hadn’t even felt this lonely over the past month being away from him. It was really going to be just me and my little munchkin. The weight of the situation was heavy and tears pooled in my eyes.
“No, of course I didn’t do this to trap you! How could you even think that?” My throat hurt from trying to swallow back my tears. I instinctively held a protective hand over my stomach.
“How long have you known?” His voice dropped an octave and I could tell he was trying to stay calm.
“I found out last week. I went for a check up, they ran some tests and told me that I was expecting”. I decided against the full explanation as to why I’d visited the doctor that day. It just wasn’t worth angering him further. “I was just as shocked as you are West.”
“Shocked? I’m more than shocked Emilyn! I told you that I didn’t want kids. We’re in the middle of a fucking divorce! How in the hell do you propose we deal with this?”
“I’m not asking you for anything West. I just thought you might want to know that we are having a baby. I’ll take care of her, I just need to stay on your insurance for as long as possible and then I’ll need a little bit of help with the medical bills. But you don’t have to be a part of her life if you don’t want to.” God, it hurt to say that out loud. “I won’t force you to be involved… I just hoped you might want to.”
“Her? You know what it is?”
“No, I just… I guess I just have a feeling that it’s a girl.” I lovingly rubbed my stomach.
Harper walked back over to me and sat beside me on the couch, taking my other hand in hers. She spoke calmly… too calmly, “West, it’s Harper. Nothing is changing. You and Emilyn are still moving forward with the divorce. You will help her and this baby financially because it is your responsibility. She’s not asking you for anything else. Now, I suggest you make this as easy on her as you possibly can because she is pregnant and stress isn’t good for her, or the baby. If you upset her any more than you already have, so help me, your face will become intimate with my lucky softball bat, and you will learn exactly how I made the varsity team as a freshman.”
I seriously had the world’s best friend. Wiping away my tears I smiled at Harper and she held up her fist and we bumped knuckles. West started to tell Harper that it was against the law to threaten someone, but I knew he was scared of her. Shit I was scared of her, and she wasn’t even threatening me.
“How are we going to work around this Emilyn?” West asked.
“Honestly… I don’t know. It’s still so new. I’ve barely wrapped my head around it.”
“When are you due?”
“At the end of April.”
He was quiet for another minute. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do to keep you on my insurance for the time being. I think it would be wise for both of us to speak to our lawyers so we can lay out exactly what we want with this new development.”
“Sounds fair, I guess.” I couldn’t expect anything more from him. I wasn’t happy that he’d accused me of sleeping around right after leaving him, but I knew the truth. At least now he knew he could take some time to get used to the idea.
“Look, I have a meeting I need to go to. I’ll talk to you later.”
I quietly answered okay, and we hung up. I looked over to Harper. “Well that went well.” I said, shrugging my shoulders and gave her a small smile.
“I can’t believe that bastard thought it was someone else’s. He may not have any tact sleeping around, but that’s not something you’ve ever done!”
“It doesn’t matter Harper, let it go. He needs some time to get used to the idea that he’s going to be a father.”
“Em, do you really think he’s going to want anything to do with the baby? You heard how he reacted.”
I was exhausted and I just wanted to take a nap. “I really don’t know. I’m just relieved I told him and I can start to enjoy this pregnancy. I’m still scared he may want to take my baby away just to hurt me or use her as some sort