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“No! No … it’s okay. Bye, Johnny.” Alyssa turned around, waving goodbye as she did. She looked so sad that it killed him to see her like that. The bright blue eyes that once held so much spark was gone and replaced by a dull, sullen blue. That wasn’t the Alyssa he knew.

Alyssa walked up the driveway. Her oversized white shirt looked like one of his undershirts … she was probably wearing Ben’s come to think of it. His gaze traveled the length of her. He’d never guess from behind that she was pregnant. She looked so small and frail actually. The shirt nearly covered her blue shorts. Her thin, pale legs …

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What. The. Fuck. Was that big black and blue welt doing across the back of her left thigh?

Pushing open the front door to his parent’s home, it slammed into the wall, leaving a hole from the door knob.

“Whoa!” his father said coming around the corner. “What’s going on, John?”

John was huffing hard, his chest tight with each breath of air. He ran home as fast as he could, not stopping to take a break. He saw red. And Ben’s face. His fists were balled up, ready to strike. All the control he learned over those three months went out the window. Everything made sense now. Now he knew why Alyssa didn’t want him to call, why he couldn’t walk her up to the door, and why she looked so skittish.

“Boys,” he father said to the twins, “Upstairs, now.”

Motherfucking Ben.

But somewhere deep down he prayed it wasn’t true. Prayed that Ben wasn’t using his fists on her. Because so help him God, he would kill him. Consequences be dammed. He would put Ben six feet under if it were true.

“John, what’s troubling you?”

“Alyssa,” he said through gritted teeth. “I saw Alyssa. She’s pregnant and had a huge black and blue bruise across the back of her leg.”

“And?”

“And?” he retorted. “And? And there’s a strong chance that’s my baby she’s carrying. And there’s also a chance that Ben put that bruise on her. She was different … something was off. I can feel it.”

“Whoa. Slow it down, son. What makes you think Ben is hitting her? You can’t just throw heavy words around like that.”

“I don’t know …” he began pacing. “She was fine, calm, even happy to see me, then in the blink of an eye she changed and got all nervous. She had to leave. It was like a different person all of a sudden.”

“So that makes you think Ben is hitting her?”

“How does one get a huge black and blue across the back of their thigh, dad?! The door hit her back there? It only makes sense!” he roared.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Talk to her, see what you can find out. Did you see any other marks on her?”

John thought for a moment and tried to remember if he saw marks on her arms, but he wasn’t sure. “I’m having her come over tomorrow. When I told her I would stop by, she freaked. Jesus,” he said grabbing his head, “if he’s hitting her while she’s pregnant, dad …”

“Wait … you said she’s pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“And there’s a possibility it’s yours?”

John nodded.

Clark, stared at him. His weathered eyes held a small glimmer of hope hearing about Alyssa’s unborn baby, but it quickly fled.

“Alright son, let’s try and calm down. I know you’re worked up right now, but let’s think about who’s at the center of all of this. Alyssa. You can’t be jumping down her throat tomorrow or stressin’ her out. I know you’re upset and angry, but carrying a baby takes a lot from a woman’s body. Their emotions are all outta whack. Lord knows I watched your mother go through it enough. Be easy on her tomorrow.”

Clark was right, John needed to simmer down. But how could he? If Alyssa was being physically abused, he wouldn’t be able to function knowing she was in Ben’s house under his hand.

“First things first,” Clark said, handing John a sandwich, “Let’s not tell your mother about this just yet. Talk to Alyssa first then we’ll decide from there.”

Nodding, he bit into his sandwich. His dad was right once again. Mom didn’t need the extra stress. She was doing well with her new medication that he didn’t want to tire her out.

“Next,” Clark pointed at John. “If Alyssa is pregnant with your child, we will be more than happy to help her out while you’re training. Got it? We’ll treat her like our own and take care of her until your placement is sorted out.”