No One But You

He held me there for a moment like he needed that little bit of extra contact.

“Yeah. You?” I asked him over my shoulder as I spun around and walked inside.

“Oh, you know.” He smiled as he squeezed my shoulders with both of his hands.

“Yes. I. Do.” I replied back, punctuating every word by loosening a coat button.

“Hey Quincy.” Jenna stood in the kitchen doorway wiping her hands on a tea towel.

My eyes instantly searched her body for any sign that she was with child. But then, she was so slender, and she was wearing this oversized shirt over black leggings that fell loosely to the middle of her thighs.

“Are you staying?” She asked as she walked back into the kitchen.

“I was hoping to talk to you and Richard about something.”

“Yeah?” She smiled back at me.

I’d never tried to talk to her properly once she and Richard had come out. It was all about Pippa. What she liked. Her routine. Her allergies. Even though she already knew all those things because we had been somewhat friendly at one time. Our husbands had been best friends and our daughters were best friends.

I never gave her the time of day after she and Jamie broke up. I knew that he blamed Richard and all, but honestly, they spent more time apart than they did together.

Jamie was focused and driven and when he came across a patient that needed his help he got so wrapped up in the science and the process. It bordered on obsession.

“Yeah.”

“Richard’s just getting out of the shower, but you can take a seat and wait.” She motioned to the breakfast bar stools. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Sure. Do you have any wine?” I smiled at her.

I was desperately trying to sound her out. There would be nothing worse than starting a conversation about babies if Pippa had misheard them. Talk about awkward.

“Um, well, yeah…I guess.” She looked around the kitchen flustered.

Bingo.

I looked over at Jamie who was sat on the stool next to mine. “Do you fancy a glass too?”

“Not really.” He looked at me confused, almost like I’d grown two heads. His eyes searching my face. He rested his arm on the back of my stool around me as his thumb trace the bottom of my shoulder blade back and forth, soothing me like he could sense that something was going on.

He always had the right touch like he was completely in sync with me. I leaned back into his hand a little more and he completely flattened it onto my side. His fingertips pressing between my ribs.

“Just me then, why don’t you have a small glass with me Jenna?”

“Well, I…” She was about to set the glass of red in front of me but I took it out of her hand and took a generous sip.

“Hey Quince, I didn’t know you were stopping.” Richard walked into the kitchen and stood next to Jenna. His hand on the small of her back.

They made such a beautiful couple. Her with her burnished brown curly hair and leaf green eyes and him with his almost white hair and ice blue eyes. They were both quite tall. She was slender, and he was lean. They just fit so well next to one another, but she was the type of woman that could stand next to any man and make it a picture of perfection.

It was a little intimidating sitting in front of them. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t just want to get up and leave. Forget the whole baby thing, but I couldn’t. I wanted to be able to tell my daughter exactly what was going on. I wanted to be able to prepare and protect her. Did my need to protect her make me an awful person when it came to the possibility of sharing her dad with another child that was his flesh and blood?

“I wasn’t going to. But, I figured you should know that I walked in on Pippa stuffing a cushion up her nightie this morning. Right before she asked me about how babies are made, and if you’d still be her dad when your baby is born.” I said as I looked between them.

I hadn’t intended on being confrontational, but the reality was that my daughter was hurting over this and I needed them to know that it wasn’t okay. Plus, it just sort of happened. The words just rolled off my tongue in that way.

Jenna opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water, and Richard was looking at me like I’d said something wrong or out of turn. I picked up my glass and was about to take a sip when Jamie snatched it from me and pretty much finished it in one.

He wiped his lips with the back of his hand before addressing Jenna. “Does Molly know?”