It was several weeks later while Brooke was at the store picking up groceries and supplies, seeing a pregnant woman coming down the aisle towards her, she realized she was almost a month late with her period. This hadn’t ever happened before. Could it be that she was pregnant? She shook her head, no, as that wasn’t possible as she was sterile. It must be caused by stress of the divorce and the situation with her ex-husband.
When Derrick had told her she was the one with the infertility problem, she’d believe him, but what if he lied about the taking the test? No, he wouldn’t have done that, as he didn’t have any reason to lie to her about something as important as his test results.
When she and Garrison had started their relationship, assuming she was infertile, she hadn’t bothered with birth control. Afraid to get too excited; she slowly walked to where the pregnancy tests were and bought one. If she were pregnant, she wondered how Garrison would take the news, as they hadn’t ever talked about the possibility of a baby.
Once home, she quickly did the test, then sat down on the toilet lid to wait. Part of her prayed the test would show she was in fact pregnant, while the other part knew there wasn’t any possibility for the test to be positive. When the time went off, she stood to look at the results and so shocked by what she saw that she slumped to the floor. Once there, she pulled her knees up to her chest, laid her head down on her knees and began crying. She couldn’t believe it; she and Garrison were going to be parents. Now a baby was finally coming into her life, but Derrick wasn’t going to be the father, but his brother. The thought caused her to wonder if the problem really lay with Derrick, and he’d lied to her about it because he was ashamed that it was his fault.
Finally, Brooke quit crying and pulled herself together as she had to tell Garrison about the baby. She stood and began cleaning up the bathroom of any sign of the pregnancy test and had just stepped into the kitchen when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Brooke, its Katrina.”
Brooke wished she hadn’t answered the phone, because besides Derrick, his mother was the last person she wanted to talk to right now.
“I’ve been thinking of you today and wondering how you are holding up?” Derrick had talked his mother into calling Brooke to see how she was doing on what would have been a special day for them.
Unsure why she was calling, Brooke was hesitant in answering Katrina’s question. “Okay, I guess. Why do you ask?”
“Don’t you realize what today is?” Katrina hadn’t talked to Brooke since the divorce, as she didn’t know what to say to her about Derrick.
Still shocked over the pregnancy test, the question puzzled her as she wasn’t even sure what the date was. “I’ve been busy and haven’t given the date much thought.”
She looked at the calendar hanging on the wall, stunned to see if she and Derrick had stayed married, today would have been their sixth wedding anniversary. They hadn’t celebrated last year because Derrick hadn’t been home, arriving sometime after she’d gone to bed, and weren’t celebrating this year because there wasn’t a marriage. She was about to start a new life with his brother and had a baby on the way.
So happy knowing she was finally having a baby, she started crying.
“Brooke, what wrong dear?” She mouthed to Derrick that Brooke was crying, then instantly she regretted it, as it caused her to feel disloyal to Garrison.
“There isn’t anything wrong. These are tears of joy because I just found out that I’m pregnant,” she told Katrina excitedly.
“You’re pregnant!” she blurted out. As soon as she spoke, Katrina quickly looked back at her son. When she saw him sitting at her kitchen table with a grin covering his entire face, she groaned as she figured he assumed he was the father, which she didn’t think was a probability.
Derrick had told her that he spent the night of their divorce in Brooke’s bed, but Katrina doubted Brooke was expecting his baby, as she knew Brooke and Garrison was now an item. All she knew for sure was one of her sons was going to be hurt by this new development.
She quickly turned her attention back to the phone. “Are you sure?” Katrina gently asked.
“I’ve done a pregnant test and it came out positive.”
“What are you going to do now?” asked her ex-mother-in-law, soon to be mother-in-law.
“I’m going to marry Garrison and have his baby.”
At least now, Katrina knew who the father was.
“I wonder if Derrick was really tested years ago like he said he was.” Brooke said as absent- mindedly as she played with the phone cord.
Katrina was afraid of what the answer to that question might be, not only that, but she had to be careful how she responded since Derrick was standing in the room with her. “I’m sorry dear; I really don’t know the answer to that.”
“I guess it really doesn’t matter now one way or the other now. I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye, Brooke.”
Katrina hung up the phone, but before she could say anything to Derrick about Brooke, he gave her a tight hug.
