Four hours had gone by since Ephram had been hit with the news of the possibility that he might have fathered a child; since then, he had sat upstairs in his bedroom, the music turned up as he lay in his bed, deep in thought.
He looked over at his right arm, where his father had drawn blood from his body a few hours ago. Until the results of the DNA test came back, he had no idea if his life would now be change forever. He cursed Madison for what she did. For not telling him she was pregnant. For leaving Everwood. For cheating on him with Jay. For putting him in the situation he was in now. He felt sick just thinking about it all. But most of all, he felt scared and confused about the idea of being in charge of another life; a life that was, right now, downstairs being taken care of by his father.
What if he tried and simply wasn't able to take care of him and provide for him the way he should? What if he does something wrong and ruins this tiny person's life forever? Not only that but he and Amy were going to college in New York together in another two months. What would happen to all the plans he had made for the future if this child turned out to be his? Too many question with not enough answers circled his brain, exhausting him both physically and emotionally.
- - - - -
Downstairs, Andy sat in the living room, rocking the baby to sleep. He looked down at the child's face, studying his tiny features, trying to see any of Ephram's features, half afraid to find a resemblance. It had been four hours since the baby was found on their porch, but it felt so much longer than that.
As soon as they had gotten back from the office, Ephram had gone straight up to his room where he still remained, the music turned way up. He could only imagine what his son was going through right now with the current situation at hand, but the past three years had taught him to give Ephram space in times like these.
He looked back down at the baby, who's eyelids were slowly closing as he finished the last of his bottle. Luckily Madison had included a few already made bottles in the diaper bag; he hadn't made it out to the store yet to begin hunting for the baby things he'd be needing.
"It's been quite a day so far, hasn't it?" he asked the baby in a soft voice, careful not to disturb him from his slow departure to dream land. If it turned out he was Ephram's son, his grandson, there were going to be a lot of changes taking place -assuming Ephram chose to raise him. He didn't even want to think about that right now. He closed his eyes, leaned his head back in the rocker, unable to believe it was a little past noon.
Just then, he heard the back door open and expected to hear Delia call out his name. Instead, his neighbor and best friend, Nina, called out his name as she closed the back door behind her. Andy quickly got up from the rocking chair, careful not to disturb the baby too much as he shifted him slightly in his arms before heading to the kitchen.
"Shhhh," he said softly, his body swaying back in fourth ever so softly as he held the baby securely in his arms. Nina stopped in her tracks and simply looked at the baby in Andy's arms unsure of what to say. Surprise and awe were the first things that came to mind as she looked down at the tiny baby who had finally drifted off to sleep.
"Wow, Delia wasn't kidding, was she?" she whispered, looking back up at Andy as she spoke, then back down to the baby. He smiled, glad Nina was there; he needed someone to talk to about this.
"I'm just going to put him down," Andy whispered. He turned and walked over to the table and set the baby inside the carrier. The baby stirred for a moment, then settled in the seat. Andy smile down at him, rubbing his tiny fist.
"Looks like you're a natural," Nina whispered from behind him. He turned around and smiled at her.
"Considering I wasn't around much while Ephram and Delia were this age," he agreed. Andy then nodded his head in the direction of the living room. Nina nodded in understanding and headed into the living room, Andy following.
"So what the heck is going on, Andy?" Nina asked finally, taking a seat beside Andy on the couch.
"You won't believe me," he told her. "I know I can't."
"Try me," she said.
Andy smiled briefly. "Okay. Ephram found a baby on our front porch this morning. Long story shot, it turns out it was Madison who left him there along with a note explaining the baby is either Ephram's or an ex boyfriend of hers."
Nina's eye widened twice the normal size. "Ohmigosh, Andy, that's…" she trailed off, at a loss for words. She darted a quick glance over Andy's shoulder, in the direction of the kitchen. "Where's Ephram? I mean, how's he taking all this?"
"Do you not hear the angry teenage music slowly drifting downstairs?" he asked, glancing up at the ceiling above them. "I don't know how he feels about all this; he won't really talk to me. But I imagine he's very shocked and very confused."
Nina sat beside Andy stunned. "I'm sorry Andy, I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this." She looked up at him, trying to read what was going on inside his head. "I think I need a drink," she said finally.
"I'll second that," Andy said, getting up. "Scotch or Whiskey?" he asked as he held the two bottles up.
"Wow, didn't picture you the type to be packin' the hard stuff."
"I save them mostly for times like this," Andy said with a smile. Nina smiled back, pointing to the drink on the right. Andy poured the two of them their drinks, carefully carrying the glasses back to the couch with him.
"So…what are you guys gonna do if this baby turns out to be Ephrams?" Nina asked, her brain still trying to wrap itself around this situation. "He can't very well take the baby with him to New York this fall and raise him and attend college. That'd be madness."
Andy swallowed down a sip of whisky. "I have no idea what were going to do if this child turns out to be Ephram's." He paused, looking down at his drink. "I don't even know if Ephram intends to keep the baby if the tests say its his." These was all things Andy should be trying to work out in his head, get a back up plan in gear, but he just couldn't bring himself to think about the 'ifs' just yet. The two sat in silence, each lost in separate troubling thoughts.
"You know, this may sound funny, but I almost feel as if this is my fault," Andy admitted.
"Howso?" Nina asked, a puzzled look in her face. "Perhaps if maybe I had given Ephram the talk about birth control, or another talk on sex, or if I had kept a better eye on him and Madison…" he trailed off. "None of this would be happening."
"Andy stop, you can't drive yourself crazy with the 'what ifs,'" Nina placed her free hand on Andy's knee as she spoke to him. "Right now I think you need to focus on being there for Ephram and preparing yourself -and Ephram- for the possibility that this baby is his."
"I know. Your right." He sighed. He still had to figure out what they were going to do come night fall, not to mention the days ahead and how they were going to take care of the baby until the results came in.
He looked up at the ceiling above him, wondering what was going through his son's head; he hadn't said much since they had gotten back from the doctor's office after sending the DNA test out. In fact, he hadn't so much as touched the baby.
He wondered if that was a good sign or bad.
