“So let me get this straight,” Sam settled herself more comfortably on the couch, “Justin showed up at your doctor’s office and then you met him for coffee and he gave you his number?”

Adah nodded her head.  “Yeah, sounds about right.”  She picked at the seam of her sweat pants.  “I’m not quite sure what it means, but I guess it’s a start.”

“What did he say?  Does he believe you?”  Brett joined in, grabbing a seat in the recliner and handing the girls both bottles of water.  “He knows it’s his baby?”

Adah shrugged at this, taking a minute to sip at her water.  “He’s not really sure what to believe.  I can’t say that I blame him, I mean, he doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall.  He does remember that we had sex, though.”

“But it has to mean something that he gave you his number,” Brett added, “Men don’t give out numbers to pregnant women.  Believe me, I know.”  Despite the seriousness of the situation, Brett’s comment made the girls laugh.

“Maybe he’s a freak and he’s into that sort of thing.”  Sam couldn’t help but put her two cents in.  And, of course, she hated the tension that was constantly filling her apartment and she had to break it somehow.  “Maybe he just thinks you’re hot and having a bun in the oven makes it even better.”

Adah’s face twisted into an ugly frown, “That’s nasty, Sammy.  I would hope that he didn’t give me his number for that reason.”  She gently touched her pocket, finding some strange comfort at the slip of paper tucked away.  Even if she never used it, at least it was there.  That had to mean something.

“So…are you going to call him?”  Brett posed the question.  He watched Adah carefully, knowing that there was a lot going on in that head of her’s.  He was worried about her, but he also knew that he could only be there for support; he couldn’t make any decisions for her.

She shrugged, picking at her nails.  “I have no idea what to say to him.”  She licked her lips, taking a deep breath before looking up at her roommates.  “It was so awkward at the diner.  I could tell that he really didn’t want me to be telling the truth.  I hardly know the guy, how can I ask him to be a father to a baby he doesn’t want?”

Neither Sam nor Brett knew what to say to that.  It was one thing for Justin to attempt to talk to Adah and listen to what she had to say, but it was a whole other thing for him to want to be a part of this baby’s life, especially since he didn’t know for sure it was his.  Even if he did find out the baby was his, how could anyone expect him to just take responsibility?  It was a one night stand and this was a total accident.

“Have you thought about a paternity test?”  Sam asked.  “That would give him no doubt about the baby being his.”

“Yeah, I have.  I just don’t want to do something that could hurt me or the baby.  I don’t really know about testing before the baby is born.”

“I think we should look into it.  It would just make sure that there isn’t any more doubt about this baby belonging to you and Justin.”  Sam grabbed her lap top off of the coffee table and started to look into paternity tests.

“I’m sure they’re expensive, Sam, and I’m just afraid that it’s going to do damage or something.”  Adah gently clutched her stomach, already worried for this unborn baby.  She was starting to become attached to the idea of this life growing inside of her and being able to raise this baby.  Although she was scared shitless, the longer her pregnancy went, the more she wanted to protect and care for her baby.

“Expensive my ass, Ads, you’ve got a multi-millionaire for a baby daddy.  I’m sure his lawyers would be more than happy to pay for the procedure.” 

Brett sat back and watched the two girls converse.  He could see the indecision on Adah’s face and he wondered where it came from.  He had a feeling that she was apprehensive for more reasons than just the safety of her baby.  If she had this paternity test and it was confirmed that Justin was the father, there wasn’t any turning back.  He either had to take responsibility and Adah got swept up into his world, or he decided to have nothing to do with her and she was left taking care of this baby on her own.  It seemed like a tough situation to be in and Brett was proud of his roomie for being so strong about it.  He just wondered how long that strength was going to last.

~*~

Adah stepped into the apartment, bending to pick up the pile of mail that was left on the floor.  She flipped through the numerous bills and pieces of junk mail before stopping at an envelope addressed to her.  It looked like a greeting card or something, but she had no idea who would be sending her something like that.

She tossed the envelope on the coffee table and went into her room to change.  She’d found a training job for one of Sam’s co-workers, so she’d been spending a couple afternoons a week doing that.  It wasn’t the best source of income, but it was all she had at the moment.  Hopefully she’d be able to find something a little more reliable soon.  The only obstacle would be her ever-growing stomach.  Not many people are willing to hire something that’s about to give birth in a few months. 

