Death of a Waterfall (The Hayden Falls Saga) (21 page)

His baby.

What the hell was he going to do? A baby was such a huge responsibility. Did he really have it in him to be a father? He had no experience to draw from. His father had never been around. What did a real father do? He felt the color drain from his face. His palms were sweaty and he felt disoriented--like he was hovering above his body watching the realization creep into his mind.

"Hello? Earth to Donnie." Teghan waved her hand in front of his face.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Are you alright?" Teghan turned her body so she faced him.

"Down in front!" Trevor shouted.

Teghan flipped him off. "Come on." She held her hands out to Donnie. "Let's go get some air. You don't look so good."

"Where you two sneaking off to?" Annabelle asked.

"Just outside for a few minutes. We'll be back," Teghan said before leading Donnie upstairs.

The cool air hit Donnie hard. He took a deep calming breath.
I'm such a douche bag. How could I let this happen?
It's okay. He'd been in tough situations before. He could handle this. Sweet Jesus, he was fucked!

"Donnie?" Teghan stood next to him, rubbing his back. "You're scaring me. Are you okay?"

"How long have you known?"

She shrugged. "About three weeks."

"What took you so long to tell me?" he asked.

"I was scared."

"Of what?"

"Of how you were going to react. And of the thoughts that were in my mind."

"What kind of thoughts?"

Teghan stepped away from him. "What's with all these questions? Have you changed your mind?"

Donnie saw the fear in her eyes and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. Did it really matter how long she'd known? Or how she'd felt about it? All that mattered was right now and right now they were together and in love, about to have a baby. "No, I haven't changed my mind."

"You're really scaring me."

"I'm sorry. It just really hit me, you know? Sitting there listening to everyone talk about their plans for the New Year and it was like, whoa! My plans are to have a baby."

Teghan looked up at him. "We don't have to do this. There are options."

"What kind of options?"

"Adoption. Abortion. Or..."

"Or what?"

"Or I could have this baby on my own and you wouldn't have to worry about it. I wouldn't even name you as the father," she whispered.

He held her out at arm's length and stared at her. Oh, he hoped to hell she was making a sick joke. "The only option I'm willing to consider is the one where we have this baby together. I didn't have a father in my life, and I refuse to do that to any child of mine." Great! He'd made her cry. Could he be any more inconsiderate of what she's going through?

Teghan nodded and wiped away tears. "I just don't want you to feel trapped by all of this."

"Oh, babe." He pulled her close and cradled her head against his chest. "I love you so much, Teghan. All I want is you. It's all I've ever wanted."

~ * ~

Teghan awoke with a smile. It had been four days since Donnie had returned and they'd been inseparable. But now classes were starting again, and she'd been forced to let him go back to college with Alex. At least he's in California and not Pennsylvania, she thought as she climbed out of bed. She glanced across the room at Annabelle who was still sleeping. The decision not to tell Annabelle about the baby was nagging at her. Just a little longer then she'd tell her. Teghan grabbed her phone from the desk, slipped out of the room and down the hall to the lounge.

"Good morning," Donnie said.

Teghan smiled at the sound of his voice. "Did I wake you?"

"No," he said.

"Good. I'm going to tell my parents tonight." She chewed on her pinky nail and decided that after she told her parents, she was going to tell Annabelle. Chances were good that Teghan would need Annabelle after talking to her father. It wouldn't be easy.

"I want to be there, Teghan. Please let me come with you."

"I told you. It's better if I do this alone." Teghan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was terrified of telling her father, and having Donnie by her side would make it easier, but she couldn't justify the things her father would say to Donnie. And Donnie didn't deserve her father's wrath.

He sighed. "Okay, but I still don't like it. What time are you going?"

"Around seven."

"Call me as soon as you're done?"

"Of course," she said. "Thank you, Donnie."

"For what?"

"Coming back for me and the baby," Teghan whispered.

~ * ~

Rob's hands were shaking when he picked up the phone. He'd gotten a very ominous message from Jim earlier, and he was sick with the thought of what Jim might have to tell him. Rob was grateful when Jim answered after only two rings. "What do you have for me, Jim? Is Donnie who we think he is?"

Jim hesitated. "It's looking like he is."

Rob slumped down in his chair. It couldn't be. "Are you positive?"

"No," Jim said. "I'm still checking into some things, but his birth certificate has no known father listed, and the name of the mother listed isn't Barbara Schaffer."

"She changed her name?" Rob paused for a moment. "Wait, if Barbara isn't his mother, then what leads you to believe Donnie is…"

"We believe Barbara may have changed her name after the deal went down. We're having a bitch of a time locating the records, though."

Rob felt the color drain from his face. He leaned forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees and fought the urge to throw up. Then a thought struck him. "Did you advise her to do so?"

"She has to legally change her name in the state she was born," Jim said, ignoring Rob's question. "Unfortunately, I don't have that information yet. We're still trying to track down any trace of Barbara Schaffer."

"Answer me, Jim! Did you tell Barbara to change her name?"

A long pause ensued before Jim finally answered. "Yes."

"Fuck." Rob rubbed his chin and blew out a breath. When the whole thing had gone down all those years ago, Rob had been very clear that Jim was to take care of the situation so that it would never become a problem. Well, it appeared as though Jim had taken care of it a little too well, because they no longer had
any
information and that was a huge fucking problem.

"May I suggest you play nice with this kid for a day and talk to him?"

