by Andria Large
“Slim to none.”
Jayme shook his head. “This is fucked up.”
He scooted down the couch and wrapped his arm around Jayme’s shoulders. “It’ll get figured out. Don’t stress too much about it right now, because you don’t know for sure if it’s yours.”
“Why would she act like its mine, when it could potentially be someone else’s?”
“So you wouldn’t know she cheated?”
Jayme growled in frustration. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know if she’s capable of being that manipulative. I just can’t see her cheating on me.”
He sighed. “I don’t know her, I can’t say anything about it.”
“I’m gonna call Brendan and see what he thinks...wait, my phone is smashed.” He groaned.
Tripp dug his phone out of his pocket and held it out for him. Jayme took it and gave him a tight smile. “Thanks. I’ll go tomorrow and get a new one.”
“No worries.”
Jayme stood and paced around the living room as he talked to Brendan on the phone. Brendan seemed certain that Mallory wouldn’t cheat from what he was getting off of the conversation. He wasn’t sure though. He didn’t know Mallory, never even met her, but something didn’t sit right with him about the whole situation.
By the time Jayme got off the phone with Brendan it was eleven o’clock pm, and Tripp was getting tired. Jayme looked like he’d been hit by a tank. His shoulders were slumped, and his face looked haggard. It was really hitting him hard.
Jayme handed him his phone back and thanked him. “I’m going to bed.”
“Me too.” He agreed and stood. “I’ll get the lights. You go ahead.”
“Thanks, Tripp.”
He knew it wasn’t just a thanks for turning out the lights, it was for everything.
“No problem, Buddy.”
Jayme trudged heavily up the stairs, while Tripp checked the doors and turned out all the lights. He then went upstairs where he found Jayme standing in the doorway of his room. He stopped in front of his own door, and looked over at him.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I just...I may have nightmares tonight,” Jayme said hesitantly, his eyes barely able to meet Tripp’s.
“Would you sleep better if I slept next to you?”
“Maybe?”
“All right, let me just go to the bathroom and I’ll come stay with you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Jayme looked relieved as he nodded, then stepped into his room; leaving the door open for him. He did what he had to do in the bathroom, slipped on a pair of pajama pants, then headed to Jayme’s room; shutting the door behind him. Jayme was already in bed, laying on his side with his bare back to the door, covers up to his waist. He walked over to the bed, turned out the lamp on the nightstand; then climbed into bed next to Jayme. He rolled onto his side and plastered himself against Jayme’s back, wrapping his arm around his waist. Jayme tensed for a second, before relaxing back against him.
A swift elbow to the gut woke Tripp. He grunted in pain and rolled onto his back as he held his stomach. He noticed sun peeking through the curtains, so it had to be morning. A second later, Jayme’s hulking weight straddled his waist and his hands wrapped around Tripp’s throat. His stomach lurched as he looked up and saw that Jayme’s eyes were open, but unseeing. Shit, the guy was technically still asleep. He tried to stay calm as his airway slowly got cut off. He grabbed Jayme’s wrists and dug his nails in, hoping that maybe some pain would wake him up. When that didn’t work, he tried kneeing him in the back, but he didn’t have great leverage for it and his knee barely connected.
Tripp gasped for air as spots dotted his vision. “Jayme!” he wheezed. “Jayme, wake up!”
Jayme blinked and his eyes came into focus. It took him a moment to realize what was going on, but he eventually yanked his hands away from Tripp’s throat as if burned and rolled away. He noisily sucked in air before coughing roughly. Jayme was pacing at the side of the bed, his hands covering his mouth and nose.
Tripp sat up. He pressed a hand to his chest and closed his eyes. Fuck, that was close. When he opened his eyes, Jayme had stopped pacing and was standing there staring at him; his fingers laced on top of his head. The tortured expression on his face broke Tripp’s heart.
“I could have killed you,” Jayme rasped.
“But you didn’t,” he said carefully, his voice rough from being strangled.
He crawled over to Jayme’s side of the bed, while Jayme shook his head and backed away. He climbed off the bed and went to Jayme who was backed against the window. He pulled Jayme into his arms and hugged him tight.
“It’s okay,” he whispered.
“No, it’s not,” Jayme croaked as he slipped his arms around Tripp’s waist and tucked his face in his neck.
They stood like that for a few minutes before he pulled back enough to cup Jayme’s face and give him a soft kiss on the lips, before pressing their foreheads together. “Okay?”
Jayme shrugged helplessly as he let him go. His gaze dropped to Tripp’s neck, and his lip lifted in a snarl. “How are we supposed to explain the fingerprint bruises on your neck?”
“I have a choking kink?” he replied with a lopsided grin.
Jayme’s gaze shot up and nailed him with a hard stare. “That’s not funny.”
“Come on. It was a little funny.”
Jayme shook his head and stepped away from him so he could pace at the end of the bed.
“We’ll have to explain the nail marks in your wrists too.”
Jayme frowned and looked down at the little crescent shaped nicks on his wrists. “Damn.” He hissed. “I can’t believe I did this.”
“Shit happens, Jayme. It’s okay.”
