Baby Daddies: Puck Buddies Series

by Tara Brown

  But as I sit up, something happens. Something terrible. The room spins and I’m instantly dizzy. My cheeks sour and I manage to grab my robe and dart from the room to the bathroom, not even getting the door closed before it happens.

  There’s next to nothing in my stomach but my body does its best to rid itself of every drop of food and fluid. I’m heaving and gagging, trying to be quiet but it’s impossible. This is some kind of evil vengeance.

  When I think it’s over, I’m sweating and weak, clinging to the toilet and thanking the gods of all that is holy that Judith is a neat freak. The bathroom is pristine.

  “Jenny?” my dad asks from the doorway. “You okay, kid?”

  “Yup,” I manage to grunt before it starts again.

  “I’ll mix you up some Eno.” He closes the door for me and walks away, the floor in the hallway creaking a little.

  By the time it’s really over, I’m tired again. After I brush my teeth, I stagger to the bedroom and pull on clothes, needing a drink to soothe my burning throat before I go back to bed.

  Dad’s got an Eno on the counter, already mixed and sizzling. One look at it and my cheeks sour again. “I can’t.” I shudder and walk to the sink, getting a fresh glass of cold water. I take tiny sips and lean against the counter.

  “So this is why you didn’t drink last night?” Dad says offhand.

  “I wasn’t feeling so hot when I got here. It must be a—”

  “Are we lying to each other now?” He leans against the counter too. “You haven’t had a single glass of wine since you arrived. And you’ve gained weight. And Lori hovers around you like he’s ready to eat anyone who gives you a bit of side-eye.”

  “Can you stop doing the cop thing?” I don’t have the energy to fight him on this.

  “Is it his?”

  I don’t dignify the question with an answer, but I’m fairly confident the look on my face tells him everything he needs to know.

  “What? You were dating Ben for three years. And this guy is young, Jenny. What is he, twenty?”

  “He’s twenty-three in a couple of days and yes, it’s Lori’s. It was an accident, obviously. Like I would plan this with someone I barely know.” I don’t know if it’s the miserable way I feel or spending the night being insulted over the mic by Judith, but I am done and my voice is becoming louder with every sentence. “I get that your wife hates me, but I’d like to think my own father would give me the benefit of the doubt. I shouldn’t have to tell you that I caught Ben sleeping with someone else and the stress of the breakup and moving caused my birth control to not work properly. I shouldn’t have to justify my current relationship, considering he has been nothing but polite and kind and giving.” And it doesn’t stop there. Because the red rage has hit. “And all of this judgment is rich coming from someone who replaced my mom before she was cold in her grave!”

  His jaw might as well be on the floor and his face is bright red with rage, but I leave before he can say anything else, stomping down the hall to the bedroom, certain every single person in this house has heard me.

  I slam the bedroom door to find Lori sitting up and grinning. “Warm the jet?” he asks cheekily.

  “Yes!” I seethe, ready to snap on him for being twenty-three and getting me pregnant and being a hockey player and rich. I’m irrational. And the vomit’s back.

  I burst from the room, rushing to the bathroom again, barely making it a second time. My body rids itself of the water I just drank and then punishes me for even thinking about breakfast.

  I gag and heave until there’s no strength left and I collapse on the floor, my face resting on the cold tiles. My eyes burn with the want to cry but there’s no fluid left in me for tears. I close my eyes and lie there, praying for death.

  But my brother begins shouting, “That was awful. You and I both know it. She’s sick and you accuse her of being pregnant with Ben’s kid while dating Lori.”

  “I’ve had about all I’m gonna take from you two this morning!” Dad rages but Josh doesn’t back down.

  “Too bad, old man! You think shouting at me is gonna change the things you’ve screwed up? You’re the one who chose to leave Jenny to fend for herself her senior year because you couldn’t wait for us to be gone and out of your hair so you and your mistress could move in together!” Cool, calm, kind Josh is gone. He’s barely making sense at this point but it’s years of pent-up rage releasing. “She was still a kid and our mom had just died and you weren’t there for her.”

