Ever again.
Waiting for the hour for him to show up was probably the hardest part of all of this, aside from the warring emotions. Aaron and I sat on the couch while he tried to calm me and distract me with conversation. He was attempting to get me to name the baby Aaron or Erin, which he claimed were both solid names for a girl or a boy. Miss Cunningham had the paperwork drawn up in a matter of minutes, and I emailed all the texts from Tawnya over to her, pictures included.
Then, it was just a waiting game for him to show up at the office. We also had to have Trevor get a paternity test, which, technically, we could do at my next doctor’s appointment, or we could wait until the baby was born. I didnotwant to wait until the baby was born. There was no way I wanted him thinking it was his and he could try to come back to lay some sort of claim over him or her, for the next six and a half months. There was no way. I wanted it done and over with if this was what he wanted to do.
“Miss Cunningham, I have a Mr. Stoodermyer here to see you.” That announcement through the intercom got my heart rate up and palms sweating. I felt like I could feel the heartmuscle contracting with every beat it made in my chest. The door opened, and the emotions that bombarded me and jumped me of the dark alley of my mind were too much. I hadn’t seen him in over a month, but let me tell you. There was no way that was Trevor. He had his voice when he shook hands with the lawyer, but what walked through that door was not the man I fell in love with at sixteen.
He looked…haggard. I wasn’t sure if there was another, more accurate word to describe how he looked. Just looking at him from head to toe, you could tell he was partying way too much, and way too hard. He didn’t look like he’d had proper nutrition since the night I left. His skin looked sickly pale, he had large, dark bags under his eyes, and his hair lacked its normal luster. What walked in behind him, gripping his hand like it had always been hers, was Tawnya. She had the audacity to come with him, to something that should have been between the two of us, looking every bit the cheap hussy she’d proved herself to be.
“Where do I sign?” That was all he asked, all he demanded. He wouldn’t even look at me or Aaron, staring at Miss Cunningham only. Tawnya did, though, she looked right at me, looking smug and triumphant as hell, thinking she’d won some kind of prize. She scoffed, looking at me. Miss Cunningham had handed Trevor a pen, and I heard the sound of a pen on the desk scrawling out a signature.
“Oh, honey. Did you really think you could keep him? Honestly? Trying to trap him with a baby?” She looked me up and down like I was some kind of animal, or some whore, “It’s probably not even his.”
Excuse me? Not his? I’m not some whore like her, spreading my legs for any man, including those who are married. She was a homewrecker.
“Firstly,honey. You can have him. Please. Keep him and keep him far, far away from me and my baby. Secondly,” looking at her like I could see exactly who she was, not who she was trying to portray. “That was why I asked him to come here. To say he will agree to sign over his rights as soon as the baby is born and the DNA test comes back stating that the baby is his. In fact, when I go back to the doctors in a couple of weeks, I’ll be able to do a test then so we can get it over with. We,” I said, motioning from my face to my belly, so she would know exactly who I was talking about, “Wantnothingto do with him.”
She smirked, thinking she had somehow won, whether it was winning Trevor or making him think giving up his child was a good idea. I just stared at her with a stony face. I wanted to tell her, ‘Not yet, honey. ’ There was still one more bomb to drop.
“And it’s all thanks to your texts and pictures, Tawnya.”
“This is her?” Miss Cunningham asked, her hand pointing at Tawnya. I nodded.
“This is for you,” Miss Cunningham handing her a stack of papers. As soon as Tawnya took it from her, she continued, “You’ve been served. It’s a cease-and-desist letter. If you don’t heed my warning, I’ll be forced to file a formal complaint of harassment with the courts.” Trevor’s jaw clenched, glaring back at Tawnya. She looked like she was shrinking, feeling about two feet tall, shuffling from foot to foot.
“What are you talking about?” He asked, finally looking at me. Those eyes I had once loved so much looked at me, completely dead. He looked pretty much through me, instead of at me.
“These.” I handed over my phone to him. He took it from me, careful not to touch me. His jaw clenched as he scrolled through the texts. He set my phone down on the desk instead oftrying to pass it back to me, and he turned another cold gaze on Tawnya.