“No! This is not okay! Nothing about this is okay, Tripp!” Jayme yelled, pacing furiously. “First, I find out I’m gonna be a dad when I don’t want to be, then I almost strangle my best friend to death. I don’t see anything okay with any of that.”
He smirked. “I’m your best friend now?”
Jayme paused in his pacing and gave Tripp a confused look. “What?”
“You called me your best friend. I didn’t know you thought of me like that.”
“Well, yeah...I mean...how could you not be?”
He shrugged. “I guess. I just thought Brendan was your best friend.”
“A person can have more than one best friend, Tripp.”
He nodded. “True.”
A ghost of a smile curled Jayme’s lips. “Am I not your best friend?”
He grinned. “I never really thought about it, but yeah. I guess you are.”
“Good.”
“Now that we got that all figured out, can we lay back down for the hour we have left; before we have to get up and get ready for work?”
“You go ahead. I’m going to hop in the shower.”
“Fine. Be that way,” Tripp huffed.
“I’m too awake to lay back down.”
“Mmm hmm.”
Jayme rolled his eyes then left the room. He laid back down and pulled the covers up to his chin. At least Jayme was in a better mood now. He’d take that over upset Jayme any day.
~~~
Jayme
“Ho-ly shit, dude! What the fuck happened to your neck?!” Brendan gawked as Jayme and Tripp sat down at the table behind them the next day. “Did Jayme get a little too rough while he was fucking that ass?”
Tripp cocking an eyebrow was his only reaction. Jayme clenched his jaw. Brendan just loved fucking with them about sleeping together, even though he didn’t know for sure. He was sure Brendan had high suspicions. Usually they laughed it off, but he wasn’t feeling it today. It pissed him off.
“Jesus, Jayme. I had no idea you liked it that rough,” Brendan continued.
“Shut the fuck up.” He snarled.
Brendan cocked his head and gave Jayme a questioning look. “What? Did I tread too close to the truth?”
“Man, after what I told you about last night, the last thing I need is shit from you.”
“Oh, come on. You know I’m just messing around. Seriously, Tripp. What happened to your neck? You look like you’ve been strangled.”
“Hazards of liking it rough.” Tripp shrugged.
“It really was from sex? Goddamn!”
He hated that Tripp was lying for him, but he really couldn’t say anything without giving away his issues; and he really didn’t need to add that shit on top of everything else.
“How are you able to walk today, man?” Brendan asked Tripp.
Tripp grinned slowly. “Who said I was the one who got fucked?”
Brendan turned to Jayme. “How are you able to walk today, man?”
“Oh, fuck you.” He snorted.
Brendan laughed evilly and smacked his partner’s shoulder. Will just smiled and shook his head. Will was a quiet guy who usually didn’t join in on the ribbing.
“Jayme, I hear you’re gonna be a daddy. Congrats,” Matt said from where he sat at the table across the aisle.
A round of applause and congrats went through the room much to his chagrin. He gave Matt a death glare. Couldn’t the guy had said something in private, instead of blurting it out to the entire room?
“How’d you find out?” he asked, glancing at Brendan who shook his head to say it wasn’t him.
“Our wives talk shit about you together, remember?” Matt said with a grin.
He rolled his eyes. He forgot about that.
“Do you think you’ll get back with her now that you’re having a kid together?” Phil, Matt’s partner, asked.
He gave him an incredulous look. “No. She still lied to me.”
Did Brendan just blow out a breath like he was relieved? He stared at his friend for a moment, but Brendan seemed oblivious to Jayme watching him.
“Aren’t you like, against having kids?” Matt asked.
He made an annoyed noise in his throat. “I don’t want kids.”
“But now you’re stuck with one.” Matt mused.
“Basically.”
“That sucks, man. I’m sorry.” Matt frowned.
He shrugged. There was nothing he could do about it. He was going to go talk to Mallory after work. His only hope was that the kid wasn’t his. If it was, he’d take responsibility; no matter how much the idea of it actually being his scared the shit out of him.
After work, he went home, got a shower, and got changed before going to Mallory’s. His stomach rolled nervously as he walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Even though it was his old house, he couldn’t just walk in like he used to. Mallory appeared a couple minutes later.
Her eyes widened slightly when she saw him standing there. He hadn’t called before stopping by because he hadn’t gone and gotten a new phone yet, and he didn’t feel like borrowing Tripp’s again.
“Jayme.”
“Hey Mal, can we talk?”
She stepped aside and opened the door wide. “Sure, come in.”
Her dark hair was down and loosely curled as it flowed over her shoulders. She had a little bit of makeup on, and dark pink scrubs. She worked in a doctor’s office as a nurse. Jayme stepped into the house and let her shut the door. She led the way into the kitchen.
“Do you want something to drink?” Mallory asked.
“No. I’m fine, thanks.”
They sat down across from each other at the kitchen table. Mallory waited patiently, knowing he had things to say.
“You know this isn’t something I want, Mallory.”
“I know,” she replied quietly, looking down at her hands where they rested on the table.
“You’re one hundred percent positive that it’s mine?”
