Chapter Twenty One: How to Solve a Problem Like Star - Part One

I walked down the stairs from Star’s room and right as my feet met the floor I started to hear her cry. I was at a loss as to what to do. I wanted to rush back up the stairs and comfort her but I was sure she didn’t want that; plus there was what Rosamund would say if she found out I’d done that. Thank goodness Rosamund had decided to take a nap before any of this happened. Her energy levels were being affected by the pregnancy, and today, it had been a Godsend. I found it hard to believe that she had slept through all of the slamming doors, arguing, and now crying. 

I stood at the bottom of the stairs and continued to listen to Star cry. In all the years I’d known Star I had only seen her cry a handful of times and most of them had been when we were little kids. I thought back to one time when we were eight playing in the tree house and she accidentally fell out of it. You could hear the crack of her arm bone breaking when she hit the ground. She immediately began to cry and I had rushed down to try to help her. That was the feeling I had right now; the feeling of wanting to help her, but this was a much more complicated situation. It wasn’t a broken arm, it was a broken heart and it not only involved her, it also involved Peter.

I sighed as I sat down on the steps, contemplating the situation. My best friend, who I’d known my whole life, was upstairs crying because she and my other best friend had broken up. Neither of them wanted to tell me what happened, but from what Star had said moments earlier it was sudden; at least she thought so. I had to admit that from my viewpoint, it was sudden. I had just hours before thought how I was somewhat jealous of their happy relationship and now they weren’t together anymore, and both were claiming that there was no way that they would get back together. It just didn’t add up to me. I thought back over the last several months and there were a couple instances that I remembered Star acting somewhat distant, but it wasn’t towards Peter, it was more towards me; which had been the norm since we had started talking again. We’d go for a period of time when we were talking and everything was fine and then suddenly, she’d be somewhat distant towards me. Maybe that had happened with Peter and I just hadn’t seen it.

“What is that noise?” I heard Rosamund ask as she came out of our bedroom. I had to stop myself from chuckling. Out of all the noises that had occurred in the last half hour the one that she had heard was Star crying.

“It’s Star. She and Peter broke up.” I said as I stood up.

“What? You mean in the last hour since I took a nap? What happened?” I could tell she was asking more out of curiosity then concern.

“I’m not sure. Peter came down a little while ago and didn’t want to say what happened. He left and I’m not sure if he’ll be back today and Star didn’t want to tell me what happened either.”

“Oh yay! Like this day wasn’t bad enough with us not getting to go home, now I get to hear her cry.” she said sarcastically.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” 

She looked surprised. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Two people, who happen to be my best friends just broke up and you’re acting like it’s an inconvenience to you!”

“Oh whatever, Jefferson.  They’ll probably get back together anyway.” She said in a bored tone.

“I’m not so sure about that. They both claim that it’s over and from what Star said, and considering I’ve known her forever, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Whatever happened was serious enough to cause them to break up and it wasn’t some little argument.”

Rosamund went back to looking annoyed. “Well, just as long as it doesn’t interfere with me and you, I don’t care.”

“Are you serious?! What part of that this is my two best friends and they’re hurting didn’t you get?”


 “Okay, okay! Sorry! I just meant that right now I’ve got a lot of stress with the pregnancy and I don’t want anymore.”

I pretended to believe that she really meant that, but I knew what she had meant. She didn’t want to deal with any of this and she didn’t want any my attention taken away from her. I was once again in a situation where I felt like I was being pulled in two different directions. My brain was telling me that I should be there for my wife and the baby but every other part of me was screaming at me to run up the stairs and comfort Star. It had been like that for at the last year now. I constantly had to fight between what I thought I should do and what I wanted to do; and as each day, week, and month went by, I felt more and more resentful of Rosamund. Then those resentful feelings always led to me remembering that I was the one who was responsible for my own misery. 

One of the only things that had given me any happiness was knowing that Star seemed happy with Peter. I had never been ecstatic about them being together. I was happy for them; given some reassurance by the fact that Star and him seemed to really care, maybe love each other. But even those feelings were sometimes plagued with an uneasiness; a jealousy almost. They seemed to have what I wanted and couldn’t have with Rosamund. 

“Jefferson, did you hear what I said?”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “No, I didn’t.”

