BRITTANY
The morning is foggy, as is my brain, as we walk into the courthouse in New Holland. A tall older man is waiting just inside the double doors. “Hello, Jason.”
Jason nods. “Hi, Jackson, thanks for meeting me here. This is my fiancée, Brittany.”
The older man raises his silver eyebrows as he looks at me. “Fiancée?”
“Yes, sir,” I say as I reach out to shake his hand. “As of only a few days ago.”
“When’s the wedding?” he asks.
I shrug and Jason speaks up, “As soon as this shit is dealt with.”
The attorney leads us upstairs. “Beatrice Simmons is suing you for child support for her three-month-old son, Morgan Brennan.”
We stop on the top step as Jason asks, “How in the hell was she able to give him my last name?”
“She filled in the birth certificate with more than that. She put your name as the father too. She said you were out of the country when the baby was born and that you gave her permission to do that,” the attorney tells him. “Were you aware of the pregnancy, Jason?”
He shakes his head. “Not at all. It’s been about a year since I’ve seen her. I’ve talked to her on the phone some, but I’ve been telling her I was in Brazil on business.”
The attorney runs his hand over his face, which has gone ashen. “Jason, what does this woman think you do for a living?”
“She thinks I’m in the import-export business.” Jason looks at me with a blank expression. “Are you ready to hear me lie some more?”
The attorney shakes his head. “No more lies, Jason. The truth comes out today. End of story.”
“But she’s not telling the truth either,” Jason says as the attorney walks forward and we follow.
“She isn’t my client. You are. No more lies, Jason.” He pushes a door open and there sits an older woman judge behind a very clean desk.
On the other side of the desk sits a dark-haired woman with brown eyes. She’s a little chubby and looks right at Jason as we go into the room. She stands up and walks toward him.
The attorney gets between them. “No physical contact is going to be allowed, Miss Simmons.”
She looks a little sad, but nods and sits down. “Hello, Jason. I’m sorry about this. If you’d come around, then you’d have known more.”
“Beatrice, this …” Jason says, but his attorney turns back to him and raises his hand to stop him from talking.
A couple of chairs are pulled up and we sit together on one end of the desk while the accuser sits alone on the other end of it. She looks down and I can see where she’s been biting her nails.
She seems not completely insane, so I don’t know why she’d be doing this if she didn’t honestly think Jason was the father of her son. The judge clears her throat and we all look at her.
The nameplate on her desk says Judge Staples. Her deep black hair is dyed, as her wrinkles indicate she’s probably seventy or so. Far past retirement. I’m not sure why she’s still allowed to be a judge. But the town is small, so maybe they let them be judges as long as their minds hold up.
I hope this woman has a mind that still works!
“Hello. I am Judge Staples and we are here today in the matter of child support for Morgan Brennan, the son of Beatrice Simmons and Jason Brennan …”
The lawyer interjects, “My client has viable concerns he is not the father of this child. Furthermore, he was never told of a pregnancy and never approved of his name being used on the birth certificate or the child carrying his surname. These are things we will attend to today, Your Honor.”
The judge looks at Beatrice, who looks a little pale. “You assured me this man was aware of a pregnancy, Miss Simmons.”
“He was, Judge. I swear it,” she says, but she won’t look at Jason, so I have my doubts.
“Look, Judge,” Jason says as he leans forward, taking the woman’s attention. “Here’s the deal. I always use condoms, and Miss Simmons assured me she was on oral birth control. I can’t be the father.”
The judge gives him a smile. “Stranger things have happened, Mr. Brennan. Do you admit to having sex with Miss Simmons during the time she became pregnant?”
Jason gets out his phone and taps it a few times, then turns it around to show the judge. “That date right there is the last time she and I were intimate.” He looks around his lawyer at Beatrice. “That date is a good month before you were pregnant, if that baby is three months old.”
Beatrice nods. “This is true. But it wasn’t through sex that I got pregnant. It was through in vitro fertilization.”
Jason’s eyebrows go so far up, they get lost in his dark hairline. He looks at the judge and asks, “Is that legal? I didn’t know about that. Nor would I have ever approved of it.”
The judge takes a deep breath and looks at Beatrice. “Did you do that behind Mr. Brennan’s back?”
Beatrice nods. “But we were in a monogamous relationship. He was out of the country so much with his job that we didn’t get to really discuss things. I’m thirty-four and I found myself worrying about never having a child. So I did something some people might find dishonest. I’m a nurse, you see. I know how to keep semen, and I kept three condoms full of it. I took it to the clinic and had it stored.”
Jason growls, “How could you do that?”
Beatrice looks upset, and who could blame her? But also, who could blame Jason? And now I think there’s about a hundred percent chance this baby is his. Now I find myself breaking out into a sweat.
