77 - A BABY?

SOME DRUNKEN YEARS AGO
KYLE’S POV

It was a late evening, and that day I had gone out to play basketball with the boys. I remember it so well, it was drizzling slightly but we refused to step off the court with the adrenaline still coursing threw our veins. My hair and clothes were damp but the only thing that kept me excited was that I was going to meet up with Aria later on at my house, and at that I bounced the ball even more vigorously than I needed to. I remembered stepping off the court finally, bading the boys by and hopping into my car, my head only filled with thoughts of seeing my girl.

“I should get her some flowers” I thought, she’s been more beautiful lately and afterall she deserved it and even more. So that was what I did, I stopped by a local florist and purchased a seemingly delicate bunch of red roses that I knew Aria loved.

I unlocked the door to my house, the flowers in hand and she was right there within my line of vision, slumped lazily on the couch with a worried expression on her face and eve when she heard my arrival, she didn’t move at all, seeming rather lost in thoughts.

“Aria” I rushed to her, taking off my jacket that was somehow damp from the slight drizzle “What’s wrong?”

She looked at me, her eyebrows furrowed in slight nervousness, then she chuckled a bit “I’m late”

I shot her an odd look, my turn for my eyebrows to contort in a confused manner “For what?”

Aria looked at me but she didn’t say anything, instead her lips thinned in a nervous smile and she rummaged through her bag and fished out a pregnancy test kit, my heart sped up instantly and my head seemed to space out for a second before I zoned back in.

“Have you taken it yet?” I asked her and again she didn’t say anything, instead she took out the kit from the wrapper she had wrapped it in and showed it to me, the plus sign on the thing was more visible than any thing I had ever seen and I gasped, my hands automatically running through my hair.

“I’m pregnant” she announced now, like the plus sign on the kit wasn’t already enough evidence. I should be happy, I should be lifting her up and swirling her around but instead they were alarm bells ringing at the back of my head, warning me to step back that I was going to be a terrible father and even worse than my father. It was one thing to think negative thoughts, but it was an entirely different thing to actually believe them.

“Soo…” I started, the words hooking in my throat “What are you going to do about it?” That was the last thing I ought to say but the words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop it.

Aria scoffed “Oh my God” she exclaimed, throwing me an unbelievable look before standing up from the couch and walking past me.

“Of course what?” I turned around, stopping her.

“It’s not just me – it’s us. What are we going to do about this?” she tried to correct me

“We don’t want this, you’re in your final year of college, you don’t want this”

Aria stayed quiet for a second even though it felt like an eternity to my pounding heart and in my confused state.

“What if – what if I want this?”

But I couldn’t hear her, I could only hear the warning bells ringing in my head. How did I go from being excited to see Aria, with roses in my hands that she was now sneering at to feeling so confused about the whole thing. Babies? I didn’t want a baby, how could I be a good father to a baby when I had no prime example myself. What did I know about being a father? Absolutely nothing.

“Aria – ” I called “No – ”

“Well then if you didn’t, maybe you should have been more careful”

“Right” I scoffed

“You were just telling me how you wanted me to move in and now you’re getting cold feet?” her tone was accusatory, and she didn’t need to point her fingers at me, her eyes were doing the pointing already.

“What did you expect? You know about my family? What makes you think I know the first thing about being a father? Of course I don’t want it”

“Of course” she scoffed angrily again, and now picking up her bag to leave.

“Aria wait – ”

Immediately she turned around, pointing her fingers angrily at me with her voice slightly raised “You know you’re doing exactly what your mother said you would do, what you said you weren’t going to do to me, you’re running away at the first sign of trouble”

“I’m not running!”

“Yes you are!” she threw the pregnancy kit angrily at me “You’re bloody coward Kyle, in case you haven’t realized. You know what? I don’t need you”

“So what now? You want to take care of a baby all by yourself?”

“You don’t want it, so what does it matter to you?” she shot at me and left me speechless while I struggled to find my words but I couldn’t let her go. I couldn’t let her leave my house having the idea that I was abandoning her and the baby, I wouldn’t be able to leave with myself.

“I want it Aria, I’m just – I’m just terrified okay. I don’t know anything about being a father, I can barely take care of myself how am I supposed to take care of a child?”

Her tensed shoulders relaxed as she took my words in and again, she let her bag drop to the floor and she held my gaze with hers “I barely know a thing about being a mother and that’s why we’re going to figure it out together”

She moved closer to me, her steps slow and calculated but I didn’t step back, I waited for her to reach so I could do the one thing I’ve been longing to do all day which was to take her into my arms and feel her body press up on mine while we lock our lips together.

“My father is literally getting out of jail next week and he’s a good dad, he’s going to be here and we’d all figure it out together, I promise” her eyes drilled into mine, laying a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep to.

The thoughts were swirling in my head like a whirlwind and that was when the text came in. The moment I saw the words dad sprawl on my screen, my heart sped up again and my fingers trembled as I opened up the
text.

*“He’s getting out of jail next week, you know what to do”