Knocked Up

The next day Jake had received a text from Kimberly saying she’d gotten: Friday, Monday and Tuesday morning off work and she was planning on driving after she’d got a phone call saying her car would be ready for collection on Wednesday.

She’d arrived early on the Friday morning and he’d taken her out of breakfast, pulling up in front of the dinner he had sweaty palms he was worried she wouldn’t agree to him been in the babies’ life he had no idea why she was the one that asked him in the first place. But maybe she’d only asked to be polite so that she could get him to sign papers maybe she didn’t expect him to say he wanted to be a father. “So you’re still on the whole no bread, no pasta thing?” She asked after they’d ordered him a plate of eggs and her a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.

“I want to get faster only way to do that was to lose weight.”

“It still sucks I don’t think I could live without bread, it’s my go to comfort food a good old toasted tea cake… sorry that was really British you properly have no idea what I am talking about.”

“It’s okay it’s actually really cute.”

“Thank you, but you didn’t invite me all the way out here to tell me you thought my holding out to my Britishness was cute.” Urgh why did she have to be so straight to the point, fuck it just get it over with then the inevitable legal battle could begin.

“No… I thought about what you said about been in the babies life and I want in. Every kid deserves to have both their parents and I don’t want mine to be any different so I want to be there for you and this baby.”

“Okay.” She smiled, she actually smiled at him like it was what she wanted to hear – Jake kept waiting for the but, for her to turn this around make it seem like a bad idea but instead she just picked up her tea, “urgh that is fucking disgusting.” She declared after taking a mouthful before putting it down.

“Seriously, Okay… that’s it?”

“Well I guessed that’s what you were going to say really why else would you want me to come down here and I suppose we should talk about how you want this to work because I live and work in buffalo and you work here and I am pretty sure you go home to Europe over the summer so we’ll need to work out how it will work but we have life seven and a half months to do that. And seriously how can American’s even call that tea, it’s vile – if this is what they think tea is no wonder no one likes it?” Jake already knew that she loved tea she’d nearly killed Claude for stealing her tea when they’d gone out for breakfast apparently it had been how she’d channeled her fear about moving over her by having a huge freak out about tea in the middle of Heathrow airport.

“So you’re really cool with me been in the babies life?” She just gave him a look that made him feel like he had just asked the world’s most stupid question.

“You’re its Dad right? Every kid has a right to know both their parents.”

“Thank you.” He told her and he really meant it from the bottom of his heart he was grateful she wasn’t just going to tell him and then cut him out of his kids’ life. He’d been about to continue when there food arrived so instead he shut up letting the waitress place their plates in front of them before they both smiled and said thanks.

“So you dragged me down here for the weekend just to tell me you want to be part of the babies’ life?” Kimberly asked whilst scrapping half the thick layer of cream cheese from her bagel.

“No I thought it might be good to get to know each other, I realized the other day I don’t know a huge amount about you only what you mentioned in Ottawa or Claude has said in the past and we are going to have a baby and I doubt you know much more about be.”

“That’s true, so we should get to know each other then.” That’s when the first awkward silence fell between them since she had arrived in Philly, he had no idea where to start and apparently neither did she.

“Guess maybe just introduce ourselves again?”

“Seriously we’ve been through all of that shit. Your Jakub Voracek but your friends call you Jake you play ice hockey for the Philadelphia flyers and you’re from the Czech Republic, I am Kimberly Krantzberg my friends call me Kimmy and I am a Data Analyst for Calspan we don’t need to introduce ourselves to one another.”

“And I just learnt you’re impatient.”

“I am also condescending and loud.”

“I have no idea what condescending means.” He meant it he genuinely had no idea what it meant he didn’t know the translation as far as he was concerned she could just have been making sounds at him.

“blahosklonný…” Apparently Kimberly did know the translation though he would have gone for sarcastic if she’d just said sarcastic he’d have known what she meant.

“Yes.”