“I said that the doctor told me that by the twentieth week we’ll be able to see find out what we’re having.”

“Oh.” I said. 

“Aren’t you excited about that?!” She asked defensively.

I couldn’t believe that I was standing at the bottom of the stairs, listening to my best friend cry and my wife was standing in front of me, asking me at that very moment if I was excited about finding out whether our child was going to be a boy or girl.

“Yes, Rosamund. I’m curious about what the baby is.”

“Curious, but not excited.”

I rolled my eyes. “Rosamund, you should know by now that I’m not an excitable kind of guy.” That seemed to get her off my back for the moment.

“Well, it won’t be until February so we have some time to think about a name.” That was the last thing I wanted to do now or even in the near future. To me, it didn’t make any sense to start thinking about names until we knew what we were having. Once again, she was wanting to do something that we hadn’t done during the last pregnancy. We had never discussed baby names and she hadn’t ever wanted to.

“We didn’t do that last time; we were going to wait till after the ultrasound to talk about names. Why don’t we do that this time?” I watched as her smile quickly vanished from her face.  The coloring in her face almost went white and then, just as suddenly,  turned a shade of red that I had never seen before.

“Fine! We’ll talk about it after!” She stormed off and slammed the bedroom door behind her. I had no idea what had just happened, I was honestly just glad that she was gone.

****Rosamund****

I slammed the door and clenched my fists. Of course this was happening now! I had finally done something that I thought even precious Star couldn’t compete with. Only I could have a baby with Jefferson, give him the child that he had months ago claimed he wanted. What had happened when I finally told him I was pregnant? He got pissed and shut me out even more. No matter how I tried to get him involved or excited about this pregnancy, he acted like he was anything but. My only hope was that once the baby was born he’d be so overjoyed that he would change his tune. But until then, I needed to figure out what to do about Star.

While she and Peter were together I didn’t have to worry too much about what her. They seemed happy enough and I figured that Jefferson wouldn’t be tempted to spend too much time with her. Now that she and Peter had broken up I needed to figure out a way to keep Jefferson and her apart as much as possible. If only I could think of a way to get her to move out. Maybe the tension that would be between her and Peter would be enough for both of them to move out and then I could be rid of both of them. Then Jefferson and I could have the house to ourselves.  It almost seemed like too easy of a plan. I could mostly sit back and watch the tension unfold; all I’d have to do is occasionally light some fires under one of them and keep the tension raised. I smiled thinking about how easy of a plan it was. I’d have to be careful though. It would take me being involved in what was happening between them and if I looked too interested or too caring, they would all know that I was up to something. I’d have to play out those moments very carefully.

I heard the front door open and close and I assumed it was Peter coming back. I put my ear to the door and listened for voices. It was definitely Peter and Jefferson. I slowly opened the door and listened to their conversation.

“Jeff, I’m telling you, it’s over. There’s no way we’re getting back together. Not after what we both said to each other.”

“What did you say to each other?” 

There was a long pause and I wished I could see Peter’s face. “It really doesn’t matter. It’s over and there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

“I just don’t get it Peter. Everything seemed fine until this afternoon and then suddenly it all fell apart.”

“I know to you, it seemed that way; and in some ways it was like that. But there were. . .issues that caused problems in our relationship. Issues that until recently neither of us were willing to see or admit. That’s all I’m going to say so please don’t ask again, Jeff.” The last part of what he said interested me. They had issues that neither of them wanted to see or admit. I wondered if I would be able to use that to my advantage.

“I won’t ask again. I’m just at a loss here, Peter. Both of you are hurting and since your pain is caused from each other, I don’t know what to do.”

“The last thing I want is to put you in the middle of this. The less you know, the better. Plus, it would really piss Star off if I told you about it.”

“Okay.” I could tell Jefferson was confused by what Peter had just told him. In some ways I could understand why Peter and Star weren’t telling Jefferson about what happened but part of me thought it was odd. Weren’t they all supposed to be friends? Why wouldn’t Peter at least give Jefferson the basics of what happened. Surely there wasn’t anything wrong with doing that. . .

“I’m going to go to my room for a while. Sorry we ruined Christmas.” 

