When You Read Between the Lines

Joe walked into his apartment Wednesday evening after to work to find Nick sitting on the couch with the television on. The bags he had brought a week and a half ago were piled neatly on the floor next to him. Nick looked up when he heard Joe walking into the living room and he turned off the television and stood up.

“What’s going on?” Joe asked, setting his camera bag and car keys on the end table.

“So you know I got a lawyer the other day,” Nick started, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking down at his feet. “He said I’d look better if I wasn’t slumming it with my brother so I got my own apartment yesterday. It’s not that far from here so I’ll still be able to visit everyone and vice versa. I just wanted to tell you in person so you wouldn’t come home to an empty apartment.”

“Wow,” Joe said, letting out a deep breath. “I’m proud of you, Nick.”

“What for?”

“For being so mature about this whole situation. I’m sure it’s tough.”

“You have no idea,” Nick said and Joe looked down at his feet. “Well, I should get going.”

“Yeah,” Joe said. He looked back up and walked over to Nick, giving him a hug. Nick grabbed his bags and took one last look around to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. The phone rang as Nick walked down the hallway and Joe went to grab it. “Hello?”

“Hey, I need to talk to Nick,” Faith said.

“Nick, hold on,” Joe said, putting his hand over the phone. Nick stopped and turned around giving Joe a confused look. “It’s Faith, for you. He’s coming,” he said back into the receiver. “You almost missed him.”

“Almost missed him? Where’s he going?” she asked as Joe handed Nick the phone.

“Hello?” Nick asked, his voice cold as he turned his back to Joe. Joe stayed as silent as possible to see if he could hear what Faith was saying. “I was just leaving to go to my place. Yes, I got my own place. Tonight? Alright, fine, why don’t you just come over to my place? 86 Gleason St., apartment 16. Yeah okay. Bye.”

“What was that about?” Joe asked, cursing in his head as Nick hung up the phone.

“She wants to meet tonight. She said she wanted to talk to me about something. I should really get going though; I should put together the futon I bought so we’ll have something to sit on.”

“Alright, see you later Nick,” Joe said, walking his brother to the door. He waited until the elevator doors opened and Nick entered before closing his door. Immediately he rushed over to his phone and dialed Faith’s number, jumping over the arm of the couch and lying down on it, the phone pressed to his ear.

“I knew you’d be calling,” she said, a slight hint of laughter in her voice.

“Oh did you now?” he asked, smiling at her words.

“But of course. I had this gut feeling that Nick wouldn’t tell you what we were talking about.”

“Well you were right. All he said was that you asked to meet to talk about something. The end.”

“Well if you must know…”

“Yes, I must,” he said and she laughed.

“I want to talk to him about Friday night and how to tell the rest of the family we’re getting divorced.”

“Are you going to tell him you’re pregnant?” Joe asked, his breath hitching in his throat.

“I was thinking about it but… if we’re going to drop us on Friday night we might as well drop the fact that the baby is yours. I don’t want to tell Nick it might be yours alone. I’m… scared to.”

“Then I guess… he’ll find out on Friday like everyone else,” Joe sighed.

“He’s going to be so mad,” she whispered.

“I know. But there’s nothing we can do about it. He’s just going to have to take it. I don’t think he’d ever dream of it but… if it comes to it you know I would never let him hurt you, right?”

“Of course,” she sighed. “Listen, I have to go and finish getting ready then MapQuest Nick’s apartment. I’ll call you tomorrow letting you know how it went.”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you, too. Bye,” she said, hanging up. Joe sighed and put the phone on the coffee table next to him. His stomach rumbled from hunger and he got up and headed to the kitchen, living his life as if it were back to normal again.

****

All night long Joe had wondered how Faith’s conversation with Nick had gone. Not that she was going to let anything major out, of course. She was just going to talk to him about how they were going to reveal to the rest of the family that they were going to get a divorce. She wondered if she even told him that her parents were there.

