"Knock knock." Mia called out before entering. She left her umbrella out on the small porch and walked in to see Shea by the window. "Hey there, everything okay?"
Shea turned and gave Mia a wan smile. "Yeah, I'm good."
"Did you want to come over and have some dinner?" Mia asked starting to worry. With a shriek Letty raced into the house laughing. She shook the raindrops from her hair.
"She coming?" Letty asked upon seeing them.
"No, I think I'm gonna stay home tonight." she told them and hoped they'd leave it at that.
"Are you and Vince fighting?" Mia asked quietly.
"Again?" Letty sighed.
"We're not exactly fighting." Shea said quietly and went back to staring out the window. "I'm not so sure that Vince and I will be seeing each other anymore."
The girls realized that this was serious by the tone in Shea's voice. "What's going on Chica?" Letty asked approaching Shea.
Shea turned to face her friends. "I want you to keep in mind that this is all new. None of it is Vince's fault. So don't go ragging on him, or blaming him for anything."
"We promise." Letty told her solemnly.
"I'm pregnant." There was a moment of silence and then both the girls squealed with delight.
"Shea that's awesome! Are you so excited? Oh my god! And they said it wouldn't be possible." Letty was smiling widely.
"Yeah, I'm pretty excited. Just getting used to it."
"So much for it being impossible!"
"Shea, why aren't you seeing Vince anymore?" Mia interrupted. Letty looked at them both and stopped smiling.
"I told him last night. I don't think Vince wants children. He didn't know how to take it, but then again, I really didn't expect it to go well. I mean, he probably feels like I lied to him. I was on the pill, the doctors said I couldn't get pregnant, but here I am… Pregnant."
The three sat quietly. "I told him I don't expect anything. That if he wants to be part of the baby's life that's great, but that I'd understand if he didn't."
"That's bullshit Shea. He needs to step up. You didn't get pregnant by yourself." Letty said angrily.
"Letty, we've been dating six months, maybe a little more. That doesn't mean we'll be together forever." Shea leaned forward and brushed hair off of Mia's face. She looked close to tears. "Mia, I'll be fine. I love Vince, and I know he loves me, but we all know that doesn't mean everything works out."
"But it should." she whispered.
"In a perfect world." Shea smiled wistfully and looked out the window again. "I'm still staying. I'm just gonna give it some time before I start coming around again. I think that's for the best. But I hope you both come visit me."
"You couldn't keep us away." Mia said and hugged Shea.
"Good. I almost forgot to tell you. I have an interview at the hospital tomorrow. Part time with benefits. That's pretty important now." she laughed shakily.
"We're gonna be here for you girl." Letty told her. "That baby is just as much part of the team as everyone else. So are you."
"Thanks Letty." They left shortly after that. Shea locked up, ate some soup since the new medicine seemed to help the nausea, and headed to bed.
The next day her interview went well, and she was hired right away. Sucking in a nervous breath she headed to the garage right afterward. She was still in the suit that she interviewed in, and when she walked in Letty whistled. "Damn Shea, you dress up nice."
She'd worn one of her gray suit skirts that hit her three inches above her knees. It left a long expanse of leg shown, and with all of the running her legs looked stunning. She also wore a silk tank in a vibrant purple, and a blazer that went with the skirt. It buttoned at the waist and emphasized her breasts, waist, and hips. Before the interview she'd gone and cut her hair back into the short, sleek bob that she'd had when she first came to Los Angeles. Shea smiled at Letty and continued into the office. "Hey Dom." she said airily.
"Hey Shea." he greeted her with a smile. Letty hadn't said anything to him last night, but something was up with Shea and Vince. In fact, Letty had been uncharacteristically quiet the night before. So had Mia. When he'd asked if Shea was coming they'd told him not that night. He'd looked to Vince, but he'd had a blank face. "Missed you last night."
She smiled. "Thanks. I missed you guys too. Just had a lot of stuff to do. I had a job interview today."
"Oh really?" he asked interested. He was about to ask more when Vince entered the office.
"Hey Shea."
"Hey Vince."
"Hey Dom, have you seen that invoice for Chuck Redding?" he asked.
Dom felt the tension in the air as soon as Vince had entered. Uh oh. "It's in that stack, you'll have to search them." Vince walked over and started sorting through customer invoices. "So how'd the interview go?"
"It went well I suppose. I got the job."
"That's great Shea. Congratulations!"
"Thanks. It's part time with benefits. Always a good thing. It means I'll have to travel for the next few weeks though. While I learn the job."
Dom noticed Vince paused at this. "That's okay. We'll work around your schedule. How long will you have to travel for?"
