The Road To Forgiveness (18 page)

I feel his chest move slowly up and down as
his head moves to kiss my forehead.

“I love the name Hope. Hope Melanie Price,”
He says as if trying it out. “I think we have a keeper.”

I fall asleep knowing my family is whole,
under one roof, and Hope Melanie Price will be joining us soon.

It’s the end of summer and I feel like I’m
carrying triplets instead of a small little girl. I’m due in a few
weeks but I’m miserable. My legs are swollen, I have to pee
constantly, and I’m physically exhausted.

I woke from a restless sleep to the sound of
my cell phone going off on the nightstand. I ignore it the first
few times but when it starts ringing a fourth time, I moaned in
frustration and reach my hand out to grab the phone. I lift it to
my ear and pick up with out looking at the caller id.

“Hello?” I say sleepily into the phone.

“Mia, darling, I’ve been calling you all
morning. Why aren’t you picking up my calls?”

“Charlie?” I say, still slightly confused on
who I am talking to.

“Yes, Charlie, who else would it be calling
you from my phone?”

My body goes on instant alert. I shoot up in
bed and I feel my arms and legs tense. Charlie wouldn’t call me
several time in a row unless something was wrong. He isn’t dramatic
like my mother. In fact, Charlie hardly ever calls me.

“Is everything okay? Is it Momma?” I’m
beginning to panic and I know I need to settle down.

I feel Sebastian’s arms encircle me as he
grabs the phone from my hands and places it to his ear.

“Charlie, what is it?”

I stare at Sebastian as he listens intently
to whatever Charlie is telling him on the other end.

“Uh huh, yes… I had a feeling.”

He is silent for a long time as Charlie
speaks on the other end.

“I was going to speak to her about it this
morning. I didn’t know it was going to hit the news yet.” He pauses
again briefly before speaking, “Of course I did. I need her to feel
safe and I will do whatever is in my power to make that
happen.”

A few more seconds go by and I can feel my
entire body start to shake. I have no idea what they are talking
about and it is making me nervous. I’m pretty sure it has nothing
to do with my mother, leaving me more confused then I was when I
first answered the phone.

Sebastian slowly starts to stroke my belly
with his thumb. “I’m going to speak with her today. Thank you for
calling. I’m glad everything is taken care of and that you and
Melanie know that she will be in safe hands for a long time. I’ll
have Mia call you later, okay?”

He leans down and gently kisses my belly,
trying to reassure me at the same time.

“Goodbye, Charlie,” he says into my cell
phone before hanging up and placing it back on the nightstand.

Sebastian leans into me and kisses me gently
on the lips, “Good morning, Honey. Sleep well?”

“What was that about?” I ask. I’m not going
to get the run around from him today.

“I need coffee, do you want breakfast?”

He stands up to get dressed but I grab ahold
of his arm and pull him back in to bed.

“What was that phone call about? What has
Charlie blowing up my phone until I answer?”

“He called about Kyle’s case.”

My body stiffens. I freeze at the sound of
his name. Sebastian notices immediately and pulls me into his arms.
I rest my head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his
heart.

“What about Kyle?” I ask him tentatively, not
knowing if I want to know the answer.

Sebastian caresses my hair, gently dragging
his fingers through it while cooing softly into my ear, as if I
were a child.

“The jury deliberated and made a final ruling
yesterday. It was televised all over the state of Georgia.”

I didn’t realize the case was almost over. I
was purposely trying not to follow it.

“And?”

“…And Kyle Monroe will be a member of the
Georgia Department Of Corrections for a very long time.”

I almost can’t believe his words. I look up
to face him and see concern in his eyes.

“How can that be? The papers… on the news…
everyone said the new evidence would set him free.”

He kisses me softly on my lips, gently
soothing away my pain.

“They were wrong. No one knows for sure with
these things. They must have jumped the gun. We got lucky because
he had a very smart jury on this case, they new bull shit when they
saw it.”

