If Only We Knew (9 page)

“Andrew, I really don’t know.”

“You have to figure that shit out. Look, let’s go check on Matthew.”

Karen stopped by the desk and told the nurses she was
family, given them his full name and they let her by.

Karen swung open Shannon’s hospital room door. “You bitch!”

Shannon opened her eyes and looked over at Karen. She sat up in a little bit of discomfort.

“How could you do this to me? What have I ever done to you? You fucked my husband and gave him a child.” She
moved closer taking
long strides
o
ver to
her bed.

“Karen, say what you came to say to me because this is going to be your only chance. I know you’re hurt, and for that, I’m sorry. I can’t change the past.” She stared at her
with sympathy
. “I’m not even going to try and explain myself because I know nothing I say will make you feel better. We’re just friends.”

“Did you get pregnant on purpose? Is it child support? He is not going to leave me for a woman like you—look at you. I can’t believe you would seduce my husband. You’re nothing more than a whore, a gold digger!” she yelled,
mov
ing closer and balling her fist.

“Karen, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Andrew snapped
coming through the door, with Matt behind him
. “You’re at a hospital yelling at a patient. I know you’re hurt, but that doesn’t give you the right to come here and accuse Shannon of being a gold digger. It takes two to tango. Matt is just as guilty as Shannon.” He stared at Karen.

“How did you get in?”
Matt walked up to Karen. “Let’s talk someplace else.”

“No!” Karen yelled.

“Look, Karen, take your husband’s advice and step out the room. What made you think that Shannon wants Matt’s money? Just in case you didn’t know, Shannon has more money than the three of us put together. She doesn’t need his money.” He walked over to Shannon’s bed. “Karen, you’re my sister-in-law. I like you, and like I said, I know it hurts, but right now is not the time.”

Matt looked over at Shannon. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Matt. I deserve it, but this is the first and last time I will let Karen talk to me like that.”

Matt grabbed Karen by the arm and led her outside. “Karen, what was that? She just had a baby. I know you’re mad at us, but here, now?”

“You must be kidding me. I’m your fucking wife, Matt, me not her. She might have given you a bastard son, but you’re mine.” She grabbed his hand.

“Karen, I’m not turning my back on my son. You need to decide if we can work through this or not.”

The nurse walked up to the room with the baby in her arms. “Good morning, Mr. Johnston. Your son is all cleaned up.
May I see your id bracelet?” The nurse asked, and then check to make sure it matched with the baby.
“
Do you want him or should I take him in?”

“I’ll take him.” He extended his arm,
as she handed
the baby
over
. “Thank you.”

“He might be hungry soon.” She
went
toward
s
the nursery.

“Karen, this is my son, Matthew,” he said proudly.

“He’s precious.”

“Karen, I know we can work through his. He didn’t ask to be here. He’s not to blame. Don’t take it out on him.”

“He has your eyes. I guess he’s what you always wanted. I should finally be happy I don’t have to worry about adoption or surrogacy.” She paused between tears. “I can’t do this right now. I have to go.”
She rushed away to
the elevator.

Karen reached for her cell phone on the way out of the hospital. "We need to talk. I’m coming over.”

Half an hour later, she ran breathlessly up the stairs and knocked on his door.

He opened the door, and she jumped into his arms. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. What happened?” He closed the door behind her.

“Our plan is falling apart.” She threw her purse on the
chair
. “He just found out he has a baby.” She sat down on the loveseat. “I can’t compete with a baby.”

“Karen, our plan is working. He’s in love with you.” He sat next to her. “You only have to hold on a year and a half more. After that, you’ll file for divorce and half of everything he owns will be yours, including the trust his grandfather left him. He refused the trust fund because he didn’t want anything from his mother's family,
so his
grand
father made changes to the trust
, and I saw the stipulations,
it
stated that
any children he may have will get half and the other half would go to his wife if he ever got
married, if they stay
ed
married more than two years
.” He
sat next to Karen. “It’s not our fault they didn’t pay attention to the clause in the pre-nup
I had changed
.” He laughed.

“He married me because he thought I was pregnant, and at the time I faked that pregnancy, I didn’t know how much he really wanted kids until I told him I’d had a miscarriage. Maybe we should’ve had a baby and told him it was his before I got sterilized.”

“Karen, we agreed—no kids. They would only be in our way.”

“I know, but you should’ve seen the way he looked at that baby. I can’t believe he slept with that black bitch. When he told me he’d cheated on me before our wedding, I never imagined it was with her. ”

“Do you have feelings for him?” He just looked at her, waiting for her answer. “Because if you do, it would spoil everything we’ve worked so hard for.”

“I don’t have feelings for him,” she lied. “I love you.”

“You’re going to go back to him and tell him you’re willing to forgive him, and you better be the best wife. You can’t have kids, and he has one. Shouldn’t he finally be happy? It will be over soon.” He
moved
closer
,
kissing her. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, kissing him back.
In that moment she began to realized that she also cared for Matt.
This can’t be happening, I can’t have feeling for him.

