FALLING: The Negative Ion Series

by Ryanne Anthony

  Yep, it’s a boy, just like I thought.

  “So, Ms. Forrest, I believe your email stated you are due very soon and want to know if you can do work while you’re on leave. Is that correct?”

  “Yes, Professor,” I nod then blink. Oh God… please let this kid stop kicking me soon.

  “I’m not sure that’s fair to the other students. I don’t like to give preferential treatment and I’m sure some will regard that request as such.”

  “With all due respect, sir, I’m not asking for any. I am required to take eight weeks off and in the interim, I have no wish to fall behind my classmates. I will do my work and then some to stay on track with the class. All of my classes.”

  “And if you don’t, Ms. Forrest?”

  “Sir, ‘don’t’ is not an option for me.”

  “How do you intend to keep up with the class if you’re caring for a newborn?”

  “I have help. I have a woman that’s been helping me and she’s assured me she’s not going anywhere. She will help take care of my son while I study. I intend to give my class work the same amount of time and patience I give to it now. I’m not behind on anything and I don’t plan to fall behind during my leave.”

  He studies me, disbelief all over his face. “I will grant your request but if you miss an assignment, even one, Ms. Forrest, I will fail you.”

  “I understand, sir,” I puff, trying to hide the fact that my son just kicked the living shit out of me again.

  “Check your email tomorrow afternoon, Ms. Forrest. I will have your assignments ready and will expect the work back via email by noon on their due dates, no exception.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You are excused.”

  I clumsily stand and leave his office as fast as I can. As soon as I get to the door, my new friends, Myra and Kylie, run up to me.

  “Well?”

  I smile. “It’s good, Myra. He was the last holdout and even though I was late getting to his office, he agreed.”

  “Yay! Good!” Kylie grins. “And you can count on us, Kimber. When little man gets here, we’ll help. Diapers, papers, whatever.”

  “You guys are the best,” I grin then start wobbling to the stairs. “Is that nacho stand still open?”

  “Again, Kimber?”

  “Yes, Myra! I need them. And a tall glass of pineapple juice.”

  “Remind me to never get pregnant, guys,” Kylie says as her face scrunches.

  “Oh, don’t forget, Kimber,” Myra nudges. “Baby shower tomorrow night, your place at seven.”

  “I remember, Myra. Don’t forget the KFC. Potato wedges, not mashed potatoes!”

  “Fine, KFC!”

  “Thank you, my lovely!” I grin.

  We walked to the snack stand, got my nachos with beef and smothered in melted cheese then Kylie drove to a store. I ate my nachos as I waited to pay for the pineapple juice, and ended up with 20 bucks worth of chocolate, too. Kylie and Myra cracked up at me.

  The girls gave me a ride home and after seeing me inside, they kissed my swollen face and left. Hilda, Heidi’s twin, came in soon after with groceries and scowled and my chocolate stash. She immediately went to the kitchen and poured me a tall glass of milk, standing over me until I drank it all with my iron and multi-vitamin pills.

  I had my shower, dressed then sat in front of my laptop and Hilda told me to sit there and relax while she fixed dinner and I readily agreed. I was exhausted. Thank God this was the last day before Winter Break. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be going back when school started back in a few weeks because my doctor was 99% sure I would deliver early. Fine with me. Junior has been really kicking my ass lately and I have his eviction notice all ready.

  I was just falling asleep when a knock sounded on my door. I told Hilda I’d answer it and started my five minute routine to get me off the couch. I finally got up giggling and went over and flung open the door, certain it would be Kylie or Myra again. I was wrong.

  “What. The. Fuck?!”

  “Roland? Wha-what are you doing here?” I gasped, making a poor attempt to hide my huge belly behind the door.

  “I came to… wow… fuck, you are really huge!”

  “Roland! Why are you here?”

  He continued to stare at me, mouth gaped and wide-eyed.

  I snapped my fingers in his face. “ROLAND! FOCUS!”

  “Huh? Um, well, I was in the neighborhood and thought you’d like to see an old friend.”