He went through his morning routine as usual and headed into work. As he walked through the building he constantly checked his cell phone to see if Faith had called or texted. Before heading into this office he stopped by Charlotte’s to see if she was in yet. When he turned the corner he saw her door was open so he stopped in, rapping his knuckles against the door sharply.

“Oh hi,” she said, turning in her desk chair and smiling at him. “What’s up?”

“Um… I have big news,” he said, realizing just how much he had to tell her.

“I was wondering when you’d come to talk to me. I haven’t heard one word about Faith or Nick since that Halloween party. Come in, sit down.”

“Okay but I have to be kind of quick. Faith said she was going to call me this morning,” he said, taking the seat across from her.

“Okay, spill,” she said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms across her chest.

“Well I took your advice, about kissing her. She and I went shopping for a birthday present for Kevin and in one store we were joking around about something and then our voice tones changed and I just leaned in and kissed her.”

“How did she react?”

“She pulled away and had a tear dripping down her face. She flinched away from me when I tried to touch her. It turns out she was just confused.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Saturday night, the day after Kevin’s birthday where she didn’t really talk to me, Nick had made reservations for the two of them at Rosewood Mansion.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah. Well he also bought her a really fancy dress and hired a car to bring her there. She got there and got to the table and waited for him figuring he’d be a few minutes late. An hour later she asked the hostess to call her a cab,” he said and Charlotte gasped, sitting up and resting her elbows on her desk, leaning closer to Joe. “She went back to her house for a few minutes before coming to my place.”

“What happened next?” she asked, hardly able to contain herself.

“We talked about it after she calmed down. We drank some wine. And then I told her that she was the one I wanted and we… had sex,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“No… shit…” Charlotte said, leaning back in her chair again. “So… what happened between her and Nick.”

“She told him she wants a divorce and that she might be pregnant…”

“You didn’t wear a condom?” she asked a tad loudly and Joe looked over his shoulder to see if anyone might have been in the hallway.

“I didn’t have one and she was off birth control since she and Nick had been fighting and not having sex.”

“So is she?”

“Is she what?”

“Pregnant?”

“Oh… yeah.”

“Well congratulations. You got the girl and a kid all in one shot,” she said, a smile on her face.

“Well… that baby might not be mine?”

“What do you mean?”

“She and Nick had sex on Halloween before they went to the party. Since she was off the birth control Nick wore a condom but she said it was old and it might have ripped.”

“Jesus Christ,” she muttered under her breath. “Is there anything else?”

“Her parents flew in from Connecticut for as long as she needs them and her Dad has Huntington’s disease. There’s going to be a big family dinner tomorrow night where she and Nick will tell of the divorce. Then Faith’s going to say she’s pregnant then… she and I are going to tell them about us.”

“Oh man. Um… good luck with that. I hope everything goes alright,” she said, looking sympathetically up at him.

“Yeah, so do I. I should go and see if Faith’s been trying to call my office phone since I should have been in there ten minutes ago.”

“Yeah, go. Let me know how tomorrow night goes if it’s not such a huge disaster.”

“I will. See you later,” he said, turning left out of her office and walking down the hallway to his. As he was unlocking his door he heard the phone ringing. He rushed in, flicking the light on and leaned across his desk to reach for the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi,” Faith said and he felt himself smiling. He set his stuff down and walked around his desk to sit in his chair.

“Hi. How’d it go?”

“Fine. We decided that we’re going to wait after dinner. When we’re all just sitting around in the living room.”

“That sounds like a good idea. So you’re okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. It was very civil.”

“Good. I’m glad. So now we just have to worry about tomorrow night,” he sighed, running his free hand down his face.

“Yeah. Crap… I have to go. The kids are coming in. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said, waiting to hear the click of her hanging up before he set his phone back on the receiver.

****

After work on Friday, Joe rushed home to get ready for the dinner at Faith’s. he hurried into his apartment closing the door behind him, tossing his keys into the bowl, and dropping his bags on the floor. As he headed to his bedroom he pushed play on the answering machine, unbuttoning his shirt on the way.

