by Mara Jacobs
Alison grunted, “If only it were just his sperm that was incompatible. What does that mean exactly?”
“That my body, my eggs, are not compatible with the make-up of Ron’s sperm. That every time we’d try to conceive, my body would reject his.” She looked at Alison, waiting for the crack that was bound to come.
Alison waved the lob Katie had tossed her aside, “Too easy.”
Katie smiled. “Plus, they’d been telling me all along that the stress of trying to conceive was only hurting my chances. ‘Relax,’ they’d say, as if I could. Well, the pressure was off, and the doctor’s sure that that was a huge factor in me getting pregnant.”
Both women nodded their understanding. “So, if not Ron…?” Alison asked
Katie watched Lizzie and Alison trying to call up a mental calendar of two months ago. It didn’t take Lizzie long, she always had her mental calendar up to date and could easily flip through it. She let out a gasp. “Darío!”
“Bingo,” Katie said. “Although, it’s not like there are any other candidates.”
“Holy Shit,” Alison said. “You got knocked up by Darío Luna? You didn’t say you slept together, you just said you met him and went for dinner.” There was an accusing tone in her voice aimed at Katie for holding back such crucial information.
“And that’s true,” Katie said, ignoring Alison’s profanity, as she always did. She’d given up trying to tame Alison’s mouth back in high school. “But, after dinner we went back to his room…” She didn’t quite know how to finish the sentence, so she just let it trail off.
“Obviously,” Lizzie said. “How come you didn’t tell me in the morning? It never occurred to me to ask specifically, but still, you could have said something.”
Katie had struggled with this herself. “I’m not really sure. I felt kind of trampy, I guess. A one night stand and all.”
Alison shrugged, “Happens all the time. You were due.”
“Well it was my first time,” Katie said. “And my last.” She patted her tummy, still flat as a board, which would soon be round like Lizzie’s.
She couldn’t wait to get huge. To swell up. To have to remove her rings. To not have her clothes fit. All of it. She wanted outward signs of her impending motherhood. Something more than the nausea. Though it had been mild enough, and was now almost completely past. It was a good thing she missed her period, because she was experiencing so few other side effects, she might have gone on quite some time before she’d gone to the doctor.
“I can’t regret it. Sleeping with Darío. Not for a second.” She had to stop and wait, till her throat opened again and she could speak. Even then, her voice was hoarse with emotion. “You guys, I’m going to have a baby!”
An hour later, after many tears, another drink for Alison and the largest pizza the Commodore made, Lizzie started making plans. Lizzie always made plans.
“Let’s see. I can get a number for Darío from Chad. That’s probably the easiest way to get it. Unless he gave you his number?” Lizzie said to Katie.
Katie shook her head. “No, he didn’t give me a number. I didn’t give him one either. Why would I want Darío’s number?”
“To call him and tell him, of course. Unless you’re planning on telling him in person? That’s probably the better way to go. Let’s see, the Tour’s in Memphis this week, I think. No, wait, maybe it’s South Carolina –“
Katie interrupted her. “But, I’m not going to tell Darío.”
That brought complete silence to the table. Both Alison and Lizzie stared at her.
“There’s no need to tell him. I’m having the child. Obviously. And I’m raising it alone. There’s no reason why he ever needs to know. It would just complicate everything. For him and me.”
“Well, duh. Having a baby tends to complicates things, Kat,” Alison said.
Lizzie was beside herself. “You have to tell him. He’s the father. He has a right to know.”
Katie patted her hand. “Lizzie, Darío doesn’t want this baby. If he wanted kids he’d be married by now. It would just force him to take responsibility for something when there’s no need.”
“You can’t possibly know if he wants children or not. That’s not for you to decide. You have to tell him, Katie.” Lizzie was almost in tears now and she took her hand out from under Katie’s, clutching it to her waist. “I’m sorry. I know I’m emotional right now. But, my God, Kat, you have to see that he has a right to know he’s fathering a child.”
