accidental love • n.maloley「✓」| EDITING

six

just to clarify, this chapter was a crossover with a book on my main acc that i actually deleted, so don't bother looking for it bc you won't find it.

><><><><

nate

"hey jack, come here a sec," i say, nodding jack over with my head.

"what's up bro?" he asks once we're out of earshot of everybody else.

"what did you do when you found out you were expecting a baby? like, did you ever question whether or not you actually wanted the baby or not? did you ever worry you wouldn't be good enough, y'know?" i ask, trying not to give anything away and just sound curious.

"nah, man. i've always knew i wanted a baby, it just happened sooner than planned, which was okay too, i guess. and about the worrying part, i think every man, whether they planned to be a father or not, worries about not being good enough," he tells me. "why? are you trying to tell me something?"

"nah, just curious," i say, shaking my head. "but, like, would you have kept the baby if you would've had to have been a single parent? like, say beverly didn't want the baby and it was either you keep it and raise it alone or put it up for adoption, what would you have done? would you have kept it or gave it away?"

"i'd never give my baby away, even if i didn't plan on being a dad, which i didn't in my case, i still wouldn't give it away," he says. "i mean, that's my baby. i don't want any other man calling himself the father of my baby. but hey, that's just me. everybody sees things differently."

"yeah, you're right," i agree, nodding.

"and you're sure you don't wanna tell me anything?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "you can tell me anything, you know that right?"

"yeah, i know." i nod. "okay, just don't tell the other guys, alright? i'll tell them later... maybe, i don't know yet."

"don't worry, it's not my place to tell them your business."

"okay, so i was drunk and slept with this girl, who said she was eighteen but turns out she's only sixteen, and now she's pregnant. her and her parents all said she's too young to be a mom, but they're against abortion, so she's gonna carry out the pregnancy and when it's born i can either take it and raise it as a single father or i can put it up for adoption," i tell him.

"do you want the baby?"

"you know, that's exactly what anderson asked me when i told her," i say, not thinking about it.

"who's anderson?" jack asks, and it's then that i realize what i said.

"nothing," i shrug. "just some girl i met."

"didn't sound like nothing when you said her name," jack says. "sounded like she's someone you talk to often."

"she's the only one, besides you and my parents, that know about the whole pregnancy ordeal," i tell him. "she was the first one i told."

"so she means something to you?"

"well, not quite. it's actually weird how i met anderson," i say.

"and how'd you meet her?"

"it was about a week and a half after i slept with the underage girl and about three days after i found out she was underage, i was wasted and accidentally called the wrong number, and it ended up being her. and even though she didn't know me, to her i was just some drunk, she sat on the phone with me for over two hours, just listening to me ramble on about my problems."

"well, that's definitely not a common way to meet somebody," jack chuckles.

"tell me about it. but i'm glad i met her, y'know. kinda like you and beverly. i mean, y'all didn't exactly meet at starbucks," i laugh.

"you got me there." he grins.