Three Lovers on the Grift - 9

"No effing way in hell!" Vaughn glared across the table at Page.

She and Nigel had decided to wait to tell Vaughn that she was pregnant until they were at dinner. They figured that way he'd have to keep his cool while he got used to the idea. Now she was beginning to wonder if that would happen. The look on his face said he was ready to explode.

"Vaughn, breathe," Nigel said quietly. "Breathe and shut up for a minute."

"This has nothing to do with you, so you shut up," Vaughn countered angrily.

"Excuse me? The kid could be mine just as well as yours. And I'm behind her one-hundred percent. This kid is going to be born, like it or not."

"Well, I don't like it and she knows it. How could she have been so—so stupid?"

"She is sitting right here so ask me," Page spat out. Then slowly and coldly she explained how she thought it had happened. When she finished the three of them sat there quietly, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

Finally, Vaughn said, "You won't consider—?"

"No." Tentatively, Page reached across the table to take his hand, happy that he didn't pull away. "I know this is the last thing in the world that you wanted."

"Well," he replied, a small smile on his face, "actually it's the third to last. The next to last is ending up in a jail."

"And the last," Nigel asked.

"Losing either of you." He squeezed Page's hand. "This is going to take me some time to come to grips with, but I guess I'm going to have to because one small baby is not going to drive us apart."

Nigel glanced at Page and smiled. "I knew he wasn't going to go off half cocked. Well, not here anyways."

Vaughn shot him a look that was a mix of amusement and annoyance. "Just how long have you known about this?" After looking at his watch, Nigel admitted it had been a whole five hours, give or take. Vaughn nodded. "I suppose this explains why the two of you were more interested in going to get something to eat than in what happened with the realtor and the man who's going to help us get rid of the stuff we got last night."

"Just a bit. After all, in the grand scheme of things this is more important."

"Yes it is." Vaughn beckoned for Page to move next to him on his side of the booth. When she did, he cupped her face in his hands. "We'll make this work," he told her before kissing her gently.

Nigel sighed in relief as he watched them. One hurdle over with, although he figured there would be a lot more before the baby put in an appearance.