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UNEXPECTED - Chapter 04

Spinelli stared at Maxie, unsure if he had heard her correctly. “P- pr- pregnant?” He stuttered. He didn’t realize she had been seeing anyone. Dr. Doom, perhaps? Or some random bellman at the Metro Court? He wanted to be the supportive friend, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.

“I know it must be a shock. It was to me, too. I didn’t want to tell you like this. It’s Jason’s fault.”

He blinked a few times. Stone Cold?

“He was going to tell you himself, but I wouldn’t let him. I thought it should come from me. Geez, it was just that one time and now here we are. We never expected something like this to happen. Hell, we weren’t really thinking at all that night. I’m so sorry.” She reached out to him, but he backed away. “You’re mad, aren’t you? I knew it--”

He stared at her with wide eyes. “Stone Cold?” He whimpered and held his hands up to his head, trying to keep his entire world from spinning out of control.

Maxie eyed him with concern. “Jason? You want to talk to Jason? Oh, okay. I’ll go get him.” Maxie ran out of there as fast as she could. That was awkward. All of a sudden Spinelli had gone from being her best friend to the father of her child to the guy who probably blamed her for ruining his life. She saw it in his eyes. He was really upset. She was out of breath when she got to the living room. “Jason, I think he’s about to freak.”

“Uh oh.” Jason rushed up the stairs and into the bedroom. Spinelli was pacing the floor and babbling incoherently. “Hey, buddy. You okay?”

Spinelli stopped and glared at his mentor, his confidante, the man he trusted above all others. “How could you?”

“Huh?” Jason turned and looked behind him, expecting to see Maxie.

“You knew how I felt about her! You- you- you-” Words momentarily escaped him and he went for something more primal, a right hook to the jaw.

Jason turned back to his young friend and was caught off guard by the punch. He stumbled backwards into the dresser. “What the hell?” He rubbed his jaw.

“You TRAITOR!” Spinelli screamed, unable to hold back his emotions. He began to pace again. “’He’s hot’, she said. ‘He has pretty eyes,’ she said! I should have seen this coming. The Jackal was blinded by love, but no more. Never again!”

“Whoa, whoa.” Jason held up his hands in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Maxie burst into the room. “What the hell is going on up here? It sounded like you guys were fighting!”

“I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding,” Jason announced.

“No. I understand perfectly,” Spinelli replied. “Far be it for me to stand in your way. The Jackal will play the fool no longer.” He opened his closet and pulled out a suitcase.

“What are you doing?” Maxie rushed over and grabbed the bag from him.

He yanked it back and threw it on the bed. “Leaving! There is nothing for me here now.” He started packing.

“I tell you I’m pregnant with your child and you run away!” Maxie couldn’t believe it. She never expected that sort of reaction.

“You and Stone Cold will no doubt have beautiful progeny.”

“WHAT??” Maxie and Jason exclaimed in unison.

“You think I slept with Jason? Eww!” She glanced over at him. “No offence.”

“Um. None taken, I guess.” He smirked.

“Wait.” Spinelli froze. He turned to Maxie with confusion etched on his face. “Did you just say—?”

Maxie gaped at him. “Spinelli! I’ve only been with one man since Coop died.”

He slowly pointed to himself.

“Yeah, YOU! You stupid jerk,” she whimpered.

He looked over at Jason for confirmation.

“Congratulations, daddy!” Jason said and walked out, rubbing his jaw.

Spinelli sat down on the bed and tried to comprehend the situation. Somehow Jason being the father made more sense than the reality of it all. “Me?” His eyes filled with tears. He wasn’t sure if he was crying over the relief that Maxie hadn’t been intimate with Jason or the joy of having a family with his one true love. Either way, he was happy.

Maxie went to him and pulled him into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“Maximista, there’s nothing to be sorry ab—“

“You never asked for this. That night was just insane, me throwing myself at you like that. I don’t know about you, but I’m sure not ready to be someone’s mother. So it’s probably best to just terminate this pregnancy. There’s still time.”

