alex has a revelation. iv.
[part i] [part ii] [part iii]
-
Vijalchen began barking at six in the morning. Roderich groaned and tried to bury his head under his pillow, but to no avail. He could still hear her. Maybe he should have gotten a cat. But wasn't Vijalchen's specific mix supposed to be quiet? Why did he have to get the noisy one? When it became evident that his dog would not shut up, he delicately extracted himself from his wife's arms, put some boxers on, and opened the bedroom door.
“What do you want?” he asked her in a harsh whisper.
She trotted over to him and barked in his face.
“Shh!”
And that's when he heard the buzzer go off.
Fucking Alex.
-
“She said today.”
“She meant at a normal fucking hour, Alex!”
“Well, it's not like you went to bed too late. You both have work today.”
“What the fuck is so important that you had to wake me up so fucking early?”
Alex buried his head in his hands. “I fucked up.”
“Something a little less general than that, Alex.”
“Well, uh, remember that time, right after you got your vasectomy, with, uh, Liane?”
“What time?”
“You said the condom broke, and you were so happy that you'd gotten the vasectomy a couple weeks before.”
“Uh... I guess?” He didn't remember that at all, really... or at least he didn't remember telling Alex about it.
“Well, guess who hasn't gotten a vasectomy?”
“You're not making any sense.”
“Don't make me say it.”
“I have no idea what you're even trying to say, dude.”
“I was having sex with a girl and the condom broke. About. A month ago.”
“...Oh.”
“She called me yesterday. She's pregnant. I told her I'd pay for an abortion if that were the issue but she said she didn't want one.”
“Oh.”
“What do I do?”
“Are you even sure it's yours?”
“She swears it can't be anyone else's. Says I'm the only person she's had sex with since February, and the doctor swears it's just been a month.”
Well. Roderich wasn't sure what he could even say to that.
Alex slammed his head against the table. “I used a condom,” he said. “This shouldn't have happened. Ugh. Maybe I should just stick with men.”
“Condoms can still break with guys, dude, and I mean. You're not gonna get anyone pregnant that way, but you could get a disease or something.”
Alex groaned. “Stop being sensible.”
“Sorry.”
“Do you have any booze?”
Roderich rolled his eyes. “Well, it's six in the morning here, so that means people are still drinking in America. Probably.”
“Thank you.”
-
Liane shuffled out into the kitchen to find Alex complaining to her husband. “Why do you only have girl drinks?”
“Alex, why are you drunk at seven-thirty in the morning?”
“I knocked a girl up. But the better question is why do you only have girl drinks?”
“Wait, what?”
“You only have wine, gin, and vodka. Those are girl drinks. There's no whisky or beer.”
“No, you got a girl pregnant?”
“Her fiancé died in February and she used me as rebound and then the condom broke and she called me yesterday. Said I could be as active as I wanted, but only if I was going to give a shit.”
Liane shot her husband a look, and Alex caught it.
“I know, I know, you're both thrilled that Rotz got a vasectomy. But I didn't.” He buried his face in his hands. “I mean, I always thought maybe eventually? If I fell in love with a girl and she wanted a family? But this isn't fair; I'm not even thirty.”
“Well, she did say you didn't have to...”
“I'm not going to wilfully ignore my child, even if I didn't want it to begin with. I mean, Jesus Christ, look at what happened to your fucking brother, Rotz.”
“I don't think not having his father in his life is what made Markus so awful, Alex.”
“But it's why he hates you! Because your dad stayed and his didn't.”
“It's a little more complex than that.”
“What if Sabrina meets some other guy and decides to have another kid with him? Then my kid could end up like Markus, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.”
“Alex...”
“Do you not remember how Markus treated you when we were kids? Because I do. I can't... ignore it. And what if it's a girl? You know, the whole idea of a girl with daddy issues didn't come from nowhere!”
Liane sighed and sat down across from him. “What you need to do is evaluate what kind of father you'd be. Of course... you can't know for sure until the time comes, but... if you're pretty sure you'll be an awful father, it might be better to let... Sabrina? raise it on her own.”
“I don't hate kids,” he said. “I'm not Rotz. Besides, my siblings all love me, and the twins are eleven years younger than I am – I changed their diapers and everything.”
“If you think you'll be a good father... I know this is a shock,” Liane said, “to put it lightly, but... if you don't want it to, this doesn't have to change your life that drastically.”
“Maybe,” Alex said. “But it wouldn't be fair to her, besides, if I didn't help.”
“Well... that's true,” Liane admitted.
“It's not like she wants me to be in a relationship with her, or anything.”
