#117: The Pool Party

Kelly was sobbing.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lou asked, somewhat uncomfortably.

"There's really nothing to say," Kelly sniffed.  "You know the facts."

 "Kelly, it's not as though Derek cheated on you--he and Lana were over YEARS ago!" Lou pointed out.

"But he LIED to me!" Kelly sputtered.  "He told me he wanted all the same things in life that I do.  He told me he wasn't 'one of those guys who wants something "improper"!'  And a man who could father a child out of wedlock--well, that's not a man who wants the same things I do--AND it makes him OBVIOUSLY a man who wanted something 'IMPROPER'!!!"

"And," she continued, "how could he not tell me he already had a child???"

"Maybe he didn't know," Lou suggested.

"Do you expect me to believe that a woman he got pregnant--a woman who's responsible enough to be a police officer--didn't tell him she was pregnant???" Kelly demanded.

"I don't know," Lou said miserably.  "Look, I don't know this Lana woman, or how responsible a person she is.  But if you want me to go talk to her, I will.  It can't be that hard to find her, if she's a police officer."

_______________

"So, how long am I staying here?" Declan demanded to know the next morning.

"That's up to your mom," Derek said.  "I understand she's very busy at work."

"She always dumps me on someone," Declan complained.  "Or just leaves me alone."

"Well, your mom didn't 'dump' you on me," Derek told him.  "She just asked me to take care of you for a bit.  And you are welcome here--that's why my friends and I made a bedroom for you."

________________

Declan was moody all through the pancake breakfast Derek had made for them.

By the time Derek had walked the boy to the bus stop, Declan still hadn't uttered a word.

"You have a good day at school, okay?" Derek said.

_______________

Peter's cellphone rang.

"It's Rafael," he told Lou.  "He's inviting us to a pool party today--his ultra-extravagant 'pool bathroom' is finished.  And I'm dying to see it."

"I'd love to see it, too," Lou said.  "But what are we supposed to do about Kelly?"

"Rafael, Lou and I have a houseguest," Peter said.  "Do you mind if we bring her?"

"Rafael says it's fine," Peter told Lou.  "Now all we have to do is convince Kelly to get out of her pajamas and actually leave the house."

"Oh, I can make her go," Lou said confidently.  "I'll just tell her she HAS to go--I'm tired of this endless weepy shit."

_______________

It took a lot of convincing to get Kelly to go to Rafael's,

but once she was there, Rafael was his usual overly charming self (to Rafael, a beautiful woman was a beautiful woman, even if she was married and pregnant).

"I will make you something perfect, corazon," he purred.  "Non-alcoholic, of course, because of your delicate condition."

"Wow," Peter whistled, as he and Zoe toured the new pool bathroom.  "This really turned out well."

 "Yeah, there's nothing like throwing a gazillion dollars at something," Zoe said sardonically.

 Peter liked Zoe, and detected a bit of resentment in her tone.

"Whoa!--where did that come from?" he asked her.  "Something wrong in paradise?"
 

"Rafael's just been gone a lot lately," she said.  "And that bugs me.  "It's not like we're married, or like there's any sort of commitment here."

_______________

Rafael made drinks for everyone, and the party moved out to the patio while Rafael prepared them lunch.

Rafael served them Trout Meuniere, and kept them company while they ate.

_______________

After lunch, Kelly went indoors to lie down, to get out of the heat.

Rafael and Peter took a swim together and talked about design,

and Lou was shocked to discover that Zoe knew the mother of Derek's son.

"Yes, I met her one night at the Solar Flare Lounge," Zoe told her.  "We've become pretty good friends in the past couple of months."

"It was the shock of Kelly's life when Lana showed up on her doorstep and announced the kid was Derek's," Lou told her.

Zoe got up and sat down next to Lou.  "Yes, I told her I thought that was the wrong way to handle it," Zoe admitted.

"Could you please ask Lana if she will meet with me?" Lou asked.  "I need to do something to resolve this situation."