28/Unfortunate Timing

Eric stormed towards Alex and Lila in a huff. "We talked about this!" He bellowed towards Alex. "You're having a dissolution!"

Alex stepped in front aggressively leaning towards his brother. "No, you spoke at me and completely steamrolled over my words!"

Eric rubbed his hand against his mouth roughly. He took a deep breath, staring intently at his brother.

Lila noticed Eric's face was getting red and his mouth was pouty. Despite the volatile situation taking place in front of her, she couldn't help herself from salivating at the sight of his broad shoulders. They were on display and they demanded attention. She gave in to her instincts taking a good look at him and his sexy muscles. He was dressed in a tight blue muscle shirt that tempted her into buying tickets to the gun show. Her eyes traveled down his body to the black workout pants that hugged his perky butt as they showed off its firmness reminding Lila how good it felt when she squeezed it during their very few intimate moments.

She subconsciously bit her lip. When she felt proof that her body was responding to Eric she remembered where she was and what was at stake. She cleared her throat trying to bring her thoughts to the situation at play.

Eric's bespectacled gaze moved to her.

"Why don't we sit down and actually talk about this." She motioned towards the table behind her. "There is a lot to discuss and it's important that we actually listen to each other right now."

Eric sucked his teeth. "You were on my side last night!" He exclaimed while motioning towards her with his hands. "What happened overnight that changed your mind?"

"Nothing!" She defended. "But Alex and I had a conversation about how he felt in all of this," she placed a hand on Alex's arm while staring at Eric. "You need to remember that he's the one that needs to decide."

Alex jumped in. "That's right! I'm the one going through this with my body. I'm glad someone actually listened to me for once!"

"Alex, you have no idea what's ahead of you!" Eric spaced his words deliberately while raising his tone.

"Eric," it was now Lila's turn to get between the brothers. She placed two hands against Eric's chest, pushing him back gently. "You also need to remember that Alex is in a delicate state right now. The last thing he needs is stress."

Although he opened his mouth to say something, it seemed her words struck a nerve. He snapped his mouth shut. He stared at her. "Well then you and I need to have a word without Alex in the vicinity because I still have a lot to say to you."

Relieved that Eric was at least willing to have a conversation, Lila nodded while looking into his eyes. "That's fine."

"No way! I need to be present too!" Alex stated immediately.

Lila turned to the younger brother grabbing him by the shoulders and looking into his eyes. "Alex, please, let me have a moment with Eric, yeah?" She could tell by the storm brewing in his eyes he wasn't ready to be cut out of the conversation but right now she was his only hope to make his brother understand. She turned to Eric. "It's evident your brother just needs a little more time to see your side of things. Give me a chance to work on him."

"But Lila-" He began.

"Alex, please. Just let me try." She urged.

He sighed angrily. "Fine."

Lila grabbed her belongings from the table, spinning to look at Eric. "Shall we grab a cup of coffee?"

Her huffed and rolled his eyes. "Let's go," he grumbled. Eric led the way to the door holding it open for her. As she walked through the doorway, he informed her he would be driving. He escorted her to the passenger side of his SUV opening the passenger door for her.

Once she was tucked inside he walked around the front of the vehicle quickly settling in the driver's seat. He immediately turned the engine over and rolled down the driver's side window, however, he did not set the vehicle in motion. "Did you tell me what I wanted to hear last night because we'd just had sex?" Eric blurted out in an accusatory manner.

Lila startled at his unexpected verbal finger pointing. "Of course not! How dare you even ask that!" She replied, very much taking offense at the accusation. "One thing had nothing to do with the other!" She defended. "I hadn't even considered adopting the baby until a few minutes ago after listening to Alex's side!"

"Then what changed, Lila? Enlighten me, please." Eric placed his hand on the steering wheel, turning his body towards her. "Why are you going to make my little brother go through this drastically painful and life-altering process for you?"

"I'm not making him do anything!" She argued back. "Stop saying that!" Now it was her turn to huff. "Why are you against your brother preserving his fertility anyway?"

"I'm not against him preserving his fertility, I'm against pain he'll experience and the damage to his reputation!"

Lila paused.

She had to concede on that aspect. "Well, I can certainly understand that you're coming from a place of love."

"Thank you!" Eric boasted prematurely while waving a hand towards her.

"But that doesn't mean that you're right." She immediately retracted her show of support to avert any misunderstandings on his part.

Eric rolled his eyes. "I don't expect you to understand that because you're an only child," he said scathingly.

"Well, I don't expect you to understand because you never had to live with the prospect of not having offspring!"

Eric squeezed his lips tight, turning his face forward.

She leaned her arm against the base of the window frame leaning her head against her hand. "It's not even about me keeping the baby, because I very much do want it. There is a bigger picture here, Eric and you need to accept it."

A sound of car doors closing was nearly imperceptible in the background. If Lila wasn't so caught up in the moment with this intense conversation, she would have noticed the two people coming towards them.

"Why don't you keep the baby, then?" Lila suggested since she couldn't think of a better way to prove to Eric she wasn't selfishly only thinking about herself.

He released a short, bitter laugh. "What is it with you? I already scheduled the fetal dissolution for next week."

"No!" Lila exclaimed, slamming her hand on the dashboard. "If you don't want kids, then that baby will be all mine and I will be damned if I let you dissolve it to nothingness!"

"I'm going to be a gran-gran!"

Lila's eyes shot to the tall red-haired woman staring into the vehicles cab with a look of shock on her face.

She noticed the woman's smile widened when she looked at Eric's abdominal area tenderly.