Two Years Later

-Reed-

I'm in Philadelphia for a meeting. Todd had moved back from Delaware two weeks ago. I had driven down to visit him a few times, and he had come to Baltimore twice. Our friendship has never been the same since I married Cheryl. Cheryl and Todd are cordial to each other but are not friends.

Todd and I agree to meet for dinner at the Irish Bar. I walk in and see Red. He waves to me and gets my beer.

I quickly inform Red, "No whiskey, please. I have to drive home later."

"Food?" he asks.

I nod. "Yes, please."

Red smiles at me and puts my order into the system.

I decide to text Cheryl.

Hey, Babe.

Cheryl replies,

Hey! How was your meeting?

I texted.

It was excellent. We got the contract.

That is awesome! Are you still having dinner with Todd?

I smile at her encouragement.

Yep. I'm waiting for Todd now.

I respond.

Be safe driving home. I love you!

I smile.

I will. Love you, too!

Todd walks in as I put my phone away.

I stand and reach out my hand to him. "Hey, man!"

Todd reaches out his hand. "Hey!"

I shake Todd's hand. "It's good to have you back."

Todd smiles. "It is good to be back."

We sit, eat, and catch up. Time goes by very fast.

I check the time. "Well, I best be going."

Todd smirks. "Wouldn't want to piss off the little woman."

I give him a stern look. "You know that Cheryl isn't like that."

I pay the bill, and when I stand to leave, I feel a little unsteady. I place my hands on the bar to keep from falling over.

Todd grabs hold of me to steady me. "How much did you have to drink, man?"

"Only a couple of beers." I'm struggling to keep myself from slurring my words.

"Well, you know that I can't leave you to drive. Give me your keys." Todd demands.

I do as he tells me. I lean on him as we leave the bar and get into his car. I try to get my phone out of my pocket to let Cheryl know I will stay with Todd, but I drop it before I pass out.

***

My head is pounding. What the hell? Where the fuck am I? I feel movement next to me. Cheryl? I turn over and come face to face with fucking Patty. I peek under the covers, and we're both completely naked. I'm in shock.

Then I hear Cheryl screaming outside of the room. "Where the fuck is he, Todd."

Todd yells back, "Bitch, I don't need to answer to you. Especially not in my house!"

I panic and go to jump out of bed when all hell breaks loose. The door flies open, and Patty sits up, letting her tits exposed for all to see, while I stand there before my beautiful wife, completely naked.

"What the fuck, Reed?" The look of disappointment and disgust in her face breaks my fucking heart.

I try to explain, but I don't know what's happening. "Cheryl, Baby, I can only imagine how this looks, but I promise nothing happened."

Then, the worst thing that could happen in my entire life happened. My wife doesn't say a word to me. She turns and leaves me without saying a damn word.

I can't get dressed fast enough. "Where the fuck are my keys, Todd?"

"On the counter," Todd answers.

"What the hell happened last night, Todd? There's no fucking way I would have fucked Patty. No fucking way in hell that I would cheat on my wife." I'm losing my shit, and I know it. I have got to get to Cheryl.

Todd shrugs his shoulder. "You were drunk, dude, and drunk people do stupid things."

Just then, Patty comes out of the bedroom wearing a tee-shirt. "What did you put in my drink last night, Todd? My head feels like it is about to explode!"

I put two and two together and get fucking four. "Todd, what the hell did you do?"

***

I make it home in one and a half hours. I run inside, yelling for Cheryl. "CHERYL!"

I run from room to room. "CHERYL!"

I run up the stairs into our bedroom. I can hear crying from our bathroom. Cheryl is in the tub, fully dressed, sobbing.

I walk over to her and quietly kneel. "Babe?" I reach out to her.

"Don't you fucking touch me?" She screams.

"Okay, okay." I sit next to her and place my face into my hands. "Cheryl, please listen to me."

She says nothing, so I continue. "Fucking Todd set this whole thing up. He drugged me last night at dinner. I only had three beers and no whiskeys. Here's the receipt."

I placed the receipt in my pocket on the side of the tub. "Todd took my keys and carried me out of the bar. The last thing I remember is waking up with Patty next to me. Cheryl, the fucker drugged her too. The only thing that I'm guilty of is trusting that motherfucker."

Cheryl slowly looks up at me. Her tear-stained face makes me want to take her into my arms and comfort her.

"Why would he do that?" she chokes out. Her voice is gruff from all of the crying.

"He's fucking crazy. He's been against you and me since I met you, Babe. He's jealous, and he doesn't want me with you. I'm so over his ass. Patty agreed to talk to you and let you know that nothing happened, Cheryl, nothing! Please believe me. I love you, Cheryl. You mean everything to me. I would never do anything to jeopardize our marriage," I sob.

"I'm pregnant, Reed!" She yells out.

"What?" I respond in shock.

She looks at me through tear-filled eyes. "We're having a baby, Reed."

My heart is joyful. "Oh my God! We're having a baby?"

For a moment, the whole fucking Todd ordeal gets pushed to the back burner. I get up and jump into the tub with my wife. I pull her into me and give her a gentle, loving squeeze. Her body stiffens against mine, and she doesn't return my hug.

I hear knocking on our front door.

"We should get that," Cheryl whispers.

I release her and offer her my hand to help her up.

She won't take my hand. She stands on her own. I sigh, and we both step out of the tub and go downstairs. I open the door and see Patty standing there, a bruise on the side of her face and a black eye. I'm speechless

Cheryl looks past me and sees Patty. "Shit, Patty! What the hell happened?"

"Todd! He's a fucking lunatic! He's so pissed that I told Reed that we were drugged and nothing happened between us. He went ballistic. I think that he would have killed me if I hadn't hit him over the head with the lamp," Patty cries.

"Oh my God! Please come in." Cheryl lets the woman she just saw me in bed with into our home. I fucking love this woman more than anything.

Patty continues to cry, "I'm so sorry, Cheryl! I promise Reed, and I didn't do anything. It was all Todd."

Cheryl looks over at me and smiles, which calms my anxious heart. If I lost her, my life would be nothing. I smile back at her.

Cheryl turns back to Patty. "Come into the kitchen, Patty; let me get you some ice."

Patty and I follow Cheryl into the kitchen. Cheryl grabs an ice pack from the freezer, wraps it with a tea towel, and gives it to Patty.

Patty places the ice pack over her swelling eye. "I'm sorry, Cheryl and Reed. I had no idea what Todd was up to last night. I had to come here and tell you that Reed is completely innocent in all of this."

I look at Patty. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Patty. It's all on Todd. I'm going to kill that motherfucker."

Cheryl walks over and places her arms around me. I pull her in and kiss the top of her head as she puts it against my heart. "I'm so sorry."

I pull back, place my hands softly on her wet cheeks, and tilt her face up to me. "Babe, you don't have to apologize. You saw what Todd wanted you to see. I don't blame you for reacting the way you did. Hell, if the shoe were on the other foot, I would have lost my shit!"

I pull her back into my chest. "So, we're having a baby?"

*****