Blindside

Episode EIGHT

Noah

Showered and ready to relax and end his night as he had the last two, Noah plopped in bed and grabbed his phone off the nightstand. He hit the app and then the call button. It rang until it went to voicemail and Noah double checked the time. It was still early. He made sure to call before Jack's bedtime so he could say goodnight to him. About to hit the dial button, Roni's picture popped up on his screen. She was calling him back but on the phone.

"Hey, what happened? Why didn't you do the video chat?"

"Because I'm still working on getting this guy ready for bed, and it's easier to walk around with my earpiece on than video chat."

Noah picked up the remote to lower the TV. "Okay, whatever's easier as long as you two are the last two I talk to before I go to bed. So, what happened with your birth control?"

He heard her huff. "You're not gonna believe this. I called the pharmacy, but they didn't have my prescription, so I called the doctor, and they said they can't prescribe them until I take a pregnancy test to rule out that I'm not pregnant before I start the new pills. So, now I have to go in tomorrow if I want to make sure I get my pills before my period is over. Which I'm sure is coming any minute."

She went on to name all the signs of why she knew her period coming. Among them were her mood swings, which was a relief because it explained why she'd been so weird when he talked to her earlier. For a minute there he'd thought maybe Jack's results weren't as positive as she first made it sound and maybe she'd been afraid to break it to him.

Right on cue, she switched the subject to just that. "I got a call from the doctor's office. It's official. Jack's a perfectly normal two-year-old."

Noah could hear the smile on Roni's face, and he lay back, exhaling loudly. "So, you're done, done? No more follow ups?"

"Nope. All done."

"Thank you, Jesus. Now we can really move on from this shit."

"Yes, we can." Roni agreed quickly. "I don't even wanna talk about it anymore or I might start crying. How was your tournament?"

Surprised by this since it was all she'd talked about for months, he thought for sure she'd want to go over his results and everything they said and such. But hey, if it'd been up to him, he would've been done discussing this months ago. Even better? This meant he'd also heard the last of Dr. Douche.

"It was good. Still winning."

The night's conversation was cut shorter than normal because Jack, who Roni said had a long day, started getting fussy. Since it was still early, Roni said she'd call him back if she was able to get Jack asleep early enough. But by ten, Noah figured he wasn't hearing back from her and called it a night himself.

~*~

The next morning, he tried video chatting with Roni again since he hadn't been able to see her or Jack the night before, but she didn't answer. He thought it odd that he didn't hear back from her at all since she usually called back pretty quickly. Noah didn't hear from her until he was on the golf course when she texted him. Glancing down at his phone screen, he hoped everything was okay.

Was in the shower when you called this morning. I'm at the doctor's office now but can't make calls in here.

Feeling the slightest bit annoyed, Noah thought about that for a moment. The doctor's? She said there were no more follow-ups. Then he remembered her pregnancy test. She hadn't mentioned doing that today, but it made sense since she did mention wanting to get her new pills asap. He texted her back to tell let her know it wasn't anything important and that he'd just wanted to see her and little man before his tournament since he didn't get to the night before. He told her he'd really be looking forward to video chatting with him later that night.

She didn't respond before he had to move on with the tournament, and he figured she must've been called into the doctor's office.

He and the guys made it all the way to the end of the tournament only to lose it by just two strokes. It was heartbreaking, and as much as Noah wanted to go along the whole it's for charity and that's all that matters bullshit, it still stung, he thought for sure they had it.

Unlike the rest of the week, they decided to lick their wounds by hanging out at the clubhouse afterward. It surprised Noah that Roni hadn't responded to his last text. But she was probably busy running errands and figured they'd catch up tonight.

As they sat at the bar, Abel lifted his phone and showed Noah a video. It was of Jack and Reina playing in his backyard on her giant playset. Smiling, he took the phone to get a better look. "Is this today?"

"Yeah, she's had him all day."

Noah turned to peer at Abel. "Had him?"

Sticking some pretzels in his mouth, Abel nodded. "Roni dropped him off in the morning. Guess she had some running around to do."

Hearing Jack's squealing as Reina chased after him had Noah smiling again. Noah nodded, handing the phone back to Abel when the video ended. "Yeah, she had a doctor's appointment today."

They probably stuck around a little longer than they should've because they were all pretty lit by the time they left. The entire shuttle ride back to hotel, they laughed like idiots at the stupidest shit. But at least their time at the clubhouse had been well spent. They were in a much better mood than when they finished the tournament by the time they got to the hotel. While they shared a suite, they all had separate private bedrooms with their own bathrooms. Noah went straight to his room, anxious to talk to Roni. It was already past Jack's bedtime, but he hoped maybe he was still up.

Except he had to rush to the bathroom first. He'd always hated how much he had to rush to the bathroom when he drank beer. Of course, now that he was in a hurry, he pissed like a race horse for what felt like forever. When he was finally finished in the bathroom, he rushed out into the room and plopped down on the bed. Like last night, Roni didn't answer the first time. But instead of her calling him right back as she had yesterday, she texted him. Noah clicked on it and read it.

Cant talk right now.

It was the automatic text Roni used whenever she got a call and was either on the other line or just too busy to answer. Disappointed because he probably would miss out on seeing Jack, Noah just responded that he missed her. Hearing Abel and Felix in the other room, he walked out to hang with them until Roni called him back. They were at the suite's bar having a drink.

"You two still at it?"

"Last night here, brother." Felix pulled a bottle of beer out of the mini fridge and motioned for Noah to take it. "Come join us."

"Nah, I'm done with beer." Noah patted his bloated belly. "I'd take a Jameson and Coke, but Roni's gonna be calling soon for our end-of-the-night chat."

"I'll make you that drink." Abel pulled a glass out of the cupboard above his head. "It'll be a while before you have that end-of-night-chat."

Confused, Noah peered at him. "What do you mean?"

"She hasn't even picked up Jack yet," Abel said, pouring some Jameson into the glass. "I just got off the phone with Nellie. Poor Jack's stuck watching Frozen with my girls until Roni comes and saves him." Abel laughed as he opened the bottle of soda. "Better him than me."

"Where's Roni?"

Abel shrugged, handing Noah the drink he'd just stirred. "Guess she had to work late."

"This late?"

Author's notes: Whispers, Roni never works this late. Ya think Noah has anything to worry about?