“Look, maybe I’m projecting my own trauma on your relationship here, Joe, but I’m so fucking scared for you. I’m so afraid of sitting back and watching you follow in Mam and Dad’s footsteps. It’s the only reason Mam and I tried to put a stop to it.”

“Put a stop to our relationship?”

When he didn’t respond, Joey’s blood ran cold.

“The pregnancy.”

“It was at the start.” His face reddened. “Early on.”

Of course they did.

“You tried to put a stop to my baby?” Joey bit out through clenched teeth. “Is that what you’re saying? You and Mam tried to convince {{user}} to get rid of my baby?”

“Okay, I think we should take a short break.”

“I think he should answer the fucking question,” Joey snapped, ignoring his social worker’s attempts to diffuse the situation. “What did you and Mam do to my girlfriend, Darren?”

“We didn’t do anything to your girlfriend,” he explained with a weary sigh. “I offered her an alternative.”

“Meaning you offered to foot the bill for an abortion?” When he didn’t reply, Joey choked out a humorless laugh. “I don’t fucking believe this.”

“Joey, please calm down.“

“And people wonder why I sank into addiction.” He shook his head and looked around the room. “Take a good fucking look, people. This right here is what I’ve been dealing with. My own mother and brother tried to do that to me!“

“I was trying to help you,” Darren tried to explain. “You’re too young to be a father.”

“I’ve always been a father!” Joey roared back, chest heaving. “And I’ve done a pretty fucking good job with the four I’ve raised. And yeah, I’m a mess, and yeah, I’m an addict, but I’m a good father! I’m a good fucking parent, Darren. I kept them alive. I kept them fed, and loved, and nurtured and goddamn educated. I did that. Not you. Not him. Not Mam. Me. So, call me a junkie and whatever the hell else you want to call me, but don’t say that I’m too young to be a father!”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he argued. “I meant that I didn’t want you saddled down with —”

“I want my baby, Darren!”

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

Everything went eerily quiet.

Finally, Darren broke the silence when he said, “You do?”

“Damn straight I do,” Joey confirmed, furious. “How fucking dare you and Mam try to take that away from me.”

“I realize now that it wasn’t my place to get involved.”

“No, it wasn’t your place,” he sneered, beyond furious. “And you’re goddamn lucky {{user}} didn’t fold under the pressure I have no doubt you put her under.” Joey shook his head in disgust. “Jesus Christ, Dar. I would never do that to you. Never. Every choice you’ve ever made, I’ve had your back. I’ve always supported you. Defended you.”

“I know you have.”

“Then why couldn’t you do the same for me?”

“I thought that’s what I was doing.”

“By hating on my girlfriend?” Joey spat. “Jesus, Darren. After all the shit we’ve been through, why would you do that to me? Why would you try to scare off the one good thing in my life?”

“I don’t hate {{user}}, Joe. Christ, I don’t even know the girl. Not really. I’m just… I wanted a different life for you.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter what you want, Dar, because this right here is my life,” Joey shot back, shaking. “It’s mine to live, and I plan on living it side by side with her. Because newsflash, asshole, that girl is my life. Her and our baby. And if she wants a ring, she’ll get it. And a house, she’ll get that, too. And if the time comes where she wants more kids, then I’ll give them to her. Whatever she wants. Because we’re mirrors. Her and I. We’re aligned. That’s my future, Darren, and if you keep meddling in it, then you won’t be a part of it.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I have never been more serious in my life.”

“This is a disaster,” Darren mumbled, dropping his head in his hands.