Baby On the Brain Ch.02

"You weren't even dating the girl. She was a skank," David snapped at his son. "You don't break up a marriage, fucking your brother's wife! What the hell were you thinking!"

"Who else's wife are you fucking?" his cousin Colin asked.

Jamie sneered. "Not yours. Who would want to fuck that cow?"

It was the wrong answer, as Jamie soon learned. Colin slammed his fist into Jamie's gut, and as he leaned over, Brian pushed past his father, and slammed both fists into the back of his brother's head. Jamie fell to the ground, and when he woke up, he was lying on the front stoop, every inch of his body in agony. He couldn't even straighten out, his balls hurt so badly.

He opened his eyes and had to brush the blood away before he could see. His mother was crying, while his father held her back from helping him.

"No, Bev. He's no son of ours. If you go to him now, you'll stay with him. Am I clear?"

"He is our son," she pleaded. "He needs to go to the hospital. Look at him!"

"I can't look at him, he makes me sick. He's not a part of this family, and he won't get any help from anyone here. Do you hear me!" David insisted, hanging onto his wife.

"Please! Just let me take him to the hospital. That's all. We can't leave him out there!"

"Let the whore carrying his child take him," David sneered, and pulled her away from the door, slamming it shut.

Jamie closed his eyes, and let the sweet embrace of oblivion take him.

Bridget's mother was trying to talk to her son-in-law. "You two need to talk about this alone, Brian. This isn't the time for all this. Remember, she's your wife. Now you'll have your family," she said.

"What's to talk about?" Brian asked.

Bridget had slowly worked her way over, until she was nearby. "Don't be angry, honey. I did it for us. It's over, I'll never touch him again. We have our baby now."

"You didn't do this for us. You did it for yourself. You just had to have that baby, no matter what. You fucked my brother!" Brian yelled.

She inched closer, reaching out to him. "We'll talk about this later, when you're calmer. You'll understand, it was the right decision. I didn't want to pick up some stranger, it wouldn't be safe. With Jamie, it's almost like being yours. You two are family."

Brian brushed her arm away. "He's not family. Family doesn't do that. And I do understand. You cheated on me, you fucked around, you lied to me, you disrespected me, and now you expect me to raise some bastard that isn't mine. It's not going to happen, Bridget. Not in this lifetime." He looked over his shoulder at her parents, standing anxiously by. "Take her with you. If she stays here, I'm afraid she'll end up worse than her lover."

She raised her head, her gaze slowly taking in all those around her. She didn't see a friendly face in the crowd. It wasn't fair. She did it for them! Not like some of those present. She saw her cousin glaring at her. "Tell them, Marie. Tell them it doesn't matter. It was only a couple of days."

Marie blushed, fear making her step backward. Her husband grabbed her arm. "Why should you tell us?" he asked.

"I...I don't know," she whispered, turning away.

"It didn't hurt you guys," Bridget argued. She knew she wasn't the only one who'd been with someone other than her husband. At least she'd had a good reason.

Marie and her husband started arguing, while several of those present decided it was time to move on, before anymore confessions made things difficult.

It got ugly, before it got better. Bridget's mother dragged her upstairs to pack her things for a couple of days, so her husband could cool down. Marie cried that it had been years before, and sought help from her sister, who was soon defending her own actions. People were leaving, a few husband's hustling their wives out the door, before the accusations got any worse. They were thankful they'd never confessed their own mistakes to anyone else.

Everyone agreed, it was a memorable party.

~ * ~ * ~

The divorce was simple. The in-vitro attempts had drained their savings, and retirement fund. All they had was the small flat they rented, and a few belongings to divide. There would be no child support, of course. She had her job, he had his. It was a wash.

Bridget tried several times to convince Brian that it shouldn't matter. They'd have the family they'd always wanted. It was the only family he was going to have, since he couldn't get her pregnant on his own.

Brian was having none of it. Neither was the rest of the family.

Brian and Bridget's marriage wasn't the only victim of that party. One of the marriages ended, and another two were on very rocky ground for a long time. All those involved placed a large part of the blame on Bridget and Jamie, fair or not.

Bridget had moved in with Jamie for a while, but the small flat he shared wasn't what she was used to, and she complained bitterly. She hated getting hit on all the time by his flat-mates. Ever since his first beating, Jamie was afraid to have sex. He still enjoyed it, but something had happened, and he had a terrible pain whenever he came. It was as if someone had stabbed him with a knife. It got to the point where after he got an erection, the fear of the finish would cause it to wilt almost immediately.

Jamie was a pariah, an outcast. He received no more help from his family, and was on his own. He didn't dare approach them, and whenever he saw one of his relatives, he'd immediately make himself scarce, before receiving another beating. He wasn't quick enough several times, and finally decided it would be best if he moved further away. A sexless relationship with the woman who had been his downfall wasn't worth sticking around for. It would be nine years before the family heard anything from him. Fourteen years before he came home for his mother's funeral, his older wife by his side, two children with him. The elder was the spitting image of him. The youngest had red hair. Neither he nor his wife did. The family talked about karma.

Bridget moved home, to the only people who would have anything to do with her. She'd let herself go, her hair flat and lifeless, putting on weight, no longer taking care of herself. While she had lived with Jaime, they wouldn't help her, writing her off. At least at home, she had a roof over her head, and ate regularly.

Four months after the divorce, Bridget had the baby she'd always wanted. That was all she had. She received no assistance from Jamie who still couldn't hold down a job, and had disappeared. She never lost all her weight after the pregnancy, and it was several years before she found someone willing to overlook her past, and settle down with her. It wasn't love, but it was what she could get, and her daughter needed the stability. While doing her weekly duty with her husband, she often recalled the days with Jamie, and how he'd made her feel. More often, she remembered her years with Brian, and what she'd lost.

Brian wasn't alone long. He dated for a while, before finding a new love. She was a single mother, and he warned her about his issues. He promised to love her little boy like he was his own. They were surprised when a few months after their honeymoon, she was pregnant.

He was nervous, and upset, but she calmed him down. The doctor told them of the new non-invasive paternity testing that could be done from the mother's blood, which contains the DNA of both her and her child. He explained to both of them how it was very common to have difficulty getting pregnant when under a lot of stress. They tested his fertility, and confirmed he still had a low sperm count, but it was enough to get the job done. His wife quietly assured him that she'd never been with anyone else, and she bit back any anger she felt, when she remembered how his last marriage had ended.

Everyone said all the right things, but Brian was still anxious.

It was a very happy Brian who read the results of the paternity testing with his wife, breaking down and crying. She soothed him in the way she'd found worked best. Besides, he couldn't make her pregnant again.

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