A MISUNDERSTANDING
Chapter Fourteen
An Important Discussion
Much, much later that evening,
after everyone had a stock of their own emotions and Jack had begrudgingly put
Jacob back in his crib, it was time for the three adults to have an important discussion.
They filed into the dining room and took seats on opposite ends of the table so
that they were all facing each other.
"First things first. How did
you know to find Cal and me here?" Rose asked Jack.
"I don't know if you're
aware of it, but you come from a very gossip-prone society."
"And how did you know about
Jayvelin?" Cal put in.
"You knew me too well, Rose.
After you kicked me out of your apartment, I did come back. You were at work,
so I questioned Mrs. Carpenter about you. I noticed that she was taking care of
a very beautiful little baby, so I asked if it was hers.
"'Oh, gosh, no. My babies
are all in school, I dare say. This angel belongs to Rose. Didn't you know?'
"'I--I...no...no, she never
mentioned a baby. H-how old is...'
"'Jayvelin. Pretty name,
huh? She's five months old, born smack dab in the middle of December.'
"The facts collided in my
head. April, May, June...this baby couldn't be mine. And Rose hadn't said a
thing about her to me, and had told me I had to leave and never come back..."
"You thought I didn't tell
you about Jayvelin because she was Cal's!" Rose couldn't believe the cruel
game fate had played.
Jack shrugged. "What was I
supposed to think? Without saying good-bye, I left. Everything was turmoil in
my head, and I honestly never wanted anything to do with you again. But it was
all I could think of, day in and day out. Finally, a good three months later, I
returned, hoping to at least let you know that I knew about your daughter and
still wanted to be in your life, to help you, to be a friend, no matter the
circumstances. But you were already gone. Everyone in the building must have
thought me a lunatic because I dashed to everyone in sight and asked them if
they could give me any information about you. No one knew where you had gone,
but in a conversation I found out a single piece of very important
information--Jayvelin had been born almost exactly one month early."
"That explains the past, but
now we have the future to worry about." Everyone knew what Cal would say
next. "What are we going to do with this crazy love triangle five years in
the making?"
Jack said, "My future, your
future, Jayvelin's future, and Jacob's future lie in the hands of one person,
and one person only. Rose, what are our futures?"