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My mother started to laugh as she pulled me
into a hug.

She pushed me out at arm’s length, her eyes
moving up and down as she examined me. Then, she frowned. “You
haven’t told Jeff, have you?”

I let out a sigh and turned to check on Matt.
He was playing with his Play Station. He looked so content, like he
was in heaven.

“Mom I just found out last night. It was
really weird because Emma was the one who told me she thought I was
pregnant. Mom, you can’t tell anyone, not even Dad!”

“What? Why, Ari?”

“Can we talk about it later, Mom? I really
just want to spend some time with Matt. We’ll talk when I get back,
okay?” I kissed my Mom on the cheek before I ran around to the
driver’s side of the Jeep.

I took one last look at my
mom. She was blowing kisses to Matt. Then, she looked up at me with
a sad smile.
Shit.
The last thing I wanted was sympathy from anyone.

***

“Ari, I like their chocolate milk shakes
here,” Matt said.

I laughed because it was the fourth time that
Matt had told me he liked the milk shakes at Mighty Fine
Burgers.

Just then, I saw Brad Smith come walking in.
Our eyes met at the same time and he gave me that bright-ass smile
of his. The last time I saw him was when my parents took Ellie,
Jeff, and me out to dinner on graduation night.

Brad gave me a wave, and I smiled and waved
back.

“Hey, Matt, I’m gonna go order you a
chocolate milk shake. Will you sit right here and eat your
hamburger and french fries for me?”

“Sure, Ari! Make sure you get chocolate.”

I walked up to the counter and stood in line
behind Brad. After he finished ordering his food, he moved to the
side, waiting for me as I ordered Matt’s milkshake.

“Ari, my god, look at how beautiful you look.
You’re practically glowing!” Brad said.

Jesus, please don’t ask me if I’m
pregnant.

“Ha! Thanks, Brad. How are you?” I walked up
to him and gave him a quick hug.

“I’m doing good thanks. How about you? I
heard you and Jeff Johnson are an item now.”

I held up my left hand, showing him my
engagement ring, and smiled. “Yep.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. Congratulations,
darlin’. He’s one lucky bastard.”

I let out a laugh as they called my name for
Matt’s shake.

“Are you eating alone? You want to join my
little brother, Matt, and me?”

Brad looked over toward Matt and smiled.

“Sure, if he doesn’t mind the extra company,
I’d love to join y’all.”

***

We sat there for a good fifteen minutes,
catching up on things. Brad was going to vet school at Texas
A-&-M, and was in town for the summer. Matt asked Brad twenty
million questions. At first, Brad had seemed to be frustrated but
then he must have remembered that Matt had Fragile X. Brad was
trying to be patient, but I could tell it was getting to him. I’d
only met one guy who had the patience of saint when it came to
Matt, and that was Jeff.

Brad just finished telling Matt a silly joke.
As we all started laughing, I glanced up and saw Jeff and Rebecca
walking in. I let out a gasp, which caused Brad to turn around to
see what I was looking at. Jeff saw me the moment he walked in the
door. His eyes shot from me to Brad to Matthew and then back to me.
He looked confused as hell.

Brad turned back and looked at me.

“Um, Ari, why is your fiancé walking in with
another girl…a very pregnant girl?”

I couldn’t pull my eyes away from them.
Rebecca had yet to see me. I was pretty sure that once she did,
she’d run out the door screaming.

“Ari? Are you okay?” Brad asked.

I looked back at Brad and tried to smile.

“Ah, it’s a really long story, Brad. Jeff
hooked up with this girl before we got together, and he just found
out last week that she’s expecting, um…she’s having a,…um.”

I turned back to look at
Jeff and Rebecca. That bitch was smiling at me. She leaned up and
whispered something to Jeff. Then, he glanced at me,
frowning.
What the fuck?

“She’s having his baby, Ari. Is that what
you’re trying to say?” Brad said.

“Jeff is having a baby, Ari?” Matthew asked.
Then, he saw Jeff and yelled,

“Jeff!”

Reaching across, I grabbed Matt and pulled
him back to me.

“No, buddy, we can’t talk to Jeff right now.
He’s with…he’s with a friend right now, Matt. So, can you sit back
down like a good boy and finish up your shake? We need to leave,
buddy.”

