Chapter 9

When I arrived home, Melanie was waiting up. I knew she had more fight left in her.

"Did you get your little troll back home?"

"You know what Melanie, I love you dearly..."

"Don't give me that bullshit!"

"Would you let me finish, for once? Every time we fight, you never let me even finish an argument. It's your way of winning. What I can't finish, you can't lose. Well, it stops here. I love you dearly. Yes, I had a momentary brain freeze. I'm sorry. I can't change it. I would love to make it go away, but it's too late. Now it's history. When you want to talk civil about it, you know where to find me. I'll be in the guest room. I would rather be with you, but you're not as forgiving as I am. Good night my love."

Before she had a chance to even try to add anything, I was down the hall in the guest room. If there was 1 thing I know about Melanie, if she felt she was right she would fight to the death. In this case, she sure wasn't wrong. I knew this would be where I'll be sleeping for a long time. I wanted to argue with her, but I had school and work to deal with tomorrow and needed sleep.

I didn't get to sleep real early. I just lay there awake. All I could think about was Julie being pregnant. Why does my life always have to be so messy? I got up and sent Julie an email asking if she was ok. I know Mel would kill me if she knew, but I didn't care. She'd have to live with it. Julie was in a tough spot as well. She was carrying my baby, I'm going to worry a little. I finally fell asleep sometime after coming back to bed.

I woke up before the alarm clock started to go off. I just lay there staring at the ceiling. I'm not fully sure how I felt about being a father again. If it had been with Mel, I would have been ecstatic. Since this was with Julie, I just couldn't show the same joy. That's not to say that I couldn't feel it though.

I finally got out of bed when nature made certain that I had to. I stopped in the kitchen to make some breakfast when Melanie came home. I forgot that she had to work last night.

"Morning" I said cheerily.

"Go fuck yourself."

"I love you too."

"Don't you even feel bad for what you did?"

"That depends on what part you're talking about. I feel pretty good today. Not because of doing Julie, but because I finally was able to tell you. That secret had been killing me for almost 6 weeks. The relief of having that off my chest is immeasurable. Do I feel bad for hurting you? I've already told you the answer to that. You just don't want to hear it."

She started for the bedroom, giving me the single finger salute along the way. I knew I was going to have to work to wear her down again. I was beginning to wonder if it was going to be worth it.

I went off to my normal Monday routine. My last class of the day was the computer class, so I ran into Julie. After class, I made a point of catching up with her.

"Hey Julie. Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I didn't really like the way Melanie was talking to me, but I guess I can understand her anger. I imagine I would be just as angry as she is. Did she give you more shit last night?"

"She wanted to, but I just went to bed. I didn't feel like fighting anymore. I know the war has just begun and Mel will make sure it's a good long fight."

"Well, good luck. We'll need to talk sometime about the baby. Was Mel right about your refusal to sign off your rights to it?"

"She knows me well. I couldn't go on knowing I have a son or daughter out there and I don't know how they're doing."

"I'm sorry I did this to you. You didn't need another child."

"What's done is done and making the baby is done. I need to get moving. Give me a call after 10 tonight and we can talk more."

"Won't Melanie have a cow?"

"Melanie goes to work at 10."

"ahhh, now I see. I'll call you later then."

I smiled and headed off to work. I knew Mel would be pissed, but I was still worrying about my soon to be son or daughter. Melanie is just going to have to live with it.

When I arrived home after work, Melanie was sitting at the table waiting for me. She was dressed and ready for work, so I knew that she was looking to keep the fight going.

"Good evening Sweetie. How was your day?"

"Save the pleasantries for someone you actually care about. Did you talk to your little troll today?"

"I did see her in class, yes. We didn't really have time to talk. Why do you ask?"

"I thought I told you to stay away from her. Don't you know how to listen?"

"Fine, you want me to do everything exactly as you ask. I can do that. I don't think that you'll like what you have to give up to get it though."

"I'm not giving anything up. I wasn't the one who has sex with my lab partner."

"You're right, you're didn't, this time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you have to ask that question, then you're not as smart as I've given you credit for."

She just seemed to get pissed at this. I know that I struck a cord with her that she didn't want to get into. She may not be a rocket scientist, but she could remember events well enough.

I went to the fridge to get something to eat. As I sat down, I knew she wanted more arguments, but we heard the horn blow from her ride to work.

"I hope you have a sleepless night, pig."

I just had to reply, "I won't, I'll be thinking of you."

I won't repeat what she told me, but suffice it to say, it was very unkind. I finished eating and started working on my homework. About 10:30, the phone rang.

"Hello"

"Hi Rob, is the coast clear?"

"Yeah, she's at work. You indicated that we needed to talk. What's up?"

"I don't know. I mean, I feel..."

"Confused, lost, cornered, frightened, scared."

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"I've been around a little you know. I know how I felt 17 years ago when Mel was pregnant for Robbie. Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean that I don't have feelings."

"Sorry. I guess I'm still in a fog over this. I'm not sure I'm ready to be a mommy."

"So you're going to keep the baby?"

"I don't know. I guess I have time to think about it."

"That you do. If you don't want to keep the baby, I will take my baby. Either way, I will be a part of my child's life. If you need any help, let me know. I can't guarantee what I will be able to do, but I will help where I can."

"Thanks Rob. I better let you go. I know you're probably working on homework."

"Ok, See you on Wednesday. Hey, we may want to get together this weekend for the last project. That will give us another week if we need extra time."

"Good idea. I'll be there on Saturday."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I know how I feel about the new baby, but I also remember becoming the parent for the first time. I finished my homework and went to bed.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. Every time I saw Melanie, I would say loving things to her, and she would tell me where I could shove them. I knew that if I wanted her back, I was going to have to wear her down. Kill her with kindness as it were.

School and work were the normal hassle. I just did my best to keep up all week long. When Saturday rolled around, I told Becky that she better be ready for the library trip. She was excited. I had talked to Julie during the week and agreed to meet in the library. That way Becky could enjoy the library while we worked. It would save me probably 5 hours.

Julie and I found a table and started to plot the program, while Becky had her fun. We finished drawing up the program after 2 hours and we both had to physically drag Becky to the computer lab. It took us 4 full hours to finish, but the final project actually was completed and pretty good as well.

We walked back to the library so Becky could finish what she started. Julie and I sat at the table again and both of us started working on other bits of homework. We also talked about some details with the impending baby. I wanted to make sure that Julie was getting to prenatal doctors visits. She just replied, "yes mother" to that. Becky yet again had to tell Julie that she was hoping for twins, this did not amuse Julie. Becky meant it though. We finally said our goodbyes and left.

The final two weeks of school went by pretty quickly. I was spending much of my time studying for final exams. When they were all done, I felt confident on how I'd done. When the semester was over, I drove Julie to the airport and saw her off. At least I couldn't get blamed for anything with her for the next 4 weeks.