“Hi dad.” She sat next to him and looked at the TV. “What’s on?”
“Are you ok?”
“Yes, I’m not going to let her mess up my life again. I’m happy for the first time in a while and I want to keep it that way.”
He was proud of her and kissed her forehead. “I love you baby.”
“Me too daddy.”
They watched the end of a sitcom they both enjoyed and then she stood to go to bed. He decided to skip the issue about the boy as she ran up the steps whistling. Danny was definitely a good thing.
Buttons didn’t have to call her this time. She called Buttons.
“Whasss…..up?” Ellen asked while popping her gum.
“I was going to call,” Buttons started. “How are you doing?”
“Good……actually GREAT!”
“OK what is going on?” Buttons asked knowing her friend. “Why are you so happy?”
“Well..you see…Danny and I were alone in the boat..and I wanted to forget seeing my mother and……well…”
“OH MY GOD! YOU DID IT!”
“Yes,” she whispered. “It was wonderful…I mean not at first…but the second time was..”
“Second time!”
“Yes Danny was too excited for the first time,” she giggled. “But he was up for the second one.”
“Up for…”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Ellen giggled. “But yes…up for.”
“I need a boyfriend,” Button’s whined. “I want to do it too.”
“I’ll ask Danny if any of the guys on the team want to take your cherry.”
“Ellen!”
“Just kidding.”
“Did your father say anything about the little boy?”
Ellen had not really thought about him. “No…why would he?”
“Well if he is your mother’s he would be your step brother,”
“Oh God you’re right.” Ellen gasped. She had always wanted to have a brother or sister. “And he looked so cute.”
“I’m sorry I brought it up. I didn’t want to mess up your lost my cherry celebration.”
“Actually, in a strange way, I’m feeling good that maybe I have a little step brother.”
“But you will have to talk to your mother to find out and to meet him.”
“I know. I’m not ready for that yet.” They said their goodbyes and then she called Danny.
“Hi, are you thinking about me?”
“Yes, I’m always thinking about you,” he answered. He lay on his bed tossing up a baseball. “How do you feel? You know after tonight on the boat.”
“After we made love.”
“Yes.”
“I feel like I want to be in your arms right now doing it again and again.”
“Me too.” They got quiet and then she mentioned the boy.
“Danny if the little boy is my mother’s then I have a step brother.”
He too had not even considered it. “You’re right. That’s pretty cool.”
“I know. I better go to sleep. I love you.”
“I love you too Ellen.”
*****
Nothing was mentioned about the boy the next week. They all settled into their day to day lives. Ellen and Danny couldn’t continue their advance pleasures because she did get her period but they both knew that Saturday would be the day. Ellen finished her breakfast and planned to pick Danny up at his house around noon to go to the boat. She pulled into the driveway and noticed a strange car. She rang the doorbell and when the door opened she saw a cute dark-haired girl.
“Can I help you?” The girl asked.
“Uh yeah…is..uh Danny here?”
“Who is it?” Danny’s voice asked before he stuck his face out. “Ellen. I uh forgot about…..I mean I lost track of the time.” He turned to the other girl. “This is Lisa.”
“Lisa this is Ellen.”
“Are you a friend of Danny’s?” Lisa asked as she shook Ellen’s hand tightly.
She glared at him. “Uh yes…I’m actually his girlfriend.” Ellen squeezed Lisa’s hand back as hard as she was giving her.
“Oh yeah…I should have told you.” He laughed nervously. “Lisa and her dad stopped by this morning and we didn’t know they were in town. We’ve been talking about old times and I guess I forgot.”
Ellen wanted to kick him but held back. She stood on the porch. “Well are we going to the boat?”
Danny looked at Lisa and then at Ellen. “Mom just put out some lunch. Why don’t we eat and figure out what we are all doing?”
Ellen was upset but kept her cool. As they turned to walk into the house she tried to move next to Danny but Lisa quickly moved there first.
“Ellen, I’m glad you are here,” Janet smiled. “Come in and meet Captain Elliott.”
The tall man stood. “Please call me Tom.” He shook her hand and looked at Danny.
Janet jumped in. “Ellen is Danny’s girlfriend.”
Ellen tried to move back by Danny but Lisa stood her ground.
“Danny has as good a taste as his father,” Tom grinned. “I’m glad to meet you Ellen.”