“It’s fine, Peter. I’m more worried about you and Star than about Christmas.” There was a silence and then I heard footsteps on the stairs. I slowly closed the door and started pacing. If I could figure out what they had fought about I just might be able to pour salt on the wound. It would require me to be more social with the two of them so I could observe what they said and did, but it would be worth it if it meant that both of them would move out.

By early February it appeared that, although Star and Peter weren’t talking to each other, things weren’t as volatile as they had been. Starting on Christmas day I had started hanging around the living area more in hopes of observing any exchanges between Star and Peter, or even Jefferson and one of them. One thing that I noticed right away was that Star not only stayed away from Peter, but she also stayed away from Jefferson. Which at first I was happy about. But then I started wondering why she was acting that way. Jefferson hadn’t done anything to her. If anything, he seemed to want to help her but she kept enough distance between them that it made it impossible for Jefferson to do anything.

Another thing that I thought was interesting was what would happen if all three of them ended up in the same room together. It was the oddest exchange and it happened so rarely since it seemed that Star and Peter tried their hardest to avoid it. There was one instance where Peter was in the kitchen, getting something to eat. We never all ate together anymore and whenever one of them came out of their room to get something to eat, they would hurriedly fix something and then run back to their room to eat it.  Peter did just that and was about done when Star walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. While I pretended to be interested in the book I was reading I watched as Peter stopped fixing his food and Star stopped dead in her tracks. They stood still for a minute, staring at each other. Neither of them looked mad, more uncomfortable than anything. After several moments, Peter looked like he was about to say something but Jefferson walked out of our bedroom. He stopped as soon as he saw Star and Peter and the three of them stood there staring at each other. I finally noticed Star look at Jefferson, then at Peter and then back at Jefferson before she blushed and ran upstairs.  Since then, the three of them had only been in the same room two other times and it was almost a perfect repeat of what had happened the first time. Every single time, Star would look embarrassed and run away.

What I found the most curious thing was how Peter interacted with Jefferson. I could understand why he would be sad when he was forced to be around Star, but he sometimes acted sadder when he was around Jefferson. Almost as if seeing Jefferson brought him more pain than seeing Star. To me, that made no sense; Jefferson hadn’t done anything to cause them to break up. 

That was the way things went after Christmas. It was nice for me since it meant that Jefferson wasn’t spending much time with either Peter or Star. He still wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to me, but it was definitely more than if they had all still been talking to each other. He had also started acting more excited about finding out what the baby was in the last couple weeks. We were due to find out at my next doctors visit and he had actually started talking to me about it. I was starting to become more and more convinced that if I could keep the tension between Star and Peter up and cause the three of them to not talk to each other, I just might have a shot at him being excited about the baby being born and then hopefully Star and Peter would be gone by the next school year.

It was finally the day of my next ultrasound and we were going to hopefully find out what we were having. Even I had to admit that I was somewhat excited to find out what we were having, even though I originally didn’t want to have any children. I was eating breakfast in the kitchen when Jefferson came out of the bedroom. “Did you make any coffee?” He asked me like it was any other morning.

“Yes. I even got a cup out for you.” I watched as he walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. He turned around and yawned before taking a sip.

“Jefferson, are you sure you don’t want to talk about names before we go?”

He sipped his coffee slowly before answering. “No. I think it might be better to wait. Plus, you never know, we may have to come up with more than one.”

I had never even thought of that being a possibility. Both his older brother and sister were twins and each of them had a set of twins. Bridgette was about to have her second set of twins. “Surely the reason Charlie and Bridgette had twins is because they’re twins.” I argued.

“That’s not the way it works. Mom wasn’t a twin and she had Charlie and Bridge.”

“Surely the doctor  would have caught it by now if there was more than one. . .”

“They didn’t catch it with this last pregnancy of Bridge’s until they went in to see what they were having. The girl they’re having was hiding behind the boy.”

I was sure my eyes had gotten to be the size of oranges. I really didn’t want to have one child and now I was forced to face the fact that there was a slight possibility that I could be pregnant with two. 
 . .

“Relax, Rosamund. It’s not like you can do anything about it now anyway. What happened with Bridge isn’t very common. They usually see twins in an ultrasound before now.”

I started praying he was right. I heard footsteps on the stairs and instantly knew it was Peter. The footsteps were way too heavy to be Star’s.

