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“I don’t know. He isn’t speaking a word of it, but I’ll call him and see where he is.”
“Thanks, hun. Please let me know as soon as you hear from him. I’ll keep trying on my end.”
“How about you call your father and I’ll call Joey? Nevermind. He just walked in. I’ll call you back.” He hangs up, leaving us with more questions than answers.
“What? Why would he hang up?”
Francesca sighs. “The good news is Joey is alive. The bad news is that we still don’t know what happened.”
I grab a tissue off the end table and dry my eyes and cheeks. “At least we know he is alive.”
Francesca pulls the containers of food out of the brown paper bag and sets them on the table. “And Joey was walking, so he can’t be that hurt.”
“That’s true.” I say awkwardly.
After she sets the food out like a buffet on my coffee table, she turns toward me and asks, “So, what did you need to talk to me about?”
I grab the hospital paperwork off the table and hand it to her.
“These are the actual results from the blood tests.”
She skims the paperwork before turning toward me. “So if it’s not a stomach bug, what is it?”
I point to the middle section, to the tiny line that reads:
PREGNANT: YES- 9wk, 5dy
“I’m pregnant.” I confess, no longer able to keep the secret to myself.
She gasps and her mouth falls open. She’s not the only one that’s shocked. I’ve known for a week, and I’m still just as surprised as I was when the doctor told me.
After a few moments, she asks, “Who’s the dad? I didn’t even know you were serious about anyone. You’ve never talked about a boyfriend, or been seen with a man.”
I can’t tell her about Giuseppe Rossi and the reason I’m not with Joseph, but I know she won’t stop asking who the father is.
“Um, how mad are you going to be, if I say it’s your brother’s?”
“What? No way! You’re sleeping with Joey? Oh, I don’t need to picture that.” Her eyes widen as she leans back to look at me. “When did this start? How did it start?”
“It’s nothing serious, but it started a few months after I started working for your father. You know how it goes. Longworking hours and being stuck with one another will eventually lead to sexual frustration.”
“And you two have only been with each other?”
Is she insinuating that someone other than Joseph is the father of my baby?
Does she think I just sleep around?
Staring at her, I narrow my eyes and say, “As far as I know, we have only been with each other, but we weren’t ever exclusive. I don’t know if there have been other women. I’ve never asked. For me, though, it’s only been Joseph since our first time.”
“I didn’t mean to imply-” She shakes her head and frowns. “Alexandra, I didn’t mean that you slept around. I’m just surprised that you two have been together for so long and no one knew. At least I didn’t know, and I’m pretty sure Rhett doesn’t know.”
“Joseph and I aren’t dating.”
“So you two are just long-term fuck buddies?”
“We were. We haven’t been together for a couple of weeks now. Sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
“Uh, because I asked, and I’m nosey.”