6 comments/ 10697 views/ 4 favorites Life’s Strange Turns Ch. 07-08 By: deadeye_76 This is the continuation of the story from the first six chapters. Some people are enjoying it and some not. I hope you can continue to put up with this long romance that has some sex in it. It was just something I had to write. Christmas holidays, 2006. It was Christmas again, and I was at home. It was great seeing the family all gathered together. I was still single and enjoying attacking the singles life in Chicago, albeit with some care. We all went to the large mall nearby between Christmas and New Year's for some sales and to get out of the house. I was walking along, doing window shopping, when I saw her. Up ahead, standing there, holding some bags was Jennifer. No mistake. I started to turn away when she turned and saw me. She smiled a sad but happy-to-see-you smile, and my breath caught like it always did. Nothing had changed and she still owned my heart. Damn her! We stared at each other for a second and then she came toward me, smiling. I tried to smile, but I knew it had to look forced. She was still gorgeous and I still had feelings for her. It was going to be tough. Then from a store on the other side of the mall came a small strawberry blonde girl, seemingly about 4 or 5. "Mommy! Mommy! Look what I got!" She ran straight toward Jennifer holding an ice cream cone. Trailing in her wake was a woman that I knew was Jennifer's sister. I had met her once, but couldn't remember her name. Jennifer turned, squatted down, and smiled that fantastically wide smile that I remembered. Her entire face lit up when she smiled at the little girl. The one I got was nothing like that. Why did I care? "Ooohh. That looks good. What flavor is it?" "Vanilla! I only like vanilla, Mommy, you know that." Jennifer took the little girl's left hand while the right was occupied with the ice cream and led her over to me. I was trying not to stare. I knew that Jennifer was a mother; that she had a daughter. That meant that she had moved on with her life. Meanwhile, I was... still hooked. Jennifer introduced us. "Angela, this is a friend of mine from college named Dennis. Can you say hello to him?" "Hello, Mr. Dennis." I bent over and looked into the prettiest blue eyes I had ever seen. They were luminous. "It's very nice to meet you Angela. You are a very pretty little girl." She smiled and said thank you; trained well by her mother. I looked up at Jennifer, hoping to get through this with minimal effort. "You still look wonderful. And you have a beautiful daughter." "Thank you. You look good. Work and Chicago must agree with you." "Yes, well, I've thrown myself into my work and I love Chicago. The winters are a little hard, but the town and the people are great." "Not married yet? Nobody has tied you down yet?" She asked that so nonchalantly. I was trying not to hyperventilate. "No, not married or tied down. No steady girlfriend right now." I wanted to ask her about a husband, but she moved right along. "How is your family?" She continued talking like we were old friends that hadn't broken up under terrible circumstances. It had been six years and she may have moved on, but I was still under some spell from the damn woman. Her eyes still riveted me. "Everyone is doing well. Parents are still healthy and the siblings are great. How about you?" I managed to remain calm on the outside, but inside my heart was hammering. Her sister walked up at that point. "You remember my sister Diane, right? She works with me here in the mall." "Hi, Dennis." I could have gotten frostbite from her piercing glare. "Good to see you Diane. What do you two do in the mall?" "We both work at the travel agency at the end of the mall, near the western entrance." "Oh, right. I seem to remember that that was your mother's travel agency." "Yes, well, she wanted to retire, so Diane and I took it over." "That's great. I hope things are going well." I tried to start my retreat. "Listen, I need to catch up to some of my family. We're supposed to meet over at the food court." "Okay." Jennifer's eyes seemed to mist over a little... or maybe that was mine. "Tell everyone we said hello. It was great seeing you." "Yeah, it was great seeing you guys again." I turned to leave but turned back to watch them go. Jennifer was still beautiful, had a wonderful figure, and I wanted to grab her and kiss her before she left again. But alas, I had no such attack of fortitude. As they left I noticed that Jennifer and Diane were talking heatedly. I suppose I was getting torched by Diane. The little girl was eating her ice cream. *******Jennifer ******* I was waiting for Diane and Angela, almost exhausted from the Christmas shopping, when it hit. That feeling that somebody was watching me. It was something I hadn't felt for a while. I turned around slowly, checking out the faces of the other shoppers. When I got around to behind me, I saw him. Dennis! He was just turning like he was going to run away. I guess that let me know how he felt. He must still hate me; wasn't even going to say hello. Well, once our eyes met, I figured I better at least say hello. I started walking towards him when Angela came barreling