Katie looked at Alison, “What do you think?”
Alison took a deep breath. “I’m with Lizzie.” At Katie’s look of disbelief, Alison continued. “But not for the same reasons. Although she has a valid point, I’m not as much into father’s rights as Lizzie. I’ve seen too many dead-beat dads and how that messes a kid up. But Kat, these things always have a way of coming around to bite you in the ass. I’m afraid that’s what would happen in this case.”
“What do you mean?” Katie asked.
“It’s like on soap operas, nothing ever stays a secret. Obviously, you’re going to start showing, people will ask who the father is. Either you come up with some lie – which you know is bound to blow up at some point – or you tell the truth. Now, if you tell the truth, it will get back to Darío somehow, someday. Stuff like that always does.”
“Come on. I live in little podunk Hancock, Michigan. He lives in Spain and is traveling all over Europe and the States most of the time. How would he ever find that out?”
“Six degrees of separation. It ain’t just a fun game to play in the car. It is a small world, after all.” Alison sat back in the booth, took a long drag from her straw, and saw Katie’s look of disbelief. “Off the top of my head? Petey’s always golfing in those Pro-Am thingies isn’t he, Lizard? And you know what kind of mouth Petey has on him. He mentions to someone from the Tour that a good friend of his back in his hometown is having Darío’s baby and it’s all over.”
Katie stewed about that, then disregarded the scenario as implausible. Alison pushed her point. “I don’t know how he’d find out, but come on, you’ve watched enough television and read enough romance novels to know they always find out!”
“So I’ll have to lie. I’ll say I went to a sperm bank,” Katie said.
“Oh please. You’re the worst liar of the three of us, and I suck at it,” Lizzie said.
“She’s right, Kat, you stink at lying. The first time your mother puts the third degree to you…I hate to think about how quickly you’ll crack.”
The three were silent. Lizzie took the last piece of pizza while murmuring something about the injustice of finally getting to her goal weight after three years of dieting to then get pregnant.
Katie hoped she’d start showing early. She’d waited so long to get pregnant, that she wanted to enjoy every minute of it. She was glad she’d found out about it so early into the pregnancy. She’d be able to cherish every change in her body, every nuance.
“Katie, why don’t you want Darío to know? What is your worst ‘what if?’ about telling him?” Lizzie asked, throwing down her napkin like a white flag of surrender as she finished her pizza.
Katie wasn’t sure how to answer. Wasn’t sure what the answer was. “I don’t know. Nothing in particular. He just seems like a pretty decent guy, and I don’t want to dump something on him that he doesn’t want. That, and I have no intention of sharing this child with anyone.” She placed her hand protectively on her stomach.
“You don’t share a child with its father. The child shares its mother and its father.”
Both Katie and Alison gave Lizzie puzzled looks. “What kind of bullshit touchy-feely crap is that?” said Alison.
Lizzie chuckled. “I don’t know. And I’m certainly not the best one to be talking about this.” She smoothed her t-shirt over her tummy. “Or maybe I’m exactly the right person.” She paused, her hand starting a rhythmic circling on her belly. “You have to tell him, Katie,” she softly said.
Katie looked at Lizzie’s belly, burgeoning with life, then her own, which would soon be as large. She sighed heavily, her shoulders dropping in defeat. “Yeah, I know. I have to tell him.”
The Memphis sun was even hotter than the Texas one had been. Sultry. That’s the word Katie used to describe the Memphis heat. Warm, sticky, wet. Sultry. Not a word often used when describing the weather in the Copper Country.
She put on a heavy dose of sunscreen and pulled on her hat, feeling a small sense of deja vu as she walked to the first tee area. The internet had said Darío’s tee time was 1:40 and she hadn’t wanted to get to the course much before then. She’d flown in early this morning, rented a car, found a vacancy at a Motel Six by the airport and left her things there, getting to the course right when Darío was teeing off.