He looks at me confidentially, almost
triumphant. I can’t help but see the smugness he is trying to hide
behind his concern. Than I remember his words to Charlie a few
minutes ago on the phone.

I stand up and Sebastian reluctantly lets me
go. I start to pace slowly across our bedroom floor.

“You knew. You told Charlie that you planned
to tell me this morning. You said…” I pause to look directly at him
as his words hit me. “You said you needed me to feel safe and you
would do whatever was in your power to make that happen.”

I take a few steps towards him until I am
standing next to the bed.

“Did you do this? Did you do something to
make sure he stayed in prison?”

Sebastian doesn’t look guilty and he doesn’t
look like a man hiding something. He looks like a man who would do
anything to protect his wife.

“The new evidence was weak. His defense team
had nothing and the jury wouldn’t have overturned the original
ruling with such a weak case. I just helped them see it a little
sooner then they would have on their own.”

“Why? Why would you do that and risk
everything? You could go to prison, Sebastian.”

He pulls me down next to him on the bed and
grabs my hands.

“Look at me.”

I look up into his eyes with unshed tears
threatening to fall at any moment.

“I won’t go to prison. I’m smarter than that
and you have to believe me when I say, I will never do anything
that could take me away from you. I love you and I will always do
everything in my power to protect you, I won’t apologize for
getting involved. Kyle Monroe deserves to stay in prison; I just
made sure that happened. I will always protect you, until my last
breath. You’re safe now and I don’t want you to ever worry about
him again.”

The tears start to flow down my cheeks as I
whisper, “I love you. I love you so much.”

Sebastian pulls me to him and wraps me in his
arms. We hold each other for what seems like hours, I never want to
let go.

Unfortunately, I’m not so lucky.

“Will you be okay?” Sebastian asks me as he
stands up to start getting ready.

“I’ll be fine. What time is your flight?”

I look over at the clock to see it’s a little
after eight in the morning.

“I’m supposed to be in the air in an hour. I
can stay, delay my flight for a few hours if you need me.”

I stand up from the bed and walk over to give
my husband a soft peck on the cheek. “Don’t be silly. I’ll be fine.
I have plans with Rachel today. She is shopping for a new car and I
told her I would help her look. You’ll be home in a week,
right?”

This was the longest Sebastian and I have
been apart since we got married. I usually travel with him on these
long trips but with the baby due in a few weeks, it isn’t safe to
fly.

“Yes, I’ll be home in a week. Sooner if I can
help it. Your mother is flying in tonight, right?”

“She should be in around six. She is
insisting on staying until the baby comes so I’m warning you now. I
might be homicidal when you comeback.”

He laughs at my comment.

“I’m not joking,” I try to say seriously but
the ends of my mouth come up in a smile.

“I hate when I have meetings in New York. The
city is cold to me, unfriendly. I really wish you were coming with
me.

“I wish I was, too. Next time.”

Sebastian finishes getting ready and before I
know it he is kissing me and walking out the door. I don’t know how
I am going to make it a week without him.

The day goes by fast. Rachel and I check out
six different car lots until she finds the right car. By the time
she is done negotiating with the salesman, I’m starving and ready
to eat. Thankfully, she takes pity on me and tells the man to have
the car ready for us to pick up later this afternoon.

We eat at one of the local cafes near the
estate. We laugh and talk about her new position with Sebastian’s
company. I’m so thankful that Sebastian didn’t fire her or any of
the other girls. Rachel was a hard worker and deserves a great
paying job, even if I didn’t want it to involve the extra benefits
she use to give my husband on the side.

By six o’clock I am at Miami International
airport, waiting for my mother outside of arrivals. The heat is
killing me this time of year. The humidity can be unbearable and
I’m sweating down my neck and back.

I see my mother walk out the sliding glass
doors and I step out of my vehicle. I wave her over and she runs
over as soon as she sees me.

“Oh my, Darling, you’re huge.”

I close my eyes as I give her the best hug I
can mange with my large belly in the way.

