Closet Case

(18)

~<>~<>~

I throw myself on my bed and scream into a pillow.

"Ben? You good? I heard the door slam" Carson says from the other side of the door.

"I'm fine" I say coldly.

"Ben, what happened?" Carson asks opening the door.

"My boyfriends ex-girlfriend is pregnant with his baby. I don't know what the fuck to do. Parker is probably freaking out about having a kid and I want to be there for him but.....he made proof that he was with someone else. We weren't together at the time but it still hurts. I should've known something was up when he showed up with Bree. Like, who the fuck just shows up at their boyfriends house with their ex-girlfriend?!" I rant.

"Sorry, man" he says, "get up" 

"No" I pout burying my face in my pillow.

"Get up, we're going....somewhere"

"No, leave me alone"

"3"

"Are you seriously counting down?"

"2"

"I am not 6 years old, Carson"

"1"

"Fuck off"

"0. Upsie daisie" he says picking me up.

"Carson! What the fuck?!" I scream as he throws me over his shoulder.

"Dude, you weigh like nothing" he says and starts walking. I hit my head on the door frame and Carson laughs.

"Put me down you barbarian!"

"Barbarian? Ouch, I'm hurt" he says and puts me in the front seat of his car. He starts driving until we get to a stoplight.

"Left, right, or forward?" he asks.

"Take me home"

"Pick a direction"

"Ugh fine right"

~<>~<>~

We take a few more turns until we pull into a parking lot.

"A day care? Really?" I ask.

"You brought us here" he says.

"I did not"

"Come on. Lets go" 

"No"

"Ben, it might be good for you"

"How?"

"I don't fucking know just get out of the fucking car and play with some little kids"

"Just take me home, please"

"10 minutes and if you still wanna go home, I'll take you home"

"Fine" I say and go inside with him.

"Hello, I'm Carrie, how can I help you?" the lady at the desk asks. She looks like she's in her early 20's. She has sandy blonde hair in a bun and beautiful white smile.

"Hi, I was wondering if we could just hang out with the kids for a little bit. I know that sounds weird but hear me out. My brothers boyfriend who is also my best friend got his ex-girlfriend pregnant so now my brother is freaking out but I'm trying to convince him that he can be like a 2nd dad to the kid" Carson explains.

"Um....yeah. Yeah, come on back. I'll get Freya to lead you around" she says. A women that doesn't look much older than Carrie steps out from a room and gestures for us to follow her.

"I know Lucy just woke up so you can meet her. She's 6 months old and an absolute sweetheart" she says. We go to a play room and she leads us to a tiny little human with a bow in her hair. She picks up Lucy and hands her to me.

"She's so cute" I say.

"Yeah, she is" Freya smiles.

"Mister, can you play with me? None of the other boys will play with me"  A little girl asks Carson. She looks about 7 years old.

"What about the girls?"

"All they wanna do is play with dolls. I wanna play in the mud!"

"Oh um ok. Sure"

~<>~<>~

It's been about half an hour and I'm in love with this little girl. She is so sweet. I've gotten some time to think about everything.....I need to talk to Parker. I get out my phone and call him while trying to keep Lucy from grabbing it.

Parker: Ben? Hey, are you ok?
Me: Yeah, I'm ok. Are you?
Parker: I'm scared. About being a dad and about losing you. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you
Me: You're not losing me, ever. Carson took me to this place and I've been hanging out with this precious little girl and......I will give you and Bree all the help you need. I realized I was being really selfish. I didn't even think about how you were feeling
Parker: You were hurt, it's understandable. And, thank you

Me: How's the baby?

Parker: It's 8 weeks along and healthy

Me: That's good

Parker: Ben?

Me: Yeah?
Parker: I love you
Me: I love you too