CHAPTER 24
"Hello"
There was no answer.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
Still no answer.
"Listen, if this is Chris, man I am going to kick your ass if you don't stop pranking me. Where's that caller ID box…here it is…Anya?"
It was her. She couldn't find the words to say what she wanted to so she said nothing. The words were there but they wouldn't come out no matter how hard she tried.
"Anya, is something wrong, is it the baby, are you hurt, please speak to me."
He could hear her quietly weeping over the phone. He thought something was wrong, she was hurt or something, but she was only crying from frustration. She had so much built up inside of her that instead of it all coming out, like it had at the hospital, it all stayed in.
"Listen, I'm on my way over. I don't know what is wrong but I am coming, okay. Just hang on and I'll be there in a few minutes."
She was sitting in the same spot 15 minutes later when the door opened. Anya had given Justin a key to the apartment months ago and he had never returned it. He ran straight for her bedroom and burst through the doors. He found her sitting by the window, staring out. She didn't even flinch when he had stormed through the door, she just continued to look out the window.
"I'm sorry." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"What?" He almost couldn't hear her.
She turned her head to look at him. He could tell she had been crying. "I said I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."
He was hesitant but approached where she was sitting. When he got next to her, he squatted down. He wasn't prepared for what she did next. Without warning, she lunged at him and threw her arms around his neck. He had to stand to catch himself from falling backwards. He brought her up with him and noticed that she wasn't letting go. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and cried. He wasn't sure if she was hurt or what, all he could do was relish in the feeling of having her in his arms again. He brought his arms around her body and pulled her close to him. Immediately, he felt something pushing him away, it wasn't her, but her stomach. The baby was kicking.
He let her go and pushed her gently away from him so he could look at her. "Please tell me you are alright?" Her outburst had scared him and now that she still hadn't talked to him, that scared him more.
She looked into his eyes and saw the love and concern in them. She had to find her voice or she would explode. "Justin…I'm sorry…I'm sorry I yelled at you and told you to leave…I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the baby…I'm sorry for what this will do to your career…but…mostly, I'm sorry for not fighting hard enough to keep you and not let you walk away from me."
He heard her apologizing for everything that had happened to them in the past year. His heart was breaking. Did she think it was her fault that all this had happened. "You have nothing to be sorry for, do you hear me, you did nothing wrong. All you ever did was try to love a stubborn-bull-headed-loud-mouth kid that didn't know what a good thing he had until he walked away. I should be the one apologizing and begging for your forgiveness. Please, Anya, say you forgive me. Please tell me I am not too late. Please let me know that you still want me, still love me, because I still love you and don't want to go another day without you."
He had said the words she longed to hear for months. He still loved her and wanted her back. This time, she could have found the words but chose to let her actions speak for themselves. She brought a hand to his face and touched his cheek. She had longed to feel his skin again, longed to be near him. And, here he was, waiting to hear the words he hoped she would say. She ran a hand behind his head and pulled him close to her. As she leaned in, he put his hands on either side of her waist and waited for her. She was inches from his lips when she stopped, looked up into his eyes, and said "I love you, Justin." With that, she continued her path and when their lips finally met, after all this time, they both felt at home.
So much pain, so much time apart, so many things had happened between them and now, none of that mattered. They would have a future, all three of them, and would never look back to the past.
When they pulled apart, Justin was the first to say something. "I don't know where to go from here. I don't want to rush you or anything but I was thinking that maybe we could…."
"Oh My Lord!"
He stopped mid-sentence and looked at her. Her face had gone pale and she was shaking. "Anya, what's wrong?"
"Get me to the hospital, now, my water just broke."
"What, that can't be, you aren't due for another 8 weeks."
"I know but there is nothing I can do to stop this, once my water breaks, it's only a matter of time. Justin, please, quit asking questions and grab my bag. I have to get to the hospital right now."
He grabbed her bag and helped her to his car. On the way to the hospital, they called her doctor and he was going to meet them there.
By this time, Anya had started having pain, a lot of pain. She wasn't sure if it was the labor or the fear of having the baby 8 weeks early, but she was definitely in a lot of pain and scared to death. "Hold on just a little longer, Anya, we are almost at the hospital." Justin held her hand, trying to calm her down. He was trying to stay calm himself but inside, he was a wreck. "When we get to the hospital, they will take care of you and the baby and everything will be fine, believe me."
"I'm trying to, Justin, but it hurts so bad. I think something is wrong. Is it suppose to hurt this bad?"
"How am I suppose to know? Sorry, I am just as nervous as you are but I think worrying about it makes it worse. Please calm down if you can. I'll be right there by your side. I promise, I won't leave you. I will never leave you again."
She looked over at him and somehow she started to feel a little better. She knew he was serious and wouldn't leave her and the baby. "Thank you, Justin, for everything." She squeezed his hand and then a pain came over her.
"Ouch…damn girl, you have some grip on you."
After she calmed down, she smiled at him. "Sorry, contraction. You know they only get worse, are you sure you want to be with me, I might rip your hand off?" She was trying to make light of this situation and get her mind off what was going on.
"Honey, you could rip both my arms and legs off and I still wouldn't leave you."
"Nice image there, thanks." She had to laugh at him. She knew he was trying to be funny but the analogies he would come up with were too weird for her.
"You know what I mean, nothing will make me leave you, ever again." He pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it. "We're here, let's get you inside and have that baby."