The Family Next Door

by Heather D'Agostino

  Chapter 8

  As the rest of the week passed, Patrick hadn’t had much contact with Tinsley. She’d been out of the office for several days, and he silently hoped that he’d seen the last of her. He didn’t like the fact that there still seemed to be some animosity between her and his wife. It made working together that much harder. Katie really hadn’t brought Tinsley into any of their discussions lately, and Patrick thought the subject best be left alone.

  “I’m heading out to lunch. Do you want me to grab you anything?” Thomas called from the doorway.

  “No, I’m going to head out soon. My brother-in-law’s birthday party is tonight,” Patrick glanced around distractedly.

  “She’ll be back on Monday,” Thomas grinned.

  “Huh?” Patrick’s head snapped up.

  “Your lunch buddy,” Thomas shrugged. “She’s at the New York clinic. They were having some problems. She went to try and sort them out.”

  “We’re not buddies,” Patrick insisted.

  “Coulda fooled me,” Thomas called as he walked away.

  Did everyone see something that he didn’t? Patrick shook his head as he straightened the stack of papers in his hand. She was pretty…and smart, he reasoned. She knew how to banter back-and-forth with him…he groaned. Was he sending out mixed messages?

  ooooooooo

  “So what’s the big emergency?” Hannah called as she swung open the front door to Katie and Patrick’s house.

  Katie was sitting on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest. She was rocking and mumbling to herself with a dazed look on her face.

  “Katie?” Alarmed, Hannah moved closer. “What’s wrong?”

  Katie paused before looking over at her sister, “He’s gonna hate me,” she mumbled.

  “Who? What?” Hannah shook her head in confusion.

  “Patrick,” Katie sobbed. “He’s gonna hate me,” she repeated.

  “Why?” Hannah placed her hand gingerly on Katie’s back and began to rub it lightly.

  Katie lifted her head to look Hannah in the eyes as tears began to stream down her face, “I’m late.”

  “What?” Hannah wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

  “I’m late,” she repeated a little louder.

  As understanding began to dawn on her, she wrapped Katie in a tight hug, “Are you sure? I mean did you take a test?”

  Katie sobbed into Hannah’s chest as she murmured, “No, but I’m a week late.”

  “You need to take a test,” Hannah urged. “There are lots of things that can cause you to be late. You’ve been really stressed lately. Maybe that’s it.”

  Katie wiped at her eyes as she sat up, “You think so?”

  “Until you take a test, there’s no way to tell. But…I think you should make sure before you worry yourself sick,” Hannah offered a weak smile. “Let’s go back to my place. We’ll stop at the pharmacy on the way. Find out for sure,” she nodded. “When’s Patrick getting home?”

  “Later…we’re going to Mom and Dad’s together,” Katie sniffled.

  “Come on,” Hannah stood and tugged Katie to a standing position as they shuffled out of the house.

  ooooooooo

  “Well?” Hannah knocked on the bathroom door.

  Katie had retreated to the bathroom at Hannah’s and hadn’t come out yet. After taking the test, she’d sat down on the closed lid of the toilet while she rocked herself, mumbling that this could not be happening. She and Patrick had fought so much over the idea that now that it was a possibility, it was slowly making her sick. How could this have happened? She’d been taking her birth control every day. She never missed a pill, and now this.

  Hannah pushed the door open, “Well?” she asked again.

  “I’m too afraid to look. You do it,” she nodded her head in the direction of the white stick that was sitting by the sink.

  Hannah stepped closer and looked down at it. “Where’s the box?” Hannah asked.

  “Why do you need the box?” Katie grumbled.

  “I need to know what a positive result is supposed to look like,” she rolled her eyes.

  Katie pointed to the small bag sitting by the sink, “In there.”

  After removing the box, Hannah glanced at it, then picked up the test, and scanned the results window. Her face fell slightly as she turned to look at Katie.

  “Well?” Katie started to stand.

  “You were right. You’re pregnant,” Hannah whispered. “We need to tell Mom.”