“Hey Jeff, hi Rosamund.  I guess today’s the big day.”

“Yup.”

“Do you have any gut feeling as to what you think it is?” Peter asked me.

“I’m not sure. Some days I think it’s a boy other days I think it’s a girl.”

“Maybe you’re having twins.” Peter suggested and I started worrying again.

“It’s okay, Rosamund.” Jefferson tried to reassure me. “We better get going. Why did you make the appointment for so early in the morning?”

“I was sure I wasn’t going to want to wait all day long to find out so I made the appointment for the first time they had available. I’m sorry you’re having to miss a class for it.”

“It’s fine. I talked to the professor and since I’m doing well in the class, he was more than okay with it. I guess we’ll see you after, Peter.”

“Yup.”

Soon we were walking into the hospital and taking the elevator to the gynecologist’s office. Once we arrived at the fifth floor we walked down a hallway and into the office area. I signed myself in and we sat down in the waiting room. As each minute passed I got more and more nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m just really worried now that it might be twins. I hadn’t thought about that before. I don’t know if I can take care of twins. . .”

I was shocked by him putting his hand on my arm. “It will be fine, Rosamund. It’s not just you taking care of the baby. . .or however many it might be.” I smiled. That was the first time since Christmas he had been somewhat affectionate towards me.

“Rosamund Hobble.” The nurse called from the doorway and Jefferson and I were escorted to a room. “Have you had an ultrasound before?” I nodded.  She motioned to a sheet that was folded on the exam table. “Then you know to take off everything from the waist down and drape that over your lower half?” I nodded again. “Doctor Winters will be in to see you shortly.” She closed the door and I started to get ready. Jefferson turned his back as I took of my jeans and underwear and didn’t turn back around until I was sitting on the table with the sheet over me.

“Jefferson, you didn’t have to turn around.”

“I just wanted to give you privacy.”

I didn’t feel like arguing so I let it drop. Ever since the night that I had gotten pregnant he had been acting like that. Whenever he changed he would go into the bathroom and if I started to change in front of him, he would leave the room. 

****Jeff****

We sat there waiting for the doctor to come in. The only sound in the room was the sound of the second hand moving from a clock that was on one of the walls. I couldn’t help but think that I should say something. It seemed odd not to considering that we were hopefully about to find out what we were having. But no matter how hard I tried to think of something to say it seemed like there were no words filling my head. It felt like we sat there in silence for hours before someone came in the room.

“Hello, Rosamund! How have you been?” I watched as a woman wearing a white coat and scrubs walked over to Rosamund and shook her hand.

“I’ve been good. Not so tired and the nausea has finally stopped.”

“That’s wonderful! The second trimester can be a wonderful relief for many women.” She turned to look at me. “You must be Jefferson. It’s nice to meet you! I’m doctor Winters.” I stood up and shook her hand. 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” I offered.

“Well now, I’m going to get a nurse in here and we’ll get some measurements of your little one and then we’ll see if they’re going to cooperate and let us know if they’re a boy or girl.” The doctor stepped out of the room and soon she and another woman were walking back into the room. I watched as the doctor placed some goo on Rosamund’s belly and then the nurse turned the lights down. Next the doctor used a device and an image popped up on the screen.

“Ah! There!” She exclaimed when she saw the baby on the monitor. I was shocked by what I saw. “So here we see the face. Obviously.” I sat there in awe as I could clearly make out the eyes, nose, and mouth of my child. “And it looks like they already like to suck their thumb.” I knew I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open but I didn’t care. This was by far the most amazing thing I had ever seen.

“Let’s grab some quick measurements and then we’ll move onto the big question that I’m guessing you both want answered.” She started taking measurements of different areas of the baby’s body; head, arms, legs, and every once in a while remarking about how everything looked great. It didn’t take her long to get the measurements she needed and soon she was talking again.

“We do that, Jefferson, so we can see how well the baby is developing. And sometimes, it gives us a better estimate as to when the baby is due. From what I’m seeing here today, you’re still looking good for a July delivery and being at 20 weeks pregnant. Baby is measuring right at that.”

“So, before we go any further, I’m going to ask both of you if you want to know, but ultimately, I do what the mommy wants. Hopefully, though, you’re both in agreement. Do you for sure want to find out what you’re having?”

