She glides her hands through the air, dramatically expressing herself like a fight promoter holding a press conference. “Naïve virgin fucks high school crush in his childhood bedroom, stupidly forgot to check if he is wearing protection, falls pregnant the very first time she has sex. If this sounds like someone you know, please call 555-I’m-a-naïve-idiot!”
Ice-cold fear grips my heart when tears prick her eyes. I take a step closer to her, wanting to offer her comfort. She angrily shakes her head and takes a step backward. My heart hammers in my chest from the dejected look in her eyes. She looks broken. Utterlyheartbroken.
Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans, Ava’s gaze strays toherfeet.
“Babe.”
Her eyes snap to mine. “Don’t call me that,” she sneers, her voice dangerously low. “You lost the right to call me a nickname,any name, when you left me pregnant andheartbroken.”
My stomach twists. “If I’dknown,Ava…”
“If you didn’t run, you would have known! You would have!” she yells. “But you ran. You were a cowardwhoran!”
The pounding of my heart increases, but I remain quiet, unable to negate her truthful statement. I was a coward who left. But if I’d known she was pregnant, I would have… Fuck, I don’t know what I wouldhavedone.
When Ava’s angry voice bellows down the hall, she intertwines her hands and gathers her composure, not wanting to startle her son…our son.I stare into her heartbroken eyes as she takes a step closer to me. Her legs shake with every stride she takes. Her eyes are packed with hot, salty tears threatening to spill at anymoment.
“Hugo.” She stops talking and scrunches her brows. “Is that even your nameanymore?”
Even though she is asking a question, she continuestalking.
“Maybe you changed it. What is it now? Slade, Jesse… Oh, I know! You’re theassholewho has five seconds to get thehellout of my house before I call the police and tell them astrangeris standing in the middle ofmyhome.”
“I get it, you’repissed.”
“I’m not pissed, Hugo, or whatever thefuckyour name is now. I'mwaybeyond pissed. You have no clue what I’ve been through the past five years. I walked through the gates of hell to keep our son fed, to keep him looked after. Because of you, I nearly lost everything! And now, just as everything isfinallypanning out after anexhaustingfive years, you come waltzing back into the picture, throwing a wrench into the works. I’m not the stupid and naïve Ava you remember. I’m not going to let you ruin everything I’ve worked so hard for—again.”
Her words cracks as the first lot of tears splashes down her cheeks. I take a step closer to her, aspiring to stop her tears. Every one that falls down her face adds more cracks to my already decimatedheart.
“Pleaseleave,” she begs, her pleading eyesonmine.
The constrictive hold on my heart tightens. “He is my son, Ava. I can’t leave him. I can’tleaveyou.”
Tears flood her cheeks. “Please, I'm begging you. I'll fall down onto my knees if Ihaveto.”
The squeeze on my heart turns deadly when she locks her dispirited eyes with mine. “If you cared for me at all, if you ever loved me, you will walk away.Pleasedon’t drag our son through the hell we’ve both walkedthrough.”
My heart is a massive mess of confusion, torn between wanting to ease Ava’s pain and wanting to meetmyson.
Her lips quiver as a fresh batch of tears streams down her face. “If you can’t do it for me, then do it for him. He doesn’t deserve to be thrown into this mess.Please, Hugo, I'mbeggingyou.”
As hard as it is for me to do, Iwalkaway.
Chapter Twelve
Ava
When Hugo slipsout my front door, my knees buckle and I crumble to the ground. I gather my legs in close to my chest and cry. I cry for all the years we missed. I cry for my son who has never had a chance to know his dad, and I cry from the sheer pain that washed over Hugo’s face when I begged him to leave. My words cut him deep. But I’m angry, and rightfully so. I went through hell the past five years. I lost my best friend, my soul mate, and a man who was like a grandfather to me within a matter of months. It was one horrific blow afteranother.
With everything going on, it took me a while to realize the churning upsetting my stomach every morning and late afternoon wasn’t caused by grief. It was a baby, a baby I’d created with Hugo. Even after six pregnancy tests, I still didn’t believe it. I was pregnant. After attending an appointment with Dr. Tagget, it was clear I’d gotten pregnant the very first time Hugo and I were together. That night, I was so caught up in the moment, I didn’t even consider checking to see if Hugo had used protection. I’d never filled in the birth control prescription my local gynecologist gave me. I didn’t see the necessity since I was not sexually active and my periods were as regular asclockwork.
At first, I saw our baby as a blessing, a final gift from both Jorgie and Hugo. It was only when I discovered I was due two months before I officially took my position at Gardner and Sons did my opinion on the matter change. Although Mrs. Gardner is a lovely lady, she is also a business woman. Like any rational business woman, she handled my situation respectfully while assuring her business wasn’t negatively impacted by it, which meant my offer of partnership was given to another intern, leaving me unemployed and heavilypregnant.
In my seven month of pregnancy, I sold my apartment on Hamilton Street. The impressive nest egg I’d been ecstatic about growing was put towards my hefty tuition debt. Although my payment chewed a sizable portion off my debt, I was still left with an outstanding balance. For the following two weeks, I stayed at Mrs. Marshall’s house. Although it has always felt like home to me, the house had too many memories of Jorgie and Hugo, and my restless sleep worsened during my weeks there. After a heartfelt discussion, Mrs. Marshall suggested I move into Jorgie’s place. It took days of deliberations before I agreed to move in, and even then, only on one condition: I wasn’t going to use the master bedroom. That room belonged to Jorgie and Hawke. I didn’t feel comfortable sleeping inthere.
A few weeks after I moved in, Marvin started sniffing around. He would turn up with bags of fancy restaurant food any pregnant lady would salivate over, and sneakily paid my heating bill when I got a little behind on a payment. He asked what I was planning on doing once the baby was born, and reminded me that just because I was becoming a mom, it didn’t mean I had to give up my dental career. I could have both if I wanted. I’ll admit it, I was shocked. Marvin had never been a positive man, but he was the only one encouraging me not to give up on mydreams.
Over the next few weeks, the reasoning behind his interest was exposed. Marvin and Hugo are as opposite as they come. Hugo is a tall brute of a man; Marvin is waif-thin and average height. Hugo favors females with rich, caramel-colored skin and dark features; Marvin prefers blondes with fair skin and blue eyes.Hugo has a large cock; Marvindoesn’t.
