by K. C. Crowne
I sprang up off the couch and hurried to the window, ducking behind the curtain so the cops couldn’t see me. The car drove on by slowly, the faces of the two officers inside locked onto my house.
What the hell were they doing? What were they looking for? And there was no way they wouldn’t know I’d be able to see them driving by.
Were they…trying to intimidate me or some shit?
I hadn’t committed any crimes. Simply put, there was no reason for those cops to be outside my place unless the reason was a bad one. I watched as the car drove off, making a turn around the corner and disappearing out of sight. Relief hit me in a wave as soon as it was gone.
And the shit made me worry about Skye. Once the cop car was gone, I grabbed my phone, dialing her number as I paced around the living room. No answer. Travis was next. I rang him and he answered.
“Yo,” he said. “What’s up?”
He sounded distracted, no doubt about that. In the background, I could hear Skye. They were still together? Then again, they worked and lived on the same property – not like it was all that strange.
“Had some weird shit happen. Cop car drove by my place, all slow-like. Almost as if they wanted me to see them.”
“That’s…that’s wild, man.” If there was any doubt about him being distracted, that settled it.
“What’re you two talkin’ about?” Skye asked in the background.
“Trav,” I said. “What’re you two doin’? What’s goin’ on over there?”
There was a long pause. “Adam, I think you better get over here. Some shit went down and we need to talk about it. All three of us.”
“What kinda shit?”
Another pause. “I don’t…I don’t think it’s somethin’ we oughta talk about over the phone. Just get on over here as fast as you can. It’s important.”
“Hell, at least tell me if it’s bad news, Trav.”
“It’s not bad. But it’s…hell, just come over.”
I wasn’t going to get any more out of him over the phone. We said our goodbyes, and after grabbing my hat and keys, I was off. The ride over was spent trying to figure out what had happened over the last hour. First the cops, and now something seriously weird happening with Skye and Travis.
I worried it was a threat. Maybe the cops had stopped by Rainbow Canyons. Maybe they’d been giving the Walkers the same treatment. No, that couldn’t be it. Travis would’ve said something when I’d mentioned them.
Then what the hell could it be?
It wasn’t a fun drive, but I soon reached the gates of the ranch. A buzz opened them for me, and not long after I was parked in front of Travis’s place. I knocked on the front door and Travis opened it.
“Hey. Come in.”
He was worried, and Skye, seated on the couch, gnawed on her lip, also looking nervous. I had no idea what they were going to tell me. But I said a silent prayer.
Skye
I wasn’t the type of girl to panic, but I was in a hell of a tizzy. I’d taken the pregnancy test, and though I only had to wait five minutes, it felt like five hours. My life was about to change forever. I didn’t know for sure that I was pregnant, but on some level, I knew.
No damn idea what I was going to do. And being a mom would be hard enough, to say nothing of, you know, the little fact that I didn’t even know for sure which of the two men standing out there was the father.
Calm your ass down. At least wait until the test is done before you start freaking out.
I was doing my best to chill myself out, but it wasn’t working. Not a few hours ago I’d been on the verge of getting thrown into jail by some possibly corrupt cops and I was fine. But seated on the couch, I felt on the verge of a damn breakdown.
And Adam didn’t even know about it.
“Alright,” he said as he stepped in through the front door. “What’s this news you can’t tell me about over the phone? You worried your line’s tapped or somethin’?”
“Not that,” Travis said, ignoring the little joke. “Sit on the couch – I’m gettin’ you a beer.”
“I don’t want no damn beer,” Adam said, looking between us. “I wanna know what’s going on!”
Travis had already left the room, returning with two beers. Two beers. Meaning, he didn’t think I should have one on account of the baby. Neither of us knew for sure, but we both seemed to feel it on a gut level. He handed one to Adam and opened his. Despite his protestations, Adam opened his as well and took a big ol’ swig.
Adam gestured toward me. “It’s Skye, somethin’ to do with her. Did someone threaten you? If they did, I swear to every damn thing holy I’ll break them in two.”
He was angry. Couldn’t blame him. And I also couldn’t help admiring his protective nature. It was no small consolation to know that whatever happened, with the baby or Bryce or anything else, I had two amazing men looking out for me. Almost too good to be true.
Travis glanced in my direction, as if saying without saying alright, now or never.
“It’s me,” I said. “I…now I don’t know for certain, but I think I might be…” My lips froze. I couldn’t say the word.
“What?” Adam asked, his brows furrowed. “You think you might be what?”
“Pregnant,” Travis announced quietly.
Adam sat as still as a statue, his eyes wide and brows arched. He stared at me. “You think you might be…pregnant? What? How?”
“Well,” Travis began with a small smile. “When and a man and a woman love each other very much…”
“Aw, shut your smart ass up,” Adam said, though he chuckled. “Now’s not the damn time to be cute.”
Travis’s joke stuck in my ears. He’d said the “L” word as a joke, but…what did I really feel for these guys? What we had was strange as hell, no doubt about it. But I had two men here, two men who I cared a hell of a lot about.
