Chapter 10 #3
With a calmness that felt more clinical than personal, she said into the phone, “Yes, Mom. This is Harris’s baby.”
“And he knows? Wait. Of course he knows. You–he told you he sabotaged your birth control?”
“I don’t have the energy to explain right now, Mom,” Ana said, struggling to control her sobbing.
Brie was banging her fist against her head in an act of abject self-punishment.
Later, Ana would talk through Brie’s blurting out of private information, but right now, she just needed to get through the call.
“I can’t believe he would do this! On purpose! But Ana–oh, Ana, this is a miracle!”
Brie hunched over and gave Ana a red-rimmed look.
Sorry, she mouthed.
“I guess?”
“Of course it is! Is this why you’ve been feeling sick?”
“Probably. I have nausea and dizziness.”
“So did I when I was pregnant with you. For fifteen weeks!”
Ana’s stomach roiled at the thought.
“Not helpful, Mom.”
“I’m–I’m so happy for you! I know that sounds strange, and I want to strangle Harris, but your chances of getting pregnant are so slim. You…” Her mom’s voice halted, as if cut in two by a knife. “Oh. But you–how far along are you?”
“Probably six weeks, based on HCG levels. Not sure, though, because of my complications.”
“So it’s early.”
Here came her mother’s extreme pragmatism. She knew what Marian wasn’t asking.
“Yes. It is. And I’ve decided to proceed.”
“Oh!” The whoop of joy that came through the phone made Ana smile, scared parts of her relaxing. “I’m going to be a grandmother! Assuming, of course, that your body lets you keep the pregnancy.”
Brie’s jaw dropped in horror. Ana took it in stride.
“Yes, Mom. I have a long way to go.”
“And Harris? Is that festering pus bubble in a beached whale’s anus planning to step up and do the right thing?”
“AHAHAHAHAHA!” Brie barked out. “As if!”
“Rick! We need your help,” her mother called. “I’m putting you on speaker.”
Before Ana could even take a breath, her stepfather’s voice chimed in.
“What’s up?”
“Harris got Ana pregnant by poking a hole in the condom and now he doesn’t want to help raise the baby.”
“Worse!” Brie chimed in. Ana shook her head hard, signaling her to say no more.
“Worse?” Rick snapped into the phone. “Hold on. What the hell did you just say?”
“Harris got Ana pregnant by poking a hole in the condom and now he doesn’t want to help raise the baby,” her mother repeated, this time slowly.
“That’s... a lot, Ana.”
“No kidding,” she muttered.
“First of all, you’re pregnant?” His voice softened.
“Yes.”
“Congratulations.”
Never a warm and fuzzy kind of man, his sweet tone made her feel more connected to him than usual.
“Thank you. And to answer your questions, yes, I’m keeping it, and no, Harris won’t help raise it.”
“What did Brie mean by ‘worse’?”
“Harris sabotaged our birth control because he knew the feds were closing in and he thought a jury or judge would be sympathetic to a father-to-be.”
Rick’s extraordinarily florid profanity flew through the phone like a geyser explosion.
“Ana!” Marian gasped. “I thought you meant he did it because you were dumping him and he wanted to force a connection between you.”
“That would be better for my ego, Mom, but no.”
“I never liked him,” Rick stated, the words staccato and angry. “And I don’t like this. He needs to TPR.”
“TPR?” Brie asked.
“Terminate parental rights,” Ana explained, knowing the term from her experience as a therapist. “I can ask him.”
“Ana,” Rick said, his voice grave. “You never told him about the trust, right?”
Brie’s eyebrows shot up. She knew about the trust, but why was Rick bringing it up?
When Ana’s father had died, an enormous life insurance payout, plus his own family’s trust, all became hers. The income from the trust, managed by a bank in Boston, allowed her to live comfortably and keep a part-time private practice.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“If he ever found out, he might try to use this baby to get his hands on it.”
Ana didn’t even bother to try arguing that Harris wouldn’t.
He totally would.
“Rick,” her mother said, “now isn’t the time for details like this. Ana needs to–”
“Now is exactly the time for this! We need to get that rat bastard to terminate his rights.”
“How will we convince him to do that?”
“Leave it to me. I always hated that slimy sonofabitch. This will be a pleasure.”
“I just texted you his number,” Brie said to Rick. “How are you planning to do this?”
“Bribery.” Rick’s single-word answer made Ana wish for a sinkhole.
“I really don’t need this. I can handle Harris myself. And there’s time to–”
“Honey,” her mom said quietly. “This is what Rick is best at.”
