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“Just try your best. I’ll see you in a bit.”
He walked away with a different nurse following behind him.

When I walked into the room, Rebecca looked
up at me with panic in her eyes.

“Hey, honey, please don’t worry. It’s going
to be okay. It will all be okay, Rebecca. I need you to calm down,
okay?”

Two more nurses came in and asked for me to
go with the one nurse to get ready for the C section.

All I could hear as I walked out of the room
was Rebecca begging them not to put her to sleep. I looked down the
hall, I saw Crysti She was white as a ghost and barely smiled at me
as I started to make my way to her.

The nurse took my arm and guided me in the
other direction. “Mr. Johnson, this way, please. We need to get
moving.”

I turned back and looked at Crysti who was
just watching me walk away.

Something is not
right.
I had the worst feeling in my
stomach, like something terrible was about to happen.

***

The moment I heard the baby cry, I almost
started to cry. Thank God he was breathing and healthy. Rebecca
would only be out for about thirty more minutes, so I took
advantage of holding my son.

I just stared at him. I
wanted so badly to love this baby, but I didn’t feel a
connection.
Is it because I missed out on
so much of the pregnancy? Why am I not feeling anything?

I felt sick in the pit of my stomach, almost
like I had lost something. I was confused though because I hadn’t
lost anything. I had just gained something.

Dr. Wyatt came up and patted me on the back
as he smiled at me.

“Dr. Wyatt, is he going to be okay? I mean,
he looks strong and healthy. He’s so big for being born a month and
a half early. Will he be okay?”

Dr. Wyatt just gave me a strange look.

“Rebecca was due in two weeks, Jeff. Her due
date was July seventeenth, not August. The baby’s going to be just
fine.”

If I hadn’t been holding the baby in my arms,
I was pretty sure my legs would have gone out from under me.

“What?”

“You thought she was due in August?”

“She told me she was due in August. She told
me she was...”

Then, everything that had
happened –her wanting Crysti to pick her up, her panicking when I
stayed. It hit me like a ton of bricks. This was her plan all
along. She never had any intentions of me being at the birth
because I would find out that she was further along than she’d
said.
Motherfucker.
Everyone was right.
Ari was
right.

***

I sat in the chair next to Rebecca’s bed.
When I heard her starting to wake up, I sat up, putting my arms on
my legs. She looked over at me and smiled.

“Where’s the baby?” she asked as she started
to look around.

“He’s fine. He’s in the nursery. They’re just
waiting for you to wake up.”

“Is he beautiful, Jeff?”

I just nodded.

“Why…why isn’t he in here? Why are you not
with him?”

“Why would I be, Rebecca?”

She looked confused, and then it hit her. As
she looked away, I saw a tear run down her face.

“You weren’t really due in August, were you?”
I asked.

“No.” she whispered.

“You thought Ari and I were getting married,
so you tried one last-ditch attempt at getting me back? You didn’t
think I’d be getting a paternity test done, Rebecca?”

“I thought I could make you love us...love
the baby…so you would want to stay. Then you wouldn’t want to be
with Ari…you’d want to be with me and your son.”

“He’s not my son.”

“But he can be. We can be happy together Jeff
if you just give us a chance!”

Holy shit! Is this girl serious?

“Rebecca, I love Ari. I only want to be with
Ari. I only want to have children with Ari. I’m sorry, but I don’t
have those feelings for you. I never have, and I never will.”

Tears were streaming down her face as she
looked away from me.

“Who is the father, Rebecca?”

She wiped the tears away from her eyes before
she turned to look at me again.

“Jason Reed.”

My stomach dropped.
What the hell is she saying?

“Jason? Jason was dating Ari at that time you
got pregnant…wait.” Motherfucker, this girl was more evil than I
could’ve ever imagined.

“You knew Ari was with Jason, didn’t you? You
did this on purpose! From the very beginning, you had every
intention of hurting Ari, didn’t you?”

I stood up and walked over to her side of the
bed.

