95 - The chapter with the unexpected news
Christian
Lunch with my parents was quiet and my sister gave me a ride on her motorcycle to the bar of the wandering hawks, we both helped my parents to set up everything to open the bar, and soon the first bikers began to arrive at the club and it was not long before the place was taken over by members and some strangers who were attracted by the movement and decided to get to know the place.
I helped my parents in the bar, taking care of the glasses on the counter while interacting with one or another member of the biker club.
" Come on, Davis. You have to tell us what the fuck you did to get your ass kicked by that girl," Damian teased me, eliciting laughter from the other guys sitting at the counter as I washed the many beer mugs we used that night.
" And why do you think he was the one who got his ass kicked?" For all I know, he could have broken up with her." Abby, the girl my mother had been trying to push on me for the past few days, came to my defense.
" Because only if Davis was crazy enough to break up with a spectacle like that girl," Maxell, Abby's brother, who was only a few years older than me, quipped.
And the worst part was that he was right.
But the girl didn't seem to be satisfied with that comment.
" You men are impressed by anything really, aren't you? She was cute, but it's not like she was a supermodel,” Abby muttered, circling the rim of her non-alcoholic cocktail glass casually.
I watched her out of the corner of my eye, not bothering to take my attention away from my task of drying the mugs. Next to me, my mother was serving customers, pretending not to pay attention to our conversation.
"That jealous tone doesn't suit you, little sister," the boy nudged his sister.
" Jealous of what? I bet she doesn't even know how to ride a motorcycle, at least she must be one of those girls who got a mini cooper from her parents at her sixteenth birthday party " I felt the venom dripping from every word of that girl.
" Actually, she got a 66 Mustang from her dad when she went to Dalton. And that cute girl every time she arrives at a place becomes the center of attention, half the people fall in love and the other half are jealous " I commented nonchalantly " And as for the question of riding the bike, she's still learning, I'm taking care of that myself."
Regardless of what they thought was going on between Rose and me, I would never allow anyone to talk about her like that. Even more so someone who hadn't even bothered to get to know her for real in the first place. Abby gave me a surprised and slightly hurt look, but didn't dare retort, lowering her head, focusing her gaze on the contents of her glass.
" So on top of everything else, the girl drives a classic? Boy, you were a lucky son of a bitch and didn't appreciate your own luck " my father approached carrying a tray loaded with dirty mugs and glasses, since our waitress was sick and couldn't come to the bar that night.
" Here, dear. Have another one, on the house " My mother placed a new cocktail in front of the girl before turning to my father " Lucas, take my place. Chris, help me get some ice from the back.”
I glanced at the freezer next to the bar, seeing the compartment full of ice, taking a deep breath knowing I'd probably get a telling off from my mom. We headed to the back of the bar together, entering the storage room behind my mom, who slammed the door hard, surprising Amber, who was settled in an armchair near the shelves, reading a book.
" Hey, what's the matter? " my sister frowned.
" Your asshole brother is acting like a big son of a bitch with poor Abby,' my mother muttered, crossing her arms to glare at me.
" You know, calling me a son of a bitch isn't a very smart offense," I pointed out, being forced to dodge a packet of peanuts that she grabbed from a shelf and threw in my direction.
Amber stood up, taking a deep breath before approaching, ready to hold Grace back in case she tried to throw anything else at me.
" Can someone explain it to me properly? “
" The poor girl has been doing everything to get his attention, and what does he do? Treats her badly to defend his ex-girlfriend!”
" First of all, I'm not interested in Abby, so please stop trying to throw her at me every second. And secondly, Rose and I had just a little argument before coming and decided to take a break, but I like her and after talking to Amber I decided to take her advice and I'm sure we'll work it out after I get back to campus.”
My mom seemed surprised by this information, turning to my sister with a questioning expression on her face, seeking confirmation for what I had just said.
" Grace, the two of them are crazy about each other, the big problem is that they are too similar, so in the end, one of them will have to give in, and Chris cares enough about the girl to put his pride aside and go after her " my sister decided to intervene on my behalf.
If my mother was surprised before, now she looked perplexed. She turned to me, waiting for me to say something else, but before I could say anything, my father opened the door, partially putting his body into the room.
