The next morning Charlie awoke to find Kristen had already left. It had been a tense night and he needed to get control of the situation. Part of that meant finally telling the kids about Kathleen and the baby. He'd been putting it off but seeing that ultrasound reinforced the face that this was real and he couldn't hide it any longer. He walked into the kitchen to find Bailey, Claudia and Julia eating breakfast. Owen, having already eaten was coloring in the living room.
"Hey." Bailey said as he looked over his homework
"Hey." Charlie replied, "Guys, we need to talk."
"What's up?" Julia asked pouring more orange juice
"Well, this isn't easy but I have to tell you." He said
"What's this about, Charlie?" Claudia asked
"Well, you guys know I love Kristen." He began
"Yeah...what a minute, where is she?" Bailey asked
"Uh, I think she left for work early this morning." Charlie said
"Did you two decide to break up, again?" Claudia asked rolling her eyes
"No, but there is a complication."
"What?" Julia asked
He sighed heavily, "Well, you remember Kathleen."
The three of them exchanged looks with each other and Charlie continued.
"She, uh, came to see me a few weeks ago." He said pausing for a moment, "She told me she's pregnant...with my child."
"Pregnant?" Julia said, "Well, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to take responsibility for my child." He explained
"Does that mean you're going to marry her?" Claudia asked, "What about Kristen?"
"No, I'm not going to marry her. I want to be with Kristen. But I am going to help her and once the baby's born we'll have to work something out."
"How does Kristen feel about all this?" Bailey asked
"Well, she's having a hard time but I'm hoping we can work through it." Charlie said
"You really know how to mess things up don't you?" Bailey said
"How was I supposed to know this would happen?" Charlie asked
"You should have married Kristen a long time ago and it wouldn't have." Bailey snapped
"Bailey, these things happen, I should know." Julia said, having dealt with her own unplanned pregnancy and miscarriage she knew how he felt
"Bailey's right." Claudia said, "First you screw things up with Kristen, then you date my teacher and cheat on her with Kathleen. Then you decide you can't take how serious she wants things and you go back to Kristen. Now Kathleen's having your baby. I'd say you really know how to screw things up!" Claudia stood up stormed out
"Claudia..." Charlie called after her
"We gotta get to school." Bailey said getting up, "Come on, Jules."
"I'll be there in a minute." She turned to Charlie, "Are you okay?"
"I don't know." He admitted, "I mean, I want to do the right thing but..."
"But you're heart isn't in it?"
"I care about Kathleen. I never wanted to hurt her. But I guess I knew all along Kristen was the one I wanted to be with."
Julia nodded, "What does Kathleen want?" She asked
"I...I don't know." He said, "She seems to be trying not to push me but I know she doesn't want to do this alone and she shouldn't have to. We both made that baby."
"I know you'll do what's right Charlie." She said getting up
"Thanks." He nodded as she picked up her book bag and left
/
Kathleen was running around having woken up late and sick trying to get her things together to head to the office. Doing the six o'clock news usually meant she didn't have to be there until nine. As she was taking one last look at herself, pale and wan, there was a knock at the door. Damn, she thought, as she headed to the door. She opened it to find a woman she didn't recognize but knew immediately.
"Yes?" She asked
"Are you Kathleen?" She asked
"I am." She replied
"Good." She said, "I'm..."
"I know who you are." She said, "And I don't have time for whatever it is you want." She tried shutting the door
Kristen pushed back, "Make the time."
Kathleen sighed and opened the door, "Fine but I do have to be at work soon."
"This won't take long." She said
"Okay, what is it?"
"I wanna know what your game is." Kristen said
"Game?" Kathleen replied, "Look, I know how you must feel. But I'm not playing games here."
"You know how I feel?" Kristen shot back, "Really?"
Kathleen's eyes narrowed, "Listen, from where I sit you have it pretty good."
"Oh? How do you figure that?"
"You've got Charlie." Kathleen replied, "He loves you."
Kristen looked at Kathleen and she couldn't deny she was a stunner. At six feet tall her legs went on for miles. That was evident even in the black dress slacks she wore with a cream colored turtleneck. Her eyes rested on Kathleen's abdomen that still appeared flat as a board and the resentment began to grow again.
"Well, he seems a lot more interested in you these days." She shot back
"Kristen he doesn't care about me." Kathleen insisted, "He feels obligated." She crossed her arms over her chest, "Do you have any idea what it's like to know the father of your baby doesn't want to be with you? That his heart belongs to someone else?"
"You love him, don't you?" She asked, "You want him back. You thought you could trap him with this baby."
Tears began to form in her eyes, "Did a part of me hope that he would want to be with me? Want us to be a real family? I'd be lying if I said otherwise. But I know that's not going to happen. Every time he's with me I can see it in his eyes."
"See what?"
"That he'd rather be with you." She said softly, "Now if you don't mind, I do need to get to work."
Kristen stood there for a moment, not knowing what else to say, she turned and left. Kathleen stood there motionless as a single tear slid down her cheek.
/
Later that night Charlie came home after closing up to find Kristen still awake, waiting for him. He knew he had to deal with this.
