Taylor was scared, young, foolish, tormented and beautiful. The baby was fine and I only had indigestion. I decided I needed to read more after that incident. I must have seemed like an immature, ignorant, and sad girl. That assumption would not be too far off. Anyway, Taylor told me about Lindsey. I told him that, contrary to what he believed was true, Zac never told me anything about her. Taylor seemed relieved and told me about the son that he found out he had. It was shocking and I was angry. I wondered why he hadn't told me before. He relayed to me the reason he didn't was because he only recently found out about the child and he didn't want to burden me with more worries. I was touched that he was so considerate, but I was angry nonetheless. I wasn't the only one who would have his child. So two days after Taylor's birthday, I was going home. I was sad to be leaving Taylor in his current state, but I had to and I wanted to be with my family. "Page, when will I see you again?" "Whenever you want. My spring break is in two weeks, why don't you come visit me then?" "Okay, I'll try. Thanks for visiting me. You made my birthday unbelievable." "Aw, I'm glad,' I smiled. We kissed sweetly and I continued packing. He sat on his chair watching me. "I'm going out to L.A. tomorrow." "Oh, really? That's cool. What for?" "I'm going to visit Lindsey and our kid." I pretended not to feel my heart sink when he said that. "Good decision. Tell me how it goes." "I will. Hey, don't ever think that that child could replace ours. I am in love with you and I was never in love with Lindsey." "Okay," I said. I smiled at Taylor and tried to be the mature woman that I was striving to become.

* * * *

"You actually came," Lindsey said as she opened her apartment door. "Where is he?" "Who?" "The baby?" "Oh, " she laughed nervously. "Taylor I was only joking. There is no baby." "What?" "I was mad that you left me and those beers didn't help at all. . ." "You lied to me?" "I'm sorry, Taylor. I thought you knew." "You cannot possibly fathom all the fucking shit you've put me through! I have a girlfriend, you know. And guess what? She's pregnant! You caused a lot of hurt between us. She's amazing and I could have lost her! How much of a slut can one girl possibly be?" "Taylor, you hurt me when you didn't call me." "Get over it. I can't believe I came all the way here to see you." "Aren't you happy, though? You don't have a kid." "You don't get it. However, yes, I'm very happy that I'll never have to deal with you ever again," Taylor spat out and left the apartment in a rage.

***

"Are you okay, Page? You haven't even looked at your plate," Page's sister Christina observed over dinner. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, you know?" "Are you sure?" Christopher asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Aw, you guys are so sweet," Page smiled. Mrs. Monroe gave Page a look from across the table and Page smiled. She had to pretend like nothing was the matter. Her family was already going through a hard time. "I'm actually going to go sleep right now, if you don't mind. I'm beat." She excused herself and began to cry. She thought about how horrible and unfair her life was and let the tears start flowing down her cheeks. She sat on the floor and just continued to cry. Thinking about her father made her feel like dying, too. She thought about why God had to take her father away instead of her? She was the one who was causing so much trouble. Or maybe even Taylor. Why couldn't He have taken him? Why'd He have to take her father and leave her family alone? Almost on cue, she felt the baby move. "It's okay. Your mom is just a little upset," she sobbed. She realized it would probably just be her and her baby in the end. Taylor had another kid, a career and a whole separate life. There would be no room for her or their kid. Her cell phone started to ring and she slowly stood up, holding her lower back as she did, and walked over to where she put her phone. "Hello?" "Page, you won't believe this . . ." It was Taylor. He seemed really upset. "What? Is everything okay?" "Yeah, well, I guess. Okay, I get to Lindsey's house and I find out there is no baby! She lied to me!" "What? That's great, isn't it?" "Yeah, it is. I just can't believe she lied to me!" "Well, who cares, right? You're free!" "You don't get it." "What is there to get?" "I was betrayed by her, Page. I came all the way out here and she doesn't even have a kid. We almost broke up because of her." "Well, we didn't. Taylor, I'm so happy." "You are? Well at least one of us is." "You should be also. Did you want another kid or something?" "No way." "Then, be glad you don't have another one to worry about. Now we can concentrate on our baby." There was silence and then Taylor mumbled, "I guess you're right. I have to go. Bye."