"No," Rob snapped. "Keep digging, Jim. I'll be in touch again soon." He hung up and spun his chair so he could look out the window. His home office overlooked the backyard, and he had a perfect view of Teghan's waterfall. He remembered the day he'd installed that waterfall. Teghan had been so happy she had insisted that he play house with her behind it, that they have a tea party with real tea, not fake stuff. He smiled at the memory of how she'd taken a sip and spit it right back out, complaining that it was the worst tasting stuff she'd ever had. Rob drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair. What was he going to do if his suspicions about Donnie were true? He knew what he'd do: anything. His family was the most important thing in the world to him, and he'd do anything to protect them.

~ * ~

Teghan took a deep breath and opened the front door. The morning sickness she'd been having was hard enough, but combining that with her nerves, she was a mess. There were no doubts about how her father would react to the news and she was prepared for that. Her mother though, she could go either way, and Teghan prayed that her mom would side with her on this. She needed her mom to side with her. "Mom, Dad," she called from the foyer. "I'm here." Teghan walked through the house and found her parents outside by the pool. She was relieved. Maybe the fresh air would keep her from throwing up. Although the smell of the chlorine from the pool was overwhelming and that wasn't helping. It must've just been cleaned.

"Teghan," Mom said with a smile. "I'm so glad you wanted to come see us."

"Hi, Mom," Teghan said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah," her father said. "Why did you need to see us? Do you need more money?"

"Oh, Rob," her mom said, swatting at him with her hand. "Stop it."

Teghan forced a smile. "No, Dad, I don't need any money." She pulled out a chair and sat.

"How are classes going, sweetie?" her mom asked.

"Good," Teghan said, thankful for the temporary distraction. "Of course they just started, so I'm sure they'll get harder."

"How's Alex doing?" her father asked.

Teghan resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Even after all this time, it was evident her father was still hoping she'd get back together with Alex. Well, after she told them about the baby, that dream would be dead. "Good, I guess. I haven't really talked to him much since New Year's."

"That's a shame, Teghan." Her father shook his head. "Alex is good for you."

"Dad," she said, "please don't do this again. Alex and I are just friends. Besides, I didn't come here to talk about Alex."

"You said on the phone there is something you wanted to tell us."

Teghan nervously twisted her hands in her lap. It was now or never. God, why had she insisted Donnie stay away? She'd give anything to have him here with her right now--to feel his strong body close to her, his arm around her, comforting her.

"What is it?" her mom asked. "Are you ill?"

"No, Mom, I'm not ill. I'm..." she closed her eyes briefly and reopened them. "I'm pregnant and Donnie is the father." Teghan looked at her father first; he was expressionless, sitting there like he'd been turned to stone. She would have felt better if he was red-faced and screaming at her. Her mother had her hand cupped over her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief, and her face ghost white.

"My, God, Teghan," her mother gasped.

"We never meant for this to happen," Teghan said as she felt herself starting to crack. Screaming and shouting she could handle, but the looks of disappointment on her parents' faces were too much. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? That's the best you can say for yourself?" her father said, his voice even.

"It was an accident, Dad," she said trying to keep the tears at bay. "Donnie is being really great about it. He's going to transfer to HFU, and we're going to get an apartment, and we're going to get married after college..." Okay so they hadn't ever talked about marriage, but at this exact moment she felt like it was the right thing to say.

"If he's so great, why isn't he here with you now? A real man would face up to his responsibilities," her father said.

"I told him not to come. I wanted to tell you alone," Teghan said.

"So, you two have decided to keep the baby?" her mother asked, getting up from her chair and pacing the length of the pool.

"Yes."

"Don't be ridiculous," her father shouted. "You're too young to be a mother, Teghan. How the hell do you think you're going to be able to support a baby?"

Teghan felt mildly relieved that her father had resorted to yelling. It was more normal for him. It was familiar and expected. She just wished she knew how her mother, who'd been unnaturally quiet, felt about the situation. "Donnie has some money saved and he'll get a job, plus I have my trust fund."

"Not if you go through with this pregnancy you don't," her father said.

What? Was he really going to take away her trust fund if she had this baby? It had to be a threat. Her father wouldn't really do that to her, would he? She swallowed the bile rising in her throat. He was just angry. It was a shock to him. He'd calm down. He had to. There was no way she could do this otherwise.

"Rob," her mother said. "Don't be so rash."

"I'm not being rash, Rachel. We both know that Teghan isn't capable of raising a child. She's only a freshman in college, for Christ's sake."

"Like it or not, our daughter is an adult and she can make her own decisions. We may not approve, but threatening to take away her trust fund is only going to make the situation worse."

Teghan looked back and forth between her mom and dad, listening to them argue. It was as if they were oblivious to the fact that she could hear everything they were saying. Now she knew her mom didn't approve either. At least she wasn't completely siding with her father though. There was some hope. Maybe if Teghan got her mom alone and talked to her…her mother could talk some sense into her father, make him see that it was wrong to cut Teghan off like he was threatening to do.

"I stand by my decision," her father said. "Teghan, if you have this baby, I will cut off all financial support."

Teghan stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "Damn it, Dad. Go ahead and cut me off. I don't care. There are more important things in life besides money."

"Tell me that again when you're struggling to pay rent and buy diapers," he said. "That boy is feeding you full of lies and fantasies. There is no way you're ready for this."