Simply Complicated (10 page)

About two hours had passed when Ken finally called Monica back.

“Hey dear—I just received your message. I was in a meeting. Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Were you at a meeting at another office?” she asked.

“No I was at my office; why do you ask?” he questioned.

“Because I stopped by your office and your secretary said you left for the afternoon and that you were going home.”

“I forgot to tell her that I wasn’t leaving until after my meeting,” he quickly answered.

“Okay. Well, I can wait to tell you everything when you get home tonight,” she said.

“Okay, dear. I’ll see you tonight. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Monica replied.

He was really at Susan’s apartment watching the baby because she had a dental appointment and claimed she couldn’t find anyone to keep him.

When Ken arrived at his house, Monica told him how many months pregnant she was and explained she wanted him to go with her to the next appointment. He could tell something was wrong but was too afraid to ask her about it. He promised he would go.

Susan was starting to call on him more and more to help with the baby. She could tell he and his son were starting to bond and she decided to take advantage of it. If she could not get him with sex, then she was more than willing to use their son.

When Monica was to go to the doctor for her three-month check-up, Susan called upon Ken to watch little Kenneth. He explained that he couldn’t do it because he had an appointment of his own he had to keep.

He dared not tell her about Monica and the baby. He told her to take the baby with her or get someone else. She could not find anyone so she took him with her to her doctor’s appointment.

Ken took Monica to her appointment as promised. They knew Marci was excited about the baby so they brought her along. While at the doctor’s they heard the baby’s heartbeat and learned everything was going well.

As they were leaving the doctor’s office, Ken was shocked to see Susan sitting in the waiting room with the baby. She did not see him because she was bending over trying to get the baby from his car seat.

Praying that Susan wouldn’t see him, he hurried ahead of Monica and Marci and nearly shut the door in their faces. He was so busy hurrying out the door that he didn’t hear Monica call out to him.

As she approached the door she called his name again and told him to get Marci’s hand. When Susan heard the names Ken and Marci she automatically looked up and saw her lover hurrying out.

For the first time, she was nervous and uncomfortable. Here was her opportunity to let Monica know about her, Ken, and the baby. She decided that she was going to say something. She put the baby back into the car seat. As soon as she stood up and started walking in their direction, the nurse called her to come to the back.

She didn’t know what to do. It had taken her quite some time to secure this appointment so she wanted to follow the nurse, but couldn’t help but wonder why Ken, his wife, and their daughter were at the Women’s OBGYN Center together. Then suddenly it hit her. Monica must be pregnant.

She started to feel nauseated and almost lost her balance and dropped the car seat holding her baby. The nurse asked if she was okay and told her to sit down.

For some strange reason she thought Ken and his wife were not intimate. She felt jealous and betrayed. After all, she had just given birth to his son and was starting to feel as if the three of them were bonding and becoming a family.

How could he do this to me again? I’m the one he loves, not her. Monica is not going to get away with stealing my man or my baby’s daddy,
she thought.

As soon as her doctor’s appointment was over she called Ken on his cell phone. When it went to voicemail she was upset. She called his phone at least ten times trying to get him to answer. Each time it went right to voicemail.

The last time it went to his voicemail she decided to leave him a message.

“I saw you and her at the doctor’s office. I know you saw your son and me. I just have one question for you: is she pregnant? I thought we were starting to become a family and now you have betrayed me yet again.

“Well this time you used up your last chance to make things right with your son and me. I’m going to tell your wife about us.

“Since you screwed up my life I figure I can even the playing field by screwing up yours. Remember, you’ll always be a part of my life whether you like it or not. We are soul mates and we are meant to be together.”

After leaving this message Susan looked at little Kenneth and told him not to worry because his daddy would be in their lives no matter what. She wasn’t sure when she was going to contact Monica but she had her mind made up that this is what she was going to do.

Later that day Ken listened to Susan’s message, his heart pounding heavily in his chest. He could tell in her voice that she meant exactly what she said. He knew he had to hurry and move before she told Monica everything.

The next morning Ken asked Monica if she had been looking for a house for them to move into. She had made some appointments with a realtor for that afternoon. He cleared his appointments to go with her.

Naturally Ken wanted a house far away from their current home. After looking at four houses he convinced Monica that they should buy the last house they looked at. It was much larger than all the other houses, the price was right, and it was far away from Susan and where they lived.

Monica called their realtor the next day and they met to write up their offer. A few days passed when they were told that the sellers accepted their offer. They were elated. The sellers had already moved out and they were approved for financing. Once the home was inspected they would be clear to move in.

Ken was overjoyed with this news. He knew the only way Susan would be able to contact Monica would be to come to their home.

If they moved before then, she would never be able to meet his wife. He urged Monica to start packing so when the call came to close on the house they would be ready to move the next day.

Two weeks had passed when the realtor called and told them that the house passed inspection and they could close at the beginning of the week. Ken insisted that they close before then because he was anxious to move.

