by Jamie Knight
We still hadn’t talked about much of anything and now my questions were only becoming more. I needed a deeper explanation about what was going on.
“What’s happening with you?” I asked, starting to become more worried as I watched her lay her hands on her chest, soothing herself.
“I-I don’t know how to tell you this…”she began, starting to push the chair back and stand up.
“Tell me what?” I asked, not sure why she was moving away from me.
Her lip trembled as she unfolded the cover, revealing herself wearing a tight pink t-shirt.
And her belly was swollen.
I gasped, shocked by what I was seeing. I just stared at her in disbelief, trying to let what I was seeing register. Izzy stood in front of me, her shoulders slumped. She had bags under her eyes. What I thought had been a glow was nothing more than the result of her being pregnant.
Out of all of the possibilities of things that had run through my mind, this had not been one of them. Her stomach wasn’t really large. In fact, if I hadn’t known her, I might not have even thought that she was pregnant. Maybe just overfull from having eaten a meal. Or a few pounds overweight. It looked like she still had a ways to go.
I sat there, putting together a timeline, and realized that Izzy had had all of the time and opportunity to let me know what had been going on with her, but she chose to leave me in the dark instead, leaving me to find out what was going on by bursting into her parents’ home unannounced.
If her father had already been upset about the possibility of us rumored to have slept together, he would have been well within his rights to have pulled out a shotgun as soon as I had showed up on his doorstep. The more that I thought about it, the angrier that I started to get at Izzy. It was like she had set me up, let me walk into a trap to my death. She didn’t even have the decency to tell me. As far as she knew, all of this could have put me in a position to lose everything that I have worked so hard for.
I couldn’t believe that I had driven all that way for someone who kept showing themselves to be so selfish.
“How dare you?” I roared, feeling more anger than I had in a very long time. “How could you have kept such a huge secret from me? I demand an explanation!”
I started pacing back and forth, my fists clenched at my sides. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe her. After pacing a few times, I looked over at her and saw that she was sitting there, silent. Her eyes were filled with sadness and her bottom lip trembled. Tears filled her eyes and then came streaming down her face. She put her hands up to her face, turning away from me.
As angry as I was, seeing her cry made me feel guilty about yelling at her. She looked so delicate, like she needed my love and protection, not to be assaulted by my harsh words. I leaned down in front of her on my knees, gathering her in my arms. I laid my head on her chest and heard her heart beating fast. I closed my eyes and squeezed her tighter.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I said, my tone velvety soft. “I didn’t mean to attack you like that. Please don’t cry.”
I reached up to wipe away her tears with my hand and she pulled her face away like my fingers were fire.
“That’s not why I’m crying,” she said, sniffling. “It’s just that – you didn’t even ask if the baby was yours. You just assumed that it is.”
Now it was my heart’s turn to beat fast. I could hear my blood drumming in my ears as I tried to make sense of what she was saying. Maybe there was more to the story than she was letting on. I decided that it would smart for me to tread carefully.
“Well, it IS mine…right?” I asked, bracing myself for the possibility of shock.
“Yes,” she said, quickly. “It’s just…I’ve been here going over and over every possible scenario in my head. I didn’t tell you because I was already confused on what our relationship was when we were just sleeping together. My grades started slipping and what was worse was that I really was struggling to even care about that. The only thing that I could think about was you, spending more time with you, having you inside of me.
“And right when I thought that I was finally going to get it all together, I find out that I’m pregnant. And then, the meeting with Belva happens and my parents rushed me back home. And all I kept thinking about it what you must be thinking. And how to tell you that, in the middle of everything, you’re about to be a father. Look, I know how much you love teaching and I know that this could mess up everything for you. But, that’s the truth of it.”
Silence hung between us like a thick blanket. Her head hung down, her eyes filled with fear, as she waited for me to respond. I was still trying to process everything that she had said.
The more I thought about it and sat watching her, fidgeting uncomfortably in her chair, the more pity I felt for her. She had been through a whirlwind and was still going through it. Everything in her world had turned completely upside down. And there I sat, intruding her personal space, making demands and accusations, while she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. She was wringing her hands together in her lap, which was quickly disappearing under her rounded belly. I grabbed her hands, wrapping my own around them, and kissed them, closing my eyes, hoping that she could feel the depth of love that I felt for her in that moment.
“I know that all of this has been a lot for you to deal with,” I said, my words even and calm. “I am so sorry that you have had to go through this alone. I want you to know that I am so happy to hear that you are pregnant with my child.”
She looked so surprised all of a sudden that I was sure that she was going to fall out of her chair.
“Really?! You aren’t just saying that to be nice?”
Her fan scanned mine, searching for any signs of a lie. I looked back at her confidently.
“Yes, really,” I said, smiling. “I know that you’ve got your whole life ahead of you and being a mother probably was not something that you had factored into your great life plan right now, but it’s amazing. I came here with the intention to come and get you. Everything is working on perfectly and there is nothing that will get in the way of us being together.”
