Chapter 19
It had been almost ten months since Melissa and Joey met, a very eventful ten months. After the bus had turned the corner, Joey made them go back. He had to be with her. He came to her in her bed, and held her, telling her that he didn’t want to live a life that she wasn’t a part of, that he couldn’t be without her. She had decided to finish school and then go out on the road with them.
Now she lay in the hospital bed, Joey smiling down beside her. “OK, Melissa, we need one more real good push,” the doctor said as he checked her for what must have been the thirtieth time since she'd gone into labor.
She’d already pushed so much she didn’t think her body could take another moment. “I can’t,” she said wearily.
“C’mon baby,” Joey said. “You can do this. You’re doing so good.”
Joey’s encouragement gave her the strength she needed and she did as instructed. Within a few brief moments she heard the baby crying and she began to weep with happiness. “Oh baby, he’s so beautiful,” Joey said, kissing her.
After cleaning up the baby, the doctors brought him over, laying him in his mother’s arms. Immediately, the infant’s wails subsided and he looked wide-eyed at his mother. “Oh my god,” she said as she wiped her tears. “He’s amazing. Look at him, Joe.”
Joey sat on the bed behind her, smiling as they looked down at their baby. The moment was just as she had always pictured it. Everything was perfect.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar song. “But if there’s something that I could do, won’t you please let me know.” She looked around wondering where the sounds came from. As she looked to her left, there stood Justin and the others who continued to sing.
Melissa came to, hitting the snooze button on her alarm clock a little too violently. That damn song played all of the time and hearing it first thing in the morning was the last thing she needed. She shook her head as she attempted to awaken herself.
In truth, it had only been about a month since she’d seen Joey. She missed him more than she would have guessed possible. When she went to sleep at night, she missed feeling his body pressed against hers. She missed his laughter. So many times, she heard something and thought about how amused he would be. Hell, she even missed his corny jokes.
The day after getting home, she'd skipped class, something she rarely did. She sat in bed all day, watching television absently. Though she tried to think about anything but Joey, her mind continued to wander back to him. She remembered the way his lips felt on hers, and the way his skilled hands touched her body. The thought of never having those feelings again brought stinging tears to her eyes.
Since she and Joey had parted ways, she’d been moody. One moment, she was fine. The next, she was a complete bitch. Both Cassie and Brandi had teasingly threatened to move out, though she had to wonder how much of it was in jest. She cried at the least provocation; a sad movie, a happy movie, even the damn reality shows. Even her schoolwork was suffering.
To make matters worse, she was almost two weeks late. She knew she’d taken her pill as she should, though never at the same time of day. Paranoia had set in when she had spoken to Cassie. “You know, hun, those aren’t 100% effective even when you take them faithfully at the same time every day.” Her fears intensified the day before when she started to feel nauseated. in the past twenty-four hours or so, she’d spent more time in the bathroom than in any other room of her home.
She needed to find out, but she was afraid to know. She kept telling herself it was just stress. In the past month, she’d met a wonderful man, fell in love and lost him. Ups and downs like that would be enough to worry anyone. She knew that if she was pregnant, though, she needed to find out as soon as possible, for the health of her baby. After walking past the pregnancy tests five times at the grocery store, she put one in her empty basket before tossing in a few random items in as well. The test now sat in her bathroom. She kept forgetting to take it. She wasn’t really forgetting, though. She was just putting it off.
As she sat reading over her assignment, her cell phone chimed and she jumped up to answer it. Every time she'd heard a phone ring in these past few weeks, her heart stopped. Maybe it was Joey. He had called her once, about a week after they parted, but she was in class. His voice mail had been short, but sweet. It was still saved. “Hey Angel. It’s Joey. I miss you. Call me.” She sighed, smiling. Knowing they didn’t have a show that night, she had called. When she only got his voicemail, her mind raced with possibilities. Perhaps he was just in an area where there wasn’t any service. More likely, though, he was out partying. There were probably dozens of women throwing themselves at him and now she wasn’t there to stop it from happening. She shook her head, wishing the thoughts away as she left him a short message. “Hi Joey. It’s Melissa. Just callin you back. Bye.” Her voice had sounded terse, even indifferent.
“Hello?” she said hopefully.
A deep male voice boomed through the receiver. “Hey baby!” Melissa’s heart sank a little as she realized it was Lance.