“Well, let’s eat,” Janet said. They all moved to the table and Lisa again moved into the chair next to Danny. Ellen sat directly across from him and kicked his shin.
“Ouch,” he said looking over at her.
“What’s wrong?” Janet asked.
“Uh..I hit my leg on the table leg,” Danny lied. They quickly finished their sandwiches and afterwards Lisa offered to help with the dishes.
“I’ll help too,” Danny said but Ellen grabbed his hand and pulled him outside.
“What’s wrong?” He asked innocently.
“What’s wrong? How about you forgot to tell her that you have a girlfriend and then don’t even tell her father that I am your girlfriend? And, if she sits that close to you again I’m going to turn her chair over.”
Danny hugged her close. “I love only you. She’s just a friend.”
She sighed and hugged him back. “Are we going to the boat? Daddy is working today so we can be alone.”
“God, I really want to but I can’t leave while they are here.”
“When are they leaving?”
“I’m not sure.” The door opened and Lisa came running out.
“Danny, your mother just invited me to stay here while my father goes back to Germany and finishes up. And then when he returns we both are going to stay here while we look for a house!”
Danny turned and saw the red face on Ellen. “Uh..that’s great.”
“How long will you be staying here?” Ellen asked as she clinched her fists.
“At least a month,” Lisa smiled. “And, I told my father that I want to live in the same school district so we can go to the same school.”
“A month,” Ellen repeated.
“Yes,” Lisa grinned. “I’ll stay in the spare bedroom next to Danny’s.” She moved over and hugged him.
Ellen saw that Lisa had bigger breasts and nice long legs. She was not going to give up without a fight. “Well, that’s great. We can all spend some time together to get to know each other. I know a few guys that would love to meet you.” She pulled Danny from Lisa’s grasp and led him away.
Lisa watched as they walked out into the back yard.
“Ellen I didn’t know.”
“Danny, she thinks of you more than just a friend. Girls know. Where is her mother?”
“I just found out that they are getting a divorce. The mother has another guy in Germany and is staying over there.”
“Oh this is great. Not only are you going to be in the same house with a cute girl your mother will be living with a handsome man. I’m sure my father will be thrilled.”
“WHO WANTS DESERT?” Janet yelled from the kitchen door.
“OK but I’m sitting next to you.”
Danny realized that his somewhat simple life just got complicated. “Definitely. You will sit next to me.”
*****
Allan finished his morning shift and heard the page for him to come to the main lobby. After hopping on the elevator and dropping eight floors he moved out into the large lobby and saw Maria sitting on one of the sofas. He took a deep breath and walked her way.
“Hi Allan,” she smiled as she stood up. She wanted to hug him but knew that he wouldn’t go for it. She held out her hand but he didn’t take it. “Can we go somewhere to talk?”
Allan saw the small conference room off to the side was dark. “We can go in here.” After moving inside and turning on the light he sat across from her. Both were silent not sure what to say.
“I interviewed for a job here,” she said afraid he would go off on her.
“Oh great, just what I need right now. Why are you moving back? If you just want to talk to Ellen you don’t have to move back.”
“I love this town and still have some family and friends. Besides it’s where I want to raise my son.”
“Who is the father?” He asked bluntly.
“Someone you don’t know,” she answered. “My son’s name is Andy.”
“After your father.”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to tell me why you left us? I mean I understand that we were not in love but how could any mother leave her child like you did?”
Maria felt the tears about to flow. She removed a tissue and patted the right cheek below her eye. “I had to make a change and wanted to finish my medical degree. Since we were not in love I couldn’t stay here.”
“But you could have stayed in town even if it wasn’t with me.”
“I know. Maybe I should have but I didn’t want to take Ellen away from her friends and I didn’t want to stay in his house.”
“This is bullshit,” he said getting angry. “All of this could have been worked out. Did you hate me so much that you had to get away from me?”
“I’ve never hated you,” she said starting to cry. “You were my best friend and when I left I missed that so much.”
“Well tell me why you left? You owe me that much.”
She put her face in her hands. “I discovered that I was pregnant. I couldn’t stay here.”
“You were pregnant and it was not from me. You were cheating on me.”
“Once……only once I swear. It was that trip I took to the Southern Medical Show. I didn’t plan for it to happen. It just did.”
Leave a Reply