Chapter 2

By the time Lupe got around to telling Jim that he was going to be a daddy, she was well into her fourth month of pregnancy. Jim was quite surprised when Lupe informed him, and, when he figured out how advanced she was into her pregnancy, asked her why she didn't tell him sooner. Looking at him, Lupe confessed that she was afraid that Jim would try to talk her into getting an abortion, which, she quickly assured him, she could never do.

"Jim, I'm going to have this baby. It's more important to me than anything else has ever been, or ever could be. I don't want or need your financial help. I'd like to have your continued friendship, but this baby is mine and I'm keeping it."

"Lupe, listen I'm happy that you're pregnant, if you're happy about it. I think the decision about whether or not to have the baby is yours to make, not mine. I'd like for us to stay friends too, but I hope you'll understand when I tell you that I'm not planning on taking an active role in parenting your baby. Maybe I could see the baby from time to time, maybe be something like an uncle?" Lupe gave him a hug and told him that being like an uncle would be good.

Jim had spoken on the phone often with both Donna and Sandy, keeping hmself current with how their lives were progressing. Sandy told him that she had started dating in March, when she turned 15, and was having a great time. She told Jim that she had lots of fun being a tease and loved to get the guys all excited. She admitted that a couple times she'd done a little more than just tease, but she swore that it was nothing more than a quick hand job, and after a few seconds, she giggled and admitted that some small amount of titty touching had also taken place. She admitted that she'd like to do more, if she found the right guy, but just hadn't run into the right guy yet. Donna didn't seem to like to discuss what she'd been doing socially much with Jim, although she did volunteer that she'd gone to her senior prom and had enjoyed it a lot. She was disappointed when Jim decided not to attend her high school graduation, but she said that she understood. Jim promised that he'd definitely come to her college graduation if she invited him. The few times he spoke with Jill she seemed quite happy in her new marriage. She and Sandy were always inviting Jim to come over and visit with them. Jim demurred, pleading that problems at work were keeping him busy, but the truth was that he felt that it might be an uncomfortable situation for all of them.

Donna called him from West Covina shortly after she arrived in California. She had flown out to visit with her mom and sister and to get acquainted with her new step father. She said she'd be there for a week's stay and would be going back to her grandparents after that. They spoke on the phone for an hour, neither one suggesting that either might like to get together to see each other during her stay. The day that Donna was due to leave for Chicago, she called Jim to let him know that he sure was right about the Squirt being a squirter. She then told him about how the two of them had been home alone one night, while Jill and Tom were attending some advertising function, and they had started talking about boys and sex and things. After the two had compared notes and talked about their experiences with Jim and others, they both admitted to being turned on by their conversation and, after talking about that for awhile, decided to "Jill off" together, a term that they both found wildly hilarious. Somehow, and Donna was definitely a little vague on how this might have occurred, she had wound up with a face full of Sandy's pussy juice. She and Jim laughed about that. She asked him if it bothered him when she told him things like that and he said that it really didn't, that he was just glad that she and Sandy had patched up their differences. At some point, later in the conversation, Donna asked about how he was getting along with Lupe. Jim told her that they too had managed to bridge their differences and that, as a matter of fact, Lupe was now carrying his child. After a pause, Donna asked him whether he was joking, or if he was serious. Thinking that she had to know sooner or later, Jim told her he was serious. There was a definite pause on the line, for more than a few seconds.

"You are such a MOTHERFUCKER!!!" she screamed into the phone, and then she hung up. It was early September before the two spoke on the phone again. This time Donna was again calling from California, but this time she was calling from Westwood. In spite of all the problems she'd had managing her personal life, somehow, Donna had always produced excellent grades in school. As a result, she had not only been accepted at UCLA, but had won herself an excellent scholarship and was now beginning her freshman year.

"Jim, are you and Lupe really having a baby?" No hello, how are you, never any small talk or lead in or anything with Donna. Jim smiled to himself and tried to phrase his answer as carefully as he could.

"Lupe is having a baby, in October, sometime around Halloween. It might have been more correct, the last time we spoke, if I had said that I was the sperm donor." He paused to allow her time to digest this before continuing on. "Lupe is going to be the sole parent, I am going to be something like an uncle. Lupe and I are friends, we're not involved together in any sort of romance."

"Oh, so then you didn't fuck her, you just donated your sperm, like with artificial insemination? That was actually kind of a sweet thing for you to do."

"No, not exactly. The way it happened, it was kind of an accident though, and you were pretty much the one to blame for the whole thing."

"How could I have possibly been to blame? You're not making any sense."

