12. Myer
M yer~
I was in the backyard, doing some landscaping, but it was more of an effort to keep from going over to Calista’s house and making an even bigger fool of myself.
I was pretty sure that she wasn’t interested in me, and so the last thing that she needed was for her new neighbor to make a pest of himself.
I also needed the mental cleansing that gardening and yardwork provided.
After spending hours researching Jury Patton and Louise Mackrell, my brain had needed and still needed a break from all the bullshit that they disguised as spiritual guidance.
While I was certain that they believed that they were serving a higher power, it wasn’t the same God that I’d been raised to believe in.
Whatever Jury and his quartet of blondes were worshipping, it wasn’t anything out of any Bible that I’d ever read.
The sound of the sliding glass door had me looking back, and when I saw Zachary walking into my backyard, I figured that it must be important if he used his key to get in. Granted, my brother was always welcomed in my home, but a little advanced notice of his visit would have been nice.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, setting aside the jug of weed killer.
“Whitney’s pregnant,” he announced as he took a seat in one of my deck chairs, my yard work all but forgotten.
I pulled off my gloves, then dropped them next to the jug, dusting my hands off as I made my way to go sit next to my brother.
His announcement had been delivered with an even tone, so I had no idea if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
No matter right or wrong, or what a man felt, a woman’s right to choose would always set the narrative for what came next.
“Do you want a beer?” I asked as I sat down.
Zachary shook his head. “No, I’m...I’m good.”
“So...so, what happened?”
“Well, I did as you’d suggested,” he started. “I went home, told her to do me a favor and take a test, and so...so, she did.”
“And?”
“When the test came out positive, she took another one,” he answered. “And because she’d gotten five tests at the store, she felt it best to take all five.”
“And all five came back positive?”
Zachary nodded. “Yep.”
“Christ on The Cross, Zach,” I rushed out. “Just tell me everything already.”
He let out a long sigh before saying, “I really am a fucking asshole.”
That had my heart hurting for him again. “What happened? What did she say?”
“Well, after there was no more denying that she was pregnant, she looked at me and apologized for her birth control failing,” he said, and I could feel my stomach drop to my feet.
“Then she said that she had some thinking to do, but for me not to worry because she won’t hold me responsible for whatever she decides.
If she chooses to terminate the pregnancy, she’ll have her sister help her with that, and if she chooses to have the child, then she’ll be sure to keep my name off the birth certificate. ”
“Jesus Christ, she said that?”
Zachary nodded again. “Oh, it gets better.”
My brows jumped high. “It does?’
“When I told her that I loved her and that I wanted us to have the baby, she said that she appreciates how I’m trying to do the right thing, but that I didn’t have to lie.
She assured me that she wasn’t going to go off the rails or smear my good name.
” He let out an empty laugh. “Oh, but she did ask me if I’d be so kind as to give her a rundown on my family’s medical history just in case she decides to keep the baby. ”
“Did she...did she break up with you?” I asked, my heart beating a little too fast for a Sunday afternoon. “I mean, that’s what it kind of sounds like.”
“Oh, she tried,” he harrumphed. “She damn near shook my hand as she thanked me for the past two years.”
I winced. “Ouch.”
He let out another hollow laugh. “Christ, Myer, I’d never felt so goddamn furious in all my life.
I mean, I was...I was seeing-red pissed off.
I mean, I get why she reacted the way that she did about the pregnancy, but to dismiss my love for her like it meant nothing.
..that...that...Christ, I can’t remember a time when I’d ever been so fucking mad. ”
“So, what happened next?”
Zachary shook his head as he ran his hands through his dark hair. “I lost my shit, and in those moments of madness, I told her that I loved her, that we were getting married, that we were having this baby, and that she better get used to it because I wanted at least two more kids after this one.”
I could feel my eyes widen. “What did she say to that?’
“She told me to go choke on a bag of dicks, and when I was done doing that, then I could kindly go to hell,” he answered.
I tried not to laugh.
I really did.
“Uhm, that was colorful.”
“Could you not be a dick?” he drawled out. “This is my life that we’re talking about here.”
“Yeah, no...I’m sorry,” I chuckled remorsefully. “Go on.”
“It was when she was about to walk out of the door that I finally got my shit together,” he went on. “I mean, the woman was going to leave her own house just to get away from me, so that crazy move opened my eyes rather quickly.”
“Dude, you’re an awful storyteller,” I told him. “Can you please get to the point?”
“Well, after that, I begged, pleaded, begged some more, then threw myself on her sword, doing and saying everything that I could to convince her of how much I loved her and how I was happy about the baby.”
“Did she finally believe you?”
My heart leapt when my brother nodded. “She did. At least, she believed me enough to get engaged.”
My eyes widened at that. “You guys got engaged?”
Zachary nodded again. “Yep, and the first thing that I did this morning was go out and buy her a ring to make it real.”
“Are...is she happy about it, or did you strongarm the poor woman?”
“This is the part where you’re supposed to tell me congratulations, you dick,” he replied, clearly still in his feelings.
“I gotta be honest with you, Zach, I can only be happy for you if Whitney isn’t being held against her will in your basement,” I told him truthfully.
“I don’t have a basement,” he deadpanned.
“Is the woman happy to be marrying you or not?” I asked. “I need to know before I go congratulating her when she doesn’t want to be congratulated.”
My brother just shrugged. “She says she is, and unless I want to drive myself slowly insane, I have no choice but to believe her.”
“Have you told Mom and Dad yet?”
“No,” he admitted. “I’m still...I fucked this up so badly that I’m letting Whitney do all that stuff.”
“Well, I’m happy for you, Zach,” I said, finally congratulating him. “I really am. Congratulations, man.”
“Thanks,” he replied sincerely. “I swear, I’ve been in the military since I was a teenager, and I’d never felt as scared as I did when I thought that Whitney was going to leave me, and that’s fucking saying something.”
“Well, if it’ll make you feel any better, I think my neighbor across the street is using religion and prayer as a ruse to lure unsuspecting women into a sex cult headed by a man named Jury Patton,” I told him, hoping to make him feel better.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I got ambushed into going to one of her prayer groups, and when Calista and I got there-”
“Whoa, wait,” he said, shaking his head at me, waving his hand around. “What?”
So, to take his mind off his own troubles, I told him everything about the prayer group, meeting Jury Patton, and how Calista wanted to know if he had any CIA connections. When I was done, Zachary was definitely not thinking about his woman troubles anymore.
“All that, and you didn’t even ask her out?” he asked, ignoring everything else.
“I was trying to prioritize,” I drawled out.
“Ask the girl out, Myer,” he said. “The sex cult across the street can wait.”
Well, he wasn’t necessarily wrong.