* * *
Jed
It had been one week since Sadie killed Tinker, and Jed was released from the hospital.She and Oliver had moved in on the same day he was released with the help of Darren and Tuck.The doctor declared no heavy lifting until he had his follow-up appointment.To his surprise, Kylie had come along to help.The first thing she did was pull Sadie aside to have a few words, and by the time they were finished, he thought he saw a spark of friendship blossom.Was he going to ask Sadie about it?Hell, no.The two of them would work things out, or they wouldn’t.He was betting they would.
Today was Oliver’s third day back to school since the end of Christmas break.Jed was dropping him off on his way to a doctor's appointment with his uncle, where he planned to talk to him about reversing his vasectomy.He realized he had a good couple of years before they even entertained the thought of having a kid of their own, but he wanted to be prepared in case any issues needed to be addressed.He was crossing his fingers that there wouldn’t be any long-lasting negative effects from having the vasectomy for so long.If he couldn’t give Sadie a baby, it would devastate him.She would probably be okay because she would have one with Darren, but the caveman in him wantedhiswoman to carry one ofhisbabies.
“Wait a second, Oliver.Sadie said you needed lunch money.”He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out forty bucks, handing it to the kid.
“Thanks, Jed.”
“Have a good day, buddy.”
“You, too, Jed.”Oliver shot him a smile and climbed out of the car.The streets were clear, and the weatherman wasn’t predicting snow in the near future, so he’d driven Oliver to school in his Camaro.When he’d told him to hop in the restored ’69, the kid’s eyes shot to the size of saucers.The boy truly loved his car.
Right before he entered the building, he turned and waved goodbye to Jed.Man, he loved that kid.As he pulled away, part of him felt bad that his dad wasn’t around to watch this amazing kid grow up, but the other part thanked God for the good luck that brought him into his life.
Pulling back out into traffic, it didn’t take long to make it across town to the medical complex.He got lucky and found a parking space close to the front.He rode the elevator up to the third floor and checked in at his uncle's office.He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his messages, finding one from Darren asking how Sadie was doing.Every couple of days, he checked in to get a pulse on her state of mind after killing Tinker.They both knew from past experience that killing someone didn’t come easy.There were consequences for taking someone’s life, no matter how evil the person was.Jed was doing his best to be there for her without smothering her.Physically, she was fine.Mentally and emotionally, he still had concerns.Although her sleep had been restless, he’d been able to comfort her and get her back to sleep.If she remembered anything about her dreams the next morning, she wasn’t talking about it.
“Jed.”
A nurse stood in the doorway, holding a small laptop tucked into her elbow.Because he was only there for a consultation today, she led him back to his uncle's office instead of an exam room.His uncle met him in front of his desk and hugged him before waving for him to take a seat.He returned to sit behind his desk, a wide smile still in place.
“Jed.It’s good to see you.I haven’t seen you in a while.”His uncle was his mom’s older brother.The last time he’d seen his uncle was about six months ago at his mom’s birthday party.
“Uncle Lee.”
“What brings you in today?”Uncle Lee leaned back in his chair, his hands settling on the arms.
“I wanted to see if it was possible to reverse my vasectomy, and what you think my odds are for having kids.”
His uncle’s face took on a guilty expression as it screwed up like he was going to give him bad news.Was the reversal not something that could be done?God, he hoped that wasn't the case.He didn’t realize how much he wanted to be a dad until he met Sadie.Until his uncle’s reaction made it seem an impossibility.
“Yeah.About that.”
“What?What are you saying?”Jed’s heart raced as he braced for the words that were sure to crush his dreams of fatherhood.
“I never did it.”
“Pardon me?You never did what?”He leaned forward in his chair, bracing his weight on the arm.
“I never did the vasectomy.I only made it look like I did.”
Jed shot from his chair and leaned over the desk.“You mean my balls were swollen, and I have a scar for no reason?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Oh my God.”He spun around and started pacing back and forth in the small space.He stopped dead in his tracks when the ramifications of what Uncle Lee told him finally sank in.“Holy shit!Are you telling me if I had forgotten to use a condomonetime or one of them had broken, I could have knocked up some random piece of ass?”
“Well, technically, yes.”His uncle folded his hands on top of his desk.
“Oh my God!Why would you do that?Why would you tell me you gave me a vasectomy and not do it?”
“Because your mother and I both knew one day you would change your mind.I just didn’t think it would take this long.”
“I was eighteen!An adult!I can’t believe you and my mother decided to lie to me about being fixed!If I were an irresponsible asshole, I could have kids all over the place by now.”
“You were a grieving eighteen-year-old who was making a rash decision.Nothing I said was getting through to you.You weren’t in the right frame of mind to make such a huge decision.I’m sorry I tricked you.”