She hung back, not wanting him to see her too soon. She wanted to watch his round, but she didn’t want to speak to him until he was done. Actually, she didn’t want to speak to him at all. No, that wasn’t true. She did want to speak to Darío, to see him again. On some level she even wanted to sleep with him again. She just didn’t want to speak with him about the baby.
But, that’s why she’d come.
Back in the hotel, sat a pile of papers that a lawyer Lizzie had recommended had drawn up for Katie. Lizzie’s husband, Finn, had used the same lawyer years ago to have Stevie and Annie’s mother give up all rights to their kids.
Katie had the lawyer draft a similar set for her. In them, Darío would give up all claim to the baby and Katie would give up all financial claim on Darío as father of the child. If she could just get Darío’s signature on those papers and then get out of Memphis, she’d never have to see Darío Luna again.
The thought did not necessarily make her happy. She liked Darío. Very much. Had enjoyed the time she’d spent with him. Would love to spend more time with him. But she couldn’t. Not with her baby’s future at stake. She couldn’t afford to become too attached to Darío. He would undoubtedly be thrilled to see the back of her, wouldn’t be able to sign those papers fast enough when he learned he was about to be the father of a child with a woman he barely knew. One who’d told him there was no chance of pregnancy.
That’s what bothered Katie the most. The possibility that Darío might think she hadn’t been honest with him. That she had somehow tricked him into having unprotected sex. She supposed women did it all the time to professional athletes and celebrities.
That’s why she’d made sure the legal documents were airtight. There was no way Darío could think she was after his money or his famous name – she was signing away all rights to it. Forever.
The crowd was much thicker than it had been in Texas. It was an afternoon tee time, so more people were on the course for one thing. For another, Darío had been playing well since Texas. People knew he was a player on a roll, and they wanted to watch him.
By the fourth hole, she was sure she’d been made. She hadn’t made eye contact or anything, and she thought she’d blended in well with the crowd. It was just a feeling that she was being watched. When she’d turn to Darío, though, he was always concentrating over a shot, or talking yardage with Binky.
By the fifth hole, Binky strolled up to the ropes where Katie had buried herself behind a crowd of people and said, “Hello, luv.” When Katie didn’t answer, and ducked her head further down, he said a bit louder, “Hello Katie Maki-not Lipton-Maki.” Katie burst into laughter, causing her to get a stern look from the volunteer along the green even though none of the players had even reached the green yet.
“Come closer, luv, Darío asked me to give you something,” Binky said.
Katie made her way through the people. So, Darío had seen her. What did he want Binky to give her? Money? No. His hotel key? She couldn’t think of anything else it could possibly be. What else would he even have on him out here on the course?
She got up to the ropes while Binky dug into the pocket of the apron he was required to wear. She held her hand out and he passed the key on to her while squeezing her hand. “It’s good to see you, luv, you’re our good luck charm, you know. We’ve been playing right well since Texas, but he’s playing in that same zone today with you in the crowd.”
She gave him a smile, still not opening her hand to look at the key. “It’s good to see you too, Binky,” she said. With a wolfish grin, he turned and made his way over to the green, where Darío and the two other players were marking their balls, reading their lines.
Binky turned a head over his shoulder. “Darío said to make sure you use that,” he said, nodding to her still closed fist.
Katie turned her palm over and uncurled her fingers. She saw several people next to her in the crowd crane their necks to see what had made a caddie come over and talk to someone in the gallery. Katie could only imagine their shock when they saw a hotel room key and she tried to pull her fist into her stomach, slowly unwrapping her fingers so only she would see the key.
But it wasn’t a key. Or one of those key card things.
Lying on Katie’s palm was a tube of cherry Chapstick.
Another drive right down the middle. Yes, he definitely played better when Katie was in the gallery. Darío had picked her out right away, though it was obvious she was trying to blend in with the crowd. Darío realized that he’d been watching every gallery since Texas. Waiting for her to turn up.
