Take a Chance

by Ash Johnson

  “Well, I wanted to tell you, but I’ve been scared to call. I didn’t know how you were going to take the news,” she purrs, the sound of her voice turning my stomach.

  Then I shake myself out of the nauseous idea that she could be the mother of my child and remind myself this is Heaven. She is a conniving bitch who has stooped to low levels, even for her, to get to me. She followed my friends around for days, nagging them and threatening to tell their girlfriends that she was fucking them in order to get what she wanted. “I want proof. If you are pregnant, then I want to get a paternity test done so I know you’re carrying my child.”

  “Blake Maynard, how could you even question the fact that I’m carrying your child?” she shrieks, her tone whiney.

  “How about the fact that I never told you my last name, never gave you my address or even my phone number, yet you somehow know all of this information and have shown up whenever the hell you want. You aren’t right in the head, Heaven. Bring me proof, and we’ll talk about what we’ll do from there.”

  I hang up and drop my head, rubbing at the tension that has gathered in my neck and shoulders in the last few minutes.

  My phone starts ringing again, and I’ve had enough of Heaven’s bullshit. I answer knowing I will not be nice with my tone. “Quit calling me, you damn psycho. I don’t want to hear from you until I have proof.”

  “Whoa, what the hell is that all about?” Jay says on the other end of the line. I let out the puff of air I’d collected to help me get through another phone conversation with that bitch, glad that it’s Jay on the other end and not her.

  “Sorry, man. Just have a crazy chick that thinks I knocked her up, and she chose to wait three months before telling me about it.”

  “Heaven?” he asks. I nod even though he can’t see it through the phone. He and Ada went to the club with me the night I met her, and they both tried to talk me out of going home with her, saying she was a bit too clingy for their liking. I just shrugged it off and thought with my dick. Now I wish I would have listened to them.

  After my night with Heaven, I flipped off the switch that let my dick do the thinking and stop picking random women up, knowing that I needed to focus on starting something serious and settling down. I couldn’t do it hooking up with unknown women, no matter how well it’d worked out for Jay and Ada, who’d met at the exact same bar.

  “I just can’t get her to leave me alone, and I know she isn’t pregnant with my kid.”

  “That sucks. Sorry, man. If there’s anything I can do to help,” he says. He doesn’t have to tell me that he would be the first person I could go to if I needed it. He was the one that helped me kick her out of the gym last time she showed up unannounced.

  “Thanks, man. So what’s up?”

  “I was just wondering if you would be willing to watch Maya and Axel tomorrow afternoon. Ada and I wanted to go see a movie, but my dad has a date with some chick that lives down the street from him and can’t watch them.”

  “Yeah, no problem. I don’t have a lot going on at the gym, and no one is scheduled to fight for a few days, so I don’t need to do physical therapy for any of the guys.” Jay tells me what time he’ll bring my five-year-old niece and two-year-old nephew over, and I find something to smile about once again. I love spending time with them. Its practice time for when I have my own kids.

  Now I need to make sure I have them with the right woman. A woman like Harlow, my mind says. The idea of making a life with her fills me with anxiety and excitement. Waiting so long to start my life with Harlow would be worth it. I only hope that my chances aren’t ruined by having a baby with that bitch, Heaven.

  Chapter 13

  Harlow

  I have yet to show Blake just how thankful I am that he lent me his SUV yesterday. Since I have the day off from the diner, thanks to the new cook who almost burned down the building, I use my afternoon off to make Blake a loaf of banana nut bread.

  After sleeping in way too late, almost three in the afternoon, I get up and make the bread mixture. Alex called me after school to tell me she was going to spend the night at a friend’s house, and I automatically agreed. She could use some time away from an empty apartment, and I could live without an argument between the two of us for a while.

  Once the bread is finished baking, I wrap it up and jump into the car, using the GPS to direct me to his house. I’m a bit nervous to see him again, because everything about him—from the way he looks at me to the sexy tattoos on his biceps—turns me into a teenage fangirl. I may start jumping up and down and screaming at the top of my lungs when I see him.

