Page 52 of Storm

“The captain. Wonderful man.” My father shushes my mother, who looks sheepish after interrupting me.

“Yes, that Kevin. We have two other friends as well, neither of whom you’ve met, but they’re both army veterans. One of them, Tatum Cadelle, is an EMT, and the other, Ezra Hall, works in search and rescues, as well as a hiking guide. The four of us have high-stress jobs and found a way to alleviate it and relax in an unusual way.”

This is harder than I thought it’d be, and after chewing on my cheek, trying to word the next part as carefully as possible, my mother bursts at the seams. “Just get on with it!”

“We take women to my cabin and have sex with them a few times a year.”

Both of my parents blink in shock, but stay silent, so I push forward.

“I know that sounds crass, but it works for us. Before you ask, no, we aren’t sexually together. It’s more of just fulfilling needs in a safe environment without the strain of relationships. It’s really all quite clinical, or rather, itwas.”

Clearing his throat, my father uncomfortably says, “We aren’t here to judge. As long as you’re keeping it private so it would never get out and affect your career, who are we to look down? Is that it? That’s the big secret?”

“I wish,” I mutter. “A few months ago, twelve weeks and two days to be exact, we had made arrangements to bring a woman to my cabin, but it fell through. Kevin ended up meeting a younger woman who agreed to accompany him to our weekend away.” My mother places a hand against her chest as she realizes that we only bring one woman at a time, but stays tight lipped. “Miriam is her name. Long story short, we are now in a situation where she’s three months pregnant and there’s a very good chance I’m the father.”

If someone were to drop a pin in this silence, I truly believe both of my parents would explode out of their skin. The longer it goes on, the more my anxiety builds until I can’t hold back.

“I need you to say something.”

“Is—” Mother clears the frog in her throat and tries again. “Is she from a good family, Richard?”

Shrugging, I hadn’t even thought about who her family is. “I know what you mean bygood, so to answer you, no. But her family isn’t bad. From what I understand, she’s the eldest of quite a few brothers, and I believe her mother is no longer involved in her life.”

“Richard,” she groans, holding her head with one hand. “How old is she? You said young.”

Clenching my jaw, I mutter, “Twenty-four.”

“Twenty-four?” She shoots to her feet, but my father sets a hand on her shoulder and eases her back into her seat. “Twenty-four and pregnant. Oh God, what will people say?”

“Amelia, you’re going to expire if you keep going on like that. This isn’t the end of the world. Now, Richard. You said there’s a very good chance you’re the father. I’m assuming since there were four of you there, we’re looking at a twenty-five percent chance. When are you getting a paternity test?”

I throw back the rest of my drink and my mother quickly refills it. “I went to her appointment today. She brought it up and I believe we can do one pretty early, but there’s nothing arranged yet. I left before it was decided and told them we could discuss at a later date.”

“Why?” my mother cries out. “We need to know now! What does she do for work? Lord, she’s so young. Oh Harold, what if she’s trying to baby snatch him?”

Laughing again, this time without as much humor, I correct her. “It’s called babytrapping, mother. And I guarantee you, that’s not what she’s trying to do.”

“So you think. Son, con-artists take on all sorts of faces, young or old, male or female, it doesn’t matter. I’d like you to get me her information so I can run a background check?—”

Cutting him off, I shut this shit down. “I’m not an imbecile, and I believe I’m a fairly good judge in character.”

“Not when it comes to women,” my mother murmurs under her breath as she drinks again. Narrowing my eyes at her, I continue.

“If anything, she’s looking to distance herself as far as possible from me. I haven’t been the kindest, but I’m going to work on rectifying that in the near future. Mainly, the reason I came here today was to let you both know my current situation, and I need advice on what I should do to ensure this child is properly taken care of in the future.”

“If it’s yours,” my father adds, studying me more closely now.

Shaking my head no, I bite out, “No. It doesn’t matter either way. Even if I’m not the father biologically, I’m still responsible.We, the guys and I, got her into this predicament. And before either of you start with more questions, Miriam is an incredibly hard worker. Honestly, I think she puts in more hours a week than I do. She’s also going to school in the evenings to eventually become a nurse.”

My mother chews on her lip, then tops off all of our glasses. The whiskey we’re drinking is already hitting me hard and there’s a wonderful numb feeling slithering up my extremities.

“For now, we’ll trust your judgement. I need a bit to think things over, but later tonight or tomorrow morning, we’ll sit down and get a clear idea of what type of assistance you’re looking to provide. For now, why don’t we sit with this?” I appreciate my father’s ability to focus on the business side of things, so I nod in agreement.

“Will you bring her by?” my mother asks, her voice a touch hopeful.

Her question has my shoulders falling. “In truth, I’m not sure that will happen anytime soon, but I will broach the topic withher when we speak again. I’m not exactly in her good graces at the moment.”

Standing when she gasps in shock, unable to believe that I can do anything wrong, I excuse myself with my full glass and head upstairs to my old bedroom. By the time I walk inside, I’ve polished it off and I fall onto the bed and lay there unmoving until I fall asleep.

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