“Are you saying yes you understand or yes you agree?” His ex-girlfriend always used to ask him questions like this where agreeing with her was going to get him in shit but he could play this, see how she reacts to certain things learn more about her.

“I have a feeling there is a wrong and a right answer to this question.”

“Yes.” He watched the little smirk form on her face and saw she was enjoying this, she was feisty mimicking him.

“I am not answering then.”

“Wrong answer.” She laughed, she had a beautiful laugh his memories of the sound did it no justice nor did his memories of the way she looked when she did.

“You cut your hair.” He stated pointing toward the now shoulder length waves that when he’d first met her hand been long tumbling curls that hung to her mid back. He’d noticed in when she’d knocked on his front door but he decided now was the time to comment on it change the subject, he’d learnt enough and he didn’t want to actually start a fight with her.

“Yeah it was just getting in the way so I decided to cut it.”

“It looks good, suits you.”

“Thanks, I am still not used to it - I had long hair for so long.” He watched as she ran her fingers through the ends of her hair touching it like she really was missing the length.

“So we should properly talk about the whole how involved do you want to be especially because you live here and I live in Buffalo it’s not like we live down the street from each other or even other side of town we live at opposite ends of different states.” And there is was, he’d let his guard down thinking the but wasn’t coming but there it was. “What the fuck was that?”

“What the fuck was what?”

“That little huff you just did, that little fed up sigh? Do you not want to be part of this babies life because the way you were talking about it I thought this baby was more important to you than weekends that you happen to be in Philly and I can manage the drive down?” What?! She hadn’t been looking at an excuse she’d been thinking about how he’d be involved in the babies’ life something he hadn’t thought of.

He couldn’t speak he couldn’t process what she’d just said he’d not thought about it but now she made the point it was so valid she’d driven six hours to be here taken two days off work he couldn’t expect her to keep doing that. But her job was important to her, Claude had told him how hard she’d worked to get where she was he couldn’t expect her to give that in – but at the same time he was bound to the Flyers by a contract for at least another two years and he was playing good hockey the kind of hockey that made a team want to keep you.

“I don’t know maybe we should just think about the pregnancy right now, like how involved in that you want to be and just work from there?”

“I want to be at your scan’s at the very least.”

“Okay, so either I get a new doctor in Philly…” Jake cut straight across her not in the least bit comfortable with her living so far away from her doctor anything could happen and her medical notes would be so far away.

“No you need your doctor to be in Buffalo in case something happens.”

“I can get down to Philly for appointments easier than you can get to Buffalo.”

“I can fly there and back in a day and still make training you need your doctor to be in Buffalo.” It would cost a fortune but he’d rather spend his money flying back and forth to Buffalo than have her with no doctor.

“Fine what about if I have my doctor in Buffalo but get my scan’s done in Philadelphia?”

“You can do that?”

“I don’t know but it’s worth asking…” Kimberly shrugged like it had just hit her too; this was going to be really hard. For this to work easily one of them had to give up something they’d worked their whole life for and he didn’t know anything else - hockey was his life at least Kimberly could get another job in engineering closer to him but he wasn’t about to ask her to do that they didn’t know each other enough and she’d worked hard to earn her position at Calspan. “Baby is due during the play-offs.”

“I worked it out, may right?”

“May 17th.” Well shit that really was in the middle of play-offs.

“This is a fucking mess.” He sighed resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward to rub his temples. “So we try and see if you can just get your scan’s done here but have your doctor in Buffalo…”

“I can still come down weekends you’re here, if you want me to – we can get to know each other and stuff I don’t know.”

“I do… want to see you, that is and I would like you to call me tell me about the baby.”

“So after doctor’s appointments.”

“Yeah and just whenever…”He felt awkward like he didn’t really know what he was asking, he’d always thought he’d be there to support the mother of his baby, to hold her hand at appointments, listen to her complain at the end of the day whilst rubbing her feet stupid stuff like that.

“I can do that.”

“And we just go from here take it a step at a time.”

“Starting with getting to know each other this weekend.”

“Starting with getting to know each other this weekend.”

Notes