  Twenty-five minutes later, I pull into his driveway, grateful that his Hummer is in the open garage but still full of butterflies. I grab the bread and get out of the BMW but don’t make it three steps before there is a voice behind me.

  “Who the hell are you?” the woman snaps.

  I find a very petite woman with abnormally pale skin given the Arizona sun. Her long lavender hair falls in pretty rings down the middle of her back, and her brown doe eyes are fixed on me as she saunters from behind the car toward me. She’s wearing a thin, dark purple tank top with very short khaki shorts and black gladiator sandals. With the soft breeze in the air, I can tell she’s wearing a very strong perfume that smells too flowery, like something my grandmother would have worn.

  “Um, I’m Harlow,” I say, sticking my hand out toward her. She’s a bit smaller than I am but is still sizing me up like she’s preparing to kick my ass.

  She squints down at my outstretched hand like I have gangrene and then scoffs at me. “What are you doing at Blake’s house?”

  The high-pitched whine of her voice hurts my ears, and I find myself unintentionally wincing when she opens her mouth. I lift the bread up in the air to show her what I’m doing here, but she must not get it.

  “I’m here to bring him some banana bread as a thank you for letting me borrow his car for a while.”

  Her brows shoot up behind her light purple bangs. She glances from the car to me a few times but says nothing. The motion makes me uncomfortable.

  “I’m sorry, what did you say your name was again?” I ask, knowing that she never told me her name. “He gave you his fucking car?” she growls in a pitch too high to be taken as serious anger.

  “No, he didn’t give me his car. He’s just letting me borrow it for a little while.”

  “Well, isn’t that just a crock of shit. He’ll give a car to some random bitch but not to the mother of his child.”

  The blood drains from my face, making me dizzy enough that my body unintentionally sways. I know she notices my unease because she smirks and brings her hand up to cover the flat stomach barely concealed under her spaghetti strap tank top.

  “The mother of his child?” I push out past the lump in my throat.

  “Yep. I was just leaving after showing him the ultrasound picture,” she coos and pulls a blurry black and white ultrasound picture from her purse. She holds it up long enough for me to get a glimpse of it and then puts it back in just as fast.

  I don’t want to say that my heart is breaking, because I haven’t known Blake that long, but I feel a loss as to what I thought we could have been now that I know he’s the father to someone else’s child. With all of the text messages and his letting me use his car, I thought that the two of us were starting a relationship of sorts. I certainly didn’t think he’d be hitting on me when he has something going on with this girl.

  Maybe he wasn’t hitting on you. Maybe he just felt bad for you, and you mistook it for something more. My thoughts keep arguing this point, making me feel like an enormous loser. How could I have thought that we were starting something when it’s plain to see now that we aren’t?

  I clear my throat and come to the conclusion that I need to cut off all ties with Blake now. It’s not fair to this woman, whoever she is, to have me anywhere in the picture while he has their baby to focus on.

  “Well, congratulations on the baby.
I’m going to drop this bread off with Blake, and I’ll be on my way.”

  I move away from Violet, the name I’ve chosen to give her because of that purple hair, and rush toward the door. I ring the doorbell and, when that doesn’t produce immediate results, rap my knuckles against the wood a few times before stepping back and waiting for him to answer. When the door flies open, I’m staggered to find out that I didn’t know anything about the man I’ve been developing feelings for.

  “Daddy,” a little girl’s voice says from behind the door as Blake comes into view.

  “Soon, baby girl, I promise,” Blake says to the small voice before his eyes lift to mine and widen in shock. “Harlow, what are you doing here?”

  His shocked voice makes me giggle nervously. I highly doubt he expected me to show up at his home, meet the mother of his soon-to-be child, and find out that he has another little one inside. It’s not that I’m against dating someone that has children from other people—far from it—He could have mentioned this any of the times we’ve spent getting to know each other over the past month.