I looked at Brad. He looked confused as hell.
He kept looking at Jeff and then back at me.

“Ari, is there anything I can do to help out?
I mean…shit. If you just need someone to talk to… you know, if you
need a friend or something.”

“She has all the friends she needs, dude.”
Jeff interrupted.

I looked up and saw Jeff standing there.
giving Brad a go-to-hell look. Matt jumped up and ran toward Jeff.
He bent down and gave Matt a big hug.

I felt the tears building in
my eyes again, but then I looked over at Rebecca, who was glaring
at me. My sadness was quickly replaced with anger.
Bitch.

“Hey, buddy! I didn’t know you were having
lunch with Ari today.” Jeff looked over at me and tried to
smile.

“He called me earlier this morning and asked
if we could have lunch today, ” I explained.

Jeff stood back up and walked Matt back over
to his chair.

“So how’d you meet up with your friend
here?”

Jeff asked me as he looked at Brad.

Brad stood up and introduced himself.

“Hi, I think we might have met last year. I’m
Brad Smith.”

Jeff reached out and shook his hand. “Yeah…I
remember you.”

“I just happened to run into Ari.”

“I asked him if he wanted to join Matt and me
for lunch.” I looked back to where Rebecca was standing at another
table. The look she was giving me made me sick to my stomach.

I swear to God the moment she has the baby I
am going to beat the shit out of her.

“Looks like Rebecca’s waiting for you, Jeff,”
I said with a faint smile.

Jeff just looked at me. Without another word,
he turned around to walk toward Rebecca.

Fuck! Out of all the places they had to go
to lunch, why did they come here?

***

By the time I got back to my parents’ house,
the last thing I wanted to do was talk to my mom, but she was
waiting outside, so I couldn’t avoid her. I helped Matt out of the
car, and walked up to the house.

“Did you have fun with your sister today,
honey?”

“Yep! And we had lunch with Brad. He is Ari’s
friend, but Jeff didn’t like him.”

My mother looked up at me, and I gave her a
don’t ask look.

“Run along inside, Matt. Your daddy is
waiting in the living room for you. Ari, I have to talk to you for
a few minutes.”

I gave Matt a kiss and hug good-bye. Watching
him run into the house, I couldn’t help but smile. The fact that he
picked up on Jeff not liking Brad made me laugh.

I sat down on the porch step and waited for
my mom to join me.

“So, I take it you ran into Jeff? And who is
Brad?” she asked.

“Brad Smith. We ran into him on graduation
night, remember? I dated him for a bit in high school.”

“Yes, I do remember him now. And Jeff?”

I let out a gruff laugh. “Oh, yeah. Well, I
guess Jeff and his baby mama had a hankering for a burger. I didn’t
know they were going to be there. Jeff came up to the table, and I
guess he wasn’t too pleased to see Brad sitting with Matt and
me.”

“Wait. What was Jeff doing with Rebecca?”

“Oh, well, he was playing the good Daddy,
Mom. You know, he’s painting the baby room, putting up the crib.
Playin’ house, and all.”

My mother shook her head and looked at me.
“Now, Ari, don’t be bitter. It’s not becoming for a young
lady.”

I just looked at her. “I’m not bitter, Mom.
I’m pissed! I’d bet you my inheritance that she is further along
than she says. I’m going to find out, too, you just watch and
see.”

“Oh dear Lord, I don’t even want to know what
you have up your sleeve, Arianna. Just please don’t break any laws
and embarrass your father.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence there,
Mom. I won’t break any laws…at least not on purpose!” I said with a
wink.

We both laughed, and then my
mother took my hand in hers.
Here we
go.

“Ari, don’t be scared tomorrow, sweetheart.
Let me know the moment you leave if they can tell how far along you
are. Get your prescription for your prenatal vitamins filled as
soon as you leave. Take them every day. It’s all going to be okay,
Ari. Even if you are a carrier, there’s a chance that you won’t
pass it along. Chin up, my dear. Now, tell me why you’re not
telling Jeff that you’re pregnant.”

I put my head down on my knees, I tried to
take a few deep breaths. As I felt my Mom’s hands moving up and
down my back, I instantly felt calm.

