Chapter 10

"Joe, wait I can explain" I said pulling myself away from Ranger.

Unfortunately Joe wasn't waiting around for an explanation, he turned around & walked away.

"Joe, come back, I can explain" I yelled running after him, but by the time I reached the street, he had vanished.

"Shit, god damn it" I said to myself stomping my feet on the ground.

"Babe?"

"What?" I yelled. I shook my head, & looked up at Ranger, "Sorry, I'm just confused."

"You know your not the only one with a screwed up life"

I looked at him dumbfounded "Huh?"

"I had the perfect life, up until I meet you. Ever since I meet you, you're the only thing I can think of." He said calmly. "I told you how I feel about you, but the question now, is how do you feel about me?" He was a lot calmer than earlier this morning.

I thought for a minute, thinking back to my conversation with Mary Lou.

"I have feelings for you, but I don't think I love you anymore than a friend. I certainly don't want this the ruin our friendship." I said

Looking at me with hurt in his eyes, he said "I'm not sure what this is going to mean for our friendship, you have hurt me. Plus I still may be the father of your child"

"No" I said with conviction. "Joe is the father of my child. I always said he was, even before I found out about your vasectomy. Don't you remember what happened that night in Atlantic City? We were protected."

He looked at me, appeared lost for words, & shook his head. I took that as my cue, & walked away.

***

I spent the rest of the day looking for Joe, at 12:30 I rang the minister & told her that we wouldn't make it up there to day, & we didn't know when we would make it. Then she shocked me.

"Your fiancée, already called me"

"Huh, what did you say?"

"Joe has already called me" she repeated "He rang me about ½ an hour ago & told me that you couldn't make it up here today, & that he wasn't sure if you would make it. He didn't sound like the same man I had spoken to already this morning."

"Excuse me? You spoke to him earlier?"

"Yes, he rang me about 9am this morning to confirm, it was odd, because I had to remind him several times what time the ceremony was for."

I thought for a second "Did you mention the first call to Joe when he called the second time?"

"Yes, I think so, why?"

"Because the first caller wasn't Joe"

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I hope I haven't messed things up for you"

"No, I did that myself"

"Did you say something?"

"No, sorry, I was talking to myself, thanks for your help. Sorry about this."

"Don't worry dear, it happens a lot. Bye"

"Bye"

As I hung up the phone, I thought, Ranger must have been the one who called, but how would he have known where to call? Jesus. H. Christ. Ranger must have had it planned like this all along, he must have found out about the ceremony, & that's why he was so, unlike Ranger this morning. What the hell am I going to do.

I decided to walk back to the hotel & wait for Joe, either that or pack my bag & find a new hotel. Not really like either idea a great deal, I took the long way, though the park, back to the hotel.

I sat down on a bench in the park, just in front of a playground, I watched the mothers play with their children. Resting my had hand on my stomach, I said "looks like its just you & me now kid"

½ an hour later I was still sitting there, when a young woman, about 19, sat down next to me, double pram in tow.

"Hi, I'm Kellie" she said introducing herself

"I'm Stephanie" I replied

"Your not from around here are you?" she asked

"No, I'm from Trenton, New Jersey. How's you guess?"

"Your accent" she paused "How far along are you?"

"Huh?" I asked

"You pregnant right, how far are you?"

"Oh, um, 12 weeks. How did you know?"

"When you've been pregnant, you can guess the signs, & I heard you before, when I walked past."

"Oh"

"You'll have to excuse me if I seem nosy, but I don't get much adult interaction, these two keep me really busy" she said pointing to the pram.

"Two, as in twins?"

"Yep" she said proudly "Twin girls, would you like to have a look?"

"Yeah"

I looked in the pram, at the two little girls, they were so cute & so small.

"What are their names?" I asked

"Alison & Melanie"

"How old are they?"

"About 3 weeks" she replied. "Are you married?"

"No engaged" I said showing her my ring. "Are you married?"

Nah, my boyfriend ran out on me 4 weeks before the girls were born, but I have my family."

"I'm sorry. Can I ask you how old you are?" I asked

"Sure, I'm 19, 20 in January"

'Wow, your so young, are you handling everything? I'm 30, & I'm not sure if I can handle everything"

"I have my family, & you have a fiancée, you'll do fine"

"I'm not so sure about the fiancée" I mumbled

"What?" Kellie asked

"There's kinda a third party involved. I have no idea where my fiancée is."

"Oh, did he cheat on you?"

"No, he, um, saw me kissing another man."

"Really" Kellie sounded really intrigued.

"Yeah, it's kinda a long story" I said

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, you can tell me if you want, for an outsiders view"

I thought for a second. It might be worth getting an outsiders view. I turned back to Kellie & started to tell her the entire story from black dress to the Ranger kiss & Joe seeing it.

When I finished , Kellie looked like she was still digesting the story. We sat in silence for a while.

"What does your fiancée look like?" she suddenly asked me.

"Why?"

"There's a guy standing over there, who's been trying to get your attention for the past 15 minutes"

I looked up, not sure who to expect or who I wanted it to be. But it was neither.

"Oh, that's just Tank, he works for Ranger. I'll be back in a minute" I said getting up.

Walking across the park, I called out, "Hey Tank, what are you doing here?"

Tank waited until I was closer before replying.

"Ranger wanted me to tell you that he was going back to Trenton."

"Oh, why didn't he tell me himself?"

"Dunno, guess he thought you wanted some space" he replied

"Did he tell you anything?"

"Come on, you know Ranger, he plays his card pretty close to his chest. I know is that he has been acting strange for a while now, ever since you told him you were pregnant & he found out that he could still have children."

I filled Tank in on the rest of the story.

"Wow" he said, whistling. "That's some story"

"What do you think I should do?"

"Can't tell you that Steph, only you know what to do"

I looked at him, "Thanks Tank"

With a knowing smile he said "That's ok"

He hugged me before he left, whispering in my ear "good luck"

Walking back over to Kellie, she asked "What did he want?"

"Not much, just to tell me Ranger was going back to Trenton"

"So, what are you going to do now?" Kellie asked.

"I don't know, go back to Trenton, find Joe & try to explain, see if I can salvage some sort of relationship." I got up "Thanks for your help" I said. I scribbled my number down on a piece of paper. "This is my number, if your ever in Trenton, give me a call"

"Your welcome, & thanks I'll do that. Here's my number" she said giving me her card "Call me & let me know what's going on, ok?"

"Yeah, ok, bye"

"Bye"

10 minutes later, I was at the hotel, I went to the reception t ask for another room, but the attendant told me that Joe had checked out & let me a note. He handed it to me, & I took a seat in the lobby, & read it.

"Steph,

When I saw you kissing Ranger, I didn't know what to think. It was like when I found out you gone away with Ranger or when you ran out on me, when I was at your parents. I've decided to go back to Trenton to sort some stuff out.

Don't ever doubt this, I still love you.

Joe

I thanked the desk attendant, got a key off him & went to the room.

Opening the door, I noticed how bare the room looked, my bags were still at the door from this morning, I can't believe this all happened in one day, I thought to myself.

I looked at my watch, 4pm, still 2 hours until the buffet opened.

A wave of exhaustion washed over me, I decided to take a nap. Laying down on the bed that Joe had used last night, I fell asleep with his scent surrounding me.

The next morning, I was woken to knocking at the door. Bleary eyed I wondered over to the door, & pulled it open.

"Yo, girlfriend"