  “In the neighborhood? You live 3,000 miles away!”

  “My grandmother lives here, remember? She’s about a mile from away.”

  “Right. Okay, so how did you know to find me here?”

  He grinned and shrugged. “I was at your mother’s, wanting to gobble a baby cheek when my eye caught your Christmas card to them. I memorized the address, knowing I was flying out for the holidays. Surprise, Merry Christmas!”

  “Christmas is a week away, Roland,” I smirk.

  “Never too early, Itsy,” Roland laughs then holds up mistletoe. “So invite me in, give me a kiss and let’s talk.”

  I roll my eyes and beckon him in then wobble to the couch and plop down. Roland sits in a chair next to me and juts his chin.

  “Jaxen?”

  I nod.

  “You heard about his band?”

  “Yeah. Good for them. They should be pretty big. ‘Me’ sounds pretty good and it’s getting a lot of play around here.”

  “Not just here. All over the country. Parker isn’t working at the firm with your father. He’s their manager.”

  I nod again and put my head down. “Mom told me. I was surprised to hear that.”

  “Why? Samantha’s his sister and in a few months, they’ll be related.”

  “I guess it’s just me Jaxen hates.”

  “Hates? You think Jax hates you?”

  A tear falls and I wipe it away. “I honestly don’t know what he feels. He kept saying he loved me. Gave me a whole show of appearing to fall apart when I tried to break it off with him early. Then he says he only said he loved me because he wanted my virginity.”

  A low whistle escapes Roland. “Parker did a good job.”

  I look up confused. “With what?”

  “Protecting you. I had no idea you were still a virgin at your party. You certainly didn’t kiss like one.”

  “Shut up,” I grin to hide a blush. “I was. Jaxen was my first. Look what that did.”

  Roland gives me a thoughtful head tilt. “He doesn’t know does he?”

  “No and I want to keep it that way.”

  “Why?”

  “He knew he was going to get signed and he dumped me so he could live the rock star life style. Far be it for me to intrude on his dreams and desires. He can make more babies later.”

  Roland shook his head. “Not fair, Itsy.”

  “Yes, it is. He made his choice when he dumped me.”

  “What choice? He didn’t, rather doesn’t, know about the pregnancy. I doubt he would have dumped you if he knew.”

  “So what then? We marry for the baby’s sake and spend a few years hating each other for it? Him hating me because he has a wife and kid he doesn’t love or want and me hating him for making me fall for him and being stuck in a marriage with a man who hates and resents me and continually cheats on me? Who would that life be good for Roland?”

  “No one, but you have no idea if any of that would have happened.”

  “I do know. You didn’t see his face, hear his words when he was breaking up with me. And that fucking girl.”

  “What fucking girl?” Roland frowns.

  “Camille Hogan.”

  He shrugs. “What about her?”

  “When he was breaking up with me, she was there,” I sniff. “He kissed her, right in front of me and her hand went down his pants and he told her to get in the van and get naked. I slapped him and left.”

  Roland looks at me pensively for a while. I look at him and wait for his next question. Instead,
he shakes his head and shrugs.

  “Okay, so what’s the plan for dinner tonight?”

  “My companion Hilda is cooking my favorite.”

  “Is it still beef fajitas?”

  I grin and nod, hiding the fact that I’m extremely surprised… and flattered… he remembered. I doubt if Jaxen ever knew my favorite food. “With a ton of sour cream.”

  “She any good?”

  “The best. But don’t tell Heidi I said that.”

  Roland stared at me for a long minute then sighed. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

  “Thank you,” I smiled with tears in my eyes. “Then you can stay for dinner.”

  He gives me a bright smile. “I accept. Sharing one of those Hershey bars? I’ll take one with almonds.”

  “Fuck no! Touch my chocolate and you will hurt in the worst place imaginable.”

  He stared at me, in total shock again as he crossed his legs. “Damn. Fine, woman. Keep your chocolate! I like my dick.”

  I giggled at that then called out to Hilda, letting her know Roland was our guest. After she confirmed she heard, I turned back to Roland.

