Page 19 of 6+ Us Makes Eight (Baby Makes Three)

“That was a moment of weakness that should’ve never happened, and it won’t ever happen again,” I said.

“You’ve got that right. Ryan Aaron doesn’t do one woman twice. You had your chance and you blew it. But, that doesn't mean you can’t find another man to dust off the cobwebs between those legs.”

“Could you get any cruder with these kids running around? We’re at recess, Catherine.”

“And they’re all on the other side of the playground playing freeze tag. Come on. I want an honest answer from you for once,” she said.

“Fine. You want honest? I don’t date in San Francisco because I think the men in this city are trash. All they care about are how shiny their shoes are, how expensive their watches are, and how big-breasted their women are.”

“Well you’ve got that department down,” she said with a grin.

“I’m serious. I dated. I had that life once. But I got my heart broken in high school and I don’t want to go through that again.”

“What happened?” she asked. “Did he cheat on you or something?”

“No,” I said. “I just… made a mistake.”

“What kind of mistake?”

“Catherine-”

“Come on, Emma. Have a real, human moment for once.”

“Fine. I gave my virginity away to this boy in high school because I thought I was going to be with him forever. We had plans to go to the same college and we were going to request to live in the same co-ed dorm. I was in love with that stupid boy. And then my parents divorced.”

“What does that have to do with you and this boy?” she asked.

“The divorce was messy. And loud. The entire community knew that my mother had cheated on my father. Wanted to leave my father and take me with her to be with this other guy. A richer guy.”

“Oh shit.”

“And when my boyfriend found out, he broke up with me. Told me he didn’t want ‘that kind of influence’ in his life. Like I was my mother or something.”

“Oh Emma, I’m so sorry.”

“So excuse me for not wanting to throw myself at the rich kid who circulates through women faster than he does his damn underwear,” I said.

“What happened with your mom?” she asked.

“I didn’t want to go with her. I threw down in some of those arguments. Called her all sorts of names I wish I could take back. But I didn’t want to leave my school. I blamed her for the breakup between my boyfriend and I, then I called her a homewrecker. That was the last time I saw her.”

“Emma,” she said.

“I stormed into my room and she stormed out of my life. I stayed with my father until I graduated, then I lived full-time at college. Dug myself into more debt than I could imagine so I could live on campus during all of the breaks. I never went back home and my mother never attempted to reach out to me. And I promised myself my freshman year that my life would be all about me. Not some boy that wanted to break my heart or get between my legs or anything like that. I promised I would never let myself get as heartbroken as I was as a sixteen-year old girl whose life was falling apart.”

“So you avoid men,” Catherine said.

“I do. And I don’t regret it one bit. I’ve got a job that’s helping me pay down that debt I racked up in order to save my sanity and I’ve got wonderful kids in my classroom I’m trying to turn into decent human beings before their parents can corrupt them with money and fame and a lack of social etiquette.”

“Then it’s a good thing you don’t want to gun for Ryan, then. Because his reputation for being a womanizer is off the damn charts.”

“Trust me, I’ve got no intention of sharing a second kiss with Ryan, or even seeing him again. If I see him at all, it will be for those three kids he’s looking after. And that’s it.”

“Speaking of, did CPS tell you why he was granted temporary custody of the kids?” she asked.

“I don’t want to go into the details they told me because that’s his private life, but his sister’s struggling again.”

“And we all know what that means,” she said.

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