Chapter 16
After their meal was over, Lucy kindly offered to pay for hers, but Ash declined her invitation. He argued that it was the least he could do after what had happened the last time they were together.
Quickly, Lucy changed the subject. She didn't want to talk about the night she had cheated on her husband and sound up pregnant. "So, how are things with Tracy?"
"Wonderful." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I've never been so happy in my entire life." Ash offered her a smile and she weakly returned it.
"That's good." She replied, hoping he wouldn't ask her how her love life was going.
"I just hope Misty can move on from this." He folded his hands in his lap, then rubbed his temples. "I loved her in such a strange way. I hope she can find a man who really loves her like she deserves."
Lucy took a sip of her sparkling grape juice. Right. She had to be careful and refrain from calling Misty any appalling names. Ash clearly cared for her, for whatever reason, and the last thing she needed to do was make him upset. She didn't know Ash that well as it was. "I'm sure she'll move on."
"I hope so." Ash took a sip of his sparkling grape juice and made a face, rubbing his temples again. "Hey, Lucy, do you happen to have any headache medicine? I think I'm getting a pretty bad one."
Lucy was busy powdering on her foundation and she looked up from her compact mirror. "Sure, it's in the left pocket on the inside. I'm going to visit the ladies' room for just a moment before I head home."
Nodding, Ash unzipped her purse and innocently searched for the little green bottle. A rather bulky, folded piece of paper was in the way of almost everything and he picked it up, unfolding it as he did.
Curiosity got the better of him and he started to wonder what was on it. He looked around and felt extremely guilty for snooping in Lucy's private life. The top of it read "Landview Clinic: Gynecology Department".
Maybe he shouldn't read it. Did she have some kind of STD? If she did, did Brock have it? Did he have it?
Maybe he should read it. After all, if he found out he could be putting Tracy in danger if he didn't get himself tested. Whatever he was going to do, he better do it fast because Lucy was probably almost done with whatever she was doing in the bathroom.
He read on and almost fell out of his chair.
Lucy Harrison had gotten a DNA test done on her unborn baby and it clearly didn't match Brock's DNA. She was having someone else's child? Was there a possibility it could be his? She wasn't that far along, and that dreadful one night stand he had with her wasn't that long ago either.
Ash refolded the paper and tucked it inside her purse, along with her pills just as he saw her come back to their table. He had to get out of here. Should he confront her? He quickly decided against it. It was really none of his business and if it wasn't Brock's child, it was surely someone else's.
She offered him a smile and gathered her purse. "Did you find it?"
He froze and swallowed, his heart jumped in his throat. Then he realized what she had meant and he relaxed and let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Yes. Yes. Thank you."
"Your welcome," Lucy pushed in her chair. "Well, thank you for brunch. I better get home. Brock will be back from church soon."
"Right. Bye Lucy," Ash said as smoothly as he could before pushing in his own chair. He felt so torn. Brock was his best friend and his wife was keeping a terrible secret from him. Then again, if he told Brock that the baby could potentially be his, he would probably kill him for sleeping with his wife.
Shakily, Ash got into his car and started his engine, shielding his eyes from the harsh sunlight, then driving out onto the buzzing highway. There was almost no chance that the baby was his. After all, it was one night, right?
He remembered her making out with that Rudy guy that night at Capricorn. Maybe it was his. Ash gripped the steering wheel. Somehow he knew it was neither one of theirs. The baby was his. He could feel it.
In fact, he felt it as soon as he had seen Lucy in the cereal aisle at the grocery store. He had felt that connection and he hated himself for it. What would Tracy do? What would he think? He was almost blinded by tears as he sped down the highway and he quickly wiped them away refocusing his sight.
What was he going to do now?
Misty was grateful for the church service to be over. It wasn't like she didn't enjoy it, she did. Very much, actually. But it was the scrutinizing glares from the other church-goers. She could feel their all-seeing eyes on her and she made a point not to sit too close to Brock.
Lola was nice to her, not overly nice, though and Flint simply greeted her with a nod. Brock had informed her that he still had no idea about their affair or about her pregnancy and she seemed to be comforted by that.
Brock dismissed himself from the congregation and led her quickly out to his truck where he helped her up into the cab, then quickly jumped into the driver's side and pulled out of the parking lot.
"Why did we leave so quickly?" Misty asked him as she watched the crowd of people dressed in fancy hats, dresses, suits and shoes spill out of the church. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison included.