  “What? No!” Katie jumped to her feet and snatched the test from Hannah’s hands. “We are not telling Mom. We are not telling anybody,” Katie begged, her voice laced with fear. “Promise me!” she grabbed Hannah’s shoulders. “Promise me you won’t tell anybody.”

  “I promise,” Hannah sighed, “But people will notice eventually. You can’t hide this for too long.”

  “I know,” Katie began to tear up. “I need to figure out what I’m going to do.”

  “What do you mean, what you’re going to do?” Hannah narrowed her eyes. “You’re not thinking of getting rid of it…are you?”

  “No!” Katie gasped. “I could never do that, but Patrick’s gonna hate me. He doesn’t want a baby.”

  “Well…he’s going to have to get past that. He’s fifty percent responsible for this. You didn’t make this baby all by yourself,” Hannah hugged her sister as she turned to step out of the bathroom. “How did this happen?”

  “I don’t know,” Katie shook her head in confusion. “I’ve been on birth control since before we got married. I’ve never missed a dose.”

  “You were sick a few weeks ago, too. Did you use a backup method when you were taking that decongestant?” Hannah cocked her head to the side.

  “No,” Katie dropped her head defeated. “That’s when it happened, you think?”

  “Probably,” Hannah shrugged.

  “That’s when he took me away. We uhhh…well we were busy that weekend,” Katie blushed.

  “I can imagine,” Hannah sighed. “And now you have a souvenir from the trip.”

  “This is not funny,” Katie crossed her arms.

  “I’m not laughing. I’m being serious.” Watching her sister’s face, she scrambled for the right thing to say. “When this baby grows up, and it asks you about you and Patrick, and when it was conceived…you can tell him or her that they were made out of love…regardless of what happens when you tell Patrick.” Pausing, Hanna touched Katie’s chin and made her raise her eyes to hers. “Remember that…when you made this baby, you were making love,” Hannah smiled at her sister.

  “Thanks,” Katie nodded “I needed that.”

  ooooooooo

  “Honey, I’m home,” Patrick called as he tossed his coat and briefcase on the bench by the front door. It had been a long day, and all he wanted to do was change into something comfortable and spend the evening with the family. Joey was turning eight today, and Melanie and Austin had planned a nice family party at their place.

  “In here,” Katie called from the kitchen. She was putting the finishing touches on her brother’s present, and trying to get a hold of her emotions. If her husband saw how upset she was, he would know something was wrong. She wiped at her eyes one last time right before Patrick came through the door.

  “You almost ready?” he smiled as he moved to stand behind her.

  “Just need to finish this,” she motioned to the package with her head as she finished tying the red ribbon around it.

  “I’m going to go put some jeans on, then we’ll head out. Ok?” he kissed her cheek.

  Katie stiffened slightly and nodded as she stepped out of his embrace. Patrick wrinkled his forehead in confusion but didn’t question her.

  After he left the room, she released a breath that she didn’t realize she was holding. That had been so much harder than she thought it would be. How was she going to keep this from him? He was bound to notice she was hiding something soon.

  ooooooooo

/>   When they arrived at the Montgomery home, Patrick carried Joey’s present while Katie led the way up the front steps. It was a cold night, and Katie shivered slightly against the frigid air.

  “I’ll warm you up later,” Patrick whispered seductively as he leaned in next to her ear. Before Katie could respond, the front door flew open.

  “Are you going to come in, or stand out there kissing all night?” Joey wrinkled his nose at them.

  Katie rolled her eyes, and Patrick chuckled, “No girlfriend yet, Joe?”

  “Pulleeassee,” Joey dragged out. “If I wanted a girlfriend, I could have one.”

  “No, he couldn’t,” Max called from further inside the house.

  “Hey little brother,” Patrick called as he stepped inside and waved at Max. “I thought this was a family party,” he joked as he watched Max roll his eyes.

  “It is,” Max shrugged. “And I am family…sort of…you’re my brother, and you’re married to his sister,” Max pointed to Joey. “Don’t be a jerk,” he shoved Patrick in the stomach.

  “Ah, the joys of being ten years old,” Patrick grunted.

