AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m aware of another pedestrian on the deserted street. I go to step out of the way to let her pass when I realize that it’s Isa. My heart gives a start. Isa is alive! And then the knife twists. If Isa is alive, then was it Sophia who died?
“Isa!” I exclaim.
Isa looks up. For a moment, it looks as if she is about to bolt. She definitely doesn’t look pleased to see me.
Still, she stops on the cracked sidewalk and waits for me to catch up. “Drex. You’re here. Started to think I’d never see you again,” she says pointedly.
“Look, I know. Believe me, I know. It’s a long story, but just know that I didn’t leave on purpose. I didn’t want to be gone this long. I didn’t want to be gone at all. And I’m here now for Sophia,” I tell her. Isn’t it obvious? “Is she okay? Is she alive?”
For a moment, she hesitates. But then she takes a long look at my worried face and relents. “She’s fine,” she says curtly.
The relief is overwhelming. I can’t stop myself. I pick Isa up and spin her around, whooping like a kid fresh out of school.
“Get off me, you big idiot,” she yells, slapping my back. “Put me down right now!”
I put her on the ground and sober a little. “Isa, what’s wrong?” I ask. “Has something happened to Sophia?” She said she was alive, but that doesn’t mean everything’s perfect.
Isa snorts. “Happened? Well, lots has happened in six months. She’s safe, though, and healthy.”
It should be good news. It should be the best news. But something in Isa’s face makes my blood run cold.
“So what is it?” I say in nearly a whisper. “Did she meet someone else?”
Her eyebrows shoot up, and for a second, she looks almost gleeful. I swear she’s about to tell me that she did, and she seems happy to be able to deliver the message.
But then her shoulders slump and she exhales loudly. “Well, I suppose you should know that she’s at the hospital. She’s healthy, like I said. Except there’s one little thing.”
She pauses and sucks in a breath. “She’s having your baby.”
For a second, her words simply don't compute. As comprehension slowly dawns, I feel like I could fall over at the slightest touch. I’m not sure how long I stand in the street with my jaw on the floor, but eventually, Isa laughs, shaking her head.
“Yep, you’re going to be a daddy,” she says sarcastically.
“How can that have happened?” I ask, dumbfounded.
“The usual way, I would imagine,” she replies, one eyebrow raised.
I have so many questions falling over each other to come out of my mouth. “How has she managed?” I ask first..
“We’ve managed.” Her voice is curt, but then she sighs again and shakes her head. “Look, now that you’re here, she needs you. I’m just going back to the house to get some stuff for her.”
“Let me come with you,” I say. “I can help you.”
“No, you go to her. I’ll go back to the house alone. You should be at the hospital. She needs you more than me,” she says. There’s a well-hidden twinge of pain in her voice, but I can hear it.
It dawns on me what my return means for Isa. She sees me as a wedge between herself and Sophia. They have been through hell together. They’ve held each other up for all of it. Then I arrive, tail wagging, and sweep Sophia off her feet.
Isa never imagined the day arriving when she wouldn’t be Sophia’s first choice. It doesn’t make me angry with her. It makes me feel kind of… bad.
“She needs us both, Isa,” I tell her emphatically. “She’s never not going to need you.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Right now, you need me to tell you where the hospital is before you miss the birth of your first child. That way, go three blocks straight, then one block to the left.”
I practically break into a jog in my hurry, but I’m only a few feet away when I stop suddenly and turn around. Isa’s already heading in the opposite direction back toward the house to get whatever it is she promised Sophia.
“Isa!” I yell, cupping my hands around my mouth.
She turns around, one eyebrow cocked impatiently.
