A Life Unplanned (5 page)

"What made you change your mind?"

"My mom ended up getting a due date from your mother. I was sure you wouldn't lie to your mother about that. I realized she was mine too late. You were furious with me, and I can't blame you. I was a complete…" he looked around and leaned across the table, "ass," he whispered. I had to fight off a smile.

I looked down at the table and started shredding a napkin and wadded it up into a ball.

"Please, Clara, there's a machine at the clinic I work at. It'd be free. I'll even pay for your gas to come down."

"Down where?"

"Livingston, it's where I've been hiding with my tail between my legs. I'm human, Clara, but I'm trying here. I messed up a lot in college, I know that."

"Yes, you did. What were you thinking?"

He sighed, looking upset. "That's a story for another time."

"Well, you'd better plan on telling it sometime soon, if you want to be involved in my children's lives," I demanded.

He nodded in agreement, looking down at the table. "I just want to prove to you that I've grown up. I'm a different man. I'd like to be a part of their lives."

"You're a doctor, you should know better than to jump to conclusions, and never to call a pregnant woman fat," I hissed.

He pulled on his hair a little. "You're so petite, and it's your second pregnancy. I should've known better...I shouldn't have tried to guess just by looking at you."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"I know you have every right to be angry, but please, Clara, can you please let me have this? I want to see our daughter. Don't you want to have another peek at her?"

He was right. Even if I didn't like it, or him right now, it would be nice to have another ultrasound, just to be sure everything was alright with my baby. "Fine, how long does it take to get to Livingston?"

He actually clapped, and Maylene looked over to make sure everything was okay. I was sure she thought I'd slapped him. He had deserved it on more than one occasion. I smiled and gave her a nod, letting her know everything was fine, and apparently, her little plan was working…meddling woman.

"Okay, so Livingston is about three hours away. If you get off a little early on Friday, you can drive out that night. You can stay with me or my parents or at the inn, wherever you feel comfortable. Saturday, the clinic is closed, so I'll take you in then, and we can spend a little time playing with the ultrasound machine. If you want, you can stay until Sunday."

He could tell I wasn't loving his plan to stay with him or his family, so he spit out, "Bring your family. There's great fishing. I'm sure your dad would enjoy taking Tyler out while we're at the clinic. My parents have a couple of guestrooms. I know my mother would love to have yours over."

He was right, my mom and his mom had become good friends. If I ran this past them, I knew my mom would push to go. If I did go, it would probably be best to go with my parents in tow for moral support. I would need someone on my side.

I pulled out my phone and called my mom. "Hey, Mom, what are you up to this weekend?"

"Well, there's no yoga retreat, so nothing, dad was thinking about painting the kitchen."

I heard my dad shout, "No, I wasn't!"

I giggled. Mom was always trying to get him to do things he didn't want to do. He would eventually do it, though.

"So, you guys aren't doing anything this weekend?"

"No, I don't think we have anything, honey."

"Hey, Maylene." I wanted to make sure she was okay with us all staying at her house, before I volunteered it.

Trent was out of his seat, shouting, "Mom, can the Sharp's stay at your house this weekend?"

She looked over at me, hopeful. "Of course, dear."

"Including my parents?"

"I'd love to have them."

"Are you sure? We don't want to put you out."

"Positive, dear, and tell your father to bring his fishing gear as well. He and Roger can go out in the boat on the lake."

My mother must have put the phone on speaker at some point, because I heard my father shout, "Hot damn, fishing on a boat!" He always fished from the shore.

"You still owe me a painted kitchen," my mother reminded him.

"I know, woman, but our daughter needs us this weekend." He sounded way too happy to be "supporting" me on this trip. I doubted I'd see much of him while we were there.

"Alright, I'm going to see if I can get off early this Friday to drive down. I'll get the address to you as soon as I find it out."

Trent was quick to volunteer it. His eagerness was almost cute, but I was determined to stay mad at him. I knew it was a bit petty, but I needed to protect myself and my children from his charm. He didn't get a mess of women in his bed by being an ass twenty-four-seven. The man could charm candy from a baby, and I was sure said baby would be happy about giving it up and offer their sippy cup as well.

Chapter 6 – On Acting, Good and Bad

Trent was still driving Maylene to visit me and would pop in and say hi to Tyler. Things stayed awkward between us, but he didn't let it stop him from talking to my son. It didn't look like he was going to stop anytime soon.