  “Um,” I start to say something when the cutest boy comes out from behind the door. He appears to be about one or two years old and wraps one arm around Blake’s calf, the other holding a blue blanket tightly against his chest. His thick brown hair is sticking up in every direction, and his light brown eyes blink up at me in question.

  Before I can say hello to him, a girl also steps out from behind the door. Her dark brown hair is long and hangs loosely, while her blue eyes stare up at me. “Hi,” she waves, her voice sounding reserved. She is around five or six, I would guess.

  “Hi there,” I say back and squat down to the children’s level. Whether it’s a habit from dealing with kids at the diner all day or anger at the fact I didn’t know that Blake had two—soon to be three—children and I want to avoid eye contact with him, I’m not sure.

  “I’m Maya. What’s your name?” she asks in a mousey pitch.

  “My name is Harlow. It’s very nice to meet you, Maya. Is this your brother?” I ask as I point to the boy. I try to find any similarities between these children and Blake. They must take after their mother, because I’m not seeing anything that pops out as Blake’s features.

  “Yeah, this is my baby brother. His name is Axel. Mommy wanted to name him, Drake but daddy said that Axel is badass and will get him all the girls.”

  “Maya,” Blake chastises her, but his tone holds a hint of laughter in it. I giggle at her explanation. After taking a closer inspection of his cherubic face and those striking brown eyes, I turn back at Maya.

  “I think your daddy was right. Axel will get all the girls when he gets older, and it’s your job as his big sister to make sure that it’s only the good girls that come around.”

  She smiles up at Blake. I stand and finally look at him as well, noticing a hint of tenderness in his eyes. I’m trying to ignore it, because I’m hurt that he would neglect to mention these two beautiful children to me.

  “What are you doing here, babe?” he asks again.

  I shove the bread in his direction. “I made you some banana nut bread to thank you for letting me borrow your car while I got everything sorted out.” I pull the keys to his BMW out of my pocket, making a split-second decision about not keeping his ride while I get my own transportation sorted out. I was fine with the bus before this, and I’ll be fine with it now.

  Why wouldn’t he offer the car to the pregnant woman in the driveway instead of me? It’s like I don’t even know him anymore, and that makes me even more uncomfortable about driving his car around.

  “Here,” I grit out and shove the key into his chest. “Thanks for letting me use your car, but I’m square. I’ll talk to you later.” I hope he understood half of what I just said. I wave to the children before turning away and running down his driveway.

  I can hear him yelling my name from the front door, but I ignore him and grab my purse out of the BMW. I slam the door and run down the street, away from what I thought was too good to be true.

  Turns out, he was.

  Chapter 14

  Blake

  I’m so damn confused about what just happened. One minute I was talking to Maya about her mom and dad coming to pick up her and Axel soon, and the next thing I know, Harlow is tearing out of my driveway like a bat out of hell.

  I can’t chase after her to find out why she gave me back the key to the BMW, because I have the kids. I don’t want to pack them up and go to her house, because Jay and Ada will be here in the next thirty minutes to get them; and I can’t go to her after the kids are gone, because crazy Heaven is coming back to speak to me about that ultrasound she tried to shove in my face just before Harlow showed up.

  I close the front door after several failed tries to get Harlow to come back and finally see what she shoved into my hands.

  “What is that, Uncle Blake?” Maya asks, pulling on the hem of my shorts so I’ll bend down and show her. I pick Axel up and move into the kitchen.

  “It’s bread. Let’s give it a try.” I set both of the kids up with the kiddy plates and Sippy cups of milk I keep at the house for when they come over, then cut off small pieces of the bread and sit the kids down at the large island.

  Just as the kids are finishing up, Jay and Ada stroll through the front door.

  “Hey, monkeys. Were you good for Uncle Blake?” Jay asks as the kids both jump off their chairs and run for him.

  “What are you guys eating?” Ada comes over and sniffs the unwrapped loaf.

