Chapter Seven

"It's not mine." Eli murmured to himself. He continued to stare at his phone for the longest time, unable to wrap his mind around the full meaning of the text. "Pregnant.." Eli repeated to himself. He closed his eyes, trying to remember. He was the last person that Clare had sex with. Of course he'd been drunk when they had it, but Clare wouldn't have been so reckless as to not have reminded him to wear a condom. She'd always been the responsible one. Therefore, there was no chance that she'd have unprotected sex. Eli just knew it.

Or did he?

It came back to him slowly:

His hands were rummaging through his drawer. Normally, there was a box of condoms fully ready to use in case of emergency sex. That didn't happen often, but he was always safe rather than sorry.

This time, though, they weren't there. They were gone. The entire box.

He began to panic. Clare was already ready for him, and he couldn't find his damn condoms.

"Don't have any?" Her voice emerged from near his ear. He barely managed a nod as he felt her hand trail down his back. Upon his nod, she merely whispered: "That's okay.."

His eyes snapped open. They hadn't used condoms. Clare had approved of the idea! In his drunken state, who was he to deny the woman he loved for so long a night of passion? His hands came to his face and he trailed them down his face slowly. How could he have been so stupid? That damn alcohol had impaired his judgment. Temptation by Clare was something he couldn't resist. Despite being a married woman, and him being drunk, he had still done it.

Now she was pregnant. Possibly by him. Or possibly by Jake.

He shuddered at the thought. If Jake was the father, Clare's already broken heart would only become worse at having to carry the child of the husband she had been forced to kill.

"What am I going to do?" He asked himself. He couldn't think. His heart clenched at the fear of the possibility that he was the father. He couldn't be. He wasn't ready to be a father. He wasn't even prepared for the storm that being involved in a murder would bring. Let alone the possibility of being a father. This was all a mess.

How had it gone from a book signing to all of this?

His thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone, which had begun to ring.

Incoming Call: Clare

"Great.." Eli muttered to himself, and hit accept. "Hello?"

"Where are you!" Clare's voice cried as soon as he put the phone to his ear. "Did you not get my text!"

"Of course I got your text." Eli replied calmly, trying to ignore the fact that it was just now hitting Clare that she was pregnant, and who the father might be. "I've been trying to remember where you say you live. I don't know where to find you, and I know you gave me your address.."

There was a silence before she said, "I-I'm sorry. I'm just a mess right now, and this is the last thing I need. This is the last thing I ever wanted from him. I tried so hard, for so long.."

Eli was almost afraid to ask, but he did anyway. "Tried what, Clare?" He asked softly, sympathetically.

"He's been trying to get me pregnant for YEARS, Eli.. He even sunk so low as to cancel my birth control, hide them, throw them out. He tried everything, and I always managed to get them back and take them just in time." She paused for a moment, and Eli thought she was choking on another sob. When she finally spoke again, his heart sank to his feet. "It can't be his. It just can't be."

"How can you be sure?" was all Eli could say. His voice had lowered to a whisper. "When was the last time you had sex with him?"

"You were the last person I had sex with, Eli. Jake and I hadn't had it in almost two months."

His heart dropped. That still doesn't mean anything. "But when was the last time you had sex with him?" He repeated. "Clare, you could have been pregnant for two months and not even know about it."

There was a very long paused and Eli feared the call might've been dropped. "Clare?" He asked, worried.

"You don't want to be the father, do you?" She said at last. "You regret having sex with me."

She was only right about half of that. "Clare." He said slowly. "I don't regret having sex with you. I did have a little to drink, and I didn't have any condoms. You said you were safe. You said it was okay!"

There was another long pause, and Eli was pretty sure that Clare was smothering her sobs. "I've got to go." She said as calmly as she could. And with a click, she hung up.

Not being able to contain his frustration, Eli hefted his phone and threw it at the wall.

"Damn it!" He growled.