Two Weeks
Later
Jack sat in the terminal waiting for her cousin and her best friend to arrive from the states with her new nephew. She wasn’t too eager to see them; after all, she had waited until today to tell Dan about the subpoena. She knew the moment he found out, his temper would flair. Nothing was going her way that day. She had awoken with a disturbing amount of pain all over her body, and her head felt a little warm, but she decided to ignore it. Telling Darren would worry him for the rest of the day, and he really didn’t need the stress before the trial started the next morning.
“Jackie!” Nadia cried the moment she saw her friend staring out into space in one of the plastic chairs near the gate.
“Nadia!” Jack replied as she stood up.
Nadia was carrying Vincent in her arms as she approached. Jack looked down at the little bundle and her eyes widened. “I know what you’re thinking,” Nadia said after her initial reaction. She handed him over to Jack so she could hold him.
“He’s so cute!” she cooed. “He’s got Dan’s nose and your eyes.”
“And to think, yours is coming in a few more months.”
“I know!”
“I can’t believe you guys completely forgot about me,” Dan said from behind them.
“There you are!” Jack yelled. She immediately noticed the cast around his arm and asked, “What happened to you?”
“I fell from a tree,” he flatly answered. “And don’t ask. It’s a VERY long story that I don’t wanna tell right now.”
“Are you in a bad mood?”
“If you haven’t already noticed.”
“Shit,” Jack mumbled as she handed Vincent back to Nadia. She started walking a little further ahead of them to avoid any unnecessary eye contact.
“Jack,” Dan called to her. “That doesn’t sound too good. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she nervously replied.
“Bull shit,” he said. “What happened while I was gone?”
“I’ll tell you under one condition,” Jack answered. “You can’t and won’t get angry when I do.”
“I don’t,” Dan promised.
“Brett Meyer, the reporter I beat up, is suing me,” Jack said as quickly as she could so he hopefully wouldn’t understand her.
“What?” he yelled. “He’s suing you?”
Jack slowly nodded her head as she reached the car. “Are you mad?” she cautiously asked.
“I’m not happy, if that’s what you’re asking,” Dan responded angrily as he got into the car.
“Okay, you two,” Nadia said from behind them. “No fighting! Jack, it’s the last thing you need, and Dan, you’re going to wake Vince.” The three of them drove off pissed. Arriving home, they were greeted by Darren, Leonie, Elisa, Ben, and the others. All three had to make it look like they were happy until later on that night.
“Hi guys!” Leonie said as she gave Dan and Nadia a hug. She looked at Vince and asked, “Can I please hold him?” Nadia gladly handed her the baby. “Aw! He’s so cute!” The other girls rushed over to see him also.
“How is everyone?” Dan asked when he walked over to the guys.
“Good,” Darren replied. “How about you?”
“I’m okay, but getting really sick of this cast.”
“Care to explain what happened?”
“I fell out of a tree, plain and simple.”
“What the fuck were you doing in a tree?” Ben asked.
“Getting back together with Nadia,” Dan answered. “I climbed up to her window, sang to her in the pouring rain thinking that it would be really romantic and stuff, the branch snapped just as I was about to get into her window, and I fell about 20 feet to the ground. I broke my arm and suffered a mild concussion.”
“Wow, you really went out on a ‘limb’ for her, didn’t you?” Karl joked. Ben, Darren, and Lee began laughing.
“That’s not funny,” Dan angrily replied as he walked over to Nadia. “So, how’s everything over here?” he asked, putting his arm around her.
“They all love Vince,” Nadia replied.
“That’s great,” Dan said. “Why don’t we go inside? I need to sit down.” He gently nudged her towards the front door.
“Hey, Dan, does anyone know about the baby, or has the media been good to you?” Leonie questioned as she ran up beside them.
“Absolutely no one knows about the baby’s birth. Nadia’s father promised to keep it a secret,” he replied.
“Do you want me to make the announcement?” she asked.
“Go ahead,” Dan answered before remembering what Jack had told him about the lawsuit. “No, don’t. Not yet, at least. Not until I finish some business.”
“If you’re talking about Jack’s trial, we’ve already tried to settle out of court, but that little son of a bitch won’t have it,” Leonie explained as they halted to a stop between the living room and the kitchen.
“Shit,” Dan sighed. “When’s the trial?”
“It’s tomorrow. Didn’t Jack tell you?”
“What? No! Tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“I have to call my lawyer.”
“I’ve already done that.”
“And?”
“He’s got everything under control. Don’t worry.”
‘Don’t worry,’ the words echoed through Dan’s mind. ‘What a joke,’ he thought. Nothing could stop him from worrying after this point. It seemed like the minute he stepped back into reality; everything fell down on top of him.
“I’m doing upstairs,” Dan said as he let go of Nadia and began walking to the back staircase.
“I’ll go talk to him,” Nadia told Leonie as she ran after Dan.