Chapter 115 - 1, 2, 3, 4

To not wake Monica going into the house, he slowly and quietly opens the screen door, gritting his teeth as  The listens to the creek.  He thinks to himself that he should fix it, but when he thinks about it, they are never at home or it's too late at night.  

Once he works his way into the house, he stops at the kitchen sink and gets a drink of water.  As he stands there downing the much desired water, he hears a noise that catches his attention and causes a little alarm.  He sets the glass down on the counter and walks in the direction of the sound.  Through the kitchen, then the dining room down the hall and through the master bedroom, the noise directs him into the master bathroom.  He pushes the door open, to find his wife on the floor at the toilet, throwing up.  "Babe, are you okay?"

Monica jumps, scared to death.  She looks over her shoulder at Jon and says, "Jesus Jon, you scared the shit out of me!"  And she's overcome with the urge to vomit again.  Jon rushes to her side and holds back her long, wet black hair.

"Are you okay?  Are you sick?" he asks, kneeling next to her.  

Monica shakes her head no.  "it must be something I ate."

"Did you have breakfast?"

She nods her head, "Some eggs and toast.  They must have been bad."

"Can I get you anything?  What can I do?" he wants to help her.  He hasn't seen her like this since she was pregnant, and that thought has yet to enter his mind.  "Why didn't you call me at moms"

"For what?  There isn't anything that you can do.  It's a bug or it's something that I ate."

"Please stop with the cold shoulder."

She reaches over and rolls some tissue off the roll.  Wiping her mouth she follows that up with, "Can you tell me how I should be acting?"  Her mouth waters again and she positions herself over the toilet bowl again.  She's thinking to herself that she doesn't remember morning sickness lasting this long or being this bad.  "I've been puking my guts out Jon.  I'm sorry that I'm not sensitive to your feelings right now."

Jon sits there for a few seconds, holding back her hair.  Once he has processed what she just said to him, he positions himself to stand.  After he stands up, he tucks her hair into the back of her shirt and walks out of the bathroom.  Monica watches him leave.  Her gut reaction is to snap at him, but the sickness in her stomach doesn't let her.

Jon heads back out into the kitchen and looks for something to eat in the fridge.  As he stands there with the door open, looking to see what they have, Monica finally appears.  She reaches in around Jon and grabs the milk after she says "Excuse me."

"You're going to drink milk after getting sick?  Do you think that's a good idea?"  Monica twists off the cap and brings the bottle to her mouth.  As she guzzles the cold milk right from the jug, Jon adds, "Um, I don't need to catch what you have.  Could you not do that?"

Monica finishes her drink and says, "I'm not contagious."

"How do you know?"

"Cause it's just my belly that feels sick.  I'm not achy or feverish.  Relax."  she screws the cap back on the jug and sets it back in the fridge.  Jon looks at her with disbelief and a little angry.  But he's decided that he's not going to treat her bad because she's being difficult.  He stands there and let's her do whatever she will and then he gets what he wants from the fridge.  Monica pours herself a cup of coffee and sits at the kitchen table.  She pulls her legs up under her, and continues with her sarcasm.  "How is your mom and dad?"

"Fine."  Jon replies, pouring himself a box of Lucky Charms.  "Mom and dad are fine."

"Were your brothers there?" she asks, not really caring whether they were or not.  "What about their girlfriends?"

Jon looks over at her, a little puzzled by her questions.  "Do you really wonder that or are you trying to avoid the inevitable?"

She rolls her eyes at him and he sees it.  "God damn it, Monica.  How long do we have to go through this?"

"Through what?" she asks with a snide attitude.  "Go through what?"

"You having this fucking attitude for no reason at all?"

"For no reason?" she sets her coffee on the table and gets up, walking over to Jon.  "you think that I'm pissed and hurt for no reason?"

"I do."

"So, some lady dishes a bunch of dirt and claims that you're the father of her unborn baby and you call that no reason?" she steps into his personal space.  They are almost nose to nose, but Jon is a little taller than she is.  

"Monica, you know that there is no truth to any of it and you have to believe that."

"I want to believe that Jon, but it just seems that she knows too much."

"Are you kidding me?" he snaps back at her, deciding in that moment,  in that quick second that he is not going to fight with her about it and it wasn't going to ruin the few days that they have left at home.  

"I am not kidding, I am far from kidding, Jon.  She knows too much and you didn't seem to get too pissed about any of it."

"BECAUSE IT'S NOT TRUE, MONICA.  Jesus Christ, you are not listening to me, so there is not point in talking about this anymore."  he takes his bowl of cereal from the counter and sits at the table to try to eat.  Monica is right behind him, taking her seat back at the table.  She looks at him as he starts to eat.  She looks over every inch of his face, her eyes lingering on his soft lips, then slowly she looks up and their eyes lock.

"Is she prettier than me?" she mumbles, not wanting to really hear the answer, but she has to know.

"I don't know." he tells her just before shoveling another bite into his mouth.  When his mouth is full her quickly reminds her, "I don't even know what nurse the lady on the radio is Monica."

"Come on Jon, there were the same nurses there for weeks, how can you not know which one she is?"

"I might know, but I really don't care.  I care so little in fact that this is all I'm going to say about this subject from this point on...I will NOT talk about this again, with you or anyone else.  If you really think there is a possibility that I fathered a baby, then I'll pack my shit and get a place of my own.  And if this woman keeps up with her story, I guess I'll take a paternity test to prove to the world that I am not a cheater, I did NOT cheat on my wife as she laid in a coma and I didn't father a child.  Do I make myself clear?" he sets his spoon in his bowl and pushes it back, "Do you understand that this subject is off limits and that I will not talk about it again?"