Attraction - 12. Chapter 12 – Curve balls

“Yo bitch! I’ll be at your door in ten. Get decent.”

That was a message from Jenny that I ignored, to my peril. Sure enough, she was knocking down my door at seven in the morning. She knew my schedule. That I left for work at eight thirty, that I normally slept till seven, that I was likely going to sleep later this morning as I had caught an early morning flight back from SFO on the previous day and therefore more tired. This meant only one thing, some sort of trouble was brewing.

I managed to throw a t-shirt on before opening the door. Jenny seemed pissed.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” she quipped at my appearance. I knew something was wrong and she knew that I knew. What’s more, we both knew she was going to throw tantrums at me even if I had not got anything to do with her bad mood. I closed the door and walked over to the kitchen where she had charged into. She started the coffee.

“How’s Kent doing?” she asked.

“Fine! School’s a bitch but he’s doing well.”

“Serves him right for choosing you over me!”

Wow! Where did that come from?

“Seriously, you gay guys have it all. You can chase money, career, tail everything and not compromise on anything. No baggage, no biological clock. It’s unfair.”

Without my morning dose of coffee, I did not even know which part of her rant to concentrate on. What’s biological clock got to do with it? She went silent, seemingly thinking something and I controlled my breathing so as to not disturb this lull. Thankfully the coffee machine beeped, she poured me a cup. I would have welcomed being allowed at least two sips before she dropped the bomb,

“I’m pregnant.” I sprayed the coffee all over the kitchen counter, narrowly missing her.

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“Did I speak Latin?”

Correct, reloading the question.

“Who’s the father?”

Apparently that was wrong too, I figured it out when she knocked my head with her knuckles.

“Who the fuck do you think?”

“Boy Toy?” the possibility seemed incredible.

I received another knock. “I’ve told you not to call him that.”

So it ‘was’ Boy Toy. And she was defending him. Which meant she was not angry with him for doing this to her. It did not make any sense. Before another ill thought question escaped my mouth I went over to the living room to sit and consume my coffee. Jenny sat next to me, and placed her head on my shoulder.

“Didn’t you guys use protection?” I asked cautiously.

“We did. He cums like a fire engine hose.”

Motherfucker! Wait. “What’s that got to do with it?”

“I don’t know ok? We used protection but they do say it’s not 100% foolproof.”

That made sense. “When did you find out?”

“I got suspicious last Monday. Thought I’ll wait and see, then took the home test last night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me last week?”

“I didn’t want to worry you. You’ve got your own shit with Kent to keep busy.”

“That doesn’t mean you stop telling me things.” I knew I was getting upset over the wrong excuse.

“It’s doesn’t matter.”

That much was true. “I’ve heard these things sometime don’t work right. We must go to a doctor.” I said.

“I know.”

So it was that I called in a personal emergency and bunked work to take Jenny to the gynecologist. The appointment was only at eleven so we decided to go and sit at a breakfast bar. Neither of us could eat much but we needed to kill time. Jenny had not informed her Boy Toy about the situation. I did not know what the right thing to say or do was and despite my obvious misgivings about the fellow, could not help feel he needed to be here with Jenny. In the middle of all of this the urge to tell Kent what was happening was grating at me. This was Jenny’s news and I had no right to divulge it. Kent and I however, had developed a habit of telling each other everything. It was our fourth month together and we only met once in weeks, yet were completely involved in each other’s lives. His last text, ‘morning babes, what’s up?’ had received an evasive, ‘busy day, will tell you later.’ Was it normal to worry about something stupid like that when my closest friend was facing a crisis of this magnitude? Did that make me a bad friend?

When we made it do the clinic I found myself more nervous than Jenny. She had developed this serenity that unnerved me even more. She had not been too forthcoming about what was on her mind and I had been wary to spook her by asking questions like, ‘what are you going to do if you really are pregnant?’

Since I could not ask her this, it played on my mind continuously. I accompanied her when she was finally asked inside the doctor’s chamber.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Tracy Morrison. How are you guys doing this morning?” Brilliant, the happy doctor! I hated this kind. I found them more annoying than the morose ones. With the latter you never stood to be deceived when they were being condescending. We introduced ourselves.

“So,” the doctor beamed after we had all taken our seats. “What brings you guys here?” At least she came straight to the point.

“I need a pregnancy test. Took one at home and came out positive.”

Dr. Morrison gave us both a leveling look.

“Ok, that can be arranged. How many weeks has it been since your last periods?”

“Nine weeks. Four weeks since the time I should have had them.”

“Is it normal for you to not have them regularly?”

“Not really. Normally I would say I’m on time. Give or take a week.”

“Fair enough. Why don’t you come with me and we can get your samples collected?”

I had not played any role in the proceedings and wasn’t sure what to do here. The doctor came back alone. She was filling out some notes and I occupied myself by looking around the room. After a while I felt her looking at me. She was a motherly type, in her fifties and probably had birthed enough babies to take one look at a woman and tell if she’s pregnant. When I matched her eyes she gave me a smile. “I might have something to keep you occupied,” she said. From her drawers she produced a brochure with reference materials on pregnancy. Top of the list was a book – ‘Pregnancy guidebook for first time parents – Author, Dr. Tracy Morrison.’ I perused the rest of the material and thanked her for it. This could be really helpful for Jenny if she did turn out to be with child. Wait a minute, why did the doctor give it to ‘me’?

Just as the implications of that gesture dawned on me, Jenny walked in. She was still calm and raised her eyebrows to ask non-verbally ‘what’s got your panties in a bunch?’ I handed her the brochure Dr. Morrison had given me. The doctor smiled at our interaction and went ahead with her paperwork. After a few minutes she looked into her watch and saying, she would be back with the results, left us to wait anxiously for the verdict. I took Jenny’s hand in mine which she patted soothingly. I was shitting bricks here, while she behaved like it was someone else whose life was going to potentially turn upside down.