Hoping she would turn up.
She was wearing khaki shorts and a sleeveless blouse that was already damp down her back from the sweltering heat. Her skin had more color than in Texas and Darío figured the sun had eventually found its way to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
He remembered the night they met, in the Armadillo, creating the state of Michigan with their two hands. Then he thought about the other things their hands had done to each other. He stumbled as he walked down the fairway. Binky chuckled, knowing what was wreaking havoc on Darío’s mind.
Why had she come here, to Memphis? Perhaps she was accompanying her friend on another business trip? Could he dare hope that she’d come alone? To see him? He’d been playing some of the best golf of his career in the last two months. He’d come at the game with a renewed vigor, his drive returned. The drive that had made him succeed so young. The drive that had been lacking for the last few years.
It couldn’t all be because of his one night with Katie Maki, could it?
Darío tried to focus on the round, but couldn’t. When he saw Katie lick her lips at the third hole, his mouth went dry. He had to ask Binky for the yardage three times. Then he’d stuck the ball within four inches of the pin.
He’d sent Binky to Katie with the lip balm, not wanting her lips to sunburn. He was hoping he’d get a chance to taste those lips once more. And this time, he wouldn’t let her sneak out in the middle of the night. This time he’d get her to stay. For how long, he didn’t know. He only knew Katie was once again in his gallery and all was well.
After his round – the lowest of the day, putting him atop the leader board – Katie waited by the ropes until Darío made his way to her through the autograph seekers.
He kissed her on both cheeks. “Katie, it’s great to see you here. Is Lizzie here, too?”
Katie felt a bit of relief that he thought she was here with Lizzie and hadn’t turned into some crazy fan stalking him. “No. I’m here alone,” she said, watching his reaction.
He looked at her for a moment, then that crooked smile made its way onto his face and Katie couldn’t help but smile back. “Let’s have some dinner. I have to clean up, will you wait?”
Of course she’d wait. She’d been waiting for this for two weeks, ever since the girls had made her realize she had to tell Darío about the baby.
After a day in the Memphis sun, she’d cleaned herself up as much as possible in the clubhouse ladies room that Darío had gotten her into, driven her own rental car to the restaurant he’d told her about, had a lovely dinner, and now they sat over coffee – decaf for her – and she still hadn’t gotten th
e courage up to tell him he was going to be a father.
She’d been enjoying herself too much. It felt wonderful to see him. His tan had deepened in the two and a half months since she’d seen him in Texas. The white on his forehead where his hat perched during rounds was a bit more pronounced. But those eyes. Those eyes were still the exact shade of milk chocolate that she remembered.
He paid the bill and made a move to leave. “Katie, would you like to follow me back to the hotel?” he asked.
She could see the question in his eyes. She so badly wanted to just say yes and worry about telling him tomorrow. She couldn’t be that cowardly.
“No, let’s go back to my motel. I’m sure it’s not nearly as nice as yours. In fact, it’s a dive, but it was the only thing I could get on such short notice. Anyway, I have something there I need you to see.” She watched him digest this, saw his look of curiosity. He probably figures I have some kind of crazy sex toys there. Ah, if only. “I’m at the Motel Six just off the freeway, by the airport,” she said.
A look of concern crossed his face. “My God, you should not stay in that area. We’ll go get your things, and this ‘something’ you wish to show me and then I’ll bring you back to my hotel,” he said.
“There aren’t any vacancies at your hotel. It’s all booked up with Tour people,” Katie explained.
“I’m not suggesting you get your own room, Gata,” he said, his accent heavy at the end, lulling Katie.
It would be so easy to do that. Not tell Darío about the baby until tomorrow. Have one more night of heated sex with the man who had made her feel again. The man who had brought her out of her deep freeze. The man who was the father of the miracle growing inside her.
