Page 11 of Jocked Up

He’d followed her up, her round ass in that skirt she’d had on too tempting. There, under the moonlight and to the sound of drunken adults and excited kids, they’d stripped each other, exploring something they’d both known they shouldn’t be. Their parents were going to be getting married in a few months; they were all but step-siblings now. Perhaps the taboo nature of it spurred them on, maybe all those months of living together had, but in the end they didn’t care. He’d left her the next day, planning to call her but he’d lost her cell phone number when he fell into the lake and then his mom had split with her dad. Life had just got in the way and he’d moved on. He’d assumed she had as well.

“Drake! This is really wonderful, man, really. We are so grateful and I wish you’d let me take you out for dinner sometime.” The coach said as he walked up to Drake’s truck, his eyes shining brightly with happiness.

“Aw, it’s nothing, Coach Mike. I just thought I’d give a little something back to the community, you know?” Drake looked away, embarrassed by the gratitude the coach was showing him. “I had a great time as a kid playing football with my dad and this is done in his memory. He’d be happy knowing I was doing this.”

“He’d be proud of you Drake, just as we are. I know that for a fact.”

Drake looked away once again, feeling incredibly like a grown up in that moment.

“Well, it’s not going to unload itself.” He said, hoping to change the subject. “Let’s get to it.”

Drake and the coach started to unload the truck and he wondered who Peter’s father was for a moment as he thought about the little boy. He decided it didn’t matter. Bethany had made it clear she didn’t want anything to do with him. He thought they were finally getting that chance they missed so long ago but for some reason, she’d cut him off, not even friend-zoning him. She’d just cut him out of her life. He suspected it had something to do with his ex-girlfriend being at his house that morning when he’d come home but he wasn’t sure. He’d quickly kicked her out and tried to call Bethany but she’d never answered his calls.

Drake knew he’d had a few near misses with pregnancy and other problems over the years but he’d been young and dumb. It took a good friend testing positive for HIV to get him to straighten his act out. Over the last year, he’d started to leave the partying behind, had started to think about settling down. That included leaving the easy women and wild sex behind. Although, from what he’d already experienced with Bethany he knew wild sex didn’t have to go by the wayside. He chuckled for a moment but the sound cut off when he realized she didn’t want anything to do with him.

Her rejection of him hurt but he was trying to stay busy and not let it bother him. He’d tried to talk to Amelia but she didn’t know anything about what was going on with Bethany, she didn’t even seem to know they’d gone out. Amelia said she knew something was wrong with Bethany but she didn’t know what. He knew it had something to do with him but he didn’t know how he’d fucked up this time. Only she knew and she wasn’t talking.

Drake finished helping the staff unload the equipment and boxes and drove back towards his home. He wanted to stop by Bethany’s and demand an answer but saw her turning back up her road in running gear. She’d seen him and turned around. She wasn’t ready to talk. With a heavy heart, Drake kept driving and told himself next time he’d stop.

Chapter Seven

“Amelia, really! What happened between Drake and I, well, it was just a one-night stand, alright? Let it go? We aren’t going to be together, you and I aren’t going to be sister-in-laws, and things are going back to normal. Please, for me, let it go.”

Amelia had called me an hour before but she’d taken a while to work up to why she’d called. I suspected it was something about Drake but I’d hoped she’d dropped it. She hadn’t.

“But Bethany! You two are so perfect for each other. Seriously.” Amelia was starting to sound huffy. She could be that way sometimes when she wasn’t getting her way.

“Oh honey.” I laughed in a friendly way, not wanting to hurt her feelings but that was funny. “We couldn’t be any more incompatible. We live in totally different worlds, have different needs. It’s just not going to work.”

“Oh Bethany, I wish you’d change your mind. You both deserve to be happy and I truly believe you can do that for each other. I just don’t want you to end up alone.”

That stung but I had to take it, I suppose. She meant well enough. “If I do I’m good with that, Amelia. I have Peter to keep me company and one day he’ll have kids, maybe, and then I really won’t be alone.”