Rosamund and I looked at each other and then at the same time said “Yes.”

“Okay then!” She moved the device and started concentrating on the monitor. “Hmm. . .this little one is going to make this a little difficult.” She said and I started to worry that we weren’t going to find out what we were having. After a moment I saw the baby move on the monitor and the doctor let out a sound of approval. “Ah ha! Well, folks I can say with almost one hundred percent certainty that you are having a little girl.”

“Are you sure?” Rosamund asked.

“Pretty sure.” The doctor admitted. “I always say that there’s a very slight possibility that something was hiding, but in this case, I would be completely shocked if you delivered a boy.”

“And there’s only one?” Rosamund wondered.

“Yes, there’s only one. Do twins run in your family?”

Rosamund shook her head. “They run in mine.” I admitted.

“Ah. Well, there’s only one baby in there and it’s a girl!  Congratulations! Here are some ultrasound pictures.” She handed the pictures to me. “We’ll schedule an appointment for three weeks from now. Let us know if you need anything before then. It was nice meeting you, Jefferson.” The doctor shook my hand again and she and the nurse left. I sat there in complete shock at what had just happened. I had seen my child that Rosamund was carrying on a screen. Not only had I seen her I witnessed her sucking her thumb; inside the womb. 

“Jefferson, I’m ready.” I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I hadn’t even noticed that Rosamund had gotten dressed. I stood up and we walked to the checkout desk where she made her next appointment. We continued to walk to the car and after I got in I turned the key in the ignition.

“Jefferson, are you okay? Are you disappointed that it’s a girl?”

I was snapped out of my thoughts and looked over at her. “What? I’m fine Rosamund. I’m just. . .I don’t know, it’s different seeing the baby on the screen then just on the ultrasound pictures.”

She nodded. “It almost makes it more real. At least that’s what I thought when I had my first appointment.” I nodded in agreement. “But are you upset that it’s a girl?”

“Oh my God, no! I really wouldn’t have minded either way.”

“I just know that some men don’t care as much for having girls. They would prefer a boy to do manly things with.”

“I’m not one of them, Rosamund. All I care about is that the baby is healthy.”

“So can we start talking about names now?”

“We can, but let’s wait at least until we tell our families what we’re having.”

“Okay.” I was relieved when she agreed.

We spent the rest of the car ride talking about what all we needed to do before the baby was born. It seemed so overwhelming all of a sudden. We needed to buy nursery furniture, then there was the question about what room we were going to use as a nursery. We were discussing the room situation as we walked into the house. I was stunned when I saw Star and Peter downstairs together.

****Rosamund****

As we entered the house I wasn’t happy with what I saw. Star was in the living area and Peter was in the kitchen. I hadn’t seen them in the same room for more than a couple minutes since before Christmas Eve. If they were becoming more comfortable around each other that could mean that they would still be living here next year and the last thing I wanted was Star still living here.

We hadn’t made it five feet into the house before the both of them were walking over to Jefferson and me. 

“So? What did the doctor say?” Star asked.

“Is it twins?” Peter wondered.

I rolled my eyes. “No, it’s not twins.” Jefferson answered. “Do you want to tell them or do you want me?” He offered.

“You go ahead.”

He looked at both of them and then smiled. “It’s a girl.”

I watched as Peter and Jefferson hugged. It was the first time they had smiled at each other in weeks. Jefferson then turned towards Star. She looked very uncomfortable as she and Jeff hugged. Right as they were starting to pull away from each other she looked over at me our eyes met for a split second. She immediately broke eye contact with me and blushed. “Congratulations.” 

She quietly said and then hurried upstairs. I looked over at Peter and he had gone back to acting uncomfortable. I couldn’t help but smile.  That was the missing piece that I needed.  All the pieces made sense now; Star trying to stay away from Peter and Jefferson, Peter acting sad around Jefferson, how Star acted embarrassed around both of them and just now when she had to hug Jefferson. That was why neither of them wanted to tell him about the reason they broke up; because it had to do with him. It was obvious what I needed to do now. I needed to rub a little salt into the jealousy wound that Peter was hiding and to make Star feel as uncomfortable as possible. . .