" Hey, I'm in need of some help here, so if you guys could just leave the family meeting for later, I'd appreciate it,” he muttered grumpily.
" We'll talk about it at home," my mom warned before walking off with my sister, leaving me alone behind.
I put both hands in my pants pockets, staring at the ceiling after letting out a loose sigh.It would all be so much easier if they still thought Rose was my girlfriend!
As if guessing that I was thinking about her, my cell phone started ringing in my pocket, and I smiled immediately when I saw Rose's picture on the screen.
" If you're calling me at Van Derr Waal's behest to get a shirtless picture of me, you'd better give up," I joked, quoting the request I'd been receiving from everyone in the group since Liam finished the third painting of his psychedelic collection, and had been disturbing everyone looking for a picture of me.
" Chris, I'm freaking out " Rose sniffled on the other side, making my smile die.
" Are you crying? “
A small muffled sob on the other end of the line made my heart race as a thousand possibilities of what could be happening to her flashed through my mind.
" Rose, what happened?”
" I'm sorry to call you, I waited as long as I could, but it's been three days and I feel like if I don't talk to someone I'm going to freak out and I can't talk to my parents or they'll freak out and I couldn't let them down like that." She started talking fast, jumbling her words amidst the sobs making despair start to take over me.
" Damn it, Rose. What happened three days ago that got you like this? " I raised my voice, starting to pace back and forth inside the warehouse as the music blared from the bar.
" 'The problem is what didn't happen, Chris. I'm late!”
I stopped walking with my back to the door, frowning at that sentence, not quite understanding its meaning.
" What are you late for? What are you talking about?”
" My period, Christian! It was supposed to come three days ago and so far no sign!”
Rose practically shouted from the other side, sounding annoyed that I didn't understand what she was talking about before. I lost my voice and my throat went dry as that sentence made sense in my mind, and yet, I went looking for confirmation.
" 'Rose, what does that mean? " I stammered with a sliver of a voice, feeling the world spin around me " Do you think you're pregnant?”
" I'm scared,” she sobbed again.
I closed my eyes, feeling the blood rush from my body as I remembered our slip-up that I considered unimportant days ago. Still with my eyes closed I asked the question that danced in my mind.
" Rose, if you are pregnant, is the child mine?”
I heard her cry in response on the other side, making my despair rise.
" I don't know if you're going to believe me, but I haven't had sex with anyone else since thanksgiving” she took a deep breath, trying to control herself after a few seconds “Chris, this has never happened before, I've never failed the damn pill and I've never forgotten the condom!”
I leaned one hand on the iron shelf of the storage room, lowering my head holding the phone to my ear with my free hand.
" Have you had a test? I don't really know how these things work, but you have to take one, right?”
" 'I'm still at Alex's grandmother's farm and I can't go out without arousing suspicion, let alone buy a pregnancy test,' she returned.
" When are you coming home? " I walked over to the armchair where Amber had been sitting earlier, collapsing there.
" Tomorrow afternoon. Only then will I be able to take a test,” she took a deep breath.
We were silent for a few seconds, both caught up in our own thoughts, thinking about everything that could change in our lives from that moment on.
" Chris…”
" Hi…”
" I'm scared," she admitted.
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes at her voice that sounded so unsure and shaken. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel that way at that moment and I did what I could to ease the situation.
" Rose, everything is going to be fine, okay? Tomorrow you'll take the test and regardless of the result, we'll face this together, okay? " I tried to give her a confidence that I didn't feel at the moment " I'm with you for everything.”
Someone called her name on the other end of the line, and Rose shouted a generic response, then lowered her voice.
" 'I have to go, can I call you before I go to sleep?”
" 'You know you can, you can call me whenever you want,' I assured her.
" Thank you for that. I miss you a lot," she admitted, making a small smile adorn my lips at that spontaneous statement.
" 'I miss you too, but it's only a few days until we go back to campus.”
Silence was my answer for a few seconds before she spoke again.
" I have to go, bye.”
Rose then ended the call. I put my phone away, hiding my face with my hands while everything that had just happened danced in my mind. God, let this just be a false alarm, because I'm really not ready to be a father.
