by Penny Wylder
I spin to see who came up to my private balcony, and there is a shattering of glass as moonlight picks out glints of pale hair, bottle blonde to be sure. Jean. A very livid Jean surrounded by shards of what smells like a broken beer bottle.
“I should have known, Lazy Lia. I get it. Not even threats can keep your money grubbing paws off Beck.” She kicks a larger piece of glass in our direction, sneering as it breaks.
Threats? Did Jean threaten my Lia? Is that why Lia has been off lately? Rage colors my vision, and I feel my control thinning out to a hair’s thickness.
“So, Lia, why don’t you tell your silver fox of a fuck buddy about his whore daughter? You’re such good friends and all, but I’m sure your mouth has been too full of his cock to tell him that his daughter is knocked up.” Jean’s face twists into a mockery of a smile. Drinking has increased her cruelty and pettiness.
My emotions are everywhere. Tasha, my Tasha is pregnant? Lia is being hurt by Jean. I’m going to be a father and a grandfather all at the same time.
“Tell him, Lia. Or are you too busy fucking your way into a promotion to even care about your supposed best friend? Maybe she fucked your father to get even with you…No. Paul can’t get it up anymore.”
“Not for you at least.” Lia slaps her hand over her mouth as soon as the words come rushing out. She reaches for me, fingertips an inch from my arm before she shakes her head and hugs herself instead. “I promised her, Beck. I promised Tasha that I wouldn’t tell her secret. She’s not a whore!” Lia snaps. I don’t know if she was meaning it just for Jean or trying to reassure me, too.
Lia moves between Jean and me, eyes pleading with me as much as her words. “Don’t yell. Please don’t yell. Tasha is so scared. She didn’t know how to tell you, and Chris wanted to be there when she tells you. I promised her.” Lia’s crying, but the tears fall unnoticed as she rocks herself side to side. “Tasha is lost. It was their first time together. The condom broke, but they thought…I don’t know what they all were thinking.
“At least I was on the pill, but it was a bad batch or something, and I still haven’t told Tasha that I’m pregnant.” Lia is rambling, trying to rationalize all that’s going through her mind. “She’s going to hate me, and you’re going to hate me for keeping her secret about this. Oh, fuck!” Lia realizes what she said.
I grab her, pulling Lia close, as much to protect her from whatever vitriol Jean is going to spew as to reassure her. “I don’t care.” I do care, very much in fact, but this isn’t the place for that conversation. “I love you, and I love Tasha. With all that the two of you have been through together, I understand why you were keeping this secret. I could never hate you for that, for anything. You were protecting my daughter. It’s sweet,” I say.
It’s hard to play nonchalant over my daughter being pregnant, but I know it’s going to be much how Paul is going to feel when he finds out about Lia. I must be calm outwardly and hope it will sink in.
“Pregnant? You’re pregnant, too?” Jean drunkenly points at Lia. “You got knocked up by Beck? When?” She shakes her head and laughs. “It doesn’t really matter. I don’t care how happy you think you’ll be, I’m going to ruin it for both of you.” She runs off, stumbling as she bounces off the wall to change direction.
Lia is sobbing, shaking in my arms. “W-what are we going to do?”
“Take a deep breath, kiss one another for luck, find your underwear, and go do some damage control.” I brush my nose against hers. “And I’m going to go tell my girlfriend’s father that he’ll be a grandfather in a few months. At least I know he likes me, right?” I have to make Lia feel stronger about our situation.
She leans on my shoulders as she steps back into her underwear, and she pulls it up into place while I zip her dress. I could laugh at how rumpled we both look if not for fear of what is coming.
We are halfway to the wall I had moved to get us through when Lia pauses. “Can’t we just run away somewhere else instead?” She isn’t serious, but the thought is tempting.
“Excuse me, everyone. I have an announcement.” Jean’s voice echoes through the speakers, and I can hear security trying to stop her. “My step-daughter is a whore; if you all didn’t know that, already.” She pauses for effect and then starts up again as Lia and I make our way to the bathrooms. “Lia is pregnant by her boss—our boss, Beck Huntsworth. She’s only twenty-two. He’s literally old enough to be her father.
