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I hear Gavin moving around in the kitchen when I wake and inhale the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. I crack my lids open and take a good look around the room. Physically, everything looks the same but I don’t feel at ease like I normally do. Everything from last night comes back to me at once. I roll out of bed and run to the bathroom, locking the door behind me.
I stare at myself in the mirror and see sheer panic reflected back at me. My eyes are wild and unfocused, my fists are clenched, and my shoulders are tight. I sit on the floor with my head between my knees and focus on breathing. In and out. In…and out. Right when I feel I’ve calmed my frayed nerves to a manageable level, there’s a knock on the door.
“You okay in there?”
I rush to the counter and run the sink. “Yep, I’m just freshening up. I’ll be right out.”
There’s deafening silence on the other end. I imagine Gavin resting his head against the door, maybe with his hand on the doorknob, waiting for permission to turn the handle.
I hear him clear his throat. “When you’re done, I have breakfast waiting in the kitch
en.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.”
I smooth out my hair and gargle some mouthwash before stepping back into the bedroom so I can dress before heading down the hall. Gavin is standing behind the counter setting a plate of eggs and bacon on the breakfast bar when I get to the kitchen.
“Have a seat,” he offers.
I pull out a stool and begin moving the eggs around my plate. I can feel his eyes on me but I can’t seem to lift my head up to know for sure.
“Kat, please look at me.”
Well, so much for that idea. Hesitantly, I raise my eyes and freeze when I see the misery he is wearing, clear as day.
“So…” he begins.
“So…”
He sighs. “As you know, Hailey’s pregnant…just over five months now. She’s having a boy.”
“How nice for her,” I deadpan.
“Kat, the baby…the baby’s mine.”
I drop my fork. “What?”
His eyes fill with tears. “I’m the father of Hailey’s child.”
“But…how? When? How is this possible?”
He grips the edge of the counter and hangs his head. “The day after Thanksgiving, I went to a bar by my parents’ house. I was miserable after seeing you at the club. I knew we couldn’t be together because it goes against every moral code in the teaching handbook, but I couldn’t get you out of my head. I was trying to get you out of my head.”
“So you slept with your ex-wife?”
“I didn’t plan to,” he insists. “She was at the bar drowning her sorrows when I walked in. Apparently she and Joe broke up—she caught him cheating. Ironic, huh?”
“Get to the part where you impregnated her, Gavin!”
He winces. “We both had a lot to drink. I don’t remember much, but there’s bits and pieces. Kissing in a cab…going back to her place. After that, it’s pretty much a blank until I woke up in her bed the next day. Kat, you have to remember we weren’t technically together back then. I would never betray you like that.”
He’s right. Logically, I know he’s right but the confession is still ripping me apart.
“How do you know the baby’s really yours?”
“The timing is perfect, Kat. Hailey is a lot of things, but she would never lie about something like this.”
“Oh, so she can lie about having an affair but not about this?” I mutter.
