Chapter 5 Jeff didn’t say much at the signing.  He kept looking at each one of the fans, wondering if they were "the one".  Much to his delight, that one fan didn’t make their presence known if they were there.  The guys finished up and headed home.  As they pulled out of the parking lot, they didn’t notice her as she stepped out from behind the building. "You’ll know, Jeff.  Soon enough.", the stalker said as if Jeff could here her, "Very soon." Matt dropped Jeff off at his house and rushed home to spend the afternoon with Shea. "Don’t over sleep tomorrow, Jeffro.  Our plane leaves at nine.", Matt called as he pulled his car onto the street.   Jeff waved at his brother as if to say ‘okay’.  He walked into his house and sighed heavily.  It was so empty without Kari there.  Kari.  "She should be calling soon.", he thought to himself and then jumping as the phone rang. "Damn.  I gotta quit doing that.", he told himself with a laugh as he picked up the phone and said hello.  "Hey." It was Kari.   "That’s weird.  I just said that you should be calling." "Really?  Who were you talking to?" He laughed "Me.  There’s no one else here."   "It won’t be long until we’re home."   "We?" "Yep."   "Wow.  So, I take it the doctor said you are?"   "Yeah.  You don’t sound too excited."   "I dunno.  I just think it hasn’t really hit me yet."   "Oh."   "Come on, Kari.  Give it a little time to sink in.  I didn’t expect this.     We were gonna wait.  Remember?"   "Yeah."   "Don’t be upset.  I’m sure I’ll be more excited when you get home."   "You know what, Jeff.  Don’t bother.  Don’t put on an act for me.  If you’re not happy, then you’re just not happy.  But the point is, I’m pregnant and whether you choose to accept this is up to you.  Regardless,I’m going to have a baby.  Whether you want to be a father, is up to you."   "Calm down, Kar.  You’re talking crazy.  Don’t go getting all worked up."   "I’m going to go now.  I think you need some time to yourself, to think about what you want."   "Time to myself?  That’s all I’ve had for the past few weeks.  I’m tired of it.  I want you here so we can talk about this." "I have to go.  Bye." "Kari, I love you." But she didn’t hear him because she had already hung up.  That didn’t seem like Kari to him.  She was usually level headed and they would always talk about how they were feeling.  Maybe it was the pregnancy.  He had heard so many stories from his co-workers about how moody their wives had gotten when they were pregnant.  Even more reason for him to be uncomfortable about the whole situation.  Jeff decided to go to his father’s house to get some advise.  After a few hours of talking, Jeff felt a lot better.  He was actually starting to look forward to his pending fatherhood.  He was just about to leave when Matt showed up.   "Hey bro.", Matt said as he walked into the living room.   "Hey.", Jeff returned.   "What are you two up to?", Matt asked his father and brother.   "We were just talking.", Gilbert answered.   "About what?", Matt asked plopping down on the couch next to his father.   "You sure are nosey.  Don’t you have something better to do?", Jeff asked him.    "Nope.  Shea’s taking a nap.  She’s a little tired.", Matt said with a sly grin.   "I don’t even want to hear it Matthew.", Gilbert told his oldest son.   "What?", Matt asked innocently as  Jeff just shook his head.    "While we’re on the subject…..are you gonna be a Daddy or what?", Matt asked.   "Looks that way.", Jeff said realizing that he was actually smiling about it.  He actually felt good about it.   "Congrats.", Matt told his brother. "Thanks.  Now if you two will excuse me, I’m going home to call my wife and do some major ass kissing.", Jeff said as he stood up and headed out the door. "Ass kissing?", he heard Matt ask his father as he shut the door behind him. As Jeff stepped onto his front porch, he noticed a large envelope on the ground in front of the door.  His heart began to race.  He looked around his yard trying to see if the person who left it was still there, but he saw nothing.  For a moment, he stared at the envelope trying to decide whether to pick it up or not.  Taking a deep breath, he reached for the envelope and rushed inside, locking the door behind him.  He sat down on the couch and with shaking hands, ripped open the seal of his delivery.  Anger filled every inch of his body and soul as he stared at it’s contents.  Inside there were three pictures of Kari.  It looked as if she was leaving a building.  The closer Jeff looked, he realized that the sign in the background was in Spanish.  He then noticed that the picture had a date stamp on it.  It was today’s date.  Jeff was fuming mad.  A slip of paper dropped out from between two of the snap shots.  In the same handwriting that had freaked him out before was printed:     "So, she’s pregnant.  That doesn’t matter.  It’s probably not yours.  Don’t worry        my dearest Jeff, I will rid us of this problem so that we can be together.  Forever.       Soon, darling, soon." Jeff was enraged.  He couldn’t figure out how this person knew, how this person had gotten these pictures and delivered them on his doorstep all within 24 hours.  Then the thought hit him - Kari was in danger.  He immediately picked up the phone and called her hotel, hoping that she would be there.    "Hello?", she answered.       "Oh, thank God!"       "What do you want Jeff?"       "Kari, there’s something going on.  You’re in danger." There was a knock at her door.  "Hold on.", she said setting the receiver down on the bed.    "NOOOOO!!!  KAAARRRIIII!!!", Jeff yelled into the receiver."Don’t answer the door.", he said to himself as he realized that his words were too late.  "Please come back to the phone.  Come on, Kari.", he said quietly to himself as he paced back and forth.  After a few minutes and she didn’t come back, Jeff began to panic.  He hung up and called Kari’s manager.  As soon as Blake answered, Jeff told him everything that had happened.  Blake assured Jeff that he would go and check on Kari and call him back as soon as he knew something. Blake popped a few tranquilizers and headed up to Kari’s room fearing the worst, as he always did.                 Last Chapter ..*.. Next Chapter ..*.. Chapter Index ..*.. Home