by Maxi MacNair
Max looked from Jason, to Jax, to Trisha. “Whatever.”
“You sure you’re okay?” Jason asked.
“She doesn’t need you speaking for her,” Max snapped.
“I don’t need either of you speaking for me!”
She shepherded Max away, and could only imagine what was being said in the hushed tones behind her with Jason, Jax, and Trisha.
They went out to his truck, the huge Chevy Tahoe that he won from the tournament didn’t help Kylie feel more at ease at all.
He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m being a dick. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry this all happened like this, and you’re being a dick too.”
“Look, Kylie, I’m in love with you. I want you so bad I can’t stand it. You get more and more beautiful every day.”
She wanted to laugh at this. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew she didn’t love him, didn’t love either of them right now, but the memory of those few times with him and Jason still lingered with her. Maybe somewhere in all of that there was some type of love. She certainly didn’t feel it though now for Max as the two of them stood there alone next to the Chevy Tahoe. The symbol of what a guy like Max was capable of doing to someone he knew closely.
“You’re not like anyone else I’ve ever met.”
Then he leaned in and kissed her. His kiss felt numb to Kylie, and she pulled away shocked that she didn’t feel anything like when she kissed him with Jason also taking part.
Max then started looking angry and grabbed Kylie by the arm
“Gentle.” She said.
“You don’t like gentle, in case you’re forgetting I won Kylie. I beat him, you should be mine. I know this baby is mine,” and he leaned in to try and kiss her again.
“Get the fuck off me.”
Max coldly and creepily studied her. “What games are you playing?”
“I’m not playing any games.”
“You come into town, you sleep around, then you’re being all weird about it.”
“I’m not being weird! And I didn’t sleep around! No more than you had.” God these double standards made her crazy.
“You won’t get a paternity test.”
“I never said that.” Kylie pulled herself farther away from him.
“Don’t walk away from me.”
Inklings of fear touched her. She had no false illusions of grandeur she could hold him off if he really wanted to hurt her. Even though he just said that he loved her Kylie wasn’t so sure how stable he actually was at that moment. She turned to start running back toward the gym.
“We’re not done talking,” he said starting to run after her.
The door to the gym burst open and Jason ran out. “Let her go!!!”
“This is none of your damn business.”
“It’s no less my business than it is yours Max. Leave her alone.”
Kylie took more steps back from the two of them. She smoothed down her clothes, aware now more than ever of her huge stomach and swollen breasts. After a few deep breaths, she yelled out to the two of them.
“Don’t fight,” she said. “It’s not worth it. I don’t want anything from either of you. Just as Ferran came out of the gym.
Max glared at Kylie and then back at Jason, “I beat you senseless before don’t think I won’t do it again,” and then hopped in the truck and sped off.
“Jason turned to Kylie, “Jeez, you okay? You should just tell him you got the test. Tell him it’s mine. Then you won’t have to worry about him.”
“I should have told you both it was someone else’s. I wish I’d never said anything.”
“Don’t say that. It’s always better to know the truth.”
“What do I need the truth for, what I need is to be left alone.”
“Well I want you to let me in, but that’s up to you. I’m here for you though.”
Kylie quickly spun around not wanting to hear words like that and ran back to her jeep brushing past Jax, Trisha, and Ferran and headed for home. On the way, she made an appointment for the paternity test. “No more loose ends,” she thought to herself.
Round 10*
Max, however, was more crazed and angry than anyone thought. He did his homework. He wanted to know more about this bitch who might be mothering his unborn child. What he found was that photo of her from back in San Francisco.
The next week at Ultimate Pro Elite Spartan Gym, in front of a class, including Jason, he let everyone know exactly what he’d discovered about Kylie McKee. The rich life she was hiding from everyone. The billionaire husband who had notoriously thrown her out on the street, and all the gossip about what she did to deserve it. All of them making her seem like a worse and worse person who deserved what she got.
“I know who you are.” Max spoke so everyone could hear. “You’ve been lying to everyone here from the start. Probably lying about me and Jason being the only two possible fathers. Probably trying to scam us out of some money, which is probably what got you tossed out on your ass by your billionaire husband.
A loop of fear clutched her stomach. Well, this was it, but there was something else also going on in her body. The doctor told about what her contractions would feel like. She wasn’t due for another three weeks, but she knew the little one could come early, and what she just felt certainly seemed like what the doctor described to her.
He addressed all of them when he spoke now. “Do you all remember that stupid big tabloid story about a year ago, about the software guy who threw his rich wife out on her ass?”
Kylie met Jason’s gaze, then stared down at her bare feet, her pedicure chipping on her big toe. She wanted to vanish into the floor.
Not a whole lot of places picked the story up because there wasn’t much to tell. They hadn’t been an “it” couple, they weren’t interesting. But the picture everyone latched onto, which made it to the cover of the Enquirer and the Sun, was of Kylie in a modest white nightgown, sitting alone on the lawn, crying and staring up at the mansion gates. The paparazzi got her face, twisted with sadness, as well as the scope of the whole thing, her seeming so small against the huge house.
Jason surged across the smooth hardwood floor to him. Kylie knew he’d seen the picture, knew exactly who he might think she was now.
