Serenity (Inevitable #5)(101)

Lindsey would have a royal fit about that part, of course, but he was more than ready to do battle with her if it came to that. Casey certainly wouldn't have any problem at all if Sasha moved in, since the two of them got along famously. He was even practicing yoga with her here at the condo, and had been over the moon recently when he'd been able to kick up into a handstand on his own. Casey also enjoyed visiting Linda at her cottage in Marin, and always looked forward to playing with her dogs and cats and the rest of her menagerie. He'd even started to hint about wanting a dog or cat of his own, something Lindsey had always been adamantly opposed to, and he'd asked if this supposed pet could possibly live here at the condo.

As for Hayley - well, she would have to get over her issues in a big hurry and simply accept the fact that Sasha was moving in. Matthew was getting damned tired of his daughter's antics and the negative impact they were having on his personal life. Boarding school was beginning to sound more and more appealing, he thought dourly.

As if on cue, his cell phone buzzed with an incoming call, and he scowled fiercely to see it was from Lindsey. He hesitated for a couple of seconds before turning the volume control to vibrate as he continued to get ready. When he checked his phone ten minutes later, he was annoyed beyond belief to find a total of ten missed calls from Lindsey - literally one per minute - and sighed in frustration as he listened to the first voice mail.

"Matt, where the hell are you? Jesus, we've got a huge problem on our hands here. You are not going to believe what kind of a mess Hayley has gotten herself into this time. Call me right away, there is no way I can deal with this one by myself."



       
         
       
        

The second message was equally as dramatic, as was the third where Lindsey really started to lose it, weeping and becoming increasingly hysterical. But by the fourth message his annoyance with his ex quickly turned to concern as she revealed more specifics about the problem with Hayley.

"Would you please fucking pick up your phone, Matt? Look, I didn't want to tell you this over the phone, but since you aren't answering my calls, I guess I don't have a choice. Apparently Hayley is pregnant - yes, you heard me right - pregnant! I went into her bathroom while she was still asleep looking for some tampons since I was out, and I found a used pregnancy test in her wastebasket - a positive test. I freaked out when I saw it and woke her up, and we had the screaming match from hell. So you have got to get down here and help me deal with this. This - oh, Christ - this is a fucking disaster!"

Matthew stared at his phone in horror, unwilling to believe what he had just heard. Surely this was just Lindsey being her usual over-the-top self, and there was some reasonable explanation for what she'd seen. Like maybe the test had belonged to one of Hayley's friends. Or she had misread the results.

But since he could hardly ignore a message like that, he returned Lindsey's call in resignation, bracing himself for the angry barrage he was sure to face from her.

"Well, it's about fucking time you called," bit out Lindsey, not bothering to even say hello. "Where the hell have you been anyway?"

"Taking a shower," he lied, already bristling at her confrontational tone. "I didn't realize I needed your permission for that. And FYI, ten messages in ten minutes is overkill even for you. One would have been adequate. Now, what the hell is this about Hayley being pregnant? How in God's name did that happen?"

"The usual way, I expect," spat Lindsey sarcastically. "And she's being extremely closed-mouthed about the whole thing, won't say a word to me. But I just walked by her room and heard her crying her eyes out. You've got to get down here, Matt. This is a huge, huge crisis!"

He cursed beneath his breath, running a hand through his hair until it stood up in messy spikes. "I thought you told me she was on the pill," he growled.

"That's what I assumed, too. But when I asked her about that, she said she stopped taking them because they were making her gain weight. Like having a baby isn't going to do that and a whole lot more."

Matthew was horror stricken. "For Christ's sake, she's not actually thinking of having the baby, is she? She's only a kid, just sixteen."

"Plenty old enough to get knocked up. As for the other, I have no idea what she wants to do since she refuses to talk to me. But she'll probably talk to you. How soon can you be here?" 

He glanced at his dresser where the tickets to tonight's ballet were waiting to be placed in his jacket pocket. He closed his eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths before telling Lindsey, "I actually have plans for tonight, Linz. Plans that would be very difficult to cancel. Maybe I could just talk to Hayley on the phone for now, and then come down in the morning."