Chapter 11 Kieren
KIEREN
My body sways drunkenly to Aerosmith’s “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” coming from the jukebox. It takes a few beats for my head to catch up to my body, the liquor making me slow. Slow and numb. Exactly how I want to be.
In no scenario did I envision Jodie having a baby and a boyfriend.
I was so caught up in my own memories of our perfect weekend together and the electric connection I thought we had.
I was sure she’d felt it too. Or at least felt it enough not to immediately find someone else, someone she wanted to have a baby with.
The thought of Jodie with someone else sends a blood-boiling shot of jealousy through my veins. Even through my alcohol-addled body, I still feel a possessiveness for her.
I pick up my bourbon glass and drain it, welcoming the sweet oblivion that can’t come soon enough.
Through blurry vision, I see a woman coming toward me. She’s too short but her face looks pleasant enough and kind of familiar, but I can’t see her features properly through the alcohol blur. Maybe this is what I need, a new kind of way to forget about Jodie.
“Hey, beautiful. What’s your name?”
The woman tilts her head and gives me a pitying look that’s not unkind.
“Don’t try it, Kieren. I’m not your type.”
Confusion floods my brain as I feel strong arms wrap around me from behind.
“I’ll let you get away with that because you’re drunk, but you come onto my woman again, I will kill you.”
Seth’s familiar voice hums in my ear, although he’s usually not so tough talking.
Then I remember why I recognize the woman. It’s Kayla, Seth’s new girlfriend. I giggle because the last thing I would ever do is come onto a buddy’s woman.
“You two here for a drink?”
“Time to go.”
Seth loosens his grip on me but keeps a firm hold of my shoulder. He pulls me toward the door, and I stumble over my feet.
“But we haven’t done tequila shots.”
Seth’s grip is firm and unrelenting. He can be a tough bastard when he wants to be. “No shots tonight, Kieren. We’re taking you home.”
His tone is no nonsense, and I look to Kayla for help, hoping to find an ally. But she just shakes her head at me.
“I’ll drive your car back to our place,” she says. “You can crash in the spare room. I’ll make you a grilled cheese when we get in.”
Kayla’s expression is kind, and I can see why Seth is crazy about her. Compared to his stern demeanor, she’s a sight for sore eyes.
“You’re sweet.”
Seth growls, and I giggle again.
“In a platonic way, dude. I’m not hitting on your girl.”
Seth manages to wrangle me out of the bar and into his car. The ride home makes me feel nauseous, and it takes a few minutes of sitting in the cool night air before I can make it into the house.
As promised, Kayla makes me a grilled cheese sandwich, then takes herself off to bed. Seth’s made coffee, and by the way he’s waiting for me at the dining table, I can tell he wants to talk.
I feel like a wayward teenager getting growled at by his dad. On top of everything that’s happened today, the last thing I need is a fucking lecture from my best friend. I know my behavior was appalling. I don’t need anyone else to tell me that.
“I’m not in the mood for a lecture, Seth. I just found out she’s got a fucking boyfriend and a baby.”
Seth holds his hand up, and his expression softens.
“I’m not going to give you a lecture, Kieren. If you want to fuck your liver up, that’s up to you.”
He indicates a chair and I sink into it. Seth takes a sip of coffee while I nibble on the grilled cheese.
“Hmm. She’s a good cook. Kayla.”
That gets a smile out of Seth. “Yeah, a real gourmet.”
I take a sip of coffee, and the hot liquid almost scalds my tongue.
“She doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Seth says.
I pause with the sandwich halfway to my mouth. “What are you talking about?”
“I know you don’t want to spy on her or anything, but I did some digging anyway. There are some things you should know.”
The alcohol haze leaves my head as I try to piece together what Seth is saying. It’s wrong to dig up info on Jodie the way that Seth’s doing it. He did some dodgy stuff to win Kayla over. I love the guy like a brother, but I’m not going to be that man.
Yet… I’m curious as hell.
“How do you know she doesn’t have a boyfriend? She’s got a baby.”
“Yes.” Seth clasps his hands together. “She does have a baby. That is true. But there’s no boyfriend.”
“So, she made that bit up? Why would she do that?”
It doesn’t make me feel any better. Jodie’s so repulsed by me that she invented a boyfriend to get rid of me.
“Don’t worry about the boyfriend or lack thereof.” Seth leans forward and talks slowly as if he’s trying to explain something to a five-year-old.
“The key here is the baby.”
I don’t know what he’s getting at. The fact that Jodie is a solo mum doesn’t make me feel much better.
Some scumbag has left her alone, left her by herself to raise their kid.
At least I can step up for her. I can be the man she needs, the father to her baby, and the man to take care of both of them. If she’ll have me.
“I don’t mind raising someone else’s kid if that’s what Jodie needs from me.”
Seth gives me a look like I’m stupid. Maybe I am, but hell, I’ll do anything for that woman.
“The baby is nine months old.”
He says it slowly and deliberately like there’s some significance in that. But the lasting alcohol in my brain can’t quite piece it together.
So, she had a kid nine months ago. That would have been about nine months after our weekend together…
Holy shit.
The realization hits me like a bowling ball to the stomach, and I’m suddenly stone-cold sober.
“It’s mine, isn’t it?”
I know as soon as the words leave my mouth that it’s the truth.
My baby. Mine and Jodie’s. I’m the scumbag that left her to have a baby on her own, to raise it on her own. She probably came looking for me when she found out she was pregnant, but I was deployed.
No wonder she hates me.
Seth nods slowly, probably relieved to see his dumb-ass friend finally figured it out. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure because she didn’t put a name on the birth certificate, but the dates add up.”
“Fuck.”
I push the chair back and pace the room.
Seth’s watching me carefully, probably worried I’m going to freak out and bust his house up or something stupid.
But all I can think about is the fact that I’m a father. I’m a father with the woman I love.
“This is fucking awesome.”
Seth visibly relaxes.
“It might not be yours, but the dates check out.”
“Oh, it’s mine.”
I fucking know it. In the heat of the moment, we never used a condom. I remember Jodie’s fumbling hands on my cock. She was inexperienced, maybe even a virgin. There’s no way she was doing what we did with other guys. I know it. I know it in my heart that the baby is mine.
I grab my keys off the table and head out of the room.
“Whoa, where you going?”
Seth catches my shoulder.
“I’m going to claim my family.”
He gives me the patient dad look again.
“It’s two in the morning and you stink like a brewery. I’m not letting you drive, and you’re not doing yourself any favors going around there now anyway.”
He’s right, as always.
“Fine. I’ll stay here tonight, but tomorrow, when I’m clean and un-stinky, I’m going to get my family back.”