  “Harlow brought over a loaf of banana bread. I think she made it,” I tell her. When her face becomes questioning, I realize that I haven’t told her about Harlow at all. Well, after she blazed a path away from my house like her ass was on fire, there might not be much to tell.

  “Who is Harlow?”

  “She’s the chick that Blake is in love with,” Jay answers for me. Ada’s eyes light up and a smile takes over her face before I shake my head at Jay.

  “I hit her car a month ago, and we’ve been talking ever since. I just gave her the X5 yesterday because she didn’t have another vehicle to drive, but she dropped off the bread as a thank you and shoved the keys in my face before running away. I have no fucking clue what’s going on.”

  I wince when Ada narrows her eyes but don’t try to correct myself because I’m sure the kids hear the same words from their dad, and more than likely their mom, on a daily basis.

  “Well, why don’t you go over and find out now that we’re here to take the munchkins off your hands?” she says. I look over to Jay, knowing he’ll say something that his kids really shouldn’t hear when I tell him this next bit.

  I huff and rub the back of my neck, as if that will relieve the tension coiling within me. “I can’t. Heaven is coming over in a while to talk to me about the b-a-b-y I’ve supposedly fathered, and I need to get proof that she isn’t pregnant before I can do anything else.” I spell out the word “baby” because saying it while Maya is in the room would be a very bad idea.

  “Fuck,” Jay mutters and then Axel repeats. There it is. I twist my head so Axel doesn’t see me laughing, but Maya catches it and laughs with me, her infectious giggle making me feel a bit lighter.

  “What are you talking about?” Ada sounds angry, which isn’t actually scary but cute coming from such a tiny woman.

  “Jay can fill you in on all the details later,” I say, angling my eyes down to Maya who is listening to every word we say. I don’t want her picking up on the conversation and getting her hopes up that there will be another baby around here soon. She loves babies.

  After a round of kisses to my niece and nephew, the house is empty. I pull my phone out and make my way out of the kitchen and across the foyer to the main living room to call Harlow. It’s rarely ever used, but the wall of windows that let in light from the setting sun call to me. Flop down onto the tan leather couch and listen to the ringing in my ear, but after five calls, she never answers. I choose to
focus on getting this mess with Heaven cleared up as fast as I can before I call Harlow again.

  Forty five minutes later, the devil herself is knocking on my front door. I open it and have to force myself not to roll my eyes at her ridiculous purple hair. It was some weird gray/white color a few months ago, which could have been cool if she was a cougar, not in her mid-twenties.

  “Heaven, come in and let’s get this over with.”

  She moves into the empty foyer, eyes shifting all over my house like she’s plotting the places she can put her shit when she moves in. Never gonna happen.

  She stops just before the split staircases like she’s waiting for me to tell her which room to go into. When she spins around and her eyes connect with mine, the hope that is written all over her face starts to evaporate. We can deal with her shit right here in the foyer where she’s close to the door. No way is she roaming my house.

  “Come on, Blake. Can you just try to be nice to me?” She steps closer and holds her hand out to my chest, but I step back to avoid her touch. I don’t want her hands on me ever again, even if this whole baby thing is real.

  “Nope. Show me the ultrasound picture you flashed at me earlier.”

  She huffs and rolls her eyes before digging into her enormous white purse and pulling out the worn black and white picture. She holds it far enough away that I can’t see much. Before she can stash it again, I reach out and snag it from her hands, pulling it closer so I can get a clearer look.

  When I find the information from the hospital in the top corner, I notice that the name appears to have been blacked out with a Sharpie. The date says that she’s almost four months along and that her birth date is three years before mine. I know for a fact that Heaven is at least five years younger than me, putting her at twenty seven, not thirty five.

  The date on the ultrasound shows it was taken last year. The whole thing is so infuriating that I start to laugh because wrapping my hands around her fucking throat and squeezing until her face is the same color as her hair will get me arrested.