wearing her signature dark
jeans and a blouse. Today it was a pink blouse.

Henry grunted and
rubbed his eyes before slowly blinking them open. "What's going on?
”
he asked, his voice gravelly
from sleep and probably the drugs.

Sebastian held his
hands out as if to ward off his mother's wrath. "Mom...
”
he started but snapped his
mouth shut when her eyes flashed and she pointed at him.

"You! You shut
up!
”
Anne bit out, her tone
telling Sebastian that she was absolutely livid.

Henry grabbed his
glasses and slid them on. "Mom, what's the problem?
”
he asked wearily.

"My problem?
”
she shrieked, making Sebastian
wince. "My problem is that someone didn't call me until this morning to
tell me you were in the hospital!
”
she finished, glaring daggers at Sebastian.

"Henry needed
rest,
”
Claire chimed in as
she stood.

"I was not
talking to you, missy,
”
Anne snipped, turning her dagger glare on Claire.

Sebastian saw Claire's
whole demeanor change; her beautiful face turned hard and cold, her shoulders
squared, and the anger was rolling off of her in waves. Sebastian readied
himself to break up the fight that was inevitable. Claire opened her mouth to
speak, but there was a knock on the open door, cutting her off.

"Hi, I hope we're
not interrupting anything,
”
said an older man from the doorway. His dark blue eyes were shrewd as he took
in the scene in front of him. Attached to his hand was Ethan, Claire's son.

"Dad! What are you
doing here?
”
Claire asked
in shock.

"Mommy!
”
 
Ethan cried happily and went running for her.

Claire scooped him up
with a smile and hugged him tight.

"Someone had been
non-stop asking about Henry, so I figured I'd bring him over so he could see
for himself that Henry was okay,
”
Claire's dad said, a soft smile on his face, as he entered the room.

"Hey, Frank,
”
Henry murmured with a small
smile.

Frank went to Henry's
bedside and shook his hand, relief etched all over his face.
“
Glad to see you're doing okay,
son, I was worried."

"Thanks Frank.
”
Henry nodded.
“
The drugs help,
”
he answered and smirked.

Frank chuckled and
patted Henry's cheek. "Good man." The fondness between the two was
obvious.

“
Dad, this is Henry's brother,
Sebastian, and his mother, Anne,
”
Claire introduced.

Sebastian shook
Frank's hand.
 
"Nice to meet
you, sir."

"Please call me
Frank,
”
he said then shook
Anne's hand. "Mrs. Beck."

His mother gave Frank
a tight smile. "Pleasure,
”
her muttered.

"Henwee!
”
Ethan called. He squirmed in
his mother's arms as he reached out for Henry.

Henry smiled and it
was nothing like Sebastian had ever seen cross his brother's face before.
Sebastian blinked; Henry had dimples? Since when? Henry held out his arms for
the little boy, and Claire handed him over with a smile. Sebastian couldn't
help but laugh when Ethan grabbed Henry's face and kissed him on the mouth,
before wrapping his arms around his neck. Henry tucked his face against Ethan
’
s, squeezed his eyes shut, and
held him tight. Sebastian glanced at his mother to find her blinking back
tears. Maybe now she would realize the other reason Henry wanted, more like
needed, Claire in his life.

Chapter 11

Henry pulled his
glasses off and rubbed his eyes. Claire just left to walk her dad and Ethan
out; they had stayed for about an hour. His mother had sat in the corner,
completely silent the whole time, which Henry knew wasn't a good thing. She had
been glaring at Claire every chance she got, thinking no one noticed. Now,
Henry waited for her to explode.

Sebastian was standing
by the window, staring out with his arms folded over his chest. He'd been
unusually quiet also. Henry knew he was still struggling with accepting that
his wife was leaving him, but he didn't think that was his problem today. He
had a feeling he was gearing up for their mother's explosion also.

Henry put his glasses
back on just as his mother went and shut the door to his room. She then turned
toward him, her expression hard to decipher, but Henry was sure this wasn't
going to go well. He wished his father was here, but he was most likely at
work.

“
She
’
s no good for you Henry,
”
his mother said. The way she said it told Henry
that she completely believed the bullshit coming out of her own mouth.

