by Summers, MJ
Trey stopped in his tracks for a moment, his stomach doing a flip.
Dustin stopped alongside him and stared at him, "What?"
"I'm just shocked is all," he said, trying to brush it off.
On the ride out to the ranch, Trey couldn't hold two thoughts together. He found himself sweating and his heart racing. He could hear Dustin talking and hoped that his own responses made sense.
"Trey. Trey!" Dustin said, staring at him as they sat parked at the ranch, "You sure you don't have something on your mind? You've been acting weird since we left the airport."
"No, I'm just tired is all. I've been studying and partying pretty hard for the past week," he replied. He paused for a moment, trying to sound casual, "I guess I'm in shock about Cole too. That's gotta be hard for him and Claire both."
"Yeah, a little too hard. Claire left. It was like watching a train wreck. I think he's trying to make a go of it with Gabby, but I can't see it working."
Trey exhaled loudly, "Shit. That sucks," he said, getting out of the truck.
He felt as though his feet were moving towards the restaurant on their own accord. He never thought that he would see Gabriela again, and now without any real warning he was about to come face to face with her and possibly his own son as well. What was a horrible mistake that should have been left in the past was about to smack him in the face.
When they walked into the restaurant, the warmth of the fireplace and festive sounds filled the air. The entire family was there to greet Trey. He hugged his parents and his aunties and uncles. Ben brought him a beer as he chatted with everyone. It was several minutes before he saw Gabriela standing over by the Christmas tree with her back to him, holding her baby. His mouth went completely dry as he watched them.
His mom walked up beside him, seeing him staring at Gabriela, "That's quite the situation Cole's in now," she said under her breath.
"No kidding," Trey said.
"Have you met Tomas yet? He's such a cute little guy. He sure takes after our side of the family. Reminds me so much of you and Dustin as babies."
Trey swallowed hard, "Really?" he squeaked out.
"It's uncanny actually. Makes me nostalgic," she replied, "I'll have to wait years to get a grandbaby out of either of you two boys, but seeing that little guy makes me hope you'll hurry it along a bit."
Trey practically choked on the beer in his mouth at her words. 'You might not have to wait at all,' he thought.
They watched as Cole walked over to Gabriela and took Tomas from her. He carried him over toward them, "Hey Trey, I guess you heard by now that I'm a dad. This little man is Tomas!"
Tomas smiled at Trey, shaking the little plush toy car he was holding. Trey stared from Cole to Tomas, feeling his body go clammy. He was going to have to come clean with Cole about what he had done and things were about to get ugly.
Gabriela looked on with absolute panic. She saw the look on his face and knew that she was going to have to act fast and work hard to prevent Trey from ruining everything. She tried to look relaxed as she crossed the floor in their direction.
"Here, Cole, I should change him before we all sit down to eat," she said reaching out to take Tomas.
"Oh, I got it, Gabby," Cole said. "You haven't had a chance to say hi to Trey yet." He walked away with Tomas, grabbing his diaper bag and heading towards the bathroom.
"Trey, I know what you are thinking, but stop," she hissed at him. "This is definitely Cole's baby. There is no way he is yours, so don't even think about telling him."
"How can you be so sure? Did you have DNA testing done?" Trey asked quietly, putting on a fake smile for anyone who might be watching, although his eyes were filled with terror.
"There is no need. Cole has no doubt that this is his son," Gabriela matched his phony smile, "We are starting over and things are going very well. We will soon be a proper family, so just leave it well enough alone."
They didn't notice Mary watching them from across the restaurant. She could tell something was up and it didn't take a genius to realize what it might be. Just then, Trey's dad asked everyone to take their seats for dinner, ending their conversation. Mary kept a close eye on both of them throughout the meal, seeing them each glance at each other from time to time.
After supper, Mary caught Gabriela and Cole as they were saying their good nights to everyone. Cole was walking beside Gabriela while he carried Tomas and the diaper bag. The three looked very much like a happy, young family.
"Can I help Gabriela tonight, Cole?" Mary asked, "You should stick around and visit with your cousins a while and I need to spend as much time as I can with this little guy."
Gabriela gave her a weary look. Cole looked over at Gabby, "Is that okay with you, Gabby? I wouldn't mind sticking around."
"You should both stay. Spend time with your family while everyone is here," she replied, smiling at him.
Mary's mouth was curled up in a smile, but her eyes were full of ice. "I insist," she said in a crisp voice, taking the diaper bag from Cole.
"Okay, great!" Cole said, without noticing the body language of either woman.
He gave Tomas a kiss on the forehead before he handed him to Gabriela, "Good night little man. Love you."
"Night, Gabby," he said as he held the door open for them to make their exit.
