EXONERATION (INTERFERENCE) Read Free

go!”
    “Not until we talk.”
    “I can’t be late. She’s counting on me.”
    “Then later…tonight.”
    “NO!”
    “Rebecca, please?”
    I grabbed my keys out of his hand and got in my car. He stepped in front of the door preventing me from shutting it. “Just…tell me that she’s mine. I need to hear it…from you.”
    “No. Now, I have to go!”
    He stepped aside and I quickly closed the door. He knocked on the window. I ignored him until I realized he had my purse…which contained my wallet and my address and pictures of Shannon…and Parker.
    I rolled down the window and reached for my purse. 
    He pulled it back, “Not until you tell me that she’s my daughter!”
    “She’s not!”
    “I’m her father, Rebecca. I know it!” he was angry now, but not as angry as I was.
    “Parker’s her father…you…you were just a sperm donor!” I shouted and grabbed my purse and peeled out of the parking lot.
     
    “What’s wrong with you, Beccs?” Parker asked later that night after I’d put Shannon to bed with Snowball.
    “Nothing, why?”
    “You’re um, kind of jumpy, that’s all. So, it looks like the cat made a full recovery?”
    I looked into my husband’s eyes and said, “Yeah, she’s fine.”
    “What was wrong with it…her?” he asked, as if he gave a damn.
    “I don’t know. She was sick. She’s on antibiotics.”
    He stepped toward me, looking into my eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re white as a sheet.”
    “I’m fine!” I stood up and walked out of my office. Parker followed along.
    “Do you want to talk about what we were discussing before?”
    “NO!”
    “I just thought it would make you happy. You’ve been acting even more withdrawn the last few days.”
    “I’m fine!”
    “We um, we don’t have to…I mean, it can be done in the doctor’s office, if you want. Although, I’d really prefer the old fashioned way.” He waggled his eyebrows at me as if that would entice me. I had no intention of having more children, ever, and certainly not with Parker.
    I closed my eyes and started up the stairs. “I don’t want another child, Parker. Not now.”
    “But, I want a son.”
    “There’s no guarantee that I’d have a boy.”              
    “There’s ways around that now. Especially if we go to…”
    “NO! Just drop it. I’m going to my room to catch up on some work.”
    “Are you ever going to forgive me?”
    “I already did.”
    “Then, why the cold shoulder for the last week?”
    “Parker, I don’t care that you slept with her! I don’t care about any of them. I don’t care who you sleep with.”
    “You’re my wife, you should care.”
    I turned to look at him. “I know I’m not much of a wife…in that respect. I don’t blame you for wanting…needing release. Just keep them away from Shannon, and you can have whoever you want.”
    “That’s not really true though, is it? I can’t have you. You’re my wife and yet I still can’t get passed the wall you built around yourself. Shannon walks right through it, but I’m always stuck on the other side. I just thought a child of our own would bring us closer. I’m trying, Beccs…Rebecca.”
    “I know you are. And, I’m sorry that I can’t give you what you want. I do…love you.” I said, the words sticking in my throat.
    “Do you?” he asked, lifting my chin to look up at him.
    My eyes were filled with tears. “Yes…” I whispered, “…you were there when I needed you, and you stayed by my side, even though Shannon’s not…” I wiped my eyes as visions of Shane flooded my mind.
    “My name’s on the birth certificate. She’s my daughter!”
    “Then act like her father. Come to the play Friday night.”
    “You know I can’t. I have to fly to Phoenix Tomorrow morning.”
    “You’re never home, Parker. Why would you even want another child?”
    “I want a son!” he said, staring me down.
    “Then have one with one of your girlfriends. My uterus is