Newborn Love (BWWM) (Interracial with Baby) (10 page)

“Yes, you bet I am. I love you, sweetheart. I thought I made it very clear to you that I want a future with you in it. You have made my night—this sobered my ass right up when I saw this in the bathroom!”

Ashley forced a chuckle to join along in Adrian’s obvious excitement about possibly becoming a father. That little voice inside kept telling her to go ahead and tell Adrian the truth, but she did not want to risk making him lose the big grin that was sprawled across his face right now. Then there was the fact that she was terrified of confessing this to Adrian and risk losing him. She was truly in love with this man and genuinely felt with all of her being, this time more than any other times, that Adrian was the one.

“Baby, is everything ok? How are you feeling about all of this?” Adrian asked noticing that she seemed a little down. The thought crossed his mind briefly that maybe she might not be ready for a baby.

“Oh, I’m a little nervous but please don’t think it’s about a future with you. That’s all I’ve wanted with you since I met you,” Ashley said smiling at Adrian speaking from her heart.

“Ok, I just wanted to be sure.”

“I have been sick already, morning sickness I guess—I don’t care for that so far! But I’m looking forward to this motherhood journey. And I can’t imagine not having you here by my side experiencing it with me.”

Adrian wrapped his arms around Ashley positioning her to lie back against him on the pillows affectionately resting his hands on her stomach. At first touch it made Ashley flinch having him touch her stomach, but then she relaxed and enjoyed Adrian’s arms around her and the comfort she was feeling. She decided to stick with her original plan and wait to see what the doctor’s test would say. If confirmed that she was pregnant, Ashley would then tell Adrian the truth.

              Ashley walked back and forth in the nursery rocking Eva in her arms trying to get her back to sleep. It was almost 10:30 am but Ashley wanted to see if she could get in another couple hours of sleep and then get up to get her house in order before Eva’s father came to visit. The past few months came and went turning Ashley’s world upside down and back around again, but she would not trade the experience for anyone else’s. Ashley had a lot of time to think it over and realize she could have handled things much better and in a more mature manner, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Her focus right now was being a good mother to Eva, and in doing that she had to have a cordial relationship with Eva’s father.

             
When Ashley found out from Dr. Peterson that she was indeed pregnant with Eva, she knew what she had to do. Carrie, who had went to the appointment with Ashley, encouraged Ashley to be honest with Adrian to avoid delaying any pain in the process—Adrian was either going to be hurt by finding out Ashley slept with Eric or finding out that he was not the father of Ashley’s baby.

             
“To be quite honest, Sis, I think him going on all this time thinking the baby is his then finding out it’s not will be a much worst pain that may be harder for him to forgive,” Carrie told Ashley at the time. Ashley had to agree with her younger and wiser sister about this. “I am thrilled to become an aunt though. I can’t wait to tell the kids they have a baby cousin coming!”

             
With Carrie’s excitement she could not help but be a little happy with the news. It was just a shame that this dark cloud was hanging over her not knowing who impregnated her but now she needed to do something about it. It was still early in, and she planned on taking care of this situation. Ashley and Carrie went for lunch after leaving the doctor’s office to discuss how she planned on handling the situation. Ashley asked Carrie to keep the news to herself at least for a few weeks, to give her time to connect with Eric. She figured the first thing to do was start with him and hopefully be able to eliminate him out of the equation by having him take a paternity test.

             
“Can you have a paternity test done this early in a pregnancy?” Carrie asked as she sipped on her lemonade.

             
“You sure can—as long as the woman is at least eight weeks and I can get Eric to agree to the blood test, it can be done. I’ve done my research,” Ashley said playing with her grilled chicken salad she ordered.

             
“I see! Do you think Eric will give you a hard time about doing this?”

             
“No, I’m confident that he’ll agree to it without any problems and I’m praying that the results show he is not the daddy. Then Adrian won’t have to know a thing.”

             
Carrie looked at her sister as if she had something on her mind. She already knew what it was because she kind of agreed with her, somewhat.

             
“You think I should be honest with Adrian either way, don’t you?”