out of the ice cream store with her cone, courtesy of Diane. "Mommy! Mommy! Look what I got!" She ran straight toward me holding her cone, Diane trailing behind. "Ooohh. That looks good. What flavor is it?" "Vanilla! I only like vanilla, Mommy, you know that." I took Angela's hand and led her over to Dennis. This was going to be difficult, but when I got there I was able to introduce Angela without my voice cracking. "Angela, this is a friend of mine from college named Dennis. Can you say hello to him?" "Hello, Mr. Dennis." He leaned over and said hello. "It's very nice to meet you Angela. You are a very pretty little girl." Then he stood back up and looked at me. "You still look wonderful. And you have a beautiful daughter." I wanted to jump into his arms and tell him that he was a father. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I opted for the coward's route. "Thank you. You look good. Work and Chicago must agree with you." "Yes, well, I've thrown myself into my work and I love Chicago. The winters are a little hard, but the town and the people are great." "Not married yet? Nobody has tied you down yet?" He deserved to be happy, but I still wanted him. Why couldn't I tell him? I still felt guilty. Even after all this time, I knew I had lied to him about the night of sex, but now an even bigger lie was consuming my life... and I felt guilty about that, too. "No, not married or tied down. No steady girlfriend right now." I continued with the standard drivel. "How is your family?" "Everyone is doing well. Parents are still healthy and the siblings are great. How about you?" I wanted to yell out that it was fucking hard being a single mother and not being able to tell the father that he had a daughter. I decided to change the subject and introduced my sister. "You remember Diane, right? She works with me here in the mall." "Hi, Dennis." Diane stayed back and her hello sounded more like an accusation. "Good to see you Diane. What do you two do in the mall?" "We both work at the travel agency at the end of the mall, near the western entrance." "Oh, right. I seem to remember that that was your mother's travel agency." I guess his mother didn't tell him everything. "Yes, well, she wanted to retire, so Diane and I took it over." "That's great. I hope things are going well. Listen, I need to catch up to some of my family. We're supposed to meet over at the food court." 3 minutes and he was ready to be on his way. I guess this part of my past was closed. "Okay." My voice was going to crack if I had to talk any longer. "Tell everyone we said hello. It was great seeing you." "Yeah, it was great seeing you guys again." And then he turned and left. We turned around and started walking away. As soon as he was out of hearing, Diane started in on me. "I thought you said that you would tell him about 'her'?" She nodded toward Angela, who, fortunately, was eating her ice cream and not listening. "And this is where I should do that? The middle of the mall?" "Where else? You won't call him. You won't email him." I started tearing up. Diane saw it and I could see her face soften. "I'm still in love with him, Diane. I know that as sure as I know I have a daughter. As soon as I saw him my heart hurt and I just couldn't tell him. I still feel guilty about how we broke up and now about keeping this other secret for 6 years." I motioned toward Angela. Diane put her arm around me. "Okay. I'm sorry. I should have seen more clearly how you were reacting to him. What about Dennis? Did you see any indication that he might still feel that way?" "No. When I first saw him it looked like he was going to run full speed in the opposite direction." Diane continued to hold me as we made our way back to work. It was going to be a long day. *******Dennis ******* I found my family where we had agreed to meet and told them that I had seen Jennifer. There was a moment of silence. I looked around. "What?" My mother finally spoke. "We have run into her several times while in the mall. She is always very nice. She has a beautiful daughter and now owns that travel agency at the end. I also know that she is not married. I don't know what happened, but her mother retired and is taking care of the little girl while Jennifer and Diane run the travel agency. I really like her Dennis. Every time we meet her she has nothing but good things to say about you and asks about you every time." "Well... I can't talk about it. It's too personal and painful." My family just looked at me and didn't push it. We had been thru this once before. I knew that I had caught Jennifer fever again and it was going to take a long time to get over it. Chapter 8. 