Izzy’s eyes darted toward the door and she looked away.
I felt stupid. Here I was pouring out my heart to her and jumping to conclusions yet again when she hadn’t even attempted to reach out to me. I had made the trip all the way to her house to confess my love to her, riding in on my white horse, I hadn’t even paused to remember that she didn’t answer any of my calls or texts nor had she tried to reach out to me, on my cell or at the university. I frowned dejectedly as I kicked myself for not thinking more deeply about things before carrying out my poorly thought-out plan. I pulled away from her and stood up, jamming my hands in my pocket as I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.
“I mean…I came out here with the idea that I would tell you how I felt and let you process things if you needed time. Because, clearly, you needed time since you left school so abruptly and haven’t bothering returning any calls or texts. But, now, I feel like the baby changes all of that.”
My words sounded more whiny than I hoped that they would. She stood up quickly, taking a step toward me to clear the short distance between us.
“You have no idea how many times I have wanted to call you. As a matter of fact, I probably called and hung up with the university so many times, they think that someone is stalking the school. I just didn’t want to get you into too much trouble. My parents were so anxious to get me to come home that they literally stuffed me into a car right after the meeting in Belva’s office and I didn’t realize that I had left my phone behind until after I had gotten here. So, that’s why I hadn’t answered any of your messages.”
It was like a light bulb had gone off in my head. Of course. She hadn’t answered my calls or texts, not because she didn’t want to talk to me, but because she didn’t have her phone. I hit my head with the heel of my hand, chiding myself for not putting it together sooner.
I wrapp
ed my arms around her waist, landed a kiss on her lips with a quick peck, and smiled down at her. I wanted her forever.
“Let’s go get married right now in Vegas,” I said. “I’ll drive. We don’t need to wait a moment longer.”
Izzy laughed, pulling away from me playfully.
“You’re so silly,” she said, giggling. “I haven’t seen my phone in months. Layla says that she’ll drive up after the semester is over and bring me the rest of my things. I’ll have my phone back then.”
“I’m serious,” I said, staring at her soberly.
Her laughter melted, and she stared back at me. She eyed me questioningly, like she was still trying to decide if this wasn’t some attempt at an extended joke.
“You aren’t just saying that because of the baby, are you?” she asked, her voice riddled with so much worry, it shook. “Because if you are…”
I put a finger up to her lips, motioning for her to stop talking. She did, snapping her lips shut sharply.
“When I got into my car and had decided that I was coming here to make you mine and take you home, I had no idea about the baby. I love you and I want to make you my life. The baby just makes this that much more perfect.”
Her face softened, and her smile looked like a ray of sunshine through the clouds. She was beautiful.
“Izzy, I got tenure,” I said, excited to finally share my good news with her. “It’s like everything is finally falling into place perfectly. I have a secure career for us to start building a life on. I can give you the life that you deserve and the zillions of orgasms that I know you want and need…”
I leaned over and brushed my lips across her neck. She sucked in air through her teeth. I could tell that she was started to weaken to me. To seal the deal, I leaned down and slowly planted my lips onto hers, kissing her tenderly. It felt like fireworks were exploding throughout my body. I parted her lips with my tongue and our tongues danced, intertwining between our lips. Our hot mouths tangled greedily as we sucked in every essence of passion in that kiss standing in the middle of posters of TV heart throbs and stuffed animals. Izzy’s eyes were closed as she kissed me back hard.
Her eyes snapped open and she pulled away from me, looking up at me accusingly.
“I know what you’re doing,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “You’re trying to stifle my brain with passion.”
“Guilty,” I said, pulling her back to me, holding her so that she couldn’t get away, and kissing her again, melting into her as our tongues danced and swayed.
My dick was starting to stiffen in my pants when the door swung open so wide, it hit the wall with a loud thud.
Standing in the doorway looking like a raging bull was Izzy’s father, Jack. Veins bulged from his neck as he stood huffing, his crazy eyes locked onto me like a laser beam. He bounded toward me, letting out a guttural cry, his hands lifted like he was going to attack.
“I’M GOING TO RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!” he yelled gruffly, lunging toward me. I knew that there was nowhere for me to run in the small room, but I moved as far as I could toward the wall, making him almost fall as he closed his hands, missing me by a mile.
“Now, Jack, I know you’re angry,” I said, turning toward him, palms up. “But, hear me out. I’ve come to do the right thing. I am not trying to disrespect you, your daughter, or your household in any way…”
I could tell that he was pissed, but he wasn’t lunging toward me anymore. He just stood there, glaring at me, his fists opening and closing at his sides.
“Let him talk,” came a voice from the doorway. It was Izzy’s mother, looking tired and afraid. All eyes were on me, so I knew that I needed to explain myself while I had the chance.
