Growing Up Nelson: Book 3

Chapter 4

After she told me about how crazy my mom was during her college years I felt a lot better knowing that she wasn't just some evil woman. In fact she's everything I inspire to be. My mom went college and got her degree in business finance. She and Regan met during rush week their freshman year. They both were pledging to join the Deltas. After having to deal with the freshman hazing they both agreed that they were over it and bailed out. They spent their first two years of college together and then my mom decided that she didn't want to go for her masters degree and that she was happy with her bachelors and undergrad. When she saw my mom sometime later she was pregnant with me. They had kept in touch for a while until my mom moved to Indianapolis before I was born to give me a better life. She never met my biological father son she didn't give me much details on him which was fine. I know I'm a Nelson regardless of my circumstances. My mom was like Regan in a way. Mysterious but beautiful. Sassy but sweet. Cool but strong. When Regan found out about me being taken from my mom she told me about how she had cried to my dad about how one of her good friends had her baby stolen from her. My dad wasted no time and she and him flew out to Indiana and helped pay for a search team to find me but after weeks of looking the FBI called it a cold case and soon stopped looking. It was also around that time where Regan herself had fallen ill with what doctors thought was a rare form of cancer. She told me how she herself had experienced death. She remembered my dad coming back in the middle of a tour and spending was was supposed to be her last moments with him.

  "When I closed my eyes I knew that I was going to leave him. I didn't want to but I squeezed my hand around his as hard as I could just so I could stay." Regan said as she drove.

  "So.....you died in my dad's arms?" I asked confused.

  "It sounds crazy but.....yeah.....I did. I just remember closing my eyes.....and seeing my dad. He was dressed in his service uniform. He looked just like I remembered him."

I can tell her emotions were getting the best of her as she recalled seeing her father again. I wanted to stop her because it seemed like it was really getting to her but at the same time I wanted to hear her story. I sat and let her continue.

  "I remember my dad saying 'my sweet little mouse. Why are you here so soon?' And I just told him 'daddy I had cancer. What do you mean.' That's when he smiled at me and showed me and Prince laying in my mom's bed together and him......crying......pulling me close to him. He was so devastated and so broken that......it broke me. I turned to my dad and asked him if I could go back. See Prince so sad made me want to go back to him. It was like watching a sad movie on tv. That's when I saw my mom. That's what really did it. My mom just dropped to the floor. I couldn't watch anymore. I just told my dad to send me home and I love him. He smiled and it was almost like magic Andre and Dez came running in with an ambulance. They rushed me to the hospital and that's where I woke up. The first face I saw.......was your dad's."

I didn't know it but I cried as I listed to her story. To die and and see that you died is something that you would only see on shows on the Discovery Health channel. I wiped my face and scrambled for a tissue. When I found one I blew my nose into it hard to get all of my emotions out. Regan giggled as she continued to watch the road.

  "You.....ok over there?" She asked with a smile.

  "I'm fine. Sometimes I just cry for random reasons. It's a condition."

That was the WORST lie I could come up with but I wasn't ready to admit that they had the kind of love that I wish to have with Tre. Oh my god! Tre! He saw me get kidnapped! My thoughts quickly shifted from her sad story to my sudden snatch a run from the tree farm.

  "Regan! Where's Tre? Does anybody know if he's ok?" I asked frantically.

She had a puzzled look on her face at first and then the name rang a bell.

  "Oh! The guy Tony said you were with! He's fine he was chasing after Dwayne. When Tony and I saw him running we knew something was up."

  "And what about my brother?"

  "When we called your dad to let him know what happened he rushed down to the tree farm. He took the little guy home and Andre stayed at Paisley with them just in case you dad decided to try something crazy. Like pull a gun out or something."

Letting out a sigh of relief I sat back in the seat and relaxed a little. At least until my mind began to swirl with hundreds of more questions.

  "WAIT A SECOND!" I shouted as I began to make sense of how she knew what was going on.

I can tell she roller her eyes in the dark car because she let out a deep breath and shook her head.

  "Here we go. I have a feeling your gonna ask more questions." She said.

  "Ya damn right! So you were following me? All this time?"

  "What? No! I was picking a tree for my mom to take home with her and I ran into Tony and your little brother! Don't be weird!"

  "And you said you knew my uncle Dre! How?"

She laughed out loud and clutched the steering wheel tightly.

  "That's a story for another time. It get extremely long and way too explicit for you ears." She grinned

  "I listen to Mack 10 and Mystikal on a regular basis. I think I can handle it." I huffed with a cheeky smile.

  "I bet your dad flips shit when you listen to stuff like that doesn't he?"

  "Does.....he.....ever!" I replied.

She shook her head and with a small giggle nodded at her thoughts.

  "Converts. At the end of the day he's still the troll next door."

I laughed at the idea of her and my dad calling each other names as I reclined the seat back to get comfortable. Regan took notice and reached back behind me and pulled a small fleece blanket from the back seat.

  "Here. Get some sleep. We should be close to Minneapolis in the next three hours."

I unfolded the blanket and covered up. My eyes slowly closed as I dreamed of being back at home with my dad and Joey again.