4 months later, April 2007 *******Dennis ******* I had just completed another delivery of one of my software projects and was returning from a couple of drinks celebrating when I ran into the girl I had been dating, Sarah. She was knocking on my front door. "Oh, there you are. I wanted to come over, but you weren't answering your cell or home phones." "I think my cell is dead. C'mon in." I opened the door and we went inside. Sarah was a very nice person and I liked her. We had good sex, too. But she wanted to move into a deeper relationship and after seeing Jennifer at Christmas I knew that I couldn't have a permanent relationship with this woman until I was for sure over Jennifer. She moved into my arms and kissed me. She seemed a little drunk. I was horny and sex with her was always fantastic. I was a little drunk too, so I picked her up and carried her to my bed. She giggled. "Oh, mister, whatever are you going to do to this poor little girl?" I smiled. "Well, honey, I have to give you a check up. You need to take off all your clothes and then I have a probe that I will have to use to check some of your orifices." She laughed. "Hmmm. I like having my orifices probed." I put her down and stripped her. I took off my own clothes quickly, too. Damn, I wanted to fuck her. I looked down at her voluptuous little body. She was a curvy girl, with nice hips, large tits, a small waist, and dark hair. Her eyes were startlingly blue, standing out against her blue-black hair. Her nipples and "other" lips were a little darker than some women with light skin, but that set her off again, too. I leaned over and kissed her on the mouth, sucking on her tongue, groping her tits. I slowly kissed my way down her cheekbone and across her neck, all the while tugging on her nipples. She was already breathing hard, almost panting. I moved to suck and nibble on a nipple and ran my hands down to her dark outer-lipped pussy. She was starting to get wet, but I still spent plenty of time on her nipples. They were so sensitive that I could almost get her to orgasm just sucking on them. Finally I moved to her pussy and went straight in. I peeled back her outer lips and ran my tongue thru the inner ones. Now she started moaning and squirming. I placed a finger at her entrance and pushed. It went right in. I moved up and started dragging the rough part of my tongue over her clit, again and again. I knew that that drove her nuts. She was moaning loudly now. I put a second finger in and was lapping and nibbling at her clit. I knew she was close and she started tensing. I suddenly stopped and she looked up like I was stealing candy from a baby. I moved up, placed my dick at her entrance as she watched closely, and buried it. She groaned and when I hit her pubic bone and rubbed against her clit she reached her orgasm. I went slow for a minute and then started pounding her. She started whimpering. "Oh, yes... fuck me Dennis... fuck me... shit... oh, fuck... fuck... fuck... FUCK!!" Her orgasm was amazing this time and she was shaking and her pussy was quivering all over my dick and I buried myself one last time and came. I spurted and spurted until it felt like I was bone dry. Even my mouth was dry. I slowly withdrew and collapsed on the bed next to her. She was panting and I was still working on catching my breath. She turned and looked at me closely. Without saying a word she got up and went to the bathroom. I rolled off the bed and padded into the kitchen to get some water. When I came back with some water bottles she was getting into bed, apparently spending the night. That was not unusual and it was late, so I crawled in next to her and we were asleep in no time. *******Jennifer ******* After several months of testing the news from the doctors about Angela was not good. They had run many tests and finally diagnosed it as aplastic anemia. It was a terrible disease. It is a condition where the bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells. They told me she had a mild case, but that they recommended drastic treatment to try to cure her. It was a difficult procedure and decision and my marrow, after testing, turned out to not be a good match. Now I was on my way to Dennis' apartment to ask for his help. I had no idea how to tell him. I just knew that I had to get there and see if he was a close enough match to save my... no, make that our daughter's life. I pulled up to his apartment and sat for a minute, trying to compose myself before approaching his door. *******Dennis ******* I woke up about 9am, unable to sleep any later even after staying up late. I rolled out of bed and left Sarah there sleeping. I started making some scrambled eggs and bacon when she came out of the bathroom already dressed. "Do you want some breakfast?" She turned to me and stared. "What's her name?" I looked up, trying to follow that leap of logic. "Who?" "The woman who is still in your head that won't let you move on and commit to me. Don't lie; I can feel her like she's in the room with us. It's gotten worse after Christmas." I looked down and away from her. I couldn't look at her pleading eyes. "Jennifer." "When did you meet and break up?" "We were together a year in college and broke up right when I moved here six years ago last Christmas." There was silence. I looked up and she was staring at me. "Six... fucking... years?" She was shocked. "You're still carrying around a flame for her? Jesus, I guess I'd better move on. If you can't by now, there's no hope for us". "I'm sorry. I ran into her in a mall this past Christmas and can't get her out of my head. I've always loved her. We broke it off because of something that came between us, but I can't get past it." By now I could barely