“Hey, it’s me. Knowing you you’re probably going to be rushing to get ready. Well… don’t,” Faith’s voice said and Joe paused halfway through pulling his belt through the loops.

“Why?” Joe asked himself, walking back into the living room.

“I know it kind of sounds like I don’t want to see you but you know I do. I just think that right now for the next few hours we should just play it cool like always. Just come at a time you normally would. You know like ten minutes after the time I told everyone else. So, I’ll see you at 6:10.”

Joe sighed and looked at his clock. 5:13. It would take him about twenty minutes to get to Faith’s. Slowly he headed through his bedroom to the bathroom and ran the water. To Faith this may have made sense but to him it just seemed ridiculous but he wasn’t going to argue. He felt there would be plenty of that happening later on.

****

At 6:10 on the dot he pulled into Faith’s driveway. Everyone else had already arrived. He climbed out of the car and took the shortest route possible from the driveway to the front door. He didn’t bothering ringing the doorbell, there was a possibility no one would hear it anyway. As he was closing the door behind him he could hear Faith’s melodic voice. Peeking his head around the corner he saw her talking to his mother. Nick was on the other side of the room talking to Frankie. His father, Kevin and Danielle were talking to Faith’s parents. Joe walked in and joined his mother and Faith.

“Hey,” he said, kissing both women on the cheek.

“Joseph,” Denise said, smiling at her son.

“Hi,” Faith said, trying to give him a smile. He noticed that she was twisting her fingers together nervously. The scent of lasagna wafted from the kitchen and from that he could tell that she was trying to get on everyone’s good side first.

“It smells good in here,” he said, smiling at Faith.

“Oh, I should go put the garlic bread in,” Faith said, looking towards the kitchen. “Excuse me.”

“How have you been, darling?” Denise asked, looping her arm with her sons as they walked to the couch.

“Fine. I’ve just been busy, especially with the holidays coming up.”

“That’s right. Thanksgiving is coming up.”

“That it is,” he said, nodding his head.

“Hi Joe,” Danielle said, looking at Joe but not smiling and he wondered if she knew what was to come.

“Hi Dani,” he said, smiling at her wider than usual. She raised an eye brow but turned back to her conversation with Kevin and their father. Meg and William weren’t in sight and Joe realized they were probably with Faith. “Excuse me, I’m going to go say hello to Faith’s parents.”

“Joe,” Frankie said, nodding towards his older brother. Joe put his hand on Frankie’s shoulder in passing and walked into the kitchen.

“Need any help?” he asked as Faith pulled some plates down from the cabinet and set them on her father’s lap. Her mother was going through the silverware drawer pulling out the necessary utensils.

“Sure,” Faith said, smiling at him. “Can you get water glasses?”

“No problem,” he said, heading over to the cabinet while she grabbed the wine glasses from the one next to him. “Are you nervous?”

“Yes,” she whispered, her eyes darting to the right to look at him. “Are you?”

“Oh yeah,” he said, nodding his head.

****

After dinner Faith and Danielle cleared the table while everyone else moved to the living room to get comfortable. Nick sat on a couch with Kevin, leaving a spot for Danielle and no room for Faith. While the others occupied seats the only spot left was the chair which Joe stood behind so Faith could have it. Everyone sat in a comfortable silence, uncomfortable for Joe, digesting the meal they just ate. Faith and Danielle joined them, taking their seats.

“Would anyone like some coffee?” Faith asked, hovering over the chair before fully sitting down.

“Not just yet.”

“No thank you.”

“Alright,” she said, lowering herself the rest of the way. She looked down at her hands and then glanced over to Nick who was picking at a thread on his pant leg. Joe cleared his throat and nudged the back of Faith’s chair with his knee. She looked up at him and nodded her head. “Um, everyone, Nick and I have something to tell you all.”

“What is it?” Kevin Sr. asked, looking from his son to his daughter-in-law.

“Faith and I are getting a divorce,” Nick said, not looking up from his leg.

“What?” Denise asked, putting her hand over her heart.

“Why?” Frankie asked, receiving a look from Kevin.