They walked along the path to the cabins without a word to each other, their feet crunching in the freshly fallen snow. The tension between them rose as they neared her cabin. Gabriela could feel her heart pounding through her body as she realized that her carefully laid plan was about to unravel. She knew that Mary was onto them. If Cole found out that she had slept with Trey, it was all over. She would never be able to regain his already wavering trust for her. Even if Tomas turned out to be his son, he would never forgive her.
Gabriela unlocked the door and turned on the interior light, stepping inside the warm living room. "You know, Mary, I can get Tomas off to bed. You go back and enjoy the party."
"Aren't you thoughtful? I'll join them soon enough. I need to have a talk with you first," Mary said in a clipped tone. She closed the door behind her and took off her coat.
Gabriela put Tomas down on the floor of the living room with some toys to play with. She did her best to look casual but Mary could see the fear in her eyes, "What do you need to talk about?"
"I saw you with Trey tonight. Do you want to tell me what that was about or should I ask him?"
Gabriela looked Mary straight in the eye, trying to appear utterly confused by the question, "I have no idea what you think is going on. We said hello. He asked about Tomas for a minute. There is nothing to know."
Mary snorted in disgust, picking up her coat. "Okay, Gabriela, if that's how you want to play it, I'm sure my nephew will be more forthcoming."
With that she turned and walked out the door. Mary marched back to the restaurant, a woman on a mission. She had never liked Gabriela and now she knew she was right not to trust her. Every instinct she had told her that her suspicions were about to be proven correct. Even though she hadn't gotten Gabriela to admit anything, Trey could be lead to believe that she knew. She didn't want to hurt her nephew, but if she was right, he had betrayed her son in the worst way and he needed to accept responsibility for it. There was no way she was going to allow her son to saddle himself with a lying, cheating woman for the rest of his life.
Mary took a deep breath and tried to look calm as she walked back into the restaurant. She spotted Cole sitting with Trey and Dustin on one of the couches by the fireplace. Cole and Dustin seemed relaxed and were sharing a laugh, while Trey was staring into the fire as though lost in thought.
Mary walked up behind the couch and put her hand on Trey's shoulder, bending down to his ear, "I know everything, Trey. Come to the kitchen with me. We need to have a talk."
She could feel his body stiffen under her hand and when he turned, his red face and wild eyes told her all she needed to know. Cole and Dustin stopped talking and were watc
hing them, both looking confused. Mary decided to have them come along.
"Cole and Dustin, can you help Trey and I in the kitchen for a minute?"
The four walked through the door to the back, finding the kitchen empty. Mary turned and took a deep breath, staring at Trey for a moment before she spoke. Dustin and Cole leaned against the counter opposite her and exchanged glances. Trey stood close to the door, keeping his eyes aimed at the floor.
"Dustin, I thought you better be here in case we need you. Trey, you better tell Cole what he needs to know."
Trey took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before speaking. His entire body felt weak as he looked up at his cousin and spoke, "Cole, I don't know how to say this, but there is a chance that Tomas might not be your son."
Cole swallowed hard, glaring at him. His voice came out as a growl, "And just how would you know that, Trey?"
Trey's reply came out in a quiet, strained voice, "Because he might be mine."
Cole stared at him, rage filling his brain like a heavy fog. Betrayal. Lies. Losing Claire. Now the threat of losing Tomas. His veins coursed with red hot anger as he clenched his fists, staring at his younger cousin - the boy he had taken under his wing to learn to ride and rope and fight. The cousin he had given a job to and cared for had fucked his girlfriend and pretended it never happened. Bitter disappointment. Rage.
Trey looked up with a mixture of fear and guilt in his eyes, "I'm so sorry, Cole. I'm so sorry. It happened one time right before she went back to Brazil. We were both very drunk. I swear I had no idea about the baby until I got home today! I would have told you sooner if I had known."
Cole crossed the kitchen in one swift move, grabbing him by the shirt and shoving him to the ground. He pinned him to the floor with a knee on his chest and had one arm pulled back, ready to strike a vicious blow at Trey's face. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear his mother and Dustin shouting at him to stop. Cole looked at Trey's face, he was wincing with his eyes closed. He couldn't bring himself to punch him. He let go of Trey's shirt and got up with disdain, as though being near him made him want to wretch. He didn't notice his Aunt Fern walk into the kitchen, having heard the commotion.
"You little piece of shit," he swore under his breath, "Get the fuck off my ranch before I beat you 'til you're dead."
Cole walked away, rubbing his face with his hand. He stormed out the backdoor of the kitchen. A garbage can near the backdoor took the hit that was meant for Trey, cutting his knuckles badly as he punched it.
"Fuck!" he shouted. He shoved the can to the ground and then continued on to his cabin.
He looked over at Gabriela's place as he passed by. A fleeting thought went through his mind of going over to order her off the ranch too, but he thought better of it. He knew he was too angry to keep his voice down and he wouldn't want to scare Tomas. He went back to his cabin instead, slamming the door behind him so hard the walls shook. Otis scooted over to his bed with his tail between his legs and laid down instead of greeting him.