Rebecca started crying again. She looked up
at me, shaking her head.

“I just wanted to get back at her for taking
you away from me, Jeff. I didn’t think I would end up pregnant.
Then she broke up with Jason days after we slept together. I told
him about the baby, and he said he wanted nothing to do with it.
When Crysti told me that she heard you and Ari were getting
married, I panicked. I had to come up with something to get you
back, and I thought….”

“You thought you could lie to me and tell me
I was the father of the baby. How exactly were going to pull it
off. Rebecca?”

Turning away from me she whispered, “Does it
even matter anymore. Jeff?”

“Yes.”

“Fine…I was trying as much as I could to pull
you away from Ari. I figured she would get sick of it and make you
choose between us. I was banking on you taking the side of the baby
because I knew about your father. I thought it would work out
perfectly. I was planning to just call you after I had the baby, so
you couldn’t be here for the birth. I was going to use the excuse
that I couldn’t get through to you because of you were so far out
in the country.”

I felt sick to my stomach. I thought back to
a few hours ago when Ari did exactly what Rebecca wanted. And I did
just what Rebecca hoped I would do.

“You didn’t think I would ask for a paternity
test?” I asked, taking a few steps away from her.

I needed to get out here, away from this nut
case, and back to Ari.

Ari
. I had the worst feeling come over me. Something was
wrong.

Rebecca was now looking at me, “I figured you
would fall in love with him and then not even care about the
test.”

“I need to leave.
Don’t
ever
contact
me again, Rebecca. Do you understand me? If you so much as look at
Ari or me ever again, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

I took my phone out of my pocket and turned
it on. I needed to talk to Ari. I had sixteen missed calls and five
text messages.

I started to walk out of the room, as I
called Ellie.

“Jeff, wait! Please don’t leave me alone,”
Rebecca before she started to cry again.

I turned around to look at her when Ellie
answered her cell.

“You motherfucker!”

I stopped dead in my
tracks.
What the hell?

“Ellie?”

“I never thought I could be as angry with
you, Jefferson as I am right now. I hate you!”

Holy shit. What the hell is going on?

“Jeff?”

“Gunner? What the hell is wrong with
Ellie?”

“Did Rebecca have her baby?”

“Um, yeah, but turns out.”

“Okay, do you think maybe now you could come
to Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg? Your fiancée
needs you.”

Oh my god. Ari.

“What’s going on, Gunner? Is Ari okay?”

“She was upset after you walked out on her.
She took Rose out for a ride. Rose got spooked by a bolt of
lightning and then took off running. She jumped a small creek and
Ari fell off. She has a few bruised ribs and some other
issues.”

I turned around and glared at Rebecca. This
was her fault. I hated her more than I ever thought I could. I
turned back toward the door and left before I did or said something
I would regret.

“What other issues Gunner? Is she okay?” I
started to jog down to the elevator. After I stepped in, I lost my
cell signal.

“Mother fucking son of a bitch!” I yelled as
I slammed my hand into the wall.

***

Once I got out of the hospital, I called
Gunner back while I ran to my truck.

“Gunner, talk to me. What’s wrong with her?
Is she awake? What else did she hurt?”

“Jeff, calm down. She hit her head, but they
said she just has a mild concussion. And.”

“And
what, Gunner!
”

“She wants to be the one to tell you
herself.”

What the fuck?
“What? Okay, I’m on my way. I’m leaving Austin and
heading to Fredericksburg now.” I threw the phone down in the
passenger seat and took off.

***

By the time I got to the hospital in
Fredericksburg, I was that shocked I didn’t end up with at least
five speeding tickets. I rushed in to the ER and was told Ari was
in her own room. When I got to her floor, walking off the elevator,
I had the worst feeling. This was twice today when I had the
feeling that I had just lost something important to me.

I looked up to see Gunner,
Ellie, Mark, Sue, Emma and Garrett all sitting in the waiting
room.
Shit!