"The first four months. It'll only be a day or two here or there. I'll be able to let you know. The guy I'll be traveling with will be driving, so I won't have to worry about that." she laughed.
"Oh, they've got you traveling with someone?"
"Yeah, I haven't met him yet. I'll meet him when I start on Monday." Vince obviously found what he needed because he stormed out of the office and slammed the door.
"Should I ask?" Dom asked somberly.
Shea closed her eyes and took a breath. "You probably don't want to. I'm sure that Letty will tell you anyway."
"Ok, so why don't you tell me."
"Between us?"
"Ok."
"Vince and I aren't going to be seeing a lot of each other anymore. At least I don't think we are. We didn't really speak about it, but that's the feeling I'm getting." she shrugged. "I'm pregnant Dom. Which is why this job with benefits comes at the best time. It'll get me out of the way, and he can figure out whatever he needs to figure out."
Dom could only imagine what Vince was going through. "Are you okay?"
"Ya know Dom, I think I'm going to be fine." the quiet confidence in her voice made him feel better.
Vince stood staring at the engine in front of him. She looked amazing. He was so lost. He'd never planned on being a father. Shit, he'd had the worst role model as a father possible. What kind of father would he make? The kid wouldn't stand a chance with him as a parent. Vince was angry. He didn't know if he was angry at Shea, or himself, or God. Things had been going so well with Shea. Almost perfect, and then this. He couldn't bring himself to talk to her. Didn't know what he'd say. Didn't want to say the wrong thing to her. Until he knew what it was he was feeling it would be better to not say anything.
It went that way for a month. Everyone in the house knew Shea was pregnant, and everyone except for Vince spent time with her. She started her new job, and had good things to say about it. She'd gone on several small trips and seemed to have fun with her mentor. She'd gone to the doctor and found out that she'd be having her baby in June, that meant she was three months pregnant. She'd lost weight from it with all of the vomiting, but hopefully that would be settling down as she entered her second trimester.
Letty had picked her up from her house that morning and driven her to the garage. Her partner, Chris was going to be picking her up there and they were driving to Fresno for a Human Resources Conference. Mia and Letty had met Chris once and seemed to think he was a nice guy. He was supposed to be there any minute, and Letty was following Shea out to wait for him.
"Now, remember to take your vitamins, and if you get cold put on your sweater."
"Letty, do you think I'm going to get cold?" Shea asked with some disbelief. She was wearing a tank top and some denim Capri's. "Stop mothering me. I'll be fine." she laughed.
A BMW pulled into the parking lot as Vince and Leon were returning to the garage from lunch. "Oh he's pretty." Leon said, which made Vince laugh. Sounded familiar.
The man who stepped out of the car was good looking in a clean cut way. Sandy blonde hair cut short and sort of spiky on top, he was about 5'11, and not too muscular, but certainly in shape. He had dimples. The man grinned and sped up as he approached the garage doors. They saw that the girls were smiling at the man. He wore gray slacks, and a sage green button down shirt. "You ready little mama?" he asked with a smile.
Vince's eyes narrowed as Shea stepped forward a huge smile on her face. "Yep, ready and accounted for."
"Chris, now it's up to you to make sure she takes her vitamins, and keeps warm. Also make sure she gets plenty of rest. I don't care how badly she wants to go dancing." Letty nagged.
Shea laughed, and Chris smiled bigger. "Yes ma'am. Two dances maximum, and I'll tuck her into bed myself. You have my word." He wiggled his eyebrows causing all three girls to laugh.
"She travels with that guy?" Leon asked incredulously.
Vince's jaw twitched, and he moved up to join the group. "What's so funny?" he asked.
"Hey Vince, Leon, this is Shea's business mentor, Chris." Letty introduced, and then almost swallowed her tongue at the look in Vince's eyes. Oh boy.
Chris smiled at the man. He figured he was pretty sure he knew who Vince was, just from listening to Shea in the past month. He stuck out his hand and Vince shook it. "Nice to meet you." Vince put some extra pressure on Chris's hand, but Chris didn't flinch. "Well, we'd better get going. We have to get there, check into the hotel, and then be at dinner by eight. Nice seeing you ladies again. Vince, Leon, I'm sure I'll see you around."
Shea said goodbye to everyone, and then looked at Vince. God she missed him so much. "Bye Vince." she said softly.
"Be safe Shea." he said just as softly. "How long are you gonna be gone?"
"Three days." Then she turned and walked away. He had to bite his tongue when Chris put his hand on her lower back, and helped her into the passenger side of his car.
"Fuck."