“If that isn’t sick enough, he’s someone we thought was a family friend. Beck came to dinners, birthdays, holidays, and he even went vacationing with the family when Lia was younger. How could he be so sick? Oh, Paul. Where are you Paul?”
Lia and I reach the party, and we stop in our tracks. Jean is up on one of the tables, a microphone in one hand, a new drink in the other, and she’s kicking at a security guard who is trying to coax her down. Lia’s father stands to the side, mortified by the scene.
“There you are, baby,” Jean purrs. “You must be so upset to hear about your money-grubbing failure of a daughter banging your friend, her boss. I mean, I don’t blame her. He’s so fucking hot. I would have taken that fox for a ride if he let me, but he turned me down because he was already fucking my step-daughter.” Paul is embarrassed and angry, and I doubt their marriage is going to survive this bonus reveal.
I’m shocked, too angry to feel anything else. I cling to Lia to avoid doing something I’ll regret. My legal team will destroy Jean for me, if I let them have her. Lia’s face is red with anger and humiliation. This isn’t good for her or our baby. I need to neutralize the situation. I must make sure that Lia doesn’t have to pay for our being in love.
Pointing to one of the guards, I motion for the microphone. They snap it out of Jean’s hands and offer it to me after making a show of wiping it off with a napkin. “Can I have everyone’s attention please?” Given the angry and drunken ranting of Jean before me, my words carry a calm weight that silences the room. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out about Lia and me, about me and the woman I love.” I squeeze her hand, bringing it up to my lips for a kiss. “We’ve been together a while now and are very much in love. We hope you can be happy for us.” I direct the last words toward Paul. This is a lot for a father to take in, and I am hopeful that we can salvage our friendship despite the shock he’s undergoing.
“Jean had been blackmailing Lia into staying away from me.” I look down at our clasped hands, raising them a bit so everyone can see. “You see how well that worked out for Jean.” That gets a few chuckles from the guards who have gotten her off the table. “She is fired, by the way. Wait just a moment before you take her down and call the police, please.” Jean deserves to witness this.
“While I hate dealing with gossips, let alone confirming their claims, it is true that Lia and I are having a baby. Not only that, but…” I drop to one knee, still holding Lia’s hand. “Can you hold the microphone for me, love?” I hand it to her and reach into my pocket. The ring was not originally for tonight; I was going to wait on it, but the time is as right as it ever will be. And maybe, just maybe, I can salvage this night in Lia’s memories. I only have it with me because the jeweler finished cleaning it and checking the stone’s setting this morning.
“Lia, I love you. I didn’t expect you. I know this is right, though, and I want to do this with you. You are such an amazing woman, and I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone.” I pull out the velvet box and open it to reveal the white gold band with diamond. “This ring is one you picked out when you were just a little girl. I don’t know if you even remember it.” I had never forgotten.
When our families went to the beach together on an escape from winter, Lia had rushed into a jewelry store after seeing their shop cat in the windowsill. She wanted to pet the cat. We all followed in after her, laughing and amused that she was more interested in the kitten than the sparkling gems. Tasha and her mother had picked out fancier rings with multiple stones. I’ll have to see if Tasha still has hers. It woul
d be great to see them side by side.
This ring, though, Lia had loved. Small, almost quaint in its understated beauty, my then-wife and daughter overlooked it in favor of the large baubles that bordered on looking like costume jewelry. The engraved flowers on either side of the circular cut diamond add a bit of individuality. It was—and is—quintessentially Lia. It is an artisan’s ring. I bought it then and tucked it away, planning on somehow giving it to her future beau to use as an engagement ring or even just as a celebration gift from Tasha to Lia someday. When I fell in love with her and then learned of the pregnancy, I knew there was no better ring to give her than one she herself had chosen and I had kept safe for a little over a decade.
