Everyone left.
Sadie.
Our baby.
My parents.
Sadie and the baby were just another set of hairline fractures to my already fucked-up heart. I pinched the bridge of my nose tiredly. When the doors of the elevator doors opened, the ding filled the silence of the fortress I had made for myself up here at the top of the world. I wasn’t sure I could bear being up here alone tonight.
But when I stepped off the elevator, I realized I wasn’t.
There stood Sadie, leaning against the wall next to my door. I sucked in a breath, biting back the tears that stung the backs of my eyes. She was a sight for sore eyes. Like coming home, and I didn’t mean my apartment. My eyes looked her over worriedly, until they fell on her midsection. She was really showing now. It had only been a few days since I saw her last, but she seemed to have popped.
All I wanted was to rush to her, and gently hold her. Hold her small, round belly. But I hesitated. I didn’t want to scare her away. I wasn’t sure why she was here.
She looked up at me and I swore there was relief in her glistening eyes.
“I’ve been looking for you…” she said softly. “I tried calling and calling.”
I reached in my pocket and pulled out my phone. “My battery died.”
She nodded.
“I’ve been looking for you, too,” I said, slipping my phone back in my pocket and taking a wary step toward her. Her breath seemed to catch at my approach. I stopped in my tracks.
“Do you want to come in?” I asked, gesturing toward the door of my apartment.
“Sure.” She clutched her fingers nervously. “I have my key. I just didn’t know if I should use it…”
I nodded sadly. I hated that she didn’t feel like this was her home anymore.
I turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open wide. She slipped past me and stood unsurely in the living room. Asshe looked anywhere but me, I placed my keys on the table by the door and stole a glance her way. She looked beautiful as ever, but her face glowed even more. Her cheeks were rosy, complementing her auburn hair that fell over her one shoulder. I still couldn’t believe how much her body had changed. Even in all black, I could see the outline or her perfect bump.
I wanted to hold her. To kiss her. To just be near her.
As if feeling my gaze, her emerald eyes found mine. The unsureness in them made my insides ache.
“I went by the office today,” she said softly. “I heard about what you said…”
I was taken aback. If only I had stayed there, we wouldn’t have missed each other.
“Why did you do it?” she asked, tilting her head to one side and looking at me curiously.
“Because it should never have been a secret. You. The baby. Us. Any of it.” I took a single step toward her as if testing if it were okay.
She swallowed hard, lifting her chin slightly. Her usual move when she was trying to stay strong. I couldn’t help but hold back a smile, knowing how well I knew her. She was stronger than I had ever given her credit for. I saw that now.
“I read the article,” she said grimly.
“You did,” I said, more as a statement than a question.
She nodded.
“And?” I asked, my voice shook.
“I don’t believe a word of it,” she said firmly.
I let out a deep breath of relief. “You don’t?”
