Chapter 22

The three of us went inside and I could feel another panic attack starting. I dreaded this confrontation. My mother was in the living room and so were Cheryl’s parents.

“There’s the deviant now!” her father sneered. “Not so smart-mouthed now, are you?”

I looked at him and blinked. “Get out,” I said dispassionately. “Get your car off our property and get out. You can park on the street and we’ll send out your daughter and everything she owns. You’re not welcome here. If you’re still here in two minutes, you’re an intruder in my home. You KNOW what happened to the last intruder in my home, right? Run.”

He blanched visibly at that. “Are you threatening me?!!?” he demanded, getting to his feet.

“You’re not welcome in my home. If you feel intimidated by the consequences of refusing to leave when told to, that’s a function of your own cowardice. You now have ninety seconds.”

“And if I won’t leave?” he snarled.

“Then I call the police. When I tell them who I am and that there’s an intruder in my home, they’re likely to come in here and taser you until you have a heart attack and we’ll all swear you were resisting arrest. Your choice. Sixty seconds.” I delivered the explanation with a complete lack of emotion and stared at him unblinking.

He finally stormed out and we heard the car start as he moved it out onto the street. Cheryl’s mother tried to speak to me. “Look, can’t we put all this in the past and try to get along for the sake of the baby?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Do you have any idea what’s even happened here since last night? Has Cheryl told you ANYTHING?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Just that she wanted to come home,” she admitted.

I nodded. “Well, maybe she has the good grace to feel ashamed of the way she treated me today,” I said with a shrug. “I take it she’s downstairs getting packed?”

Mom nodded. She hadn’t heard what had happened, so it was news to her that I was upset.

“We’ll be upstairs. Mrs. Anders, you should join your husband in the car. Once Cheryl’s out I don’t want to see or speak to any of you again. If there’s a reason that we HAVE to talk, Mom will give you the information on how to contact our lawyer. For what it’s worth, I hope the baby is healthy and has a good life.” I turned and walked up the stairs, followed by Lana and Jessie.

Lilly’s door was open and she came out to join us in the hall. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Mom told me to go upstairs when those people showed up.”

“Cheryl’s leaving us,” I said quietly. “She’s too traumatized by what’s happened to her to be comfortable around any male apparently. I have some calls to make to tell people what happened.”

She looked stricken by the news. “But she seemed so normal yesterday! What happened?”

“She was wrong when she told everyone she was ready for sex,” Lana supplied. “She freaked out and started comparing it to the party in September. It started with comparing everyone being around when Beck and I walked in, but the longer she talked, the worse it got.”

The four of us went into Mom’s study and I sat in the chair while they curled up on the bed. I sighed and picked up the phone. I needed to call Gina and Tabby and Collie, but Emma was first.

I dialed and put the phone to my ear, waiting for her to answer.

“Hi there, Husband-in-Training!” she said in a perky voice that said she was glad to hear from me. “Are the girls keeping you worn out?”

“Hi, Ems,” I said, feeling a little better for hearing her voice. “I’ve had kind of a rough day here.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, all business.

“Cheryl’s leaving,” I told her. “She told everyone last night that she was ready to have sex with me, but she was wrong and this morning, she started comparing what we did to what happened to her in September. She called her parents and she’s packing now.”

“Fuck!” she swore. “How are you handling it?”

“I got advice from Jessie to take a deep breath and say ‘fuck her’ and walk away. It’s a lot like your advice about people that throw me away. I’m taking it. I told her mother that I didn’t want anything to do with any of them ever again and to call my lawyer if they have anything to say to me.”

“Good,” she said. “If she wasn’t pregnant, I’d beat a bitch when I got home on Monday.”

“Jessie suggested she doesn’t need teeth to give birth,” I told her with a ghost of a smile.

“Well, I like Jessie more and more. How’d she get involved?”

“I ran into her when I walked to the mall,” I told her.

“You walked to the mall?!!? That’s a long way on your leg the way it is,” she said, concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” I admitted. “It’s sore, but not so bad that I think I’ll suffer too much tomorrow.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked. “I wish I could be there for you right now, but God only knows if I could get an earlier flight.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her gently. “I have Lana and Beck and Tricia and Jessie’s here too. I have to call Hanna, Gina, Tabby and Collie and then send an email to the girls from that party to let them know that Cheryl and I aren’t together and won’t be getting back together. She’s going into the same category as Zoe.”

“Damn right she is. If you really want preggo sex, we can find someone who’s not gonna turn psycho afterwards.”