“Frankie,” Kevin scolded his youngest brother.

“No, it’s okay Kevin,” Faith said, clearing her throat. “Well things have been rocky between us and the other weekend things escalated and it’s just not working out.”

“But you’ve only been married for four months,” Denise pressed. “Surely it’s just newlywed complications.”

“Mom,” Joe said under his breath, looking at her.

“Joseph, your brother and sister-in-law are having marital issues, I’m just trying to help. Your father and I were married at a much younger age and we had our problems at first but here we are, married for thirty years.”

“But there’s more to it than just being newlyweds, Mom,” he said and out of the corner of his eye he saw Nick look up at him.

“Like what?” Denise asked, looking at Nick and then at Faith.

“I’m… pregnant,” Faith whispered, not daring to look at her in-laws. Joe looked down as well, not sure of how his parents would react. To his right he saw William trying to lift his left arm to put his hand on Faith’s. Joe leaned over and helped him lift it.

“Thank… you,” he wheezed, looking up at Joe who smiled weakly down at him.

“Isn’t that all the more reason to stay together?” Kevin Sr. asked, looking at Nick. Joe looked up to see Kevin and Danielle exchange a glance and then look at Joe.

“No,” Nick whispered, his voice cracking.

“There’s more,” Faith whispered, sniffing back tears. Joe’s heart fluttered in his chest a million times over.

“What?” Nick asked, looking over at her, his eyes red.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, squeezing her father’s hand, her voice breaking as she let out a sob.

“What is it Faith?” Danielle whispered, looking sympathetically at her sister-in-law.

“The baby… might not be Nick’s,” she said, putting her hand over her mouth as tears ran down her face. Nick stood up and looked down at her.

“Who else’s would it be?” he asked, his voice louder than before.

“Nicholas, calm down,” Kevin Sr. said, standing up as well, walking closer to his son. Joe looked down at Faith who was biting her lip and shaking her head. She leaned over and buried her face in her father’s shoulder.

“Whose?” Nick shouted.

“Mine,” Joe said loudly causing Nick’s head to snap in his direction.

“You son of a bitch,” Nick muttered stepping toward Joe. Their father grabbed his arms trying to hold him back and Kevin and Frankie jumped up to help, Kevin stepping in front of Nick, pushing on his chest. “Let me go!”

“Stop!” Faith pleaded. Danielle jumped up and sat on the arm of the chair, wrapping her arms around Faith’s shoulders.

“How dare you accuse me of cheating on you, Faith! You’re the cheater. You cheated on me with my brother!”

“It’s not cheating if you’re in love,” Joe said, stepping closer so he was behind Kevin, staring straight into Nick’s eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Nick said, trying to reach his arms towards Joe but his father and Frankie had a good hold on him.

“No, Nick. Faith and I love each other. I love her more than you ever did and I always have. I’ve been more of a husband to her these past few months than you ever were! Face it, Nicholas, Faith and I are meant to be. You’re just the ass who screwed it up.”

“Fuck you!” Nick shouted and Joe heard a gasp. Denise stood up and walked over to her husband and sons.

“Kevin, move,” she said, putting her hand on Kevin’s arm. He slowly stepped away from Nick’s chest and Denise stood in front of her son.

“Nicholas Jerry Jonas, I don’t care how old you are. Never, ever, let me hear you say that to your brother ever again,” she said sternly. Nick looked into her eyes before breaking down in tears. His knees gave way and Kevin Sr. and Frankie let go of his arms as he landed on his hands and knees on the floor, sobbing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Faith kept repeating over and over again as she cried into Danielle’s shoulder.

Meg grabbed her husband’s hand, her eyes tearing up at the sight of her daughter. Faith continued to sob as Danielle tried to calm her down, running her hand over her hair. Denise kneeled on the floor in front of Nick, pulling his torso up and wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he cried. Joe backed up against a wall, watching as Kevin, Frankie, and their father looked down at Nick. He sank down to the floor and covered his ears with his hands, trying to drown out the mess that he had created. It was all his fault.