“Is something going on, Ian?” he asked.

“We just had a disagreement and now I can’t find her. She left her phone at home.”

“Is there a special place she goes to when you two have an argument?”

I stood there and thought about it for a minute. She usually went down to the beach, but I checked and she wasn’t there. Then it hit me.

“Thank you, Jimmy. I think I know where she is.”

I left the bar and drove to the place I was pretty sure she was at. When I pulled up to the curb, I saw her lying there, on the ground, in front of Stephen’s grave. I got out of the car and walked over to her, only to find her asleep. When I carefully picked her up, she opened her eyes and looked at me. Her eyes looked red and swollen as if she’d been crying for hours.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a whisper.

“Taking you home.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my chest. I put her in the car and drove home. I picked her up from the seat, carried her upstairs, and laid her down in our bed.

The next morning, Rory was up and showered before the alarm went off. After I finished getting dressed, I joined her and Andre downstairs for breakfast. She looked at me when I entered the dining room and quickly looked down. I didn’t want to say anything about last night in front of Andre.

“Good morning,” I said.

Andre replied with a good morning and Rory didn’t say anything. I sat down while Mandy poured some coffee in my cup.

“Joshua will drive you to the airport.”

“Thank you, Ian. I appreciate it.”

I finished up my coffee and muffin and looked at my watch. “Well, it was great to see you, Andre. Have a safe flight home and keep in touch,” I said as we hugged lightly.

“Thank you for taking me into your beautiful home. Good luck with everything.”

I left and headed to Prim. When I arrived at the office, I sent Rory a text message.

“We need to talk about last night.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I visited my brother’s grave and fell asleep. Leave it alone,” she replied back.

I sighed as I threw my phone across the desk. This situation was getting worse by the minute. My phone began to ring and when I picked it up, I saw that Adalynn was calling. Great. I knew exactly why she was calling.

“Hello, Adalynn. How’s the honeymoon going?”

“Don’t you think for one minute that I don’t know what’s going on between you and Rory,” she yelled into the phone.

“Adalynn, I’m in no mood for this right now.”

“I don’t care. You’re an asshole, Ian. As much as I hate to say this, you’re worse than Andrew and I didn’t think that was possible. What the hell is the matter with you? What demons are you hiding?”

I rolled my eyes before answering her. “This is none of your concern. Rory knew exactly how I felt about having children and she let me down. I can’t be a father to that baby, Adalynn. You know me.”

“I thought I knew you, Ian. I thought you were a better person than that. I guess it’s true what they say: a leopard can’t change its spots. You’re a perfect asshole example of that. I’m ashamed of you, Braxton.” Click.

As I shook my head, I threw my phone across my desk and cupped my face in my hands. What the fuck was I going to do? I loved Rory. She changed me. Or at least, I thought she had. I had my reasons for not wanting this child. Reasons I wouldn’t admit. It was better for the baby that I was not in its life.

Rory

A couple of weeks had passed and Ian and I were still a mess. We did sleep in the same bed, but he stayed on his side and I stayed on mine. My pants were getting hard to fit into and it seemed like I was getting bigger every day. Ian left for the office every morning and I stayed in bed until he left. He didn’t call or text and he didn’t come home until late. This relationship had fallen so far out of reach that it was time for me to move out and get on with my life; just me and my baby.

I spent the day looking online for apartments out of state. I didn’t know where I wanted to go, but I knew I couldn’t stay in California. It would be too painful. I would be able to afford my own place for a while, but I would have to start looking for a job. The money Ian put in my bank account wouldn’t last forever. I had decided that when the baby was born, I wasn’t putting Ian’s name down as the father. He didn’t want anything to do with this baby, so I was going to make sure there were no ties to him at all. As I searched online, my phone chimed with a text message from Andre.

“How’s my beautiful American girl? Is Ian still being a dick? If so, move to Paris and I will take care of you and your baby.”

I smiled when I read his text. He was such a sweet and great friend. But that was all he was.

“Thank you, Andre. I’m okay and yes, Ian is still being a dick. I would love to move to Paris and I’ve considered it, but I would never allow you to take care of me and the baby.”

“Friends, Rory. Friends take care of each other. I would see to it that you got a job and I could help out while you’re at work. Give it some thought. Raising a baby here would be a wonderful life.”

“I’ll give it some thought. Thank you, Andre.”

“You’re welcome. Take care of yourself and your beautiful American baby.”

I continued looking at the map of the United States to figure out where I wanted to move. Maybe Paris wasn’t such a bad idea after all. I wouldn’t be completely alone there with Andre, and I loved Paris. I could rent a furnished apartment and not have to worry about moving anything but my suitcase. I could buy all of the baby things I needed once I got there. It was settled; I was moving to Paris. I purchased a one-way ticket for the day after tomorrow.

I went to the bedroom and pulled the suitcase out of the closet. I figured it would be best to start packing. As I began to pack, Ian walked into the bedroom.

“What are you doing?” he asked sternly.

“I’m packing because I’m moving.”

“Where are you moving to?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business. You will never see me again once I leave. It will be easy for you to get back to your normal life and forget that you ever met me.”

“Bullshit! It is my business,” he yelled. “That’s my baby you’re carrying.”

I turned around and stared him straight in the eyes. My blood was on fire and all I saw was red. “Your baby?!” I screamed. “The baby you don’t want and the baby you can’t be a father to? How dare you, after all these weeks of ignoring me and pushing me out of your life, you say that! Who the fuck do you think you are?!”

“Do you think that it’s going to be easy to forget you? To forget everything we’ve shared? You’ve hurt me deep down, Rory. You let me down,” he screamed.

“I let you down? No, it’s the other way around. You let me down, you heartless bastard!”

I was in tears and I was so angry. The words were on the tip of my tongue and they were about to spew out of my mouth. I shouldn’t have said it, but it was how I felt and I had no choice.

“I hate you, Ian Braxton. I want you out of my life. You don’t deserve someone like me. You deserve a ruthless, heartless bitch that you can control.”

He stood there in anger. “You’re right, Rory. It will be easy to forget you,” he said as he turned and started to walk out the door.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen and I let out a scream and doubled over. Ian turned around and looked at me.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he ran to me and took a hold of my arm.

“I have to go into the bathroom for a minute,” I said as a tear ran down my cheek.

“Let me help you,” he said.

As I jerked my arm out of his grip, another pain shot through me. I doubled over again.