Page 21 of Tusk's Fury

“Not exactly. You see, we used IVF for our last kid. She was hell-bent on having a fourth kid, and that’s what it took to get her pregnant.”

“Sounds like she got her four kids. What’s she bitching about?” Smoke’s voice sounds about as annoyed as I feel.

“She called tonight, saying about how she went back for another treatment and is having a fifth kid. Says we should get back together for the baby.”

Both of them just sit there and stare at me for a brief moment.

“Look, it never was a great plan, ‘cause my ex-wife is the dumbest woman I know. I guess she thought that me seeing her pregnant with my kid would provoke some kind of fucking emotional response. Newsflash, it doesn’t.”

Smoke looks at his old lady, and I can see a spark of interest in his eye. She perks up too.

“We’re on it,” he says. “We did your divorce, and no one mentioned IVF. If you had, we would have settled the issue of which of you, if either, has the right to use the genetic material.”

“Yeah, she was rushing me something fierce, and I didn’t really think about the IVF we used years ago. It wasn’t at the forefront of my mind.”

Serena responds excitedly, “I get that. Now, tell us if the two of you had embryos made.”

“As best I can remember, they were making embryos from my sperm donation and her egg donation fresh each time we tried to get her pregnant.”

“That simplifies the case considerably. If there are embryos, then they contain both your genetic material and thus belong to both of you. If the genetic material wasn’t combined, then the contributor retains ownership. Text me the facility you used, and I’ll contact them in the morning and find out what you need to do in order to withdraw consent for her to use your genetic contribution.”

“I was already gonna do that myself tomorrow.”

Smoke responds, “Let’s get together and go together.”

I tell them, “Hell, I’m not even sure she had another IVF done. It could be that she’s too broke to do that, so she’s just lying.”

“I thought you saw her, and she was obviously pregnant,” Serena points out.

“I didn’t see her in person, she called.”

“So how many weeks pregnant is she?” Serena asks.

I shrug, “I didn’t ask. I haven’t seen her physically in months. Since the shit she pulled at the clubhouse, when I collect my kids, I wait outside in the car for them.”

“What about your kids, did they not say anything?”

“Nope,” I answer.

Serena’s hand comes up to cover her mouth, but it was Smoke who speaks. “It could be like you said, and she’s just pregnant by another man and trying to use that to get back with you.”

“I hope and pray that’s the case, ‘cause the last thing I want is another baby with my batshit crazy ex-wife. I’m praying that when we go into that office in the morning, they’ll tell me she never had another procedure, and this is just her either trying to rope me into raising another man’s child or fucking with my head.”

Smoke looks at his watch and tells me, “I know that has got to be a stressful situation. Why don’t you turn in early tonight, and we’ll meet up at eight tomorrow morning and get to their office before too many patients show up?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you for helping me with this sticky situation, brother.”

“Don’t worry, my club brothers are my number one priority…”

Serena clears her throat, and Smoke continues without missing a beat, “...after my own family, of course.”

I shoot him a grin because that was a nice save. We shake hands, and I head off home to catch some sleep.

***

Once I’m back home, I can feel the tension building in my neck, so I decide to take a shower. When the warm water pours down over my massive shoulders, I force myself to relax. My life is a mess. All the women I don’t give a shit about want me, and the only person I’m interested in doesn’t want to know me anymore. How’s that for some sad fuckin’ shit?

I still can’t figure out why Brittany ran out on me without giving me a chance to make things right. It’s been months. I miss her and want her so badly it hurts. She was the only one who loved me for me. The only one that cared about what I wanted and wasn’t trying to play stupid mind games with me all the time.

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