Some days I just felt bitchier than others, and him wanting to be around Tyler made me feel defensive. He made it clear he didn't want to take him from me, just be involved, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that it wouldn't be enough for him, that Trent would want more. Maylene was so dang convincing, though. I didn't want to believe she'd betray me and my mother by trying to take my son from us, but she just seemed to have a way of getting what she wanted.

I wasn't really all that surprised to hear my mother had met Trent and thought he was very handsome. Apparently, he was giving Maylene rides to her house as well. My mother and Maylene might've believed Trent had changed, but I'd seen him play a suave bastard before.

I'd be the first to admit he could be handsome and charming, but that was an act he had perfected in college. I didn't want to fall for it a second time. I didn't need him, and I wanted to make sure he knew that. I thought it was amusing that he'd never had a woman walk out on him. When he told me that, I wanted to stick my tongue out at him and rub it in his face. I obviously needed to watch a few more children's TV shows about not being mean. I did hold my tongue and kept the words "serves you right" and "turnabout is fair play" in my mouth.

The way our mothers snuck around, it made me believe they wanted Trent and me to get together. I asked my dad about it, and he said he wasn't getting involved. It became abundantly clear that my mother and Maylene had been cohorts in planning our little get-together. I wasn't sure how much Trent had to do with it. It was my mother who mentioned how nice it was for Trent to have access to an ultrasound machine, so he could use it anytime he wanted. I had a feeling they had planted the idea of him using it on me in his head. I didn't want to start anything with Trent, though. There was too much at risk, not to mention that he showed absolutely no interest in me at all, other than to talk about our kids, and I was okay with that.

Yes, I was sure our mothers were scheming. I just didn't know what they planned to accomplish by it.

I didn't want to share my babies with Trent, but I had a feeling it was inevitable. I think my dad even mentioned it in passing that fathers played important roles in children's lives. I was ready to throttle all four of them.

We didn't see Maylene or Trent on Thursday at all, because they had gone to Livingston to get the house ready. I didn't know what all that'd entail. I hadn't done more than wash the bedding when Maylene came to stay with us. I hoped she felt the same. She didn't need to do any more than that.

Friday came too fast. I hadn't told Dr. Coust why I needed to get off early, but I sensed she knew there was something big going on and wasn't going to get in my way.

My parents were going to follow me down to Livingston to be sure our cars made it all the way there without incident. The cars were fine for driving around town, but we hadn't taken them on a long trip in some time.

When we pulled up to Maylene's home, I felt embarrassed about having made her stay in my crappy little apartment. I should have let her go to a nice hotel, while Meredith was waiting for her baby to come, and Trevor could get their third bedroom set up for her. I guess it used to be his office and still had his desk in it. I didn't know what Trevor did for work, but his home was nice, not extravagant like Maylene's, but definitely upper-middle class.

I felt like white trash. No wonder Trent thought I was going after him for money. Maylene came rushing out, with her arms open as wide as her smile. "You've made it! Come in, come in and have some dinner. I'm so glad you've arrived safely."

A tall thin man who could have been Trent's double, but older, stepped out onto the porch. "Well now, what do we have here?" He looked over at Tyler with a big grin. "I heard we had a handsome man coming to visit, it's obviously true."

"I strong," Tyler flexed, showing his manliness.

"This is my husband, Roger. He's been busy at work when I've been in Waco. He'll be working from home this weekend, so he can spend some time with us," Maylene introduced him.

"I hear you like to fish," he spoke to my dad, who grinned like a fool.

"That I do. I hear you have a boat."

"Yup, and a lake just out behind the house."

"How far behind the house, could Tyler reach it if he wandered off?" I asked worried.

"We have a fenced backyard. We put it and a playground in as soon as we learned Meredith was pregnant. It should be fine."

"Tyler is going to go fishing with us big boys, right, buddy? I got a special lifejacket just for you," Roger said with a smile.

I wondered if they would let Tyler wear it all the time to reduce the risk of drowning.

There was no need to wonder, though. As soon as Roger showed him his Elmo lifejacket, he wouldn't take it off, and they didn't bother to try and remove it from him.

We were halfway through dinner, when Trent came rushing in. "I'm so sorry I'm late," he apologized to my parents and me. "I had a baby to catch," he grinned widely, "A healthy little girl."

"Trent, dear, you need to change your shirt. Did you have it on under your scrubs?" Maylene asked confused.

"I was about to leave and was mostly redressed, when the mother came in. She was going to deliver using a midwife at home, but she changed her mind last minute. They came in when she was dilated to ten. The nurses were hollering for me to get in there and catch. I just made it. I didn't have time to get my shirt back off." He pulled it away from him to look at the collar.

