by Kat T. Masen
“You hate admitting that, don’t you?”
“That I’m horny? Sure. Doesn’t everyone?”
“No. I’ll admit it,” he tells me.
“First of all, you’re a guy who’s seen strippers nonstop for three days. Second, you’re in a relationship. You can pretty much get laid anytime. I’m only human, I have needs too, and I seriously didn’t think this single mom stuff through. I will never get laid again,” I ramble.
“Are you done?”
“What? Yes,” I mumble.
“Yes, I have seen strippers non-stop for three days, but my dick was as soft as a marshmallow. Yes, I’m in a relationship, but it’s just . . .” he trails off. “I don’t want to go into that part. Third, you’re fucking beautiful and you don’t see it. Every guy in our office was waiting for you to break it off with James—”
“Jason,” I correct him.
“Whatever,” he grumbles. “Because they wanted to fuck the living daylights out of you.”
I laugh, thinking it’s a joke. “C’mon, Haden. Joke’s over. No one in the office shows interest in me. I wish!”
“You don’t realize what you do to men. You’re like this untouchable goddess walking around with a fucking wand that makes everyone’s dick hard.”
“Jesus Haden, I’m pregnant! What planet are you on?”
“And thank God you are because now they’ve backed off.”
“What did you just say?” I ask, nervously.
“I’m saying that this was a good thing.”
“I didn’t know this was a ‘let’s lay all the cards out on the table’ type of conversation, but then again, you just made me come over the phone, so no more hiding stuff anymore.”
“My cards are out if yours are.”
“They’re out.” I breathe into the phone, tired and exhausted.
“Why are you worried about getting laid once the baby is born?”
“I’m not worried about getting laid straight away. I’m saying that one day I’m going to crave the touch of a man and it’s going to be difficult since I have a child to think about. It’s not just about me anymore.”
“But I told you that I didn’t want anyone touching you.”
“And I told you that’s too bad because you’re getting married and getting laid every night, so stop being a jerk.”
“I don’t want anyone touching you.”
“Why are we even arguing about this? Let’s deal with it when the time comes.”
“I want to deal with it now. I don’t want anyone touching you.”
“Yeah, well I don’t want anyone touching you, but life is unfair,” I shoot back.
“Then no one will,” he states confidently.
“Empty promises, Haden. You’re a guy, I respect that your cock needs to get laid.”
“By you,” he confirms.
Whoa. This conversation took a turn, a major turn, to God knows where. The whole dynamic of our conversation has changed and I’m rendered speechless. He has no idea of the enormity of his words, and being the rational one, I feel I have no choice but to bring him back down to reality.
“Haden,” I whisper. “We need to talk about this when you’re back. Right now, I’m tired and I have to get up for work in a couple of hours.”
“I’ll be back on Sunday. I want to see you then.”
“Okay.”
I hang up the phone, bewildered. Not even a minute later, I receive a text.
#Jerk: I meant what I said.
I know he meant it. I’m just not ready to deal with it.
Vicky and Kate come home not even ten minutes later. Vicky has decided to sleep over, and the second I see her walk through the door, I run to her with a razor in my hands.
She yawns. “Pres, it’s three am and you want me to shave your kitty?”
“This is an emergency situation! You don’t understand.”
“I understand that it’s three am and there is a possibility that I may give you a mullet.”
I drag her to the bathroom and close the door behind us. Kate is already in her room, drunk on her bed.
“This really can’t wait till tomorrow?”
“No, I can’t sleep knowing I let it turn into the Amazon Rainforest.”
“I must really love you to do this. . . .” she mumbles to herself, armed with a razor, soap, and water.
Ten minutes later, she’s done.
“You wanna see? Geez, I think the razor went dull.”
I laugh. “No, I’m fine. Thank you.”
“Honestly, the things I do for you.”
