“I’ve got a few questions for you Kayla. What if the baby is A.J.’s?”
“I don’t know. I’m not even sure if I still love him or not.”
“What if it’s mine?”
“I don’t know. I’m so confused Kevin. I don’t want to get married right now, and I don’t know if I’m ready to have a baby or not, and I don’t know-“
“Kayla, chill out. First off, I never said anything about marriage. Although I’d like to be married to the mother of my child, if it even is my child, I don’t have to get married. And I don’t think that I’m really ready for marriage yet either. I think that you’re ready to have a child. Look how good you are with Jill and Madison. Everything else will work itself out Kayla, I promise.”
She took a deep breath, and then lost all control on her emotions. She burst out crying and sat on the carpet, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Kayla, it’s gonna be okay, I promise.”
“How do you know?”
“Because even if his child isn’t mine, I’m going to be there every day, helping you raise him.”
“Thank you so much Kevin. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you.”
“Probably go insane. But that’s debatable, right?”
“I don’t know honestly. Help me up, I’ve got to throw up again.”
He helped her to the bathroom and held her hair back as she threw up.
They didn’t see or hear from A.J. for almost three weeks. He finally called one day and asked them to meet him on what he called “neutral ground.” They went to the Pasta Company to meet him for lunch.
“Hello A.J., how are you?” Kayla asked as they sat down at the table.
“I guess I’m as good as can be expected. I mean, my best friend is sleeping with my ex-girlfriend while I’m still trying to get over her, but other than that, I’m fine.”
“A.J., it only happened once, we’re not sleeping together anymore.”
“Anyway, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to see about getting a paternity test. I want to know of the child is mine.”
“We thought about getting a paternity test before, but we wanted you to be there too,” Kayla said quietly.
“I talked to Marcy, and she said that she’ll set something up for us privately so that there won’t be any publicity. She’s going to do the tests herself.”
“When?” Kevin asked.
“Next Friday, if you’re free.”
“I’m free, how about you Kayla?”
“I’m free.”
“So it’s settled then. I’ll see you two Friday at 11:30. Until then, I’ll see you around.”
“A.J., we can’t avoid each other all the time. We work together, we have to work things out.”
“Kevin, I’m not ready to talk to you yet. Just give me some time, it’ll be a while before I can talk to either one of you without being angry.”
“A.J. wait,” Kayla said, standing up, “You have no right being angry with us. You and I were, and still are, broken up. Kevin and I have a right to do whatever the hell we want. We’re grown people and we have the right to choose whether or not we’re going to sleep together or not. As of now, we’re not sleeping together.”
“Fine,” was all he said before walking calmly out of the restaurant.
“I think he took that rather well, don’t you think?” Kevin asked, chilled by his friend’s reception.
“No, I blew it. I should have kept my big ass mouth shut.”
“Maybe you should have, but you didn’t, and it’s okay that you didn’t. Now all we have to do is see who the father is.”
Kayla nearly retched right there but Kevin managed to get her to the bathroom. He found himself wishing that he was the father just so that he would be able to hold her like that.
“What am I thinking? I don’t think that I’m ready to handle children. But I love- Wait do I love her? I’ve thought about it before but I don’t know if I love her or not. What we did that night meant something more to me than a one-night stand, but what did it mean to her?” he thought as she heaved in his arms.
When she finished, she looked up at him with an almost guilty look on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just that I don’t like throwing up in people’s arms. It makes me feel weak and incredibly vulnerable.”
“Don’t feel bad, it’s good to be weak sometimes.”
“How is that?”
“It’s good to be weak sometimes because people need to be there for you as much as you need them to be there.”
“Are you saying that you need to be there for me?”
“Well… yeah I am. I think everyone needs someone eventually.”
“What are we talking about here?”
“I have no clue. You know, we need to go now. Don’t you have a doctor’s appointment soon?”
“Yeah I do, in about an hour.”
“So let’s go, I don’t like being in a girl’s restroom in a restaurant because I’m not, you know, a girl.”
Kayla laughed, “You’ve got a point there.”
“Come on, I’ll buy you a Sprite.”
“Thanks Kevin, I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Kevin took Kayla back to her place so that she could change her clothes. Kevin took her to the doctor to make sure that everything was okay. They told called Marcy to tell her that they had talked to A.J. and that they were going to see her on Monday. Everything was okay with the baby. When they got back to her house, Kevin was nearly desperate to tell her that he wanted to raise the baby with her regardless of whether or not it was his.
“Do you want something to drink Kevin?”
“No, that’s okay. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about though.”
“What’s up?” she asked, walking into the living room.
“This is a little hard to say, so bear with me while I try to get it out.”
“Kevin, are you going to tell me that you don’t want the baby or something?”
“No exactly the opposite. Even if it’s not mine, I’d like to raise the baby with you Kayla. I think that I’d be a good father and you’re going to be such a good mother.”
“Kevin, I know what you’re saying, but do you grasp what it is?”
“Yes I do.”
“You’re saying that you want to raise a baby with me even it’s not yours, but you do realize that raising a baby would mean being together all the time, don’t you?”
“Of course, it’s one of the benefits of raising a child with you.”
“Kevin, I need some time to think about this. It’s a big step you know. And shouldn’t we give A.J. a chance? I mean, I think he’d be a great father too. And if it’s his baby, I think we should give him a chance to make the decision whether or not he wants it.”
“I know that, but on the off chance that it is A.J.’s and he doesn’t want it, then I’ll be here for you.”
Kayla closed her eyes and tried to think, but his cologne was too intoxicating, “Kevin, I need to be alone right now. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“All right, don’t forget what I said.”
“I won’t. Good night Kev.”
Kayla walked up to her room and collapsed onto the bed, “Why did he have to go and be so perfect? I didn’t want anything complicated. It was just one night of fun, he’s my best friend, and we can’t be anything more. Can we?” she shook her head to clear her thoughts.
She fell asleep thinking about her problems and ended up dreaming about the situation. She had a dream that A.J. was the father and that everything was dreadful. He wasn’t there for her when she needed it and she had a strong suspicion that he was cheating on her. Then she had a dream that Kevin was the father and that everything was more than wonderful. When she woke up, she knew what she was going to tell Kevin.