Troubles don't last always.

Hard Decision

I woke up in the hospital a day later, disoriented and confused. To my right was Marquis, sleeping on one couch, and Jacob was scrolling on his phone on the other.

"What happened?" I groaned.

"You and Trent got into a huge fight," Jacob whispered, trying not to wake Marquis. I took out my phone and turned on the camera so that I could see my reflection. My face was swollen, and one of my eyes was swollen shut. I couldn't think straight. It felt like I was losing my mind.

"Where's my son?" I said, panicking as I tried to get out of bed.

"Little man is with my mom. He's okay," said Jacob.

"Sit down before you hurt yourself," Marquis groaned while stretching. "You called me last night to tell me something, but all I could hear was you and Trent arguing. I was going to hang up, but then I heard you say you couldn't breathe, so I rushed over--- He would have killed you if I hadn't got there in time. What was he so mad about?" He asks while trying to comfort me.

"Trevante collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital. The doctor asked for blood work from Trent, so they can do a blood transfusion. They couldn't go through with the transfusion because they were incompatible..."

"Incompatible? Does that mean Trent isn't the father?" Jacob asked. Tears streamed down my face as flashbacks from last night hit me. He handed me a Kleenex from the box on my nightstand, then sat down on the edge of my bed. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to." He said softly.

I should have seen the signs, but I chose to ignore them. Trevante's smile was a dead giveaway, and the tiny freckles appearing on his face should have been another clue, but for some reason, I was blind to it.

"No, Trent isn't his father," I said sniffling and trying to hold back the tears.

"Do you by any chance know who it might be?" Asked Jacob.

"Why are you being so nosey?" Marquis scoffed. "It's okay, Kassie. You don't have to tell us if you're not comfortable."

"He's yours, Marquis," I murmured.

"Are you serious?" he gasped while backing away.

"You're the only other person I've slept with during that time," I cried, feeling embarrassed and ashamed.

"Damn," Jacob blurted, looking back and forth between the two of us. "I'ma give you two some privacy... I'll be back later," he uttered, before turning around and walking out of the room.

I glanced up at Marquis, and he was still in shock. I wish he would say something, anything! The suspense was killing me. "Please, say something!" I sniffled, trying to hold back the tears.

"I don't even know where to begin," he paced back and forth nervously, " I missed almost 4 years of my son's life, and damn near lost the mother of my child. This is all moving so fast, I can't even wrap my head around it!"

"Are you mad at me?" He stopped pacing and climbed under the covers with me.

"I'm not mad at you, so stop crying," he expressed as he wiped my tears. "Did it ever occur to you that I could possibly be his father?"

" Not at first, but once the doctor broke the news, everything switched."

" What do you mean?"

" He's a tiny version of you, and I hate that it took this long for me to realize it. He has your freckles! I didn't think anything of it at first because Trent's mom has freckles, but he also has your smile."

" I hate that we had to find out like this!" He sighed, staring at the ceiling.

"He's probably worried sick about me. I want to see him."