Chapter 72:

"I'm going with her," Rusty said quickly and ran outside.

"You're the jerk who had an affair with her and then blamed her for it?!" Flynn asked in a mix of anger and surprise.

Eric looked at him for a moment and then walked away to the guest bedroom, where he was staying, without saying a word.

"I can't believe this," Flynn said to Sharon and sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah," she said coldly, without looking in his eyes.

"Sharon?" he said in attempt to make her look at him, but she only shook her head. "Are you mad at me for this?" he asked in disbelief.

"I'm… I don't know what I am right now," she said quietly and turned to the door.

"Come on… let's not fight over this," he said, almost begging.

"I can't think right now. We'll talk later," she said and went outside before he had the chance to reply.

Flynn followed her quickly and grabbed her arm to prevent her from walking any further. "Sharon, I swear I'll do whatever I can to make it right," he said in a low, serious tone, "but you can't be angry at me for this."

"I'm not sure what I am right now, but your son almost ruined my daughter's life," her voice was painfully monotonous.

"And I'm gonna get to the bottom of it. Okay?" he asked carefully.

Sharon nodded, but didn't seem pleased. "Okay," she muttered and allowed him to place a brief kiss on her lips.

"We'll talk later," he said and watched her walking towards her car for a few moments before entering his apartment and going straight to Eric's room. The door was ajar and he walked right in. Eric was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands and looked up when he heard his father coming in.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"Eric, what the hell?" Flynn muttered angrily. He wasn't very close to any of his sons but he knew that he and his ex-wife did not raise them like that.

"What, are you going to judge me now? You're not a saint either."

"Yeah, I've made mistakes, but I never caused anyone to throw away years of hard work and dedication to their job because of something that was my fault," Flynn said as he walked towards the bed and sat next to his son.

"I didn't make her have the affair with me, you know. It was mutual."

"Fine, so you two are just as guilty, but you washed your hands and let her take the fall for it. What's the matter with you?"

"Why do you even care? It's my life. And you're supposed to be on my side, not hers," Eric got on his feet and started pacing the room. "It's because you're screwing her mother."

Flynn got on his feet too, looking furious. "I'm on her side because I only know her side of the story, and it makes you look pretty damn bad!" he said, raising his voice.

"Fine, you wanna hear my side? I saw her at school when I picked up Alyssa's son one day. We liked each other, we had an affair, Alyssa caught me, and…" he stopped, unable to utter the words.

"And what?!" Flynn asked anxiously.

"She told her father," Eric said quietly, knowing that he sounded pretty ridiculous.

"So? What are you, twelve?"

"No, but he is a… mobster or something."

"A what?" Flynn frowned.

"I don't know exactly, but I know he's doing something illegal."

Flynn couldn't believe at first what he was hearing. "Are you saying that he threatened you?"

"He hinted that something bad might happen to me if I didn't make his daughter happy again. I didn't know what to do," Eric sat down on the bed again, looking desperate.

"Well, for starters, you could have called me. Or are you telling me you forgot what your father does for a living?" Flynn's voice returned to its usual tone. He couldn't help but feel sympathetic for his son.

"No… I don't know," Eric said hesitantly, but Flynn knew that he didn't call him because he wasn't comfortable with asking for his help.

"Well, anyway, there's no excuse for what you did. You used that woman."

"I didn't, Dad. I really cared for her. I still do," Eric grabbed his head for a moment and then sighed.

"Is she the reason why you're here a week earlier than expected?"

"I didn't even know where she was. She just disappeared after they fired her. I'm here because Alyssa has finally decided she wanted a divorce, and if she decides, her father is okay with it," Eric said bitterly.

Flynn nodded, still frowning. What his son had just told him sounded more like a movie than real life.

(***)

"I can't believe this is happening," Cat said said with teary eyes, standing next to the car with Sharon and Rusty. The last rays of sun were fading quickly from the sky as the darkness of the night took over it.

"It's like, the biggest coincidence ever," Rusty leaned against the car and looked at Cat.

"What am I gonna do now? What if he wants my baby?"

"Are you sure that he is the father?" Sharon asked.

"Mom! Of course I'm sure!" Cat said indignantly.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I just had to make sure," Sharon crossed her arms on her chest in attempt to hold herself together. The mere thought of what could happen next between Cat and Eric and between Flynn and her threatened to collapse her knees.

"I can't handle this," Cat said in a shaky voice, tears streaming down her cheeks now.

"Honey, there's no reason to take that baby away from you. You're a normal, functioning person -"

"Who's about to inherit tons of money," Rusty said suddenly and the two women looked at him at once. Sharon sent him a little smile before Cat spoke again.

"I don't want him in my child's life at all," she sniffed.

"That might result a little difficult," Sharon said slowly.

Cat didn't speak on the way home. Sharon refrained from looking at her, but she knew her daughter well enough to know that her silence meant she was very upset. Rusty sat in the back quietly and looked through the window, wishing they were home already.

When they finally got there, he went straight to his room, giving Sharon and Cat some privacy. They sat in the kitchen with two cups of coffee, and none of them said a word for a while, until Sharon decided to speak.

"You know that coffee is not recommended for pregnant women, right?"

"Like half the things in the world," Cat said grumpily and pushed the cup away.

"Cat -"

"Mom, don't let this come between you and Andy, okay?" she said. "He's a good man, it's not his fault that his son is a…" she stopped herself before cursing.

Sharon only sighed.

"Do you promise?" Cat looked at her, waiting for an answer.