She held her breath, wondering if he could read her mind. But he leaned down and picked her up, then carried her into the bedroom and closed the door behind them.

“Dad,” Matt said, getting up from the chair next to Shannon's bed. He walked over to his father and hugged him.

He hugged him back. “Where’s my grandson?”

Matt
move
d
to
the
bed. “Here he is.” His father followed.

Shannon turned
him
over so his grandfather could see him. “Hi, Mr. Johnston. Meet your grandson, Matthew.”

He
bent
down and kissed her cheek. “May I?”

“Of course.” She handed him
over
.

He took the baby in his arms and
began
rocking him. “I don’t care how he got here. I will not judge either of you. I’m a grandfather, even if you gave me short notice,” he said, looking at both of them. “He has the Johnston stamp. Look at those big green eyes! You
can’t ever
deny he’s your son.”

“I would never, Dad.”

“I know, I didn’t raise you like that,” he said,
gazing at the baby and then watching his son
. “I have a grandson. My son is a father.”

“I still can’t believe it myself.” Matt
glanced
at Shannon.

“Sorry I can’t stay longer. I have a meeting.” He kissed Matthew and gave him back to Shannon. “When will you be leaving?”

“We leave tomorrow.
Two
days in here was long enough,” she said, taking the baby.

“Can I come by and visit my grandson?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you.” He hugged her. “Matt, can I talk to you
for a second
? Shannon, I’ll call you to see when I can come by.”

“Okay.”

The two men stepped outside to talk.

“Matt, did you talk to your wife?” His dad looked at him.

“Dad, I tried. She wants me to walk away from him,” he said, placing his hands into his pockets.

“You need to put yourself in her shoes, son. Give her some time to let everything sink in. She just found out a few months ago she can’t have kids, and now you have one. Shannon gave you the one thing Karen will never be able to.”

“So you’re trying to tell me to abandon my son?”

“I would never tell you that. I raised you to take care of your responsibilities; it’s not the baby’s fault you screwed up. He is the only innocent person in this mess. She’s just mad at you right now. She’s not thinking straight. If you did what she asked you to, then you’re not the man she thought you were. I have to leave, but we’ll talk more. He is precious. By the way, your mother called me and asked me if it’s true you’d made her a grandmother. Why haven’t you called her?”

“She’s never really been a mother to me. She might have given birth to me, but that’s all. You’re the only parent I have.”

“Son, she is still your mother. Call her.” He hugged him. “I love you, son.”

“Me too.”

Matt walked back into the room. Shannon was up, putting the baby in the Isolette. “Why didn’t you wait until I came back?”

“I’m not impaired. I can do things for myself. I’ll be going home tomorrow, and it will be him and me.”
He could tell she was in a little bit of discomfort, by the way she
gripped
the sheets as she leaned on the bed.

“I know you can do things by yourself, but you just had a baby.” He stared at her.

“A lot of women have babies every day. I’m fine.”

“Did I do something to you? I’ve tried to be understanding, under the circumstances.”

She couldn’t look him in his eyes. “Sherry is going to pick us up tomorrow morning. You don’t have to come by.”

“But I wanted to take you guys home.” He
moved
closer to her.

“I don’t need you to. Please just go home and work things out with your wife. You can call me when you want to come see him.”

“I know you don’t need me to, but I want to. What’s wrong? Where did this change in attitude come from?” He touched her hand.

She pulled her hand away. “Please leave.”

“Shannon.” He
said confused. What happened to make her act like
this?

“Matt, I will never keep him away from you, now that you know….”

“I don’t know what happened from the time I stepped out of this room and came back in, but since you asked me to, I’ll leave. I’ll be by your house tomorrow to see him.” He walked over to the
Isolette
, kissing Matthew. “See you tomorrow,
mi ángel. Te amo
. See you tomorrow, Shannon.”
He turned and left.

A tear ran down Shannon’s cheek. She should have told him his mother had called while he was outside the room
speaking
to his father. His mother had
started
talking, not letting her get a word in.

If you think you’re going to trap my son by having his bastard child, you’re mistaken.
Neither your son nor
you will get your hands on my money. What type of woman are you, opening your legs for a married man and letting him get you pregnant? I believe you didn’t know who the baby’s father was until you gave birth. You will never come close to a classy woman like Karen. My son will never leave her for you. He just needed to get his fantasy of sleeping with a black woman out the way.

At that point, Shannon had hung up the phone.

Why didn’t I hang up sooner?

“Matthew, what have I done?”

Matt
parked his car behind Shannon’s car, watching her house, trying to figure out why she wouldn’t answer his phone calls. He
went by Shannon’s every day, wanting to see Matthew
, but she was never there
. He tried
calling
her parents’ house,
and
her dad would hang up on him.
His thought was interrupted when his cell rung, picking it up.