  My entire body is pins and needles. I want to stop him but I can’t move.

  “Josh!” Judith joins the conversation.

  “What Judith? You think you or Dad fooled us? We knew he was banging you while Mom was sick. What kind of person fucks a dying woman’s husband?”

  My heart nearly stops. I didn’t know that.

  “You will not speak to us in our own house this way!” My father has now also lost it.

  “Yeah, well maybe me and Jenny just won’t come to your house anymore. It fucking sucks here anyway!”

  Footsteps stomp down the hall to the room next to mine. Josh rustles shit loudly before he slams his door with more footsteps. I manage to force myself up from the floor as he rips open the door and barks at me, “We’re leaving. You can puke on the plane!”

  There’s no arguing with him but I can’t help. I miserably watch him stuff mine and Lori’s things into bags, violently.

  Judith is crying somewhere in the background. My father is silent. I have no idea where Lori is. Josh grabs all the bags and storms from the room.

  It takes a lot of strength to follow but I make it. I push through. This is not the worst pain I’ve been in. Not even close.

  At the front door, I find Lori coming from the bathroom. He has that look you get when your friends’ parents fight in front of you. Like you want to laugh but you’re also scared and uncomfortable. He opens the door for me and grabs my heels from the floor where I left them last night.

  I’m so confused on what to do. What is the right thing? I want to patch things with my dad before I leave, but I can’t digest that him and Judith were having sex even before my mom died.

  And worst of all, the realization of what was happening is making many moments of the year Mom died click into place.

  It was so obvious.

  The fact I missed it is mind-boggling.

  I genuinely had to pretend not to see and now that the truth is thrown in my face, there’s no avoiding the facts.

  My dad was cheating on my dying mom.

  Josh starts the SUV and waits for us. He’s vibrating with anger as Lori walks to the driver’s door and opens it, pulling my brother out and hugging him. Josh doesn’t fight it. He hugs back and takes loud breaths as if he’s saying things without saying them or fighting tears.

  “I’ll drive,” Lori says and pats my brother on the back. I climb into the back seat, silent, too horrified to speak.

  We leave and it’s the worst feeling in the world. Adding the morning sickness is a special kind of hell. But at least there is nothing left in me to throw up.

  Lori doesn’t drive the way he normally would, he’s careful and slow all the way to the airport. It doesn’t help with the insane nausea and dizziness, but I appreciate the effort.

  None of us says anything until we reach Lori’s jet.

  I’m sitting and staring out the window, vacant and distant, when Josh finally speaks, “You didn’t know, did you?”

  I shake my head, unable to speak.

  “Well, I guess this makes us zero for two as families and this baby go,” Lori tries to be funny but I know he’s hurting too.

  “What am I? Chopped liver?” Josh scowls which makes me want to laugh. He sees my attempt at a smile and beams. “They had it coming, right?”

  “You feel awful, don’t you?” I ask.

  “Horrible. I just want to turn around and go back and make up. This is why I avoid saying anything. It’s either I say every single thing I’m
thinking, or I pretend everything’s fine. I have no happy medium.” He sits back in the seat and sighs. “The worst part is I will be the one apologizing. Judith will play the victim like always.”

  “You and me both,” I lament, aware of who will be the bad guys in this production of Hamlet.

  “You guys are wasting your breath if you apologize.” Lori scoffs. “Judith is never going to accept either of you. She’s threatened by your awesomeness and has low self-esteem.”

  “What are we supposed to do, stop seeing our dad?” I ask.

  “I would maintain the distance you already have. That’s a toxic relationship and your dad’s a big boy. He made his choice. He chose Judith over you guys and your mom. And every time you’re there and she’s shitting on you or mocking you, and he says nothing, he’s choosing her again. Your dad’s smart enough to know what’s up.” His words sting but the validity of the sentence can’t be denied. Josh doesn’t even try to argue.

