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I DON’T KNOW IF TOMMY jumped off his chair, or if he fell. All I knew for certain was that despite having gone through every single one of life’s ups and downs together, I had never before seen this look on his face.
His lips parted several times like he was going to say something, but each time, he came up short. Instead, his eyes locked on the child and he froze like a statue, looking like he might possibly faint.
I glanced quickly between Lily and Dylan, but they both looked as stunned as I was. Lily had her eyes on the back of Tommy’s head, but Dylan was looking across the room at Kim like she was a plant by the lawyers themselves. I wouldn’t put it past the greedy lawyers.
The silence stretched on for a full minute, and Tommy didn’t seem in any way capable of breaking it, so I finally pushed to my feet and put my hand on his shoulder—staring at Kim cautiously all the while. Tommy’s skin was shock white, and honestly, I don’t think he even registered my presence. Kim, however, zeroed in on me with the voracity of a bloodhound.
“So,” she said in the taunting pitchy voice I so remembered and so despised, “looks like you’re finally doing what everyone said you were going to do. You and Tommy are getting married.” Her eyes narrowed. “Nice dress, by the way.”
“What’s going on, Kim?” I breathed, staring at the baby—the baby’s bright blue eyes looked eerily familiar. “Is that...is there any possible way that...” Words failed me, and in the end I simply blurted, “You know you’re holding a baby, right?”
Her face screwed up in a self-satisfied smirk. “You don’t miss a thing, do you?”
When I didn’t answer, she turned back to Tommy.
“You should really answer your phone, you know?” she said.
When he didn’t answer, she turned back to me.
“Yes. It’s a baby boy. I’ve been trying to raise him on my own for the last few months. About nine months to be exact. And yes, it’s exactly what you think. Looks like I finally gave him one thing you didn’t, Rose.” She eyed my flat stomach doubtfully. “Unless this is some kind of shotgun wedding I don’t know about.”
“Shut up,” I hissed again, then I squeezed Tommy’s hand. “Tommy?”
He was in complete and utter shock.
“The Katherty party,” Kim interrupted. “You were wasted, I was there.” She searched his wide eyes without a hint of remorse. “Any of this ringing a bell?” A shudder ran through his body, and she grinned. “I didn’t think so.”
I didn’t know what to do. My best friend was adrift and sinking, but I didn’t know how to help. If this was Kim being Kim, that was one thing. But if there was a possibility it was true...?
This cannot be happening.
My eyes flickered between her, Tommy, the baby, and the clock.
This especially cannot be happening right now.
“Come on, Tommy, this is ridiculous. You don’t have to stand here and listen to another minute of it.” Dylan walked forward protectively and draped an arm over his brother’s shoulder, glaring at Kim in disbelief all the while.
She took a step back. I didn’t blame her. The brother dynamic might have been turbulent at best, but ever since high school, one thing had remained consistently true. Mess with either one, and expect to have hell rain down on you from the other.
In his absence, Dylan had apparently amped his hell up by about a billion degrees. “How do we even know this kid is his? How do we know the lawyers didn’t hire her to do this?”
It was a fair point, but at that moment, something extraordinary happened.
The baby made a happy gurgling sound and everything else in the room suddenly stopped. The second he heard it, Tommy snapped out of his trance. He shook off his brother’s arm and walked over for the first time. The kid stared up at him, and he stared back down. Then he reached out, and the baby wrapped his entire hand around Tommy’s finger.
And...that’s the ballgame.
It was one of those life-defining moments. I didn’t need to see the look on Tommy’s face to know it was true. In that very instant, the second he’d locked eyes with the child, the world as we knew it had changed.
“He looks just like me,” Tommy said.
“Feel free to get a DNA test,” Kim muttered. “Because he’s the spitting image of you. There’s no way you can deny it by looks alone.”
“He has my eyes!”
To be honest, I don’t know if it even mattered if the child was his. Although, having grown up with Tommy, there was no mistaking those eyes.
The child was his now. For the rest of his life...the child would be his.
The room grew silent, and he turned to me with tears in his eyes.
“Rosie...”
“I know,” I held up a hand, suddenly feeling like the biggest idiot in the world to be standing there in a white dress, “you can’t.” I gazed at the baby for another moment, before my face softened with a little smile. “You’re a father now. It’s about time you grew up.”
Just the word father looked like it bowled him over, but he turned around and led Kim and the baby out of the bar—taking them someplace quiet to talk.
When they finally disappeared, the three of us turned slowly back to each other.
“Do you know what we need right now?” Lily asked quietly.
“Shots?” I volunteered.
“A paternity test,” Dylan muttered.
She shook her head, glancing contemplatively around the bar.
“Another groom. And fast.”