CHAPTER SEVEN
Kent hoped it wasn’t too obvious he’d been blubbering like a baby. He had held himself together for a while but when he found himself falling apart, he called Monique, wanting
someone
to be able to be there for Kimberly, knowing he wouldn’t have been much help. Truth was, he’d been terrified that something had gone horribly wrong and he would lose her completely.
He’d had his hands over his head, negotiating with whatever God was out there to make sure she was all right when he suddenly felt a hand touch his arm.
He looked up and saw Vivian attempt a smile, probably meant in support. He appreciated her effort and for a moment remembered she was the mother—her child and grandchild had both possibly been in danger.
Her smile eventually contorted from half pain to full-on pain and they both turned to hug each other.
The hug knocked away the remainder of his resolve as he cried softly on her shoulder and he got the sense Vivian was crying too.
Eventually Kent collected himself and pulled away, wiping his face.
“Ms. Jordan, you have to excuse me for being such a punk,” he attempted to joke. “I never cry, you don’t understand. Never.”
Vivian shook her head slowly.
“Kent, I didn’t realize how much you loved my daughter. You know, you really are the best thing that’s happened to her in a long, long time. I’m so glad you’re in her life.”
He exhaled, looking down.
“Me too
Ms.
Jordan.”
Then she had left.
He watched her leave, thinking about how much he wished she and his mom were on better terms, but as he understood it from Kimberly, their friendship was ruined by his mom pursuing his dad way back in the day when he’d just gotten out of a relationship with Ms. Jordan. Despite their families being brought together again through their kids, and despite his parents divorcing and his dad and Ms. Jordan finally getting back together, the women remained cold to each other. Someday perhaps; after all, they were at least talking to each other now.
Kent sat there by himself for a few more moments. He had to get his head together before seeing Kimberly—he didn’t want her to see him in such a state.
***
“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner—I was in the men’s room,” he said to Kimberly, coming up to her and wrapping her in a huge bear hug, holding her tight.
Kimberly realized just how much she’d missed those arms.
To her delight, he continued holding her, and she savored the moment until Kent finally pulled back, holding her shoulders.
“Are you all right?”
His concerned eyes looked searchingly into her face.
She noticed his eyes looked red and answered her own question about why he’d supposedly been in the men’s room for such a long time.
She nodded her head.
“Yeah, I’m okay—both me and the baby, we’re fine.”
“Good.”
He pulled back completely, putting his hands in his pocket, looking unsure what to say or do next.
“So what did the doctor say?”
Here’s your chance Kimberly!
her thoughts screamed. But she replied:
“Just that I need to take it easy or I could lose the baby.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
She looked down.
“So when are you due?” Kent asked.
Kimberly tried to stall, acting like she couldn’t remember.
“Oh, um...when did she say...?”
“What are you going to do, I meant. Sorry.”
He looked like he was lying.
“About what Kent?”
“Oh I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. Damn it Kimberly! Oh god I’m sorry.” He let out a frustrated grunt. “Frankly, I don’t know what to say or do right now—I don’t want to be the one to make you almost lose the baby again—I don’t want to cause you any stress!”
It was then that Kimberly realized that she had still managed to pull off what she was trying to avoid—guilting him into treating her precariously and unnaturally.
“Kent hey—don’t worry about it okay? I mean, it’s not like we’re living together or anything anymore. We’re taking a break from each other right now, right?”
“But how’s that gonna affect you?”
“You know what? I’m fine, don’t worry! I think it would cause me more stress being with you right now than not.”
Kent looked a bit confused.
“Okay Kimberly, whatever you want. But if you need me—for anything—please don’t hesitate to call.”
Kimberly smiled.
“Thank you Kent. You know, you were always such a good friend to me. I mean, besides Monique, you’re…you’re my best friend. I hope we can find a way to remain at least friends.”
She smiled up at him.
He looked suspicious of it, and didn’t return it.
Then a bitter type of chuckle left him.
“Friends huh? Well okay. Let me take you home.”
***
As they pulled up to the Jordan home, Kent decided to speak, breaking the silence of their drive.
“Kimberly I…” He paused, wanting to say the words, but finding them ill-timed, decided against it. “I’ll see you around,” he said instead of reminding her of his love.
Then she started doing one of the worst things he could imagine.
“I guess I should give you this back,” she said, rubbing then tugging at the engagement ring he’d given her a month ago, sliding it off and handing it to him.