  “You’re fairly wise for—”

  “If you bring up my age—”

  “I was gonna say a billionaire, I swear.” Josh chuckles at Lori’s feisty expression.

  We laugh as the plane takes off but the humor is short-lived. It’s a minute or two before we’re all quiet again as the events run on a loop in my mind.

  30

  Business partners

  Lori

  “This is a sweet view, my dude,” Josh says, staring out at the park as the sun is setting on New York.

  “It’s my favorite. But now I’m thinking maybe I should sell this place.” The thought has been running in my head for weeks.

  “What! Why?” He looks at me like I’m crazy and takes a big drink of beer. “This is a mint location.”

  “I know but”—I pause and nod my head at the door as if Jenny is standing there—“the baby. Stresses me out imagining a kid here with this balcony so high up in the air. And there’s no yard. Kids need a yard, ya know?”

  “I guess.” Josh grins. “You’re done, eh? This is it. Head over heels in love and shit.”

  “Can you blame me?”

  “Nope. Jenny is the coolest girl I’ve ever met. Even when we were kids she was always amazing. A scrapper but a kind heart. And solid decision-making for the most part. I would want to do some harebrained scheme and she’d talk me out of it. Or improve the plan so I didn’t die.”

  “She’s stubbornly independent though,” I mutter. “It’s a miracle she’s still here. I swear, any second she’s going to move into her own place, and I’ll have to sleep there every night in her terrible bed, dying from the lack of air conditioning.”

  Josh’s eyes narrow but he doesn’t say anything.

  “What?” I ask.

  “What?” His voice cracks.

  “Dude, spill.” It’s my turn to narrow my gaze.

  His cheeks flush and he glances down, avoiding me.

  “You know something, talk.”

  “Fine!” he bursts. “She wants to move out. She doesn’t want you worrying about your brother and work and stressing about her and the kid and this relationship. She was just trying to spare you a hassle.”

  “I knew it!” I put the mug of beer down and turn to the living room once more as if I can see through to the room where she’s sleeping.

  “Don’t tell her I told you. I wouldn’t have, but I think she should stay with you. Especially if she’s this sick. What if this lasts? How can she work sick?”

  “She can’t.”

  And as if on cue, she walks from the room, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

  “Why don’t I go get us some pizza,” Josh says, standing up. “Give you some room to talk.”

  “Thanks,” I mutter and walk to her. We haven’t had a chance to talk much, not since the wedding.

  “Where you going?” she asks Josh.

  “Pizza. Be back in a minute.” He waves and hurries for the elevator.

  I pull her into my arms and kiss her head. “How you feeling?”

  “Better. And hungry. Maybe this will be my new thing. Throw up all day and eat all night,” she jokes halfheartedly. She’s weak.

  I steer her toward the massive U-shaped sectional in the living room and force her into my lap. “We need to talk.”

  She nods and clears her throat. “I know.”

  “Can I go first?”

  She parts her lips like she might argue but pauses and waits for me to speak.

  “This thing with my brother and family made me think some things.”

  “Like what?” She gulps.

  “This.” I place a hand on her belly. It’s deceptively flat. “If the baby makes you sick for months on end, I don’t know how you expect to work—”

  “Women do it every day, Lori. Loads of women struggle through and they’re fine. I’m just as strong as they are.” And her ass is up.

  “Right, but we don’t need to struggle through.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” She climbs off my lap and stands, instantly annoyed with me, complete with the bitterly evil laugh. “When you left me at your parents’ house, I had to call my brother!” she shouts. “I was forced to ask for help. Because you were gone and I am broke. And that is on me, not you. It’s my fault that I’m not prepared to be a parent and not responsible enough to take care of myself.”

  Shit.

  “I had nowhere to go and no money and no vehicle. And your chef kicked me out because your family needed privacy.”

  Fuck me.

