Romance: Seducing The Quarterback (12 page)

Mike knew that he had blown his chance with Megan – they
could not be together now. He wondered why he was feeling like this – there had
been a lot of women in his life before her and he had never so much as batted
an eyelash after they were no longer in his life. So why did it affect him so
much, the possibility that they might not ever be a thing again?

Mike toyed with his phone in his hands – he was considering
texting her once again but he knew that it would be to avail as she would not
answer.

“I need to get over this funk,” he said to himself.

He was still very much aware of the fact that he was indeed
a hot commodity – meaning, he could still get whatever girl he wished. He had
cashed in on his superstar status before with no remorse and he was certain
that he could do it again tonight but somehow, his heart was just not in it. He
did not want to bring home some random girl to entertain for the night – even
though that had been his entire lifestyle for years before he met Megan.

Mike did not know what was happening to him – how had this
girl suddenly come in his life and changed the way he saw things?

Mike knew that he needed to stop thinking about Megan and he
knew that he needed to do it as soon as he possibly could. So, he decided to
pick up his phone once again but this time, his thumb did not hover over her
name. He finally pressed the call button.

 “Hey Sandra,” he breathed out, “yeah, no I just called to
see what you’re up to. Hey – are you free tonight?”

That was how Mike Ferguson ended up on a date with Sandra.
She suggested that they tip off the paparazzi so that they both get the
publicity but he stopped her.

“I just want the two of us to spend some time together,” he
told her.

He had promised himself that he would not think about Megan
all night.

Sandra turned over to look at him, “That is so cute,” she
told him.

It seemed that Megan was not that interested in talking to
him if it wasn’t for show in front of the cameras. Mike sank back into his
chair and decided he to down himself a drink – he sure knew he needed one right
about now.

“Maybe we should take a picture together for my social
media,” Sandra suggested after silence hung over them for minutes. It seemed
that the both of them did not have anything substantial to talk about with the
other.

Mike shot her a look that told her she’s being ridiculous
but remained oblivious and contorted her lips into a pout. That was the point
when Mike realized that he needed to end this date.

“Sandra,” he started, “I really have to go.”

* * * *

Morning sickness might have been a farfetched side effect of
heartbreak but Megan knew that morning sickness of this extent had to be
something else in its entirety.

It was one of those dreaded situations – an outcome that
Megan knew was possible but she did not want it to be a reality. But one
morning, when Megan woke up to extreme nausea and when she found herself
pressed against the porcelain bowl emptying the contents of her stomach, she
knew that she could no longer run from it.

She had to take a test.

The drive to the pharmacy was discreet. She found herself
walking with muted footsteps – almost as though she did not want to be seen
buying the test. Megan had to remind herself just how absurd she was being.

The drive back home was done in panic. She fingers drummed
themselves across the steering wheel, she cranked up the sound of the radio to
drone out the noise of her thoughts and she found herself cutting corners.

And then it was time.

The instructions told her she had to wait fifteen minutes
for the result. They seemed like the longest fifteen minutes of her life.

In that time, it was as though her mind had chalked up
entire detailed scenarios in her brain. She decided that if she did end up
being pregnant, she would keep the child. Maybe as a single mother – she was
not sure yet if Mike would want to be involved.

She chalked up an alternate scenario in her mind where Mike
and her were together and had a family. It was a happy picture.

But then, when the results back and the screen had a pink
plus sign on it, Megan felt as though she would pass out.

She had to tell Annie.

* * * *

Annie came in first thing in the morning after Megan’s
emergency call to her the night before. Anne was scared for her friend – she
knew that Megan had not been telling her everything but she knew that there was
something going on in her life. Enough to make her a hermit recluse and now,
apparently, sick as well.

Annie walked in and greeted her friend with a hug, “You
know, Meg? You’re really beginning to freak me out a little – you need to tell
me everything that’s been happening and you need to tell me now.”

Megan nodded, “I will, but I think you need to sit down for
this one.”

“Okay,” Anne complied, “I’m listening.”

Megan did not know where to even start- there was so much in
the story that she had been keeping to herself. She had not even told anyone
about how she had been seeing Mike – that alone would be a revelation and a
half.

Annie gave her a look that told her to get going with it
already and Megan sighed, “Alright so – I have been seeing this guy. Or at
least, I used to be.”

“Is this the same mystery lover boy that sent you flowers?”
Annie asked her.

“I mean, yeah,” Megan was not sure how to just come out and
outright just say it.

Annie tapped her feet – she was beginning to lose her
patience with her friend. “Who is it?”

“I think I am pregnant with his child,” Megan blurted out.
She did not know just how to keep it in anymore.