             
“It’s written all over my face, huh? I just don’t trust that Eric will keep this shit to himself, you know. What if he calls himself wanting to get back at Adrian because he can’t have you—just like before—and he throws that in his face? I just don’t want Adrian to ever find out from anyone else besides you, you know? I know it’ll be hard because you don’t want to risk losing him but…I don’t know.”

             
“I understand, Sis. I feel like shit even keeping any of this from him,” Ashley admitted as she reached for her sister’s hand acknowledging how much she appreciated her honesty.

             
“Just know that I am here to help any way I can and I’ve got your back no matter what. Do you want me to get in touch with Eric for you so it won’t look all suspicious with you going to his place or meeting up with him?” Carrie asked.

             
“Um no—I’m not getting you involved. It would look more suspicious for you, a married woman, to be around him if anyone is really looking that hard, don’t you think?” Ashley asked back.

             
“I guess you have a point.” The two sisters laughed and continued to enjoy their lunch while Ashley made a mental note to give Eric a call after they were done. Damn, I hope I can remember his number, she thought.

              After saying her goodbyes to Carrie and getting back in her car, Ashley was able to figure out Eric’s phone number. When he heard her voice, it was obvious he was a little surprised but then he got a bit cocky.

             
“So you ready to give a nigga some?”

             
“No NIGGA! I do need to speak with you though. I was wondering if you could meet me. There’s a coffee shop that just opened up about 10 minutes away—over by the highway by the boutiques. Can you head there now?

             
“You got a nigga curious—I’m on my way, shorty,” Eric said then hung up without saying anything further. Ashley headed to the coffee shop excited that things seemed to be going as planned so far. She was sure she could convince Eric to take the test and keep all of this information to himself. When she arrived to the coffee shop, she did not see Eric’s truck—at least not the last one she remembered him driving. It seemed he was always in a different vehicle every few months. Ashley decided to go inside and grab a hot chocolate and take it back out to the car and wait for him there. While she was waiting for her drink, Eric entered the coffee shop smiling at her dressed in his usual gear of a big t-shirt over sagging jeans and gym shoes. The only thing missing was the baseball cap, which Ashley thought made him look more immature than he was.

             
“How ya’ doing, shorty?” Eric said before reaching for a hug that he seemed to enjoy and savor way too much.

              “I’m good, how are you?” Ashley politely asked back.

             
“I’m better now that I am here with you. What’s this about?”

             
“Do you want something—my treat?”

             
“Not from behind that counter,” Eric whispered with a sly grin.

             
“You are still a mess, I see,” Ashley said with a little smirk as she walked toward the farthest end of the shop away from other patrons. The corner she led Eric to had a nice window view facing the outside landscape and the highway. From this area of the shop, she did not have to worry about roaming eyes from the streets, or from inside unless someone came in that area specifically looking for them.

             
“Yea, nothing’s changed.

             
“Well, let me just cut to it, Eric. I’m pregnant and I’m not sure if the baby is yours or Adrian’s. I was hoping you’d cooperate and go with me to have a blood test done,” Ashley said before taking a sip of her hot chocolate and waiting for Eric’s response.

             
“Wow…although I wasn’t for sure what this was about I wasn’t expecting this. So if the baby is mine, what do you want me to do? You want me to help pay for an abortion so your sweetheart won’t find out?” Eric responded with a grin on his face as if he had the upper hand in this situation. Ashley remained silent because it had never crossed her mind that abortion was an option—not even before Adrian found the test.

             
“Yea, I heard y’all were back together. At least that’s what my girl said unless she was lying to me.”

             
“No Eric, I don’t care if you know we back together—that’s no secret. The thing is that I don’t wish to have an abortion. So if the baby is yours, I just expect that you’ll step up and take care of your responsibilities.”

             
“What?! Your nigga would help raise a baby that’s not his?” Eric asked in disbelief.

             
“Well, I don’t know but I guess we will find out. But first, we need to find out if the baby is yours. So can we do this or not?” Ashley asked trying to change the subject off of Adrian.

             
“You know I’ll do anything you want me to, for the most part. Yea, let’s do it. You want to go now?”