keep from breaking down. She walked up to me. "Then what are you doing without her? Why aren't you pursuing her if she still drives you that nuts? What the fuck, Dennis? Do something so that you can get back with her or move on." She teared up and held me for a couple of minutes. Finally, she pulled away. "I gotta go. You need to either get over her or go get her. You can't live like this. I would love to be with you, but I can't live with you as long as you have her in your head." I looked up at her and gave her a weak smile. "Since when did you become such an adult and dispenser of advice?" She tried to laugh, but it rang false. "I don't know, but I have to get out of here." She turned and headed out the door. She opened it and standing there, ready to knock was Jennifer. My breath caught and I almost couldn't breathe. They were both stunned into silence and I was staring. Sarah looked back at me, saw my face, then back at Jennifer. She held out her hand. "Sarah." Jennifer looked from me back to Sarah. "Jennifer, glad to meet you." I could see Sarah look Jennifer up and down, taking her measure. "Figures." And she pushed her way past Jennifer and left. Jennifer stood there, waiting and staring. I was still gaping. She gave me one of her patented smiles. I tried to be nice; realizing my thinking on this had changed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Please come in." Jennifer entered and looked around. She looked over at me cooking breakfast. "Oh, god, that smells good. I left home at 4 this morning to come here. Is there still some left?" "Yeah, sure, Sarah and I never started." "Ummm. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to interrupt anything with your girlfriend." "Well, it appears that she's no longer my girlfriend." I almost said 'not after seeing you', but held it back. I changed the subject. "The scrambled eggs are ready. Grab the plates there." She picked up the plates on the table and we ate in an awkward silence. I tried not to watch her, and every time I looked up, she was staring at me. Finally, we finished and I picked up the plates and put them away. *******Jennifer ******* I had just raised my hand to knock when the door opened and a woman was standing there with a mad glare on her face. Uh-oh! She put her hand out. "Sarah." I shook it. "Jennifer, glad to meet you." She looked me up and down closely, like she was evaluating me. It felt weird. Then she turned back to Dennis. "Figures!" She pushed her way past me and was gone. I guess she and Dennis must have had a fight or a falling out. She was not happy. I was left standing there staring at Dennis. Finally, he invited me in and I smelled the eggs. I hadn't eaten since I woke up to drive all the way up here and my stomach growled. "Oh, god, that smells good. I left home at 4 this morning to come here. Is there still some left?" "Yeah, sure, Sarah and I never started." "Ummm. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to interrupt anything with your girlfriend." "Well, it appears that she's no longer my girlfriend. The scrambled eggs are ready. Grab the plates there." I picked them up and we ate a silent breakfast. I could see he wanted to know what I was doing there. He didn't appear to be mad about me showing up. I just knew that I still loved him and wanted to feel close to him again. I wanted him to hold me. I wanted comfort for me and my daughter. I wanted everything to be alright. I think I wanted to have sex with him and see what it was like again. I couldn't exactly explain why. That wasn't necessarily the closeness I really needed, but my hormones were on overdrive being in his presence again. Once he finished putting the dishes in the sink, I decided to get to the task at hand. *******Dennis ******* When I turned around from the sink she was standing right in front of me. She leaned in and kissed me and I took her into my arms. I couldn't stop myself. I kissed her hard and her body felt so right in mine. Her lips tasted just like I remembered, she smelled the same, and I knew I was in trouble. I felt like an alcoholic who had just fallen off the wagon and would have to start the 12 steps all over again. Life’s Strange Turns Ch. 07-08 Somehow we made it into the bedroom. The bed was unmade and she just pushed the sheets aside. She stripped off quickly and I only had on a robe which was immediately discarded. She lay down and I stared. The woman had not changed a bit. She was the most gorgeous creature on the planet and she was back in my bed. I didn't know where to start, but she handled that. "Dennis, please just fuck me. Fuck me now. Fuck me hard. I haven't been fucked in three years." Three years? I was getting hard pretty quickly so I lay down on top of her, my dick between her legs and kissed her again. Her kisses and the way she used her tongue could always make my dick stand up like a fucking railroad spike. I was hard in no time and I pushed it forward. She reached down and placed it into her opening, which was getting wet. She rubbed it around and got the head wet and then started inserting it into her. She groaned. "Oh, fuck, Dennis. I really need this." Really? I started fucking her hard. At