Desperate Times (Boys of Silver Ridge 2)

“That’s probably for the best.”

“Hah. I was perpetually sleep-deprived for all of med school and then residency. If I drank, I was asleep ten minutes later.”

“I still feel that way most days. Fuck, we’re getting old.”

Jacob is only a few years younger than me, and though his patients usually have four legs and fur, we’re both doctors and able to relate to each other on that. Jacob was born knowing he wanted to be a vet, and I knew I wanted to go into the medical field with certainty when I was in high school. After seeing two of her brothers go through hell in med school, Rory made a smart decision to be a nurse, still getting to work closely with patients but not having to kill herself with years and years of schooling.

Mason’s the only one of us who didn’t go into medicine, and it’s more fun than it should be to heckle him for it.

“I’m older than you,” I sigh and pick up a little dog named Pepper who’s too old and fat to jump on the couch. Pepper is a newer resident here as well, and Jacob acquired him a few months ago when Pepper’s owner died.

“And soon to be a dad.” Jacob leans back and slowly shakes his head. “You’re sure it’s yours?”

“No,” I say honestly. “I’m not. We did sleep together so it’s possible.”

“How long have you known?”

“Not long,” I reply. “She only found out a few weeks ago.”

“But she’s already four months along?”

I nod. “It’s not uncommon for women who aren’t expecting to get pregnant to not know right away. Not everyone has symptoms but…”

“But what?”

“She told me she’s been sick from the start.” Pepper curls up in my lap, tail still wagging.

“Yeah,” I confess. “I don’t fucking know how to go about this. I don’t want to be an asshole. I don’t want to be that guy, ya know? There are other reasons to feel pregnancy symptoms and they can be easily written off.”

“I get it,” Jacob says. “But I also know you’re looking for an out, and I don’t blame you. If she’s been sick from the start but only found out a few weeks ago, then maybe it’s not yours. Unless you fucked her another time after your 'one-time' hookup.”

“No, we both knew that night in June was a mistake. We talked about shit that next morning too…how we don’t work as a couple and the one-night stand thing was growing old. And I hadn’t seen her since until she showed up telling me she was pregnant with my baby.”

“And Chloe has no idea.”

“Not yet. I need to tell her, I know. Fuck,” I grumble again and take another swig of beer. “I wanted to have one more weekend with her before dropping the bomb…and what if it’s not mine? Why tell her and upset her? And if it is, not telling her still sounds like the better option.”

“And what? You’ll have a secret family on the side like a serial killer?”

“Doesn’t sound so bad.”

“I thought you were the smart brother.” He rolls his eyes. “Look, I wouldn’t want to tell her either. Hell, I’m dreading you telling Mom and I’m not the one who knocked up a gold digger. Sorry,” he adds, but he’s not sorry at all. “I didn’t want to jump on Rory’s bandwagon of hating on Stacey, but we all think she used you for money.”

“Because that’s all that’s appealing about me?” I shoot back.

“You said it, not me.” He looks at me empathetically. “We never met her, and we know that was for a good reason. And I never wanted to give you shit over her because I didn’t think it was worth it.”

“She wants to move in with me,” I tell my brother. “She called this morning and Chloe saw. She knows Stacey’s my ex. Stacey thinks she should move in with me so we can raise the baby together.”

“With you?” Jacob asks, eyes wide with shock.

“So we can raise the baby together. I get it…if the kid is mine, I want to do my part. I want to be there. I want to help. But not with Stacey in bed next to me. And I know people do this all the time. They co-parent and raise kids separately and it works out in the end. The kids turn out all right. But this…what the fuck do I do? She told me she won’t get maternity leave, which is fucked up in another sense, but what do I do? I don’t want to be with Stacey.”

“I don’t know,” he says, and while it’s not helpful, I’m glad he’s honest. “It’s hard to say what’s right here. You have a sense of responsibility for that child, and you two are going to have to decide what you want to do. Put the kid in daycare so you can both work, hire an at-home nanny either full-time or part-time to help provide childcare while you both work, have Stacey stay home for the next few years, or move back home and live with Mom because you know she’ll eat up any chance she’ll get to be a full-time grandma.”