“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
“That’s great. I’m excited too.”
“I honestly never thought I’d be excited about having a baby.”
“Hey, babies change everything, in a good way. For the most part anyway. There are sleepless nights, and dirty diapers.”
He chuckled.
After they ate and were relaxing on the couch, his phone rang. He looked at the screen to see that it was Mallory.
“Hey Mal, everything okay?”
“Yeah. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Do you think you could come over?”
“You can’t say whatever you have to say over the phone?”
“I’d rather not.”
He sighed. “All right. I’ll be over in a few.”
“Thanks. Bye.”
“Bye.”
He hung up and looked at Tripp. “I’ll be back. Mal wants to talk to me about something.”
“Okay,” Tripp drawled. “Wonder what she wants?”
“That’s what I’m gonna find out. I’ll be back soon.”
He gave Tripp a quick kiss on the lips, before heading out to his truck. It only took about fifteen minutes to get to Mallory’s. He parked in her driveway and walked up to the door. It took her a few seconds to answer after he rang the bell. She let him in, and he followed her into the kitchen where they sat at the table.
“Do you want something to drink?” Mallory asked.
“No, I’m fine. What’s going on?”
Mallory took a deep breath and blew it out. “I want us to be a family, Jayme. I think we should get back together and give this another go. We could be really happy.”
He immediately started shaking his head. “No Mal. That ship has sailed. We can be a family without us being together.”
“This is because of Tripp isn’t it? I think you’ve had enough fun with him. It’s time to come home to me, and we can be a family like we’re supposed to be.”
“Enough fun? You think I’m just fucking around with him for the hell of it?”
“Well, yeah. Why else would you still be with him?”
“I’m in love with him. I plan to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Mallory blinked at him in shock. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“No. I’m not. I’m dead serious.”
Mallory’s jaw worked back and forth, and she seemed to be getting angrier and angrier by the second. “You’re going to regret this, Jayme. I will make you regret it.”
“Okay, Mallory. I get it. You’re hurt and upset now, but you’ll see this is for the best. We were never meant to stay together. We would have divorced sooner or later.”
“No! We could have worked things out. We could have gone to therapy.”
He shook his head. “No amount of therapy was going to make me trust you again.”
“Well, trust this, you’re going to regret divorcing me, and not giving us another chance.”
“Okay.” He stood. “I’m gonna go.”
“You know where the door is.”
He rolled his eyes and left. By the time he walked in his front door, he was aggravated. Tripp looked over at him and frowned.
“I guess that didn’t go well.”
“She wanted to get back together. She freaked out when I told her I loved you, and there was no chance of us ever getting back together.”
Tripp shook his head. “What a whacko.”
“She said I’ll regret it.”
“Mmm hmm. So much regret.”
“I know, right.” He went and flopped down on the couch next to Tripp. “I regret not leaving her sooner.”
“I believe everything happens for a reason. It was the right time. Maybe we wouldn’t have gotten together had you left sooner.”
“Maybe.”
“Don’t let her get to you.”
He nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“Now come cuddle with me and watch the rest of this movie.”
He smirked and maneuvered around so that they were spooning on the couch, with him as the big spoon. He wrapped one arm around Tripp’s chest, while the other propped his head up so he could see the TV.
~~~
Tripp
It had taken Tripp a couple months to plan it, and it was finally here. He flitted around the bar, making sure everything and everyone was in place. He rented out the bar for the night, and with Will and Matt’s help; they decorated the entire place. It was completely covered in everything blue.
A bunch of guys from work were there, and also Jayme’s dad and brother’s, Ian and Seamus, and of course, Mitch. They were just waiting on Jayme to get there. He thought he was coming to hang out, have a couple beers, and relax. Tripp had other plans.
They had gotten through Thanksgiving and Christmas, and now they were only a few weeks away from the baby being born. He figured Jayme was in need of some baby things, and he was sure Mallory was getting a baby shower. He decided to throw Jayme his own baby shower with all men, a man shower. Jayme was going to die.
He stood by the front window, watching for Jayme’s truck to pull in. He should be there any minute. He told Jayme that he was going out with his sister, so Matt invited Jayme out to the bar.