that point I couldn't tell if I was taking out my anger on her cunt, or wanted to make it mine again. I just kept fucking her. She was holding on for dear life now as I pounded hard. She screamed out her orgasm and I just kept pounding, looking for mine. Finally I came, hard, and collapsed on top of her. I rested there for a moment and then rose up and looked at her. She would not meet my eyes. I rolled off to the side. She suddenly started pushing me away. She was struggling to do it quickly so I immediately rolled back onto my back. She stood up. What was she doing? *******Jennifer ******* I wanted to feel him again. The man I had always loved and whose child I bore. We kissed and I told him to fuck me. I used the dirty words to make it sound like I just needed to get laid. I didn't want to ask him to make love to me. That would have been too much. So he did exactly as I asked. He fucked me. It felt completely physical. When he finished I knew that I had been postponing what I really came for. I was horny, still in love and attracted to him, and satisfied that need before I had to face the task that I had been putting off for over 6 years. It was time to face the music. I got up, the tears coming as I faced the reality of telling him that we had a daughter and that she was dying. *******Dennis ******* Jennifer was staring at me now. "I really needed a good fuck, thank you, but I came here for something else and just got carried away." Well, that didn't make me feel any better. "Perhaps we'd better leave the bedroom." I was heading back to the bottom of that terrible abyss. She agreed by just grabbing her clothes and heading into the living room. I got up and put my robe on and went into the other room. I watched her get dressed, which was just as sexy as when she got undressed. Fuck, what the hell was going on? She started pacing. "Look, I really didn't come here for that, but I needed it. I'm sorry." I wanted to hold her and comfort her, but she kept pacing, moving away from me. "I'm not sorry. I'm glad we made love again. Please, stop moving around." "I can't. I'm not here for me. I have something to tell you that you may not like." She stopped pacing and turned and looked at me. I sat down. "It's something I tried to tell you a long time ago, but decided that I had to bear it alone." I stared, not sure what was happening. "You met Angela. Well... she's sick. She has what is called aplastic anemia. The doctors are recommending a bone marrow transplant and I don't match up well." She looked at me. I was still confused. "And...?" "The doctors want to check the marrow of the father." She looked at me, the tears starting to run down her face. I stared. Was she saying what I thought? "Are you... I mean are you telling me...." "Yes, you are Angela's father." At that she broke down, sobbing hard, collapsing on the nearest chair. She held her hands in her face while I stared, trying to understand what had just happened. I thought about that beautiful little girl with the ice cream cone. She was so full of life and just getting started with it. My heart was full of love and anger and confusion. Unfortunately, anger got the better part of me at that moment. "So you are telling me that I have a daughter, a fact which you kept from me for 6 years?" The anger was obvious. "Yes." She looked at me, terrified and meek. "Didn't you think that I would like to know that? You introduced me to her last Christmas and you couldn't tell me that? What the fuck, Jennifer?" Her eyes were brimming with tears. "Sorry." "That's it?! Sorry?!" Now she was angry, too. "What do you want me to say? I wanted to tell you, but you wouldn't answer my calls for three months and I decided I would raise her myself. Too fucking bad for you! I thought you had shut me completely out of your life!" "Yes, but we are talking about a child! My child!" "No. She's my child, you asshole! You haven't done one thing for her except fuck me and get me pregnant!" "Yeah. What about that? Were you trying to trap me? Did you go off birth control just to get pregnant by me?" "Fuck you! I didn't do that! It just happened, okay? Birth control pills are not 100%! Besides, it looked like you weren't suffering based on what I saw with Sarah!" "ARGH! That's none or your business, is it? You fucked around, I found out, and you got what you deserved!" "I knew this was a fucking mistake. I knew you couldn't get past what I did to you; not even for your own daughter. You've changed, asshole!" "You haven't! And I didn't say I wouldn't help. She's my flesh and blood. I'll do whatever I can to help her." That seemed to calm Jennifer down. She looked at me closely. "Okay. I'll give you the information. I'll go out to the car and get it." She walked to the front door, turned to look at me, my face still showing my anger, and went out to her car. When Jennifer got back in, I had calmed myself a little, but I was still angry. "So why did you have to fuck me? You think that would get me to do it?" She gaped and initially ignored the question. "It's not positive that you will be a good donor, but we are looking elsewhere and we need to see if you are. You are the best choice right now, so you'll