Three Words to Remember

Am I More Than You Bargained For Yet?

It was about three days later when there was a knock on my front door. I had just returned from working out with Zack- and ok, he did most of the actual working out, but I was supporting him! I was slightly annoyed because I was just about to take a shower, but I answered the door anyways. 

I saw a middle aged professional looking woman standing on my porch. She wore a grey pants suit with a pink shirt underneath the jacket. Her dark blonde hair was pulled into a tight bun. She smiled politely when I opened the door. 

"Are you Mr. Barakat?" she asked politely. 

"Yeah," I said hesitantly, "But you can call me Jack..."

"Well Jack," she said, her voice emotionless, "Have you ever thought about having children?"

What? Where did that come from? 

I raised an eyebrow, "If you're trying to sell me something, or 'deliver the good news,' just go. I'm not interested."

She chuckled for a moment, "I'm sorry for being so frank. My name's Anne Delowitz. I'm a social worker from the Inner Baltimore adoption agency. Here's my card."

She handed me a small piece of paper. When I examined it, I saw that she was legitimate. But I still don't understand why she's here though. Is Alex trying to play a prank on me?

"Um. Ok?" I said, "Is there a reason you're here? I'm sorry if that sounds rude. But I'm not even married yet, I haven't even thought about having kids."

"Well, I have some news for you that might change your mind about that," she said awkwardly, "If I can come in, I have some things to explain to you."

I nodded hesitantly, "Ok," I said, stepping aside for her to enter, "I'm making coffee if you'd like a cup."

"That would be wonderful, thank you." She smiled, "Is there somewhere quiet we can talk?"

"Anywhere's quiet," I responded, getting some mugs down, "I'm alone currently. Is the kitchen table alright?"

"Yes that works," she said. I assumed she took a seat, but I had my back turned to make coffee.

I still don't understand why she's here. I bet Alex is playing a prank on me as revenge for making him leave when we got home. Depending on where this goes, I'm definitely going to have to get him back somehow. I doubt he knows it, but he just waged world war 3. 

I sat down and handed her a mug, "I hope you don't mind black, I ran out of creamer the other day."

"Black's fine," she said, taking a sip, "Down to business. I understand that about five years ago you were raped by Ms. Holly Madison."

I bit my lip but nodded. Wow Alex, that's a bit too far. 

"Have you had any contact with her since?" she asked. 

I shook my head, "No. There was enough evidence against her for me to not have to testify in court. I haven't seen her since it happened."

Why I was still playing along, I don't know. I guess a part of my thinks that Alex wouldn't go this far for a prank. He knows I'm still really sensitive talking about that. Maybe this isn't a prank, maybe Anne's here for a reason. 

"So you don't know anything about a person by the name of Michelle Abigail Madison?" she asked as if she already knew the answer. 

I thought for a moment; trying to remember if Holly said anything about a relative by that name when we were dating. I couldn't. 

"No," I said, "Is that one of Holly's relatives? They have the same last name."

Anne pulled a piece of paper from a file folder that sat on the table and handed it to me. I saw it was a picture of a little girl that couldn't be older than six at the most. She had light brown hair, dark eyes and thick eyebrows. Her nose looked really familiar but I couldn't place it. 

"This is Holly's daughter Michelle, Mitchy for short," Anne said, "She was born after Holly was sent to prison. We have reason to believe that the father doesn't know about her."

I nodded my head slowly. So Holly had a kid. Meaning she probably cheated on me. Awesome. 

"Ok," I said, furrowing my eye brows, "What does this have to do with me?"

"After an extensive questioning of Ms. Madison, she gave a list of the possible fathers. There were three of them."

For some reason my gut tightened at the mention of three possible fathers. 

"You were on the list Jack," she said seriously. I felt my stomach harden and I was glad I hadn't eaten anything yet today, or it would be in the toilet by now, "Because of the circumstance in which you had unprotected intercourse with Ms. Madison, we checked the other two first.

"And, unless the DNA tests were wrong or Ms. Madison lied to us, Michelle is your child."

I felt the world around me start to spend. The air was steadily thickening to the point where I could barely breath. No. I can't be a father. No, all I ever wanted was to forget that part of my life. 

"If you want,we can have a DNA test performed to make sure," Anne continued, "But she looks a lot like you. More than Ms. Madison..."

"That's ok," I managed to say, still quite in shock. 

"Because she was born in a position where her mother couldn't take care of her and Ms. Madison refused to tell us who the father was, she was put into foster care," she explained, "But because of certain circumstances, the family she was placed with can no longer care for her. I know it's a lot to ask, and you don't have to say yes, but we think it would be good for her to grow up with her real dad."

I swallowed the vile in my throat. I had a feeling this was coming next. I don't know of I can take care of a child though. I'm 28 years old and in a touring band for god's sake. I highly doubt that's the ideal lifestyle a parent should have. And what about Alex? I had just begun toying around with the idea of proposing soon. Would he leave if I was stuck with a toddler? I don't know if he even wants kids, we've never talked about it before...

"You don't have to answer right away," Anne assured me, "Just, please think about it. Mitchy's a wonderful girl, it's hard not to like her."

"I- Uh," I stammered, "This is a lot to take in. Wow, a five year old. Um, I guess I'll consider it. I mean, there are a lot of factors I need to consider."

"Yes of course," Anne said, standing up, "There's a number on the card I gave you. When you make up your mind give me a call. Even if the answer's no let me know, she's on hold at the shelter so you have time to think and decide."

I thanked her and showed her to the door. Once she was gone, I collapsed to the floor. A child. I don't know if I can handle raising a child that's half hers. But then again, she's half mine too. I helped create her, I guess it's my responsibility to take care of her. Yeah, I am so fucked.

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A/N: So... I'm willing to bet that anyone that saw this coming is a psychic... What do you guys think? 

Title Cred: Fall Out Boy- Sugar, We're Going Down