Page 38 of Prince of Tides
“WHOO!” Rip exclaimed, pumping fists in the air and bellowing at the top of his lungs. “I’M GOING TO BE A FATHER!”
The entire room reverberated as hewhoopedand hollered, jumping around, grinning like a maniac, and smashing the air with his fists over and over again. I watched it all go, a smile tugging at the corners of my face as I expelled the anxiety that had been building within me.
At that moment, Eb burst through the door, alert and ready to take action. Once he saw nothing was wrong, he relaxed and leaned against the doorframe.
“Don’t say it,” I said, lifting a finger to point at the older man. “I can see it on your face, just don’t.”
Eb, however, wasn’t deterred. “I told you it would be okay.”
I sighed, but there was a burble of laughter to it. “Okay, okay. You were right. There, fine.”
Rip had stopped his celebrations to look back and forth between us in a mixture of suspicion and confusion.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “What am I missing?”
“Nothing,” I said, waving it off, not wanting to explain my fear of his potential reaction.
Rip, however, wasn’t entirely convinced. “Is this a joke? Are you two playing some sort of prank on me?”
I crossed my arms. “Why would I go through all of this just to be like, ‘Ha! Gotcha!’ or something like that, Rip? I didn’t want to see you again after you tricked me. No, this is real. I am pregnant.”
Some of his joy waned at my reminder of our first encounter, but not much. The goofy grin returned in a flash, and he jumped around again a few more times, shouting, “Yes!”
Then he stopped so abruptly I worried he’d hurt himself. A look of trepidation flickered across his green eyes, the first time I could recall him ever not appearing completely comfortable with a situation.
“I don’t want to seem … indelicate,” he said, tiptoeing around his question. “But youdidhave a fiancé. Before me. Could it be …”
“No,” I said confidently. “It could not. I hadn’t seen him for close to a month, and the last time we were together, I was still on birth control. You’re the only one since, so, by process of elimination, that makes you the father.”
“I’m the father,” he whispered elatedly. “I’m going to be a dad.”
“Yep. And I’m going to be the mom,” I said.
“You’re positive?” he asked, still in one stage or another of disbelief.
“Yeah,” I said, biting my lip. “It’s been a few weeks. I missed my period, and since we didn’t use protection, ‘cause I’m an idiot, and I wasn’t on anything—”
Rip was waving that away. “Yes, I know how it works. I’m not upset. I just want to make sure youknowand that this isn’t just some sort of feeling or hunch or your period being late.”
“My periodislate,” I said. “That’s the feeling that started it all. Three pregnancy tests later, over two days, and that’s how I knew.”
“Okay,” he said. “Just wanted to be sure.”
“It’s as sure as I can be at this stage,” I told him. “I haven’t been to a doctor yet, or anything like that, so no ‘medical’ confirmation, but I’m as sure as I can be.”
“A father,” he said mostly to himself.
“It’s still early,” I warned, feeling bad about pouring cold water on his elation. “Anything could happen still. These things aren’t guaranteed, okay? Lots can go wrong. There’s even a chance it could be some false positives. I just felt I had to tell you based on the evidence.”
Rip grinned, picking up Eb and slapping him on the back. “I’m going to be a father, Eb! A daddy!”
The older man just laughed and hugged him back.
The mood lightened considerably but then cooled just as fast as Rip put Eb down and focused on me.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I’ve been celebrating over here, and I haven’t spent a single second asking about you. How areyoudoing? Are you happy? Do you want to keep it?”
“Everyone keeps asking me that,” I said, wishing they would stop. “I know it’s not conventional. That we’re not in any sort of relationship and we barely know each other, but I really don’t care. I’ve wanted to be a mother for years. If this is the way it’s going to happen, then this is the way it’s going to happen, I guess. Did I envision being married and in a long-term relationship first? Yes. But I’m not going to turn this miracle away. Especially when life has privileged me in such a way that I can give it a good upbringing. No, I’m keeping it.”