Changing into her favorite sweatpants, she shuffled back out into the living room and grabbed the letter off of the coffee table.  There wasn’t a return address.  Shrugging, she ripped it open.  A piece of paper fluttered out and landed on the floor.  The card inside was blank and Adah was really confused until she grabbed the piece of paper off the floor.

She almost dropped it again.

In her hands she held a check for a thousand dollars.  Justin’s signature was scrawled across the bottom line and Adah couldn’t figure out why the hell he would be sending her a check for a thousand dollars. 

She sat back on the couch, holding the check in front of her like it was about to bite.

It took her a moment to collect her thoughts, but she quickly grabbed her cell phone and the scrap of paper that held Justin’s number.  Taking a deep breath, she punched the numbers into her phone and waited as it rang.

“Hello?”  It was definitely his voice, and for some reason hearing it made her incredibly nervous.

“Hey…Justin.  It’s…ah…it’s Adah.”  Apparently he made her a bumbling idiot, too.

“Who?”  His voice was distracted and there was a lot of noise in the background which made Adah feel slightly guilty for bothering him. 

“Adah.  Adah James.  You know….the pregnant lady?” 

“Oh! Adah…hold on a second.”  The noise died down and she figured he had moved to another spot.  “What’s up?”

“Well, I was just calling to ask why I got a check for a thousand dollars today.”  She looked back at the slip of paper, her nerves calming down slightly.

“For the dog training.  That’s what I owed you.”  His voice was so matter of fact, like she was an idiot for asking.

“Justin…I only went to your house for three weeks.  I don’t even charge a thousand dollars for all the sessions.  This is way too much for the few times I was there.  Plus, I pissed off your cousin.”

She could hear him chuckle over the line.  “Rachel told me that you two had settled on a thousand, and it was my fault that you couldn’t finish the training, so I thought you should still get paid.”

“This is too much.  I can’t accept this.”  She shook her head even though he couldn’t see her.

“I’ll just keep sending you checks until you take it.  I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

Adah couldn’t tell if this was because he was just a generous person, or because he felt guilty for everything that had happened.  Either was, she was extremely apprehensive to take the money.  “Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.”  Someone spoke in the background, “Hey, I’ve got to get going.  I’m at rehearsal for my tour.  Maybe we can grab some dinner or something sometime?”

“Uh…sure?”  She didn’t have time to say anything else before he was saying his goodbyes and hanging up the phone.

Adah continued to stare at the check in her hands, completely unsure of what she should do.  What did this mean?  How should she take this?  He could be just paying her for the work she did to train his dogs, but that certainly wasn’t worth a thousand dollars.  He could be giving her money because he felt guilty for getting her pregnant, but he wasn’t really sure that it was his baby to begin with. 

“Hey Ads.”  Brett’s voice broke her from her thoughts and she jumped a little, dropping the check.  It floated over in front of Brett’s feet.  He bent over to grab it, his eyes widening, “Holy shit, Ads.  This is for a thousand bucks.” 

“I know.  It’s from Justin.”  She stared up at her roommate, her cheeks reddening.  “He says it’s for the training I did with his dogs, but…I don’t know if I should take it.”

“He sent you a check for a thousand dollars because you half-trained his dogs?”  Brett handed the check to Adah, grabbing a seat next to her on the couch.  “Did you talk to him?”

She nodded.  “I called him because I couldn’t figure out why he was sending me a check for so much money.  He told me that he’d keep sending them until I deposited it.”  They both stared at the check like it was a foreign object.  “I’m not really sure what to do with it.”

“Keep it.”  Brett glanced over at Adah.  She gave him a questioning look.  “He knocked you up, Adah.  Even if he’s not ready to admit that it’s his baby, he still has to take responsibility at some point.”  He gestured to the check, “I have a feeling that this is his way of making up for everything.  He’s probably having a hard time with all of this, so instead of saying the money is to help with the baby, he’s using the dog training as his reason.”

Brett left the living room shortly after, leaving Adah with her thoughts.  So, she now had a good chunk of money to help out when she couldn’t get work, but what did it mean?  She was worried that he was going to want something from her now.  People didn’t just throw away money that easily, and she couldn’t imagine why Justin would want to give her so much when she didn’t even finish the training she was supposed to do.  She also had a feeling that Rachel wouldn’t be very happy if she knew about the money, either.

Adah stared at the check a moment or two longer, unsure of what to do.  She was confused and worried, and for some reason having this money didn’t make her feel any better.