have to be tested and then the procedure performed. If it works, there's about an 85% chance she can lead a normal life. We'll have to do it at the Children's Hospital in St. Louis. That's where she is and I can take her home whenever she's up to it." She turned to look at me directly and said much more softly. "Sorry about the sexual attack in there. I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty about not helping when I asked. I just... I mean...." She stopped and looked at me. "I just need your help this one time." "Yeah, like it really meant anything." That set her off again. "Fuck! You really have changed. You are a complete asshole. I guess you haven't found anyone else to fall in love with!" "No, I haven't. You inoculated me against that bane of man's existence." She walked over and handed me an envelope with the papers in it. She was starting to cry. "Please, just promise you will do this for Angela. I'm leaving." I let her walk out of my apartment and I was kicking myself within 15 minutes of her departure. Fuck! Why was I so out of control? The more I thought about it, the more I knew it was because I had never been able to be angry with her the first time. I was still in love with her and I was taking the reason we broke up out on her several years later. 3rd of July 2007 *******Dennis ******* I arrived in St. Louis just before the lunch hour. I had made arrangements to have the test done at my doctor's in Chicago as soon as I could and they, working with St. Louis Children's Hospital, had determined that I was, indeed, a good match for Angela. Jennifer had made me wait until Angela had been treated with a two month plan to get her ready to receive my marrow before I could meet her and tell her who I was. It was time to face my daughter for the first time as 'Dad'. I was petrified. I parked in the parking garage and made my way into the hospital. Jennifer had provided me directions and her room number. She told me to call ahead and I called while in the garage to tell her I would be there in about 10 minutes. I made my way there and paused outside the door, gathering my strength. Jennifer met me outside the room, looking a little haggard, but still beautiful. "Angela is tired. She's had some chemo, so her immune system is low and we can't spend too much time with her. I also want to tell her you are her father, but let's not spend too much time with her after that." She looked down at the large Pooh I was carrying and smiled. "She'll love that, but she can't have it right now. Why don't you leave it at the desk and you can give it to her later." Before I entered the room with Jennifer, they made me scrub up and put on a mask and gloves. The chemotherapy was designed to weaken her immune system. This would supposed to ensure that the blood cells were replenished by the production of replacement cells from my implanted marrow. Once we got in the room, I could see that Angela did look tired. She also had a tube in the middle of her chest. I had read about this, but it was different seeing it. "Hello, Angela." I moved towards the bed and Angela. "Remember me?" Jennifer stayed quiet and looked at her daughter. Angela responded quietly. "Uh-huh. We met in the mall, right Mommy?" "That's right, sweetheart, this is Mr. Dennis." "Honey, I want to tell you something important." Jennifer turned Angela toward her, where she had moved to the other side of the bed. "What, Mommy?" "Well, remember when we had that discussion about fathers?" "Yes, Mommy, of course I remember." She was smart and attentive for her age, but still appeared sluggish. "Well...." Jennifer looked up at me, tears coming as she prepared to tell her daughter such a secret. "Mr. Dennis is your father." Her voice almost cracked. Angela looked at me. Then she looked back at her mother in a questioning manner. Her brow was knitted as she tried to understand. Finally, she turned back to me and smiled. "You're my daddy?" "Yes, Angela, I'm your daddy." I tried to remain calm under the circumstances, but it was difficult. I was being introduced to my beautiful young daughter, who was possibly dying. She stared at me for another couple of seconds. "Daddy!" She cried and put her arms up for a hug. Apparently, children were much more accepting of something like this. I leaned forward and she hugged me hard, squeezing my neck so much that I was almost pulled off my feet. I was surprised at her strength considering the chemo. I was pulling back and she gave me a peck on the cheek. "Daddy! Where you been? Why haven't you come to see me? Jody's daddy is always around. Can you stay with us? Can you teach me to ride a bike?" And the questions kept coming faster than I could keep up. I guess I had a lot of catching up to do on understanding the mind of an almost 6-year-old girl. After about 30 minutes of trying to keep up with the questions and meanderings of my newly found daughter, I stepped out of the room. She was fading, her energy sapped, and she needed some rest before they started the bone marrow transplant tomorrow. They were going to "harvest" it from me and implant it into her on the same day. Evidently, it was better to use fresh marrow if