I wake up the next day, incredibly happy despite the lack of sleep. With a shaved kitty and a refreshing cup of tea, life has become a bed of sweet roses. Not to mention, I get another text from Haden which makes me smile.
#Jerk: I still mean what I said.
I don’t respond just yet, and when I receive a bouquet of flowers ten minutes later, my day gets even better. It’s a bunch of rainbow-colored roses with a card attached that says, “From your #Jerk.”
I can’t help but smile, until I notice Eloise walking towards my cubicle. Holy shit! Perfectly dressed in a pristine, white, turtleneck dress, she appears somewhat cheerful as she greets me hello and bends down to kiss me like we’re the best of friends.
My conscience and Kitty are on the run like fugitives, leaving me to deal with that god-awful emotion called guilt.
“Hi Presley, are you free for lunch?”
“Uh . . . I’m kinda busy,” I lie.
“It’s really important. Hey, nice roses.”
She leans in to sniff them and I thank God the card is still in my hands.
Reluctantly, I join her for lunch at another one of her green diet-friendly restaurants. She sits across from me, sipping her lawn in a glass, flashing her bright white teeth.
“So, first, I know we haven’t had a chance to catch up, but I heard everything went well with your trip to visit your parents.”
“Yes it did, thank you.”
“I’ve been so preoccupied with the wedding that I haven’t been able to give you this.”
She slides an envelope in front of me and I see the fancy cursive writing on the front. Opening it slowly, I see that it’s their wedding invitation.
“The date on there is next week,” I say, trying to control my nervous stutter.
“Yes, we made the decision to move it closer. It’s only very close family and friends at my parents’ house, so changing the date wasn’t really an issue.”
“I’m not sure what to say. I just think it would be uncomfortable for me to be there.”
“But you’re family. We’d really love to have you there.” She smiles.
My mind is reeling; did he know this information last night? Surely he had to. Then why did he go on and on about it just being us? Or was my brain reading way too much into this?
“How’re things going with the pregnancy?”
“Fine. Five weeks to go,” I respond with my best poker face.
“I’m kind of excited to say this, but since we are like family and I feel like I can really open up to you . . . Haden and I are trying to have a family.”
“You’re trying for a family?” I stare at her in disbelief.
“Yes. We spoke about it briefly, but I thought, why not go off the Pill now? Anyway, before he left for L.A. we had quite a night.” She leans in. “We did it three times that night. I really think we made a baby.”
The sound of my heart shattering into a million pieces echoes throughout the room, or at least that’s how it feels. I feel a stabbing pain, its persistent jabs creating deep, unfounded wounds. I’m infuriated with him, with her, at myself for believing that this fucked up story would become a fairytale.
“I think it will be perfect. Our babies can grow up together. I told Haden this morning that I had a gut feeling about it.”
“What did he say?” I can barely speak.
“He seemed pretty tired, but he said that if I am pregnant then we proba
bly should get a bigger place for both of the babies.”
“Both babies?” This time I don’t hold back my animosity.
“He didn’t tell you?” Her face falls. “I was really hoping he did. He wants to file for joint custody. A week on, week off type of arrangement.”
Under the table, my hands sweat profusely as my blood begins to boil. “When did he tell you this?”
“We’ve been speaking about it for a while, but late last night we talked about it again. He’s got the papers drawn up.” She pulls an envelope out of her bag.
I can barely see; I’m fueled by anger and every shade of red is blinding me. My stomach is twisted into heavy knots and I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“I need to go.”
Dizzy, I stand up and leave her behind as she calls after me.
Somehow I make my way back to work, confused and utterly disappointed. At my desk, I throw the flowers into the trash and grab my scissors, angrily cutting every stem to pieces. I take a picture of it and send it to him.
Me: Fucking #Jerk
My hands are shaking and I see Vicky standing over me, mouthing something. I try to hear her, but the warm gush of liquid running down my legs confuses me.
“Holy fuck, Pres! Your water just broke!” Vicky screams.
