The ride home had been eerily quiet. They arrived home, dropping their luggage on the ground of the kitchen. Tommy headed towards their bedroom. Jude watched him, tears in her eyes. She had to fix this.
Jude opened the bedroom door to see Tommy staring at one of the pictures on their dresser.
"Tommy, can we talk?" Tommy didn't say anything. He set the picture he had held in his hands face down on the dresser. Jude could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.
I'm sorry." She said, looking down. Tommy turned to face her.
"You think sorry cuts it?" Tommy yelled. Jude flinched, the tears threatening to fall.
"You lied! To everyone! How could you not, in seven years, tell me that Speed was Noelle's father?" Jude looked away.
"I didn't keep it from everyone. Mason knew." Tommy stared at her, anger in his eyes.
"So you could tell Mason, but you couldn't tell your family." Tommy said, eerily quiet. He walked towards the door. Jude ran after him.
"Where are you going?" Tommy grabbed his jacket and car keys.
"Out. I need to think." With that he walked out the door, slamming it shut. Jude sat down on the steps, shocked about what had just occurred. With shaking hands, she got up and made her way to her car. She needed to go pick up Noelle.
Noelle followed Jude back into the house. She ran up to her room and dropped her stuff before coming back downstairs.
"Where's Dad?" She asked. Jude looked away, the tears welling up again.
"He went out. He should be back." Noelle nodded, sensing that something had happened.
"Mom, what's going on? Shouldn't you and Dad be all happy?" Jude nodded, looking down at her shoes.
"Why don't you tell her." She whipped around to see Tommy standing in the doorway. She took a step towards him, but Tommy still had that hard look in his eyes. Jude turned to face Noelle, who was more confused then ever.
"What's going on?" she asked again. Jude sat down in the armchair. Noelle sat down across from her on the couch.
"Mom?" Jude looked at Tommy, the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Sweetie, there's something I need to tell you." Noelle nodded, waiting for her to continue.
"You're biological father is in town, and he wants to see you." Noelle looked at her, surprised.
"Really? That's great!" Tommy looked down. Ashamed, Noelle looked at Tommy.
"Who is he?" Noelle asked, timidly.
"Well, you know that band that Dad is producing? SME?" Jude waited until Noelle nodded. "Speed is your biological father." Noelle looked down. What?
"No, I thought that my father was just some guy you told your troubles to." Jude shook her head.
"Well, I did spill my troubles to Speed. He was a very good friend of mine. And then when I found out I was pregnant with you, we both decided it would be better if I kept you, because he was always going to be touring. It turned out that he ended up just leaving the country to get a better record deal" Noelle looked at her mother.
"So he wants to see me?" Jude shook her head.
"It's a bad idea, sweetie. I don't want you to get attached to him, just so he can leave." Jude shook her head in finality. Angry Noelle stood up.
"I can't believe this! I finally get a chance to meet my dad and you say no! Unbelievable!" Noelle stormed off into her room. Tommy cleared his throat behind Jude. She turned around.
"This is what I wanted to prevent from happening." Tommy shrugged carelessly.
"I guess this is your problem." Tommy walked over to the hall closet and pulled out some blankets.
"Where are you going?" Jude asked. Tommy shrugged, not facing her.
"I'm gonna sleep in the guest room tonight." With that said Tommy walked up the stairs. Jude fell back into the chair, the tears falling down her face. She had really messed things up.