Chapter 90
Her words hit him like daggers.
I’m pregnant.
His mouth dropped open, and he began to shake his head in
denial. “It’s not… it can’t be… it can’t
be my-“
“It is your baby!” Leah insisted. “I’m almost two months along… think back two
months, Nick. What happened?”
Nick’s heart sank.
Two months ago, he had been declared in remission. Two months ago, he had gone out
celebrating. Two months ago, he had
driven to Leah’s apartment in a drunken stupor…
“Oh my God,” he moaned, burying his head in his hands, his
fingers clawing his face in desperation.
“‘Oh my God’ is right!” cried Leah. “I don’t know what to do! David found out, and he flew off the
handle! I-I’d been living with him, see,
and he kicked me out of his house!”
“David?” Nick questioned.
“Who’s-“
“‘Preppy’,” Leah answered darkly. “You know, my boyfriend?”
“Ohh… him.” Nick
remembered the wiry, wealthy-looking guy he had seen her with at a club those
many months ago. “I-I thought you’d
already broken up with him.”
She sighed. “We’d
been having problems, but we hadn’t broken up yet. In fact, it looked like things were going to
work out between us… but then he found out about you and I… and the baby. Nicky, what am I supposed to do? I haven’t got any place to live! I got rid of my apartment before I moved in
with David, and I just don’t have the money to rent another one! I’ve been staying with a friend, but I can’t
stay there forever, especially once the baby’s born…”
“So you’re keeping it?”
Her lip quivered, and she sniffled despairingly. “I don’t know,” she sobbed. “I thought about an… an abortion, but I-I
just don’t know if I can go through with it… I’m afraid, Nicky!”
“Well, what about adoption?”
“But then how will I support myself while I’m
pregnant? What am I going to do about a
job?” she countered. “As soon as my boss
finds out, he’ll fire me! I can’t dance
if I’m pregnant! And the friend that I’m
living with, she’s struggling enough already; she can’t support me either!”
Nick sighed, not knowing what to say. At his silence, Leah went on tearfully, “D-do
you want me to get rid of it then?”
A million thoughts raced through Nick’s mind, as the
reality of the situation slowly sunk in.
Leah was pregnant… with his child.
He’d gotten her pregnant, and now she was stuck and considering killing
the baby as a way out. No, not just the
baby… his baby.
Fleetingly, he thought of Brian’s baby and remembered how
he’d held little Baylee and thought about the day when he’d have a son of his
own.
And that’s when he knew that he could not let her get an
abortion. He could not let her kill his
unborn child. This was no longer about
him and Leah, but about the new life the two of them had created together. He was not ready for a baby… he was not ready
to be a father… but this was half his fault, and he would have to deal with the
consequences of his mistake. No way was
he going to let an innocent child that was his own flesh and blood pay for his
stupidity.
“No,” he answered firmly after a long silence. “You can’t get rid of it, Leah. This is a child we’re talking about. Our child.”
Her eyes widened hopefully as she looked at him. “Yes,” she said slowly. “Our child. Yours and mine both. So… so, you’ll help me then, right?”
He closed his eyes briefly and took a shuddering
breath. Then, feeling as if he was about
to sign a deal with the devil himself, he opened his eyes again and nodded
slowly. “Yeah, Leah,” he whispered. “I’ll help you.”
***
“You did what?!” Claire’s voice screeched, and Nick
pulled the phone away from his ear, wincing.
“You’re letting that ho come live with you? Nick!
I thought you had more common sense than that! If you’re so sold on helping her out, why
don’t you just give her some money, not offer up your home to her!”
Nick frowned, annoyed.
“Jeez, forget I told you anything.
I can’t just pay her off and send her on her merry way; that’s not
right. That’s my baby she’s
carrying!”
“So you’re gonna be Daddy Nick, now are you? What are you going to do when the kid’s born,
marry her?”
“I don’t know,” Nick sniffed defensively. “Maybe.”
“Nick! That’s
probably exactly what she wants! The
little succubus… she’s already screwed you over once-“
“Twice,” corrected Nick in a dull voice.
“Twice?! Nickolas
Gene Carter, are you a moron?!” Claire cried.
“She’s probably just after your money or something! What if she’s not even pregnant?!”
“Well, gee, I think I’ll figure that one out soon enough
then, Claire,” Nick remarked dryly, growing more and more pissed by the
second. He’d called Claire and told her
the news, hoping for some support in his decision to let Leah move in with
him. But support was the exact opposite
of what she was giving him now. She was
totally freaking out, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she was really just
jealous of Leah and the time and attention he’d be giving her from now on.
“Well, I would hope so,” said Claire. “But after what I’ve just heard from you,
maybe you would be stupid enough to-“
“Shut up!” Nick
snapped angrily. “Jesus, I didn’t call
you so you could tell me how fucking stupid I am for trying to be a good
person! You’re probably just jealous anyway,
aren’t you?”
“Jealous of what?” Claire scoffed.
“I dunno, jealous of the fact that I knocked up Leah and
not you? Jealous that Leah’s coming to
live with me and not you?” A little
voice inside his head told him he was going too far, but he didn’t care. Blinded by rage, he continued spitefully,
“Well, you know what, Claire, get over it!
Leah needs me right now, and I’m going to be there for her and my baby,
whether you like it or not!”
There was a long pause in which Nick sat seething,
breathing hard from his little outburst and waiting for a scathing retort from
her. But none came. Instead, she broke the silence by saying in a
voice as low as death, “I cannot believe you just said that to me. Are you that arrogant and stuck on
yourself? Are you really so blind that
you can’t see this for what it really is?
Well then fine. You have a great
time playing the part of the good boyfriend to your whore, and don’t you dare
come crawling to me when it backfires on you.”
“Yeah whatever, Claire,” sneered Nick. “I’m not gonna go crawling anywhere. I don’t need you in my life if you’re gonna
act like such a jealous bitch. It’ll be
just me, Leah, and our baby. The perfect
fucking little family.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Claire snorted resentfully. “Hey, wait a second… Nick, when did
you say you slept wi-“
But she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence because
at that moment, Nick cut her off, ending the call with a quick punch of the
button on his cordless phone. Slamming
the phone down, he let out a shaky breath and realized he was trembling in
anger.
Screw her, he thought
hostilely. I don’t fucking need
her. I’ve got Leah now.
So what if his and Leah’s past relationship hadn’t worked
out? They would make things work this
time, both for themselves and their baby.
Everything was going to be just fine. Perfect, in fact.
He’d show her.
***