Mary watched him from the backdoor of the kitchen, feeling sick to her stomach. She held onto the frame of the door to steady her body. Her son was in so much pain, having been betrayed by Gabriela and his own cousin. He had lost the love of his life and now might be about to lose a boy that he had started to love as his son. She felt no pleasure in revealing Gabriela for the liar she was or in finding out her own nephew was of such low character. For the moment, she only felt a hint of the relief that was to come from having the truth exposed.
Chapter 15
The next morning, Cole walked over to Gabriela's just as he had done for weeks. She had insisted that he stop knocking, so he just walked in. Gabriela was already dressed and waiting for him in full makeup to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She had been awake all night but could think of no way to spin this so that she wouldn't come out sounding awful.
Cole stood in the small entry way for a long moment staring at her before he said anything. Tomas crawled over to him with his big grin. Cole scooped him up in his arms and kissed him on the cheek. His heart ached realizing that he wouldn't be able to do this much longer. Even if Tomas was his son, there was no chance that he and Gabriela could start over now. She would run back home to Brazil as soon as she could.
Cole got right down to business, "I want to get the genetic testing done today. Trey and I can both provide samples so it'll be quicker to determine who is the real father. We should be able to know within the week. In the meantime, I'll continue to pick Tomas up in the mornings to take him back to my place to play before work and I'll come in the evenings to put him to bed. I'd appreciate it if you don't talk to me unless it's absolutely necessary. It won't do any good."
Gabriela nodded her head, her heart sinking, tears rolling down her cheeks. Cole dressed Tomas in his little red snowsuit without looking at Gabriela again. She sat at the kitchen table, sobbing quietly into her hand.
Just as Cole and Tomas were about to leave, she spoke up, "Cole, for what it's worth, I'm so sorry."
"It's worth nothing to me." With that he closed the door.
* * *
The next few days seemed to drag on forever as they waited for the test results. It was less than one week until Christmas and by the time Tomas had his first visit from Santa, they would all know who his father was. Cole wasn't sure what to hope for. If Tomas wasn't his son, he would finally have Gabriela out of his life for good and he might have a chance to get Claire back, but he would have to grieve losing this little baby that he had grown to love so much in such a short period of time. He would worry about Tomas, knowing that his cousin Trey was too young and immature to be a good father. He also wouldn't want such a selfish, dishonest pair of people to have the privilege of raising this little boy and teaching him their messed-up version of right from wrong.
Things were extremely tense around the ranch. Cole's mom and her sister, Fern, were fighting, Dustin was extremely uncomfortable around Cole when he came into work and Trey had stayed away from the ranch completely. Trey and Cole had met at the lab four days earlier to have the testing done. Cole would not look at him and said nothing while they were there. Trey knew Cole well enough to know that there was no point in trying to talk to his cousin. It would be a long time before Cole would be ready to hear anything he had to say.
Cole had spoken with his lawyer about the new developments, finding out that even though he had accepted legal responsibility for Tomas, that it could easily be undone. It would have been much harder if Tomas was older and Cole had taken on the role of father for more than a few weeks.
* * *
Ben and Alicia came into Cole's office on Friday morning, finding him doing payroll.
"Hey Cole, how are you?" Alicia asked.
Cole looked up and put his pen down on his desk, "Alright, I guess. I keep waiting for the email to come. Could be any time now. How are you feeling?"
"Wishing this baby would just come already. I am so sick of being pregnant," she replied, easing herself into a chair.
"I bet. Three weeks max?"
"Apparently. So have you figured out what you are going to do if Tomas isn't your son?"
"You mean about Claire?" Cole said, leaning back in his chair and sighing.
"Yes," Alicia nodded.
"I can't even let myself think about that yet. I don't know what to hope for. I want Tomas to be my son, but I also want to drop everything and go get Claire."
"And would a part of you like Gabriela to fall off the face of the earth?" Ben asked.
"Yup. That wouldn't be so bad either. Trey too for all I care," Cole said bitterly.
"You have every right to be angry, Cole," Ben replied, shaking his head, "What they did was unforgivable."
"Especially Gabriela. Coming back here with Tomas and outright lying about there being any other possible fathers, breaking you and Claire up, the whole time knowing that he could be Trey's son." Alicia shook her head with disgust.
"Wha
t I don't get is how she thought she could get away with it," Cole replied.
"Have you asked her that?"
Cole scoffed and shook his head, "No, there's no point. She'll just say whatever she thinks will make her sound like a victim in all of this. She's a manipulative liar," Cole sighed. "I just can't believe I didn't listen to Claire. She tried to warn me, but I just pushed her away, trying to give Gabriela the benefit of the doubt. On top of that, I lied to her. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking. Now Claire is gone and honestly I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see me again."
"Don't give up, Cole. It's only been a few weeks since she left. Claire loves you and once she knows what happened, she'll come back," Alicia replied.