In Name Only Read online

  “How sexy you look at work,” Ben said smiling.

  Sky head rose. “Hi,” she said surprised to see him. She went to him and kissed him on his softly on the mouth.

  “I’ve come to take you to lunch, can you go?”

  “Yes, of course, give me a minute,” she said then turned to leave. Ben caught her hand and pulled her back into his arms.

  “Ben,” she said breathlessly before his mouth covered hers. Ben didn’t want to leave her but duty calls. He raised his head and looked into her hazel eyes.

  “What is it Ben?” she asked concerned.

  “We’ll talk at lunch, lock up,” he said. Sky frowned at him and nodded.

  Sky sat across the table looking at Ben while they had lunch.. How handsome he looked in his dress white uniform.

  “Sky, I have to leave tomorrow,” Ben told her as they waited for their order.

  “Okay, how long will you be gone?” she asked disappointment in her tone.

  “Three months.”

  “Three months,” she repeated. That was a long time, but she understood it was his job.

  Ben watched her reaction. He saw disappointment, but she covered it by lowering her head. He took her hand in his.

  “As soon as I get back we’ll celebrate, I promise,”

  Sky smiled. “I’ll miss you Ben,”’ she said softly.

  “Me too, tonight we’ll just talk, and get to know each other since I have to leave. I wanted to take my time and get to know you but duty calls.

  Sky smiled. “Is that all were going to do?” she asked impishly.

  “What are you implying Miss?” Ben said jokingly. Sky smiled at him, but did not respond their food had arrived.

  After they made love, they lay facings each other but not touching.

  “How long have you been in Virginia?” Ben asked.

  “About three years now, I from a small town in New Jersey. She told him.

  “Are your parents still with you?”

  “My father passed when I was very young, my mother is still alive,” she stated and sadness washed over her face. Ben picked up on it right away..

  “What is it Baby?”

  “My mother doesn’t speak to me anymore,” she stated.

  Ben had sympathy in his eyes. “What happened?”

  “I married David, she didn’t approve, and I knew it, I married him anyway, the worse thing about it is, he was every thing she said he was.”

  “Have you tried to get in touch with her?

  “Many times, she won’t talk to me,” Sky said tears rapidly filling her eyes. “She doesn’t know David passed away, I called to tell her, but she refuses my calls. I wrote her once, the letter came back unopened, I cried for three days, after a while I just stopped calling and writing,” tears rolled freely down her face. Ben reached out and wiped the tears from her face with his thumb.

  “What kind of woman turns her back on her child because of her choice in life?” Ben said not liking her mother.

  “My mother is a good woman, she can be a bit controlling, and hard, but I know she loves me. You see owns and runs very prosperous clothing factory. She took over after my grandfather died. I just think with all that responsibility, it made her somewhat hard. It had been the two of us for so long, that I think this was her only way she knows how to dealing with situations. My mother did not tolerate insolence. When I told her that I was going to marry David, against her wishes, she disowned me. My mother’s not as understanding as most mothers, it was her way or the highway, plus I defied her, now she refuses to have anything to do with me.” Sky paused. “Even with all her hardness, I knew she loved me and wanted the best for me.”

  “Don’t you ever want to see her again?”

  “Of course, but I can wait until she ready.”

  They talked most of the night, in between bout of lovemaking. Ben learned more about Sky in that one night, then he thought he ever would. When she did open up to him, he discovered she was a very intelligent woman. They even talked about David. Ben realized David had married Sky for her money, but when her mother disowned her, she was no longer useful to him. Sky also told him she had came into the trust her grandfather left her when she turned thirty she bought her house and opened the shop. She was living off those monies, although her shop did well.

  Ben confided to Sky why he went into the Navy. Sky smiled at him as he talked, loving the timbre sound of his voice. She would really miss him, and would wait for him no matter how long he was away.

  Already Ben had been gone a two and half months. He called her every night and they would talks for hours. Sky had gotten closer to his family, joining them for dinner every Sunday, which after church was family tradition. He had a loving family and she would love nothing better than to have a family like this. It has always been just her and her mother and most of the time she was alone. Although she spent time with her mother it was usually at the clothing factory, and most time her mother was teaching her the business. When she graduated from college, it was understood that Sky would one day run the Carter Clothing Factory. Sky had already settled that in her mind, until the day David came in her life a whisked her off her feet, than everything went downhill after that. Sky smiled fondly thinking of Ms Georgie. Why couldn’t her mother be more like her? Sky and Ms Georgie could talk for hours about anything, from the latest styles to current events. Sky loved Ms Georgie. What she liked the most is they laughed all the time about so many things. She couldn’t remember ever seeing her mother laughing or just having fun.

  Sky looked over at the clock on the shop wall. She had appointment for her check up. She wanted to start using birth control since she had become sexually active, and if she didn’t leave now she was going to be late.

  Sky sat on the examination table with the paper robe on her. She always hated having her pelvic exam. She thumbed through the pamphlets the nurse had given her on the different methods of birth control. The doctor examined her and went to get results of some of the test to see what she could take. The door opened, the doctor returned smiling.

