Ripe: A Stepbrother Pregnancy Romance (12 page)

“Oh my god!” Elise looked up at Deanna with an expression that resembled a deer in headlights. “The cake,” she said as she closed her eyes, gripping her forehead in defeat. “I forgot the cake. How could I forget the cake? He’s only been talking about it for weeks!”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Deanna said. “It’s pretty easy when you’re running a mile a minute.”

“Well you wouldn’t happen to have any mix, would you? I know he’s been dead set on a Superman one, but he’ll have to settle...”

“Elise,” Deanna said. “There’s no way you’re going to be able to
bake a cake
in time for the party.”

“And there’s no way I can go to the store and make it back before the kids arrive!” Elise said, silently kicking herself for making such a stupid mistake. What kind of mother was she?

Deanna nodded in the direction of the living room, where Jesse was knee-deep into a conversation with Isaiah about what kind of presents he was hoping to get. “You could ask Jesse to go…”

“No way,” Elise immediately refused. Aside from the fact that she wasn’t in any hurry to let Jesse know that she’d been stupid enough to forget the most important aspect of Isaiah’s birthday party, she only had about ten dollars left in her checking account. She wasn’t about to face an overdraft fee in order get a cake large enough to feed all the kids, and she definitely wasn’t about to take his money.

“Oh come on, why not?” Deanna questioned. “I thought you’d be happy with the idea of getting rid of Jesse for a little while.”

“No,” Elise hissed. “I’m not asking Jesse. Just drop it would you?”

Jesse made his way into the kitchen when he heard his name. “Not asking me what?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow and glancing back and fourth between each woman.

Elise was so irritated by his presence that she didn’t even bother to look in his direction.

“The bakery messed up Isaiah’s cake,” Deanna spoke up before Elise could, attempting to preserve her dignity. “So now we need a cake, or we’re going to have some very unhappy first graders on our hands.”

“You need me to pick one up?” Jesse offered right away.

“Would you?”

Jesse looked over at Elise, but she still refused to meet his gaze. “Sure,” he said, directing his next question her way. “Where’s the bakery?”

“Oh, the bakery is…closed now,” Deanna spoke up for her, grasping at straws. “Just a simple cake from the grocery store would be fine.”

“Alright,” Jesse said, grabbing up his keys. “How do I get there?”

“There’s a Von’s about a block up the road to the left. You can’t miss it.”

Jesse nodded and made his way to the door.

“Where are you going?” Isaiah questioned, immediately circumventing his path. “You can’t leave yet! My party hasn’t started!”

“I know buddy,” Jesse assured him. “I’m just running to the store. I’ll be right back.”

“Can I go with you?”

“No!” Elise yelled, speaking up for the first time since Jesse entered the kitchen. She realized how loud her voice was when Jesse and Deanna both looked startled. “Isaiah, don’t you want to be here when your guests start coming?” she added in a softer tone. “They’ll be here any minute now.”

Isaiah thought it over for a moment before nodding and bouncing into the backyard with a wide grin stretched across his face.

Elise glanced over at Jesse, rolling her eyes as she reached for her purse. “Just a minute,” she told him. “I’ll get my debit card.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Jesse said, holding up a hand. “Really. You can pay me back later.”

There wasn’t any time for Elise to protest before a swarm of children began to flood into Deanna’s yard, requiring her full attention.

Jesse returned about an hour later with a cake much larger than Elise had anticipated. It also had Superman on the front, giving way to the fact that it was custom made, and therefore quite expensive.

Elise couldn’t believe her eyes. She stared down at it, trying her best to come up with a subtle response. “Thanks,” she finally found it in herself to say, meeting eyes with him. “Isaiah’s going to love it. How much was it? I can write you a check, but would you do me a favor and wait to cash it until next Tuesday?”

Jesse seemed proud that he’d managed to get this right. He inspected the check Elise handed to him before attempting to give it back to her.

“Don’t even think about it,” Elise said as she moved away from him. “I’m paying you for it and that’s final.”

“Well alright then,” Jesse said with a sly grin. “Then you owe me ten more bucks.”

Elise’s shoulders dropped. There was no way she was about to tell Jesse that she found that simply astronomical. After all, most mothers didn’t so much as blink at the notion of spending fifty bucks on their kid’s birthday cake. “Actually,” she spoke up, taking the check back from him. “I’ll pay you in cash later, if that’s alright."

Jesse nodded in quiet satisfaction before heading into the backyard to join Isaiah and his friends.

Elise took a moment to inspect the grocery bags. Not only had Jesse gotten the exact cake Isaiah wanted most, but he also bought ice cream to go along with it. The children, and their mothers, were all in heaven as they devoured the delectable treat later on in the evening.

“Elise, this cake is fantastic,” Jessica spoke up, wiping some frosting from Ava’s mouth. “Do you mind if I ask where you got it?”

Elise nodded at Jesse, who was seated in the corner of the table not really doing much talking. She didn’t bother to introduce him.

“I got it at Vons,” Jesse spoke up. “They have a pretty nice bakery.”

“Oh,” Jessica said. She looked from Isaiah, to Elise, then back over at Jesse. “Are you Isaiah’s father?”