“Thanks, Hon,” I said, smiling a little in spite of myself. “I’ll let you go back to surfing for now and I’ll be at the airport on Monday to meet you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Slugger,” she said sweetly. “We’ll be okay. She’s crazy to give up what you have to offer. I’ll see you Monday.”

We said goodbye and I hung up the phone, putting it on the desk. “I don’t know how many more times I can explain this to everyone,” I admitted. “Lana, can you ask Tabby and Collie to come over? I’ll do the same with Gina and get it done at once.”

She nodded and made the call for me. I reluctantly picked up my phone and called Gina.

“Hey!” she gushed when I called. “We were just talking about you. Your ears must have been burning.”

“Oh?” I asked, distracted for a moment. “What’s up?”

“We were just talking about the summer and whether we can all go,” she said happily. “I think we’re all going to be able to go.”

“That’s great news, Hon,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. It was the first piece of really good news I’d had all day. “I’m really glad your parents are gonna be coming. That’s not why I called though. I’ve had kind of a bad day and there’s some bad news that I have to deliver. Can you slip away for an hour or so? Tabby and Collie are on their way over. So I can explain it to you all at the same time.”

“Sure,” she said faintly, not knowing what was going on. “Is everything okay?”

“Cheryl’s leaving,” I said. “I’ll explain why when you get here.”

“I can probably guess,” she said after a moment’s pause. “I’ll be there soon. We’ll be okay.”

“Thanks. See you soon.”

She hung up and I looked at the three of them. “I guess that only leaves emailing the rest of the girls,” I said and got up.

“You’re going downstairs?” Lana asked, surprised that I wasn’t going to wait until Cheryl had left.

“Yup. I don’t have to like it, but I’m not gonna hide from her. You coming or would you rather not have the temptation to rattle some teeth?” I asked. I was okay with going it alone, but I much preferred the idea of having them with me.

The three of them got up and we went downstairs. Cheryl, Tricia, Beck and Alice were in the room when we got there. Beck and Tricia were sitting on the bed and Cheryl was emptying her things out of the dresser into a tote bag, packing haphazardly while Alice sat on the foot of the bed.

I decided to greet her first and crossed the room to shake her hand. “Dr. Gionetti, thanks for coming on short notice,” I said gratefully. “I really appreciate you being here for Cheryl.”

She took my hand in a firm grip and smiled. “You’re welcome, Matthew,” she said lightly. “I’m kind of surprised that you didn’t call Victoria today given what I’ve heard.”

I shrugged awkwardly. “I don’t like to bother Victoria unless I have to. I already take up so much of her time that I frequently feel more like a boyfriend than a patient.”

“You certainly speak to her more like a boyfriend,” she commented with an arched eyebrow.

“Part of that is because of what happened with Dr. Collins. She knew that her normal professional distance would only alienate me further in the aftermath of that disaster.”

She nodded. “The two of you are also very close to Carl Saddler,” she pointed out gently.

“That’s true. He’s been a mentor to both of us. I only wish his prognosis was better so he could live to see me graduate and see how much of an influence he’s been to me.” We were both avoiding mention of Cheryl and I was okay with that. Cheryl wasn’t any of my business any more.

She patted my shoulder and nodded in understanding. I smiled at her with a little more effort than it normally took and then went to hug Beck and Tricia. “Thanks for being here,” I told them both as we held onto each other.

“I’m surprised you came downstairs,” Tricia said softly.

“I need to email the girls and let them know how things are,” I said, knowing they understood. “Gina, Collie and Tabby are on their way over. Emma knows and I’ll call Hanna when they’re here so I only have to explain it once.”

They gave me knowing looks. This was ripping the guts out of me and I was doing a fair job of holding together, but it didn’t hurt any less for it.

I sat down at my computer and started typing the email I had to send.

Dear girls,

It hasn’t been a good day for me. Cheryl and I have split up. Her recovery hasn’t progressed far enough for us to pursue a relationship together, so she’s moving out and going back to her parents. For this reason, I won’t be able to be a father to her baby. I assign no blame for this and hope you don’t either. It’s just poor timing that put us in a situation that’s led to both of us feeling deeply uncomfortable moving forward together. I hope you all continue to be a friend to her and I wish her well in the future. I hope she comes to a place where she can be healthy and happy and put what happened behind her. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’ll see you all next week, but I hope you’ll understand if I’m not eager to talk about the details of what happened between Cheryl and I. It hasn’t been a good day for me.

Matt

I looked up and saw Cheryl still stuffing clothes into her tote bag. “Cheryl,” I said softly and she froze. “I wrote an email to the girls to tell them they don’t have to try to convince people that I’m the father. Do you want to read it before I send it or would you rather wait until you get home?”