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“Amanda, I need her phone. I
need to see if she has any appointments in there. I need to find
out who her OB is. Please do this for me.
Please
?”

When Amanda peeked back at
their table, she saw Jeff smiling at something the bitch was
saying. Amanda shook her head and turned back to face me. Fire was
burning in her eyes.
God how I love my
friends!

“Okay. I’m only doing this because somehow
that witch is getting him to laugh, and he looks too goddamn
comfortable sitting there with her. Bastard!”

Yep, I love my
friends.
I watched as Amanda went through
the door, heading outside to their table. As soon as she walked up
to their table Rebecca’s smile faded while Jeff sat up straighter
and looked around.
Yeah, you better look
around at who’s watching you. Jerk.

Amanda put her napkin over Rebecca’s phone as
she leaned over to say something to Jeff. They talked for about
another minute before Amanda turned to Rebecca to say something to
her. Rebecca smiled and nodded her head. Bending down a little,
Amanda touched Rebecca’s stomach while she used her other hand to
scoop up the napkin and phone.

Yes!
I almost jumped up and shouted. I did a small fist pump and
smiled at Amanda as she walked back in with a shit-eatin’ grin on
her face. She avoided out table and went straight to the other side
of the restaurant.
Damn, she’s
good!

I looked back toward Jeff
and Rebecca’s table, and sure enough, he was watching Amanda walk
back in. Turning, he looked at the bitch as she just smiled at him.
I watched them talk while I waited for Amanda to get her ass back
to the table. It sure did look like they were having a cozy little
conversation. Then, their conversation seemed to shift. Jeff didn’t
seem to be smiling or laughing, and Rebecca’s face turned white as
a ghost.
Shit! I wish I could hear what
they are saying.

“Hey, sorry about that,” Amanda said, finally
returning to the table.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph you bitch! You
scared me half to death, Amanda,” I yelled, trying to catch my
breath.

Amanda just shook her head and handed me the
phone. “Here. I can’t believe that I just did that! Oh man, it felt
so damn good being so bad. I really should get into private
investigation. I think I would kick ass at it. Wait until I tell
Heather and Ellie what I did. They won’t believe it!”

“Well, expect both of them to give your ass a
lecture. Okay, let’s see what this bitch has down on her
calendar.”

Amanda was trying to lean over the table to
see what I was looking at and it was really annoying.

“What the hell, Mand? Do you mind?”

Amanda sat back down, and I started to look
at Rebecca’s appointments.

“Oh. My. God! She goes to the same doctor as
me,” I said looking atat Amanda’s shocked face.

“No way, Ari. No freakin’ way. When is her
next appointment?”

“Almost two weeks. This is perfect. I know
exactly what we have to do.”

“Oh dear god. Do I even want to know,
Ari?”

Smiling at Amanda, I handed her the phone.
The next thing on my list was to make that appointment I kept
putting off with Dr. Wyatt.

“And how do you purpose I give her back the
phone?”

“Just simply say that you picked it up by
accident.”

The waiter came with our bill, and I paid in
cash, telling him to keep the change. Amanda got up and walked back
outside. I stood over by the door and watched. Rebecca looked
pissed off when Amanda handed over her phone. I had to let out a
laugh when Amanda just shrugged her shoulders before she turned to
walk away.

Rebecca’s eyes followed Amanda as she headed
straight toward me. Immediately, Rebecca spotted me, and I did the
only thing that came to my mind. I took off my hat, let my hair
fall down, and I held up a middle finger. I smiled sweetly at the
bitch before turning around to leave.

By the time I made it out to the parking lot,
Amanda had caught up to me. I knew we only had a few minutes before
Jeff would be coming after me. I had no doubt in my mind that
Rebecca would tell him I was there.

“Ari! Jeff yelled.

Yep, stupid bitch is
playing right into my hands.
I turned
around and smiled as Jeff jogged up to me.

“What in the hell are you doing here,
Ari?”

“I was having lunch,” I said as giving him an
innocent smile.

Jeff looked over at Amanda and then back at
me.