Max shouted at her. “Why’d he throw you out, Kyle? What did you really do to him? What were you planning to do to us?”
It felt like all the blood drained from her hands and her feet, and her pulse thundered in her ears.
“Back off, man,” Jason snapped, sounding dangerous. Kylie remembered their fight again. Remembered the intensity there. She didn’t want to see it again, especially not here with no referee, no one to keep them from really hurting one another. No one to actually pull Max off of Jason if it came to that.
“What did you do to him? The stories were all hush hush, never said what the reason was, but there are plenty of rumors and they can’t all be ungrounded in some kind of truth. Exactly how many guys did you sleep with while you were married to him. Maybe start by telling us your record for how many guys you’ve slept with at once!”
Jason’s fist came out of nowhere and cracked Max across the face. Jax ran to get Ferran from the office, and by the time he came into the room the two of them were throwing punches with frightening force and quickness.
Eventually, when Ferran, with the help of Jax and a few others in the gym got them apart and held them down Jax went over to Jason who seemed the most calm at the moment.
“You gotta leave, Jason. We can’t do this here.”
“I’ll be waiting for you in the parking lot.” Jason called over his shoulder at Max as they walked him out.
All of Max’s attention was on Kylie. “What did you do?”
Trisha put herself between Kylie and Max who was still being held down by Ferran. “None of that is any of your business,” she said sounding furious.
“Who are you to stop me? And why are you all protecting h
er?” Max said as he started struggling again.
Jax soon came back from escorting Jason out. “He’s in a cab on the way home to cool out.”
Not wanting to be here, not wanting to talk to Jax, Trisha, or Ferran, Kylie tried to sneak away in all the drama and commotion. The real reason being that she did not knowing if the baby really was coming or not, but really starting to feel something happening to her body that she couldn’t ignore despite everything that was going on around her.
She didn’t get off so easy. Jason somehow slipped out of the cab, and even though Ferran tried to keep them apart, the two went at each other like fighting dogs.
“I’m calling the cops!” Jax hoped it would keep them from doing something stupid, but it was too late.
A sharp pain rippled through Kylie’s lower stomach. It felt a little like a cramp from her period, but she knew it wasn’t. It built in intensity, then finally fluttered away. Meanwhile, the two men brawled on the asphalt outside the gym, and Kylie knew that feeling in her stomach was going to come back soon.
The second contraction came, and warm wetness gushed down her legs.
Oh God, it was really happening. Oh God. Kylie almost couldn’t find her voice. She debated again slipping away, getting in her car, driving home first to pick up her overnight bag, calling someone to watch Rosie, and driving herself to the hospital. She didn’t need anyone. She could do this by herself.
Jax noticed her, though, standing confused in her puddle of wet. She forced herself into the mess of the two men, and took a hit Max meant for Jason, but managed to hit Max back and spin around to sweep Jason’s legs out from under him landing him flat on the pavement.
It snapped them both out of it.
“Look at her!” Jax spat. “She needs your help. And you two assholes can’t get over yourselves!”
They stopped as Jax rubbed her punched shoulder. Jason moved first, sprinting across the parking lot to her. It was a different kind of frantic than what he was just showing trying to pummel Max using all his strength and training. “Okay…okay,” he said as he reached her. “We’ve got to get you to the hospital. I have no idea what to do. Hospital?”
Kylie said calmly though, “I want to go home first. Rosie, my bag.”
Trisha popped up at Kylie’s side. “I’ll take care of Rosie, I’ll get your bag and bring it to you. Don’t worry.”
Max hung back. Jax kept herself between him and the rest of them. He didn’t seem like he would try anything, but the anger they’d all seen in him made them leery. Jason walked her to her Jeep. “I’d take you on the bike but it seems like a bad idea.”
“Might jostle the baby loose,” Kylie joked, before being gripped by another contraction. It was true, guys turn into bumbling idiots during labour, but Kylie liked this Jason better than the Jason that existed just moments before he found out she was going into labour. The contractions came closer together now. Her baby would be here soon.
Jason drove fast across town, whipping around corners, barely stopping at stop signs, honking his horn at pedestrians. By the time they careened into the emergency room turn around, Kylie knew it was coming soon. She’d been a tough baby, her mother in labor for almost 35 hours. This little one, she could tell, wouldn’t have the same problem.
Leaving the Jeep, Jason stayed at her side as they rushed into the hospital.
Round 11*
Six weeks later found Kylie, Rosie and baby Stephanie moved into Jason’s bungalow. It didn’t take long after coming home from the hospital to discover the studio was far too small for a woman, large dog, and infant, especially with Jason staying there more than half the nights to help with the baby. Kylie’s mom did come to help for a while in the beginning, but the truth was Kylie liked it better when Jason was around to help. There was no sexual relationship between them though, but Kylie loved having him around to help. It was Jason’s idea and Kylie could argue with the suggestion. She quickly gave up the idea that she could easily raise a child by herself. Everyone at some time or another needs a little help.
Kylie moved her painting equipment over to the second bay of Jason’s garage, displacing two older parts motorcycles. He assured her it would all work out, and he didn’t mind.
