Houston, We Have a Problem

Jennifer thought the tension between herself and Dave had been thick the night she told him the truth about John, but it had been nothing compared to standing in the living room, watching him say good-night to Keegan. The strain was heightened as Trish stood in the doorway, her thin hands on her tiny baby bump as she watched the pair share smiles and little kisses.

"You be good, okay, Peanut?" Dave said happily, as though he noticed none of the tension in the room. "Don't drive Trish too crazy now."

Keegan rolled her blue eyes and playfully smacked Dave's chest. "Daddy, I'm always good!" She giggled and kissed his cheek, resting her pudgy hand on his face as he walked toward the door. "Daddy?"

He stopped, his heart fluttering at the soft way she said the word. "What, Sweetheart?"

The sincerity in her expression made his stomach flip-flop as Keegan threw her arms around his neck and squeezed her tiny body closer to his. "I love you," she whispered.

Dave kissed the crown of her head and rubbed her back gently. "I love you, too, Peanut," he managed to choke out before setting her feet on the floor. "I'll see you tomorrow night, okay? Have fun."

Smiling, she took Trish's hand and the pair headed for the door. Turning back, Keegan waved at Jennifer. "Bye, Mommy," she giggled as they disappeared onto the porch.

When Dave turned toward her, Jennifer felt her heart fall into her toes. The warm expression he had just shared with Keegan was gone, replaced by a hurt, distant, exhausted look of a man who was just too worn out to fight anymore.

"Dave," she finally whispered as he moved closer to her.

Shaking his head, Dave moved into the kitchen and searched the cabinets for his favorite glass. "No," he shut her down as he ran cold tap water into the cup and raised it to his lips. Jennifer held her place against the back of the couch, watching him over the half-wall between the rooms. "You can say whatever you want, Jen, but let me go first."

With a nod, she waited for him to move. It was clear that he was going to control this little reunion and all she could do was wait to follow his lead. When he took a drink from the glass and moved around to the living room, she watched him lower himself onto the edge of the couch, staring at the floor. She sat on the opposite end, her eyes fixated on a Barbie doll between them.

"First of all," Dave started, his eyes boring into her with the dark intensity that had first drawn her to him. "Let me apologize for the way I treated you last week. I was a little shaken, and probably could have handled it better."

Jennifer shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for, Dave," she started.

But he held up a hand and went on, as if telling her that apology stood whether it made her feel guilty or not. "I just feel like I have to know why."

"Why?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" He sighed and leaned back on the couch, watching her as he would watch any of his daughters that he had caught in a lie. "The night we met, when we were up all night talking about bull shit and whatever? We talked about her dad. You could have told me then." With a sigh, he ran a hand over his face. "I just wanna know why you didn't."

Jennifer felt the tears welling up in her eyes. Sometimes she wished she wasn't such a fucking pussy when it came to her emotions – why everything made her cry like the world was ending. Blinking wildly, she tried to think of an explanation that would suit him. "Would you have still wanted me?" she asked simply.

He had thought about the answer to that question for two weeks. Part of him wanted to say that he would have been able to move past it, that he would have gladly worked around it. But the other part of him, the honest part, had to shrug. "I don't know."

Licking her lips, Jennifer leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Honestly?" She looked him dead in the eyes and mustered all the courage that she could possibly find. "I didn't think it would matter," she shrugged. "What were the odds I was ever gonna see you again anyway? Let alone start an actual relationship with you."

As Dave listened to her, he had to admit that it made sense. While it still didn't make everything right, he at least felt like she was being honest with him. "But the night we went to his house for dinner," he started.

Jennifer shook her head. "How the hell was I supposed to bring it up then, Dave? Oh, by the way, our dinner host for tonight is Keegan's dad?" Her shoulders dropped as she realized what she had just said. "Alright, that's a cop out," she admitted before he could even call her on it. "Look, by the time we met your friends, I was already falling in love with you and I didn't want to lose you. I knew that you finding out about John would jeopardize anything we had and I wasn't ready for it to end."

"Are you ready now?" he asked cynically.

Though the sarcasm was evident, Jennifer looked up with sincere eyes and shook her head. "I'm ready for the lying to end," she said.

Dave took a deep breath and ran his hands over his head. "There's no quick-fix solution to all of this, Jen. It's gonna be weird for awhile," he sighed. "It's always going to bother me that John is Keegan's father, at least a little bit. He's always going to be this subtle reminder that she's just not mine. And I'll be honest with you," he said, standing and stretching his arms over his head, "I don't really like the thought of sharing him with her, either."

He had every right to feel the way he did, Jennifer knew. At that moment, she realized that there was nothing left for her to say. Whatever happened between them was Dave's decision now, and she would just have to accept it.

"I talked to John this afternoon at the gym," he said. Before taking Keegan to lunch, he had decided to have it out with his friend, to lay all their cards on the table and, at the very least, stop pretending that they could ignore the subject forever. "Keegan knows me as her father, not him. He knows that. I know that," Dave explained. "So John's agreed to let me fill that role in her life without interference."

He still wanted to be a part of their lives? Jennifer felt like dancing. But then his words sank in and she settled further into the couch. He had said he wanted to be a part of Keegan's life. It was still possible that he wanted nothing to do with her. "Thank you," she whispered graciously. "You mean the world to her," she added.

Sitting next to her on the couch, Dave took Jennifer's hand and rubbing her palm with his thumb. "You lied to me, Jen," he started, noting that her eyes were fixated on her initials, tattooed proudly on his wrist. "And it stung me like a fucking knife."

No longer able to silently fight the tears, she met his eyes and squared her shoulders. "There's no excuse for what I did, Dave. I know that. I fucked up." With another sniffle, she hoped that he could see that she meant what she was saying. "I'm so sorry."

"I know," he nodded, tears pricking his own eyes. "What you did hurt me, but I know your heart, Jen. I think you started with the best of intentions, and the entire situation got so far out of hand that you couldn't reign it back in." He ran a smooth palm over her cheek. "Doesn't make it right, but at least I can take a little comfort in knowing that you told me yourself before I heard it from anyone else."

The soft moment between them was welcoming to Jennifer. But the thought of indulging something that wasn't going to last broke her heart. "Dave," she started.

But he ran his thumb over her lip, silencing her immediately. "We have some things to work on, but I think we can get over this," he said, holding her eyes steadily with his own. "I've tried so hard not to care, Jen, but I fucking miss you."

A single, elated giggle, mixed with a relieved sob broke the silence between them as Jennifer's brown eyes lit up. "I fucking miss you, too, Dave."