  “Well Sky, there is no need for you to be reading those,” the doctor said taking them from her hand. Sky frowned up at her. Dr Yancy had been her OB/GYN doctor every since she had moved to Virginia.

  “Why, I can’t take birth control?” she asked confused.

  “Oh yeah, but right now the only thing you will be taking is prenatal vitamins.” she said chuckling. “And by the way, when did you become active?”

  Sky simply stared at her confused.

  “I don’t understand,” Sky replied.

  “You’re already pregnant,” Dr Yancy stated.

  Sky mouth dropped open, stunned silent.

  “But I just started being active, how can I be pregnant so soon, I mean...,” Sky paused, bewildered. “How?” Sky sighed and dropped her head, she was babbling. “It was only one weekend.”

  “Hey, all it takes is one time, and BAM!” the doctor said laughing.

  Sky looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “How many weeks?”

  “Ten weeks.”

  Dr Yancy never asked a woman about abortion, she didn’t believe in them, she made that known to all her patience before she took them as patients. Dr Yancy looked at Sky with concern. “This is not a good thing Sky?” She asked noticing the ashen look to Sky face.

  “I don’t know, I just met him in August, and we just had a weekend together, how in the world can I tell a man I barely know, I’m pregnant?”

  “I see your dilemma, but you will work it out, your having a precious baby, and their nothing more beautiful than that, now get dress, and come to my office for instructions.”

  Dr Yancy left her. Dazed Sky slid off the table. Methodically she put on her clothes. Wondering how was she going tell Ben this. How is Ms Georgie going to react to this? “Oh God,” Sky groaned aloud.

  Sky left the doctor office still dazed. Ben would not be back for another month; at least she had time to come up with a w
ay to break this news to him. Would he be upset she wondered. She hoped not, she wanted this child even if he didn’t.

  Later that night Sky stood in her full length mirror looking at her still flat stomach. She smiled, a baby was growing inside her, she thought in awe. She wanted children, lots of them; deep down she admitted to herself, she was happy Benjamin was the father of her child. Ben had not called yet, which he did every night since he left Virginia, but telling on the phone was not the way, she would wait until he returned.

  Chapter Six

  Sky looked at herself again in the mirror. Ben was back and on his way over to her house. Sky felt the excitement build in her. She couldn’t wait to see him. Her hand went to her slightly rounded belly. She kept her secret from Ms Georgie and Jana. She felt it only fair that Ben to know first. Her doorbell rang. He was just outside her door. She took a deep breath, rehearsing in her head what she going to say.

  Sky rushed to the door and pulled it open. When she saw him, she smiled radiantly. He was still in his dress uniform. Sky didn’t hesitate; she was in his arms kissing him with passion. Ben lifted her carrying her straight to her bedroom. There was no conversation. Ben just started undressing her.

  “I’ve waited three months for this,” he said huskily as his mouth closed over her. His mouth trailed kisses down her neck. Ben took her breast in his mouth licking and sucking until her back arched, his hands rubbing and stroking her womanhood. Sky moaned.

  “Now I’m really home,” he said against her mouth and commenced to make love to her. Sky held on to him as moved inside giving her the pleasure she missed from him. Ben leaned up and looked down at her, his hands cupping her face, caressing her. Sky gazed up at him.

  “I missed you,” Ben said as he moved inside her. Sky sighed, and he felt her wall preparing for their ultimate pleasure. Ben lifted her legs around him and went deeper, they both groaned and together they found bliss.

  Sky lay with her head on his shoulder. Now was the time to tell him about the baby. Her hand rubbed idly across his chest.

  “Ben,” she said softly. He kissed her forehead. Ben was contented; he did not want to move. He just lay with her in his arms holding her, not talking just savoring the feel of her.

  “Yes.”

  A wave of apprehension swept through her. Would he want the baby? The thought never cane to her before. No, she decided, he would want his own child, Ben was a noble, honorable man he would want his child.

  Sky lean up on her elbow looking down at him, her hand still in his chest. She took a shuddered breath. For some reason she could not remember how she wanted to tell him about the baby, maybe later, no, she thought now was the perfect time to tell him.

  Ben watched her noticing the play of emotions on her face.

  “What is it Sky?” he asked.

  “Ben, I’m pregnant,” Sky, blurted out. That was far from how she wanted to tell him. She wanted to break it to him differently.

  Ben sat up swiftly in the bed; she fell off him. Sky looked up at him stunned. His expression was as if someone struck in the face.

  “You’re what?” he replied, his voice cold and exact.

  Sky sat up in the pulling the blankets up on her as if it were a shield. Her heart was banging in her chest erratically, he was not happy about this. His reaction was not what she expected.

  “Ben...?”

  “Skylar, we just had one weekend together,” he stated glaring, an edge to his voice.

  He was angry. His brows furrowed over his dark eyes in a frown.

  Sky felt tears burning the back of her eyes. He was supposed to be happy, she thought.

  Ben’s lips twisted into a cynical smile. “Oh, this is a joke right?” he said to her. “If it is its not funny Skylar.”