I look down and then back up at her in a blind panic, only to hear her yell to the office, “It’s showtime, baby!”
Chapter Twenty
I’m staring at this face.
It’s soft and wrinkly and everything is so small.
Ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes.
It’s my baby.
***
My life does a complete one-eighty in just twenty-four short hours.
It all happens so fast from the moment my water breaks. In a state of denial I want to go home, but Vicky shoves me into a cab with her and we head straight to the hospital. I wasn’t experiencing any pain physically, but emotionally I was angry, hurt, and humiliated by what the Jerk did. The delusional fog I was in, which I blame on the hormones, has come to a screeching halt, and there is no time to even think about that as I lay in the hospital bed, tied up to a number of drips and monitors.
“I’ve tried to call Haden,” Vicky tells me.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because you’re having this baby and he needs to be here.” She shakes her head at my question, gently patting my forehead with a cold washcloth.
“I’m not having this baby. I’m only thirty-five weeks along. It’s not going anywhere.”
Denial only gets you so far. No matter how much I try to talk myself out of it, the contractions are a mutha-fucking giant slap of reality. The pain ricocheted across my back, then moved towards the front. Gritting my teeth in this unbearable state, I’m given a jug of ice cubes to suck on for the next lot of contractions. I want to throw the jug at the nurse, but physical abuse won’t help me and I shouldn’t be mean to the person who has the drugs.
“It keeps going to voicemail,” Vicky says in a worried tone.
“Well, fucking good! He doesn’t deserve to be here anyway!” I yell, mid-contraction.
The second the contraction winds down, I start to cry, and I mean ugly-sob cry. Even with Vicky by my side, I feel so alone and terrified. She holds onto me for what feels like forever until I manage to calm myself down.
Mom and Dad are honeymooning in Fiji; they only just arrived there yesterday. Gemma and Melissa are staying at some B&B and their phones have no coverage. To add to everything else, the crib hasn’t arrived yet and I haven’t washed all the clothes like you’re supposed to, plus my hospital bag is sitting beside my bed at home.
This was not my plan. This is so unplanned, it makes me want to cry even more.
“Shhh.” Vicky strokes my hair at the same time Kate rushes into the room with Lex right behind her.
“Oh my god, what the hell happened? Lex and I were in a cab when I got your text. I had the cab driver rush right over here.” Panicked and out of breath, she is by my side, riddled with worry.
Still in an emotional state and unable to communicate effectively, I let Vicky do all the talking. She starts with my lunch with Eloise, how the Jerk screwed me over, and the cab ride over here. The both of them offer their opinions on Eloise, but I immediately tune out, not wanting to deal with that.
“Did the Jerk really knock Eloise up, too?” Kate whispers to Vicky.
Vicky nods and proceeds to tell her the rest of the story. Lex walks over to the end of the bed and lifts the chart off the railing to read it.
Curious, I continue to watch him. “Can you read charts?”
“He used to be a doctor,” Kate adds.
“Intern,” he corrects her.
“What does it say? Is something wrong with my baby?”
He continues to read, then puts it down. “Well, your water broke but you knew that. The baby’s heart rate is high and it appears to be distressed. Basically, if it continues they will need to do a C-section.”
“But . . . but I can’t be cut open . . .” I panic; not once did I think this was a possibility. “I don’t handle blood very well, or knives and scalpels. And what about if they can’t close me up? What happens if my organs fail?”
Lex moves over to Kate’s side, and with a calm demeanor, tries to ease my worries. “You’ll have well-trained surgeons taking care of you. Women bounce back without too much trouble. Aside from no driving for a while, you’ll just need to take it slow. No heavy lifting or strenuous exercise. But let’s see what your doctor says first. In the meantime, is there anything I can get you from the nurses’ station?”
I shake my head and thank him.
“I’ll be right outside if you need me, just need to make a few work calls.”
