Broken Promises

By: Val

Valerie looked at the wedding picture in her hand. She and Joey looked so happy on that day, she wondered how things could turn out the way they did. She was sure their marriage would last, that they'd be together forever, now they couldn't even be in the same room without yelling at each other. Each blamed the other for the deterioration of this marriage. She knew as much as she wanted to blame the whole thing on Joey, that a lot of it had been her fault, too. It was hard to believe that a couple of years ago things had been wonderful, and now they hardly knew each other. Valerie remembered back to the day she told Joey he was going to be a father.

"What? Did you say I'm going to be a daddy? Me, somebody's father. I can't believe it. You know how much my dad means to me and to think I'm gonna have that relationship with this child. Thank you." He was near tears, and so was Valerie. Even though they had been married for less than year at the time, they knew they wanted kids. He was so happy he couldn't wait to tell everyone. The first person Valerie called after her parents, was Debbie, her best friend. The two women had been through a lot together, and were like sisters. They spent most of their time together, of course it didn't hurt that Debbie was married to Chris. Deb could sense something was wrong the minute Val told her the good news.

"What is it? Aren't you happy about the baby?"

"Of course I am, but I just have this strong feeling that something isn't right with this pregnancy. I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."

"You're just nervous about this being your first child. Everything's fine, you'll see."

"I hope your right, just don't tell Joey about this okay."

"No problem this is just between us." Even though she told Debbie, she wouldn't worry, she could shake the feeling that something was wrong, although she never let on to Joey. He was busy working on the nursery one day, when the twinges began and he quickly yelled for her husband. They rushed to the hospital and the look on the doctor's faces, they knew it wasn't good. Valerie was only five months along when she had the miscarriage, the doctors couldn't find a heartbeat, when she arrived at the hospital.

Valerie blamed herself for the loss of their child and that eventually led to the end of her marriage.

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The divorce papers were on the table, but Valerie couldn't bring herself to sign them. She still couldn't except the fact that Joey had filed for them in the first place. Although she shouldn't have been surprised, their fights, had become more heated, to the point where one of them had to leave so nothing bad would happen. She thought Joey blamed her for the loss of their child, even though he never said anything. The part that upset him the most was that she acted like she was the only one suffering, and she closed herself off from everyone. They would never get past the horrible things they said to each other.

"Your not the only one who is hurting here, you know. I lost a baby, too, and now I feel like I'm losing you. Why can't you let me help you with this?" Joey asked her during one of their last fights.

"This is my problem , Joey. You weren't the one carrying this baby, It was growing inside of me. It's my fault that she's dead."

"Why do you insist that it's your fault, it just happened, you couldn't have prevented it."

"When I found out I was pregnant, I just had a feeling something was wrong, that something bad was going to happen."

"Why didn't you say anything to me about that?"

"I talked to Debbie and she told me I was probably just nervous, with this being our first and all."

"Wait, you told Debbie about this but not me? I'm your husband dammit, how could you not tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you, I thought she was right and that I was just overreacting. Why are you so mad I didn't tell you?"

"Has the fact that we're married totally escaped you? I thought we were supposed to tell each other everything, but now I find out that your telling your best things instead of me. You tell me why I shouldn't be mad!" Valerie flinched at the tone of his voice, not scared that he would hurt her physically, but at the hatred she heard in his voice. "If we can't trust each other enough to be truthful with each other, then we have nothing left to hang onto here." With that he stormed out of the house. They talked a few times after that, but the arguments only got worse. The last thing Joey said has stayed with her. "If you don't learn to accept what happened as just an accident, then you'll never be happy. The miscarriage wasn't your fault, it wasn't anything that you did, but if you don't realize that soon, you'll lose everything that's important to you."

As she thought back to that day, she knew everything he said was true, and she was miserable. Debbie tried to help her through this, too, but it was hard for Valerie to be around her best friend since Debbie just found out she was pregnant. Debbie knew this was hard on her friend, but she couldn't help but be happy since she and Chris had a hard time conceiving this child. Valerie did her best to hide her true feelings, not wanting her to worry about her. As the months went by, she was able to accept this child Chris and Debbie were having and the death of her own baby was a little more bearable. The hardest part was losing Joey. As she picked up her pen to sign the papers, she got a call from Justin telling her to get to the hospital that Debbie was in labor. Since she her lamaze coach, she knew she had to get there in a hurry. Valerie got there just in time to help Debbie give birth to a healthy baby boy. She left the delivery room and broke down, all those old feelings came back to her and all of the hurt, too. Justin was there to pick her up and hold her while she cried. As Joey watched this he wished that he was the one comforting her. He wanted to go back in time and do everything different, but too much had happened. A few minutes later Chris came out and told Joey and Valerie that he and Debbie wanted to talk to them.

