~*~ A Friend’s Promise ~*~
The airport was relatively quiet as the threesome made their way to the gate. All three were quiet, not knowing exactly what to say.
At the gate, Howie handed Andi her ticket. "Here you go."
"Thanks. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can."
"No need. I didn’t buy it."
"Oh?" questioned Andi.
"AJ bought it. Andi, AJ loves you and never meant to hurt you," explained Howie. "He was drunk."
"He missed you and doesn’t remember what happened…only that they were dancing," added Kevin.
"Stop defending him, both of you. I love him but he’s betrayed me, broken his promise to me."
"Are you going to at least tell him you’re pregnant?"
Andi cut her eyes from Howie to Kevin who said, "Howie told me earlier. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell AJ. That’s something YOU should do and he deserves to know."
"I don’t argue that point and I’ll tell him, in my own good time."
"Are you going to give him a second chance?" asked Howie.
"I don’t know…I guess. He has to show me that he deserves it first."
"You know, refusing his flowers isn’t giving him much hope of a second chance," pointed out Howie.
Angrily, "Look, BACK OFF! Alex is the one at fault here, NOT me so STOP laying a guilt trip on me."
Kevin and Howie both blushed as Howie apologized, "We’re sorry, Andi. It’s just that both of us are worried about all three of you."
Backing down, Andi took Howie’s hand, "Thank you."
"Sweetheart, we just want to help both of you," said Kevin as he put his hand on Andi’s shoulder.
"Take care of him for me, please," whispered Andi as her tears began again.
"We will," promised Howie as he pulled her into his arms. "Where are you going to stay?"
"I’m gonna go to the house, for now. No sense telling my family, they’ll just help him. When I’m ready, I’ll talk to him."
Over the PA system, Andi’s flight was called.
"That’s your flight," said Howie softly. "Call me when you get home, okay?"
Andi gave them each a hug before taking her overnight bag from Kevin. Sadly, she headed to check in as they watched her. Before disappearing down the corridor, she turned one last time to wave goodbye to Howie and Kevin.
"Think they’ll get this worked out?" asked Kevin.
"I hope so, for the baby’s sake. Come on, we need to go check on AJ. I say we take turns rooming with him…keep him out of trouble. I’ll take the first turn."
"You think it’ll help?"
"I don’t know. We promised Andi we’d look out for him. I’m not going to break that promise."
"Me either."
The two men headed back to the hotel knowing they faced the daunting task of helping AJ get his chance to hold on to his marriage. It was quite obvious the couple still loved each other, they just needed to get past AJ’s indiscretion.