  A large tear dropped from her eye. “No, Ben this is not a joke,” tears burning her throat choking her voice.

  Ben turned from her getting his clothes and begun dressing.

  He laughed cynically. “Oh yeah I get it, this is a set up, you set me up.” he yelled turning towards her.

  Before she could reply, Ben went on a tirade, as he dressed, jerking on he clothing with aggravation. “The little naïve maiden set me up, what a fool I was, I couldn’t see pass that pretty face, and all the time you were using me to get pregnant, and I fell for you hook, line and sinker, is that why you slept with me, Sky?” he accused.

  Sky mouth dropped open, surprise on her now pallid face.

  “I didn’t set you up, is that what you think, Ben?” she asked incredulously.

  “What else would I think? He shouted at her. “You women know your bodies; was you biological clock ticking, and you wanted a child, it is common knowledge women your age want children before they turn forty,” he stated vehemently.

  A glazed look of despair began to spread over her face, as the tears fell from her eyes.

  Offending hands gripped her upper arms, biting into her tender flesh. His nostrils flared with fury hardening his handsome features.

  “Is that what you did Sky, did you set this up?” he roared in her face.

  “No, I would never do…,” Ben pushed her away from him with disgust before she could finish what she wanted to say to him. Sky fell back on the bed, stunned at his outburst.

  “If you think I’m going to marry you,” he continued, “because you carry a child, think again.”

  Sky wiped at the tears that rolled down her ashen face.

  “No Ben,” she said shaking her head vigorously. “I didn’t think that, I don’t want that.”

  “Good, I don’t like being cornered Sky, I make my own choices, and a child from any woman is not a choice I would make,” bridled anger in his voice. “Do what you want about the child Sky, I don’t like my life being dictated to me, and I have no room in my life for a child or a baby momma.” He spoke so viciously that she wondered how she could have ever thought him kind. Swallowing the sob that rose in her throat, she looked at him.

  “Fine Benjamin,” she said, feeling bereft and desolate, her tone chilly. “Do whatever you want, but I will carry this child, whether you like it or not, “she replied in a low, tormented voice, a bitter cold despair dwelling in the caves of her lonely soul, a new anguish seared her heart. Sky lay down in the bed, pulling the blankets over her shoulders turning her back to Ben. As far as she was concerned, this conversation was over.

  Ben looked at her back; he felt an ache in his chest. He glowered at her turned away, leaving the room, and Skylar Carter.

  She closed her eyes feeling utterly miserable. Her breath was shallow, her senses drugged. A hot dejected tear trickled down her cheek. She swallowed hard and yielded to the compelling sobs that shook her. Cloaked in despair, she wept loudly, rocking back and forth.

  Ben sat in his car parked in her driveway, his head pressed against the steering wheel. “Damn her,” he muttered. He had thought Sky was different but she turned out to be just like the rest of the scavenger’s out there, he thought viciously. What was he to do now? He had to think. His mind throbbed with the tortured tedium of mistrust and desolation. How could she do this to him? “Damn her,” he growled through clenched teeth. He was not about to allow her to trap him in a situation, he did not want. Skylar Carter can do whatever she wanted as long as she stayed clear of him.

  Ben pressed a button on his cell phone. “Mom,” he said his voice rough.

  “Hello, your back,” Ms Georgie replied on the other end.

  “Mom we need a family meeting, can you call Ed?”

  “What is it Son?” Ms Georgie asked concern in her voice.

  “Please Mother.” Ben said not wanted to explain now.

  “Okay Son, see you in a few minutes.”

  Sky laid her body curled in a fetal position. What was she going to do now she wondered? She was going to have this baby no matter what Ben thought. Slowly Sky rose from the bed. Determined, she grimly set about building a new life for herself and her child. Her first decision was to get as far away from B
en as she could. With a plan formulating in her mind, she begun to arranged her new life. As the night progressed into the twilight hours, her plan formed. She would close up the house and the shop. She only had three outfits to complete just simple tailoring and those she would finishes today. The next step was to arrange for a moving company to pack and transport her to her destination. She paused in her thoughts. Where will I go, she wondered. Back to New Jersey and to her mother. No, this was just something else for her mother to hold against her. She would go somewhere where she could start over and forget the past few miserable years of her life. Satisfied, Sky dressed and left to prepare for her new life.

  Ben pulled into his mother driveway. Ed and Jana had already arrived. Still in his uniform, Ben went to the door. His mother pulled open the door, looking up at her son concern etched on her face. He looked haggard and angry, Georgie Smith thought. Ben kissed his mother cheek and silently moved pass his mother.

  Ed and Jana stood in the living room. Ben shook his brother’s hand and kissed Jana’s cheek.

  All in the living room knew he was angry. The tension in his body was proof of that. Ben leaned on the mantle of the fireplace, his head down. He looked up at his mother.

  Taking a shuddered breath, Ben broke his silence. “Mother, let me tell you about your little friend,” Ben began.

  His mother frowned. “Who are you talking about Son?” Ben always calls her Mother when he was upset.

  “Skylar!” he said his voice grating harshly.

  “What about Sky?” Jana interrupted.