“His offer is rejected. No deal. No daughter-in-law.” He pulled the letter from the desk and shredded it. I watched the tiny pieces float to the trashcan.
I needed space to breathe. “Okay, Dad.” But it wasn’t okay. And I still couldn’t figure out why. “I’m out.”
“We have dinner tonight with Seraphina and Brandon.”
But I kept walking without acknowledging the family plans or the dinner. I didn’t acknowledge his tirade. I didn’t argue again about how he had decided on one extreme then the other. I had to find some air.
“I’m surprised you called.”
“Sorry, man.”
Parker shrugged. “It’s been a few weeks.”
“You know. Wedding shit for Seraphina.” I had started lying to my friends. When had I become the asshole?
“I get it. I get it.” He sat across from me. We had ordered pints at an Irish bar.
I wip
ed the sweat from my brow. It was hot as hell. The third day it had reached over a hundred degrees this week.
“Look, the reason I called is because I need some help.”
I straightened in my seat. “What is it?”
Parker rubbed the handle on the glass as if there was a smudge he was worried about.
“Chelsea’s pregnant.”
I swallowed instead of spitting out the beer and it lodged in my esophagus.
“Fuck, man, you okay?” Parker stared at me.
“Yeah. Yeah.” I tried to inhale a full breath. “Sorry. She’s pregnant? I didn’t think you two were serious.”
“We weren’t.” He hung his head. “But things happen.”
“What are you going to do?” I was blindsided.
“Marry her.” I saw the grin on his face.
“No shit.” I couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah. My dad is going to be pissed, but first the grandchild is going to carry some weight being the first Bastion. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah. Yeah. That will definitely help.”
I stared at the bubbles in the beer. I was supposed to congratulate him. A baby. A marriage. We were the same age. We had gone to prep school together. College together. He was my best friend. He was headed down a path I didn’t want a single foot on. I’d never felt more distant from him.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked.
“A lot of changes.” I nodded. “Seraphina. Now you.”
“It’s not how we planned it, but she’s having my baby. I can’t walk away from that. And I do love her. It took a fight for me to figure it out.”
“A fight? What do you mean?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t react the way a man is supposed to react when he finds out he’s about to be a dad. Chelsea said she’d do this on her own. She was ready to breakup. It was then. Right then when I thought I lost her, that I realized I was a fucking idiot. Who am I going to find better than her? You know?”