“You’re a tax attorney, Rick. Not family law,” Ana pointed out.
Marian ignored her. “And he’s right. It’s not just about the money.
It’s about Harris’s character. He’s done this to you without consent.
He could come back at any time and try to manipulate you via the baby.
Let Rick, or some associates he can consult with, strike while the iron is hot and cut that sick little piece of dirt off so he never has power over you again. ”
Ana knew that accepting Rick’s help was smart, and she didn’t have the stomach to handle any of this herself right now.
“Fine. Sure. Thank you,” she said.
“No problem, kiddo. I mean it when I say it’ll be a pleasure. Protecting you and the baby is job one,” Rick said, again in a tone that seemed so alien.
So... supportive.
Surprise was written all over Brie’s face, and Ana felt the same. A pleasant warm sensation spread across her skin. Rick was a tough-as-nails lawyer, what people outside the legal profession called a bulldog and what those inside it called, well… names not used in polite company.
Rick had a soft underbelly, apparently. It made her wonder what else she didn’t know about him.
“Great.” Ana heard the sound of palms rubbing against each other, like someone relishing a task. “I’ll get on this right now.”
“Ana? Honey? I have a board meeting in five minutes. Let me stop by later tonight and we can talk more?”
“Sure, Mom.”
“I love you,” Marian said, the words conveying so much more than they did even a day ago.
“I know, Mom. I know. I love you, too.”
“Tell the baby we’re good people. Worth sticking around for.”
Dennis.
His name shot through her heart like Cupid’s arrow, sorrow and beauty all mixing together in an unformed feeling.
“We are, aren’t we?” Ana choked out, then ended the conversation as Brie held her hand. Once she set down the phone, Ana broke their grasp and shoved her hands into her hair.
“That went better than expected,” Brie said.
It was true.
“Rick was a surprise.”
“Who knew the human equivalent of a steel porcupine could be so gooey?” Brie cracked. Her words weren’t far from the mark.
Ana picked up her phone again and opened the message stream with Dennis, a new round of tears blurring her eyes.
I was told it’s customary to wait three days to text someone so you don’t seem desperate. It’s been exactly 72 hours since I last saw you, so…
Brie looked at the screen and gave Ana a look filled with such pity, it made her feel hollow.
“You really like him.”
“I did.”
“You do.”
“Doesn’t matter now, does it? I’m pregnant with another man’s baby. Remember what you said yesterday? Inconceivable.”
“What?”
“You said until you met Martin, falling for someone in under twenty-four hours was inconceivable.” The pain of regret and loss filled her chest. “Turns out there’s a whole different kind of conceivable happening in the mess that is my love life.”
“You can explain it to Dennis.”
“I want to. You have no idea how badly. It’s killing me not to.”
“Then do it!”
“And get rejected again? What Harris did to me hurt. A lot. And now you add in the sabotaged birth control. When did my life become a bad telenovela plot?”
“It’s not…” But Brie’s protest was unconvincing.
“I should text him the truth. Be an adult. Open and unapologetic. But I can’t. I feel like the worst therapist ever.” A numb shock started seeping into her skin. Harris’ violation was soaking in on a cellular level.
“You’re not your therapist. You’re not your own patient. What you’re feeling is human. And you owe Dennis nothing. No text, no explanation. You can ghost on him.”
“I feel like I already have.”
“Nothing here is black and white. You can always reach out to him later and explain the situation. If he’s as special as you say, he’ll understand.”
“I feel frozen. Numb.”
“What would you tell a patient in the same situation?”
“No patient would ever have such a surreal mess.”
“Oh, come on. I’m sure you’re not the only woman in history to have sex with a guy fleeing the feds for drug charges, who pokes holes in a condom and escapes the country, then you have your first-ever one-night stand with a hot retired military officer, find out you’re pregnant from the ex, and–oh. Wait. Hmmm.”
“You’re not helping,” Ana said with a hitched sob that turned into a hiccup that made her sound like a drunk parrot.
“But I did make you laugh. Laughter is the best medicine.”
“I am so tired. So, so tired.”
“How can I help? Should I go? Or do you want to see the flowers we’ve chosen for the wedding?”
“Distract me!”
And with that, Ana spent the next hour looking at shades of red, pink, and white that were all beautiful and in no way distinct from each other, while letting her limbic system return to a calm baseline.
Or a reasonable fascimile of calm.
Her entire world had changed with one single word, a word that she needed to embrace with her whole heart:
Positive.