Justin sat on the same bench nearly an hour later, replaying the conversation in his mind over and over, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong. Maybe leaving her to raise your child alone, dumbass. He answered himself.
Silently cursing himself, Justin stood up, and slowly began walking back to his Benz, which was still parked in front of Danielle's.
He had to think of a way to get her to listen to him. You had your chance, and what did you do? You blew it.
But he had to try again. Seeing Noah today had confirmed everything. Made it all final in his mind. The baby looked so much like him, it was impossible for him to not be his.
Justin groaned. Why hadn't he just believed her in the first place? Even though he had been so scared, he should have been a man, and excepted the responsibility. He should have been supportive of the one person he had loved more then anything-the person he still loved more then anything.
But he hadn't been supportive or responsible. He had been a coward, and he left her. He left them.
Justin pulled his keys out of his pocket as he approached his maroon car.
He paused before unlocking the door, and gazed at the quaint house.
It was a one story house, ranch style, with cathedral ceilings. The outside was painted off-white with a beige trim, and there where a lot of large windows.
A light blinked on, and he glanced into one of the bedroom windows.
He watched as Danielle walked across the room, bent down into the crib, and scooped the baby up into her arms. His baby.
She rocked him gently, while stroking his back.
Then Joey walked into the room. They exchanged a few words, before Danielle threw her head back, laughing.
Justin had always loved her laugh. He could even hear it in his mind. It was so free, and so ... bubbly. Just like she had once been.
Justin shook the sound from his head, and he pulled open his door.
Joey was talking, and Danielle listening intently. A huge grin spread across her face, and she gave Joey a light kiss on the cheek.
Justin felt a pain of jealousy over come him, as he climbed into his car. He hadn't been responsible for the past year, but he was gonna start now.
"Mom!" Justin cried, slamming the front door closed behind him.
Laughter erupted from the large dinning room. Justin sighed, remembering his mother was entertaining guests.
Running his fingers through his hair, he entered the dinning room.
Lynn was sitting at the head of the table, sipping from a glass of whine. She stood up when she saw Justin. "Hello, Justin. Home so soon?"
He nodded.
She turned to her guests. "Allow me to introduce you all. This is my oldest son, Justin."
"Hello." Several men and women said.
"Hi." Justin turned to Lynn. "Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Can it wait until later?"
"It's already been waiting to long."
"All right. Excuse us for a moment."
Justin led his mom into the family room, away from everyone. He had never told his mother about Danielle's pregnancy. She and Danielle had been very close at one point, and he didn't want to hurt his mom, by telling her what he had always thought of as bad news. She had been heartbroken enough to find out that they had broken up. But, now he was taking the first step in being responsible.
"Mom," he began.
"Yes?" a worried look crossed her face. "Is something wrong?"
"Well. . . I went to see Danielle with the guys tonight."
"Danielle? Is she okay?"
"Yes, she's fine. She. . . it wasn't only Danielle I went to see."
"Who else did you see? Brittny? She was a nice girl."
"Well, I saw Brittny, yes. But I went to see Noah Christopher."
Lynn thought for a moment, racking her brain to see if the name was familiar. "Who is Noah Christopher."
"Danielle's son."
Her eyes widened. "Her son? How-I. . .wow. .. "
Justin nodded.
"Who is the father?"
Justin stood silently before his mother, staring at the plush carpet.
"Justin?"
"I am, mom." he said softly.
Lynn dropped onto the leather couch.
"Are you upset?"
"Am I upset? Am I upset? YES! Of course I'm upset! You haven't even talked to her in a year, and you come home after seeing her once, and tell me your a father?"
"Mom, I-"
"When did you find out?"
"The night we broke up."
"Why-what-how-oh. . . " Lynn buried her face in her hands.
Justin sat down next to her.
They sat silently for a moment, before Lynn spoke.
"Why did you break up with her when she told you she was pregnant? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was scared." he admitted.
"So you left? You left that poor girl all alone? I thought I'd raised you better then that!"
Justin nodded slowly, tears burning his eyes.
Lynn closed her eyes. "I expected more from you, Justin. I knew you two would eventually. .. eventually have sex," she choked out the words. "But I thought you were at least smart enough to be safe about it."
"I was, mom. We were!"
"Then how did this happen?"
"I don't know. I was so scared when I found out, I thought-no, I didn't, I accused her of cheating on me, and I left her."
"That was stupid."
"I know. I know."
"So, what now?"
"I don't know. Danielle won't let me see him. She hates me."
"Well, Justin, you did leave her. . . "
"But, mom! I want to be in his life. I want to be in they're life."
"Lynn! We have a little problem in here!" a voice called.
"Just a minute!" Lynn sighed and stood up. "We'll talk about this later. Boy will we talk about it."
Justin nodded.
"Just tell me one thing, so that I know I did at least partly a good job raising you right."
"What?"
"You two were in love right? You didn't just. . . you loved her, didn't you?"
Justin nodded. "We were in love. We were in love for two years."
"Thank you. That makes me feel a little better. She was such a sweet girl, Justin."
"She still is."
Lynn smiled grimly, and left him alone.
Justin let the tears flow. He didn't know exactly why they were there, but they had been kept inside for so long, it felt good to let them out.
He sighed. Well, at least that was over. Now he just had to convince Danielle he was worth giving a second chance.