"Okay, you two we know how hard this is one you, but as our best friends we want to ask you a question. Would you do us the honor of being the godparents to our son?"

Joey and Val looked at each other, both too overcome to say anything. He was the first to recover.

"Of course I will, but I can't speak for Valerie."

"I will too, you know I will."

She walked over to her best friend and gave her a hug, then she did something that surprised them all. She asked to hold her godson. Taking Michael Austin in her arms, she looked over at Joey and knew he was thinking the same thing she was.

Valerie could feel the tears welling up again and knew she had to get out. Handing Michael over to Joey, she left the room. As she walked towards the elevator, she could hear Joey following her, calling her name. He caught up with her before the elevator doors closed. Valerie looked up at him and saw the tears in his eyes. She had seen him cry when they lost their baby, but she had been to wrapped up in her own grief to comfort him. Now, for the first time, she realized she wasn't the only one who was hurting. Walking over to him, she put her arms around him, and they cried together. Feeling the elevator come to a stop, they let go.

"I think we need to go somewhere and talk." Joey said and took her hand. She didn't protest because she knew he was right. It was something they should have done in the first place, but they both too stubborn to give in. They walked over the park next to the hospital and sat down on the bench. Joey turned her to look at him.

"I don't know where things started to go wrong, but I still love you and I want to work things out."

"Then why did you file for a divorce?" This was the question she needed answering the most.

"We were hurting each other too much to stay together. We couldn't even be in the same room with each other without fighting. At the time I thought it was for the best, but I regretted it the minute I sent those papers. I was so mad that you didn't come to me to talk about what was wrong. I mean, that’s what I'm here for, I'm your husband. When I found out you talked to Debbie and not me, I wondered what else you went to her about. It hurt really bad to think that you felt you could talk to her about something and not me. Didn't you trust me enough to tell me? Or was it that you didn't love me enough?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could he think she didn't love him? He was everything to her. She took his hand in her own.

"I'm sorry if you ever doubted the love I have for you." He smiled to himself and noted that she said have and not had. " You are the most important thing to me. The only reason I didn't tell you about my concern with the pregnancy was because I didn't want you to worry. I thought I was just being paranoid. I knew if I told you that you would cancel the rest of the tour and I didn't want that. I wanted things to be as normal as possible. If I could go back and change the way I handled things, I would in a heartbeat. Maybe we would be where we are right now."

"I don't want to give up on this marriage, I think we should try again. Only this time, I want you to tell me everything, I don't care how in significant you think it is."

"That could be very dangerous, you know how much I like to talk." She smiled and Joey realized that was the first time he had seen her smile in a long time.

"That’s better, Dollface." Using his nickname for her, she loved the sound of her name on his lips. "I promise you will smile more often. I'll make sure of it." He leaned over to kiss her and she could feel her heart skip a beat, the way it did when they first met.

"Let's go back and tell everyone the good news."

"Okay, but then let's go home, so I can be alone with my wife." Valerie smiled, knowing exactly what he had in mind. The guys were all thrilled when they told them they were back together. They said good bye to their godson and left. They didn't leave their bed for the rest of that day and most of the next. They were where they needed to be. Together,

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One year later, on Michael's birthday, they found themselves at the hospital once again. This time it was for the birth of Joey and Valerie's daughter, Macy Isabelle. It was a day of mixed blessings. They were ecstatic because their little miracle, they were still saddened over the child they lost. The first place they went after leaving the hospital, was the cemetery, to introduce Belle to her big sister. It was their way of letting their little angel that she would never be forgotten. Belle would always know that she had a big sister, and how much she meant to them. When they pulled up in the driveway, the place was full of cars and people.

"I thought we agreed there wouldn't be a party." Valerie said and looked over at her husband.

"I didn't do this, but I have a good idea who did."

"Chris and Debbie." they said in unison. Joey got the car seat out of the backseat of the car. He stood there for a minute and just watched her sleeping. Looking up when Val walked over to him, he smiled tears glistening in his eyes. She knew exactly what he was thinking.

"It all seems like a dream, I know, but it's not. We created her, and one day we'll probably pay for that. If she's anything like I was as a kid. That’s okay, she's worth any sacrifice we have to make."

"I love you, Dollface. My life was so empty without you." The sincerity in his voice brought tears to her eyes.

"I love you, too, Joey. Now let's go in before they send out a search party for us." Walking into the house, they were greeted by their closest friends and family. The same ones who were there for them during their worst times. Debbie was the first to speak up when everyone settled down.

"I'd like to make a toast to my 2 best friends in the whole world. Nobody deserves this happiness more than them. To Val, my sister and Joey, our superman. We love you guys."

They looked at each other and then at their daughter, both knowing the were lucky for this second chance. There wouldn't be anymore broken promises.

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