Mallory looked up at him sharply. “What are you suggesting?”
“Do I need to ask for a paternity test?”
“You think I cheated on you?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think that...”
“I didn’t,” she said firmly. “This is your baby.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“You’ve never cheated on me?”
“No.”
He nodded slowly. He wanted to believe her. She wasn’t giving him a reason not to. She sounded truthful and sincere. Usually he could tell when someone was lying, it was part of his job, but she wasn’t giving him any indication that she was.
“If you don’t want any part of this, I’ve got no problem raising the baby on my own.”
“You said that’s my kid, right?” he snapped. Mallory nodded. “Then they’re not growing up without their father. This may not have been something I wanted, but I’m not the asshole who walks away.”
A small smile curled Mallory’s lips. “Okay.”
“Okay.” He nodded sharply.
“Do you want to come with me to the doctor’s appointments and stuff?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
Mallory shook her head, her face softening. “I don’t mind.”
“I held Tripp’s six-month old nephew a couple weeks ago.”
Her lips twitched. “How’d that go?”
“About as well as you’d expect from me. I’ve never held a baby in my life. Tripp just plopped this kid down in my lap, and the only thing I could do was hold on, so he didn’t fall. He was squirmy, and I begged Tripp to take him back.”
Mallory laughed. “Did he put you out of your misery?”
“Eventually, yes.”
“I think you’re going to make a great dad, Jayme.”
He snorted. “I think you’re crazy for thinking that, but thanks.”
Mallory reached across the table and placed her hand over his. “Are you sure you don’t want to try and work things out between us? We could be a family.”
He shook his head and pulled his hand out from under hers. “No, Mallory. We’re too damaged to go back. We can still be a family without us being together.”
She nodded sadly. “Yeah, okay.”
“All right. I’m gonna go. I need to get a new phone.”
“What happened to the old one?”
“I smashed it.” He smirked.
“Ohh, is that how we got disconnected the other night?”
“Yeahhh,” he drawled and stood from the table.
Mallory followed him to the door. “Oh, the due date is January 28th. My first ultrasound appointment is next week.”
“I’ll text you when I get my new phone and you can send me the date and time.”
“Okay,” she said with a sweet smile.
He gave her a peck on the cheek then walked out to his truck feeling lighter. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he’d imagined. He was sure his parents would be happy. They don’t have any grandchildren yet, he was sure they were going to be ecstatic.
He stopped by the AT&T store and got a new phone. Luckily, they were able to pull his contacts off his destroyed phone and put them on the new one; and he also got to keep his phone number. As soon as he was back in his truck, he called his mom to give her the news.
“Hello?” His mom answered.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Oh, Jayme! Hi, sweetie. How are you?”
“I’m...okay. I have some news for you.”
“Okay? What is it?”
“You’re gonna be a grandma. Mallory’s pregnant.”
“Oh my gosh! Really?!” she squealed.
Jayme chuckled. “Yeah, really.”
“But I thought you didn’t want kids? And you two going to get back together now?”
Why did everyone keep asking that?
“Well, it wasn’t planned, and no, we’re still getting divorced.”
“Oh. You’ll be sharing custody then?”
“Most likely. We didn’t really talk about that yet.”
After a moment of silence, she asked, “Are you happy about this?”
He sighed. “I can’t say that I’
m exactly happy about it. But I'm trying to be okay with it.”
“Jayme, let me tell you, once you see that little baby’s face, you won’t even be able to comprehend how happy you’ll be.”
He hummed. He couldn’t imagine feeling that way, but he guessed it was possible. He talked with his mom a little more before hanging up. He called his brothers and let them know too. He then headed home, hoping maybe he could get some lovin’ from his partner.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jayme
JAYME SAT nervously as he and Mallory waited for the ultrasound tech to arrive. Mallory was lying on the table next to the ultrasound machine looking cool, calm, and collected. Like she’d done it a million times.
The tech arrived, giving them both a warm smile. “Hey, guys! I’m Tracy.”
Mallory shook her hand, while Jayme gave her a small wave and a muttered hello. The tech went about getting the machine ready, then had Mallory lift her shirt and push her yoga pants down a little bit. She put some gel on the wand and placed it on Mallory’s belly. Mallory giggled saying that it was cold.
The tech moved the wand around and clicked away at the machine with her other hand. She then hit a button and froze the screen. “Here's your baby,” Tracy said, pointing to a little bean looking thing on the screen.
“That’s it?” he blurted.
Both Tracy and Mallory laughed.
“Yep. Right now, that’s it,” Tracy said.
“It looks like a lima bean,” he said.
“It's a bit bigger than that, but you're close,” Tracy chuckled.
“That’s going to grow into a baby?” he asked skeptically.
“Yes, it is,” Tracy answered, then went about clicking away again.
When she was done, she wiped off Mallory’s belly, and printed out some pictures from the ultrasound and handed them to Mallory. She and Jayme then left the office and headed out into the parking lot where they had both driven their own cars. Jayme had left work a little early to make the appointment.
Mallory held out one of the pictures to him. “Do you want one?”