All the mothers grew painfully quiet as they awaited a response. Elise’s heart raced, but she was quick to diffuse the situation. “He’s a family friend,” she spoke up.

Jesse looked annoyed at her response, but when he noticed the mothers staring at him, he plastered a fake smile on his face before shoveling another bite of cake into his mouth.

When everyone was done eating, Elise and Deanna cleaned up the plates and crumbs, clearing a spot for Isaiah to open his gifts. He took a seat in the chair his mother presented him with, which was decorated with balloons and streamers.

Elise handed Isaiah his presents one by one while Deanna made a note of what everything was and who it was from.

Jesse sat in silence as he watched his son tear into each gift, doing his part in appearing interested. When Isaiah got to his last one, however, he pulled himself to his feet and walked into the front yard towards his car.

Elise eyed him inconspicuously, realizing that she hadn’t seen him walk in with a gift. “Did he leave?” she hissed, meeting eyes with Deanna.

Deanna shrugged. She looked just as confused as Elise was.

The back gate opened a few seconds later, and Elise looked up just as Jesse wheeled a shiny scooter into the backyard. It was easily one of the most expensive ones on the market.

“Mommy, look!” Isaiah exclaimed. He ran over to inspect it, immediately climbing onto it. “It’s just what I wanted!”

Deanna looked over at Elise, silently bracing for her reaction. Instead of giving one, she calmly stood up and walked back inside.

Jesse looked over at Deanna for some explanation for Elise’s behavior, but she only shrugged and looked down at her hands. She didn’t want to get in the middle of another one of their disputes.

Elise reappeared a few seconds later and paced her way over to Jesse, slapping him clear across the face.

“Oh my,” one of the mother’s said under her breath, immediately standing up to gather her things. “It’s getting late. We’d better get going…”

Jesse paced inside the house, grabbing Elise roughly by the arm. Enough was enough. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Problem?” Elise spat, pulling away from him. “I don’t have a problem. My only real ‘problem’ these days is you!”

Their screaming could be heard throughout the entire house, and it wasn’t long before it began to leak into the backyard. Deanna tried her best to smooth everything over with the guests, but the party dissipated in a matter of minutes, and Isaiah was left alone with his gifts. She watched him sit in the middle of the grass surrounded by heaps of toys, games, and his beloved scooter. He was looking at a book, but after a few minutes without turning the page, she knew he was listening to what was going on inside. How could he not be? Even she couldn’t stop herself from eavesdropping.

“What makes you think you have the right, Elise?” Jesse yelled. “You don’t get to dictate whether or not I’m a part of my son’s life!”

“Like hell I don’t! I’m his mother! I’d say that gives me the right, wouldn’t you?”

“And I’m his father, and you can’t keep hiding me away like some kind of dirty little secret! I’m here and I’m here to stay!”

“Right!”

“No, I mean it, Elise. I’m having my attorney draw up the paperwork as we speak. Either you and I come to some sort of agreement in regards to visitation, or I can take you to court. Either way, I’m going to know my son, and he’s going to know me.”

After that, things got eerily quiet inside the house.

Isaiah looked up at Deanna with tear filled eyes. “I want to go home,” he whispered.

Chapter Twenty

Stone’s management team still wasn’t being very forthcoming in what was transpiring in all of the closed-door conferences that had been going on over the past few weeks, and Elise was growing more concerned about her job with every passing day. When she returned from lunch on a Thursday afternoon and learned that she was part of a meeting that was taking place, her worries only skyrocketed.

“What’s going on?” Elise asked Andrea when she saw both their names on the ledger.

“I’m not sure. I guess they’re finally going to fill us in on what’s going on. Better late than never, I suppose.”

Elise wasn’t sure how she felt about finding out about the future of her employment. She couldn’t think of a worse time to have to scout for another job. She’d received a letter from Jesse’s attorney earlier in the week, just as he’d promised, and though she refused to open it, she knew that whatever awaited her inside wouldn’t be in her best interests if she were unemployed.

Andrea and Elise took a seat towards the back of the meeting room, where thirty or so of their fellow co-workers joined them to find out what was going on. Elise was so nervous about what she was going to find out that she almost didn’t notice Jesse sitting towards the front of the room beside the members of the board. Their eyes locked at the same time, and they each refused to be the first to look away.

Elise didn’t break the gaze until Andrea inquired about what she was looking at. Before she got a chance to explain herself, a man she didn’t recognize came up to the front of the room and began speaking, introducing himself as the Chairman of the board. As he spoke, Elise made a point of ignoring Jesse.

“As you all know, there’s been a lot of talk about a merger these past few weeks, and we apologize for keeping so many of you in the dark. I’m here today to tell you that we’ve put a lot of thought into the overall dynamic here in the malpractice department, and that there are a lot of changes coming. Because of the small size of this department, it was initially believed that there wouldn’t be much use for us to keep it open…”

A collective moan could be heard throughout the room as everyone present braced for the worst.

“But, thanks to Mr. Stone, here,” the Chairman said, pointing to Jesse. “We’ve discovered quite a positive pattern with client satisfaction that necessitates that we continue operations here, at least in the short term…”