possible, rather than freezing it. Somehow I couldn't help but feel like a fish. Jennifer was waiting for me in the waiting area. She was crying and I wanted to comfort her. I knew that it was tearing her up to see her daughter like this. It was hitting me hard and I just found out I was a father! The problem was that I just didn't know how. I was going to go talk to her, but I was interrupted when her mother and Diane came in. Her mother was very nice. "Hello, Dennis." She shook my hand. "How do you feel having just met your daughter?" "It's still a little bit of a shock, especially since she's sick. But she's very beautiful." I tried to smile. She gave me a nice pat on the arm and turned to Jennifer before I could say more. I turned to Diane, but she was acting cold enough to give me frostbite. I waited while they talked, but then Jennifer and her mother had to go to meet the doctor and said it would be a while. I decided to head over to my family's house rather than stay with the ice queen. I arrived at my mother's house just before dinner and everyone was happy to see me. They plied me with dozens of questions and I tried to answer them the best way I knew how. "You know I met them when Angela was young." I looked at her. "You told me she had a baby, but you didn't say you met her." "I was in the mall and she was just under a year old. At the time I didn't think anything about it. But now that I think back on it, I should have recognized the blue eyes and questioned the age." "It doesn't matter now." "So what are you going to do now?" My sister Jessica was staring at me with a slight grin on her face. "I don't know for sure. Would it surprise you to say that I think I'm still in love with Jennifer?" Susan grimaced, Jessica laughed, and my mother smirked. My mother spoke first. "Not really." "Yeah, well, she screwed around on me, I got angry, and I couldn't see how I could forgive her." "What?" None of them knew the entire story of how I found out about this so I told them. "Well, that's quite a story. You know you've always been a bit of a straight-laced moralist. What did Jennifer say about this incident?" My mother, always the rational one. Is that what it was? An incident? I thought about it. Come to think of it, I had never heard her side. I had completely shut her out. "I don't know. We never talked again after that." They all stared at me for a minute and I knew I had to at least ask her that. 5th of July 2007 I awoke the next morning very early and got ready for the hospital. They said it was not going to be painful since it was done under general anesthesia, but I was prepared for the worst. My mother took me to the hospital since they were going to keep me overnight. I found my way to the station where they had told me to report. Jennifer and Diane were already there. We exchanged short and unpleasant pleasantries and the nurse led me to the area where they'd prep me for surgery. I completed the last of the paperwork, most of which I had done before I came to St. Louis. I changed into a gown and the doctor came in to talk to me. He told me this was called an allogeneic transplant. That meant that it was coming from a relative. He went through the procedure and asked me if I had any questions. I had already been through all the questions with my doctor in Chicago, so I said no and he left. A nurse came in and put me on a gurney, slapped an IV into my arm and smiled. "Good luck." She then injected something into the IV access port. "This will get you started before the surgery. Thank you for doing this." I looked at her and wondered why she was thanking me, but soon I was barely able to tell where I was. I just remember seeing the lights flash overhead as they moved me. And then I woke up in a room, feeling nauseous. As I woke up, I realized that my mother and sister, Jessica, where there. There was no sign of Jennifer. I asked with my cotton mouth if they had finished with Angela yet. My mother gave me some water and I sucked greedily thru the straw. "No." She took the water away and looked down at me. "We haven't heard a word from the Hausman's." "What time is it?" "It's a little after 1. They were supposed to start on Angela at 11. They said that it can take up to 5 hours to give it to her. I understand that it's just done similar to receiving a blood transfusion. We'll try to find out. I also have my new cell phone and can give my number to Jennifer." "Okay. Thanks. How long you guys going to stay?" "Ummm. Not too much longer. Do you want us to stick around long? I brought you the new Lee Child novel that you wanted." "Nah. You guys can take off if you want." She left to see if she could find any members of the Hausman family and I was left alone with my sister, Jessica. She was looking at me expectantly and I didn't know why. "What?" "I have a good friend who knows Jennifer and I've wanted to tell you this since you got home. She said that she's known Jennifer for 15 years now and that she's never seen anyone so in love as she is with you. Even now." I stared at her. "I haven't spoken to her but once in 6 years. How was I supposed to know that?" "Well. What she told me was that once Jennifer found out she was