“You bought Tasha the one with the rubies,” Lia replies, her voice tender with a haze of memories. “I tried to convince the owner to let me adopt their kitten. I always wanted a cat, but Dad’s allergic.”
I nod. “We can go to the shelter and adopt a cat for you to have in our office when it opens Monday, but I have a more important question to ask right now.” I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, stilling my nerves. “Will you marry me?”
The whole room waits as she stares at me, their hushed whispers going silent. It’s then, when all my staff and friends are watching us with baited breath, I worry. What will I do if she declines? How will—
Lia interrupts my train of thought with a squeal and kiss. “Yes, Beck, I’ll marry you! You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted to marry,” she whispers against my mouth.
Cheers erupt around us, and despite how hellish the past twenty minutes have been, I cannot bring myself to regret how we got to where we are. My security guards take Jean off the table, and while obviously upset at everything he has witnessed, Paul hasn’t punched me or started yelling. Plus, I’m going to marry Lia!
“What would you have done if I said no?” Lia hugs me tightly as she asks. There are no doubts in her voice, so I try not to allow the question to worry me.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the housekey I had gotten copied for her. “Given this to someone else and then used the diamond from your ring to scratch something mean into your computer screen.” Lia had gotten into trouble in junior high for using a nail file to write “Nate’s a big, fat, lying jerk” on a monitor after the boy turned down Tasha for being her date to a school dance.
She hits me in the chest, laughing before she pauses to stare at the ring. “I can’t believe you bought this ring and kept it all this time. I love it.” Lia gazes into my eyes, smiling. “I love you.”
It’s the first time she’s said it, and my heart catches in my throat. I knew from her kiss—from her acceptance of me—but to actually hear her say it after all the questionable moments… It’s my turn to wipe at an errant tear.
8
Lia
“Tell me you weren’t screwing my little girl all these years or grooming her for this.” My father’s eyes are icy and lips narrow with the mix of emotions he’s enduring. I can’t tell if he’s angry, disappointed, or just in shock. It’s the first thing he’s said to us since the announcement and proposal.
Beck is shaking his head, his arm wrapped around my waist, ready to protect me from the world at the first hint of danger. He hasn’t let go of me since Jean found us near the gazebo. “I swear to you, Paul, I never touched Lia until after she came home from being out of state.” He’s careful in his word choices, making sure that whatever he says is both true and not something we mind being spread around by any reporters. We’ll be prime real estate on the front page as it is for announcing our pregnancy and engagement, but a juicy story of a teenage love affair would be too hard for them to pass up if given the slightest hints to pick apart.
My dad turns to me, his hands coming up to cup my cheeks. He searches my eyes, frowning at whatever he does or doesn’t see there. He’s been able to read me like this ever since childhood, and I hope I can do the same with my baby. I never had to prove I wasn’t lying about something; Dad would know just by looking at me long enough. Satisfied, my dad nods and releases me. “Lia, I can’t say I’m happy about you being pregnant, not when you’re so young, but I won’t give you any lectures. That’s not what you need from me right now. I love you, and I will do my best to be happy for you.” My father turns to Beck, one hand outstretched in a peace-offering. “You’ll take care of my daughter and your child?” he says, his voice clear, and it’s obvious he’s making a demand, rather than posing a question.
“Of course, Paul. Like you even need to ask that of me.” Beck’s voice is incredulous. “I swear I’ll take care of them and treasure them from this day until my last day.”
I watch with happy tears as the two most important men in my life clasp hands and then pull one another into a hug, sandwiching me between them. “It’ll be okay,” I tell myself. For the first time since finding out that I’m pregnant, I feel that everything will be fine. It may take a while for us to all find steady footing, but we will get there.
“Well,” my dad starts before leaning back. “I think I need to go talk to my attorney and start getting used to living alone again.” He looks bereft—completely lost—and I hate seeing him like that. It’s too close to how he was after Mom died. Despite how much of a bitch Jean has been to me, he loved her. They were partners for a few years; this has to hurt.