This woman may be a part of my life if I do marry Jason. I may help in raising their son. I don’t know how I feel about all of that.
It was me who was going to give him his children. It was me who would be co-parenting with him. Now this woman is going to be a part of that and it makes me uneasy.
Beatrice looks up and has tears rolling down her cheeks as she looks at Jason. “I’m sorry, honey. I just wanted a baby so badly. You were never at home. We could never talk about it.”
All the hairs on my body stand on end. I grip Jason’s hand and whisper, “Home? You two had a home together?”
Beatrice looks at me. “Who are you?”
I hold up my left hand and wiggle my ring finger. “I’m his fiancée?”
Her mouth hangs open as she looks at Jason. “How could you do this to me?”
He shakes his head and looks at me. “I’ll explain things to you later.”
Beatrice shakes her head. “How about I do the explaining so the judge and your new woman can clearly understand what you and I have? You see, Jason and I met at a night club in Dallas. I had an immediate attraction to him and we hit it off right away. I lived in a tiny apartment and after three nights together he bought us a home. A very nice five-bedroom, five-bathroom home in a very nice subdivision. He bought me a Mercedes, which sits in our four-car garage right next to his tall black pickup truck.”
My heart stops beating.
I look at Jason, who just keeps running his hand over his face. “Maybe it’s time to tell her the truth, Jason,” I whisper.
His attorney nods. “Time to come clean, Jason.”
Beatrice looks shocked. “The truth? But I don’t understand any of this, Jason. You and I were going to get married one day. You told me that.”
He nods and looks at her. “Look, I’m sorry about all of this. I never meant to hurt anyone. I swear that. You see, I was playing you, Bea. I never went out of the country to work. I went to see other women. I have forty-seven other women who think I’m in monogamous relationships with them.”
I watch the poor woman crumple into a heap as she lays her head on the desk in front of her. “That many? How?”
His lips quirk up into a half smile. “With the help of this little app, I invented. The Polyamory Handler. It’s for people who like to have relationships. Only they want to have them with a lot of different people.”
He acts as if that should explain away everything. As in, that life we had, Bea, yeah, that was all a joke, ha ha.
I feel very sick. My stomach is churning and I’m pretty sure I’m about to puke. I get up and Jason holds my hand tight. I jerk it free. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
He lets my hand go. “Okay.”
I run out of the room and down the hallway until I see the restroom and dart into it. Breathing hard, I look into the mirror as I run the water. Trying hard not to puke, I keep thinking to myself that I’m here to help the man I love.
But, my God, this man has gotten himself into a heap of shit!
The door opens and in comes Beatrice. She goes straight into the first bathroom stall and I hear her throwing up. I can’t blame her one bit.
I decide I had better leave before she tries to talk to me. I find Jason standing in the hallway. I fight the urge to run past him and leave him alone to deal with what he’s pulled down on himself.
But as I look at his fallen face, I feel only sorrow for him. I don’t understand how I feel that way for someone who’s done such things, but I do feel it. I turn back as I hear the bathroom door open and see Beatrice stagger out.
Taking Jason’s hand, I say, “Shouldn’t you talk to her a little?”
He shakes his head as Beatrice comes up to us. “I can’t believe you’re going to put me through further embarrassment by making me get a DNA test, Jason. Haven’t you humiliated me enough?”
“It nothing personal. I just need to be sure,” he says as he grips my hand tight in his.
“What am I supposed to do with the house and the car?” She shakes her head and looks like complete crap. My heart goes out to her. “Do I need to find another place for me and our son to live?”
I look at Jason. “Give her the house and the cars. Give her all the things she’s made a life with. You owe her that much at the very least, Jason.”
“How in the hell are you still with him after what you just heard, lady?” she asks me in astonishment.
“He and I have a very different relationship. It goes back to the very beginning. I don’t expect anyone to understand. And if this baby is his, I want you to know we’ll treat it the same way we’re going to treat our own children, even though I do not condone what you did. That wasn’t a thing anyone should do without the other party’s knowledge and agreement.”
A short laugh comes out of her. “Ha! You won’t be seeing my son! Not ever! All I want from him is money. He needs to stay far away from me and my son now that I know the truth.”
Jason nods and I shake my head. “No, ma’am! That isn’t how things will go at all. You made a mistake by doing what you did. Jason did too, but that child won’t pay for any mistakes the two of you made. Jason will see the boy and he will be a parent to him. Like it or not, that’s the way it’s going to be.”
The woman looks me up and down. “You’re an idiot!”
She storms off and I’m left standing here holding Jason’s hand as he looks at the floor.
