Chapter Twenty - Seven - Can’t Look

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up. I know what you’re saying:

Why don’t you just tell Nick that you’re having his baby and don’t marry this freaky French guy?

Well I see it as a way as being nice to someone and paying my debt to the community. Michel’s a nice guy and hello, I went to Europe. It’s boring there. They don’t have any good television, so I think he should stay in America. So I’m helping him that way and did you see Nick’s face when he saw those papers? He totally freaked out. There’s no way he could have a baby.

So, the meeting with Michel and my father went pretty well and I called Bianca over and we’re looking at bridal magazines and planning the wedding. I think my father is in mourning. Maria has already asked me 20 questions about Michel, because she doesn’t think he’s the father and that I’m lying, and Nick, well Nick - he’s ignoring me. I say something to him and he acts as if nobody else is in the room but him and that’s it.

It’s really getting on my nerves.

So the past few days, we’ve been planning the wedding. We’re going to have it at some little church that I’ve never been to. God knows I haven’t been to church before. Well once I did, but that’s beside the point. My father has sat me down and tried to talk me out of it. Maria has in between the questions. Jane thinks I’ve lost my mind. Not to mention even Kevin is calling me, trying to counsel my ass and tell me that it’s not the right thing to do.

For God fucking sake, even Howie came over!

The only person that hasn’t tried to talk me out of it is Nick. He hasn’t said shit to me because, well, like I said, he’s ignoring me.

Aren’t you supposed to be happy when you’re getting married in a little over a week? Bianca and I have to finish planning it. I mean she doesn’t know the truth that the baby is really Nick’s, but well, she’s dumb. She’ll get over it right?

“Nick.” Bianca said as she walked into the living room, seeing Nick sitting there, watching The Simpsons. Nick didn’t even move to look back at her as she walked around the sofa, sitting down on the oppisite end, “How are you?”

“Go away.” Nick said, as he flipped the channel to ESPN.

“Well, I don’t think I should.” Bianca said as she turned around and looked at him, “Let’s talk.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I told you to go away?” Nick asked as he looked over at her, “Don’t you have a wedding to plan?”

“You’re upset about that aren’t you?” Bianca asked as Nick rolled his eyes, looking back at the TV, “And I can understand since -”

“Since nothing.” Nick said interrupting her, “Go plan the wedding and leave me alone. I’ve been working all day and I’m tired.”

“I think you are in love with Melinda.” Bianca said as Nick started to laugh, “I’m right aren’t I?”

“What kind of drugs are they giving you in that spa of yours?” Nick asked as Bianca tilted her head a little, looking at him, “I’m not in love with Melinda. I just think she’s making a fucking mistake.”

“Why don’t you tell her that then?” Bianca asked as Nick looked back at her.

“Not my place.” Nick said as he stood up, turning the TV off, “Now if you’d excuse me.”

“You’re excused.” Bianca said as Nick started to walk out of the room and she looked at her nails, whispering, “Of course you were the one fucking her night after night, I would be just a little curious to see if it was mine or not.”

“What?” Nick asked as he paused and looked back at her.

“You heard me.” Bianca said, looking over her shoulder at him, “I know Melinda. This Michel guy is not her type. I know what you two did. I heard every little detail. I know you hardly ever used condoms. I know she’d never sleep with someone she met two weeks earlier who was an illegal alien, better yet, someone that wasn’t blonde.”

“What are you saying?” Nick asked as Bianca turned around, sitting on her knees on the sofa and looked at him.

“Has it even crossed your mind that this baby could possibly be yours? Because hey,” Bianca said as she held her hands up, “I’ve thought about it.”

“She says it’s not.” Nick said, “I believe her.”

“Do you really think she would sleep with him?”

“No.”

“Then why do you believe her?”

“Because I do.” Nick said, “Now… goodbye.”, he said as he turned around and walked over to the stairs. He started walking up them slowly, thinking about what Bianca had just said. He shook his head, reaching the top step and turned the corner seeing Melinda walking out of her room with a bridal magazine in her head, “Hold up.”

“You’re finally talking to me?” Melinda asked as Nick rolled his eyes, grabbing her arm and pulling her back in her room, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Talk to me.” Nick said as he shut her door back, “Are you positive that baby is Michel’s?”

“Positive.” Melinda said as she crossed her arms, “It’s his.”

