"Do you want me to come with you?" Martin knew that was a weird thing to say. Meet Samantha's mother for the first time only to tell her that Sam was pregnant.
Sam closed the door and stuck her head through the opened window, "Uh no. Why don't you stay here this weekend and have some time to think."
"Maybe a day or two apart would be good for this relationship." Martin started to agree with her plan.
"Yeah." Sam left.
"See you." Martin said sorrowfully. Martin watched Samantha cross the street to make sure that she made in her apartment okay.
What could he do now? He planned the whole weekend out so he could fix their relationship. He looked at his watch. 11:45 A.M. He had two days to figure out what to do.
He found himself sitting in a coffee shop looking out the window.
"What can I get you?" The waitress asked.
"Just coffee please. Black." Martin said
Martin was in such a bad mood. He should have been grateful that he was having a baby. He should have been out buying baby clothes, thinking of names for the baby, and starting a new life with Samantha. Nonetheless, there he was sitting alone and low-spirited.
"Here's your coffee." The waitress handed him the fresh coffee.
He had no idea why he was acting this way. He felt guilty. He was pushing Samantha away when he should have been pulling her closer. If he were not careful, he would lose her forever.
The next day, Martin was in New Jersey. He found himself knocking on a door of a well-known house. When the door opened a tall old man (mid fifties) stepped on the porch. "Well look who's here."
"Hey dad. Are you going to let me in?" Martin said.
He and his father were faintly sitting across from each other. Martin was looking around the room looking at the old pictures. There was a picture of his father fishing with an old friend, there were pictures of his mother and his father's wedding, and a picture of the family (the family included Martin's dad, Martin's mother, Martin's grandfather, Martin and his sisters).
Victor was just staring at his son wondering why he was here. He was not exactly in speaking terms with his son since Martin did not accept his Christmas invitation.
"How is your time off from work?" Martin asked his dad. Victor received a heart attack four months ago and had to take time off from work. Martin knew about his dad's heart attack but never went to the hospital for support. That made his relationship with his father even worse.
"Fine. What about you? Shouldn't you be at work?" Victor queried.
"I have the weekend off." Martin said.
"Ohh I see." Victor said.
"Where's mom?" Martin noticed that his mother was not around doing her usual motherly housework.
"She's buying the grocery." Victor answered.
Martin and Victor both pondered around the room thinking about something to say. Martin and his dad always had a hard time communicating.
"I like what you did to the place." Martin noted.
"Look son. I appreciate you stopping by and all but why are you here?" Victor urged.
"Can't I visit my own father?" Martin quarreled.
"You didn't even visit me in the hospital when I almost died but here you are out of nowhere visiting."
"Well…" Martin was thinking if he should tell his father.
"Well what." Victor disputed.
"Can you keep something in confidence?" Martin asked for his trust.
"Did you kill someone? Did you break the law?"
"No not at all."
"Then shoot." His father lay back on the couch relaxed.
"I'm going to have a baby." He spit out his gut.
Victor just stared at him in awe, "What?"
"Well I'm not having a baby. But my uhm… My umm." He did not know what to call Samantha. He did not want to use the doctor term and say partner. He did not think Samantha would accept him as her boyfriend.
"You're getting married?" Victor implored.
"No. No." Martin spoke clearly.
Victor looked shock, "Your girlfriend."
"Not exactly." Martin voice decrescendo.
"Oh boy!" Victor put his hands on top of his head, "Martin what did you do!"
"Dad don't over react." Martin declared.
"Over react." Victor did not think he was overacting. He thought he was under reacting. He was just dismayed. He knew that Martin made mistakes but this was stepping over the line. He was not mad at his son because he unintentionally got a woman pregnant. He was mad at his because he was wasting his life. His son was in his middle thirties, not married, hasn't improve much in his career, and he didn't know what he want out of his life.
"You know what." Martin got up angry. He did not know why he came to his father for advice. Since they never got along Martin should have known that his father did not gave a damn. "I'm leaving." Martin slammed the door on his way out.
