I'm Pregnant, it's yours..

Treize (2)

FYI. MULTIPLE POV's

I felt myself hyperventilating, how could Philip do this? He wanted nothing from me, just the only thing of value to me. My baby was everything to me, he couldn't have Peanut. I wasn't going to let that happen.

"No Philip, you will not take my child away from me." I said to myself angrily, my mama bear instincts kicking in once more. I had been laying in my bed following his despicable announcement, wallowing in my self pity, but no more, I was going to take action.

"Rach!" I yelled out to her as I sat up in bed, removing the bed sheets that had entangled in my legs.

"Yeah?!" She exclaimed as she rushed into my room , panic obvious on her face.

"We need to go. Philip is dreaming if he thinks I'm going to give Peanut up without a fight." I said to her with a renewed sense of purpose.

"So what's the plan then?" She asked excitedly.

"We're going to see Malcolm, I'm sure he can help with my situation."

"Okay, let's go." She replied supportively.

I dressed quickly and then Rachel drove us to the familiar offices of one of the men that was constantly on my mind.

"So is there anything you can do?" I asked Malcolm a little later when we were in his office. I had relayed the whole sordid story to him, everything that Philip hoped to accomplish now that his paternity had been established.

"Well, we can take a preemptive strike and file for custody right now that the baby is in utero."

"Can we really do that Malcolm? Or are you just trying to tell her what she wants to hear?" Rachel asked him. She had thankfully asked him the question I was too scared to know the answer to.

"Truthfully, you have sole custody of the child because it's still in your belly. Once it is born however, he can file for his paternal rights. But, that doesn't necessarily mean he can have physical custody of the child. The courts can grant him limited supervised visits. It will all depend on the needs of the child."

"So then what should I do? I'm not giving him my child, he's insane if that's what he's thinking." I replied angrily.

" I can draw up papers asking the courts to give you complete physical custody and ask that Philips rights be denied because he is unfit to be a parent. And the minute that your child is born, I can file the papers." He said to me, filling me with hope. But then that hope quickly turned to dread and even quicker to guilt.

"No, as much as I despise Philip right now, I still want him to be in my child's life. Peanut deserves to have a father as long as said father is willing to be in his/her life."

"Regan you can't be serious?!" Rachel exclaimed angrily.

"After everything that asshole has put you through you still want to be nice to him? He doesn't deserve that, he's an awful human being."

"You're probably right, but for my child's sake, I'm unfortunately going to give him the benefit of the doubt." I replied sadly.

***

"I spoke with Regan yesterday."

"About what?" Philips blonde friend replied.

"I want sole physical custody of the baby."

"Seriously? Why?"

"Because the child is mine, why else?"

"Philip you'd be a terrible father, you're selfish as hell. And the only reason you want the baby is because you don't want Regan to have it. You realize how messed up that is?" Blondie replied again. They were at the gym and currently Blondie was lifting weights, while his muscles flexed with the pressure.

"I do want the baby."

"No you don't. You fought this woman since day one saying the kid wasn't yours and now suddenly you want it? The fuck is wrong with you man? Just leave them alone. That kid is better off without you." Blondie looked at him, his dark eyes rolling in derision at the mere thought of Philip trying to be a father.

"You know Brian, you're a real douche."

"We wouldn't be friends if I wasn't." Brian replied.

"Yeah blow me." Philip replied annoyed. Regardless of what his dumb ass friend thought, he'd fight for his kid, even if that meant that Regan wouldn't have it.

***

The weeks that followed, passed by in a blur. Philip called every other day, wanting updates on the baby, and I had no choice but to let him know that everything was going well with the pregnancy. Trying to be an adult about the situation we were in was not ideal, but I'd do it for Peanut. As I sat on my couch contemplating the way my life was going at the moment my phone started to ring, it was Malcolm.

"Hello?" I answered hopeful; maybe something happened with my case.

"Regan hello, how are you?"

"I'm doing okay, thank you for asking, how are you?"

"I'm doing well." He paused briefly.

"Has something happened with my case?" I asked him quickly.

"Oh, no I'm sorry. I.. no nothing new has happened." He said nervously.

"Oh." I replied.

"Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?" he said quickly.

"I uh.. I'm not sure that right now would be a wise time to have dinner with you, or anyone else for that matter." I said to him sadly.

"I know you've been having a tough time with Philip, I'm not trying to make it harder for you. I just, I just want to be there for you."

We stayed silent for a moment. I let his words sink in and pictured for a moment what it would be like to be a normal woman, going on a date with a normal man. I could picture it, so I guess that answered his question.

"Okay. I'll go to dinner with you."

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

Click. I hung up with him and released a deep breath. Hopefully, the date would go well and it would help me get my mind off of Philip and our mess.

***

"Have you talked to Regan?"

"Not since our date." Mark replied.

"I'm not paying you to sit on your ass, I'm paying you to distract her and to go out with her."

"I've been busy, I can't take her out as much as you want me to, I don't want her to think I'm desperate." Mark said to the unknown stranger with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Is this turning out to be too much for you? I can find someone else if you can't do what I asked." The unknown stranger said with malice in their voice.

"I said I would do it. Regan doesn't mean anything to me, my conscience is clear."

"Fine. But I need you to step it up. I can't have her attention diverted on anything else. I need her focused on you."

"Why is it so important to you that I capture her attention?"

"That's my business, just do what I'm paying you to do."

"Fine. I'll call you again soon when I go out with her again."

Click.

"Asshole." Mark said aloud. He had been talking to the stranger who was paying him to date Regan, he didn't realize how much that person was grating on his nerves until they had called him.  Was the money he was getting from this person worth all of the hassle? Yes. Yes it was, he just had to suck it up.

...