Spinelli couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She wanted to get rid of it? Act as if the fates hadn’t decreed that Maxie Jones and Damian Spinelli were meant to be? He pulled out of her embrace and studied her face. She looked scared. Maybe he was living in a fantasy world. People had been telling him that his entire life. “Is that what you want?”

She looked into his sad eyes. “I don’t know.”

He had no right to tell her what to do. “I will stand by whatever decision you make.”

Maxie was unsure why she didn't like his response. He wasn’t pressuring her one way or the other. “Okay,” she mumbled. “Well, now you know, so I’m gonna get back to work.” She kissed his cheek. “Bye.”

Spinelli watched her leave. The joy he had felt only a minute ago had turned to dark despair. What if she decided to abort? He fell back on the bed and clutched a pillow to his heart. He closed his eyes, unable to stop his tears.

-

Jason peeked into Spinelli’s room and saw him lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Maybe he should just leave him be. He started to walk away.

“Sorry about before,” Spinelli said softly.

Jason touched his jaw. “Don’t worry about it. You want to talk?”

Spinelli sat up still clutching the pillow. “Maxie is thinking about terminating the pregnancy.”

Jason frowned. “Really?”

“I suppose I should feel relieved. I’m certainly not father material. I can barely take care of myself, let alone a helpless child who would look up to me as some sort of role model.”

“Remember when I told you that you were a better person than me? I meant it. You’ve got a lot to offer a kid.”

Spinelli looked at him in surprise.

“If you want this child, you need to tell Maxie before it’s too late.”

“I can’t force her to have the baby if it’s not what she wants.”

“Maybe it is what she wants. You should talk to her.”

-

Maxie walked into the office and was caught off guard by the sight of Lu Lu sitting at her desk as if she had never left. “Lu Lu?”

“Oh, hey Maxie. Kate just got me up to speed on all the wedding stuff. I guess we’ll be working late tonight.”

“Um, yeah. What are you doing here? You just got out of a mental hospital.”

“Thanks for being so sensitive.” Lu Lu rolled her eyes. “I’m fine now. The doctors said I had post traumatic stress disorder, but I haven’t had any hallucinations in weeks. They said I needed to get back into my old routine, so here I am.”

Maxie nodded and sat down at her own desk.

Kate came out with some papers for Lu Lu. “Oh, Maxie, you’re here! I wasn’t expecting you back today.”

“Yeah, I’m ready to bury myself in work.”

“Do you want to talk?”

“Nope.”

“O-kay…” Kate eyed her warily. “I’ll let Lu Lu fill you in on the changes. Come see me if you need anything.” She went back into her office.

Lu Lu watched Maxie with curiosity. Kate seemed to be worried about her. She shrugged it off and put her attention on work.

A few hours later, Kate left for a dinner meeting, while Maxie and Lu Lu continued to deal with last minute wedding details. They had been working in uncomfortable silence all afternoon. Lu Lu finally spoke. “You’ve been uncharacteristically quiet. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah sure, why do you ask?” Maxie avoided her eyes.

"Well, Kate seemed pretty worried about you and you've barely said one word to me, not even to insult my clothes. You're sorta freaking me out."

Maxie tried to fight her emotions, but it was a losing battle. She hid her face so Lu Lu couldn’t see her tears, but a sob escaped her.

“Maxie, what is it?” Lu Lu knelt beside her. She wasn’t used to seeing this girl as anything other than snarky. Something had to be really wrong.

Wiping her tears away, Maxie tried to catch her breath. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you, the things I said. I had no right to judge you or anybody else.”

Lu Lu was stunned by Maxie’s sudden display of conscience. Maybe Spinelli had rubbed off on her. “Um… I forgive you.” She shrugged.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Maxie asked tearfully.

“Sure.” Lu Lu couldn’t imagine what she would possibly want to know about her life.

“Do you regret having the abortion?”

Lu Lu’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t talked about it in over a year. “Every single day. Why would you ask me about—“ She gasped. “Oh, Maxie! Are you pregnant?” Maxie answered her with more tears. Lu Lu pulled her into a hug. "Don't do it, Maxie. Don't do what I did."