“Mom, I can’t tell him… at
least not for a few more weeks anyway. He’s going with Rebecca to
an appointment next week. If she truly lets him go, then I have no
doubt in my mind that she’s telling the truth about the baby being
his. What if he doesn’t want the responsibility of having
two
kid’s mom? He’s going
to be so overwhelmed. What if…what if her baby is healthy...and
mine.”

“Arianna Peterson! You did not just start to
say that. Look at your brother. He is one of the best things that
has ever happened to this family. He is a blessing. You see how
much Jeff loves him and how good Jeff is with him. Even if this
child does end up with Fragile X, you know it’s not the end of the
world, Ari. I’m shocked at your thinking.”

I looked at my mother with tears filling my
eyes. “Mom, I’m not you. I’m not strong like you. What if I can’t
do this? What if Jeff ends up falling in love with Rebecca’s baby?
He won’t want to live two hours away from him. Did I tell you that
she’s having a boy mom?” Then, I completely lost it and just
started crying.

My mother pulled me into her
arms and rocked me back and forth.
Shit
. This whole crying thing was
starting to piss me off! We sat there for a good fifteen minutes.
We didn’t talk as my mom just held me, letting me get it all out. I
cried so much that I was sure we were both going to need to change
our shirts from my water-works.

Just then, I heard a car coming up the
driveway. I felt my mother tense up. I looked up and saw Jeff
pulling up. I jumped up and ran into the house, leaving my mother
alone to fend for herself.

I went into the bathroom and
splashed my face with cold water. Then, I heard a knock on the
door.
Shit! Why would she let him come
in?
I slowly opened the door and peeked out
to see my father looking at me.
Fuck me. I
can’t handle any more today.

“You okay, princess? Do I need to kick his
ass? I’ll do it, baby girl. Just give me the word, and I’ll hire a
really big guy to kick his ass.”

I started laughing uncontrollably. I laughed
so hard that I had to lean my hands on my knees as I tried onto
catch my breath. Just then, Jeff and my mom walked up.

“What did you say to her Mark?” my mom
asked.

“Ah…nothing. I um, just offered to, um…take
care of something for her. She just lost it.”

Jeff started to laugh and then both my
parents did.

“Well, whatever you said, thank you. I’ve
been missing that laugh,” Jeff said as he smiled at me.

***

After my laughter episode, I said good-bye to
Matthew and my parents. Jeff walked out with me to my Jeep. He
grabbed my arm and pulled me into a hug.

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were
okay. I figured you were here, so I took a chance at coming over,”
he said.

I tried to breathe in the smell of him, but
all I could smell was perfume…and not my perfume.

I pushed away from him and covered my mouth.
I instantly felt sick.

“Ari, what’s wrong? Is your stomach still
upset?”

“All I smell is her perfume on you! Why do I
smell her perfume on you?”

Jeff looked confused, and then he shook his
head. “Um…well um…maybe because she broke down when we finished up
painting. She started crying, I just gave her a hug, to um...well I
don’t know…make her feel better, I guess.”

Son of a bitch.
“I’m heading back out to the ranch. Are you
done?”

“No, I just had to run out and buy a
screwdriver, I didn’t have the right one in my truck, and Rebecca
doesn’t have any. I needed it to put the crib together.”

I just stood there and looked at him. I
didn’t even know how I should be feeling right now.

“I have to go.”

“Ari, wait! The hug didn’t mean a damn thing.
How do you think I felt when I walked in to see you having lunch
with an old boyfriend?”

I spun around, narrowing my eyes at him.

“What? Are you fucking kidding me, Jeff? I
ran into him while I was having lunch with my brother. What’s your
excuse for your little lunch date with your baby mama? You two
looked awfully cozy together. I can see how painful it is for you
to be with her. I’m heading back to Mason. I guess I’ll see you
when you’re done playing house.”

“Jesus Christ, Ari can we just stop doing
this?” Jeff shouted.

I jumped back for a second shocked that he
raised his voice so loud.

Without another word, I walked to the driver
side of my Jeep and got in.

***

The two-and-a-half hour drive back to Mason
was the longest drive of my life. I did nothing but cry, think, and
cry some more.