CHAPTER THREE

"We have to do something soon," Jessica said. "I'm almost two months along. I'll start showing soon, and people will start asking questions."

"Jessica, I already told you that I don't think getting married right now is the best thing to do." Starsky said "I promised to take care of you and the baby financially, and I will."

"You just don't want to have to marry me," Jessica said in a hurt voice, tears welling up in her eyes. "I should have known you'd be just like every other man when it comes to that."

"I don't think we need to get married because society says we should just because you're pregnant," Starsky countered. "It'd be different if…" he stopped himself before he said something he knew he would end up regretting.

"If this baby had been planned, right?" Jessica snapped, finishing the sentence for him. "Or if we were in love."

"I don't want to argue with you," Starsky said, already worn down from the constant bickering between them since a doctor had confirmed the pregnancy.

"But, it's true, isn't it?" Jessica demanded. "You don't love me."

"No, I don't," Starsky admitted reluctantly, "Not the way I should for us to get married."

"Then I might as well just leave right now and get out of your life!" Jessica declared in a bitter tone, "Then you won't have to worry about me or the baby!"

"I don't want you to leave!" Starsky said, struggling to hold his own temper in check. "That's my baby, too, and I have rights, even if we aren't married!"

"Don't talk to me about your rights!" Jessica said, tears running down her face. "You're a man. You can get away with just paying the bills and then looking the other way while I get stuck raising the kid." She grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "I'm only going to tell you this one time, David Starsky, if you don't marry me…I'll make damn sure you never see me or this baby ever again!"

Her words hung heavily in the air as she stormed out, slamming the door behind her. Starsky slumped down on the sofa and buried his face in his hands. Jessica had been insistent on marriage from the beginning, and it was becoming clear that she wasn't about to listen to reason. Starsky could either marry her or risk never seeing his child, never getting to share in raising that child, and allowing his child to grown up without a father. None of those things were viable options. He was slowly being backed into a corner, forced to give in to Jessica's demands.

Automatically, his hand reached for the phone to call Hutch. When he answered, Starsky blurted, "I'm going to marry Jessica."

"I'm on my way," Hutch said immediately. He could hear the pain in Starsky's voice and he knew that this was not a discussion that the two men could have over the phone. He knew that Starsky had been under an increasing amount of pressure from Jessica, who kept insisting on marriage. If she hadn't been pregnant, Starsky would have broken up with her long before now. Neither partner liked possessive, manipulative, or demanding women, and Jessica was quickly turning out to be all three.

While he waited for Hutch to arrive, Starsky reached for the phone again. There was one more phone call he had to make before he lost his nerve. The phone rang four times on the other end of the line before his mother's voice said,

"Hello?"

"Ma, It's me. David."

"Davey," his mother gushed, "What a nice surprise! It's not even Friday night. What's so important that you decided to call me in the middle of the week? You're not hurt again, are you?"

"No, I'm fine," Starsky said, swallowing hard to build up his courage. "I called to tell you that I'm getting married."

"Married? Oh, David, that's wonderful! What's her name?" His mother asked in an excited voice.

"Her name is Jessica, and we'll be getting married in a few days, as soon as we get the license and the blood tests."

"Why so soon? And why not back home in the Temple?" Rachel asked. She grew silent and then said softly, "David, are you in trouble? Do you have to get married?"

"Yeah, Ma, I do," Starsky admitted, feeling like a little boy who had done something bad and deserved to be punished. "She's pregnant."

"Oh, Davey…" Rachel whispered, the disappointment evident in her voice. "Weren't you being careful?"

"Of course we were, but something went wrong. It happens."

"That doesn't mean you have to marry her," Rachel said, mirroring Hutch's words. "Are you sure that it's your baby?"

"Yes, Ma…I'm sure it's mine. She wouldn't lie about something like that."

"You're a good man, Davey," Rachel said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "So much like your father. And I expect you to call me as soon as my grandchild is born so I can fly out there to see him or her."

"I will, Ma. I promise," Starsky said with a sad little smile. He hung up, feeling both relieved and depressed after talking with his mother. He knew that she would always love him unconditionally, but he also knew that he had disappointed her by marrying outside the faith and not in an orthodox ceremony blessed in the temple. Despite the enlightened moral attitudes of the seventies, in the Jewish religion, it was still a grave sin to have unprotected sex outside of marriage.

Starsky shoved himself to his feet and went into the kitchen. Opening the kitchen cabinet, he took out a seldom used bottle of Jim Beam and screwed off the cap. He had just poured himself a healthy shot when the front door opened.

Hutch walked in and took in the scene with a practiced eye, commenting dryly, "You decide to start the party without me?"

Starsky waved his hand at the bottle sitting on the counter. "Be my guest. There's plenty to go around."

"You planning on getting drunk?"

"Yep. Right now that sounds like a pretty good idea," Starsky said with a hint of sarcasm. He drank down the whiskey, grimacing as the hard liquor burned its way down his throat to his stomach. "I called Ma and told her about the baby."

"How did she take it?"

"About as well as can be expected I guess," Starsky said glumly. She said she loved me and that I was a good man, just like Pop. But, she was disappointed, I could tell."

"That was a lot to lay on her all at once."

"Yeah, I got Gentile pregnant outside of marriage and we're getting married without the blessing of the Rabbi." Starsky mumbled, pouring himself a second drink, even stronger than the first.

"Go easy on that, pal…we have to work tomorrow," Hutch reminded him.

"Right now, I don't give a fuck."

Starsky grabbed the bottle of whiskey and went into the living room, slumping down on the sofa. Hutch sat down beside him. If Starsky was determined to get wasted than the least that Hutch could do was watch over him and make sure that he made it safely bed when he'd had enough.

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Three days later, David Michael Starsky and Jessica Lynn Arnett were married in a civil ceremony at the downtown courthouse with Hutch as their only witness. There were no invited guests and no celebration planned afterwards. Jessica wore a simple gold band that Starsky had bought at a pawn shop. Starsky wore a matching gold ring. Jessica had insisted on it to signify the change in his marital status. What should have been one of the happiest days of his life had turned out to be one of the most depressing ones.