Brian Quinn: A New Man

Chapter 24

The three words she just heard were deafening. She knew that Brian had slept with Kelli but she just assumed that he was careful. No one had moved an inch since the words escaped Kelli's lips. Jacki wanted to scream but she wasn't sure what to do except wait for Brian to say something. Anything.

"I, uh, I don't- I don't believe this... are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Kelli hissed.

"I think I'll give you guys a minute." Jacki started to slowly back away but then Kelli pushed passed Brian, anger all over her face.

"What the fuck is she doing here?!"

Brian put himself between Kelli and Jacki.

"She lives here."

"She what?! What happened to 'I'm a bachelor, I live alone' huh? Now you're living with someone who ditched you?! Or did I overhear that wrong?"

Jacki was confused. Why would Brian have talked to Kelli about her? There was so much animosity coming from Kelli and Jacki had no clue why.

"Kelli, why are you so upset? Brian and I got together after the show wrapped. I went to Tampa to surprise him."

"Is that why I was told I didn't need to go?!" Kelli yelled.

"I don't know, Kelli. Joe took charge of that whole thing." Brian's words weren't calming Kelli down at all.

Then Kelli side stepped Brian so she could look Jacki right in the eye.

"He slept with me, you know."

"I know. And then he told you it was over the night everyone went to the pub."

"No, honey, he slept with me after you left for L.A." Kelli turned to Brian and smirked, "He was so torn up and sad. He said he needed a good fuck to clear his head. So we did, right after you left, Jacki. We never even got dressed. Just fucked over and over in my apartment. On every piece of furniture, on the kitchen counter, in the shower. Everywhere."

Jacki couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't want it to be true but she greatly feared that it was. She looked at Brian who had his head down as he stared at the floor.

"Brian, is that true?"

"Jacki, what was I supposed to do? You got on a plane without saying anything to me. You just disappeared!"

"So you hopped back into bed with the first girl you could find?" Jacki and Brian's voices were raised at this point.

"I didn't know what was going on! So yes, I decided to have meaningless fucks with someone."

Jacki let out a sigh. She didn't want to fight. She looked over at Kelli, who was looking like she was pleased with herself for causing such a ruckus. Jacki knew that she and Brian wouldn't figure things out with Kelli standing there. She also knew that Brian needed time to talk to Kelli alone.

"Brian, I think you and Kelli need to talk. I'll be upstairs in the bedroom."

Jacki turned and headed up the stairs, leaving the other two alone. She closed the door so that she wouldn't overhear them talking. She didn't want to end things with Brian over something he did while they weren't together. But she also knew that he didn't want a child. There had to be a way to make sure Kelli was being honest, and that he was, indeed, the father if she was pregnant.

"I hope this doesn't ruin things for us, or him," she said sadly to Brooklyn Cat as she petted the furry friend.

Jacki turned on the TV and laid down on the bed, trying to not focus on the conversation downstairs. But her mind was racing and no amount of Hallmark Christmas movies was going to change that. She kept looking at the clock, hoping time was passing faster than it was. But just as she was going to try and creep back down the stairs she heard Brian's raised voice. Jacki carefully opened the bedroom door so she could hear.

"Look, I am not taking responsibility for a baby unless there's a DNA test that proves I'm the father! Get out of my house! We'll talk about this later, Kelli!"

Jacki heard a door slam then the creaking of Brian's feet coming up the stairs. She quickly crossed the room and hoped back onto the bed. Brian's face looked like he was in shock as he sat down next to her. She turned the TV volume down but didn't say anything, not wanting to interupt his thoughts.

"I don't know what you heard but I need to know if she's actually pregnant, and if she is, then I need to know if its actually my kid. Jacki, I'm so sorry about all of this. This isn't how I wanted our first Christmas to be."

She reached over and took one of his hands in hers and slowly stroked it.

"Brian, this isn't your fault."

"Yes it is. I'm the one who had sex with her without using a condom. I'm the one who could have prevented this. I was horny and careless. And I don't want to lose you but I can't blame you for wanting to leave."

She sat up and took his hand in her hand.

"We weren't together, Brian. What you said earlier, you were right. I hadn't thought about how you would react when Ieft and didn't tell you why. I knew it would be hard for both of us. But we weren't together. And you had no idea if I was going to come back. Hell! I didn't even know if I was going to come back! We'll deal with this together, like adults. I'm not leaving.

She guessed that he wasn't expecting to hear her say that because his entire expression was full of surprise.

"You're not leaving?"

"No. I love you."

"And what if she is pregnant and its mine?"

"Then I'll follow your lead. If you want to be involved then I'll support you. We'll figure it out."

"God, I fucking love you."

His lips were soon on hers and they kissed for a few minutes. But neither seemed up for anything more than that, especially after Kelli's announcement. They spent the rest of the day watching TV and not talking about what they were both thinking about- Kelli and the baby. Neither wanted to bring it up, so they silently watched movies and fell asleep early, both wanting to wake up and find it all was a dream.