Jason was great with Stephanie. He took his turns in the middle of the night, picking her up, and walking her around. He took Rosie and Stephanie for long walks in the afternoon to give exhausted Kylie a chance to be alone in a quiet place.
All the while an envelope sat in the top drawer of Kylie’s dresser with the results of her paternity test. She couldn’t bring herself to open it though. Things were just too good having Jason around and the thought of having to deal with Max sometime down the road in her life was too much for her face right then.
Back at the gym, after a really quick discussion, Jax and Ferran agreed Max wasn’t allowed to train for Ultimate Pro Elite Spartan Gym anymore. He’d displayed unsportsmanlike behavior for the last time, and didn’t embody the characteristics of someone they wanted training and fighting with them. Ferran found his tires slashed the next evening after they sent Max the email, and Jax’s Camaro mysteriously developed a large, long gash in the paint. The whole thing was petty and childish on the part of Max and that made it even harder for Kylie to think about him being the father. Kylie hadn’t heard from him though, which she at least was thankful for.
Stephanie’s birth went smoothly, minimal complications even though she came early. Kylie loved being a mother, and even though her and Jason had developed a sort of platonic living arrangement Kylie found it hard not to think about that night in her apartment with just Jason. Her fantasies about her time with both Max and Jason now totally tainted by what happened after. It took a while, and Jason was thankfully hands off after she moved in. He knew sex was usually the last thing on a woman’s mind after giving birth. Kylie though couldn’t help but notice him eyeing her up all the time while the two of them went on with day to day living.
About the time Kylie was starting to think about breaking the dry spell Trisha and Jax and the rest of the gang from Ultimate wanted called the house and wanted to go out. They were going to start the night at a restaurant though so initially Kylie agreed to go with them and bring Stephanie. When the time came, she found herself wiped out like most mothers feel while raising a six month old.
“I’ll go. I’ll take Stephanie, they all love her. You can hang here,” said Jason, which was music to her ears.
It was the evening off she needed. She and her dog Rosie, just like old times. She took a bubble bath, candles glowing and scenting the air with spiced orange. She marveled at her changed body and her stretch marks. And when she stepped out of the tub, with her dog at her feet, she went to her dresser and pulled out the envelope. She opened it, but didn’t reach inside. She didn’t want to know. But felt like she should. She wouldn’t have to tell anyone if it were Max. Jason didn’t even know she’d had the test done. But she would know.
She slid the paper out, but didn’t unfold it. She almost set it in the flame of a candle, to burn it up once and for all. But she refrained. Could she really do this and jeopardize this life she now had.
Just as she was about to unfold the paper a thought came over her, “you know who the father is.”
She did. The father was Jason, and it didn’t matter what the paper said. Jason was the father and she could see it in the way he played with her, and the way her took care of her. Not to mention the way he took care of Kylie. With those thoughts in mind she dipped the paper into the flame and carried it over to the sink and washed the ashes of the paper down the drain.
Relief now washed over her. Actually made her knees feel weak. Rosie looked up at her with big brown eyes and wagged her tail, and Kylie swept her up in a big hug.
Jason and Stephanie came back an hour or so later. He put the baby in her crib and found Kylie curled up on the couch. The two of them still slept in separate bedrooms at that point.
She walked right up to him an
d kissed him, reigniting some of the passion they’d felt before the baby.
She reached for him under his belt. Took hold of him, and felt him grow hard under her fingers.
“Are you sure you want to?”
“Let’s try.”
They ran into Jason’s bedroom and fell on the bed. He rolled on top of her, still careful not to crush her. He kissed her, and she welcomed his tongue in her mouth. The father of her child. Their child.
He used a gentle lubricant and massaged her so she would be ready for him. She moaned and lay back and let him administer to her, let him caress her with wonderfully slippery fingers. How beautiful to feel so desired and so sexual again after months of being pregnant and then months of recovery. When she felt she was ready, she guided him into her. Slow, gentle, easy, taking him all the way inside her. They lay together, rocking back and forth, working themselves into each other with a sweet rhythm. She gazed into his brown eyes, caressed his tattoos. Felt him all around her, felt safe and happy.
The tempo and intensity built, and he clasped her hands over her head and they came together, panting and exhausted.
The baby stayed silent in the next room. Truly they were blessed.
“I love you,” Jason said.
“I love you too. I have to tell you something.”
“Oh boy.”
“Two somethings.”
“Double oh boy.”
“My ex-husband. He threw me out after I realized I didn’t want to be his trophy wife. I didn’t want to have his baby for it to be another of his things on display.”
“And he threw you…out into the street?”
“With nothing. Nothing except Rosie. Everything else, he reasoned, was his because he’d bought it all.”
“You’ll never have to worry about that with me. I mean thanks for telling me and all, but you don’t need to worry. I know you and your not the girl people gossiped about. I…Jesus, I want to go punch the guy’s head off.” He drew her into him and she drank in the smell of his deodorant and sweat.
“It’s ancient history,” Kylie said. “Look what I have here now.” Love filled the little house. From the man in her arms, to the baby asleep in her crib in the next room, to the dog curled in a peaceful ball by the door.
