...complete...

It has been 5 months since they’ve been back together and they were still trying not to mess it up. It was, after all, their second and probably last chance at a happy ending together. It was a karmic relationship, that noone understood, but everyone knew they were two halves of the same whole.

Alyssa came out of the bathroom and shock had changed her otherwise pretty characteristics. She seemed unable to hold herself standing and she supported herself from the doorknob. She started moving slowly towards the living room where she threw herself at the nearest sofa. She realized that she was still holding the little white stick in her hands and she looked again hoping, that the last ten times were an illusion and not reality. She turned the stick around and the cross was there, even more pink than before. She run out of strength and let the pregnancy test fall to floor. She, slowly, started gaining back her strength and thinking about what that pink cross meant. Her mind drifted years back, when they had a pregnancy scare and they were waiting for the results. He was there for her, but what hurt her more were the things his best friend had told her. “You are doing this just so he will stay with you…”, Lewis had said to her. Would Derek think the same now? After all they had broken for over three years in the past, they had moved on but somehow ended back together, trying to make it work, because they loved each other. But would he think that she just wanted to tie him to her with a baby? When they were teenagers, they were talking about how many kids they would have and what they would name them, but that was just a joke. Children’s joke. Now they were adults.

Alyssa stood up and walked over to her bedroom and stood in front of her closet mirrors. She slowly lift up her t-shirt and revealed her belly. She hold the t-shirt with her chin and placed one hand above and one hand below her belly, cradling it. Peace and serenity suddenly took over. No more shock. No more worries. She was in love. It was something she dreamed her whole life. Well, to be honest, she wanted this ever since she first met him. She realized that a part of him would always be with her. Because there was no other option. She wanted this baby. Even if he later said that he didn’t. But she really hoped that he would be happy.

So, she pulled herself together and picked up the cell phone. She dialed his number and waited without breathing.

“Hey babe. How are you?” , sounded Derek on the other side of the line.

“Fine hun and you? How’s work?” Alyssa hesitantly replied. She couldn’t feel her knees and automatically decided that she couldn’t tell him over the phone. It was a face-to-face thing and she would do it tonight. She wanted to see his reaction, anyway.

“So-so, the kids are driving me crazy. But I kinda like it, you know.”, he said in a husky voice.

“That’s great babes. Look, I wanted to tell you, you’re coming over tonight. I’m cooking your favorite, okay?” she quickly informed him so she wouldn’t cave and him all about her news.

“What did you do now? Should I be worried?” he asked with a serious and worried tone.

“No, not at all. I just wanna take care of you. I like doing that and you know it” she replied with a huge smile on her face. “Trust me. It’s gonna be an amazing night. And, just so you know, there’s gonna be a lot a dirty sex for you tonight!”

“Really? What are you wearing then?” he asked with a laugh in his voice.

“You’re always asking me that. Don't! You have a class full of students! It’s not appropriate. See you tonight”, Alyssa said. “See you tonight, you tease” Derek smirked. “I love you” she shouted and hung up the phone.

In the hours that followed, Alyssa cleaned up her apartment, did her laundry, took a long bubble bath and at around 7 pm she started on dinner. She would cook Derek’s favorite food. Spaghetti with beef in red sauce. And for dessert, apart from the obvious, she would make a cheesecake. When everything was done, she stopped and looked around. Everything was perfect. The only thing missing was him.

She was wearing a strapless black dress with her red pumps and her long, brown, wavy hair where loose on her back and her makeup was all smooth and perfect. The doorbell rang and she run to get the door. Clumsy as she is, she fell down but quickly picked herself up, straightened her dress and got the door open. While she was opening the door, Derek said “You fell again, didn’t you”, but before he could get an answer he was stunned at how lovely she looked. “Wow, now I feel way under-dressed for dinner. You look great”, he said and leaned in to give her a sweet kiss on the cheek.

He walked in and saw the table set for two, with the red plates waiting to be filled with food and two candles already lighten up. He turned around and looked Alyssa in the eyes. “What is this all about? It’s beautiful. We were teenagers when you last did that. I like it” he said with a boyish charm that made her heart skip a bit. “This is so right”, Alyssa thought to herself. “Come, here”, she told him and made him move forward. “I have something to tell you. Something that happened today and I’m really excited about. I only hope you'll like it as much as I did”, she smiled at him but didn’t say anything more. “Really? What happened? Come on tell me. Don’t toy with me..” he anxiously said. She didn’t say anything but kept staring deep in to his eyes. She took his hand and palm down she placed it on her belly. She looked down and the back to his eyes and said “There’s a little you in there.” He quickly looked down, where they hands intertwined. Derek stopped breathing and Alyssa got scared. “Tell me it’s ok. Tell me you’re ok with it" She paused not knowing how to react or what to do. Was he okay with it or was he mad? Would he storm ou? She started getting more scared as more minutes went by. "Just say something.”, she exhaled. He still didn’t say anything but took a breath in. Determined, he slowly kneeled to the floor in front of her, without separating their hands he placed his other in her stomach and leaned forward. Alyssa was the one that didn’t breath now, when she heard him whispering “Hey kiddo, I can’t wait to meet you.” She immediately fell to  the floor and hugged him. Derek picked her up and hugged her even tighter. “You’ll squeeze the baby”, she told him while laughing….