I shook my head. My mother was going to deem me a cheating slut without ever knowing the truth. “I couldn’t even begin to pinpoint it. I slept with Drew the Friday before I came here and Dawson the very next day.”
“I’m not going to judge you, Morgan,” she said as though she was reading my mind. “I had three kids from three different fathers. Caroline was the only one that was conceived with the man I was married to.”
I snapped my head to her. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“The drunken, low life father that you grew up with isn’t Justin’s real dad either,” she admitted.
“He isn’t?”
She shook her head. “His dad was a trucker, Mad Dog,” she added. I was sure she didn’t know his real name. “I don’t think your dad was able to have kids. You were seven by the time I had Justin, and I had never used any form of birth control. I slept with a trucker once and got pregnant.”
“Did he know?”
“He suspected, but I never admitted to it.”
“Oh God, mom. I can’t be pregnant. What the hell am I going to do?”
“Let’s go to town,” she coaxed.
Caroline pouted because her dad told her that she had to stay with him. I promised her that I would do something fun with her later. That satisfied her, but she still wanted to go along.
I rode with my head against the cool glass of my BMW. My mother drove. I didn’t mind, I was having a nervous breakdown. I was having a hard enough time reminding myself to breathe. My mother tried to console me, but it wasn’t working. I knew with everything in me that I was pregnant. I just had a feeling. Going to buy a pregnancy test was pointless. I knew it with everything in me.
Jason took Caroline out to the beach to look for sea glass so that we could have some privacy. I knew my mother told him what was going on. I didn’t mind. I was glad that she told him everything. That’s the way it should be.
“What does the one line mean again?” I called out from the bathroom.
“It means you’re not pregnant. A plus sign means that you are,” my mom called back.
Fucking A…
I breathed the biggest sigh of relief when I saw the one negative line come into clear view of the little window. I don’t think I had ever been so happy in my life.
I opened the bathroom door and showed my mother the evidence. She hugged me, happy that I was happy. I wanted a baby. I just wanted to be living with its father and know who he was.
I spent the better part of the afternoon in the hot shed with Caroline and Jason. We made glass lit bottles to display our sea glass. I had to laugh at Caroline holding her iPad, giving her dad instructions from the pin that she had found on Pinterest.
Our mother came to the door around six. Caroline and I were sitting at a work bench with our backs to the door, pushing the tiny strands of lights through the holes that Jason had drilled for us. I knew she would want us to come and eat soon.
“Morgan, you have a visitor,” she spoke from the door.
I turned, seeing the most beautiful man in the entire world standing beside her. I wanted to throw myself at him. No. I wanted to fuck him. The sight of him sent a quivering sensation straight to my attention deficit disorder vagina.
“Well, come here,” Drew finally said, pulling me from my frozen stool position. I smiled, slid off the stool and right into his arms.
“Hey, baby,” he said in my hair. I could feel his smile.
“Hi,” I said, pulling away, knowing that nosey Caroline was staring with her curious little eyes.
I introduced him to my mom and Jason, and Caroline took it upon herself to offer her name.
“I’m Caroline,” she said offering her hand. “You must be Drew, I’ve heard a lot about you.” What? Little liar, I never talked to her about Drew. I looked at her like she had two heads.
“You talk in your sleep….a lot,” she added. Shit…
that could be bad.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Caroline,” Drew said with a smile, taking her little hand into his large one.
“Come, let’s eat,” my mother demanded.
“We’re not finished yet,” Caroline protested.
“We can finish them tomorrow,” I assured her. I didn’t want to play with Caroline anymore. I wanted to play with Drew.
We ate on the deck with the guests and were served by the help. We all had a glass of wine with our steaks. I wanted a cold beer. The wine tasted bitter to me.
I didn’t drink mine.
Drew and I stared across the table at each other, constantly.
“Did you just come for a visit,” I asked, cutting into my too done steak.
“No. I came to take you back to Vegas with me.”
My eyebrows rose. “Really?”
His face got serious. “Mr. Callaway passed away yesterday.”
“Oh,” I said. I wasn’t sure what to say. I mean I was sad and grateful that he saw me as his only family and was leaving me all of his worldly possessions, but I really didn’t know the guy.
“My car is here,” I stated. I didn’t know what else to say.