Kent numbly took it and held it in his palm, staring at it for a few moments, tears stinging his eyes.
Then he turned away from her, not wanting her to see him break again.
He could hardly speak past the cry-ball in his throat but he managed to whisper:
“Bye Kimberly.”
He heard her exit the car, and when the door slammed, he drove off quickly.
***
Why was she staying away from him?
Over the next couple of days, Kent found himself growing angrier and angrier at Kimberly. Who was she anyway? Who was this woman pretending to be the sweet, perfect Kimberly Jordan he had fallen in love with? How dare she take advantage of his love like that? Could he trust her tears? Her declarations of love? Those looks of regret?
But Kent was also angry at himself—how could he have let himself get so blinded? How could he have let himself get outfoxed?
Kent was especially angered by her stubbornness. Why didn’t she call him or make a move toward reconciliation? Why did she always think she knew what was best? Why not demand he listen to her every word and tell him he had no choice but stick by her? Why not go ahead and tell him what to do, but this time, in favor of the two of them instead of against them? Didn’t she know there was nothing more he would have liked than be by her side? Even now, he couldn’t shake it. Maybe it was that baby in her belly making him feel like he couldn’t abandon her.
Kent sighed and decided to forget it.
She wanted to walk away, let her. He was tired of running after her.
He decided to drown himself in his work.
***
Kimberly sat on her old bed, enjoying the familiar feel of everything around her. She was sort of glad to be back at home fully again—the house and her room still
held some comfort despite her mom being gone, the family unit now broken ever since her mom decided finally being with the long-lost love of her life was more important than anything.
Kimberly knew she was doing the right thing. She had caused so much pain and it tore her apart to have hurt Kent so, and more than that—hurt his faith in people. She was the only one he trusted the way he did and she had shattered that trust. She didn’t blame him one bit if he wanted to leave her. Besides, she could do it—she could raise the baby on her own. She didn’t need him to help her.
But how would others take it? She didn’t want people to think he’d left his pregnant fiancé; most people already believed the worst about him before believing the best.
No, she’d find a way to clear his name. She didn’t know how, especially since she knew the child wasn’t Damien’s after all, which brought her to another thought: could she really keep Kent away from his own child simply because she didn’t want him to feel stuck with her? She knew Kent wouldn’t appreciate that to say the least—if there was anything that could upset him more than finding out about her plan, it would be finding out that she kept him away from his child because she felt they shouldn’t be together out of obligation. She absolutely had to tell him—but when? Certainly by the time the baby was due, right?
The house phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. She knew her dad or Monique could have gotten it but she felt this time it was for her, and hoping it was Kent, didn’t want to waste a minute—she hadn’t seen him in days and she didn’t realize how badly she wanted to hear his voice until now.
Her heart soared as she answered, impatient to hear his voice.
“Hello?”
“Kimberly?”
Her heart sank.
“What is it Damien?”
“I’d like to see you—I have something very important to talk to you about.”
“What could you possibly have to say that’s important?”
“Kim, please. See me just this once okay? Can you meet me at my place?”
Somewhere within her a red flag went up.
“I don’t think so Damien.”
“Why not? Okay I’ll come pick you up—you choose the place.”
“Okay but Damien, what is this about?”
“You’ll see sis.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kimberly knew it was a bad idea but she was curious.
As she was leaving she told her father she was going for a drive with Damien, and he said straight up it didn’t sit right with him—he was only letting it go because he figured they were trying to build their relationship as siblings.
***
Damien sat in the car waiting for Kimberly when he noticed her telling someone goodbye although he couldn’t see who exactly.
He cursed under his breath.
That ruined everything—for today anyway. He needed her to have been alone when she left, preferably not telling anyone where she was going or who she was going with.
Change of plan. There will be another time.
He decided to take a different approach today: he would woo her in a way, lull her into thinking he genuinely wanted to stay out of her life and be respectful of her relationship with Kent, that he really just wanted to be a brother to her. He would get her to the point where she wouldn’t have to mention anything to anyone anymore, and just go with him the next time he asked.
When Kimberly hopped in, he asked:
“So where are we going sis?”
“Um, how about we just drive around?” she said, strapping on her seatbelt. “I’m sure there’s not a whole lot you have to tell me.”
He smiled and drove off.
