Toni Aleo - Blue Lines

Erik paused. His body stiffened as a sudden coldness filled him completely. He felt dizzy and his body felt like it was tingling everywhere. What the hell was going on?! This was a joke, a cruel, funny joke. Erik let out a loud nervous laugh and with a shaky voice said, “Yeah, right. We haven’t been together since December.” Man, he was feeling like he might pass out.

Piper nodded. Erik then watched as she pulled her shirt tightly against her, revealing a bump in her middle, and Piper didn’t have one of those before. His eyes were wide as he looked down at her.

She rolled her shoulders back and said, “I know, I’m almost six months.”

Suddenly, Erik wasn’t sure he was breathing.

“Pregnant?”

Piper nodded. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel her hands shaking against her growing belly. She looked at a wide-eyed Erik. “Yes.”

“You’ve been to the doctor? It’s a baby, right? Not like cancer?”

She blinked a few times. Was he serious?

“Yes, a baby, not cancer. Why the hell would you think that? I’m twenty-three weeks.”

“Twenty-three weeks,” he whispered as his eyes fell back to where her hands rested. “With my baby.”

Piper looked up at him again; she could see that he was freaking out. She had been doing the same thing since she had found out. She had no clue what she’d expected from this conversation, but it sure wasn’t going the way she had hoped it would.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Are you sure?”

Piper looked up at Erik incredulously. How dare he ask that?

“Yes, you’re the only one I’ve been with. For months and even longer than that.”

He stood there, his hands holding his waist so tight that she could see the white of his knuckles. Not that she was really paying attention to his knuckles, since he was only wearing boxers, for goodness sakes! Even with the severity of the situation, she couldn’t help the fact that her body still sung for him. It didn’t make sense and she hated herself for it. This man had dumped her, then had not even answered her calls or acknowledged her existence for the last six months. How dare he steal her heart and run. Then , he has the gall to question her about the paternity of their child?

Asshole!

“I’m not a liar, Erik. I may be a lot of things, but a liar is not one of them,” she said, her body heating with anger.

“I never said you were. Excuse me for being a little freaked-out right now; it’s a little much for me to take. I mean, you pop in here and say, ‘Hey I’m pregnant. Oh, and by the way, it’s yours.’ ”

“How do you think I feel? I’m freaked-out, too, but I’ve kept this quiet long enough. I’m starting to show. I’ve got decisions I need to make and I need to know if you want to be part of them.”

When she looked up, he was looking at where their child was growing. If he was to put his hand on her stomach, he would have been able to feel the baby move. Not that she was going to suggest that; she couldn’t even imagine him touching her right now, or ever again for that matter. She might be irritated, but there was no denying the sexual attraction she had for Erik Titov, even if he had broken her heart.

“I can’t believe this,” he muttered, running his hand through his hair. “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

Piper held a finger up as she said, “I did try calling you, but you never called me back and I figured if you wanted to talk to me you’d call.”

“I’ve been busy. Leave me a message if it was that urgent! Also, I saw you like four months ago; you could have told me then.”

Piper said heatedly, “Oh, when I was puking my brains out? Yeah, I didn’t feel like talking.”

“There is no reason to be a bitch,” he deadpanned as he pinned her with a look.

“Oh, I’m sorry, let me be happy that I came here as you question the paternity of my child,” she said, crossing her arms.

This was going so bad. In a perfect world, Piper would have told him about the baby and Erik would have wrapped his arms around her, kissing the stuffing out of her, then ask her to marry him, and after this baby was born, they would have at least five more. It wasn’t as if she was truly expecting that, but she was expecting him to at least be a bit more compassionate. Nope, instead she gets Erik doubting if the baby is his.

Ass.

“Um, excuse me, but for six months you’ve kept the fact that you are pregnant with my alleged child! How do I know that you didn’t get knocked up by some other guy and now you are trying to pin it on me because that guy ran out on you?”

Oh, she was going to kill him. She was going to murder her child’s father.

“You jerk! I’m not like the whores you’ve been hanging with, claiming that they are pregnant just to get your money. I am a good person who made the biggest mistake of her life by going home with you. You would know that if you had given me the time of day. You ran out on me and left a prize behind!” she yelled, pointing to her stomach. “I don’t know how to handle this. I don’t know what to do. All I know is that I am pregnant. With your baby. And I thought maybe I should let you know. That you would want to know.”

Nothing was said for a few moments as they stood with their eyes locked on each other. Their chests were rising and falling in unison, as everything around them was silent. The only thing Piper could hear was her own heartbeat and Erik’s labored breaths.

“I don’t know what to say,” he finally said.

Piper shook her head. “Me, neither, but I thought I should tell you. I’ve already told three people, and I thought it was time to tell the baby’s daddy. I’ve got to tell my whole family next; they need to know.”

He nodded. “So Audrey, Reese, and Harper know? Do they know I’m the father?”

One would think that she would have told her twin sister first, but Piper hadn’t. She didn’t want to hear the disappointment in Reese’s voice, or be scolded by her, either. She really hadn’t even wanted to tell Harper yet, but she needed to explain to her why she couldn’t be a surrogate for her and Jakob.

Piper shook her head. “No, Harper and Audrey don’t know it’s you; only Elli does.”

Erik’s head whipped up. “You told Elli?”

His voice had a little edge to it and his eyes seemed wider. Piper nodded as she said, “She was the first one I told.”

“Oh fuck,” he said, leaning over and bracing his hands on his legs. “You told my boss, before you told me?”

“Um, she is like my sister. I wasn’t thinking of you,” she shot back.

“Obviously, you haven’t thought of me at all. You didn’t give me any options in this. Nothing. You just did what you pleased and kept this from me. Are you crazy?”

Piper’s eyebrows shot up. How friggin’ dare he?

“Excuse me? I did try calling you, but some fucking ho always answered the phone. At least I finally came by and told you. I could have just kept it from you altogether. Maybe I should have.”

“If only! That would have made this so much better, but instead you go and tell my boss! I mean fuck, Piper. If you wanted to fuck me over, at least do it in private.”

Piper’s face was hot with anger and she was sure she was going to reach out and knock his head off.

“You made it very clear that you never wanted to see me or to fuck me again. I kind of understand you’re angry about my telling Elli, but get over it. She is only concerned about me, the baby, and how I am going to make it. She hasn’t even brought you up! Anyway, it really doesn’t matter who I’ve told. I’m not here to discuss that,” she said, shaking her head. Her anger was beginning to get the best of her. She was letting the fact that he hurt her and left her fuel this argument when really all she needed to know was what he wanted to do about all this. “I need to know if you are going to be involved. I know that we won’t be together, I get that, but I’m wondering if you’ll be in our child’s life. And I’m here to tell you now, I don’t care either way.”