Annie gasped, “You’re what?”

At this point, Megan could not contain it anymore. She sat
down besides on the chair besides Annie and buried her face in her hands. “I do
not know how this happened – but I found out this morning and I have been
freaking out since. I do not know how to deal with this.”

“Whoa, this is all so much for me to take in,” Annie
replied, “How are you holding up? You still have not told me who the father is.
Does he know?”

Megan shook her head, “He doesn’t know he’s about to have a
child and I do not know how to tell him. We separated.”

“Wait, are you going to have it?”

Megan groaned – she was not quite ready for all this
questioning. “I do not know, Annie. I honestly just don’t know.”

Annie pursed her lips and gave her friend a pointed look,
“Look, okay, I respect it if you don’t want to tell me who it is but I feel
like you should tell the guy at least. He deserves to know.”

“His name is Mike Ferguson,” Megan blurted out. She had been
carrying the weight of the secret for far too long and it felt good to finally let
it out.

Annie’s reaction was what you might have expected it to be –
her jaw nearly dropped to the floor and she stared back at her friend in
disbelief. “The Mike Ferguson? The guy you interviewed?”

Megan nodded, unsure what to tell her further.

“Oh my god, Megan,” Annie exclaimed, “This is big news! How
had you been keeping this under the wraps? How long did you two even go out
for?”

“We were careful,” Megan replied, “And just a little over a
month.”

“And now you are having his child!”

“We never planned for this to happen,” Megan exclaimed in
frustration, “This is not okay – I never wanted this to happen.”

“How was your relationship with him?”

Megan remembered back to the times they spent together and
besides the fight they had in the end, she did not have any bad memories
associated with it. She had fallen for Mike and her feelings still remained but
she had rejected him when he had tried to fix things between the two of them.
And now, she was pregnant with his child. It was a complicated situation and
Megan had no idea what to do about it.

“We do not have a relationship anymore and honestly, we
never really defined that we even did. But – I know that I was happy,” Megan
admitted. She felt an immense pressure at the base of her chest and she felt like
she might erupt into tears any moment.

“This is still big news for me,” Annie replied but then her
expression softened and she reached out to grab Megan’s hand, “I think you
should tell him.”

Megan nodded. She could no longer keep this in.

Mike had been following a mundane routine for the past few
days. His days of partying were behind him and other girls did not interest him
anymore – he was still hung up on Megan but he knew that it was a dead end.
Kevin had come to his senses since and called Mike to fix things. They had
decided that they would discharge him from rehab and he would be relocated to
go live with his family. Kevin was even going to come visit Mike next week.

But whilst things had started to fall into place with his
family life, his love life was still a wreck. He missed her terribly and he did
not know what to do.

So when the doorbell to his apartment rang, Mike had not
been expecting her to visit, even if he desperately wanted her to. But there
she was anyway.

“Megan?” Mike replied, stunned at her sudden apparition.

“I came here to talk.”

A thousand things ran through his mind but mostly, a glimmer
of hope lighted itself. Could it be that she had come here to fix things?

 “Please, come in,” Mike replied almost immediately. He
could hardly believe that she had decided to come. “What do you want to say?”

Megan had prepared an entire script – she would tell him
exactly what happened but right now, it was as though she had been rendered
speechless. Perhaps it was because she was seeing him again after so long and
all her feeling had resurfaced and she did not know how to cope with them.
Finally, she decided she would not use her words.

She pulled out the positive pregnancy test from her bag.

Mike stared at the stick for a long time, furrowing his brow
in confusion before it finally clicked for it. It caught him off guard.

“Are you sure?” he asked. Megan was surprised that his
reaction was a lot more subdued than what she had expected.

Megan nodded.

“Is it mine?”

Megan gave him a pointed look – as though it was not
possible for it to be anyone else’s. “You can get the DNA test done and-,” she
started to say defensively but he cut her off.

“You do not have to explain – I believe you.”

Megan was surprised. Mike was taking the news a lot better
than what she had expected him to. She gulped.

“So, now we need to decided what we are going to do, I
guess,” she said.

“I think you have already decided that you are going to keep
it,” Mike replied and waited for her to answer.

“Yeah. I know that this was completely unplanned but I have
had some time to think about this. I have decided to keep it,” Megan replied
and to her surprise, Mike nodded.

“No I agree with you. Living the lifestyle that I live, it
was always somewhat in the back of my mind that something like this might
happen with a woman someday and I was never sure how I would react to it. But
now that it has happened – I am not really freaking out. Maybe it has something
to do with the fact that you are the woman,” he said sincerely.

 Megan felt her eyes well up – she did not expect him to be
so understanding. Her feelings for him started to intensify and come to her.