He and Monica closed on their new house that Saturday and started moving that Sunday. Monica couldn’t believe how fast everything was moving. She wondered why he was rushing things. When she asked him about it, he lied and said he wanted them moved so everything would be put away before the baby arrived.

By Tuesday evening, all their belongings were moved into their new home.

During this entire process, he was surprised that he had not received any calls from Susan. In the midst of all the excitement, he never paid attention.
What was she up to?
he wondered.

He thought about calling Jake to see if he had heard from her but he did not want Jake to get the wrong impression. He then started to think maybe she did something foolish to herself or even worse, the baby. He remembered how strange she had been acting.

He thought about calling to check on her but he did not want to give her the wrong idea. He decided he would do nothing.

After they moved and sold their old home, Ken started to feel like his old self again. Susan was out of the picture and he and Monica were getting closer.

He was spending more time with Marci and awaiting the arrival of the new baby. Monica was about five months pregnant and life was good for the happy couple.

One evening Monica didn’t feel like cooking dinner so they ordered a pizza. When the deliveryman arrived she couldn’t find her purse so Ken told her to get some money from his wallet.

When she pulled out the money, something fell from his wallet. It was a picture of his son that he didn’t know existed. Susan had put it there one day when he was keeping the baby.

Monica had not noticed the picture fall from his wallet because she was trying to hurry and pay the deliveryman. Marci was behind her and saw the picture on the floor. She tried to get her mother’s attention to tell her about the picture but Monica kept telling her to wait.

“Mommy, Mommy—this fell on the floor,” said Marci, pulling on Monica’s shirt.

“Wait a minute, sweetheart. I need to pay for the food,” replied Monica, not paying her any attention.

Ken asked, “Marci, come here. What’s wrong?”

“This fell out of your wallet. I was trying to give it to Mommy but she told me to wait,” she said, showing him the picture of his son.

When he saw the picture he immediately put it in his pocket.

“Who is that, Daddy? He looks like you. Is this you when you were little?” she asked.

“No sweetheart. This is not me. This is the baby of Daddy’s friend,” he said.

“Which friend daddy? Is it Uncle Jake’s son?” she asked.

He cut off his daughter, “No it’s not. Stop asking so many questions and see if it’s time to eat the pizza.”

He was hoping she wouldn’t say anything in front of Monica.

After Monica and Marci had gone to bed, Ken pulled out the picture of his son. He stared at it for about five minutes and then read the words written on the back,
Daddy, I love you from Kenneth Adam Thomas.

He started feeling guilty for abandoning his son. He realized that he was punishing his son for his sins. He didn’t mean to hurt his child, but he knew someone was going to be hurt as a result of him being born.

It was either hurt Monica and Marci or Susan and Kenneth. To his surprise he started crying because he knew what he had to do. He only hoped that Monica would forgive him some day.

He resolved to tell Monica about the baby after they both came home from work the next night. He was finally ready to be responsible.

When he arrived at work Jake was sitting in his office with a strange look on his face. “What’s wrong with you, Jake?” he asked.

Jake answered slowly, “When was the last time you spoke with Susan?”

“Why? Did she call you to find out where I live?” Ken replied.

“She left a strange message on my voicemail last night. She said that she couldn’t take her life any longer and was thinking about killing herself.

“She said she had been trying to get in touch with you so she could give you custody of the baby. What baby is she talking about? I hope you didn’t get her pregnant,” said Jake.

Ken shook his head vigorously, “What are you talking about? I don’t think she’s going to kill herself. This is just another attempt to get me over to her apartment.”

“What about the baby? Is it yours?” Jake asked.

“Yes. We had a DNA test done after he was born. Did she say anything else in her message?” Ken questioned.

“She did say if you didn’t take the baby she would end his life as well. She told me to give you the message before 10 p.m. but I didn’t get it until 11:30.”

Ken panicked, “Why didn’t you call me? Did you call her back?”

“I admit when I first listened to it I thought she was just crazy and making it up because I didn’t know you had a child with her. I did call you last night but you didn’t answer.

“I wasn’t going to call her but after listening to the message again, something in her voice didn’t sound right.

“When she answered she sounded depressed and kept fading in and out of the conversation.

“I decided to call the police. They said they would go over to her apartment. I tried calling her this morning but there was no answer. What are you going to do?” Jake questioned.

“I have no idea. Maybe I’ll go by her apartment to see if she and the baby are there,” he said.

When Monica arrived at work in the hospital, she had a full caseload of patients. She couldn’t wait to go on maternity leave. She was going to be the only nurse for her shift for at least two hours. Normally there were three of them but one called in and the other was going to be two hours late.

She had received four new patients on the ward. Two were suicidal and two were schizophrenic and had not taken their medication.

Monica would often get close to her patients and she did everything she could to make them comfortable. Those patients who were placed on suicide watch had to be checked every hour. Since she was the only one there she was unable to spend as much time as she wanted with her new patients.