Chapter Fifteen: He's Yours
Three months had passed since the mysterious phone call from Sera. Chris had never called her back, and she never called the house after that. Lily, Lucas, and Avery were all eleven months old. Manny, Chris, and Jimmy (as well as Emma, JT, and everyone else) were graduating in three days.
"This year passed so quickly," Manny said to Emma as they ate burgers at The Dot.
"I know! And just think, in one month, the twins will be a year old," Emma exclaimed. Lily and Lucas were with Jason back at their house. Chris sat down next to Manny and shoved a french fry in his mouth.
"Shouldn't you be working?" Manny joked and kissed him.
"I'm on a break," he said, and kissed her again.
"Get a room!" Emma said, laughing. "On second thought, don't, because two kids is enough for you!"
"Chris!" Spinner yelled. "We have customers, get back here!" He came from around the counter. "Oh, hey Paige," he said when he noticed who it was.
"Spinner," she said, simply acknowledging his presence. Then she did a double take. "Wait, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"School is out for the summer, so Hazel and I came back home to have the baby," he explained. Paige pretended to be confused, but Spinner shook his head. "It's okay, Jimmy told me that you guys know."
"Well, this is Jake, my boyfriend," she told him, stressing the word 'boyfriend.' "I met him at your wedding." Spinner gave Jake a weird look and then shook his hand. It was almost as if he was jealous for a minute. He also noticed that Jake was holding Avery.
"Nice to meet you Jake," he said. "But I gotta get back to work." He smiled at them both and walked back behind the counter. In their booth, Chris stood up, Emma moved over to Manny's side, and they invited Paige and Jake to sit with them. Paige pulled a high chair up for Avery and they sat down, with Jake closer to the baby so he could feed her.
"Aren't they so cute together?" Paige asked Manny and Emma. Both girls nodded and smiled. Chris came back over to take Paige and Jake's order.
"We'll take whatever they're having," Paige said, after consulting with her boyfriend.
"Okay, that'll be right up. Anything for Avery?" he asked before walking away.
"Just an order of chicken fingers; they're her favorite," Jake told him.
"You got it," Chris said and walked away to put their order in. He returned less than five minutes later with their food. "Enjoy," he told them. "Manny, I'm going to be home late tonight, Spinner just asked me to stay and help clean the place up."
"Okay, have fun," she said and kissed him one last time. Then she nudged Emma and they both stood up. "I really have to get back to the twins. I'll see you guys later," she said.
"Bye Manny, bye Emma," Jake said. Paige echoed him and after Emma waved, they left. As they were walking out of the restaurant, a beautiful Hispanic girl bounced in past them.
"I've never seen her before," Manny commented before they got into her truck.
"Must be new here," Emma said and shrugged it off. They drove away, unsuspecting of what was about to happen.
Back inside The Dot, Chris noticed the girl walking in and gasped.
"Spinner, I'm not here," he whispered and ducked into the back room.
"Hi, can I talk to Chris please?" the girl asked Spinner. "I called his house and I was told that he was at work here."
"Yeah, just a minute, he's in the back," Spinner said, pointing over his shoulder at the door. "Hey Chris!" he yelled. "There's a girl here to see you!" Chris came out from the room and the girl's face lit up. Before Spinner walked away, Chris swiftly kicked him in the shin for not helping him out.
"Hey Chris," the girl said.
"Hi Sera. What are you doing here?" he asked. From their table, Paige eyed Chris suspiciously. She noticed that he felt uncomfortable talking to this girl, whoever she was. Just when she thought things might get good, Spinner's body blocked her view. Paige glared at him.
"What do you want Spin?" she asked through gritted teeth. The look on Spinner's face was full of hurt.
"He waved me over," Spinner told her, pointing at Jake.
"Yeah, Avery's getting a little restless, so I thought we might take this 'to go' and finish it at home. Plus, we'll have some privacy once she falls asleep," Jake explained.