"I always leave early," he said, pulling out into the highway and he instinctively put his arm around her shoulder. "besides, in there, I can't do this." He put on his break at a stop sign at the corner of an intersection, leaned over, and kissed her softly on the lips.
She kissed him back, but was disappointed by the briefness of his affection and she wondered how long it would be until she felt that again with him. If she ever would.
Misty was quiet for most of the ride. She rested her hands in her lap and fidgeted in her seat, then finally she broke the silence. "Do you think your mother thinks bad of me?"
"Nah," he shook his head. "she never thinks bad of anyone. She just wants me to be happy. That's all."
"Are you?"
It was a loaded question and he took a few moments to answer it. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.
"If I could change a few things I would. Meaning, Lucy wouldn't be pregnant. I'd be divorced and I'd be with you." He looked over at her and smiled. "Then, yes, I'd be a very happy man."
"You really want a relationship with me?" The question came out almost in shock and she was embarrassed by it. "I mean, if that were possible…"
"Of course. I've wanted one for a very long time." He approached their neighborhood and hoped to God Lucy wasn't home. "I just…wish things were different, you know?"
"I do, too."
When he pulled in front of the house, he was relieved to see that the red Ferrari wasn't in the driveway. He assumed she had went out to lunch with one of her modeling friends, or maybe on one of her shopping sprees, but who he saw standing by the door made him panic.
It was Ash Ketchum. He was waiting by the front door, hugging his jacket around his shoulders to try and beat the cool, fall chill that hung in the air. A few dried leaves blew across the yard as he approached him.
"Ash?"
"Brock, I…" He stopped when he saw Misty and something inside him jumped. His intentions of coming here in the first place were to tell Brock about what he had found out, but there was no way he could tell him that while Misty was standing there.
"W-what are you doing here?" Misty realized she had her arms linked with Brock's. That was usually how they walked when they were together and she knew she was just teasing herself by acting like they were a couple, because it was never going to happen, but she couldn't help it.
It felt so natural.
Ash's face coloured and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, wondering why he didn't steal the paper from her so that he would have proof of it in the first place. A prideful man like Brock would never believe something like this by just taking his word for it.
He knew it. And so did Lucy. That's why she was playing such a dirty trick on him.
"I came here to tell Brock something, but I can do it later…" He pushed past the two of them, but Brock caught him roughly by the arm.
"Whoa! Hold up! Tell me what?" Brock pushed him back so that he could look at him. "You wouldn't come all the way over here if it was just some little thing you could tell me over the phone."
"I definitely couldn't tell you this over the phone…" Ash looked up at his older friend and suddenly realized how tall he was. He was sure to get angry with him, maybe even pound his face in, or kill him. After all, he was Flint's son and that man has never been known to be mentally stable.
The short, dark-haired boy quickly looked for a change of subject. He noticed Misty's inseparable attachment to Brock, and he also noticed the beautiful, expensive ring on her hand and it wasn't their wedding band.
"Wow. That's a pretty ring. Where did you get it?"
At first, Misty didn't know how to respond, but it didn't take long for Brock to tell the truth for her.
"I gave it to her," he responded confidently.
The tension was thick, even outside and Misty unlinked her arms from Brock's and gave an awkward, shy smile. Obviously, Ash wanted to talk about something with Brock, and her presence wasn't wanted.
"I'm going to go take a shower." She announced to both of them, but more towards Brock. She was surprised when he grabbed the hand with the ring on it, and twisted it between his fingers for a moment.
"I'll be inside in a minute," Brock promised her with the slightest hint of a smile and she disappeared into the house.
An awkwardness passed between them, but the silence was filled by the call of a bird high in a tree and the sound of crunchy leaves blowing through the grass. Ash was the first to break the silence.
"So, that's a nice ring you gave her. I mean, not even the ring I gave her was that nice and I was married to her."
"I've had it for a while. Got tired of it laying around." Brock kicked a leaf with his foot and didn't want to look Ash in the face. The two of them were the best of friends, and he knew he could read him very easily.
The younger man folded his arms and smirked. "You're sleeping with her aren't you?"
He looked up instinctively and he could see the glint in Ash's eye. "W-what? N-no!"
"Hey, don't lie to me." He rocked back and forth on his heels. "You're not the only one who knows when the other is lying. You two are having an affair."
"How the hell did you figure that out?"
"You two should really be less obvious," Ash stated, watching Brock as he opened the door. He hoped Misty would still be upstairs in the shower, because he wanted to tell Brock what was going on. "The way she clings to your arm like that. Anyone can see she is obviously in love."