"Hey." He said warily
"Hey." She replied her expression softening
"I'm sorry, Kristen." He said, "I just don't know how to do this. I don't know how to make this easy."
"I'm sorry, too. I know you're trying to do the right thing for everyone. I just feel like I'm the one the outside looking in."
"I don't want you to feel that way." He said, "I'd give anything if this was us."
"I know." She said, "I...I saw her today."
"Kathleen?"
"I went to see her." She explained, "I need to see her. I needed to see the woman having your baby."
"I wish I'd known you were going to do that."
"I was angry, Charlie. I went there angry at you, angry at her."
"And now?"
"I don't know. I expected to hate her, to resent her." She explained, "But I guess I thought she did this on purpose to try to get you back."
"Kristen, that's not true. Believe me, Kathleen is the last person who would want to get pregnant."
"I know." She said, "But she said once you found out part of her hoped you would want to be with her." She said, "I guess I can't blame her."
"Hey, you're the one I want to be with." He assured her, "I know, somehow, we can get through this."
She smiled and nodded
"You're my girl." He said and kissed her
/
Two Months Later
Charlie had gone with Kathleen to an information session on childbirth classes. She had insisted that he didn't have to go but he assured her he wanted to. She had reached her twentieth week and they planned to have an ultrasound that week at her doctor appointment. He noticed she'd been distracted all night and once they returned to her apartment he tried to talk.
"Thanks for going with me. It was a lot of information. I feel kind of overwhelmed." She said as they walked in the door
"Is that why you've been so distracted?" He asked, "Are you feeling okay?"
She took off her coat revealing her slightly rounded abdomen, "Oh, I'm fine." She caressed her belly, "But we need to talk."
"About what?" he asked
"About the baby, Charlie," She said
"What about the baby?" he asked, "You said you're okay."
"Oh, I am...we are." She said, "But I can't lie anymore."
"Lie?"
She signed heavily, looking out the wall of windows of her apartment, "I lied to you. This isn't your baby."
"What?" He asked thinking surely he heard her wrong
She turned to look at him, "You remember when I was out of town for that awards dinner?"
"You know I do." He said
"Well, I ran into Jeff. You remember him."
"The guy you used to see when he was in town."
She nodded, "He was there no business in the same hotel. We had a few drinks and one thing led to another."
"And we hadn't made love for several days." He recalled
"Almost a week." She said
"But what about your due date? How far along you are?'
"Well, those things aren't always accurate."
He ran his hands through his hair, his fury increasing, "Why?" He asked, "Why the hell would you do this?"
"I honestly thought it could be your baby but now I know it couldn't. I wanted my baby to have a father. Jeff certainly wouldn't take responsibility."
"But you thought you'd play me for chunp." He spat back angrily
"I'm sorry. I'm telling you because I realize how wrong it was. I shouldn't have done it."
"You're damn right you shouldn't have." He said, "You are some piece of work lady. Some piece of work." he said, slamming the door as he left
/
Saturday, the next morning, there was knock at the door. Kathleen was in so shape for visitors, looking herself over, red faced and puffy eyed. She was wearing a tank top, stretched over her growing belly and yoga pants. She reluctantly opened the door.
"Kristen, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I think you know why I'm here." She said anger flashing in her eyes
"I know Charlie's angry but he'll get over it." She said
"You really are something aren't you?"
Kathleen sighed heavily, "Look, I apologized. You two should be happy. You can get on with your lives."
"You think you can toy with someone like that and I'm sorry is all it takes?"
Kathleen looked down and shook her head, "No." She raised her head again, "I know I hurt him but he had to know the truth. Now he won't feel obligated." She turned away looking out the windows again
Kristen thought for a moment, "Wait a minute. What do you mean he won't feel obligated?"
Without facing her she responded, "Just that, no more obligation. He can move on."
The realization suddenly hit her, "You told him it wasn't his because you didn't want him to feel obligated. You lied, didn't you? It is his baby."
"I didn't say that." She protested, 'I...I just meant telling him the truth set him free from a...a false obligation."
"Kathleen, look at me." Kristen said, not buying a word of it, "Tell me the truth."
Kathleen turned and the look in her eyes told Kristen everything, "It's tearing him apart. Tearing you both apart. But the truth is I never cheated on Charlie. There's no way this baby could be anyone's but his."
"But you hurt him more by lying to him, Kathleen." She explained, "You have to know that."
"I know, but I thought he would eventually get over it. He would only grow to resent me and the baby
otherwise."
She shook her head, "You know you have to tell him."
"No, I don't." She said, "Neither of us has to tell him."
"Kathleen..." She began
"No, I won't..." She began to take a step forward "Oh god." She screamed grabbing her abdomen.
"Kathleen." Kristen ran to her, "What is it?"
"I don't know." She said, "Oh...god...the baby." She double over in agony and she felt the liquid seeping through her pants
Kristen quickly pulled out her cell phone and called 9-1-1
"Yes, I need ambulance at Crown Plaza Apartments right away. There's a pregnant woman and she's in a lot of pain...I don't know I think she's bleeding...just get here quick."
TBC