  “So what have you been up to?”

  “Nothing much. Working, babysitting Samantha.”

  “Babysitting?”

  “Yeah, Parker keeps busy with the band. You know… uh… hmm.”

  “What?”

  His head tilts as he face frowns. “It’s only your parents that know about the baby, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. I was so embarrassed when he broke up with me that I couldn’t... I told Mom and Daddy the day after it was confirmed, right after the break up. Jaxen dumped me before I could tell him.”

  Roland nods then leans forward. “You missed a lot when you left. Fighting, mostly. Your parents didn’t tell you any of it, did they?”

  I shake my head. “Who was fighting?”

  “Jax… and everybody else.”

  Now it’s my turn to frown. “What do you mean ‘everyone else’?”

  “I heard what Jaxen said to you to end things. The day you left, I mean… okay, I believe your parents dropped you at the airport, then went straight to the Malloy’s house.”

  “My parents did?”

  “Yeah. We were all there: the band, Park, Jax, his parents and sisters, me, all cleaning out what was left of Samantha’s things. We were fucking around, making fun of Jax and Stan, both of them were glaring at one another and brooding. No one in the band would speak up as to what the problem was. Then the bell started ringing like there was an emergency and we all hurried to the door. Your father was standing in front of your very pregnant mother, trying to hold her back, while she ranted and started shouting out Jax’s full name then snarled his Miranda rights when he went to the front of the crowd and faced her.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  “Damn right, ‘oh shit’. Jax quietly stood in front of Shay and your mother started in on him right away. She was so angry, your father and Sara were begging her to calm down, to think of the babies.”

  ‘I can’t, Sam! Sara, I swear I want to but your fucking son hurt my baby and drove her away.’

  ‘What are you talking about, Shauna?’ Sara frowned. ‘Drove her away where?’

  ‘She’s starting Harvard in the fall! My baby was in so much pain, she couldn’t stay here! She’s already gone! We’re all here and she’s in fucking Massachusetts! Alone!’

  ‘What?’ Jaxen asked. ‘She actually left?’

  ‘What the fuck did you expect her to do, Jaxen? How the hell did you expect her to stay and look at you after the shit you said to her?!’

  ‘Shauna, calm down, please,’ John said. ‘What did he say to her?’

  ‘Your bastard son told her he never loved her; that he only said it because he was curious about being with a virgin!’

  “A loud gasp went around the room then total silence as everyone stared at Jaxen. I’m telling you, it was a loud deafening silence. Then came the knuckle crack.”

  “Kn-knuckle crack?”

  Roland nodded. “Jaxen got cracked one across the jaw.”

  “What?!” I gasped. “By who?”

  “First--”

  “First?” I screeched. “There was more than one?”

  “Oh, yeah. First it was Stanley, then John. I mean his own father… he just blew. Everyone started screeching and shouting at Jax; started telling him how stupid and ignorant he was and he just stood there, nodding like he was agreeing with everything they were saying about him. I wanted a crack at that jaw but Parker… shit, that guy loves his sister because, despite being engaged to Jax’s sister, he silently crossed the room and beat the shit out of him. Jax meekly fought back but didn’t land one blow, like he wasn’t even trying.

  “Only someone that seemed to protest to the fight was Sara but I think that was a motherly thing. The rest of us were keeping them from breaking anything in the house. Jax deserved that ass whipping but finally, I had enough of hearing the blows land and got Ren to help me get Parker off of him.”

  Despite my hatred toward Jaxen, I actually started weeping for him, imagining Parker beating on him and Jax not hitting back, just taking the blows.

  “Why wouldn’t he fight back?”

  “I don’t know. He just wouldn’t. He took those blows and when we got Parker off of him, he got himself up, glared at Samantha for a minute then quietly walked away, bruised and bloodied. I didn’t see him again until a month later, his bruises were healing but he was still fucked up. He showed up at our house with the band, apologizing about his words with you and asked Parker to be the band’s manager. Shocked Samantha and me when Parker agreed right away. Parker said he only did it so that he could keep an eye on that guy, especially around any other virgins.”