"Ash Ketchum, you better keep quiet about this. Especially around Lucy…" Brock opened a cookbook and searched through it, trying to come up with an idea for a nice Sunday dinner.
"Relax." Ash started to shake. "I don't get why you're being so secretive. If you love Misty, why don't you just divorce Lucy?"
He looked up from his recipe and eyed him. "It's not that simple. Lucy's having my child."
Ash felt nauseous to his stomach. Brock really believed that was his child. This was going to harder than he thought. Maybe he should just back out now and go flying out of the house, back home, to Tracy. Yes, that's what he should do.
Run back home to Tracy, and love him, because once this secret was out, Tracy probably wouldn't want to be with him anymore.
No, he couldn't do that. Lucy was having his child. He just knew she was. And, as a man, he had the paternal instinct to father that child.
"You know, funny you should mention that…"
"Oh? How so?" Brock looked at him, suspiciously. No doubt Ash was up to something or had something on his mind.
"Well, I…I have proof that…Lucy's child may not be yours."
He quirked an eyebrow and leaned across the counter with an arrogant grin on his face. That side of Brock was showing. The side he always envied. The cool confidence, the top-of-the-world kind of smile that he had only seen Brock possess.
"Oh, do you? Well, let's see it."
"I…I can't."
"I didn't think so." Brock straightened his posture. "Look, I know I caught Lucy kissing that guy at Capricorn, but I haven't said anything. I don't really have any room to, since you know…I'm having my own affair, but I highly doubt she's pregnant by another man."
Ash swallowed hard and stood up from the barstool in the kitchen. "Yea, you're…you're right. It was stupid of me to think it was Ruben's…"
"Rudy…" Brock corrected him.
"Right." Ash coughed nervously and steadied his breath. "Is Misty happy?"
"I'd like to believe so."
"That's all I really want for her." He admitted, rather sadly. Neither of them knew that Misty was eavesdropping on their conversation. Ash really did care for her didn't he? Of course he did. The real question was: Did Brock really care for her?
"Yea, well, I feel like an asshole." Brock admitted, out of the blue. "Misty deserves better than a sleazy affair. I'd give anything to love her like she deserves."
Misty felt something in her heart jump and ache at the same time. It was a mix of excitement and sadness that filled her and it made her want to cry.
"Don't you love Lucy?"
"Of course! Lucy's hot. She's sexy. I know tons of guys are jealous of me for being married to her." He stated. Ash didn't see the appeal of her, then again, he was gay. "But Misty's all that and more. I love her more than I've ever loved any woman."
"Wow. And you let me marry her?"
"Had to." Brock shook his head and forced a smile. "I'm married, remember? I couldn't stand up and object while Lucy sat just a few feet away from me."
"Well, I wish someone would have." Ash looked down at his feet and leaned against the wall. "Would have saved Misty a lot of grief."
"Don't beat yourself up over it." Brock told him and Ash felt just a little strange having a conversation with a man whose wife he had gotten pregnant. "I've probably hurt her worse than you did."
"Yea, probably." Ash felt horrible by this point. Not only was his keeping a secret making Brock's life more complicated, it was breaking Misty's heart. And that he could not live with. Not for long anyway.
His friendship with Brock would surely be over and he wished he could go back in time and tell Lucy "no". But that was impossible.
It was then that Misty decided to make her presence known and she entered the kitchen casually, as if she hadn't heard a thing. "Hey guys…"
"Hey." Brock offered her a smile and she sat down at the table, awkwardly. So, he told Ash about their affair. Did he tell him that it started while they were still married? She doubted it. Ash was about to say something when the front door opened, and Lucy's voice rang through the house. "I'm home!"
Misty felt tense and so did Ash. He didn't think she'd be here and he had planned to leave long before she came home. His gaze avoided hers as she entered the kitchen.
"Hey, Honey." Lucy leaned over the counter and kissed Brock before turning around and smiling at Ash and Misty who were seated across each other at the table. "Oh, Hey Guys. Joining us for Sunday dinner, Ash?"
It was Misty who noticed his hesitation and uneasiness. He simply shook his head. "Uh, no. I-I better get going." He stood up and gave Brock and quick wave goodbye, and a small smile towards Misty. He failed to look Lucy in the eye and he headed straight for the front door.
Misty found it odd that he would act like that. Lucy and Ash didn't really speak and she couldn't remember them ever having a fight. Something strange was going on. She could feel it in her bones; sense it in the air.
And somehow she knew it involved Lucy's baby.
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