Her Dad’s Best Friend

"You're not enough of a woman to handle a man like Link." She has an expression on her face like she just smelled something totally nasty. "You might have caught his interest with your virginity, but you can't keep it."

"Don't listen to her," Link says. He's putting on his pants. "I don't know what the fuck your game is, Marcia, but I'm not falling for it."

"What a shame," she says. "I always wanted my son to meet his father one day."

Son? I pull my sheets around me. "Your son?"

"Our son." Marcia's smile is smug. "Your daddy has been paying me hush money for years. He thought that it was better to pay me off than to tell Link that he had a son he knew nothing about. He knew that Link would marry me, which he thought was one of the worst possible outcomes he could imagine."

Link's face is the color of salt. "What the hell?"

"I was going to tell you when little Ryan turned 18. But when you chose to fuck Jack's daughter, you sped up the timeline."

"You're lying." My voice is very quiet. I'm incredibly afraid right now. I've only just started with Jack...and now Marcia is ready to rip us apart."

"Don't take my word for it, little girl." Marcia's voice is vicious and satisfied. But she sounds sure. "We can get a cheek swab from my son and Link. Easy to do a paternity test. And think of all the child support he hasn't paid." She licks her lips. "This has all turned out beautifully for me."

"You conniving bitch," I say. "You've been waiting all these years for your chance, haven't you?”

"Link was going to be my son's meal ticket. I didn't know if your daddy was going to pay for Ryan's college or not, so I was going to wait until Ryan was 18. No custody battles, but in this state, Link would still have to pay for his college tuition." She smooths her dress down her hips. "Your daddy is a generous man, so I wasn't going to make a move this early."

"It's not my baby," Link said. "I'll take a paternity test or whatever, but I used a condom every time with you."

"Condoms aren't always perfect," Marcia says, smirking. "Don't you remember when it ripped?"

Link's face is pure white.

"It was after her stupid pretty princess birthday party. I knew that you were going to break up with me, so I supplied the condom the last time that we fucked. I had already pierced it with a pin, so it fell apart more easily."

I'm hyperventilating. Marcia is something out of my worst nightmares.

"Ryan will be so happy to meet his daddy, finally. I've always told him that he'd meet you someday. He's outside in the car."

Marcia is evil and manipulative, but would she use her son in this scheme? It would violate every maternal instinct, right? I don't know much about mothers, since I never really had one, but Marcia clearly believes that her son is Link's.

Driving

Link

"Let's get this cleared up right now. Camilla, sit tight. I'll be back in a few hours." I'm dressed now. "Let's go. I know a lab where I can get them to expedite the results."

Camilla's eyes are full of despair. I wish that I could reassure her. Marcia's happy, but she's the only person in this room who is remotely joyful.

I follow Marcia out of the room and into the elevator. "Secret kid, huh?"

"Jack was really generous with us. He's been looking after us all this time just for your sake." She shrugs. "I didn't know that I was so terrifying."

I don't say anything. Jack knows the whole story of Marcia, how she tried to destroy me, hammer me into the shape of the man she wanted instead of the man I was and am. He apparently tried to protect me until now.

I run my hand through my hair, making it stand up. Losing Jack's friendship is not great, and now I have a potential baby mama showing up on my doorstep. Well, Camilla's doorstep. Bedroom.

While we were naked.

Shit.

When we get downstairs, I can see that a car is idling. There's a kid in the backseat. He's on some kind of Nintendo hand-held device. There's music and beeps coming out of it. "Ryan, meet your daddy."