  “You better watch it,” Max warned. “I can beat you up now,” he stepped back and flexed as Patrick erupted with laughter.

  “Oh save me,” Patrick continued to tease as he headed into the kitchen to place Joey’s present on the counter with the rest.

  ooooooooo

  “You ok?” Melanie sat down next to Katie. “You seem a little off.”

  “I’m fine,” Katie mumbled distractedly to her mother.

  “You don’t look fine. Come on. I need help,” she reached for Katie’s hand and tugged her down the hall to her bedroom. “We’ll be right back,” she nodded toward Austin. Once in the privacy of her room, Melanie shut the door and turned to her daughter, “Alright…what’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Katie stammered.

  “No…I think it’s something,” Melanie narrowed her eyes at Katie. “A mother knows…and this mother knows you’re hiding something. Now spill.”

  “Oh Mom,” Katie slumped down on the bed. “It’s awful,” she began to sob as she placed her head in her hands. “You’re going to be so mad at me.”

  “No, no I won’t,” she softened her voice as she sat down next to her daughter. “Whatever it is…you need to talk about it,” she coaxed just like she used to do when Katie was little. “Now…what is it?”

  “I’m pregnant,” Katie whispered before glancing up at her mother’s face.

  Melanie’s face paled momentarily before she masked it, and tried to soothe her daughter. This was not what she thought she was going to be hearing, especially after all the talks they’d had about how hard she and Sean had it when she had Katie so young.

  “But...I thought you were on the pill...”

  “I am...but when I was sick and taking decongestants...” Katie paused and shrugged helplessly, leaving the rest unsaid, but knowing her physician mother would get the reference.

  “And Patrick doesn’t know,” Katie added.

  “What?” her mother gasped. “Sweetie, you have to tell him.”

  “I can’t,” Katie began to cry harder. “He’s gonna hate me. He already thought that all my talk of having a baby was my way of tricking him into having one. What’s he gonna think now?”

  “It doesn’t matter. You need to tell him, he has a right to know,” she hugged her daughter as she quietly cried.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Katie sobbed. “This should be one of the happiest days of my life. I should be celebrating this moment with my husband, not hiding it from him.”

  “You’re right, you should, but you can’t change it now. You need to tell him. I’ll help you if you want,” Melanie stood and moved to hand her daughter a tissue. “Clean yourself up. We need to get back out there before someone comes looking for us.”

  Katie nodded, “Thanks Mom. I needed to tell someone.”

  “You’re welcome, and honey…I could never hate you. I love you, and I’ll do anything I can to help you through this,” she assured with a kiss to Katie’s cheek as she turned and left the room to return to the party.

  Chapter 9

  During the most of the party, Katie kept her distance from Patrick. She tried not to seem too obvious, but made sure they weren’t alone, and the few times he tried to wrap her in an embrace she pulled away. Patrick was baffled by her behavior but didn’t push her for an explanation until that night. He had wanted to be alone when he confronted her.

  “Is everything ok?” Patrick hedged as they walked through their front door.

  “Yeah…fine,” Katie glanced at him before heading for the stairs.

  “You aren’t acting fine,” Patrick reached out to grasp her arm.

  “I’m just tired I guess,” Katie continued to brush him off as she made her way to their bedroom.

  Patrick shook his head and mumbled to himself as he followed his wife. This was not like her, but she had seemed tired lately. He assumed that something must have happened at work, and she just didn’t want to tell him about it yet.

  “Did you have a bad day? Patient do something to upset you?” he held on to the door frame as he watched her change into a large t-shirt.

  “Something like that,” Katie mumbled as she moved into the bathroom and began brushing her teeth.

  Patrick sighed. This brush-off routine that she was giving him was so out of character that he didn’t know what to make of it. His lips forming a slight pout, he set about removing his clothes and readying for bed. Dropping his shirt, and then his pants, on the chair by the bed, he glanced thoughtfully at the bathroom door before walking toward it. He watched her for a moment, but she ignored him, continuing with her nightly routine.