"That sounds great," Paige said and smirked at Spinner. He rolled his eyes at her and walked away. Sometimes she could be such a bitch. He came back over with containers for their food and the bill. Jake paid and they gathered the food and Avery and headed out the door. Paige quickly looked over her shoulder to see Chris standing and staring at the girl, as if he didn't know what to say. Paige sighed as she realized that she wouldn't be able to see what happened between the two of them. They too drove away towards home.
Chris was standing across from Sera uncomfortably. He kept shifting from one foot to the other.
"You still haven't said why you're here," he told her.
"I really need to talk to you," she replied. "In private," she added.
"Well, I'm busy here," Chris told her and wiped away at a fake stain on the counter. Sera looked around and noticed that The Dot was completely empty.
"Fine, if you won't talk to me right now, I'm going to wait in the car until your shift is over, whether you like it or not. Chris noticed then that her eyes kept shifting nervously to her van that was parked outside. She turned and walked away, and sure enough, stayed until Chris was finished with his work. He walked up to her window that was rolled down and leaned on it.
"What do you need to talk about?" he asked. "Please make it quick. I have to get home to my kids and fiancé," he told her. Sera sighed and shook her head.
"This is not going to be easy Chris," she told him. "But I've known you all my life and I know that you will make the right decision."
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked, uncomfortable once again. Sera got out of the van and walked around to the side of it. She slid open the door and Chris saw a tiny baby peeking out from the car seat in the back. At first, Chris was shocked, but then he laughed. "You have a cute baby Sera," he told her.
"You don't get it do you Chris?" she asked him. The confused look on his face told her that he didn't. "He's yours," she whispered. With those two words, Chris' entire world fell down around him.
Back at home, Manny was struggling to get the twins to bed. For some reason, they wouldn't stop crying, but she knew they weren't sick.
"You miss daddy don't you? I know babies, but he'll be home soon." Manny picked up the phone and dialed Chris' cell, getting his voice mail for the third time that night. "Hey, it's me. You should be home by now and I'm getting a little worried. Call me as soon as you get this. Bye," she hung up and turned back to her screaming children. "Shh shh, it's all gonna be alright," she whispered to them. Unfortunately for Manny, she was dead wrong.
Chris' heart leapt into his throat. He swallowed hard and almost choked.
"What do you mean he's mine? I think you made a mistake," Chris told her.
"No, I didn't. Chris, I know you remember that night. You're the only guy I've ever slept with. It was a stupid mistake, but I got pregnant," Sera told him. Millions of thoughts were racing through Chris' mind.
"But what am I gonna tell Manny?" he asked her, knowing full well that she was unable to give him an answer. "This cannot be happening!" he yelled and a stray tear rolled down his cheek.
"This is Jonathan Christopher Perez," Sera told him, holding the baby up to him and ignoring every word that came out of his mouth. "I gave him your name as his middle name," she said, stating the obvious.
"This cannot be happening!" he repeated. "I have a son and a daughter; they'll be a year old next month. I'm getting married. I can't do this!" he yelled.
"Chris, I moved here so Jonathan could be close to his father. My apartment is only a few blocks away. No matter what you choose to do, you will be in this baby's life. I won't have him grow up without a father like I did," she told him. She was obviously hurt that Chris didn't want to hold his son. She put him back into his car seat. Before closing the side door, she said one last thing. "Look into that baby's eyes and tell me you won't leave him." She shut the door and got into the van, driving away.
Chris looked down and realized that she had shoved a piece of paper into his hand. It had her phone number and address on it. He silently got into his own car and drove back home. He slowly made his way down the stairs to his room, ignoring Heather and Jason who tried to talk to him. He noticed Manny's angry expression, and for a moment, thought that she knew already. He quietly helped her rock their children to sleep, then sat her down on their couch. Choking back tears, he finally spoke.
"Manny, I have to tell you something."