“How are you sure?”

“Well.” Melinda said as she took a deep breath and looked around, before looking back at Nick,” Remember that time we didn’t do it for a few days?”

“Yeah.”

“It was then.” Melinda said as Nick looked down, “I was so upset with you that I slept with Michel. Sorry if you wanted it to be yours.”

“Never said that.” Nick said as he looked back up at her, taking a deep breath, “I’ll just go now.”

“Okay.” Melinda said as Nick nodded his head and turned around, walking out her room, shutting the door behind him, “Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

“Fuck fuck fuck.” Nick muttered as he walked into the room he was staying in, and shut the door. He leaned up against it, sighing, moving his eyes in every direction thinking about what Melinda said. He just shook his head and walked over to the bed, laying down across it.

“I have a question.” Melinda said as she moved her hands from his shoulders and wrapped them around his neck, “You ever been in love?”

“Hmm,” Nick thought as she looked around the living room, taking a deep breath, “Nope, I haven’t.”

“You know what I believe?”

“What?”

“That you can tell when a man loves a woman.” Melinda said as Nick looked over at her, watching her as she talked, “There’s like a certain way that a man looks at the woman he loves. He looks at her like a little boy looks at a big huge Christmas present on Christmas morning with his eyes all wide open, thinking it’s the best thing in the world. And he unwraps it delicately, one little ribbon at a time, so carefully as if she was going to break. That’s what I believe.”

“Whoa, that’s deep.” Nick whispered as Melinda looked over at him and started to laugh, “You ever seen anybody look at you like that?”

“Never.” Melinda said, “And I probably won’t and I’m fine with that. Men are the scum of the earth.”

“Thanks.” Nick said dryly as he looked away and Melinda started to laugh, “Don’t think I’ve ever looked at anybody like that.”

“Well if you’ve never been in love then you haven’t.” Melinda said as he twirled her around and brought her back up to him.

“I should look at her like that, God knows I want to.” Nick thought to himself as he shook his head from thinking and looked over at his cell phone. He picked it up, hitting a speed dial number and listened to it ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

“Nick, hey, busy day recording?” Jane asked as Nick rolled over on his back and sighed, looking at the ceiling.

“Yeah and all this wedding talk around here.” Nick said as he put his left hand over his face, “I can’t take it anymore. I’m thinking about going and renting a hotel room.”

“Well Melinda’s happy… it seems, although I think she’s lost her mind.”

“She doesn’t love him.”

“How do you know?” Jane asked as Nick moved his hand, looking at the ceiling, “Nick?”

“I just know.” Nick said, “I don’t know if the baby is even this Michel’s.”

“Then who is it? Melinda isn’t the type of girl to sleep with different guys.” Jane said as she sat there waiting for Nick to reply but he never did, “Nick, what do you know?”

“I don’t know.” Nick said as he shook his head, “I mean just you know, I was around them.”

“Nick -”

“What?”

“Who else could be the father?” Jane asked as Nick rolled over on the bed, pressing his face into the bed and mumbled something, “What?”

“Me.” Nick said as Jane gasped and dropped the phone, “Mom? Mama?”

“HOW THE HELL COULD YOU BE THE FATHER?!?” Jane yelled as Nick jumped, “Nick!”

“Melinda and I had something going on, on the side, that’s how I know she doesn’t love Michel. I know she doesn’t. I don’t believe that she ever slept with him like she says she did.” Nick said as Jane gasped again.

“Then why would she say it if she wasn’t in love with Michel and it was his baby?” Jane asked as Nick mumbled something, “What?”

“Because I don’t know why really. Maybe she doesn’t want anybody to know what we did together if it is mine. Maybe she’s ashamed of being with me? Maybe he’s holding something over her head? Maybe she thinks that I hate kids or something -”

“You don’t hate kids.”

“I know that.”

“Then why don’t you ask her?”

“I don’t wanna be around her.”

“Nick -”

“Mom, I can’t, I tried to talk to her and I just can’t. I can’t look at her.”

“Why can’t you look at her? You’re staying in the same house with her right now and you traveled with her, and well god, you two, God.” Jane said as Nick scrunched his face up, “Nick, what got into you?”

“I can’t say.”

“Well why can’t you look at her?”

“Because I’m in love with her, that’s why.” Nick said as Jane dropped the phone again and screamed.