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Thankfully, this meeting didn't include Adam. My mom had made sure to tell me that ahead of time. I guess she wanted to make sure I wouldn't be too stressed out about it. The competitive nature of this whole business was starting to get to me. It was especially starting to get to me down at the office where Adam was learning everything there was about the company – including my specific job duties. Having a shadow at work was never fun, especially when that shadow was undermining you every step of the way.
So, when I stepped into the parlor to meet with my mom that day, I felt at ease. No Adam, just my parents and me. Should be easy enough, right?
Wrong.
As soon as I'd stepped into the parlor room, I almost turned right back around and left. Seated across from my mother, facing the doorway, and looking straight at me, was Danielle.
I stopped, hesitating just long enough that my mother turned and saw me.
“Malcolm, please,” she said. “Have a seat.”
Dad sat next to Mom, and I had the option of joining Danielle on the loveseat or sitting in one of the chairs off to the side.
“You didn't tell me we'd be having company,” I said.
I didn't even bother to look at my ex. I stayed in the doorway, preferring to stand rather than sit anywhere near her. I was also still considering leaving. It wasn't until my father stood and walked over to me that I knew I would have to stay put. His face was serious. Dead serious.
“Malcolm, you heard your mother.”
Danielle still hadn't said a word. She sat on the loveseat, wearing a Tiffany blue dress with a white ribbon at the waist. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a twist, neat and formal. Her hands were resting in her lap, looking every bit the proper lady I knew she wasn't. Her blue eyes stared back at me, and I felt absolutely nothing when I looked at her. No love, no rush of emotion, nothing.
She was just there.
My mom stepped to my side and whispered into my ear, “Malcolm, it's important. Please, have a seat.”
With the sigh of a suffering man, I took one of the chairs off to the side, sitting as far away from Danielle as I could. She had to turn herself almost completely around to even see me. Dad and Mom sat back down as well, and it was my mother who started the conversation.
“Danielle has some news for you, Malcolm,” she said. “She's been trying to meet with you for some time but says you haven't been responding to her messages.”
I glared at Danielle. “Did you really have to get my parents involved?”
She turned to look at me. “Malcolm, there was no other choice,” she said. “You need to hear this.”
“What do I need to hear? About how sorry you are, how it was all a mistake?” I spat. “Because I've heard it already, Danielle. I've heard it and it's not going to change anything. We're through, and there's nothing you can say that will change that.”
“I'm pregnant, Malcolm.”
My heart very nearly stopped dead in my chest. Literally. With knots tightening in my belly and groin, I gripped the arms of the chair, digging my nails into the fabric.
“What did you say?” I asked.
Danielle stood up, straightening her skirt before she walked toward me. Then she knelt down beside the chair, her hands-on mine.
“I said, I'm pregnant,” she looked at me earnestly. “And it's yours.”
I looked her in the eye, my mind spinning with thought and feeling. “H - how can you be sure it's mine? I mean, I obviously wasn't –”
I bit back my words and looked over at my parents, to see if this came as a surprise to either of them. It hadn't. They watched, carefully, but neither one looked shocked to hear the news. Danielle had already told them, but did she mention the fact cheated on me? Or her night with Adam?
Knowing she'd gotten around a little bit cast doubt, at least in my mind, that the child she was carrying was actually mind.
“Because you're the only man I've been with,” she said finally.
“Do you really expect me to believe that?” I asked, gaping at her. “You spent the night with my half-brother and came over here the next day to rub it in my face.”
“I didn't spend the night with him. Ask him yourself,” she said. “We met up that morning. I texted him and asked him if I could come along with him because I'd wanted to see you.”
“Which perfectly explains why you were kissing him.” My entire body tensed up. “Because nothing says I'm sorry like sticking your tongue into my brother's mouth with me watching.