  I carefully and quietly listened to Roland because I was shocked beyond belief. My brother beat up my ex-boyfriend. Over me. Wow.

  “I can’t say Jaxen didn’t deserve it,” I whisper.

  “Neither can I.”

  I nod then sigh. Hilda comes in then and says dinner is on the table. I giggle trying to get up then Roland comes over and offers his hand. I grip it and stand with ease. It’s good to have a man around.

  We walk to the dining room and as soon as I sit down, I start in on my dinner. I ate until I couldn’t breathe, much to the entertainment of Roland.

  “Damn,” he laughed. “I think you ate more this meal than you have the entire time I’ve known you.”

  “It’s ridiculous,” I say with a mouth full of food. I giggled then properly chewed and swallowed. “I cannot stop eating. Trust me, it wasn’t easy in the beginning. I couldn’t stomach water at first then overnight it was like, gimme food! Gimme all the food!”

  “That’s a greedy little fucker in there, huh?” Roland laughs then stops as he stares at my belly.

  “What?”

  He shakes his head and takes a bite of his fajita. I put my food down and glare. Roland catches my glare and sighs.

  “Let’s finish dinner, Itsy.”

  We finish in silence then Hilda clears the table then brings me my chocolate milkshake. It’s become a nightly thing. I have to have a chocolate milkshake every night after dinner. Usually I sit up in bed and watch TV while enjoying the shake then do some schoolwork. Since school is out for the holidays, I planned to just be in bed, vegging out on the cold, chocolaty goodness and the TV. Then Roland showed up and I decided to have my shake in the living room.

  I sat in the same spot and propped my feet up on the coffee table. Roland sat on the other end of the couch and smiled as he watched me devour my shake. I softly smiled when I caught his expression.

  “What’s with that look, Roland?”

  “I was just wondering how I would feel if I found out a girl was carrying my kid and didn’t tell me.”

  “You’d feel good,” I smirked. “Especially if you’re dumped in the middle of a mall parking lot so you can travel the world and become famous.”

  “I don’t know about
that, Itsy. No matter how the mother and I broke up, the fact remains it’s still my kid.”

  “So?”

  “So, a child needs a father, Itsy.”

  “My son won’t need for anything, Roland.”

  “Son?”

  “Yeah, I’m having a boy. January 14th… or sometime around that day.”

  Roland shook his head and slid over to me.

  “You have to tell him, Itsy,” he said softly. “It’s a son. A son. A boy needs his father. Well, any child needs a father, boy or girl. Jaxen has to know, make his own decisions. Don’t make this decision for him.”

  I slammed my shake on the table and glared at him.

  “When did I make this or any decision for him, Roland? When did I decide for him to dump me and walk out of my life? When did I decide for him to tell me that he changed his number and I would never have his new number? When did I decide it was okay to lie about loving me, taking my virginity then swap slob what that tramp Camille in my face?”

  “Please calm down, Itsy. He should know about your pregnancy. Regardless of whether he wanted you or not, he put a child inside you. A son. He deserves to at least know and if he’s an ass about it then so be it. You guys will be related soon and I promise Samantha and Parker are forever. I don’t see either of them ever moving on from the other, ever breaking up. Which means…”

  “Nothing, Roland,” I shake my head. “It means nothing at all.”

  “Are you planning to keep your son away from any children they have?”

  “No,” I frowned. “But what--”

  “Jaxen will be their kids’ uncle, you their aunt and this little guy,” he places his hand on my belly, “This little guy will be their kids’ cousin. Jax is bound to run into this child sooner than later and then what?”

  “Again, nothing. What could he do?”

  Roland sighs. “Itsy, Itsy, Itsy…”

  “What?!” I shout.

  “This child will look something like the Malloys. There will be something that will give it away. Then what? Are you going to lie to Jax? Are you going to lie to Samantha, John, Sara, and Macy? Are you going to deny your son his grandparents and aunts because his father was a dick to you?”