No Time Left To Regret

Chapter 11

Kevin leaned over and whispered, "Were you expecting anyone?"

"No." I whispered back.

There was another louder knock at the door which made Jonathan start to cry. I rocked him slightly.

"Well, I've got no choice but to answer the door now. Who ever it is knows I'm home." I continued whispering to Kevin.

"Even if it's Joe...or Nick, I'm not leaving. I will fight for you." Kevin spoke confidently.

"Kevin, please stop that." I scolded, him like he was a child.

A louder knock was heard.

"Better answer the door before they break it down." Kevin whispered, shooting his eyes towards the door.

I nodded and got up, then slowly opened the door, shocked once again by who was on the other side.

"Hey, can I come in... we need to talk." he said.

"I guess." Beth replied while stepping out of the way so the newest guest could enter.

He walked in and saw Kevin sitting on the couch.

"What are you doing here?" He asked shocked.

"I could ask you the same thing, Nick!" Kevin shot back.

"Joe's an emotional train wreck so I came over to see what I can do to bring Joe out of this slump he's in and try to patch things up between these two for the sake of Joe's sanity and my nephew." Nick reasoned as he sat down on the couch next to Kevin.

"Yeah, there's no hope for that. What do you think I'm doing here?" Kevin shot back.

"What could be that bad that you can't forgive him?" Nick asked.

"Everything!" I shouted just as there was another knock on the door.

"Jesus, who could it be now!?" I said perturbed as I opened the door.

"Hi Beth, May I come in? We have to discuss your situation."

"Come on in, apparently it's open house at Beth's today." I stated sarcastically as I stepped aside and allowed my latest guest to enter.

Upon entering the apartment, he spotted my previous company on the couch.

"Now what are you two doing here?" He asked with slight agitation in his voice.

"Hi Dad!" Nick and Kevin stated in unison while flashing half fake smiles and waving.

"Um..." Kevin started but Nick cut him off.

"We're here trying to fix things between Beth and Joe so they can be a family. That's what Jonathan needs."

"How do you know what anyone needs? Those two had a baby before either of them were ready. I came here to find out what you planned on doing with your situation." Kevin, Sr. stated as he took a seat in a chair.

"What situation? There isn't one. Joe and I aren't a couple. We got in a fight last night and I asked him to leave." I explained.

"But there is more at stake here, you and Joseph now have a child that has to be thought of and properly taken care of. He is a part of our family weather I like this situation or not." Kevin, Sr. reasoned.

"I am taking care of him just fine by myself." I retorted bitterly.

"What about Joseph? He is the Father, why won't you give him a chance to make amends?"

"Because Joe's moving too fast, he's trying to move in and have us married by the end of this week. I can't be with someone who is acting like he hasn't done anything wrong and ignored me for my entire pregnancy." I spat.

"I know you are still upset about that but I over heard Joe talking to his mother and he apparently wants to be a husband and Father. He's even willing to give up his career for it. Which I wish he really wouldn't do since he needs to do something to make a living and take care of his child." Kevin, Sr. looked to the floor briefly before reestablishing eye contact with me.

Kevin and Nick turned and looked at their Father wide eyed.

"I won't let him do that, I'll cut off ties to him completely before I let him give up his music." I shook my head.

"That's not really the best way to handle this. It creates more problems than solutions. Let's think about this rationally since the entire band's career and Joe's future depends on it." Kevin, Sr. pointed out.

"Ok and what do you suggest? He waited too long to marry me." I reminded him.

"We could handle this several ways - if you don't want to work things out with Joseph then we will give you $25,000 to just go away quietly and never look up Joseph again, no matter what the circumstances are. And by no means are you to tell anyone that Jonathan is really Joseph's child. If you do so we will release a statement denying your claims." Kevin, Sr. explained the options.

Kevin, Jr. got so upset that he flew up off the couch.

"Dad! No! I refuse to let you do that! I love Beth and I will take full responsibility for Jonathan and marry her."

"What? Did I just hear you correctly? So that's why you were at the hospital and knew when she had the baby - you've been seeing her behind your brother's back?" Kevin, Sr. was both shocked and hurt by this information.

"No, defiantly not! I would never do that to any of my brothers. I ran into her at the store and while we were talking at the park she went into labor and I brought her to the hospital. I stayed the whole time and called Joe to tell him his son was born. Because she wanted Joe to step up and be a father but Dad, I want to be Jonathan's father." Kevin, Jr. argued.

"That is not a choice! I refuse to let you take on someone else's responsibility!" Kevin, Sr. bellowed.

"But I want to!" Kevin shouted back.

"Beth still has one other option - she could marry Joe as planned and the management will release a statement that Beth suffered a difficult pregnancy and almost died during childbirth so we want to finally announce your marriage to Joseph and the birth of his first child." Kevin, Sr. conveyed, looking to me - hoping I would agree to one of his ridiculous offers he had shot at me today.

"What a bold faced lie! The only difficult thing I suffered through was being alone for 8 months, thanks for noticing and trying to cover it up with lies!" I retorted angrily.

"But it is the only way to be sure that no one's life or the boy's career becomes tarnished." Kevin, Sr. tried to reason.

"No! I refuse to..." I shouted before being interrupted once more.

***Chapter end notes*** - Shit is hitting the fan. What do you think is going to happen next. Please drop me a line and let me know your thoughts and upvote the chapter if you liked it. Thank you for reading.