pregnant she wanted to tell you. When you wouldn't talk to her she still decided to keep the baby. Her family wanted to tell you, but she didn't. Jennifer knows you very well. She figured that you would either think she was trying to trap you or get you to marry her. She was more sure that you would try to marry her because of the type of person you are. She also felt that if that happened that it would poison your relationship. She only wanted you back if you wanted her because you loved her. The baby couldn't be part of your reason." I sat and stared. I knew I had acted harshly, but I didn't know about this. "But I never knew she got pregnant. All I knew was that she had slept with some guy while we were being exclusive and then didn't tell me. I had to find out at a party when she was telling her girlfriends. I was just angry. I assumed that we had both gotten along with our lives." She looked at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world. "You are really clueless about this, aren't you?" "What are you trying to say?" My mind was still a little fuzzy and I couldn't understand what she was trying to say. "Neither of you have gotten on with your lives. You both love each other so much it's not allowing either of you to move on." "You don't know that." "Don't I? I see the way you light up whenever she's around and then the way you become depressed when she leaves or the incident with that other guy is mentioned. Geez. You can't even see what's going on. She did that because she was young, in love, and scared. Why do you think there are so many problems between men and women just before marriage? They are both feeling that. She was 22 years old, for fuck's sake. Get over it. You love her and she loves you. I'd give anything to have what you to have." I stared at her. Jessica was the peacemaker in the family. I had never heard her use the word fuck and speak to me so harshly. I think that's what woke me up to what she was saying. "That still doesn't make what she did right." "No. It never will. But you have to decide if you can forgive her. She made a mistake when you guys were dating. You weren't married, you weren't engaged, and you weren't really even going steady. Christ! Guys! No wonder men and women can't seem to get together. They can't even get out of their own way long enough to build a solid relationship." "But..." She cut me off. "But what?! There are no buts. Just get off your ass and go after her! She'll fold in a microsecond." I smiled at her. "Are you working on becoming a couples counselor or something? She looked at me, ready to blast me for that remark. But she saw the humor in my eyes and realized I was joking. "If that's what it takes to get you together with the love of your life, yes!" I motioned with my hand. "Come over here." She stood and walked to me. I reached out, pulled her down and gave her a big hug. "Thanks, sis." She stood back up. "You're welcome!" She punched me in the shoulder and grinned. "Jerk!" Then she looked over her shoulder at someone coming into the room, but it wasn't our mother, just a nurse. She checked my vitals and left. Jessica remained standing. "I'm going to go get something to drink. You need anything?" Life’s Strange Turns Ch. 07-08 "No, thanks. I'll just wait here." She smiled at my joke and left. I was alone with my thoughts. Now what was I supposed to do? I was scheduled to stick around a couple of days to see Angela, but after that I had to go back to Chicago and my job. I had tried to think about this since learning that I was a father, but hadn't come to any conclusion yet. I knew that I had never gotten over Jennifer, but until recently had always assumed that it was just me and that she had moved on. Now I was hearing that that was not the case. I had to figure out what to do about this. We heard from Jessica about 6pm that the transfer was complete. My reading had told me that it took 2-4 weeks for the results to start showing. This was called 'engraftment'. I told my family that I was going back to Chicago on Sunday the 8th and would be back in four weeks. Jessica stared at me like she wanted to ask me something, but remained quiet. I spoke briefly to Jennifer the next day before I left, but it was all about Angela. Nothing about us. On Saturday, I went over to the hospital to say good-bye and see how Angela was doing before I left for a couple of weeks. They wouldn't let me see her until one of the family members were there. Jennifer finally arrived and gave me permission to see Angela and I did. All the precautions were still in place. Angela was mostly out of it when I was there, so I didn't get to say much. I went to speak to Jennifer in the lounge again and she was with her family. I just hung around until they realized that I wanted to speak with her. They moved away and I looked at Jennifer. She waited. "What?" "Ummm. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about everything. I'd like to talk to you when I get back. I mean really talk. Can we do that?" She stared at me and then looked away. "Yeah, sure." There was no conviction in it and I wondered if we had grown too far apart to make this work. I left and went home to pack.