Chapter 6 Super Sperm #2
Just as I start to reply to Dom, my phone rings and my heart stops.
Tamara Chandy calling flashes across the top and I stare at her name for too long, trying to figure out if it’s my mind playing tricks.
By the time I go to answer, she’s hung up.
I blink furiously, trying to erase the cloud of confusion, then open the caller list and see her name there.
What the... I press her name and lift my phone to my ear as it connects.
“Was that a butt dial?”
She scoffs, but it doesn’t hide the following sniffle. “Why would I butt dial you?”
“Good question. Is everything okay?”
Another sniffle, this one louder than before and when she speaks, her voice is shaky. “Yeah, totally.”
“Okay. Good to hear your voice, Lotus.” She grunts and says something, but it’s drowned out by the sniffles. “I can’t hear you, baby. Say that again.”
“I shouldn’t have called,” she finally says and I pull the phone away, hitting the video option. “No, Patrick.”
“Answer it.”
I can hear her frustrated growl and her face fills the screen. Her eyes dip to my shirtless, tattooed torso before meeting mine and my smile fades. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes are red and even through my phone I can see the tear tracks down her soft cheeks. She steps away and uses the sleeves of her hoodie to wipe at her face. It’s the height of summer in Chennai and she’s wearing a thick layer. Something is wrong, even if she’s pretending it isn’t.
“Tamara…” My heart’s beating so fast I’m afraid I might pass out. She refuses to meet my eyes as her lips twist to the side.
“Promise not to get angry or hate me?”
I frown and peer into the screen. “You’re scaring me. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Promise me, Patrick.”
I sigh and rub the back of my neck. I’m afraid of what I’m promising, or what I’m agreeing to but she’s got her eyes locked on mine. I’m scared to refuse her. She’ll hang up and never call again.
“Okay, baby. I promise. Now tell me.”
Tamara nods and chews on her bottom lip. She reaches for something to the side and stares at. I tilt my head, attempting to figure out what she’s holding, but can’t decipher it at this angle.
“Okay,” she breathes and flips the paper over.
At first all I see is black shapes and blurs.
She adjusts it and everything comes into focus.
My heart slows down, as does everything else.
Breath rattles in my chest and I’m having an out-of-body experience.
I drag my eyes up from the picture to the sliver of her face at the top of the screen and I exhale loudly.
“I’m pregnant.”
I nod, staring at the picture because who the fuck knocked up my girl? Who the fuck is taking her away from me? I rub a hand over my mouth and try to formulate the words, but I can’t find them. I close my eyes and count to ten and then back, but nothing helps.
“Patrick.” I shake my head, tears pricking the back of my eyes. “Patrick, look at me.” I can’t. I’m afraid if I do, I’ll admit a part of me still loves her. “Trick!”
I grunt out a “Fuck.”
“It’s yours.”
The bed falls away from below me and I stare at her beautiful face. Even in tears, looking as scared as she does right then, Tamara takes my breath away.
“What?”
“The baby, it’s yours.”
Holy fuck. I grab my chest, like I can calm my heart down.
“Did you really think I called you because I was pregnant by someone else?”
“You’ve been ignoring me for months, Tamara. What was I supposed to expect?”
“I’ve been ignoring you because I have nothing to say. Now I do.”
I nod, processing the fact that my baby is growing inside this woman. “It’s mine?”
“Clearly those condoms were no match for your super sperm.”
My responding chuckle is tight. That night when I was disposing of a condom, some of it almost spilled out.
She snorted loudly and said all it missed was a cape and we cracked up laughing over my super sperm.
My panic abates and my heart warms; she remembered that moment.
It was soft and sweet, a big change from how the rest of our day had gone.
“Are you okay?” I ask as she tucks her hair back.
“I’m terrified.”
“Why?”
“This wasn’t part of my plan. You weren’t part of my plan.”
You were always part of mine. I shake off the thought and focus on her. “How are you feeling?”
“You’re pretty calm for someone who found out he knocked up a random woman.”
“Random woman? You’re…” I stop myself, not wanting to confess anything yet. “I don’t think it’s fully registered yet.”
Tamara nods. “Understandable. I…uh, been tired a lot. Some morning sickness and dizziness. All normal, according to my doctor and the internet. But I’m okay.”
“Okay. Good. Thank you for telling me.”
“I wasn’t going to, you know? I thought about an abortion first. Maybe even adoption. Then I realised this wouldn’t be the worst thing. I like the idea of being a mother.”
She smiles, her eyes on the sonogram and I nod slowly.
If I didn’t have a medal to win, I’d be on the first flight back to Chennai to be there for her.
The news hasn’t fully sunk in, so I might change my mind.
I never thought about getting married or being a dad.
Only people in long-term relationships seemed to have that.
Now I’m going to be one of them. Without the relationship part, long-term or not.
“I’ll be home soon and we’ll uh…we’ll figure this out, okay?”
“We?”
“Did you think I was going to stand by and let you do all this on your own?”
“I mean, yeah. You’re a big hotshot professional athlete, don’t you have shit to do?”
I laugh. “Nothing in the world is more important than you.”
She rolls her eyes. “Good luck at your next match.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Win the medal, yeah?”
“Yeah, Lotus. I’ll win the medal.”