Shock Factor

In the morning, after some breakfast, Tré drove Nickey home. He did comment that she lived in a much nicer house, and that her number plate matched her shop front, but on the doorstep he got to something a little more serious.

“Nickey, I barely knew you back then, and I barely know you now. All I know is that you’re an amazing person.”
“You’re sweet Tré.”
“No, I'm being serious! I need to know more about you. In my head, you’re still just a perfect one night stand. I'm nearly forty; it shouldn’t be my scene anymore.”

They had coffee in the kitchen, and started to actually talk about life in general. Tré cleared up some ‘facts’ Nickey had heard, and Nickey answered the questions Tré asked. They were interrupted by the doorbell.

Tré stood in the doorway with his coffee, and Nickey, her head still slightly sore, answered before they could ring again. It was Shaun, and Zekkia. Only Nickey and Shaun knew how awkward this situation was, and were both frozen in shock. Tré had picked up on it in the seconds before Zekkia asked who the man in the kitchen doorway was.

Shaun was who answered. He was still at the front door, and his expression was blank. Nickey held the door tightly.

“Zee-Zee, I think that’s Tré Cool.” He looked at Nickey. “Or is it a look-alike?”
“Nope mate I'm the real deal.” Nickey looked from Tré to Shaun, and then to Zekkia.
“How ‘bout I get Alex to come round and watch TV with you while me, Daddy and Tré talk in the kitchen?”
“Daddy?” Tré looked annoyed, and rightly.

Within five minutes, Alex had come to baby-sit Zekkia. Nickey shut the kitchen door. With two shut doors in between, Zekkia and Alex wouldn’t be able to hear unless they shouted. Shaun began to complain, but Nickey gave him a look that made him shut up. Instead he asked quietly;

“What… the… fuck? That… is Tré fucking Cool.” He pointed, “The man you slept with before me. And now you fuck him over the weekends. What is he, Zekkia’s new dad? Or are you just whoring yourself out?”

“Hey, man. I'm not trying to take your place as Daddy.” Tré scoffed, “I never met this kid. All I wanna say is WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?”

His voice was raised and he had stood up. Nickey looked at the door and then sat on the chair, head on the table, wrapped in her arms. The two angry men stopped as a soft sob came from Nickey.

“Hey, Nickey, I'm sorry, I never meant to yell…” Tré sat next to her and tried to comfort her. Shaun did the same on the other side.

“I… I just wanted to pick a good time to tell you. Both of… of you.” She forced between sobs. “I'm so sorry. I would have told you Tré, I just… never got it in time. I'm sorry Shaun, I always loved Tré… I… I couldn’t let it pass me by.”

She stopped crying, and Shaun apologised for his accusation. Tré apologised for his sarcasm. Then she began to tell Tré the whole story.

“When I first met you Tré, I’d only had sex with one guy, Mark,” Nickey sniffed as Shaun snorted at the name, “and he always used a condom. You didn’t. And a few days after that I got together with Shaun.”

“He didn’t always use a condom, either, coz we got high a lot. A few weeks later I took a pregnancy test. Positive. Zekkia. Shaun didn’t even know we had slept together, not until I told him.”

“See, I'm blonde, my mum’s blonde, and my dad’s raven. Shaun’s raven, his mum’s brunette, and his dad’s raven. No ginger. Zekkia’s ginger. So are you. I thought… maybe…” She broke off.

Tré’s eyes were wider than saucers. He opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it again. Shaun put his head on the table now; it was his turn to be sad.

“I… she's my daughter… you can’t take her away from me, I love her.” Shaun turned to Tré. ”She's… she's my little Zee-Zee… I guess I’ll just go home now.”

He sighed and stood up. Nickey stood in between him and the doorway, and when he looked at her, she hugged him goodbye. Tré thought they looked more like brother and sister now then ex-lovers.

Zekkia might be his? This was too much for one morning. He still had a hangover. Thank fuck he was already sitting down.