I take her wrists and remove her hands from my face as she lets out a sob. “I… I’m gonna go workout.” It’s all I can think to say as I stand from the ground, collecting the box on my way up, and leave the end of the hallway that will one day be our daughter’s room…
If that’s even still the plan.
I don’t look back or stop as Aubrey’s cries reach my ears. I know I should stay there with her, I know I should console her, but I need time. I need a bit of distance to figure this out. I don’twant to lose her altogether, and I’m afraid of what I might say if I stay. I don’t want to do anything I’ll regret.
And losing her would be my biggest regret.
Chapter twenty-six
Aubrey
Pancakes and… oranges.
I cry into my hands as Shane walks away, feeling like I’ve just ruined everything between us.What if he can’t forgive me for saying no? What if he doesn’t think that my excuse is valid? What will happen to us?I cry harder, crouching down to the floor until my stomach begins to hurt from the position, and I know I need to get up.
I can’t stay here all day, crying for something I caused. I need to think. I need advice. Yes, that should help calm me down and think clearly.I reach for my phone in my pocket, ready to dial my mom’s number, knowing she’ll know exactly what to say to me. But then I remember that I don’t need to call her, I can just go to her.
Standing from the floor, I wipe my tears that keep falling and head to our room to collect my purse. But as I walk in, I findShane emerging from his closet in shorts and a shirt. We both stop and stare at each other for a moment before I resume my path to my purse.
“I’m going to go to my parents’…” I tell him as I turn to face him once more, noticing he still hasn’t moved.
He nods slowly. “Will you be back?” My heart breaks at the pain in his voice.
“Of course, I will. Do you… do you not want me to come back?”Please don’t say that’s what you want… I don’t think my heart could take it.
“This is your home, Aubrey. What happened back there doesn’t change that,” he says, looking away like it pains him to mention it.
“Okay… Then I’ll… I’ll see you later…” I wipe my face as another drop slips from the corner of my eye.
He nods and leaves the room.
Waiting a few minutes before leaving the room myself, I quickly make my way to the garage and into my car. I don’t waste any time pulling out of the garage and leaving the property, but my heart hurts more with every new mile created between us. And by the time I pull up to my parents’ new home, I’m a sobbing mess.
They moved in three weeks ago, and this is only the second time I’ve been here. It’s a cute little four-bedroom home, situated only ten minutes away from my brother’s place. I’m just glad to have them closer to us, even if it’s still over half an hour drive from me.
I quickly park my car and run up the front steps in tears. They must have seen me park because the moment I reach the landing, the door is pulled open, and my mom holds her arms wide open for me. “Oh, my baby.”
“He proposed and I said no,” I cry out as I throw myself into her arms.
“Umm… Yeah, this one’s on you because I don’t understand this,” my dad says from behind my mother as he pets my hair.
My mother sighs at him then walks us farther into the house. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s sit down and talk.” I simply nod as she directs us into the living room and sits us down on the couch. “Tell me what happened.”
I go over every detail of what happened, from him showing me all the renovations that we’d be doing, to him proposing, then to the disaster of me saying no and why. “I just feel like everything is going so fast between us. I’m scared that if we keep going at this pace, it will all blow up in our faces,” I tell my mother as I wipe my tears with a tissue.
“It’s completely normal to have doubts, sweetheart. You two barely had time to actually date before jumping into a serious relationship, which is completely understandable given your situation, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the real deal.” She places her hand above mine. “Tell me, honey. What will have changed in a few months when he asks you again? Aside from your daughter being born.”
“I… I don’t know. Nothing I guess.”
“Okay and answer this honestly. Is there any chance, even if it’s only one percent, that you might doubt how you feel about Shane? That maybe there is someone else out there for you?”
I’m already shaking my head before she finishes her question. “Absolutely not. I love Shane, there’s no one else for me. There will never be. I don’t want a life with anyone else but him. Even if we end up fighting all the time like Em and Grey, I don’t care. I want to fight and argue with him, I want to cry with him. I want to do it all with him. Just him.”
I gasp when my own words sink in. “Oh my God, I’m an idiot!”
“No, baby. You’re not an idiot; you just needed a bit of help seeing what was right in front of you. You and Shane are soulmates, anyone can see that. So why wait when you couldstart spending the rest of your life together now?” My mother smiles as she pushes my hair behind my ears.
I nod and stand abruptly. “I… I need to go home.”