“I told you, Tawnya. She’s out of the picture, and has been for over a month. You don’t need to bother her, and you won’t be bothering her. You send her another message and I swear to God, I’ll drop you so fast your ass will fucking bruise.” He practically growled at her, cold and menacing. He gripped her hand tightly and stalked back out of the office. Everyone was quiet, looking at each other, when the door opened again, making me jump in my seat.
“Let me know what time the DNA appointment thing is, and where I have to go to get this done, and…I guess when it’s here. Have the paperwork ready that day so it can be done.” He was about to leave when Miss Cunningham spoke.
“We won’t be able to do any of the official paperwork and our date in court until the results come back and the baby is born. My lab should only take a couple of days, and if you want to get it done at the next appointment, we can get the test done right away, so there’s no wait after the birth. I’ll call you when it’s time, and I’ll set a court date for a week after your due date.” He nodded once and left again.
I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding when he stuck his head back in. When the door shut again, I could feel myself physically deflating.
How is this my life?
F O U R: One Year Later
Elise’s POV
It has been one hell of a year!
We did the paternity test, and it came back as his, like I knew it would. He signed the paperwork, stating he intended to sign away his parental rights. I was happy that he still intended to go through with it. Once it was all confirmed, we had discussed the possibility of moving away to a whole new state, possibly on the other side of the country, getting a fresh start.
When I was around five months pregnant, we, Denise, Aaron, and I, settled on where to move, and picked the other side of town. Aaron found a complex with five townhouses altogether that had two units, side by side, that were available so we could live right next to each other. I couldn’t keep staying in their guestroom. Not when the baby was coming soon, and they needed their own space again. Aaron and Denise said they were okay with the move because they wanted the baby and I close, just in case, because a single woman with a baby, living alone, was not a safe idea.
Denise threw me a surprise baby shower when I was about seven months along. She got a bunch of the people we worked with at the hospital to come, and some of our mutual friends from college. It was so great seeing everyone, and talking with friends I felt like I hadn’t seen in years. I had decided a while ago that I wanted to keep the gender a surprise and went neutral with everything. It was crazy going through themes and clothes, and names. I had Aaron and Denise sit down with me to go through all of our options.
We ultimately decided to go with a 'You are my Sunshine' themed nursery, which she used for the baby shower theme, sothe decorations she used could be reused in the nursery. I picked that theme because I wanted it to be bright and happy, no matter what I ended up having. We all loved the baby so much already that it didn’t matter what I was having. Picking out everything, painting, and decorating the nursery took weeks to finish after we moved in. Aaron was a huge help in putting in the shelves that were too tall for Denise and me to install.
It was the middle of the night when I went into labor. I woke up, thinking I had to pee, but when I got up, it looked like I’d peed myself. I called Denise and told her I thought my waters broke. She and Aaron rushed over, calling into work letting them know they wouldn’t be coming in. It was still early spring, so it was a bit chilly outside, but they helped me to the car, put my bags inside, and got me to the hospital. Aaron waited in the waiting room while Denise coached me through the whole thing, and my little girl was born at three-forty-eight in the morning, weighing seven pounds, ten ounces, at twenty and a half inches long. We took her home, and we’d all been in love since before we laid eyes on her, but once we did…it was like she stole our hearts and we were all wrapped around her tiny fingers.
Denise found out not long after I gave birth that they were expecting, so Aaron finally convinced her to make the march down the aisle. They had been engaged for six years now anyway. They wanted to be fully done with all the schooling they wanted to do and be settled in their 'grown-up jobs' before they tied the knot. They also decided to try talking to their families one more time, kind of as a Hail Mary, last attempt, to let them know about the baby and the upcoming wedding.
Both sides reiterated that they wanted nothing to do with them or their baby, although they used much more colorful language. Even Denise’s mom, who used to love me, condemned me for supporting them and not staying with Trevor. Wepromptly ended the call and blocked them on all forms of communication. I really didn’t understand their families. All this because they were with someone who wasn't the same skin color. Made no damn sense, love was love. They were happy and loved each other so much. I had never seen a couple more in love and dedicated to each other than these two.
