Chapter 12 #2
“I’m sorry. Truly sorry. It was a dumb mistake.” Oh, my heart. He’d wanted to be with me when I took the test, and I’d stole that moment from him. No wonder he was so upset. Nice going, Trix.
“I need to go do something.” He grabbed his wallet and put on his cut.
“You’re leaving right now?” My mouth gaped, in utter disbelief. Why would he leave when we were having this serious conversation?
“Yes.” He left the bedroom, and I followed him.
“But our parents will be here soon.”
“Yeah.”
“Brandon, stop.” I grabbed his hand.
“What?” He turned around and looked down at me.
“Are you angry with me?” Stupid question, Trix. Just look at the rage in his blue depths.
But couples argued and had fights. Leaving wasn’t the answer. If we were going to have a healthy and successful relationship, we needed to work through stuff like this.
“Of course I’m angry. You know how much I want a baby with you, and you hid it from me. If we’re going to be together, we do everything together!”
I nodded, tearing up. “You’re right. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight and haven’t been myself lately.”
“Right, because you’re pregnant. I should’ve been helping you.” He pulled his hand out of mine. “I need to go.”
What was happening? He was leaving me because I didn’t tell him I was pregnant the second I suspected it.
God, Trix. Your period is a week late. You should’ve told him then.
I shook myself out of my head and ran after him. He’d already left the house. His long strides against my short ones would always win.
“You’re coming back, right?” I shouted at him as I ran out.
He shut the door to his pickup and didn’t look in my direction. Had he not heard me?
“Brandon! Are you coming back?” I yelled but he just pulled out of the driveway and drove off.
Oh my God. What have I done?
I rushed back into the house and searched for my phone and found it on the sofa. Who should I call? My first thought was Emilee. We’d gotten close over the last several weeks. But what could Em do? Absolutely nothing.
It was Thanksgiving. His club brothers all had plans with their families. That was why they got together this morning for their annual Thanksgiving Day hunt.
“Shit!” I yelled.
I dialed Brandon. Maybe I could talk him down and get him to come home.
It went to voicemail.
“No! No, no, no!” I threw my phone on the sofa.
He had to be having an episode of some sort. The stress of knowing his parents were coming had to be messing with him in not a good way.
We’d been doing so well all month. He was the one. There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that we would spend the rest of our lives together.
I loved him.
And you deceived him.
I didn’t!
Oh, God. I was going to be sick. I ran to the bathroom and hugged the porcelain toilet. Dry heaves hit hard and furious. Good thing I hadn’t eaten today, or I’d be throwing up chunks.
I leaned against the wall and waited for my stomach to settle. The only thing I could do was pull myself together and get ready to welcome, my parents and his, into our new place.
And pray he returned in time for dinner.
More than an hour had passed, and Brandon was still gone. My heart was in pieces, and I was worried sick about him. But something told me he wouldn’t hurt himself.
And I’d caved and texted Em, the only person in the club I felt I could trust. She told me she would check into it to see if any of the guys knew where Brandon had gone. When she heard from Lynx, he’d assured her Brandon was fine. He’d also said I should wait patiently for him to return.
Wait patiently? I was literally losing my mind but trying to mask my panic in front of our guests.
I’d been forced to greet everyone alone and entertain them. He should have been here with me. I get that he was angry at me but to leave me to do Thanksgiving by myself was a dick move.
There I sat on a hard banquet chair, facing both sets of parents on the sofa with a phony smile. The way everyone acted awkwardly, they probably sensed my distress.
As Brandon had suggested, I put football on to act as a buffer. It seemed to be working. His dad was sucked into the flat screen.
My parents stared at me with no expression at all. They knew me better than anyone. For sure they read through my fake replies and smiles. Thankfully, they kept quiet and didn’t call me out about Brandon not being there.
“How was the drive?” I asked his mom, Amelia. “The weather has been mild since that monster storm on Halloween.”
Mild? Yeah, right. We’d been dumped on. Thirteen inches of packed snow covered everything. The temps hadn’t gotten above twenty-two degrees.
My mind launched me back to the Halloween Bash. That had been the best night of my life, and now, I was the most miserable of my life.
“It was good. The roads were clear. Are you sure he’s going to be here?” Amelia fidgeted with the hem on her knitted sweater, covered in a fall leaves pattern. “He could’ve changed his mind and doesn’t want to see us. This sort of thing has happened before.”
I felt sick. “Brandon was looking forward to seeing you.” A small lie. He wasn’t necessarily excited, but he agreed the time had come to mend broken fences with his parents.
“Then why isn’t he here?” Amelia asked.