Henry saw Sebastian
tense, but he kept his back to them. Henry waited, knowing she had plenty more
to say.

“
I don't like her. She's rude,
disrespectful, and apparently she's loose, having a child out of wedlock,
”
Anne said.

Henry clenched his
teeth. He knew his mother was going to be saying things about Claire that he
didn't like, but that was a little too much.

Sebastian snorted.
“
Get with the times mom, that
shit happens all the time now."

“
I know that Sebastian,
”
she snapped, "It's
disgusting. I don't know why you would want a woman who has had a child with
someone else, Henry. Don't you want your own kids?"

“
Of course I do. You think Claire
can't provide me with my own children?
”
Henry frowned.

“
Well I'm sure she could, but
then you'd have to look at that little boy all the time, knowing that he's not
yours."

"So? If I treat
him like my own, what does it matter?"

Anne just shook her
head, sending him a look verging on pity. "Honey, you need to find a nice
girl who doesn't have any kids."

“
I don't think it matters,
”
Henry replied. He was getting a
headache.

“
I will never accept her into
this family. You deserve better. She's beneath you. And what kind of mother
would leave her child to take care of a man that she's not even with? She
should be taking care of her kid, instead of being here with you. You're not
even together..."

“
Enough!
”
Henry bellowed. His mother's mouth snapped shut.
"You're talking about the woman I love! I don't give a shit about what you
think. Claire is an amazing mother and she loves her son.
I
love her son. They are everything to me, and nothing
you say is going to change that! You can take your high and mighty talk and
shove it up your ass!
”
Henry snapped.

Anne's eyes widened
slightly then narrowed on him. "I'm going to ignore that because you're on
drugs and not thinking clearly."

Sebastian snorted from
his post in front of the window.

"You two never
listen to me...Just look where it got Sebastian. I warned him about Victoria,
but he married her anyway. And look at him now; getting divorced after only
five years,
”
Anne said, her
tone disgusted.

Sebastian whirled
around, his eyes burning with fury; his nostrils flared and his jaw was
bulging. Henry had never seen him like this. He was afraid of what Sebastian
was going to say. Henry opened his mouth, but Sebastian beat him to the punch.

“
You are out of line,
”
Sebastian growled, stepping
closer to their mother.

Anne gave him an
incredulous look that only seemed to infuriate Sebastian more.

“
I don't want to hear another
word about Claire, she's not the problem; you are. You're a condescending bitch
and I'm so fucking tired of it. No one is ever going to be good enough for us
in your eyes. Well guess what? If you don't like it, stay the fuck away from
us. Henry is happy with Claire and Ethan, and they
are
good enough for him. The only person not good enough
for us is you. You need to leave. I don't want to fucking see your face again.
I'm so done with your shit; I don't need it in my life, and I don't want it in
my brothers
’
lives either.
Leave us all alone; we'll be better off without you,
”
Sebastian said, his voice low and almost deadly.

Henry stared at him in
shock. Holy fucking shit! Sebastian just banished their mother from their
lives! And no doubt he would enforce it. Sebastian was done. Henry could see it
in his eyes. They all deserved a chance at happiness, and honestly, with their
mother around, they would never get to be completely happy in their
relationships. She was always there nagging and needling. Henry needed a break,
too.

Anne stood there,
staring at Sebastian as if she'd never seen him before.
“
You don't mean that,
”
she whispered.

"Yes, I do,
”
he said evenly.

Anne looked at Henry,
her eyes brimming with tears.
“
Henry?"

Henry would not feel
guilty. "I love you mom, but I'm behind Sebastian on this, I need
space."

Anne nodded.
"Okay fine, you don't want to see me anymore, fine,
”
she said, her voice trembling.

Henry and Sebastian
watched as their mother grabbed her purse and stormed out. Henry blew out a breath
and dropped his head back onto his pillow. He watched Sebastian run a shaky
hand through his hair, as he turned and went back over to look out the windows.

“
You okay man?
”
Henry asked.

Sebastian shook his
head, his hands gripping the sill.
“
Did
I do the right thing?
”
he
rasped.