He goes off into the hallway and I rest my head back and close my eyes. The second he is out of sight, Vicky is quick to comment.
“Shit Kate, why didn’t you tell me he was gorgeous?”
“Because he’s married and totally off the market.”
“Does he have any brothers? Or even cousins . . . hell, what about his dad? I’m quite open.” Vicky winks.
Even in my despair, I laugh out loud at her comment. “You are very open!”
“Like a twenty-four-hour convenience store!” Kate roars.
“Hey!” Vicky hollers. “That’s not nice . . . but so true.”
Kate grabs the chair behind her and pulls it in, still holding onto my hand. “I hope you don’t mind that Lex is here. It was hard enough getting a cab at this hour without having to drop him off first, plus he was worried about you. He called Charlie straight away and she sends her best wishes and a message for you: ask for the drugs.”
I manage to laugh out loud again, not plagued with another contraction yet. They appear to be inconsistent, which is probably a good thing. The doctor still hasn’t turned up, but according to the last nurse that came in, he will be here shortly. It’s a waiting game, and uncertainty was something that made me extremely anxious. I hadn’t even taken the time to research Caesareans, believing I would have a normal vaginal birth. My body temperature begins to rise again, so I shove some ice cubes in my mouth, biting hard to stop panic-ridden Presley from blacking out.
Vicky checks her cell again before placing it back in her purse, turning her attention back on me. “I get why you’re pissed off at him after what Eloise told you. But what did he say or do the night before for you to get so worked up, Pres?”
“Nothing,” I mumble. “It’s not even worth talking about. Just distract me. Tell me what happened with Patrick.”
Once Vicky gets started on Patrick, it’s like listening to a soap opera. Apparently, he separated from his wife because she busted him cheating with some secretary at his firm. Although they aren’t divorced yet, he seems eager to move on with his single life, and Vicky’s name is at the top of his list.
“You’ll be proud of me! I didn’t touch him whatsoever.”
“Good, beca
use I would hate for you to be here one day, pushing out a baby that belongs to a jerk!” I scream suddenly, riding out another contraction that catches me by surprise.
I squeeze both Kate’s and Vicky’s hands, and I only let go when the pain subsides. They let go as soon as I relax again and shake their hands to stop the numbing. I hadn’t realized how tight I was squeezing until I saw their pale white hands.
Exhausted from the tides of pain, I manage to close my eyes for what feels like only a brief moment. Time is lost on me, and when Lex walks back into the room with the doctor, I pray for pain relievers and a positive solution.
“Miss Malone, you’ve gone into early labor and the baby is distressed. We need to operate shortly,” the doctor informs me.
“Wait, operate? You can’t cut me open! That’s why I have a vagina!” I yell, out of breath as I choke, panicking.
The midwife strolls in and takes Vicky’s spot, patting my forehead with a cloth. She talks to me but all I hear is blah, blah, blah. I’m certain I’m going to pass out from the sheer terror of this all. I begin to cry, wanting my mom or sister, someone familiar to comfort me and not this stranger. With Vicky and Kate sent to the waiting area, the pain mixed with my desperate pleas drown out an army of nurses who come into the room and unlock the wheels to my bed.
“We’re going to wheel you to the operating room now.”
The doors open and my girls are to my side with Lex behind them. The sobbing starts again, and I desperately hold onto their arms, not wanting to let go.
“It’s gonna be okay, Pres,” Vicky whispers. “The Jerk hasn’t picked up his phone but I’ll keep trying.”
“I’m scared,” I cry through thin, strained sobs.
“I know, sweetie, but I promise you’ll be okay.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re my best friend and you have to be.” She kisses my forehead with tears falling down her cheeks. Kate looks equally distraught but is attempting to smile, reassuring me everything’s going to be okay. Lex stands beside Kate and offers his kind words.
“It’ll be over before you know it and you’ll be holding that beautiful baby of yours in your arms.” He smiles, looking somewhat nostalgic.