Free Whiskey Lullaby by Dawn Martens, Emily Minton

smiling down.
    I notice Jenny look up at her, looking mad. “Daddy, who is that?” Jenny says, eyeing Brittany.
    “Hey there. I’ m Daddy’s special friend.”
    Jenny looks at me and frowns. “Daddy, can she not be your friend anymore? I don’t like her.”
    I chuckle. “She’s not Daddy’s friend, baby. She’s just some annoying person that won’t leave me alone.”
    Jenny breathes out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. Can you go away now? I’m having fun with my Daddy.”
    “You heard the girl, Brittany. Get lost.”
    She huffs. “I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight?” she says touching my arm.
    “Don’t touch my Daddy,” Jenny screams at her.
    Brittany instantly drops her hand away. “I can see she’s going to be a problem. Are you going to let her talk to me that way?”
    “Are you serious right now? This is my daughter. She can speak to you however she wants. And if you don’t back off, I’ll let her bite your ankles.” Jenny giggles.
    “Fine, you’ll regret this, Jase. Don’t come crawling back to me when your so-called family ups and leaves you again,” she says as she saunters off.
    “Daddy, why would you ever be friends with someone like her?”
    I run my hand over my face. “I don’t know, baby. I was stupid.”
    “Yeah, I know you were. Now you need to be smart.” She pauses then looks back up. “So , daddy, how are you going to get momma back? I want you together.”
    “Oh , baby, I don’t know. I really messed up.”
    “How did you mess up?”
    Did Julie not tell her? Shit. How do I explain this to an eight-year-old little girl? “I, um, kissed another girl when I was with your momma before.”
    Jenny narrows her eyes. “Well, I’m glad she left you then. I would have too.” My heart feels like it’s being crushed right now. “But, we’re back now, so I think you need to fix it. But, Daddy, if you kiss anymore girls that aren’t Momma, I’ll bite your ankles,” she says with a smile.

Chapter 12
     
    Julie
    I’m at work and notice Bec eyeing me, but she doesn’t look smug, she looks worried. I pop a few of the pills the doctor gave me yesterday for my “pregnancy” sickness. It’s not just limited to mornings; it’s all the damn time. I lay my head on the desk for a minute, but the feeling doesn’t pass.
    Suddenly , the smell of Mr. Friedman’s catfish lunch hits me. My stomach starts to roll, and I know what is coming. I’m up and sprinting to the bathroom and throw up everything I’ve eaten today. God, will this never end? I was hardly ever sick when I was pregnant with Jenny, so I hope this passes soon. I flush the toilet and go to wash my face. Bec is standing in front of the sink. She gives me a hesitant smile.   
    “Are you ok ay?”
    “Yeah I’m fine ,” I say as I throw water on my face.
    “Does Jase know you’re pregnant?”
    I freeze. “No, he doesn’t, and I don’t know how or when I want to tell him yet,” I say as I dry my hands and face. “Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?”
    “I was hoping we could talk about before. About what happened?” she says timidly.
    “What could you possibly have to say to me? I had sex with your boyfriend, and I liked it? Oh, and I have been chasing after him ever since you left. Hell, even now, I hear you and that bitch Brittany have been after him still.”
    Bec puts her head down. “It wasn’t supposed to happen. I was going through… ”  She stops for a second and shakes her head. “He’d just lost his mom. We were drunk and it just happened. I’m sorry,” she says and a tear runs down her face.
    “Ok ay, so the one time, what about for all the others? You two apparently cheated a few more times behind my back. What about then?”
    “ There is something I need to tell you about that. But first, I need you to understand how sorry I am. I didn’t really mean for it to go that far, but I started to fall in love with him. At least, I thought I did. We’d talk