"Just grab one of your father's shirts, dear, and leave that one in the hamper. I can get the stains out of that one for you."

"Thanks, Mom," he leaned in, kissing his mom's cheek while trying to keep his distance.

"There's peroxide under the bathroom sink, dear. Let it soak in that."

"Will do."

"Well, now that we have that settled, how about some dessert?" Maylene asked.

I really didn't want to give Tyler any sugar this late. There would be no way he would go to bed. It was going to be challenging with him being in a new place as it was.

"It's sugar free gelatin," Maylene winked at me, like she'd read my mind.

Tyler really didn't care if it was sugar free or not, he just wanted some. We usually didn't have dessert. Trent came down the stairs in a skin-tight shirt. His body looked glorious. I wanted to slap myself for thinking that.

"Have you been working out, Son?" his father asked.

"No, you've been dieting," he smirked.

Roger looked at his wife for confirmation. "I've lost weight?"

Maylene just giggled and kissed his cheek. "Your blood pressure came back a little high your last visit, remember?"

He looked at the fridge like it would have the answer. It was comical, really. I guess it was a testament to Maylene's culinary skills that he hadn't noticed the difference.

Trent took a seat next to Tyler with a dinner plate. "Hey, buddy, I see you have your lifejacket on. Are you going fishing with your grandpa tomorrow?"

I nearly snapped at him for calling Roger his grandfather, but my dad piped up with, "He sure is."

Maylene must have been excited to have us come, because the bathroom they had for Tyler and I to use had a rubber ducky theme with a mess of toys in it. I usually had a hard time getting him into the tub, but as soon as he saw the setup, he was in it in a heartbeat, and I had a hard time getting him out.

Trent had come into the bathroom with us and was thoroughly soaked from playing with the toys as well. He was trying to coax Tyler out of the tub with the promise of more toys and a bedtime story. When we crossed the hall to his room, I was floored. Maylene had taken the Elmo theme to the extreme. Tyler had been upset about taking off his lifejacket, until he saw the bathroom. He had been reaching for it, wanting it back on, until Trent showed him his Elmo pajamas.

"I brought clothes for him," I complained.

"Mom wanted to spoil him. She was really excited to have you all come. She wanted to make sure you had a great time so you'd return."

I looked away, not sure what to say. It was very nice here, but I didn't really have a reason to visit Livingston. I was only here for the ultrasound.

I knew Trent picked up on that, because his smile faltered a little. He recovered, tucking Tyler in and read to him until he fell asleep.

We stepped out into the hall. "Have you seen your room?" he asked, pointing to the door across the way.

"I haven't had a chance yet."

He opened the door for me. The room was done up in a deep burgundy and rosy pink. There was a little bassinette in the corner of the room. The bottom of it was overflowing with baby supplies. "Did your mom make up this room for your sister-in-law and Charlotte?" I hoped.

He shook his head no. "Meredith and Trevor's room is at the other end of the hall."

That was what I was afraid of.

"So, in the morning, I'll be here for breakfast. Our dads are taking Tyler fishing, and our moms are doing…honestly, I don't know what they're doing, but mine said they'd be busy with something, and she was wearing a grin that made me nervous."

I giggled at the face he made when he said that. I'd seen the pair of them chatting with mischievous smiles earlier. He was right to be worried.

I think my mother had actually been in on getting me down here, because when I asked her about painting the kitchen, she waved me off, confessing she hadn't even picked a color yet. She most likely used that excuse, just in case I was asking them to do something else…the troublemakers.

"After breakfast, I'll take you down to the clinic, and we'll have a look at our little girl."

I didn't correct him. I felt guilty for some reason over disappointing him by not wanting to come back here, so I let him call her ours.

His behavior towards us had changed so drastically, it was confusing. I knew he was still hesitant around me, walking on eggshells, but he seemed to really want to be involved with Tyler in any way I'd let him. I hadn't invited him into the bathroom for bath time, he had just sort of showed up, and I hadn't wanted to run him off with Tyler watching. Then they were having so much fun together. Being thirty-four weeks pregnant had been taking its toll on me, so I just didn't have it in me to fight with him. Then when he had stepped in to halt Tyler's tantrum when getting out of the tub, I'd admit, I might have been a little grateful. I was so used to parenting on my own; it was strange to have backup. I knew if I wasn't careful, I could end up getting used to it.