“You weren’t this big with Miles. I swear we
could have hidden your pregnancy the entire time, you barely
showed. Now this one, I swear I could spot you from a mile away.
You look like you could be carrying twins with how big your belly
is.”

Did I tell Sebastian a week? Well, I was
wrong because my Momma was already making me homicidal and it’s
been two minutes. I lift my hands in a praying motion and close my
eyes as I send up a silent prayer.

Lord help me.

*****

It’s day three of my Mother being in Miami
and she is driving me nuts. I have never had her fawn over me so
much in my life. Not when I broke my arm after falling out my
window when I was seven, not when I was horrified to get my period
in the middle of Sunday service when I was twelve, and not even
when I was pregnant with Miles. You’d think I’d enjoy her newfound
attentiveness towards me.

I didn’t.

They say be careful what you wish for, well I
finally understand that stupid saying. I’m lying in bed, my feet
propped up by pillows, my head against another stack of pillows,
the remote in my hand, and every snack and drink imaginable is next
to me on the nightstand.

I can’t stand being forced to lay like
this.

I slowly get up, trying to make as little
noise as possible so my mother doesn’t hear me. I’m standing next
to the bed, almost home free when my mother walks into the
bedroom.

“Mia, darling, you lay down this instant.
There is no need for you to get up. If you need something I can get
it for you.”

“Momma, I’m fine. Its good for me to get up,
walk around, and live a normal life until this baby comes. Besides,
I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh,” she says as she places a few magazines
at the foot of the bed. “I’ll wait here while you go take care of
business.”

I shake my head at how silly my mother is
being. I walk into the master bathroom and shut the door, locking
it behind me. I don’t actually have to use the washroom but I need
to get up and I need a few minutes to myself before I go back out
there and face her.

Sebastian is still gone in New York. I’ve
spoken to him a few times each day and he’s hopeful that he’ll be
back in Miami tomorrow night. I'm counting down the minutes until
he is home. My mother loves him; probably more than me, so she will
listen to him when he tells her I do not need to be on bed
rest.

I move to the sink and turn on the faucet.
The water is cold so I splash some on my face. It feels so
refreshing and helps keep me awake. Who knew that all the rest I’ve
been getting the past few days would actually make me more
tired.

I look at myself in the mirror. My face is
swollen from the pregnancy, actually, my entire body is swollen. My
nose is spread out a little farther, my lips are fuller, and my
eyes are a little smaller. I feel like a hot mess. How Sebastian
can still be attracted to me is shocking.

I move to grab a towel and dry my face when I
feel a gush of fluid move down my leg. I look down to see a puddle
of clear fluid at me feet. I can still feel something slowly
trickling down my leg.

My water broke.

Oh my God, my water broke.

I’m in labor.

I take a few deep breaths before I start to
freak out. All I can think is that Sebastian is not here.

“Momma,” I yell from inside the bathroom. My
mother is knocking at the door within seconds, trying to open
it.

“Darling, let me in. The door is locked.”

I waddle over to the door and open it for
her.

“My water just broke,” I whisper as I stare
at her in shock.

“Oh, my. Oh my, oh my, oh my. We need to get
you to the hospital right away. This is your second baby so your
labor should be much faster than when you had Miles.”

My mother starts running around like a
chicken with its head cut off.

“Did you pack a bag? Please tell me you have
a bag ready? How far is it to the hospital? Do you have your
doctor’s number with you?”

“Momma, calm down.”

She turns towards me and smile hugely. “My
baby is about to have a baby girl! I can’t calm down, I’m just so
excited.”

“I have a bag packed. It’s next to the bed.
The hospital is only fifteen minutes away and we can call Dr. Patel
on the drive there. I just need my phone so I can call
Sebastian.”

My mother walks over to the nightstand and
grabs my cell phone. She hurries to hand it to me. I start to dial
Sebastian’s number as I see my mother move to the side of the bed.
She is grabbing my bag for the hospital.

I lift the phone to my ear as I hear it
ring.

“Hi, Honey. I’m in the middle of a meeting,
can I call you back?”