“I love you, Daddy.” I stretch up onto my tiptoes and kiss his cheek and put on my bravest smile. My baby will be a wonderful distraction for him, I hope. “You’re going to spoil this little one rotten, aren’t you?” I ask.
He smiles, a dimple popping into view beyond the edge of his salt and pepper colored goatee. “I do not spoil. I merely take to heart my duties in dream-fulfillment.”
Beck barks out a laugh and tries to disguise it as a cough. “I’ll remember that, Grandpa.”
It’s my turn to laugh, and I tease Beck by calling him that as well. “Tasha and I are probably due within days of each other.” It’s a reminder of the conversation I need to have with her.
“I’m way too young to be a grandfather,” Beck complains.
My father merely arches a brow, and I know what he’s going to say before he even opens his mouth. I beat him to the punch: “Pot, meet Kettle. You have a lot in common.” My creative wheels whirl to life as new sculptures and paintings spark in my imagination: pots and kettles turned into photo frames for ultrasound images and first baby pictures.
They part with a strong handshake and promise to kick each other’s asses during the next poker night. Guys’ night. I’ll have to get used to them being friends. Maybe someday it won’t be weird.
“Lia, I…Um… Well, I won’t expect you home tonight. You two probably have a lot to talk about with you having a baby together and all.” Dad scratches the back of his head and gives us an awkward glance. “I am not going to think about any of what you staying over there entails. You’re still my baby girl. Tomorrow, though, let’s have lunch; okay? You can help me bag up Jean’s stuff for the thrift store.”
Inside, I’m bouncing with the thought of getting all her crap out of our home, but I also know that Dad does not need to see my excitement. Maybe I can get one of her power walking outfits to create an effigy to burn…
I agree to my dad’s lunch offer, accept his kiss on my cheek, and let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding. It whistles past my teeth, releasing most of the tension that I’ve held inside since Beck and I first kissed in his garage. One down; one to go. “Beck, I should go tell Tasha. It really needs to come from me, and our news will be all over the web soon.” Part of me wants to pawn this off on Beck and play the “she’s your daughter” card, or even have him come with me, but that’s my fear and anxiety talking. She’s my best friend; I have to do this.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Beck’s arms provide all the safety I could ever dream of, making it hard to convince myself that now is the right time versus waiting until morning. I nod and let him hold me for a few more moments.
“Do you think I could sweet talk you into staying over tonight?” His breath is warm and teasing along my ear, and I lean into him until the caress becomes a kiss on my temple. “I would love to see you in my bed and actually wake up with you in my arms.”
My pussy tightens with memories of fucking outside, and I realize that he’s really mine. It will take a while for this to sink in. This isn’t just a fling; I’m actually with Beck. “We do have my dad’s approval,” I suggest. Dropping my voice to a whisper, I add, “and it might be nice to actually end up in a bed instead of on the roof or over your desk.”
A sparkling flash catches my eye, and I look down at my ring. The diamond’s facets are almost twinkling with each movement I make thanks to the strings of lights. Twisting my hand to catch the light better, I admire the ring. “I still can’t believe you bought this ring!” The fact that a ring bought when I wasn’t even quite a teenager is a near perfect fit… I try to put my feelings into words.
Beck captures my lips in a soft kiss. “It was fate.” I love the feel of his mouth on mine, and it would be easy to forget our surroundings and lose myself in the sensations he causes. Tingles spread out from my lips, and I look forward to having time to explore his body without worry of being caught by coworkers or fear of losing Tasha.
“Do you want this, Lia? Truly? Now that we don’t have an audience clinging to every word… I need to know. Do you really want to marry me?” His fear of being rejected is plainly written across his face and in the taut lines of his muscles beneath his button-down.
Nodding, I carefully adjust how Beck is holding me so that we are facing one another. He’s so handsome that it makes my heart race. “I don’t want to give you a big head, but I’ve wanted to marry you since I was at least ten. It’s always been you.” His mouth parts in a huge smile, and bubbles of joy cascade through my chest as he beams. “I love you, Beck.”