“Yeah, well, little miss all but a virgin nun over there, I know that wasn’t just a one-night stand but I’ll leave it be. It’s your business.” Amelia’s voice told me she meant it but would probably forget she’d meant it in a few days. I chuckled again and hung up, glad to finally be off of the phone.

I settled back onto my bed, wishing for the tenth time that day that my stomach would calm down. A month after the now infamous one-night stand and I had a much bigger problem to deal with. My moment of hedonistic indulgence had consequences. One that came with nausea, swelling body parts and resulted in a crying, screaming, tiny, little human at the end. I was pregnant.

At first, I’d tried to tell myself it was just my nerves, it would go away, but the other signs were there now, and the most glaring was absent. I had a doctor appointment later and I’d go after I dropped Peter off at his football practice but I already knew, I remembered all of this well. Like an idiot, I’d let myself get pregnant, again. I had no idea what I was going to do about it but for now, I just wanted to be left in peace to deal with my all-day morning sickness and fatigue. Whoever named morning sickness was a moron; mine didn’t go away miraculously with a cup of tea, toast, and the passing of the sun in the sky. It stuck around all day and I was feeling miserable.

When the doctor confirmed my suspicions later that day I was a little more prepared for it than I was the first time around. I wasn’t a young girl with little education and few job prospects. I’d have to put off buying that dream home but I’d be able to get through it, somehow. I’d have a new baby to love and spend my days getting to know, it wouldn’t be all that bad.

Over the coming months, I watched my son come to adore Drake and have his heart broke when Drake went back to his team. I knew it was coming, he was healing quickly I’d noticed when I’d go to pick Peter up. Drake promised to come back when he could and when his time playing for his own team was up for the year he’d be back to help out. I never got out of the car, just waited patiently for Peter.

When school started I bought loose clothing, stuff I could grow into and tried my best to keep it quiet. I know times are different but I didn’t want to answer a bunch of questions. People knew I didn’t date, knew I was generally responsible, but this would cause questions and would show just how irresponsible I’d been. I spoke to my boss about it, letting her know I’d have to take time off when it came time and thankfully she kept her questions to herself and didn’t spread rumors.

People started giving me strange looks as time went on and my body started to expand. I kept up my exercise, tried to maintain a healthy weight and diet, and tried to think of how to tell Peter. He’d want to tell everybody and I wasn’t ready for that yet. I wasn’t hiding my pregnancy out of some fear I’d lose my job, I just didn’t want to deal with the questions.

Amelia was the hardest to put off. As the months wore on and she started noticing my occasional bout of sickness, thankfully that had calmed down some, and my very baggy clothes, she started to ask questions. I knew she wasn’t stupid, I knew she could put two and two together and come up with Drake being the father but I didn’t want to deal with him either. Yeah, alright, he has a right to know, but I’m sure his fiancée wouldn’t like it a bit.

I finally decided to tell Peter about the coming baby when he asked me why I was getting fat. By that point, I was five months pregnant and starting to show. People were going to start asking, whether I wanted them to or not. Peter deserved to know first.

“Baby, Mommy isn’t fat, she’s going to give you a little sister soon.” I was over the moon about the baby being a girl and couldn’t wait to meet her already.

“A sister? But I’d rather have a brother. We can play fire trucks and stuff.” Peter was sitting with me at the kitchen table eating his afternoon snack. He was zooming his stalks of celery around in his ranch dressing, using slices of cucumbers as bombs on whatever the celery represented to him.

“I’m sorry son, but we have to take what we’re given.” I smiled at him but he wasn’t watching, too engrossed in his snack-play.

“Do I have to share a room with her? My friends say their younger brothers and sisters cry a lot. I need my sleep, Mom.” Peter looked up at me with the most serious face for a six-year-old I’d ever seen. I smothered down my giggles as I looked at his little face and gave him an adult look.