  “You have no idea how that feels, pregnant and so broke you can barely afford the cab ride to your brother’s house where you have to stay so you can eat and feed your kid.” She waves me off. “We are not discussing this. And I’m moving out! I need my independence and to be able to support myself. I’m not leeching off you.” She storms to the bedroom and now my ass is up too.

  “No, you aren’t!” I follow her, shouting back, “You are my family now. You are my teammate. And yes, I fucked up. My brother who has been missing for years was found—”

  “I don’t care that you left, Lori!” She spins in the room, red-faced and fiery. “Of course you had to leave. The point isn’t that you went to your brother’s side, it’s that I’m so pathetic I couldn’t function without you there when Grace told me I needed to leave.”

  “Grace shouldn’t have done that,” I growl.

  “Yes, she should have. I’m not your family. I need to stand on my own two feet.” She stomps to the “her” bathroom and slams the door shut. Simon stares at the door where she is and then me. He walks to her door as if pointing out how wrong I am in this.

  “Fuck!” I want to follow and smash the door down and convince her of what I’m trying to say, but she’s a proof girl.

  “Not my family, huh?” Grabbing my phone, I march to the office and slam the door. It’s a second or two for me to calm down before I can make the call.

  It takes three hours, two lawyers, four bankers, and my grandpa’s friend who I partnered with on a winery years ago to draw up all the paperwork and get everything I want done. I’m not thinking, which both lawyers have pointed out seventeen times in the three hours. But I don’t care. This girl is making me crazy and if money is the problem, it is also the solution.

  When I open the door to the office, the smell of pizza wafts across the room, calling to me. I ignore it and march into the bedroom. But she isn’t there.

  Scared she left, I hurry across the house to the balcony, but she and Josh aren’t there either. My heart races with worry as I rush through the breakfast room into the kitchen to find the three of them. Simon on the counter with his pâté. Josh and Jenny hovering over pizza. All three of them give me the same guilty look.

  “Need me to go?” Josh asks.

  “Nope, we need a witness for all the signatures.” I start spreading paperwork across the vast counter. “The house on Martha’s. This penthouse. The apartment in London. The flat in Germany. The winery in Italy. The jet. The yacht. The r
estaurant in Tribeca. And these are all the vehicles. This is for the new joint bank account. And this final one is for the trust fund we are setting up for the baby.”

  Josh starts laughing but Jenny pales. “What is this for?”

  “That kid is half mine. That makes us family, partner. But you refuse to be teammates with me because you’re fucking stubborn and poor. Well, now you’re not poor. You own half.”

  “I won’t sign!” She is panicking.

  “Then don’t but that changes nothing. Every single thing I own, apart from some investments it would be too difficult to add your name to and my trust fund which I never touch, now have you as a fifty-percent partner. If money is problematic, then it’s also the answer. You are now filthy rich. Congratulations! I hope you enjoy it! I hope someone is mean to you because you have money and treats you like you’re evil!” I’m yelling at her, ranting really.

  She starts laughing, but it’s not the good laugh. It’s still that bad one. “You’ve lost it. You’ve cracked.”

  Josh is dying, he’s laughing so hard he’s falling over.

  “Yeah, well I wonder why?” I hold my hands out in frustration. “I give you my love. My compassion. My friendship. Every ounce of who I am. And the money is the only thing you see. You wanna hate the money so much, well now you have half of it. Burn it if that’s what you want. Give it all away. I don’t care! All I want is you.”

  “Lori, this isn’t what I want.”

  “You don’t know what you want! But I do. I know I want you. And our baby. I want you to be my family.” I slam my hand down on the counter and walk out, shouting back. “Sign that paperwork or I will forge your signature.”

  Josh falls off the chair in a loud crash, wheezing loudly.

  I walk to the bar and pour four fingers of scotch into a glass and shoot it all. It burns the whole way down my throat, but I pour a second one and send it down the pipes too.

  She appears in the doorway. Her eyes are wide and crazy, but she manages to keep her temper in check. “I wanted to make my own money. I don’t want yours.”