Chapter 16 No Other Choice

Later that night Matt and Kitty were up in Kitty's room. Kitty was snuggled in Matt's arms, after just making love with one another. Kitty wanted to make love with Matt as much as she could. She didn't know if she would ever have the chance to do so again. How serious would he take his marriage to Sarah? Would he consider himself to be exclusively Sarah's? Would he perform the duties of a husband with her? Kitty shuddered at that thought. Kitty tried to erase these thoughts from her mind. She wanted to enjoy every moment she had with Matt.

"Kitty, talk to me," Matt softly said. He knew his girl was suffering. Hell, he was suffering.

"Oh, Matt," Kitty cried. "Everything is so messed up. Are you really going to marry her? Just because Doc said she's three months along, doesn't mean that you're the father. How do we know that she's not lying? How do we know that she didn't sleep with Jamie in the last three months? This woman is obsessed with you. She would do anything to have you."

Matt ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I don't know Kitty. I don't want to marry her, but I feel as though I don't have a choice."

"What do you mean you feel that you don't have a choice?" asked Kitty. "You have a choice. You can tell her you're not going to marry her. You can tell her that you don't believe she wasn't with Jamie these last three months. You can tell her there's no absolute way to prove that you're the father. She claims that the baby shouldn't be punished for her actions, but her actions could punish the baby."

"Kitty, if I don't marry her, she's going to tell people I raped her. I'll have to stand trial. Even if I'm not found guilty, it will ruin me as a lawman," Matt explained.

"But you didn't rape her," Kitty stressed. "If anything, she raped you. You should be pressing charges against her. Why aren't you?"

"I can't," Matt replied.

"Why not?" asked Kitty. "She admitted that she had sex with you without your consent."

"I know she did," sighed Matt. "But how is it going to look if a man of my stature is raped by a woman of Sarah's stature? People will think I don't have what it takes to be a Marshal if a petite woman can rape me. Who knows, you'll probably get some crazy people who think if I can be raped by a woman, then I'm not man enough to take them in a gunfight. If they draw on me, I'm gonna have to shoot. Chances are they're going to end up dead. I can't have people dying."

Kitty let Matt's words sink in and as she did, she understood where he was coming from. Her heart ached for herself, but even more so for Matt. He truly felt as though things were hopeless.

"It's too bad that the two of us can't leave Dodge and get away from all of this," said Kitty.

"Trust me, Kitty," Matt said. "I wish I could. But you know that I'm not a man that runs away from my problems. I face them head on."

"I know you do. That's one of the things I love about you," said Kitty as she leaned up to give Matt a kiss. "Are you still going to marry her?"

"I'll tell her I can't marry her because I can't trust that I'm the only one she had sexual relations within three months ago. I'll tell her that I can't marry her if there's a chance that she's carrying Jamie's child," said Matt.

"You know she's not going to take that too well," Kitty stated.

"That's an understatement," said Matt. Matt was in deep thought before speaking again. "Maybe I should marry Sarah."

"What?!" Kitty exclaimed. "Have you completely lost your mind? Why would you even suggest that?"

"Just hear me out," said Matt as he tried to calm Kitty down. "Maybe if Sarah experiences the marriage with the terms I've established, she'll realize being married to me wasn't what she expected and she'll want a divorce."

"That's a big if, Matt," said Kitty. "What are you going to do if she's fine with the marriage terms and doesn't want a divorce? You'll be stuck in a marriage that you don't want to be in."

"We're meeting with Sarah tomorrow morning to discuss things," said Matt. "Maybe I can still convince her to not marry me."

Kitty gave Matt a look that said that wasn't going to happen. Matt knew he wasn't going to convince Sarah not to marry him. She was dead set on marriage. Matt and Kitty fell asleep in each other's arms, but it was a restless sleep for both of them.

Morning dawned too quickly the next day. Matt and Kitty dreaded meeting with Sarah. They didn't come up with a reason for Matt to not marry Sarah, other than he simply refusing to do so. Sarah's reaction to the refusal scared Matt and Kitty. They both knew Sarah wouldn't take the refusal lightly. Who knew what she would do?

Once again the meeting place was Kitty's Long Branch office. It was the place that made the most sense. Kitty's office offered the privacy they needed. It was just going to be Matt, Kitty, and Sarah. There was no need for Doc to be there. Kitty entered her office from the saloon. Matt left Kitty's room at the crack of dawn and returned a couple of hours later. When he came back, he asked Sam where Kitty was, even though Matt knew she was in her office. Sam told Matt Kitty was in her office. Matt thanked Sam and opened the outer door and then the main door to Kitty's office, closing both doors behind him. As it had been the previous times, the back door was used by Sarah.

