Sookie
I got myself together and walked back to Victor's house. He asked me to stay for dinner—he was having some neighbors over as well—but I just wasn't in the mood. He had continued to be a good friend in the month or so since the big day and I was grateful. I thanked him for the afternoon and drove back to West Hollywood.
I had moved back into my apartment on what should have been my wedding night. I was grateful that I had held onto it after all. Amelia asked whether or not I wanted her to stay, and I opted to be alone. She helped me get out of the dress and changed out of her own pretty silk suit before making herself scarce. Within a few days, friends had brought my things over from Eric's so I didn't have to see him.
Since then I've been doing fairly well, all things considered. For the first week, I mostly cried a lot and felt sorry for myself. Eric called several times a day, but I just listened to his voice mails and never called him back. Finally one night, he just knocked on my door. I opened it and gestured for him to sit on the sofa, numb from the pain. I knew he couldn't hurt me any more than he already had so I decided I had nothing to lose.
"Thank you for letting me in." I just stared at him. He waited but still got no response. "As you probably heard or maybe read in the tabloids, Arlene claims that I fathered the child she's carrying now as well as Eric." I flinched at the boy's name. "She's agreed to take a paternity test when the baby is born." His voice got very quiet. "Sookie, you know that I didn't father that baby. I may be Eric's father. That's definitely possible, but we both know what the test result will be on that baby. You do believe me, don't you?"
"I want to." My voice cracked.
He nodded and bit his lower lip as tears filled his eyes. "Okay, then. That's a place to start."
I felt my own tears fall. "I need more time."
"Okay. Okay. I understand. I just want to make myself clear. We will get through this. I may or may not have a child, but we will still be together. Surely you can forgive me for the child. Beyond that, there's nothing else to forgive. I would never cheat on you, and you know that, Sookie. I was an idiot in school and it's finally caught up with me, but please don't punish me for the rest of my life for that. Please."
I just whispered. "I'm trying."
Eric
The day I got the test results for Eric's paternity test was a tough one. I had braced myself for the news, but still held out hope that the test would be negative. I went over to Sookie's house after work and told her the result.
In spite of the serious tone in the room, I was relieved that she let me hold her while she cried. That was the first time she had let me touch her since the wedding day. I told her that I would meet with an attorney to set up child support payments and that we'd have to figure out what we wanted to do about visitation. I never admitted it out loud, but I still had no real desire to have a relationship with the boy and felt extremely guilty about that.
I promised Sookie that we still had a chance at happiness together. She never answered me, but I was hopeful that in time she would come around and give me another chance. I had all my hopes pinned on that second paternity test. Once that was behind us, all we had to do was adjust to having Eric in our lives. It wasn't perfect, but I knew it could be done.
