Chapter 40: The Remnants Of Broken Hearts

Apartment 274, Terrow Heights Apartment Complex, Baltiney, New York...

 Valencia Ramos had expected to see Coleman Kennison standing at her door or at the very least Ryker himself but she had been taken aback by the sight of another man from her past who had seemingly been as absent as Ken had once he found out about her pregnancy. This man had been seemingly tall, slightly pale, with a thin build and messy facial hair. He wore casual beige khakis and a white button-down shirt with a tan sweater vest, and glasses to make up for his poor eyesight. In the past, he had wild dark brown hair that had been peppered with touches of gray in the wake of his age and stresses and had seemingly haunting blue eyes with dark circles beneath them. She had known this man, recognized him as much as she Ryker Kennison himself.

It had been difficult not to since they had been more or less joined at the hip since meeting when they were in grade school together. They had become more like brothers than friends as the years progressed in their association

Valencia had known this sorrowful, pitiful man to be Malcolm F. Reeves, the former best friend and still lingering acquaintance of the ailing Ryker Kennison. Malcolm had been there during the crash as well and the man who had been the only source of comfort to a broken Ryker the moment he had discovered the bodies of his deceased sons and wife following his brief rescue of Valencia herself during the events of the plane crash that changed all their lives. 

Malcolm's blue eyes had been just as sorrowful as they had been the last time she'd seen him, hovering around Ryker's body as he lay in a coma at the hospital following his car accident. She had been more or less avoiding the older man knowing that he had not altogether approved of her pursuit of his dearest friend even with them being at odds. 

Malcolm had been godfather to Kevin and Carter Kennison and best man at Ryker and Sera's wedding. It had stung something awful to have to endure the losses of his close friend and godchildren. It had been even worse to endure the downward spiral of Ryker himself before his untimely accident and the subsequent end of their close bond due to the shift of the man's personality in the wake of it. 

Ryker or what was left of him had been all Malcolm had been focused on after nearly losing his best friend and as a result, the clashing between himself and the newly awakened Ken had been intense. Finally, Malcolm had washed his hands of Ken due to his vile antics, but couldn't stay away for very long fearful of losing him altogether and being hopeful that one day he'd return to being his old self once more. 

"Malcolm Reeves, to what do I owe this visit?" asked Valencia not at all thrilled to be getting a house call from Malcolm and not Ken. 

"Have you lost your ever-loving mind?" asked Malcolm with his thin arms folded across his equally thin chest. "What's this I hear about Ryker getting you pregnant?"

Valencia sighed as he stepped back from the door and allowed Malcolm to step inside her apartment, mostly due to her not wishing for the already nosy neighbors to hear about what had been going on between her and Ken, whom they had not liked in the slightest. 

"Where did you hear that?" asked Valencia as she closed her front door and turned on an annoyed Malcolm on a dime. 

Malcolm rolled his eyes still standing with his arms folded across his chest. 

"Do you have any idea what you've done young lady?" he asked with an arched brow behind his glasses. "Ryker isn't in the best frame of mind to even dress himself in the morning let alone care for a pregnant girl and a baby, this is only going to end badly for you two."

This time it was Valencia's turn to roll her eyes. 

"For your information, Ken and I are doing just fine and we'll work out how to deal with our baby in our own time," she said rather defiantly.

Malcolm suddenly smirked after studying her rather interestingly unnerved expression. 

"He took off didn't he?" he asked not fooled by her bravado one bit. 

Valencia rolled her eyes as she stood with her hands on her hips as she glared up at Malcolm not at all intimidated by his words and disdain toward her for pursuing Ken when he had attempted to get her to do otherwise. 

"He'll be back, he always comes back," she muttered still annoyed that he'd been privy to her private plight. 

"Like hell, he will," growled Malcolm with a bit of annoyance of his own. "You got pregnant, and what's worse I know you did it on purpose because Ryker would never have gone along with it otherwise."

"So what if I did, you were just going to sit back and let him destroy himself...I love him, and that wasn't an option for me," declared Valencia boldly, "You're the one that slinked away like a coward because he didn't care to remember everything you wanted him to remember or be the man you wanted him to be."

Malcolm seemed to bristle at her comment. 

It had been true that he had left them to their own devices beforehand frustrated that his best friend, the man he had grown up with in school had not returned when Ken Ryker opened his eyes at the hospital. He had gone from a pillar of the community and wealthy family to a skirt-chasing drug addict hellbent on ignoring everything that he had built aside from the company and that was due to him having nothing else. 

"Well I'm here now, and not a moment too soon, if you think I'm going to let either of you fools ruin this child on my watch you have another thing coming," said Malcolm. "I may not have approved of your relationship of sorts in the past but this child, may well be the only person that could truly reign Ryker in, and if not there is no way you are going through this pregnancy alone, not if I can help it."

The moment he said this Valencia's expression changed and she suddenly hugged Malcolm pleased that he'd been on her side in this despite his initial objections. She had only needed to get Ken to come around and having Malcolm on her side would have increased those odds despite their differences, they had still been best friends, like brothers even. 

Malcolm allowed the hug and sighed. 

"Well, I'll see what the damage is and what I can do about it for the time being, rest and take care of yourself and the baby," he said as he neared the front door. "And don't think I'm gonna let anyone else become godfather to a child of Ryker's no matter what he thinks about it."

Valencia couldn't help but smile as she recalled that Malcolm had been godfather to Ken's other children before their tragic demise. He had brought it up during a good deal of their arguments after all. 

Malcolm took his leave of Valencia and she had turned her attention back to her unborn child. If anyone could get Ken to come around about the baby it had been his father and Malcolm Reeves.