Four
Days Before Christmas
“I can’t remember summer in December,” Jack said as Darren wheeled her out to the backyard of the mansion the two of them shared with Dan. They had moved in only days after arriving three months ago. Jack was now in a wheelchair going to therapy four times a week to try and regain the movement in her legs. Being taught how to walk again was proving to be a challenge. With Dan and Darren both by her side, she was making progress.
That backyard was covered in multicolored flowers, their radiant colors soaking in the sun’s rays. Darren stopped and kneeled down beside her. “Do you wanna go over to the pond?” he asked.
“Sure, but how are we gonna get there? I mean, it’s really grassy and I don’t think…” she began.
“Shut up,” Darren interrupted as he lifted her off the chair and carried her down the path that led to the pond in the far back corner of the property. Finding a place beneath a tree, he set Jack down and sat beside her. She laid her head in his lap and smiled.
“I love it when you do these kinds of things,” Jack said as she looked out across the pond to see the neighbor’s house. Darren just smiled and played with the short brown hair that had grown back after the accident.
“I wanna stand with you on a mountain. I wanna bathe with you in the sea. I wanna lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me,” he softly sang.
Jack’s smile grew even wider. This song had become her favorite in the last few months, and she almost had all the words down. “And when the stars are shining brightly in the velvet sky, I’ll make a wish, send it to heaven, and make you want to cry…” she sang back to him.
Darren couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She had the voice of an angel.
“Am I really that bad?” Jack asked, seeing the dumbfounded expression on his face.
“No, not at all. I’ve actually never heard anything like it in my life,” he answered.
“Please, don’t flatter me. I know I suck,” she replied.
“But you don’t,” Darren protested. “I want a second opinion. When we get back inside, I’m asking Dan to listen to you.”
“He already knows I suck. He’s even gonna tell you that,” Jack said. “The last time I tried singing for him, he asked me for a pair of earplugs because I cracked so bad.”
“You know what? Why don’t we settle this right now?” he replied, standing up and lifting her off the ground. They walked back into the house through the back doors and he hollered, “Dan!”
“What? I’m in the studio,” Dan hollered back. Darren carried Jack to him.
“You have to hear this,” Darren ordered. He set Jack down on one of the chairs and added, “Sing me the first few lines of ‘Truly Madly Deeply.’”
“Don’t even bother,” Dan retorted. “She sucks, plain and simple. Her voice just doesn’t carry like Elisa’s or Angi’s. It cracks, for crying out loud.”
“You need to be more supportive of your cousin,” Darren shot back. He turned to Jack and added, “You need to prove to him that you really don’t suck. Come on, sing me those lines.”
“Okay,” Jack hesitated. She cleared her throat and began. “I’ll be your dream. I’ll be your wish. I’ll be your fantasy…” she sang.
Dan uneasily shifted in his chair. He stared at Jack with suspicion and bewilderment. “Okay, who are you and what have you done to my cousin?” he seriously asked.
Jack blushed. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“I’m… I’m not,” Dan replied, still in shock. “I’ll prove it. I’ll record what you sing and play it back for you, then you’ll see.”
Ten minutes later, Dan had his proof. He played back the recording for Jack as she sat in the booth. Her mouth dropped open as she asked, “That was me? Oh, my God! No way!”
“What did I tell you?” Darren asked.
“Wow! I just can’t believe that’s me!” Jack was smiling profusely. Darren helped her back into her wheelchair and wheeled her out of the studio.
“If we ever need another backup singer, I’m going to ask for you,” Dan called to her. She giggled at her own stupidity as she tried to reply with something witty.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Jack called to him instead.
“Ready to go upstairs?” Darren asked.
“Always,” she replied. “I’m really tired. I need some sleep. Remind me not to stay up until midnight watching really old movies again.”
“I thought you liked old movies,” he said. Just as Darren was about to pick Jack up, the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” she sang, rolling herself down the hall towards the front foyer. She opened the door, shocked to see who was behind it.
“Jack, who is it?” Darren asked before coming up along side her and seeing for himself.
“Nadia,” Jack nearly whispered. “What are you doing here?” She looked her up and down to see she was wearing old, dirty, baggy clothes. “What happened to you?”
“Jackie, I’m pregnant,” Nadia whispered.
“What?” Jack asked in shock. “Who’s the father?”
“Dan.”
“What?” Darren screeched. “You only did it once and you’re pregnant?”
“It only takes one time,” Nadia defended herself as tears welled up in her eyes.
“Guys, no fighting,” Jack mediated. “Nadia, stay here. Darren, you come with me.” As the two of them moved away from Nadia, Darren spoke.
“How does she even know the baby is his?”
“She waits a few months after having sex with someone to make sure she’s not pregnant. I guess she hadn’t had sex in a while when Dan came along,” Jack explained.
“And what about you? After three months of bitching about her, your mood suddenly changes to liking her again. Explain that to me,” Darren argued.
“She’s pregnant with my future niece or nephew. That is the closest I will ever get to having children of my own. After that accident, there was a high chance that I became infertile, so of course my mood is going to change,” she shot back. They made their way to the studio to find Dan still working on his music. He was playing a slow tune on his guitar when Jack rolled in, her face straight and her eyes stony. “Dan, you have a visitor.”
“Who?” he asked, putting the guitar down and standing up from his chair.
“Just go to the front door and you’ll find out soon enough,” Jack answered as she and Darren made their way upstairs the back way.
Dan curiously walked out of the studio and down the hall towards the front door. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Nadia staring at a painting on the left wall. She heard him approach and turned in his direction. They stared at each other for a long time before Nadia finally spoke up.
“Hey, Dan,” she whispered.
“What are you doing here?” he hissed.
“I came to tell you something.”
“Tell me so I can kick you out faster.”
“I don’t think you’ll be able to kick me out after you hear this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dan, I’m pregnant with your child,” Nadia said as more tears welled up in her eyes.
Dan stood before her, his mouth gaping open as he tried to process the news. He stared at her wondering how that could be until she unzipped her gray pullover and showed him her slightly rounded belly. Dan covered his face with his hand and shook his head. He was undoubtedly in denial.
“You have completely embarrassed me in front of an entire nation, and now you want me to just let you back into my life as if nothing happened because of a one night stand that got you pregnant? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just kick you out right now and deny that we ever were together,” he angrily spat.
“Because I’m sorry, Daniel. I was angry when I told the papers what happened. I was pissed that you were dumping me just like that. When you left, I realized the mistake I made and told them that to print a retraction because I lied. I have been the most hated woman in San Francisco for the last three months. I dropped out of school because people were threatening me. I lost the apartment because my parents found out what I had done and wouldn’t send me money to pay my bills. And I found out I was pregnant,” Nadia started yelling.
“I need to see that retraction,” he sternly replied. Nadia pulled a folded piece of newspaper from her pocket and handed it to him. Dan slowly unfolded it trying not to rip it. He read the small print over and over again until her was satisfied. “What am I supposed to do?” he finally gave in. “I don’t know the first thing about children. I don’t even know the first thing about being a father. Do you even want me to be in the baby’s life?”
“Yeah, I do,” Nadia reluctantly responded as she plucked the clipping out of his hand. “And don’t worry about everything else. That comes later.”
“You can stay upstairs in the guest room. I’ll show you up,” Dan mumbled as he began walking up the grand staircase while Nadia followed.