Homecoming: A Secret Baby Romance (4 page)

“
T
hat was so much fun
!” I exclaimed as Max and I walked through the door of our parent’s home.

We’d just got back from a local Carnival. Since my decision to let Max leave unharassed, Max had gone on a mission to romance me before he left. Over the last two weeks, he’d taken me out to the best restaurants and to the movies. He even made an attempt at a candlelight dinner one weekend when our parents went to visit Jerry's brother.

Max's cooking was terrible despite what he thought of himself, but it was the thought that counted. I supposed it was his way of lessening the pain he was putting me through.

Max grinned at me as he shook his head. He’d gotten drenched in a water fight at the carnival. “Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?”

“You two have been spending quite a lot of time together,” my mother remarked from the hallway. She had her hands on her hips, watching us stand in the foyer.

“Yeah,” I said, quickly adding, “Max is leaving — better take advantage of him being here while I can.” I glanced at Max and tried not to fidget.

Lately, I’d become increasingly nervous around our parents, especially since it was obvious they'd picked up on us spending time together.

My mother stared at me for what seemed like too long and I began to tremble, thinking she’d suspected something, when she said, “That’s wonderful that you two are bonding and being nice to each other. Heaven knows, it wasn’t always this way.”

* * *

I
popped
the birth control pill in my mouth and gulped it down with water, and then put the bottle back into my bathroom cabinet.

Shortly after the day Max and I had unprotected sex, I’d stopped by the clinic to get another supply. I’d felt bad about doing what I did without telling him, and it was only by the grace of God, or whatever watched over me, that I hadn’t ended up pregnant. Not that a baby with Max wouldn’t be amazing, but we weren’t ready for it yet.

Despite how desperate I was to keep him at home with me, he didn’t deserve to be trapped just because I didn’t want him to leave.

Garbed in a pink, silk nightgown with nothing underneath, I walked back into my room to find Max waiting for me, laying out on my bed in nothing but his white boxers.

I marveled at the sight of his incredible washboard abs. He nodded, his eyes on my breasts, giving me the cue on what he wanted. My nipples were hard and they showed through the flimsy material of the gown.

I grinned with delight and slowly opened the gown, revealing my naked body.

Max gazed at me with longing eyes. “Your body is amazing,” he complimented.

“Is it really?” I asked girlishly — I loved to hear him tell me.

He nodded, his eyes filled with avarice for my curves. “Come over here so I can show you how amazing I think it is.”

“
O
h my god
,” I whispered in horror, standing in my bathroom.

I was late. Never in my life had I been this late. I felt sick to my stomach, shocked. I couldn’t believe it.

I had no clue what I was going to do and I felt like I was going to throw up. I was a fool, a fool for trying to trap Max at home. And for what? So we could have a taboo relationship that would cause us nothing but trouble and hardship?

If only if I could have seen that logic then. Still, I thought, I would have still probably thought about doing it. But that didn’t make it right nor did it solve the shit storm that I’d created for myself.

“I just won't tell anybody,” I finally decided. “I’ll keep it secret from Max and our parents until I figure out how I’ll handle it.”

* * *

“
I
’m all packed
and ready to go,” Max announced. “The trunk of the car is loaded with my carry on. I just need to be at the airport in the next thirty minutes.”

Our family and dogs were gathered in the living room. I wasn’t in the mood to say goodbye and could hardly stand considering the secret I was hiding and the emotional pain I felt at Max’s departure.

“Gonna miss you, Max,” my mom said, pulling him into a tight embrace. “It was wonderful having you home here with us. I just hope you come back to us all in one piece.”

“Going to miss you too,” Max replied. “And I will.” He flexes his muscles. “I’m a tough son of a bitch.”

"You might be tough, but you better watch that language young man."

Max’s dad laughed and looked around the living room. “You sure you got everything, checked your room?”

Max nodded. “I triple checked.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

The drive over to the airport was excruciating. I sat in the back seat with Max, not able to look at him. I hated it that he was leaving. I hated the fact that I now held a secret inside of me, a secret I couldn’t tell him. And I hated the fact that I would be left alone.

I felt incredible guilt over what I’d done, a crushing kind that sat on my chest, suffocating me. Clenching my fists, I held back tears. I was in emotional agony and couldn’t wait until the ride was over.

“Alright, I guess it’s my time to go,” Max said when we stopped at the sidewalk at the departure terminal.” He tapped Jerry's headrest. “Pop the trunk.” Max climbed out of the car and I followed.

Once he had his bag, he stood on the sidewalk grinning at us. I honestly felt like I was going to vomit.

“Make it quick,” Max urged. “These airport security guys are pretty anal about parking here longer than a few minutes. I don’t want to have to lay the smack down on some jerk that disrespects my stepmom.” He winked at my mother and she laughed.

“You be careful, son,” his dad told him after they shared a laugh, pulling Max into a rough embrace.

“Always,” Max replied confidently.

My mom was the next to hug him, whispering a few words in his ear that I couldn’t quite catch.

Last, Max walked over to me. “Why such the sour face?”

I scowled. “You know very well why.” It was hard to keep my voice from trembling in front of our parents, especially when I wanted to scream at him that he couldn’t leave.

Max pulled me in for a bear hug, crushing me into his hard body. His next words he said close to my ear so our parents wouldn’t hear. “Don’t be sad. Just remember. Use that vibrator and time will pass like a speeding bullet.” Despite my anger, I had to laugh.