“I love your daughter,” I said, getting to the point.
“You love my daughter, huh?” he spat, mockingly. “Yeah? You love her so much, you’ve ruined her life. You literally fucked her and left her with a baby. On what planet is that love? I should murder you for what you’ve done to her. To my family!”
“I didn’t know about the baby,” I said, still standing my ground. “And I know that that’s no excuse. I did at least try to call and see how things were going and what I could do to make it right, but you made it clear over the phone when I called that you weren’t going to let me do that.”
Izzy shot a look at her father as if this was the first that she had heard of any call. Jack looked back at Izzy with his head raised, making it clear that he was not at all ashamed of his decision.
“I did what I knew was best to protect my daughter,” he said angrily. “And if you have a little girl…”
The thought of me being father to a little girl stunned me to silence. Jack fell silent as the weight of his words filled the room. Marilyn clapped her hands over her mouth, stifling loud sobs.
Even though we all just stared at each other wordlessly, there was a silent wonder that fell on all of us as the realization set in that, no matter what happened, the life growing inside of Izzy would connect us for years to come.
I felt obligated to speak up, to set things straight man-to-man between Jack and me. Because, he was right; I understood how he felt because there was a code that we kept as gentlemen and, without meaning to, not considering Jack and assuring that my intentions were nothing but admirable would have his guards up to make sure that no one was there to destroy his baby girl’s heart.
“I love you daughter, sir,” I began calmly, staring her father square in the eyes. “I have every intention and ability to take care of both her and the baby.”
Jack blinked a few times, folding his arms across his chest as if he still wasn’t convinced.
“I know that I shouldn’t have waited so long to step forward,” I said, shrugging. “But everything was moving so fast. And before I had a chance to even talk about anything, she was gone from the school. But, waiting actually turned out for the best because it gave me the chance to make sure that my job would not be in jeopardy if I were to pursue something with Izzy. Now, I have the university’s blessing.”
I stepped over to stand next to Izzy. I grabbed her hand. She looked up at me, smiling like she was proud. I smiled back at her and turned again to face her father.
“I want to marry Izzy,” I said, matter-of-factly. “No, I’m going to marry her. I’m prepared to drive straight through to Vegas tonight to make her my wife. I would love to get your blessing, Jack, but I understand if you don’t want to give it. And to be completely honest, it’s really not needed.”
Jack’s eyes widened with surprise as he took in my bold words, his eyes sizing me up as if he were trying to decide if he wanted to break me in half or if I really would be a good enough man for his daughter.
Marilyn took a step toward Jack, putting her wrinkled hand on his arm.
“This is obviously something that Izzy wants,” she said quietly. “You have done your job as her father to protect her. And you have done an amazing job. But, now it’s time for her to leave the nest. Your little girl is going to be a wife and a mother with a family of her own that she will need to love, honor, and protect. The best thing that you can do at this point is give your blessing to make things easier. They love each other. And if they are to become man and wife and bring a new life into this world together and into their family, they will need all the loving support that they can get. Surely as her father who loves her, you would not be too full of pride to put your own personal feelings and anger to the side so that you can be there for your daughter, right?”
All eyes turned toward Jack, staring at him in wide-eyed anticipation as we held our breath, waiting for him to speak.
Jack looked conflicted, like a part of him wanted to be happy, but another part of him was angry. He stood looking possessed, going back and forth between smiling creepily to looking like a tea kettle that was about to boil over.
“Okay, fine,” he finally yelled. “I give you my blessing. I guess my wife is right. It looks like this is something that my daughter wants, so
I would be stupid to stand in the way. But you had better treat her right. The very first time that I so much as hear that you made her cry, I’ll be all over you like white on rice. You got that?”
“Yes, sir,” I said, standing up tall in front of him, my shoulders back. We had no choice but to be close to each other standing in the small room, huddled together between the bed and the door.
“And before you get any ideas, I demand that you let us come to the wedding,” he continued, his voice booming.
“Jack…” said Izzy’s mom, giving her husband a pained look. He winced, his eyes darting toward the floor. I was moved by the amount of love and consideration that the couple had for each other. I could only hope that what Izzy and I had would grow.
“I mean- do you think that we can come along to see our daughter get married? I have always dreamed of being there and giving her away. That is…if you will let me…” He stood there, his head waiting like a little kid. It was endearing and made me excited for our new future as family. I clapped a hand onto Jack’s shoulder and looked at him, smiling genuinely.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said. We shared of look of commonality, a comradery had by men who held each other in the utmost of esteem.
It wasn’t until I turned and fixed my gaze on Izzy, standing next to me, clinging to my hand weakly, that it dawned on me.
In all the commotion of trying to calm her father down and state my intentions, I never even waited to hear if Izzy even wanted to marry me. I was already dragging the poor girl halfway down the aisle and she hadn’t even agreed to marry me.