Away. Part 8

My hand shakes as I hold the phone. "I'm sorry Jack. I can't believe you. I need more proof." I hang up the phone and stand, turning to leave.

"Rosemary!" he cries, and he starts pounding on the gla.s.s. The guards jump to restrain him and the pounding stops as I walk out the door and to my car.

My head spins as I sit inside the vehicle. Then my hand flies to my cell phone and I dial the number quickly, waiting.

She picks up without hesitation. "What do you need dear?" Mom asks, waiting.

"I need to ask you something and you need to be honest. Did you leave me with Jack for three years while you ran around with Peter, until my father got in trouble and you had to take me?" I'm breathless, tottering on the edge of a cliff.

There's a silence that lasts an age. "Rosemary..."

"Answer me!"

"...Yes."

I'm plummeting off the cliff, because my mother has let me fall. There's a rustle at the end of the line and she says, "Rosemary, that doesn't mean a thing now. I love you and-"

"Goodbye Mother." I hang up the phone and throw it down, putting my head on the steering wheel and sobbing. My whole life had been one big lie. Everything I have ever believed about my family wasn't true. The worst part was that I had allowed that lie to push away the one true thing that I had ever known.

I wipe my face. Is it too late? I have to try. Starting up the car, I turn it in the other direction and drive like h.e.l.l.

Chapter Seven.

I know the sound of that motor a mile away. I put down the wrench and step away from the front of my dad's car in my garage, ignoring the belt I was supposed to be fixing. Why was she here, to give me back my things? To point out all I had done wrong, to cause me more pain? She was my ex now, nothing more...I wince at the word.

I'm shocked when I put a hand up to cover my eyes from the setting sun to see that, as she steps out of the car, she's crying. Her voice stutters as she says, "Noah, I made the biggest mistake of my life."

My body freezes. I can't believe it. I won't. It's too good to be true. This is all just a dream.

"I love you," she says. "You're the most important thing to me. Being apart from you made me realize that. I can understand if you don't want me back, but-"

I run to her and envelop her in the tightest embrace I can muster. She holds me and we stand there cradling each other, not wanting to let go. "I knew you would come back," I say quietly. "I just didn't want to believe it."

"I think I knew I would too," she says. "But Noah, I'm not sure if you want to be with me."

"What do you mean? Of course I do!" I insist.

She pulls away from me, face lost and scared. "Noah, I'm pregnant."

My mind goes blank for a second. I'm frozen, unable to think. Then I snap out of it and say, "No. That's unbelievable. Are you sure? How?"

"I saw the baby on an ultrasound. The condom must've broke, there's no other way."

I grab her hand, leading her into the house. "Come on. Let's talk about this."

I hold her on my bed as she explains, tells me everything from when she found out about the baby to the shocking truth about Donna. "My own mother didn't even want me," she says, leaning into me. "And I cornered you into s.e.x because everyone else was pressuring me, and now we're having a kid."

I pull her closer. "I've always wanted you Rosemary, from the minute I saw you, and I tried d.a.m.n hard to get you and keep you. And about the s.e.x thing, I could've said no. I should've. It takes two to make a kid. We're both responsible here."

"But I left."

"It doesn't matter. We're together, and that's it. We love each other, nothing else." I kiss her forehead.

"Noah, what are we going to do? I'm going to have to drop out and-"

"n.o.body said anything about dropping out." I grab a pencil and some paper. "Get online and see how much it costs to raise a baby. We're going to figure this out."

It takes three hours, but after a lot of debating and too much math we've finally got a plan. "Okay, so long as I can get certified in mechanics before the baby comes and you keep putting in at least part time at the diner while going to your cla.s.ses we should be able to get an apartment," I say. "Then once the baby is here I can start working in a shop full time and you can take care of the baby during the day, while doing a few online cla.s.ses. Within a year we should be able to send you back full time. I'll have to ask, but I'm pretty sure my dad would love to babysit. He adores kids, and so long as you keep putting in a few s.h.i.+fts we'll pull out okay." I smile triumphantly. "It's going to be hard as h.e.l.l, but we can make it."

"We can actually do this," she says, awed.

"Yes we can," I smile. "And now that all of that is out of the way, I want to ask you something." I get off of the bed and get down on one knee. Her eyes widen larger than I've ever seen them and I say, "Rosemary Donna McGowan, will you marry me?" I pull the emerald ring out of my pocket and show it to her.

Her hands fly up to her mouth. "Noah..."

"I won't take anything but a yes. I'll follow you around on my knees all day if I have to," I joke.

"Noah, are we ready for this?" she whispers. "I don't want you asking this just because we're having a baby."

"I was going to ask you this long before I knew you were pregnant," I say.

"I don't want to rush into anything. We're so young. Too young, everybody's going to say."

"Since when do we care what everyone else thinks? Does their opinion matter, or does ours?" I smile.

"I'm afraid..."

"I know you're frightened," I say, and I take her hand. "But we're already moving in and becoming parents together. I love you, and I'm never going to want anyone else. For me, there's nothing left for me to do but jump into my life with you headfirst."

She smiles. "Then yes. A thousand times yes. Let's get married. Now and forever."

I slip the ring on her finger and stand up to scoop her into my arms, spinning her around the room as I kiss her. She looks into my eyes and says, "I'm the luckiest person in the world."

"That's where you're wrong," I say, and I stroke her hair. "Because no one has ever been luckier than I to have you. Now let's go get a dress. No better time than tonight, right?"

"I guess not. I always liked the idea of eloping. Running off together."

"Then let's run and never stop. Life's coming at us full speed, and I don't want to miss a second of it." I grab her hand to begin facing whatever life is to throw at us, side by side.

end.