“Mom, I’m going to see Brooke. I’ll see you later.”
She was worried how Derrick was going to take it when he found out the baby wasn’t his, as it was the last thing, he would be expecting Brooke to tell him. Katrina knew it was time someone told Derrick about ex-wife and brother, but it wasn’t going to be her. Thinking it would be in Brooke’s best interest if she knew Derrick was coming to her house, she quickly redialed her number to warn her about him knowing about her news.
“Hello?”
“Brooke, I’m calling to let you know that Derrick was here when I called you. I’m sorry, but he knows about the baby and on his way to your house right now,” she muttered tearfully.
“It’s all right. Garrison and I should have told him about us from the beginning. It hasn’t been fair for you to have to keep secrets from him, and for that, I apologize that we put you in the middle. When he gets here, I’ll tell him everything.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Good luck.”
“Thanks. I’m going to need it.”
After Brooke hung up with Katrina, she worried how she was going to tell Derrick that Garrison was the father of her baby. But first, she had to tell Garrison about the baby, as she didn’t want him to find out from someone else.
She dialed his number, but it went straight to his voice mail. “It’s urgent that I talk to you,” she said and then hung up, as her news needed to be told in person.
Ten minutes later when Brooke heard a knock at her front door, she opened it and seeing Derrick standing there with an excited expression on his face. She groaned as this wasn’t a good sign, figuring Katrina had forgotten to mention that he thought that he was the baby’s father when she’d called.
“Hello, Derrick.”
“May I come in?” he asked with a smile, thinking this time she would let him in.
“No.”
He gave her an offended look. “Brooke, we need to talk about the baby.”
“No, we don’t have anything to discuss on that subject,” Brooke told her ex-husband.
“Okay, but I want you to know I’ll be a good father, we can be remarried in no time and we’ll be the family you always wanted.”
“You didn’t get me pregnant.”
“What do you mean, of course I did. We had sex the night of our divorce, so the baby has to be mine,” he said, giving her a knowing look.
“You can’t be the father because we didn’t have sex that night. After you fell asleep in the bedroom, I left and spent the night with someone else.” She should tell him about her relationship with his brother, but knowing it was going to hurt him, the words wouldn’t come.
He was so shocked by her statement; he decided to lash out at her. “Did you even wait for our divorce before the two of you became lovers,” he said in a leering voice.
Her face instantly filled with anger at his statement, the nerve of him. “Unlike you, I waited until I wasn’t married anymore before having sex with someone else.”
“Ouch.” Her comment was like a slap in the face. “Do you even know who the father is?” he asked her nastily, with the intention of hurting her.
Brooke offended by his cruel words, slapped his face as hard as she could. “How dare you ask me that question! Of course, I know.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“Since you and I are divorced, what I do or don’t do regarding this baby is none of your business.”
She was right, but he still wanted to know. “Are you going to have the baby?”
Her face filled with rage. “You of all people know how much I have always wanted to have a baby.”
Derrick took a step closer to her, and then reached for her. “I’m sorry that was a horrible thing for me to say.”
Brooke moved away from him and he didn’t reach for her again. “You lied to me about that test, didn’t you?” she asked him, quickly changing the subject of their conversation off her.
“Yes, I didn’t want you to know I was to blame for you not getting pregnant, so I let you think it was you who was infertile.”
“What a loving thing for a husband to do,” she replied coolly. “Well it doesn’t matter anymore. So now that you know you aren’t the father, you can leave.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” His eyes watched her closely, waiting for her to ask him to stay. “What if your lover doesn’t want to be a father to his child?”
“That isn’t any of your concern.” She didn’t even have to think about that, as she knew that wouldn’t be the case. “Bye Derrick.”
“Bye Brooke.”
He turned and left her without looking back at her. As he walked to his car, he wondered if they would have been able to save their marriage if he had been able to father a child with her. He shook his head, as he was the one who broke up their marriage because of his involvement with another woman, not because Brooke couldn’t have a baby.
The thought of him never fathering a child, sadden him, but he couldn’t do anything to change that fact. He was sorry for cheating on her and wished he hadn’t gotten involved with Peggy. He couldn’t change that now and besides; he’d learned the hard way that you had to live with the consequences of your actions.