Was this normal? Feeling this way about one man so soon would be an odd thing on its own. But two men? I glanced back and forth between the two of them, trying to decide if one of them was more special to me than the other. But that wasn’t the case. I cared for Adam, and I cared for Travis. They were both special in their own ways – Travis was wild and passionate, Adam brooding and intense. And neither of them would stand by at the possibility of me being in danger.
How the hell could I pick? And as if the decision weren’t hard enough already, there was the chance I was pregnant. As Travis and Adam spoke, I thought about how motherhood had always been something I’d wanted. A baby of my own to love and care for. But I’d always imagined it would happen far off into the future, when my life was more stable than it was now. And with one special guy, not two.
“A damn baby,” Adam mused. “This is crazy.”
“No shit it is,” Travis agreed. “But no sense in worrying about it until after we get the results.”
The time was probably up, but Adam paced back and forth, running his hand through his thick hair as he shook his head. He was worried about something else. “What about the cops?”
“What about them?” Travis asked. “Don’t know what the hell’s goin’ on with them, but we know they ain’t exactly on our side with this thing.”
“Fuckin’ Bryce,” Adam seethed. “Fuckin’ prick.”
Part of me felt like I ought to join in the conversation, help the guys figure out some kind of plan to deal with the Bryce situation. But I was speechless. All I could think about was the test in the other room, how each second that passed brought me closer to knowing whether my life was about to change forever.
“How much time we got left for that thing?” Adam asked
I picked up my phone and looked at the timer.
“A little over a minute.”
“And those things are for sure?”
“Box said almost certain results,” I told. “But I’d still need to see a doctor to make certain.”
“This is crazy,” Adam said, throwing his hands up. “Crazy.”
I sco
wled at him. “Sorry if a baby’s not part of your plans, Adam.”
He stopped where he stood, realization on his face. At that moment, he seemed to understand what he was doing. Adam stepped over to the couch and sat down next to me, then took my hand.
“Listen,” he said, looking deeply into my eyes. “It ain’t like that. This is…somethin’ else. That’s for sure. But I ain’t mad. Whatever happens, I’m gonna be there for you all the way.”
His words helped, put my worried mind at ease somewhat. Travis stood at the other side of the room, watching the two of us. Seeing him, seeing Adam next to me…it brought back worries about how whatever happened, it was a threesome kind of arrangement. So fucking weird how this all started with me and a couple hot guys, tipsy after a night out, while I pulled them into some stupid fantasy of mine.
But the more time I spent with these two men, the more I knew that I wanted both of them. But were normal people built like that? I’d heard somewhere that jealously was a rough emotion, but it served a purpose. It meant you cared enough about someone to want them all to yourself, to take care of them.
Would it be possible for two men to put aside their jealousy and share the same woman?
The timer went off, the eyes of all three of us widening at that repeating chime. My hand shot out and I silenced the thing.
“Test’s done,” Travis intoned.
“Test’s done,” Adam repeated.
I slipped my hand out from under Adam’s and rose from the couch.
“Let me go see it,” Travis offered. “I’ll come back and let y’all know what it says.”
“No.” The word came out of my mouth like a reflex. “I’m gonna do it. You boys wait here.”
“You sure?”
“I mean, we’re all gonna know here in a minute anyway. And I wanna find out first.”
I rose from the couch, took a deep breath, and headed to the bathroom. My feet felt heavy, like I was walking toward my final fate or some such. In the bathroom, I stared at the test on the edge of the sink where I’d left it. I picked the thing up, my eyes closed.
No big deal, I told myself as I stared at the ceiling, then closed my eyes again. Just gonna find out if you’re about to the mother to a baby whose daddy you aren’t sure of.
With one more deep breath, I opened my eyes.
I stared at the results of the test. My hand shook as I glanced at the folded up instructions to make sure I’d read them right. I tossed the instructions back onto the counter and wrapped my hands around the test.
Time to tell the guys. After splashing some cold water on my face, I started toward the living room. Adam and Travis rose simultaneously, expectant looks on their faces.
“Well?” Adam prompted. “What’s it say?”
“Positive or negative?” Travis asked.
I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. But they didn’t need words.
The answer was written all over my face.
Travis
She didn’t need to say a damn word. The look on her face said it all. But Adam was a touch more interested in words.
“Well?” he asked. “What’d it say?”
“I’m…”
“You know what it said, Adam. You know damn well what it said.”
“Let the woman speak for herself!” he shot back.
“Don’t you go yellin’ at me, dammit!”
I was being prideful and I knew it. Some serious shit was going down, and I was getting snappy at him for taking a tone with me like he was my kid.
My kid. I glanced at Skye, the pregnancy test in her hand. She didn’t need to say a single word. What she did need was some comfort. I hurried to her and put and arm around her. “Come on and sit down, Skye. Let’s talk about this.”
She nodded, and without a word fell onto the couch. I was trying to be calm and cool, and on the outside I was. It’s a skill I had, to have the appearance of keeping it together, even when I was shook up on the inside.
