Fourth of July

Chapter 31

"Mia, d-do you think that we can talk?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll be over there in a minute," she said.

Jamia came over and I smiled as we sat on the couch.

"Okay, so I just wanted to talk to you about this before Miles is born before it gets more complicated and busy," I said.

"What is it?" she asked.

I opened my mouth to speak when my phone rang. I saw Alicia's name and answered it.

"Frank, I-I'm in labor and I'm heading down to the hospital," she said.

"Oh ok, I-I'll be there as soon as I can," I said as I hung up.

"What is it?" Jamia asked.

"Alicia is in labor," I said.

"Oh my god, you should go," she said. "I can watch Gee for you."

"Thank you," I said, feeling slightly sick. "Oh god, I-I'm gonna be a dad."

"And you're gonna be an amazing dad," she said. "Call me if you need anything while you're there."

"Okay, it'll probably be a little while, labor will take probably at last five hours and could be a lot longer," I said.

"It's okay, I'll stay here with Gee," she said. "You should probably get going. You have the carseat and baby bag?"

"Yeah, it's already in the car," I said. "Thank you, Mia, I love you."

I kissed her cheek before running outside. I sped off to the hospital where I found Alicia's room.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, just in pain," she said.

"Is there anything that I can do?" I asked.

"No, I just wanna get this thing out of me already," she said.

"He's not a thing, he's my son," I said.

Alicia cried out in pain before relaxing.

"Do you think you could get me some ice chips?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course," I said.

I went to go get her a cup of ice chips before sitting by her side.

"You really don't want any part of his life?" I asked. "You don't even have to talk to him at all, I can just send you pictures of him every now and then."

"No, Frank, I don't want kids and I never have," she said. "I'm sorry and I know it sounds really insensitive but I just don't want to be part of his life. I don't want to be a parent, I don't to have kids."

I nodded a little sadly.

"You want me to be there for him?" She asked.

"Well, I just don't want him to have to live in a single-parent household," I said. "I don't want him to just be the one kid in class without a mom."

"Well, he'll probably have a stepmom," Alicia said. "You're bound to find someone and fall in love and get married."

My mind immediately went to Jamia and I thought about the two of us getting married, settling down together and having more kids with each other.

"You already know who that's going to be, don't you?" Alicia guessed.

"Not who I know but who I hope," I guess. "It wasn't until now that I really realized just how deep my feelings were."

"Have you asked her out?" She asked.

"No, everytime I try to talk to her about it we always end up getting interrupted," I said. "I'm scared to talk to her, honestly."