* * *
As Brooke watched him walk back to his car, she let out a slow sigh, relieved he’d left as quietly as he had. Of course, it might have been a different outcome if she told him Garrison was the father of the baby and they were getting married soon.
Before Brooke closed the door, she was surprised to Garrison’s car coming down the street from the opposite direction as Derrick had gone. For him to be here so early, she figured Katrina must have told him about the baby as well. Couldn’t that woman keep her mouth shut?
When he walked into the room, Garrison opened his arms to her and she walked into his arms, laid her head against his shoulder. “I’m pregnant,” she muttered softly.
“So, I’ve heard.” All of Garrison’s dream were finally coming true too, as not only was he going to marry the woman he’d loved for year, they were going to have a baby together.
I can’t believe your mother told you about the baby.” She raised her head and looked at him. “I wanted it to be a surprise.
“It was a surprise all right, but Mom didn’t tell me, my big brother did.”
She began crying at the thought she’d hurt Garrison by not telling him first. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you first, but your mother called to ask how I was doing since today would have been our sixth anniversary. When she’d called, I’d just found out I was pregnant, and it sort of slipped out.”
Garrison rubbed his left hand up and down her back. “Let it out sweetheart, you deserve this cry.”
They stood there together and even after the crying ended, Garrison continued to comfort her.
“I can’t believe that after years of dreaming of having a baby, it finally coming true.” She moved away from him to look up at his face. “What did your brother tell you?”
“When he called, he told me that he was going to be a father and the two of you would be getting back together. Since I knew that wasn’t a possibility, when Derrick said he was coming over here, afraid of what he might do when he found out that I was the father, I thought it would be best if I were here.” Garrison looked at her and waited for her to tell him that she had in fact told his brother that he was father, but she remained silent. “Well?”
“Well what?” she asked. “Since I can’t read your mind, I haven’t any idea what you are thinking.” She felt bad for lying, as she knew darn well, what he was thinking.
“You did tell Derrick he wasn’t the father, didn’t you?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Garrison was sorry he had asked as he could tell by her expression that he had made a bad choice. “Never mind. Forget I even asked that question.”
Brooke forcibly moved out of his embrace. “Garrison, I think it would be best if you left now, before I do or say something, we will both regret later.”
“Brooke, please let me explain,” he said as he reached out and touched her arm.
She took a step back out of his reach. “No, I have some decisions to make and it would be in your best interest if you weren’t here to color them.”
Garrison slowly started for the front door, his heart breaking, but he had too much pride to beg her to forgive him for his thoughtless question. He opened the screen door and was about step outside when he suddenly realized that if he did, their relationship would suffer horrible consequences.
Hell, with his male pride, having Brooke in his life was more important than having his dignity intact. After waiting all these years for her, he wasn’t going to take the chance of losing the woman he loved, so he turned and started towards her
“Brooke, I’ve loved you for as long as I have known you. I’m afraid of losing you because most of those years you have been with my brother, first dating him, and then being his wife. All I can say in my defense is that I’m insecure when it comes to you and Derrick, as part of me still can’t believe you have actually chosen me to be your husband.” He waited nervously for her response.
Tears began down her cheeks. “Not many men would be willing to admit to being vulnerable. I’m sorry I took your question the wrong way. I told Derrick since we didn’t have sex that night; there wasn’t any way possible he was the father. Then he told me that he’d lied to me about his results of the fertility test.”
“Does he know about us yet?”
Brooke shook her head back and forth but didn’t look him in his eyes. “I don’t know how to tell him we’re in love and are going to be married next month. I guess I was hoping you or your mother would be the one to tell him.”
“You’ve never mentioned you wanted me to tell him our news,” he said softly.
“I know. I guess part of me thought I should be the one to tell him about us, but I have been too weak to do so at any opportunity I’ve had to tell him.”
“I know what we can do, we’ll wait ten or eleven years and then tell him,” he said as he winked at her.
“Sounds like a good idea to me, but seriously, I think he needs to be told sooner than that. It isn’t fair for your mother to have to keep this kind of secret from him.”
Garrison walked over to the telephone on the lamp table and quickly dialed a number. Brooke bit on her fingernail, as she was uneasy about this, as she knew Derrick was going to be hurt by what Garrison was going to tell him.