“I really missed you, Megan,” he said to her and slowly
grabbed her hand. “I did not think you wanted to see me again.”

Megan shook her head, “I am not mad anymore.  I mean, I get
it. You were emotional and it got to you.”

Mike’s breath hitched in his throat. “You’re not?” he asked
her, “Does this mean – well, does this mean that perhaps we can try again?”

 “If we try again, what would it be like?” Megan replied,
she felt vulnerable and exposed but it was not a bad feeling when it was with
Mike.

“I don’t know,” Mike replied, “I guess we will have to do it
to find out. But maybe, this time we can be more serious.”

It was a promise and Megan knew that Mike meant it, given
the sincerity in his voice. She nodded.

“I’m sorry for saying those things to you,” Mike told her
again.

This time, Megan believed him. “I’m sorry, too.”

“Does this mean we are having a child together?”

Megan bit her lip, “I guess we are.”

The next thing she knew, Mike was crashing his lips down on
her. He could not help himself – it was both a mixture of happiness and
sadness. Megan responded almost immediately – it had been far too long and she
could not resist him.

Somehow, now they both knew that they were going to be just
alright.

It had now been two weeks since Megan had delivered the news
of the baby to Mike and it seemed that their relationship had strengthen since
then.

Today, Mike had taken out Megan for dinner. He did not care
about the press anymore – he showed her off to the cameras and was proud of it.

“I don’t understand why we could not have just stayed in and
eaten Chinese food on the sofa, though,” she told him.

Mike laughed, “Stop it – you are now the mother to-be of my
future child. I want to spoil you,” he said and then turned serious, “But there
was also something else I want to say to you.”

“What?”

Mike bit his upper lip, “Listen, I know it has only been two
weeks since we properly got back and this is too soon but I love you! I
realized that when I was away from you and the feeling only keep getting
stronger and stronger.”

Megan nodded, “I feel the same way!”

He took her hand in his, “I know and that is why I think we
are ready to take the next step. Honestly, I am not comfortable with you living
alone whilst carrying a child. I know we are always together anyway but I feel
like, I need to be with you – more.”

“What are you suggesting, Mike Ferguson?” Megan teased
playfully.

“Will you move in with me?”

Megan laughed – it was a big question but her answer would
be yes. There could be no other way. But she decided that she was not done with
teasing him just yet.

“That’s a big question to ask considering how you still
haven’t even asked me to be your girlfriend yet,” she winked at him.

“Is that even a question? You are my girlfriend – hell, with
how things are going right now, one day I want to make you my wife,” he nudged
her back.

Megan was surprised but it was pleasant. And then she was
laughing. “Of course – my answer is yes. I will move in you!”

* * * *

[A Year Later]

Mike had remained true to the promise he made her that night
and when she had entered her last month of pregnancy, he had gotten down on one
knee to propose to her. He had known that she was the one for him – there was
no doubt in his mind.

Of course, Megan had said yes.

On the 9
^th
of October, they welcomed a baby girl
into their family. They named her Kimberly. They had gotten married shortly
after.

Megan played with the rock on her finger as she lounged on
the sofa – she watched her husband play with their daughter.

“You’re so good with her,” she told him in admiration.

Mike laughed, “I never thought I would love having a kid
this much,” he said and then picked up Kim to scoot over next to Megan,
“Honestly, I love her so much, it has gotten me thinking,” he trailed.

 This caused Megan’s curiosity to perk up, “What have you
been thinking about?”

“Oh you know,” Mike replied, “I was wondering maybe – well,
we could have more kids.”

Megan was not surprised but she did not know he would want
more so soon. Mike continued, “Now that I am with you, I realize that I want a
big family. And I want it with you.”

Megan felt the same way – she had always dreamed of having a
big family but she had never expected she would ever find the right guy.

“For you, I would do it all.”

Mike’s face contorted into a mischievous expression. “Hey,
how about we put Kim here to bed? You know what they say, time is money and we
shouldn’t be wasting any time in trying to expand our family,” he winked at
her.

Megan hit him across the chest playfully, “You’re always in
the mood.”

But Mike did not deter in his efforts. He moved over to
plant a chaste kiss against his wife’s mouth, “I can’t help myself – it’s you.”

At that moment, Megan felt well and truly in love. She knew
that this was the guy for her.

“Tell you what,” she told him, “Why don’t you go and put Kim
to bed. And then we can figure something out.”

Mike grinned ear to ear, “On it, Ma’am.”

And with that, he had picked Kim up and exited the room.

Theirs was an unconventional love story – but they would not
have it any other way. For they knew, that this was it for it. Forever.