"It's somewhat complicated, but basically, Lupe and I got to talking about you, and while we were talking about you, at some point in that discussion, I happened to make mention of the fact that you had the sweetest tasting pussy I'd ever known, and then Lupe said she agreed with me, and then, the next thing I know, we get undressed, start kissing, and then I'm on top of her, banging away, and then, we start groaning and the next thing you know, bam, I'm making a sperm donation. So, I guess you can see how, in a way at least, you are responsible."

"You are such an asshole!" click. Two days later she called him again to let him know that even though she was close by, attending UCLA, she never wanted him to try to call her and especially didn't want him to try to see her.

That weekend she called him early on Saturday morning to ask him whether or not he still thought she had the sweetest tasting pussy he'd ever known. He told her that his memory had started failing him recently, probably due to his advanced age, and that to be completely honest, it had been so long since he'd tasted it, he honestly couldn't remember. She then asked him whether he could perhaps take something to help his memory problem, like Ginkgo Biloba or something. He paused for awhile and then asked her what the original question was again. She laughed, a sound that could still cause goose bumps to appear on his arms. They talked for another 20 minutes before she asked him whether he was ever going to ask to see her again. He'd known that the question was inevitable, but, he had hoped it would take her longer to get around to asking it.

"Donna, as much as I'd dearly love to see you again, I'm terrified that it would result in too much pain for both my heart, and for my head, especially for my head. I think it is better if we simply talk to each other once in a while, over the telephone, like we've been doing. I know that if I ever saw you again, I'd start thinking up reasons to be with you. And, let's be honest, that hasn't worked out that well for me, or for us, in the past. I really like talking with you, I'm extremely interested in how you're doing, and I really enjoy this bantering back and forth, but I'm simply not willing to risk being with you, loving you, and then standing by helplessly, when you decide that the time is right, once again, to turn it all into shit."

"I love you Jim, I think I'll always love you. And, in case you've forgotten, it hasn't always been just me turning something good into shit. If you don't care enough about me to take another chance, then I guess I'll just have to accept that. I won't ever ask you again. If you change your mind, you'll have to be the one to bring it up." That pretty much ended the conversation, although she waited awhile to make sure Jim had nothing more to say. They finally said their goodbyes and hung up their phones.

She called him in early Novenber to ask about Lupe's baby. When he told her she'd had a healthy baby boy and named him Jesus, Donna seemed, at first at least, happy to hear it. They talked about little things for a few minutes before Donna told him that she had to go. As they were saying their goodbyes, Donna whispered into the phone that she had wanted to be the one to have his babies. He heard her weeping softly into the receiver, but didn't know what he could say. She called him on Christmas morning from West Covina and wished him a Happy Holiday. She mentioned, almost in passing, that she was now seeing someone.

Sandy called him in early April, just to say hello she said, but finally, she got around to letting him know that Donna was engaged, and planning a June wedding. Sandy had widened her definition of teasing she said, to make it include anything short of actual intercourse. She then told him that she had found a guy that she did more than tease, then she laughed and told him that she'd dumped him after a week and then had found another. But now, she swore, she was back to just being a tease. Jill came on the line and asked him if he was OK. She told him that Donna's intended was nice, but she said that she doubted that the two of them could make a go of it.

Donna called him exactly a week before she was supposed to be married and told him that right shewas going to give him his last chance ever to tell her that he wanted her to be with him. She swore that she would get married if she thought that the two of them wouldn't be getting back together. Jim told her that he wished her nothing but happiness, and asked her to congratulate the lucky groom from him.

A week later Jill called, asking him if Donna had shown up there. He told her that he hadn't seen her, but would call if he should either see or hear from her... Jill said that Donna had been at her house, visiting, on the night before her wedding, had left, supposedly to go back home, and hadn't been seen since then. Jill said the groom to be was furious and then, finally had said he no longer cared where Donna was because he was washing his hands of her. A few days passed, then Jim got a call from Jill saying that Donna had turned up in Chicago, and for now, was staying with her grandparents.

In September, Donna called Jim once again, letting him know that she was back for her sophomore year at UCLA. They talked about her runaway bride escapade and she told him that she just couldn't go through with it. He told her that she should have phoned the poor groom and told him that she'd had a change of heart, asked his forgiveness, sent back the wedding presents, with sincere notes of apology, and then, gone ahead and moved on with her life. It would have been a better solution for everyone involved, and definitely would have saved a lot of people a tremendous amount of worry. She told him that her therapist had said very much the same thing.

In November, Jim's father passed away. He had been only 55 years old, and, before he died, had always appeared to be in excellent health. His brother told Jim that their father had driven to work, parked in his normal parking spot, and just seemed to sit there in the car. When he didn't come into his office, after more than an hour, one of the other employees went out and discovered that he was dead. An autopsy had been performed and he they said he had died due to a burst blood vessel in his brain. The family physician had told Jim's mom that it had been a near instant, and probably pain free death, and that it couldn't have been anticipated or prevented.