They’d spoken several times in the past weeks, and she’d really enjoyed keeping up with him. The night she tried to call Joey, Lance told her they’d all been out to the bar and Joey had drank too much, as he had several times since they’d parted. According to Lance, he’d returned to the hotel, drunk and alone. Melissa didn’t know how true his statement was, but a part of her was glad.
He told her that Joey missed her. He’d been kept pretty busy though. When they didn’t have a show, he was spending time with his daughter. Lance had also told her that the only time he had seen a real smile from Joey recently was when he was with Briahna. Melissa had noticed, when she watched various interviews that he didn’t seem as animated as before, but she chalked that up to the fatigue of being on the road.
“Hey Lance, how’s it goin?” Melissa said, trying not to let her disappointment show in her voice.
Lance chuckled. “Expecting someone else?”
“Nah,” she said lightly, “Just wishful thinking I guess.”
“Why don’t you call him, Mel?” Lance asked.
“Mel…” She laughed and shook her head. Only Lance could get away with that. “Lance, I did call him. He called, then I called back.”
“God,” Lance huffed. “You’re both so damn stubborn. Just call him. He misses you.”
“Lance, if Joey really missed me, I’d have heard from him by now.” Melissa argued. “Anyway,” she interjected attempting to steer the conversation in another direction. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.”
“And Chris?” she continued.
“He’s fine. And Justin is fine. And JC is fine. Everyone is fine, except for the one person you’re really wondering about.”
“Lance…” she said in a warning tone.
“I know,” he said, defeated for the moment. “What I wanna know is how are you?”
“I’m fine, Lance,” she said flatly.
It was a clear lie and Lance saw through it effortlessly. “Mel, what’s wrong?”
“I…nothing,” she stuttered.
“No, you can’t tell me nothing. I may not know you that well, but I know you well enough to realize that something is on your mind.”
“Well, Lance. There is something. But you have to promise me, you won’t tell Joey.”
“Mel, Joe and I have been friends for a long time. That’s a hard thing to promise,” Lance explained.
“Lance, promise me,” she said in the most serious tone Lance had ever heard her use.
“OK,” he complied. “I promise.”
“Ok,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Lance, I think I’m pregnant.”
“Oh my God,” Lance gasped. “Don’t beat around the bush or anything.”
Melissa laughed lightly. “Sorry, I just couldn’t think of any other way to say it.”
Lance chuckled. “Mel, I won’t say anything to Joe. But you need to. He has a right to know.”
“Don’t you think I know that Lance?” she said tersely. “I’ve thought about it for so long I can’t even think straight. I’m not gonna say anything to him until I know, though. There’s no reason to stress him out unless I know.”
“Well, when will you find out?” he asked.
“I guess when I stop procrastinating and take the test I bought today.”
“Melissa!” Lance shouted.
“I know, I know,” she said. “I’m going to. Just give me some time. I’ll take it tonight.”
“Ok,” Lance said. “Call me when you find out. We’re goin out, but I’ll have my cell.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow to let you know Lance. You go out and have fun. Don’t worry. OK?”
“OK, but call me, first thing in the morning. Let me know.”
“Alright,” Melissa said before she and Lance exchanged good-byes.
She sat for a few moments, reading information she’d already read. She didn’t remember any of it. She was too distracted by the thoughts running through her head. What would Joey say? Would he be understanding or would he blame her? Would he be angry and question whether the baby was his or not? The more Melissa thought about it, the wearier she became. She knew she had to have an answer. She closed the book and got up wandering into the bathroom.
After reading the directions, she complied and then waited. There was a part of her that almost wanted it to be positive. No one said that there had to be a father for a woman to have a child. Sure, having a “real” family was preferable, but being a single mother wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to her. In her mind’s eye, she saw a small boy with light brown hair and dark eyes like his father. He was making tiny noises while rolling his toy cars through the grass as Melissa sat on the deck watching him, a smile playing on her lips. “Mama, look!” he screamed as he ran two trucks into each other, making a loud crashing noise. She laughed and smiled as he ran to her. “I love you, mama.”
Her fantasy was interrupted as the timer she’d set rang out. Slowly, she walked back into the bathroom, smiling. Suddenly she knew that no matter what the future held, she could handle it. If the test results were negative, she’d continue to heal as she tried to figure out what to do about her feelings for Joey. If they were positive, she’d tell Joey and deal with his reaction. Either way, though, she’d be just fine.
