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Holy shit.
Just like that, after a simple phone call, I was a father.
Reality was jarring, despite having already known it on some level.
But now came the hard part. I had to talk to Presley. I needed to see her, but first I had to talk to her. Showing up at her house, even though I’d gotten her address, would probably scare her, which was the last thing I wanted.
Only a handful of people knew what was going on, and my lawyer was the only other person who knew that the results had come back. I hadn’t even told my parents. Somehow, I’d been putting off telling anyone until I knew for sure. Now it all came crashing down, guilt and worry and frustration taking root.
What if Presley hated me and didn’t want me to see the baby?
What if I sucked as a dad?
What if she only wanted money?
I stopped myself from going down the road. I’d already jumped to conclusions once before and I needed to keep that in mind. I couldn’t afford to be angry or resentful or any of the other negative emotions that plagued me. There was an innocent child involved now, so I had to man the fuck up and call Presley.
I typed in the numbers and closed my eyes as I waited for her to answer.
“Hello?”
Her voice was warm but guarded, as if she knew who it was.
“Presley. Hello. It’s me. Zeke.”
Silence.
“Are you there?”
“Y-yes. How did you get my number?”
“You gave it to the attorney. Didn’t you?”
“Oh. Yes. I guess I did.”
God, this was awkward. As fuck.
But this was Aurora’s doing, so I had to be the bigger person here and try to make it at least a little bit easier.
“Listen, we have a lot to talk about. I was wondering if I could come to see you.”
Another silence.
“Presley? I know I was a jerk that morning after…” Crap, how was I supposed to refer to that? The morning after I popped your cherry? The morning after we made a baby? “I’d really like to talk in person. Meet the…meet Jeremy. Please.”
“Okay.” Her voice was soft. Unsure. Nervous.
She was afraid of me.
At the very least, she was afraid of what I might do.
“I can be there tomorrow, if that’s okay?”
“I’m working a double tomorrow. Can you, um, it would be better if you came the next day.”
I wanted to protest, but that would have been selfish. I needed to make an effort here because Aurora had handled things badly. There was no doubt I could be a prick when I wanted to, and I’d been exactly that when I’d last seen Presley, but I never would have turned my back on her if I’d known she was pregnant. That wasn’t the man I was, and I needed her to know that.
So I would wait an extra day.
