Page 31 of Entirely Yours
“Nice place,” she states, attempting small talk. And it is a nice place. I bought it two years ago after saving up overtime money and extra from random gigs. Sassafras had fairly reasonable home prices at the time, and though it didn’t make much sense for a twenty-eight year-old single man to buy a four-bedroom house, I did it anyway.
I observe Thea assheobserves the living room that gives way to the kitchen. I watch as she takes in the violin propped up against the wall, the assorted sheet music scattered across the coffee table, the thriving snake plant in the corner. I wish I could read her mind in this moment—hear what judgments, good or bad, she’s making about the space. “Can I get?—”
The sound of shattering ceramic interrupts me. “Fucking cat,” I mutter, back tracking into the kitchen where, sure enough, my favorite coffee mug is in pieces on the tile floor, surrounded by most of my first cup of coffee for the day. The cat is lying on the counter, licking its paw. The asshole doesn’t even bother to look up as I walk in.
“You have a cat?” Thea’s voice is right behind me now, and I can sense her peeking over my shoulder.
“No.”
“You guys kind of look alike.”
I turn and raise my brow at her. “Do we?”
“Yeah, he just needs a bun. What’s his name?”
“He’s not my cat,” I reply, bending over to start cleaning up the mess it made.
“We had barn cats back in Texas, but I always wanted one of my own,” she muses.
I look over at her, and she’s still several feet away from the cat, staring longingly toward it.
“It let me pet it earlier.”
Tentatively, she reaches her hand out, quickly pulling it backbefore the cat even has a chance to decide whether he likes her or not.
“You scared, Thea?”
Her whole body slumps in response. “Yes,” she whispers, and I know she’s not talking about the cat anymore.
“Go sit down, I’ll be there in a minute.”
She does what I ask while I finish cleaning up the broken mug. I get down two new cups and pour fresh coffee for both of us. I don’t ask, just add some cream and sugar into hers. Coffee is placed on the table in front of her, then we sit in silence for several moments. I want to give her time to process what she wants to say, but I need to know for sure why she is here.
“I support you no matter what. If… if the results of your… test. Or if you didn’t take it, I can help. But it’s your body. It’s your decision. And I will be with you—I mean, I’ll be here to?—”
“It was positive.” She finally takes pity on me and cuts in.
I rub my hands down my face, hiding my smile. “That’s… that’s great.” I grin.
Thea looks at me like I just spoke a foreign language.
“I mean—fuck. I’m messing this up.”
“No, I’m surprised by that reaction. That’s all.” She’s wringing her hands in her lap, and that’s when it hits me. Of course she’s surprised. From what she’s told me, Chloe’s dad was a bastard who did not take the news of Thea being pregnant well at all. I stand up and move around to sit on the coffee table directly in front of Thea.
“May I?” I ask, holding my hands out for hers. She untangles her fingers and places them in mine. I give her a reassuring squeeze. “Thea… I have always wanted to be a father. This might not be the way I would have gone about it, but I am not upset or disappointed. I also respectyou, very much. And I respect whatever choice you want to make. Take some time and think about it. I know you haven’t met them yet but my mom and sister are great people and would make good, non-judgmental, sounding boards.”
A tear slips free from the corner of Thea’s eye, and I make a decision.
“I’m going to call in to work real quick, and then I’m yours for the day, alright?”
She frantically begins wiping at her face. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know that, Thea. I want to. You don’t even have to talk to me. I’ll put on a record or a TV show and sit silently.”
She huffs a laugh. “You do always have that creepily silent, brooding way about you.”
“I resent that, I just used a lot of words for you,” I joke.