“Oh my god. Y’all took her phone on purpose,
didn’t you? What’s your game, Ari?”

What?
He did not just say that to me.

“What’s my game, Jeff? My game? What’s yours?
For someone who can’t stand that girl, you two sure did have a nice
little lunch. You were all laughing and smiling and touchin’ on her
stomach. Did you enjoy yourself, dickwad?”

“Ari, I can’t believe you were spying on me,
and the worst of it is that you might have made Rebecca upset.”

“Holy hell,” Amanda said as she took two
steps away from Jeff.

“I
might have made
Rebecca
upset? Are you kidding me, Jeff? You’re an
asshole.” Turning away from him, I started to walk off.

He reached for my arm and spun me around.

“That’s not what I meant, Ari. It’s just that
she said she can’t get upset. It’ssomething about being at high
risk for going into labor early. That’s why I was trying to be nice
and not jump down her throat. Listen, can we just talk about this
later when I get back home?”

I could not believe how
fucking stupid he was.
She couldn’t get
upset. Lying bitch.
She was setting the
whole thing up, so she could have the baby early.

“Let go of me, you stupid
fucking-twatwaffling dickwad.”

“Ari, please wait.”

I jerked my arm out from his. I couldn’t
believe how stupid he was being. “You know what, Jeff? You can
believe whatever that lying bitch wants to tell you. I thought that
you were smarter than that. Did you ever think that she came up
with whole “high risk” bullshit so that you would play nice with
her? Why don’t you ask to go to her next doctor’s appointment with
her? How about that? Now that Daddy is in the picture, I’m sure she
wants you to go to all the appointments with her.”
I was so upset that I started shaking.

Amanda walked up and took my hand in hers. As
she glared at Jeff, she said, “Really, Jeff, I can’t even believe
you. Let’s go, Ari.”

“Ari, please wait, baby.”

I stopped dead in my tracks closed my eyes,
and took several deep breaths. Opening my eyes again, I slowly
turned around to look at him.

“Baby, can we talk about this when I get
home?” Jeff’s voice almost sounded like he was pleading.

“Why don’t you stop by my place on your way
home? I’ll be staying there tonight. I need time to be alone and
think.”

The look in Jeff’s eyes about gutted me, but
all I had to do was remember his smile as he touched Rebecca’s
stomach.

“Sure… yeah… okay, Ari. I’ll stop by your
place. Are you going straight home now?”

“No, I have a few errands to run, and then
I’m taking Amanda back to her car. I’ll be home in a few hours. You
better get back in there. You wouldn’t want to upset the baby
mama.”

***

As Amanda and I started to walk up the hill
to the parking lot, I felt my legs getting weaker. Amanda pulled me
up and kept me walking.

“Just wait until we get in the car, Ari.
Then, you can let go.”

The moment I sat in the car and shut the
door, I let out a scream so loud that I thought Amanda was going to
jump out of the car.

“Better, sweets?” Amanda asked after
unplugging her ears.

“If only a scream could make it better,
Amanda. Did you see how big she is? There’s no way she’s only seven
months pregnant.”

As I looked over at my friend, I let the
tears fall.

The last time I had felt this sick to my
stomach was when Jeff and I had first kissed at the ranch, and he’d
told me it was all a mistake.

“Ari, don’t give up now. The fight has only
just begun.”

I smiled at Amanda and wiped the tears from
my eyes. I picked up my cell phone and scheduled an appointment
with Dr. Wyatt for next Monday at 2 p.m.

I was not giving up. Jeff was mine. I would
not let some lying bitch take him from me, even if I thought that
lying bitch might actually be telling the truth.

CHAPTER TEN

JEFF

As I stood there watching
Ari walk away from me, my heart was breaking.
Shit!
Shoving my hands through my
hair, I turned to walk back to the restaurant.
Why the hell did Ari come here? Does she not trust me? Does
she want to get put in jail? Damn it!
The
moment Rebecca had seen she, about flipped out.

Rebecca was on the phone when I walked back
up to the table.

