The Lady Next Door - A Sequel to "The Man Next Door"

Chapter 18: Baby Fever

"Vera, you have to believe me. It's not-"

"I do believe you, but you're worrying me right now. Why are you acting like this?"

Patrick's leg was jumping as they sat on the couch to talk through the situation. It was a quiet night in their living room, "I don't understand why she would, why either Morgan or Maria, would keep crossing the line like this." He says, rubbing his arms as he leans back against the couch.

"Patrick, you need to calm down." Vera reached for his fidgeting hand, and that alone helped him relax his tense body for the first time since they settled down on the sofa, "is there something you're not telling me?" She looks at him.

"The baby's not mine," Patrick says, staring out their large living room window, admiring their beautiful yard as the white moon illuminated it gorgeously.

"How can you be sure?" Vera inquires, "it was around a year ago when you were last with her."

Patrick takes a deep breath, straightening himself out before proceeding to talk again, "I guess... I'll just have to tell you then," Patrick says, focusing his blue eyes back on Veras while scooting closer.

"Tell me what?" Patrick looks down at the ground out of nerve.

"I was going to tell you eventually, but," he bites his bottom lip,  "I've been forced into a corner and now there's no way around it."

"What is it?" She asks him distressingly.

"Okay, um," Patrick says hesitantly, "me and Morgan were together from, you know, our senior year of high school. And something we always sort of bonded over was our love for children, we planned on having kids one day." Patrick pauses to look up, taking hold of Vera's hands tightly, "but the thing was, Morgan wanted kids right after high school and she wanted to be a stay-at-home kind of mom."

"But you didn't want kids yet."

"Of course, I didn't," he says, "I didn't want to have kids yet. And if I had kids with only a high school diploma under my belt, we'd hardly make ends meet! I had dreams, I wanted to be an architect, but she ignored all of that, she didn't care about what I wanted."

"Where is this going Patrick," she shivered, reaching a hand up to the side of his head, combing his soft hair.

"I got a vasectomy," Patrick whispered, placing a hand over hers, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it sooner. I thought it'd fix all my problems. I would still be able to go to school, and I'd get to stay with my high school sweetheart. And then when I was ready, I could try and get it reversed."

"Did something go wrong?"

Patrick nods, shamefully looking down, "she got mad, and abusive, and she insisted we kept trying." He sighed, "after a while she started blaming it all on me, saying that I must be sterile or whatever and shaming me for it. But I didn't care, I didn't let all of that get to me, I got to go to my dream school and that's frankly all I ever cared about."

"So, the baby isn't yours, clearly," Vera mutters, "what the hell is she doing bothering you? I mean, obviously-"

"She doesn't know about the vasectomy," Patrick shakes his head, "and that's what makes this whole situation so fucked up. I feel bad enough about it already, and if she finds out about it, that I did something like that behind her back-"

"Morgan never listened to you about what you wanted," Vera scolds, "this whole thing is all on her. You were young! You found a solution to getting what you wanted and it all worked out just fine."

"So you think I should tell her?" Patrick asks.

Vera places both her hands on the sides of his face and pulls him in, kissing him sweetly on the lips as she climbs over him, "unless you want to help her raise that kid, then I suggest you do so."

Patrick chuckles, firmly holding her by the hips as he deepens her kiss, "I promise I'll go get it undone."

"Undone?" Vera pulls away slightly, hovering herself over him.

"The vasectomy."

"Oh okay," she whispers, smiling as she leans in to give him one last peck, "You know, I'll still love you if you ultimately decide not to."

"Oh no I want to," Patrick says with confidence, "Now that I finally found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, there's no doubt I'll do the surgery."

Vera felt her face grow red and bashfully looked away, smiling as she heard Patrick miserably try to conceal his laughter, "you gotta go make a phone call." She smirks, poking him in the chest with her index finger.

"She left not that long ago, isn't it too soon?"

"Definitely not," Vera says in a serious tone, "we don't want Morgan telling everyone you're the father of the child she's bearing."

"Let's wait till after the baby shower... that way we can take advantage of all the food," Patrick says with a crooked smile, making Vera gleefully slap him in the chest.