  As he stepped in the bathroom behind her, he placed his hand on her hip and offered a light squeeze, “You sure you’re ok?”

  “I’m fine,” she snapped as she pulled away from him and moved back into the bedroom to climb into bed. “Please Patrick…I just want to go to bed.”

  “Fine,” he sighed as he brushed his teeth. A few minutes later, he rounded the end of their bed to climb in behind her. When he went to wrap his arm around her middle, she stiffened and pulled away from him. Patrick wrinkled his brow as he mumbled, “Goodnight. Love you.”

  “Nite,” Katie whispered as she shifted away from him and feigned sleep. She knew it might be hours before she fell asleep if she slept at all.

  ooooooooo

  “You headed out soon?” Tinsley called from the hallway as she peered into Patrick’s office.

  “Yeah,” he grumbled. “My parents host a big party every year on New Year’s. I’m expected to be there.”

  “You sound thrilled,” Tinsley teased.

  “I hate those parties. I’ve always hated them. My wife likes them, that’s the only reason we’re going,” he rolled his eyes.

  Tinsley giggled, “Lucky girl.”

  “What?” Patrick’s head snapped up.

  “Your wife…she’s lucky to have a husband who’s willing to do things that he doesn’t want to. I hope she knows what you do for her,” Tinsley cocked her head to the side as she watched Patrick’s troubled expression. “She knows, right?”

  “I’m sorry... what?” Patrick’s head popped up from the paper he was staring at.

  “That she’s lucky,” Tinsley smiled.

  “Of course,” Patrick balked. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve really got a lot to do if I want to get out of here on time,” he waved his hands over the pile of papers covering his desk.

  “Yeah…I’ll catch up with you later. Have a happy New Year if I don’t see you before you leave.”

  “Yeah, you too,” he mumbled absentmindedly.

  As he stared back at the paper in his hand, he sighed. Something about the way his wife had been acting lately really had him baffled. It’d been three days since Joey’s party, and she was still shutting him out. He needed to get to the bottom of this, but
he wasn’t sure how to go about it yet.

  ooooooooo

  “You know we don’t have to stay all night if you’re tired, right?” Patrick bent his knees, so he was eye level with Katie. They were standing on the front steps of his parent’s house.

  “I’m fine. I’m glad we’re here,” Katie’s forehead furrowed. “Aren’t you?”

  “There are a lot of other ways I’d like to be ringing in the New Year,” Patrick grinned.

  “Really? Is that all you think about lately?” she shook her head at him.

  Patrick grabbed her arm, and tugged her back to him as she started to walk away, “It’s been a week babe. It’s kinda hard not to think about it.”

  Before she could respond, the front door opened, and Suzanne, Patrick’s mom, had stood in the doorway. “Come on in,” she motioned with her arm. “It’s cold out there.”

  As they passed, Patrick rolled his eyes at his mom. She was already three sheets to the wind, and was swaying as she sipped her glass of wine. Katie scrunched her nose at him and shook her head. He’d been in a bad mood since he’d gotten home from work, and she had no idea why.

  “I’ll get us some drinks,” he called over his shoulder as he headed into the kitchen.

  Katie only nodded and went in search of her parents. She knew they’d be there somewhere. As soon as she spotted her mom, she smiled, and began walking in her direction. Melanie returned the smile at first, but it soon morphed into a frown. A confused expression rolled across Katie’s face, but soon was replaced with understanding as Patrick strode up with a glass of wine and a beer in hand.

  “Here,” he handed her the glass of wine. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, but you can get something else if it’s not this.”

  “Thanks,” Katie smiled awkwardly at him as she took the glass from his hand.

  Patrick lifted the beer to his lips and took a long pull from it as Katie just held the glass of wine. She knew she couldn’t drink it. It would hurt the baby, but how was she going to explain that to Patrick. When she glanced up to where her mom was standing, Melanie slowly shook her head. She’d just talked to her that morning, and her mom had all but begged her to tell Patrick. She kept saying that the longer she waited, the worse his reaction would be. Katie just couldn’t work up the nerve yet, though.