Chapter Forty-two
Don
As I turn the corner to head into my apartment, I see someone sitting outside my door. He looks familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. In this building, I’m surprised no one has called security yet, thinking that he’s a bum or something.
“Can I help you?” I ask, walking closer.
He gets up off the floor and says, “Hi, Don. I’m Jenson, Abby’s friend.”
“Oh, right.” Now, I recognize him from the photos around Abby’s apartment. But it doesn’t explain what he’s doing outside my door. “Is everything okay? Is Abby alright?”
“Do you mind if we talk for a minute?”
Well, that doesn’t sound good.
I unlock the door and tell him to come inside. I set my bag on the counter and turn around to face Jenson.
“Alright, what’s going on?”
“I’m going to throw a lot of information at you in the next sixty seconds, but I just need you to listen, okay?”
I cross my arms over my chest and lean on the counter. “Okay.”
“Abby went to the doctor today and got some bad news.”
I feel my heart starting to race. “What kind of bad news?”
He thinks for a moment as if deciding what he should divulge. “I normally wouldn’t tell you this, but I’m worried about Abby, and I think you should know what you’re walking into. This morning, Abby thought she might be pregnant. Now, she’s been told that she can’t ever have kids.”
I take a moment to try to digest everything that was just told to me. “Abby thought she was pregnant? Why didn’t she tell me?”
“It was just a maybe this morning, and she wanted to be sure before she said anything. I think that maybe she was a little bit excited about the possibility of it, but the doctor knocked the wind out of her sails. Understandably so.”
“Shit,” I say, rubbing my hand over my face.
“I think she’s scared that you’re going to be upset about this whole thing, and maybe you are. Hell, I don’t know you from Adam, but I know that Abby is crazy about you. I’ve never seen her as happy as she’s been lately. But I also know that she’s hurting right now. I think she needs you.”
As much as I feel like I’m in shock right now, I’m sure that Abby is feeling ten times what I’m feeling right now. I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s going through.
Jenson adds, “She doesn’t know that I’m here. And she will probably kick my ass, but I think that you being there may help keep her from going down into that deep, dark hole again.”
“Thanks, man. I’m going over there right now.”
“Here.” He pulls a key out of his pocket. “I doubt she would open the door if you knocked.”
“Thank you.” I take the key and say goodbye to Jenson before walking next door.
I don’t know what I’m going to say or how to handle this whole thing. All I know is that my girl needs me. I’ll figure the rest out.
I unlock the door and look around. When I don’t see her in the living room, I make my way to the bedroom. Slowly, opening the door, I peek in to see her in bed, wrapped up in the covers on the bed.
I figure she must hear me, but I don’t see her move. I wonder if she’s asleep, but as I make my way to the bed, I see the slightest bit of movement. I kick off my shoes and crawl into bed next to her.
“Hi, baby,” I whisper as I wrap my arm around her.
I feel her try to stifle a couple of sobs.
“Jenson came and talked to me. He told me everything. I’m here now, Abby.”
Whatever emotion she was trying to contain comes out in full force as she starts to cry harder.
I pull her closer, holding her while she lets it out. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you.”
I don’t ask her to tell me about any of it right now. That’s not what she needs. All she needs right now is for me to be here for her. She needs to know that I’m not going anywhere.
As I hold her, I try to process all the information I’ve just recently found out. What if she would have been pregnant? What if she would have been carrying my baby?
Does the thought of that make me swell with pride and excitement? Absolutely. I’d love to have a baby with her.
But is it a deal breaker if she can’t have kids?
Hell fucking no.
I’m in love with her. None of her health issues alter that fact.
I have no idea how long we lay here for before she finally speaks. She’s so quiet that if I wasn’t listening, I wouldn’t even catch it.
“I’m sorry, Don.”
“For what?”
“For not telling you when I thought I might be pregnant. And for the outcome of the whole thing. I had no idea that I couldn’t have kids.”
“Hey, turn around,” I tell her.
She slowly rolls over to face me. Her face is all red and blotching from crying, but I don’t care. She’s still beautiful.
Wiping a tear from her cheek, I start to speak. “Listen to me. I want you to feel like you can tell me anything, but I don’t blame you for not telling me this morning. It’s okay. As for the other thing, you have nothing to apologize for.”
“I feel like I’m broken.”
“Nothing about you is broken, beautiful,” I say with a kiss on her forehead.
“I just feel silly.”
“Why?”
“Because I was actually excited about a baby.” She says the last word on a sob and starts crying even harder.
I pull her close and hold her against my chest while rubbing her hair.
“It’s alright, baby. I’ve got you.”
And I’ve never meant anything more.