“You’re impossible.”

“Always.”

Max gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted him to kiss me on the lips, but of course he couldn’t. Still, we’d said our goodbyes last night after a gentle lovemaking session, so it wasn’t so bad.

“I love you, Nikki,” he whispered in my ear.

I was floored when he said it. He’d never said it to me before today and it felt incredibly good to hear those words come out of his mouth.

Before I could reply, he pulled away. “Bye guys. I’ll see you before you know it.” Saluting his dad, Max walked off into the airport. It was so hard to see him go, and when he walked through the doors, I felt like I’d been sucker-punched.

My mom wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m going to miss him.”

“I think we all are,” Max’s dad replied.

She looked over at me and rubbed my shoulder as crocodile tears rolled down my cheek. “You look like you’re taking this really hard, honey.”

What did my mom expect? I was in love with Max, but I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t breathe. My whole world was crumbling.

“Now let’s hurry up and leave before security asks us to move the car,” Jerry urged.

My parents scurried off into the car, but for some reason, I found myself unable to move.

“Nikki?” my mom asked from the passenger seat while rolling her window down. “What are you doing? You can cry over Max while we drive home. Get in the car — we need to move.”

I didn’t respond, staring at the doors Max had gone through.

“Nikki!”

Not bothering to respond, I took off inside the airport. I heard my mom yelling at me as I passed through the doors. “Nikki — god damn it!”

I ran into the airport, blitzing for the security gates. Max was just about to walk through as I ran up. “Max!” I yelled.

Max turned to look at me, surprise on his face. He turned to say something to the agent and then walked over to me.

“Nikki?” he asked. “What are you doing?”

“You can’t leave,” I moaned, grabbing a hold of him.

Max let out a sigh. “We’ve already been through this, Nikki. I can’t believe you’re pulling this now, just before I leave.”

“You have to stay,” I cried.

“Nikki . . . I’m going to be late for my flight. Besides, I couldn’t even if I tried at this point. I've already signed.” Max wrapped his arms around me. “You’ve got to be strong for me, Nikki. I was gone all those years before and you managed. You can manage now.”

“It was different then.”

“You still had feelings for me then, so no, it wasn’t all that different. I need you to be strong for me. Okay?”

I stood there in his arms for what seemed like an eternity.

“Nikki . . .”

“Okay,” I said finally.

“Good.” Max gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. “I gotta go. I can’t be late for my flight.” He turned to leave.

“Max.”

Max turned around, his face a mask of exasperation. “What is it this time—“

“I have something to tell you.”

Max stared at me. “What?”

This was it. If I told him, he had to stay. There was no way he could leave me, at least that's what I hoped. And I hoped that he could find it in his heart to forgive me.

I took a deep breath and placed a hand over my stomach. “I’m . . .”

“
P
regnant
.”

The words left my lips like a torpedo, crossing the space between Max and I and sucker punching him in the stomach. An audible gasp escaped him as the air left his lungs and his eyes widened. His mouth opened and closed several times like a fish, with no sound coming out.

Meanwhile, I felt sick to my stomach. I’d revealed my secret and I felt like my world was over.

We stood there, staring at each other, Max in disbelief, and me in horrified dread. Around us, people scurried quickly about through the airport, intent on reaching their destinations. A woman’s voice rang over the intercom, reminding people of flight departures, filling the atmosphere with a sense of urgency.

“What did you just say to me?” Max finally managed. His voice sounded hoarse, pained.

“I’m pregnant,” I repeated, feeling absolutely nauseous.

“And you’re just now telling me this? Right when I’m about to leave?”

I lowered my head in shame. I couldn’t say anything. How could I? I almost let him leave without telling him he was going to be a father. Not to mention it was all my fault anyway. I’d stopped taking the pill on purpose while I was in emotional distress.

“Hello? How is this even possible? You were on birth control.” Max demanded.

I had to force the words out. “I didn’t want you to go.”

“Didn’t want me to go? What exactly does that mean?”

“It means that I was mad you were leaving. I threw them away. I went back and got more, but it was too late apparently. We’d only had sex once.”

Max smacked himself on the forehead and spun around in a circle, causing the people walking around us to stop and stare. “Jesus Christ! Are you kidding me?” Max glared murder at me, the veins standing out on his neck and biceps. His arms looked so big, and with how angry he was, I could easily see him snapping my neck like a toothpick. “Tell me that you’re just saying this to stop me from leaving.”

I couldn’t look at him, couldn’t even find the breath to respond. This was turning out to be my worse nightmare. When I didn’t reply, Max walked up to me and grabbed my arms, shaking me. “Tell me the truth.”

“It’s not a joke,” I gasped finally, unable to look into the face of his wrath. “I’m pregnant. I swear.”

I winced at the pain in my arms. Max was squeezing me with a lot of force, but I knew he was just beside himself and didn’t mean to.

“And it’s mine?”

The words hurt me. As if I would have slept with anyone else.

“Of course it’s yours.” I cringed, half-expecting Max to backhand me onto the airport floor. I wouldn’t really be upset if he did. I totally deserved it.

Max paused as people flowed through the airport around us, searching my face for lies. Each second that passed, he looked angrier. I honestly thought he was going to kill me right then and there. Finally, he reached his breaking point.

“Fuck this!” Max released me, spun around, and began walking back to the security gate, leaving me standing alone, feeling like absolute shit and wondering if he was going to leave me anyway.