             
“No, let me see if I need to schedule it. As a matter of fact, lets go outside to the car and let me make some calls. Maybe I can get something set up before we part ways today.”

             
“Bet,” Eric added.

              Three days later, Ashley was meeting Eric at a medical center almost 30 minutes out from where they lived, almost 15 minutes away from Adrian. Ironic, considering that she chose this location to risk not running into anyone that knew her or Eric. They both arrived on time, and were out within 45 minutes of their scheduled appointment. They were told that they would both be notified, but Ashley still made plans to contact Eric either way after getting the results, whether it was to discuss the future in how they’d raise their baby or to just thank him for being so cooperative in helping her rule him out as being the father. As they exited the center and headed toward their car, Eric gave Ashley a kiss on the cheek before adding, “I know as much as you want your boy to be the daddy, I think it would have been real cool to raise a lil’ shorty with you.”

             
“Really? Why? I mean I haven’t always treated you the best, Eric. I can admit that. I always knew we were just…fuck buddies. So I guess I wonder why you would want to have a baby with me. What about your girl and how she will feel about this if the baby is yours. Have you thought about that?”

             
“Yea, I have. But like I said, we’re dealing with each other but I don’t trust her. It’s not me she wants, you know what I’m saying?” Eric asked looking at Ashley in a way that made her feel sorry for him. She knew he was implying that Lila wanted Adrian, and I’m sure it did not make Eric feel good to have been interested in two women who had feelings for the same man. Ashley just nodded not knowing what to verbally say to make Eric feel any better.

             
“But the thought of having a baby with you made me feel good inside. You don’t have to worry though—it’s just my luck that the baby will not be mine. Just a feeling I have.”

             
“Well, whatever happens, Eric, just know I will never forget how you stepped up in all of this to help me out when you didn’t have to. I truly appreciate all of this from the bottom of my heart,” Ashley said before leaning toward him to give him a kiss on the cheek. The gesture made Eric smile. “And Eric, if you don’t trust her or believe she loves you, why stay with her?”

             
“Because the pussy’s good—at least until I find another good one like you,” Eric said with a smirk before turning around to head to his truck. “Talk to you later, Ms. Dennis.”

             
“Bye Eric.”

              Days later Ashley was surprised to find that Eric’s feeling was correct—the test results showed that he was not the baby’s father. As soon as she got the results, Ashley began to cry tears of joy and said “Thank you, God!” several times feeling a big weight had been lifted off of her. The first thing she did was call Carrie to tell her the news, and then they made plans to meet up at their parents home in a couple of hours just in time for dinner to announce the news of Ashley’s pregnancy.

             
“Have you told Eric yet or do you think he already knows?” Carrie asked.

             
“I’m sure he must know the news by now but I am going to call him anyway,” Ashley said. “And I think I’ll call Adrian and see if he can get here so we can make the announcement together to my parents. I’ve been so distant these days doing all of this behind his back, so I just want to show him I am truly happy—I really am now.”

             
“Yes, that would be nice. Ok, Sis, I’ll see you in a couple of hours. I promise if I get there before you I’ll keep my lips sealed. I won’t even say anything to my own peeps!”

             
“Carrie, you better not!”

             
As Ashley entered her place, she noticed a voicemail alert on her phone. Someone must have called while she was talking to Carrie but the signal was not strong enough to alert her to allow her to pick up the other call. She listened to the message to discover it was Eric’s voice leaving a short and simple message: “See, didn’t I tell you? I had a feeling. I wish you, your lil’ shorty and even him the best, alright? Peace.” With that message, Ashley decided to leave it at that—that was she and Eric’s closure. Now it was time to call her real baby’s daddy to see if he could get to town in a couple of hours. Adrian immediately picked up the phone.

             
“Hey baby, is everything ok?” Adrian asked already taking on the role of the concerned boyfriend and baby’s father.

             
“Yes Adrian, everything is just fine, babe,” Ashley chuckled feeling more joy than she had since learning about her pregnancy. “I was calling to see if you’d be able to get here to town by 7:00 pm so we can tell my parents, together, about the baby.”