The Jet (A Sandlot Story) Benny Rodriguez

Chapter 39

"Brady I can't believe you still remember my number. How you been?" You asked, trying your best to keep a calm face in front of Benny. Benny knew he was your ex, and given that he was now your baby Daddy, it's not like he was worried. Still he was very protective of you, and wanted to know what this kid had to say, and why he even called in the first place.

"I've been just fine dollface, how about you?" He questioned. You really didn't want to have this conversation now. You might have been okay to have it 2 years ago... but not now.

"I'm fine. I'm actually going on to college in about a week. Been packing boxes up until you called." You replied. Hopefully this conversation wouldn't last too long, but you were curious why it even happened in the first place.

"That's great. Hey I uh.... I wanted to call and say that I'm actually in Glendale for a few days and was wondering if you maybe wanted to go to lunch." He said. He threw it out on the table as plain as day, and just made your life a lot harder. Benny was listening in still, and furrowed his  eyebrows at the mention of this.

You tried to mouth to him the question 'what do I do?' But he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I don't see why I couldn't. Where and when?" You asked, looking back at Benny to see he was less than happy about your response.

"Blue Bell Diner this afternoon?" He purposed, and you didn't have it in you to turn it down. Benny dropped his head to stare at your feet until you were done with the call.

"That works out fine, meet you there at one?"

"Perfect. See ya then doll." He hung up soon after uttering those words.

Well that went worse than you thought it would. Benny looked upset, and jealous from the phone call, and even more, at the fact that you were going to go have lunch with your ex while he was in town.

"Really? Lunch? You used to date this guy." Benny seemed maybe a little more than jealous at this point.

"Yes but we're not together anymore, he's just a friend. It will be harmless, and besides, I'm very obviously pregnant. If he asks, I'll tell him I'm with you. It's not like he's still interested in me or anything."

"I have more than one reason how that's not true. He is still very much interested, and possibly wanting something with you. Maybe I should come and sit in the lot next to the blue bell so I can make sure this kid keeps his hands to himself." He scoffed. There were many reasons he didn't want you to go. Not because he didn't trust you, and not because he didn't trust others, but because he was scared to trust others with you.

"Ben, it won't be that bad I promise. Just a quick lunch to talk a little and I'll be home. It'll give you some time to catch up with more packing and then when I get home we can do something fun, yeah?"

"Okay fine. But only because I said so."  He told himself more than you. He needed to encourage himself that this was okay with him.

-

Standing outside of the blue bell, you looked inside, trying to see if he was here yet. Not quite.

You flipped your hat around since it was blocking your vision of things farther away. Not even a minute later, you spotted the blue eyed boy walking towards you.

"Mack? Man.... I haven't seen you in so long! You look great! And... you're- uh- you're pregnant?" He gave you kind of an awkward side hug, his mood of seeing you was slightly diminished.

"Yeah, 24 weeks actually." You pulled back your flannel to show off the growing curve of your stomach.

"So uh... we should probably go inside." He said, opening the door for you.