"So what did you two discuss?" asked Sarah.

"Before or after we made love?" Kitty answered Sarah's question with a question of her own. She saw the look of jealousy on Sarah's face and it was satisfying. "That's right. Matt makes love to me. It's a mutual loving action between the two of us. Something you'll never experience."

Matt wasn't sure what Kitty was doing. He could see that she was getting in Sarah's craw. Suddenly it dawned on Matt what Kitty was doing. Kitty was trying to show Sarah that he would rather be with her, that Sarah wouldn't have Matt the way Kitty did. Matt wasn't sure if Kitty's tactic would pay off.

"Matt, what have you decided?" Sarah asked again.

"Sarah, I need more time. You told me I would love you, if I had more time," Matt explained. He was trying to buy as much time as he could so he could delay things as long as possible.

Unfortunately Sarah wasn't buying into it. She wanted Matt, and the sooner she got him, the better. Sarah knew that the time Matt wasn't married to her, he would be with Kitty. If he was with Kitty, he wouldn't be falling in love with her. Matt's focus would be on Kitty.

"I need an answer now," Sarah said, staring Matt straight in the eyes.

"If you need an answer now, then the answer is no," replied Matt. "Sarah, I won't marry you. I'm not convinced the baby is mine."

"Matt, do you remember what Jamie wanted me to learn to use before I arrived at Fort Wallace?" Matt nodded yes. "I would hate to have to use it because of your poor decision."

Matt knew Sarah was talking about the revolver Jamie had sent her. Would she really shoot him because he wouldn't marry her? That wouldn't make any sense. If Sarah killed him, then she really wouldn't have him.

"Sarah, if you shot and killed me, then there definitely wouldn't be a marriage," Matt said.

"Matt," said Sarah, shaking her head. "I wouldn't shoot you. I would shoot your little whore."

"Who do you think you are calling me a whore?" Kitty seethed.

"You of course," Sarah calmly answered Kitty. "Matt must think of you as one, otherwise he wouldn't hide his relationship with you. He obviously thinks of you as his dirty little secret."

Kitty was fuming. She wanted to claw Sarah's eyes out. The only thing stopping her was Sarah's pregnancy. Kitty had enough common sense to know that the baby could be harmed, and she didn't want to do that. The baby was innocent in all of this. Kitty actually felt sorry for the baby.

Kitty was about to give Sarah a piece of her mind, but another idea blossomed. "Dirty little secret?" she questioned. "That's funny that you would say that. Matt and I have this little game we sometimes play. He calls me his dirty little secret and he says it in his flirtatious sexy voice. We enjoy a little foreplay and then we make passionate love. After our lovemaking, he holds me close to him and tells me how much he loves me."

Sarah thought her words would hurt Kitty, but Kitty turned them around on Sarah. The look on Sarah's face was icing on the cake. Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Matt paid no attention to the conversation between Kitty and Sarah. All he could focus on was Sarah wanting to shoot Kitty. He couldn't allow harm or death to come to his one true love, his soulmate.

"Sarah, don't make me put you in jail," Matt said, hoping the word jail would scare her.

"Jail? You'd put a pregnant woman in jail? How would that look?" Sarah asked.

Matt knew Sarah had a point. It wouldn't look good to put a pregnant woman in jail. He could either marry Sarah to save Kitty's life or still tell Sarah no and risk Kitty being shot, possibly killed. To Matt, there was no choice. He would have to marry Sarah. There was no way he was going to let Kitty die.

"Alright, Sarah," he said. "You and I will get married." Sarah beamed with happiness and went to hug Matt, but he stopped her. "On my terms."

"Whatever you say," Sarah agreed. "I'm just glad that we're going to be together, like we're supposed to be. We're going to be a family, Matt."

Kitty stood there in stunned silence. She thought for sure Matt had made up his mind on not marrying Sarah. Yes, Sarah threatened to shoot her, but Matt knew she could take care of herself. Matt saw Kitty's anguish and knew he had to explain things to her.

"Sarah, in two hours go to Moss Grimmick's stable and rent a horse and buggy. Ride the buggy five miles west. There's an abandoned cabin out there. I'll meet you out there. We can discuss our marriage there. No one will disturb us," said Matt.

"I love you, Matt," said Sarah. "I'll meet you at the cabin in a few hours." Sarah left Kitty's office.

"Do you want to explain yourself?" Kitty asked.

"Kitty, you know I can't let her shoot you," Matt replied.

"Well, I don't want to keep you," Kitty quietly said, holding back the tears. "You have a marriage to discuss."

TBC