What kind of shit have I got myself into?
JASON
Walking out of the clinic where I had them draw my blood to get the most accurate DNA test possible, I hold tight to Brittany’s hand. “You’re amazing, you know.”
She looks at me underneath a mop of hair that’s fallen over her face. I think she’s wearing it down and loose to hide her expressions from me. I can tell so many things are going through her head with all she’s found out.
“I am not. I’m committed to you now. When I commit, I do it all the way.”
I open the door of the rental car and let her get inside. Then I make my way around to slide in behind the driver’s seat. Taking her hand again as soon as I start the car, I ask, “Hungry?”
She shakes her head. The girl’s never hungry, so I head toward a place to eat anyway. I’m sure all the revelations today didn’t help her poor appetite.
She turns to look at me. “How many of those women did you buy homes and cars for?”
I hand her my phone. “Look through the app. It will tell you everything. It keeps track of that stuff. I’d surely be leaving out something if I told you.”
She takes the phone and starts looking at my life in that little app. It’s the way I’ve made my fortune and the way I’ve kept track of my relationships.
As she looks all through it, she makes various faces and doesn’t once look at me. I think she’s pretty disgusted with me and I hope she can get over that. If not, then I’ll have lost her, too.
After a good while of her searching through what’s been a huge secret, she finally looks at me. “You should sell this app to the FBI or the CIA. They could use it for good, instead of the evil you’ve designed it for.”
“Evil? That’s kind of harsh, Britt.”
“Let me tell you what harsh is, Jason. Harsh is allowing people to think something when it’s not even close to being true. You’ve done a few smart things that should help you from getting your ass sued. You made sure the things you bought were put in only the women’s names, so they’ll be able to keep those things.”
“I do have some personal things at each place,” I say as I pull into a little café.
“Forget about them. Once you tell them all the truth, your shit will be history, believe me.”
I park the car and get out. She’s out before I can open her door and I’m not real happy about that. She usually lets me get the door for her.
As we get to the door of the café, she reaches out to open it. “I got it, pumpkin.”
She waits and lets me open it but doesn’t look at me. I know she’s reeling from everything. I don’t know what I expected her to feel like when she found out the murky depths of things.
We sit down in a booth and I slide in next to her, keeping our legs touching. I feel like I need to maintain physical contact with her or she’ll forget how much I love her and want this charade of a life with all the others to end.
The waitress brings us a couple of glasses of water and the menus. “Hey, shugs. What can I get you two to drink?”
Before I can say a word, Britt answers, “I need a Scotch on the rocks. Bring two of those for me, please.”
The waitress laughs. “Sure thing, sweetie. And for you, sir?”
“I’ll have a sweet iced tea. And can you bring us an appetizer, a combination of the best ones, please?”
She nods and leaves us alone in the little café, which only has three other people in it. Taking Britt’s hand, I pull it up and kiss it. She looks at me with no smile on her beautiful face. “I’m really sorry for acting this way. I’m trying my best to be here for you. You’ve just been into some things I feel are really mean and selfish.”
“I know it looks that way. I do. But you have no idea how hard most of those women came onto me. It’s kind of like they were not taking no for an answer and instead of breaking their hearts, I gave them a little of what they wanted. But I know it was wrong, and I know I did it to avoid confrontation.”
“And you know you need therapy, right?” she asks.
Her words kind of stun me, even though they shouldn’t. “I suppose I do. And I have a little more to tell you about things. Jackson, my attorney, told me that we shouldn’t get married until we have this child support thing settled. Otherwise, they’ll use your money, too, in order to decide what I need to pay. We don’t want that to happen.”
“It’s for the best, anyway,” she says.
I freeze, then run my arm around her. “For the best?”
The drinks come, along with a plate of a bunch of fried stuff and a bowl of ranch dressing. The waitress places the things on the table. “So, what can I get you two to eat?”
“I’m not hungry,” Brittany says.
“Bring us a couple of chicken fried steaks with mashed potatoes and gravy, please.” I look at Britt. “You are eating.”
The waitress nods and walks away. Brittany takes a long drink of the Scotch and sighs. “Life’s weird, huh?”
“I guess so,” I say as I pick up a chunk of fried something and dip it, then pop it into my mouth. It’s chicken, so I pick up another and dip it, then hold it to her lips.
“I’m not …” she says, but I pop it in anyway.
She chews and glares at me, then takes another drink. I’m not about to let her mood affect her eating. With a smile, I say, “You’re going to eat, skinny mini.”
With no hesitation, I pop another piece of chicken into her mouth as soon as she swallows the alcohol, which I’d rather her not have any of at all. The way she’s acting has me worried.