“Kim, you’re still on the defensive I see. I just wanted to discuss our last encounter.” He sighed heavily. “Really, I wanted to apologize for my behavior then, I know it was weird. It was just so hard for me to let go of my feelings for you, especially since you ended up with that snake…I mean, my ex-best friend and half-brother, that…Kent. It hurt me pretty badly Kim, I mean, I could hardly get over you as it was and he jumped right…”
“Moving on Damien.”
“Yeah, sorry. Old pain dies hard, you know? So anyway, since we’re related and all, I figure we shouldn’t have to be cut completely out of each other’s lives.”
“Well I agree Damien but I just don’t know how…”
“That’s what I wanted to discuss with you.”
That and the fact that you’re carrying my child
. “How can we remain in each other’s lives without it being all…you know, weird?”
“Well…”
“So I was thinking, we can still talk to each other. I mean, like I know you’ve been having trouble dealing with this pregnancy...” His eyes shot quickly to her face to see her reaction but he didn’t get much, “...and it might be personal, but if you ever wanted to talk about anything, anything at all, I’m all ears. And you won’t have to worry about me telling anyone; I’ll keep your secrets Kimberly.”
“Well, Damien, that’s very nice of you but I don’t know if I’ll be talking to you about my pregnancy.”
“I know sis—I was just saying, you know, for example. Hey, if you don’t feel too weird about it, is it okay if I talk to you sometimes about any girlfriends I might get?” he said with a huge grin.
She smiled back and he saw an encouraging change come over her face.
“Wow Damien, you sound like you’ve got someone on your mind already!”
He grinned back. He most certainly did.
“Well there’s this girl at work—Kenya—she’s pretty hot…”
Kimberly laughed.
“Does she like you?” she asked.
“Yeah she does. I’m a little uncomfortable with work relationships though. But I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. To heck with it. I should give it a shot!”
Kimberly smiled again.
“Yeah, maybe you should. I don’t know.”
“Right again! Maybe I shouldn’t move too quickly. After all, Alicia’s pretty hot too. And then there’s Sarah…”
“What?”
Kimberly burst out laughing, looking highly amused.
Their small chat, the drive, and lunch went even better than he imagined.
It felt like Kimberly was opening up to him again, and he knew his future plans were on solid ground.
***
Kimberly was smiling as she said goodbye to Damien when he dropped her back home.
She couldn’t believe she had thought about getting a restraining order on him two months ago—the poor guy just needed some time.
She’d had fun talking to him and hearing him go on about his dating possibilities. She found her guard going down, lower and faster as their time together progressed. She began to see him differently—it seemed like he had finally started moving on and was getting past his obsession with her, like he really wanted just a brotherly relationship with her and had put their history behind him. Maybe there was hope for a healthy sibling relationship after all.
For a split second she wondered why he didn’t bother building a relationship with Monique since she was now his sister too, then she shrugged it off.
In time I guess
, she thought.
***
A few months passed, and according to Damien’s calculations, Kimberly was due any day now—overdue even. He had to hurry.
She would never go with him willingly, but he had to make her see. And he absolutely needed to be there for the birth of his child.
His grandfather, Luke Davenport, was instrumental in helping him plan, had even hinted he and Kimberly weren’t really siblings, a sentiment which he shared in his own heart.
Damien remembered three months ago when Luke had first called him over to talk to him.
“Damien my boy,” he began, “it seems you still have an interest in your sister.”
Damien didn’t know how to react, but he decided to play it safe.
“Luke. What’s it to you man?”
“You’re my grandson! Well, so most believe at this point.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
Luke shrugged.
“I have my suspicions.”
“You mean Kimberly and I aren’t really brother and sister?”
Luke shrugged again.
“Who knows for sure?”
Damien let his guard down.
“You know, that’s exactly what I was thinking Luke! I feel it in here,” he said, putting his hand over his heart.
Luke let out the heartiest laugh Damien had ever heard. Tears even came to Luke’s eyes.
Damien looked at him quizzically.
Luke simply replied:
“Oh I’m just so happy for you Damien—I believe she’s about to have your baby!”
He continued to laugh.
Damien was confused.
“How do you know?”
“Oh I overheard Kent and Elliott talking about it. It doesn’t seem like Kimberly had planned to tell anyone. And you know what Damien? I’ve always liked you. I can help you with Kimberly. I think you two belong together.”
Damien felt hope surging through him.
“Oh so do I grandpa Luke, so do I.”
Since his first plan had failed, he decided to enlist the help of Luke after all, and Luke had certainly kept his word, helping him plan an elaborate setup this time, guaranteed to succeed.