Page 35 of His Bittersweet Regret

“What if you got Monica pregnant?”

“What? Where did that come from? I didn’t even finish with her, so unless I have magic pre-cum…” he paused there and swallowed visibly as he realized what he just revealed.

“You didn’t even use protection with her? It took us three years of dating to go without protection, and you’re telling me that Monica…” I felt like I was going to throw up. “You know what, never mind, I don’t want to know anything else. Get out of my house, and I’m serious as sin, Marsh, Do Not Come Back!”

“Dammit, Opal, just give me a minute to think things out. You know how I get flustered and say the wrong things when I’m put on the spot. I’m trying to make things right with you.”

“Well, you sure have a funny way of showing it when you break into my house and tell me all about how you came inside another woman. Excuse me, ‘didn’t come in her’, but you were still fucking her without protection. Maybe my son will have a sibling seven months after he's born.”

“Opal, please,” he begged.

“Get the fuck out of my house!”

Thankfully, he took me seriously that time. Marsh turned and left.

“Damn, that was a whole train wreck.”

“This past six months has been nothing but a train wreck.”

“Unpopular opinion?” She questioned.

“Nope.” I had an inkling of what she was going to say, and I didn’t want to hear it.

“You should at least hear him out. I’m not saying that he’s going to magically tell you something that will make everything you’ve been through okay, but this anger you’re holding onto isn’t good for you or the baby, sweetie. It’s time to get some closure and the only way you’re going to do that is if you let the man have his say. Once he does, maybe he’ll be more inclined to walk away, or maybe you’ll want him to stay.”

I scoffed at the last bit. “Are you serious? If someone did this to you, would you honestly ever trust them again? What happens if I get back with him, and in two years, his brothers are in his ear again? What happens when a new woman starts to work with him? Or another one pops up at a party who seems far more interesting than I do? What’s to stop him from walking out on me again? Only then, it won’t just be me he’s walking out on.”

“What happens if he stays?”

“That’s just it, Beth, I don’t see a scenario where that’s possible anymore. Every time I close my eyes, I’m going to wonder if today will be the day it happens all over again. I don’t have enough big pieces of my heart left to break. If he shatters the rest, there won’t be anything to give my son.”

“Oh, Opal!” Beth swooped in and wrapped her strong arms around me. That time, no one interrupted and she didn’t let go until we were both worn out from crying. By the time she did, my tears had dried up and I felt sick to my stomach that my baby constantly had to put up with my sadness.

16

Marsh

My visit to Opal’s new place did not go like I thought it would, not by a longshot. I stared down at the money that I’d taken by her place, angry with myself for not just leaving it there. Truthfully, I’d been so caught off guard by her angry vehemence, that I’d forgotten why I showed up at her apartment that morning. It hadn’t been to anger her further. I just wanted to make sure she had her portion of our savings account, plus a huge chunk of mine, to help with her expenses.

The sad part was, while she had Bethany there with her, I had no one I could talk to. My brothers were out and for very different reasons. The twins were the ones that wouldn’t stop pushing until I ruined my relationship with her to begin with. Ryker was on Opal’s side all the way. Truth be told, I was happy about that part because it meant she had someone from our family who had been by her side.

Then there was the man who was once my best friend. Crayfish had also been on the ‘we hate Opal’ train, but as of late, he’d dipped out of sight and hadn’t really been coming around as much. I wasn’t sure what was up with that, but it made me wonder if what my mom had said to me once wasn’t true. She thought Cramer wanted me to break up with Opal because he liked her too much, not because he hated her, but because he hated that she was with me.

My oldest brother, Jimmy, probably didn’t even know what was going on. He was stationed in Japan and wasn’t due home for another few months. That meant, by the time he got back, I’d already have a kid in the world. Whether I was with my son’s mother or not by then remained to be seen.

I leaned back into the pillows that were pushed up against the wall where the head of my mattress and box spring rested. I hadn’t bothered to buy a new bed frame when I moved out of my old apartment because in the back of my head, the only end to this scenario was going back home. To Opal. That should have told me everything I needed to know. It was only ever her, and I let the idiots in my life talk me out of what I always knew.

That left me trying to find a way to make things up to her, to make her life better. Never, even in my wildest dreams, did I foresee my actions having such dire consequences for her. Had I been able to predict any of it happening, I would have never left her the way I did.

My phone rang and pulled me from my thoughts. It was my mom.

“Were you able to talk her into moving in with us until you can close on the house?”

“Hello to you too, Mom.”

“Formalities aren’t important right now. Did you tell her what you were doing?”

“I didn’t quite get that far.” She must have been able to hear the hesitation in my voice, because she clucked her tongue and then pulled the phone away while she growled loudly into the air. “Do I even want to know what you said to screw it up?”

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