But I felt something strange inside, like a quiver. I glanced down to see that my legs were shaking, along with my hands. What the hell was wrong with me? Not wanting Skye or Adam to see me in that state, I sat down next to her. Without thinking, I put my hand on her leg.
Skye’s chest rose and fell. Adam stared off blankly into the distance. None of us had said the words out loud, but we were all reacting to the news just as surely as if it’d been spoken.
One of us had to talk. The pregnancy test was in Skye’s hand, her slim fingers wrapped around it so I couldn’t read it. Part of me wanted to pry open her hand and take a look for myself. But that was a non-starter – Skye needed to share the news on her own terms.
Her breathing started to slow, and so did the shaking of my legs and hands.
“Skye,” Adam murmured. “We need to hear it from you.”
She nodded. Slowly, she opened her hand before setting the test on the coffee table. “I’m pregnant.”
And there it was. The news we’d all expected. But hearing it spoken out loud was a whole other thing. Skye leaned forward, her hair hanging down both sides of her face like a curtain. Whatever was written on her features, I couldn’t see.
“You’re…pregnant,” Adam repeated. “That’s…shit, I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“You don’t need to say anything,” I said. “We have to figure out what to do next.”
Skye was still. Was she in a state of shock? Not like I could blame her for it. Adam marched over to the fridge and took out a beer, cracking it open and bringing the drink to his lips.
“Not the time for that,” I said. “We all need clear heads right about now.
“You worry about you, I’ll worry about me.” This was followed by another pull of beer.
Skye didn’t have that luxury. A baby meant no drinking, nothing to ease her mind and take the edge off. I decided I’d go without alcohol with her.
Before I could come to any other conclusion on the matter, Skye began to shake. I put my hand on her back, trying to calm her as best I could. But it didn’t help. She started to sob, leaning forward and dropping her head into her lap as the tears poured out.
Adam, realizing what was going on, set down his beer and rushed to her. He sat down, me on one side of Skye, him on the other. His hand went to her shoulder as mine stayed on her back.
I’d been around more than a few crying women in my day. Hated to admit it, but I’d been the reason for their tears on several of those occasions. But I’d never seen a woman crying like this. I wanted to do something, anything to make the tears stop.
But what could I do? She was pregnant, and that was that. If it had been just me, or just Adam. Then it’d be a simple matter – she has the baby, and the man sticks around. Easy as Mama G’s blackberry pie.
But it wasn’t simple. No doubt in my mind I’d be there for her if I knew beyond a doubt she was carrying my kid. But what if it was Adam’s? Was I still gonna stick around? I hated that I was asking the questions in my head. Regardless, Adam and I were both there for Skye at that moment.
She continued to cry, Adam and I regarding one another with the same ‘what the hell are we gonna do’ expression on our faces. Outside, the sun was long into setting, darkness falling.
“Skye,” I murmured. “Tell me how you’re feelin’ right now.”
She choked back a few more tears before speaking. “I…I don’t know. No idea how I’m feelin’, if you really wanna know.”
“Tell us what we can do for you,” Adam offered quietly “Anything. Doesn’t matter what it is.”
“I…I…need to lie down.”
“Come on, then,” I said. “I’ll take you to bed.”
Adam gave Skye’s leg one more comforting squeeze. Then I slipped my arm around her and helped her off the couch. As we walked, Skye reminded me more of a little old lady than anything else. Her steps were short and slow, her back hunched. She was such a strong woman. Seeing her shaken was odd, but I would be there for her
through it.
We reached Adam’s spare bedroom. Skye pulled off her shirt and slipped out of her pants and shoes before I helped her get under the covers. She gazed up at me with those big, gorgeous eyes of hers once her head was on the pillow.
“Travis?” she asked.
“Yeah?”
“What’s…what’s gonna happen?” She looked terrified.
“Don’t know. But I’ll be here for you. Not a doubt in my mind that Adam’s thinkin’ the same thing.” She nodded, and I wiped the tears from below her eyes. “You need anything right now?”
Skye slowly shook her head. “No. I need some rest.”
“Take as much as you need. The world’s gonna wait for us while we figure this out.”
She bit her bottom lip slowly before speaking again. “Thank you.”
Instead of words, I leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead. Her eyes closed, and I shut off the lights before taking one last look at her and shutting the door.
Adam was still in the living room, his beer neglected as he stared off into space like he had shell shock.
“Hey,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“We need to talk.”
“You’re damn right about that.”
Adam
I sure as shit didn’t know how to feel. But once Travis and Skye left the room, the thoughts started racing.
The big issue, the one we’d have to sort out soon as shit, was that we didn’t know who the daddy was. Both me and Travis had been with her, and I didn’t know about him, but I hadn’t exactly been on the ball with protection.
Fucking stupid. Stupid and careless. I’d gotten so wrapped up in Skye, so consumed by the lust and the passion and the jealousy that I’d forgotten about the small detail that unprotected sex between a man and a woman meant babies.
After a time, Travis came back into the room, a faraway expression on his face.
“What’s the story?” I asked.
He sat down on the couch and shook his head. “She’s asleep. Can’t say I blame her. News like that…”