“Fair enough,” James says as he sits down, leaving Chelsea to stand or sit away from Jimmy, which is my preference. “How are you feeling?”
Jimmy shrugs and reaches for his water. I let him do it on his own. The last thing I want is hear his father’s sneering comments about me enabling him.
“I’m fine. I’m glad I’m going home today.”
“You’re going home? No one told me.” James looks at me, raising his eyebrow.
“Jenna doesn’t owe you anything, Dad, and neither do I. I’m not even sure why you’re here.”
James leans closer resting his head in his hands and takes a deep breath. I have to give him credit he’s putting on a great performance for Jimmy’s sake. By his expression, he’s not buying it. Chelsea huffs from her corner. I can’t help but laugh. She lost Jimmy and ended up with his father. It’s gross to even think about. What would possess someone to stoop so low?
“I care about you Jimmy. When I saw the report –”
“I saw it first,” Chelsea blurts out. Well, good for her.
James rolls his eyes. “When Chelsea called and told me, we had to come.”
Jimmy picks at his blanket. I can tell he’s not amused. His heart rate is starting to pick up too. I watch the monitor for signs of distress. I’ll kick his dad out if I have to.
“You should’ve stayed at home.”
“Jimmy –“
“No, you listen to me,” he says. I put my hand on him to try and keep him calm. “I went back to LA to tie up some loose ends and to tell you that I was married. To share with you that I’m happy and that my wife and I are having a baby and what do you do? You tell me to get an annulment and ignore her. As if that wasn’t bad enough, you…” he points to Chelsea. “Move into my flat and try to pin your pregnancy on me. Yeah, I was fucking stupid to even consider taking you back before I knew about Jenna, but I couldn’t get her out of my head, so I did the right thing and left. But no, you had to go and pull this ridiculous stunt thinking I wouldn’t find out, but I did. I’m not your baby’s father and you,” he says looking back at his dad. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Chelsea and I were together for three years and you think in your fucked up little mind that it’s okay to sleep with her?
“You know I had forgiven you for leaving when I was little, but this… I’ve made changes in my life and I think you need to be one of them. What you’ve done is so low I don’t think I can forgive you. I can’t look at the both of you across a family dinner and think that this situation is okay and I’m definitely not letting my daughter be a part of it.”
“You have some pretty powerful words there, son.”
“Yeah well, you’ve done some pretty shitty things to me in my life.”
“You dumped Chelsea, do you need a reminder?”
Jimmy purses his lips, shaking his head. “No, the vision of her getting shagged from behind with a dick in her mouth is still pretty damn clear.”
I gasp and look at Chelsea who isn’t making eye contact with anyone. I knew she cheated, but had no idea it was that bad. Jimmy clutches my hand. “I’m sorry,” I say to him.
“Why? I’m sure as hell not. If I hadn’t caught her I proba
bly wouldn’t be married to you right now and this is definitely where I want to be.”
My eyes start to water with his confession. I’m sure he’s rethinking some of this. Without me he wouldn’t be in this bed, unable to breathe fully on his own.
Jimmy turns and looks at Chelsea. “I just want to know why? What would possess you to sleep with my dad and then try and pin his baby on me?”
“I love him,” she replies weakly.
He shakes his head and looks like he’s in need of his mask.
“Jimmy,” I say quietly.
“I’m okay.” He takes a deep breath and I’m there, ready to put his mask on if need be, but he doesn’t give me the opportunity. “I loved you Chelsea until you threw it all away. We had a good life and I treated you like a fucking princess. I put up with the bullshit from your…” Jimmy stops speaking. He tries to laugh, which only causes a coughing fit. I’m about to put an end to this meeting when he smiles at me. I shake my head, but he starts talking again. “I get it now. Your parents don’t know you’ve been shagging my old man, do they?”
Chelsea shakes her head. This is like a never-ending ping pong match with the back and forth.
“I see how it is. I’m the lesser of two evils where the Davis men are concerned, so you thought you’d come back to me and that I’d forgive you, and oops Chelsea’s pregnant and Jimmy’s doing the right thing. What you didn’t count on was me pushing you away or me seeing you have a full on snogging session with my dad at a coffee shop.”
Both Chelsea and James’ mouths drop open.