“Jason, I can eat on my own. I’m just not hungry, and this is sitting on my stomach all wrong,” she says as she goes to grab her nearly empty glass of Scotch.
I intercept her, taking the alcohol away and moving the other glass of it as well. “Here, have some of my tea. I’m sure it’s the Scotch affecting your stomach, not the food. You shouldn’t be drinking anyway. We didn’t drink at all since we made the decision to try to have a baby. You know that.”
“Yeah, about that. I don’t think that’s a good idea anymore. With this hanging over your head.” She sips my tea and looks past me, out the large window behind me. “Fuck. She’s coming in here, and she has the baby.”
I turn to see who she’s talking about and cross my fingers it’s not Beatrice. But my fears are confirmed as I see it is her. “I doubt she realizes we’re in here.”
Brittany looks sick. “Damn it! I have to go to the bathroom. Shit!” She gets up and hauls ass to the bathroom to puke, no doubt.
Beatrice doesn’t see me or seem to notice the nearly running Brittany as she makes her way to the restroom. Instead, Bea goes to the counter. “I ordered a to- go plate,” she tells our waitress, who went to the cashier station.
“Yeah, we have it in the back, Bea. I’ll tell Johnny you’re here.” The waitress leaves the counter and walks back to the kitchen.
I can barely hear Beatrice as she says what sounds like, “You want to see Daddy?” She pulls the little blanket back off the baby who is lying in a car seat.
She’s so focused on the baby, she hasn’t even looked around the little café once. A man comes out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a white towel hung over an apron around his waist. His dark hair is covered with a hairnet and his white T-shirt has grease stains all over it.
“Hey, baby,” he says as he goes toward Bea and the baby.
She pulls the tiny baby out of the car seat. The guy kisses her cheek, then takes the baby. “How’s Daddy’s little soldier?” He kisses the baby on the forehead then cuddles him. “How was court?”
She looks kind of grim. “He’s making me do a DNA test. This might not work the way we wanted it to.”
The sound of the bathroom door squeaking open has me turning back to find Brittany coming out of it and I pray Bea won’t look that way and see her.
I move to the other side of the booth so my back is to Bea and we’ll be less likely to be seen. With a wave to Britt, she follows my lead and sits on the side I’ve moved to.
She whispers, “What’s up with that man holding the baby?”
“Listen,” I whisper back. “Seems he’s the daddy.”
Her eyes go wide as we put our heads together and try to hear them talking. Our waitress comes out of the kitchen, carrying our plates. She brings them over and says, “Here you two go. Anything else?”
I shake my head and she places the plates in front of us, then leaves. Looking over my shoulder, I see her going straight up to Bea and the man who she obviously is having some kind of relationship with.
“Okay, so tell me how it went today. Did you manage to get anything out of Moneybags?” the waitress asks.
“No, Donna,” Bea answers. “He’s making me get a DNA test. And like I told Johnny, it’s a rare chance the in vitro fertilization is what made me pregnant since he and I were having sex at that time. I suppose there’s a fifty-fifty chance Moneybags is the father. No matter what, I get to keep the house and the cars.”
Johnny makes a little hissing sound as he says, “Yes! I get to keep the truck!”
“You do, baby. His very bossy girlfriend, oops, I mean, fiancée, made him give me those things. I could see she was kind of sick about what he’s been doing. I’m just glad you came along, Johnny, and showed me what the asshole was really doing. I guess you finding that app was a godsend. You know he told me he has forty-something other women he’s doing the same thing to?”
“Fuck me!” the waitress says. “How in the hell?”
“I don’t know or care. I just want restitution for the time I put into his lying, cheating ass,” Bea says.
Johnny clears his throat. “Bea, you weren’t exactly a saint.”
“Well, he doesn’t know that,” she says with a laugh.
I’m seeing red, and not because of any jealousy either. This woman merely wants money and now I’ll be damned if she gets any.
Britt’s hand moves over my leg as she mouths, “I’m so sorry, baby.”
I rest my forehead against hers. “Thank you. You don’t know what it means to me to have you in my corner, Britt.”
“When can I come back home, Bea?” the man asks her.
“Today. I don’t see how he can say a thing about that. He’s marrying someone else, anyway,” she says.
Looking into Brittany’s eyes, I whisper, “I am marrying you, and I really give less than two shits about that man and Bea.”
A smile moves over Britt’s beautiful face. “I think we should make ourselves known, but not say a word about hearing anything. What do you say?” She looks at the food on the plates and points at the gelatinous gravy. “That crap isn’t going into my mouth, anyway.”
I nod and we get up and head toward the counter to pay the bill. Beatrice looks at me as we walk up and she goes pale as a ghost. “Jason!”