“We had a fight,” I blurted, not able to keep the truth locked away in my mouth. “He’s not here because of me.”
“What happened, dear?” my mom asked. “Brandon is a good man.”
“I know he is. It’s all my fault and I can’t talk about it. I’ll go make a couple of calls and see if I can find him.” I rushed out of the living room and went to my bedroom.
Tears rolled down my cheeks. I just needed a minute to myself. If Brandon didn’t come back, I worried I would fall apart.
How could I raise a baby on my own? Yes, women did it all the time. I could do it and I had my parents. They’d support me like always. But that wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
Clearly, I was unravelling. Was it because of pregnancy hormones? Typically, I didn’t overreact. I was solid. Sensible. I saw the glass half full when many saw it half empty.
I inhaled a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
Brandon was coming back. He knew what it felt like to be abandoned by his parents. I was confident he wouldn’t do that to his own baby. He wanted a child.
He was coming back.
Of course, I had no idea where I stood with him. The girl he’d known for years and only made his move a month ago.
We hadn’t even been together for a full month, and we’d already moved in together and were having a baby. We could have taken it a bit slower, but hindsight was always twenty-twenty.
And honestly, I didn’t think I would change anything, except for including him from the beginning when I suspected I was pregnant.
How could I be so stupid?
I should’ve known better than to keep something as huge as a baby from him, no matter if my intentions had been pure.
A knock on the door startled. “Trixie, are you okay?” It was his mom, Amelia.
“Um, yeah.” I stood from the bed and looked at my horrid appearance in the mirrored closet door. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
I dialed Brandon’s number, and it went straight to voicemail. It was a crushing blow.
Well, I couldn’t hide in my bedroom all day. I went to the door and opened it.
“Can we talk?” Amelia asked. “Privately.”
“Sure.” I stepped back and let her in.
“You seem like a sweet and patient woman. Brandon needs someone like that.”
“Well, he has me.” Even if he pushed me away and broke my heart, we would have a child that connected us for life. I would do everything in my power to win him back.
My mind was already made up. I wouldn’t give up on him.
“I’m glad to hear it. His dad and I weren’t very good parents to Brandon. We should have tried harder. He just frustrated us. After he was out of high school, he wouldn’t do anything. He kind of bummed around and mooched off us. Burned food on the stove. Just a lot of stuff like that.”
“Well, he found his club, and they are wonderful.” I felt a little put off by his mom. How could they give up on their son? “And he has me.”
“That’s good, but he has his challenges.”
“Yes, and I help him work though stuff. He’s a wonderful man. It’s a shame you haven’t been around to see him grow into a strong, loyal, and caring man.”
Amelia gasped.
“Look, I’m sorry for being so direct. But I’m not sorry for defending Brandon.”
“Sounds like you love him,” Amelia said.
“I do.” I desperately wanted to touch my stomach but refrained. It would be a dead giveaway that I was pregnant. Or so I thought it would be.
“Trixie!” Brandon hollered. “Where are you?”
“Brandon’s here!” I ran out of the bedroom. “You came back.” Tears blurred my vision. The anger in his eyes was gone. All I saw now was love.
He took me into his arms and squeezed the life out of me. “I’m sorry. I just need to do something. And to process.”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad you came back.” My heart could finally calm. He came back and in one piece. Thank you, Lord.
“Of course I did. You’re stuck with me, Trix.” He smashed his lips to mine. “We’re having a baby. Nothing on this earth could keep me from the both of you.”
“A baby!” my mom shouted. My parents hugged and wiped their eyes. They’d been talking about being grandparents since I was a child. You know they needed someone to run the deli after I couldn’t.
“Harold, did you there that?” Amelia asked her husband.
“Huh?” he replied, still glued to the TV.
Brandon pulled back and lowered to one knee.
“What are you doing?” I asked him but knew without a doubt what he was doing.
“Trixie Schafer, I love you more than anything and anyone. Will you marry me?” He presented a gorgeous diamond engagement ring.
“Oh my gosh, when did you get that?” I felt my eyes bulge at the massive diamond.
“Just say yes!” my parents shouted.
“Please say yes!” Amelia clapped.
“Listen to your parents, Trix.” Brandon winked. “I know I might have freaked you out earlier, and I’m not saying it won’t happen again. But I promise you, I will always come back to you and our child.”
“Yes!” I laughed and jumped into his arms and kissed him madly. “A thousand times yes! And you can count on me always being here for you, Brandon Adams. No matter what.”
Thank you for reading Zombie’s Howl-O-Ween, one of many fabulous stories in the 31 Days of Trick or Treat: Biker & Mobster collaboration.