Ellie jumped up and started to walk over to
me, but then Gunner got up and grabbed her. She looked pissed.

“Um, how long have y’all been here?” I asked,
looking at everyone.

“Did she have the baby?” Ellie asked.

“Yeah, um, she did. It, ah…turns out she was
lying to me the whole time. She was actually further along than she
said. I only found out because I asked the doctor if the baby would
be okay since he was born so early, and then he told me that
Rebecca’s due was in two weeks.”

Ellie’s whole body started shaking.

“You left her! She told you that bitch was
lying, and you just walked away from Ari. We all told you! You
walked away, this is all your fault!” Ellie screamed.

As Gunner tried to pull her away from me. My
heart started beating faster.

“Ellie, stop!” Gunner yelled, turning her
around to face him. “Sweetheart, calm down, please.”

Emma walked up and took my by the arm. When I
glanced over at Sue and Mark, I saw that Sue was crying.

“Emma, please just tell me what happened to
Ari,” I practically begged as we started walking toward Ari’s
room.

Emma looked at me and gave me a weak smile.
“She should be awake. She asked to be alone until you got
here.”

When I opened the door and saw her, I almost
fell to my knees. My beautiful, strong Ari was lying in the bed.
She was broken, and alone, crying.

I’d never felt such heartache in my life.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO

ARI

My heart started beating faster the moment I
heard Ellie talking to Jeff. I tried so hard not to start crying,
but then I heard Jeff and Emma outside my room. As the door opened,
I could feel the moment he walked into the room. I was looking out
the window while the tears slid down my face.

I turned to him, and he
looked like he was about to throw up.
Good
that motherfucker.

“So did you have your baby?” I asked with as
much sarcasm as I could manage.

A tear rolled down his face
as he looked me up and down. I was sure that I looked awful. My
head was pounding, my chest was throbbing, and I even had a black
eye. I wasn’t sure how I managed that one.
I still say my ribs are broken. Stupid country
doctors
. I couldn’t even cry without
everything on my body hurting.

“Oh god, Ari. I’ll never forgive myself for
this, baby.”

Jeff came over and started to reach down to
kiss me. I turned my head away from him.

“Ari, please…please don’t do this. What else
was I supposed to do?”

“Did. She. Have. Your. Baby?”

“Yes, she had the baby, but he isn’t
mine.”

I snapped my head back toward him. I wasn’t
sure if I should be relieved or angry.

“What?”

“It turns out that she faked the whole
contraction story to get me away from you. She had this whole plan,
Ari. She was trying to pull us apart. Then her water broke, and she
started freaking out that I was there. They put her under for a C
section. When I asked the doctor if the baby would be okay since he
was born early, he told me…”

Jeff just stopped and stared at me.

I knew it!
I knew that bitch was lying the whole time. She
was the reason this happened to me. I hated her more than
ever.

“He told you what, Jeff?”

“He, um, he told me Rebecca’s due date was in
two weeks. I confronted her when she woke up, and she told me the
truth about everything. She’s so fucking twisted, Ari. It’s unreal.
Baby, I don’t want to talk about her. The baby’s not mine, so we
can put this whole thing behind us now. It can just be you and me,
baby.”

He reached for my hand, and even though I
didn’t want to touch him, I didn’t have the strength to pull it
away.

“No, it’s not that easy
Jeff. You left us. You picked Rebecca and that baby over us.
I’ll
never
forgive
you for this. Ever.”

Jeff looked confused as the tears started to
slide down his face.

“Ari, no. Please don’t say that, baby. I
didn’t pick her over you. I didn’t know what else to do, Ari! I was
worried about the baby and.”

I shook my head. “Please just stop! Stop
talking about that baby.” I looked back at him. “You left us,
Jeff.”

“Ari, I’m here, baby, I’m here now. I promise
you that I’ll never leave you again. I promise baby, never
again.”

I just stared at him.

“Do you want to know what I was going to tell
you before you left?”