“Listen, I can’t talk. I’ll call you back.
Yes, I know, I heard you, Crysti You said it’s important. I’ll call
you back later.”

I sat down as she was hanging up.

She put her hands on her stomach, and started
to fan herself.

“Oh, wow. It sure is hot out here. Do you
want to go next door and get an iced coffee or something?”

I shook my head no.
Maybe Ari’s right, and Rebecca has been playing
me this whole time.
There was only one way
to find out. Just get to the point, Jeff.

“Listen, Rebecca, I’m really done with this
whole let’s play-nice bullshit. We need to talk about this baby.
I’m telling you that there is no way this baby is mine.”

“Well, Jeff, I’m telling you that you’re the
father. You were the only person I slept with during that time
frame, that and afterward I found a piece of the condom in my
panties.”

She let a smile play across
her face, and I just wanted to slap it off. Just then, I looked
down at her stomach, and I could see the baby moving. My heart
jumped at the sight of it.
What if this
baby is mine?

“Fine, Rebecca, if this is the game we’re
going to play, then let’s play it. When is your next doctor’s
appointment?” She sat up a little straighter in her chair and
started to fiddle around with her napkin.

“It’s in two weeks.”

“I want to go with you. Since you waited
until you were seven months to drop this on me, I think it’s only
fair that I get to come to all your appointments from now on.”

“Um, okay…sure Jeff, that’s fine. I don’t
have the doctor’s information with me, so can I just text it to you
later?”

“You don’t have the doctor’s info in your
phone, Rebecca? No number or nothing?” I asked skeptically.

She let out a nervous laugh. “Of course, I
have Dr. Wyatt’s number, Jeff. I just meant that I don’t have the
address. I’ll text you the day and time of the appointment along
with the address this evening. Do you want to pick me up, so we can
drive there together? Maybe we can grab dinner afterwards?”

Oh shit, here we go.
“Rebecca, I need you to know that I asked Ari to
marry me last Saturday night. I love
her
, and I’ll always love her. Even
if this baby turns out to be mine, Ari is going to be a part of
this child’s life.”

Rebecca had a stunned look on her face.
“Wait…what do you mean you asked her to marry you? I thought…”

“You thought what?” I asked.

She started to look around frantically.

“Um… I don’t know what I was going to say.
You asked her to marry you even after you found out about the baby?
I’m not so sure that I’m okay with Ari being involved in any way,
shape, or form. I mean… look, she came here today to spy on us! You
have to see that she obviously does not trust you, Jefferson.”

“She trusts me. It’s you she doesn’t
trust.”

“Well, ouch, that hurt. I’m not dropping the
restraining order until after I have the baby. I don’t trust her,
especially after the stunt she pulled today, and I’m beginning to
think that her little friend didn’t accidentally pick up my phone
either.”

I held back from laughing. The moment Amanda
had brought back the phone, I had known something was up. It had
Ari written all over it.

“It doesn’t matter why they were here. Ari is
a part of my life, and you need to accept that.” I looked down at
her stomach when I saw the baby move again.

She followed my eyes and smiled. “Do you want
to feel again? He’s moving around a lot today.”

“He? You already know the sex of the baby?” I
couldn’t help but reach out to feel the baby.

Rebecca let out a laugh. She glanced down at
my hand on her stomach and then looked back up at me.

“Yes, I was too excited to not find out. I’m
going to start painting the baby’s room and then try to put the
crib together.”

I knew what she was doing. She was trying to
get me to volunteer to help her. I knew that had to talk to Ari
before I started doing shit like that.

I pulled my hand away from her stomach and
then laid some money on the table. I needed to get out of here.

“Well, I need to get going. I’m getting ready
to move out the ranch so I need to go and pack up.”

“Wait! You’re moving out to the country?
Isn’t that place like three hours away? What if something happens
with the baby?”

“Rebecca, you made it this far without me.
You’ll be fine with me being two-and-a-half hours away. If you need
something, you can just call me. My cell phone works off and on out
there, so, after we get a land-line I’ll give it to you.”