Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty Melody Melody decided to put on some clothes and got dressed in a hurry. She put on a dress that came down a little past her ankles, flowered and strappy, threw on a coat over it and slipped on a pair of heelless sandals. Timothy had taken it upon himself to warn her about all the harm that wearing high shoes while pregnant could cause. He cared about her much more than anyone else. He aside from having his father’s illness on his shoulders, locating any kind of medical answers, surgeries, or treatments, he took the time to look out for her, her health and her child’s. He was the best man she could have in her life.

She began to feel her heart racing a little, she didn’t want to see Richard, she didn’t even know why he was there. It had been almost four months since she saw him, she remembered the day perfectly, when he said to get rid of her baby.

She began to feel her heart racing a little, she didn’t want to see Richard, she didn’t even know why he was there. It had been almost four months since she had last seen him, she remembered the day perfectly, when he said to get rid of her baby, to him, he was more than a burden.

She was going to comply with going to see him because she owed him nothing. She didn’t owe anything to anyone.

The only one she would be eternally grateful to would be Timothy.

“Ready?”

Though he was angry for some reason she couldn’t quite figure it out, she hadn’t given him any reason to doubt her love for him. She spared herself the questions and simply answered him by nodding her head.

He stared at her for a moment, he didn’t even notice her and perhaps he did notice that she was looking at him, he ignored her completely. Her coldness began to annoy him. If he had something to say to her, she had better do it before they met with Richard. She was sure of one thing, that man would not come up to their apartment, to their home, to the house she had built with Timothy that week.

That family she built up, for Timothy was her family and nothing would change that.

“Are you going to tell me what the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been acting like an idiot ever since Paula said he was down there.”

“Am I acting like an idiot? Me, Melody? Are you listening to yourself? You’ve put on a dress that fits you like a dream. You’ve done your hair, you’ve brushed it, you’ve even applied cream, I really don’t understand how it’s possible that I didn’t notice.”

“You’ re going crazy! Have you lost your mind, Timothy? Don’t fuck with me! Don’t come to me with this scene of misplaced jealousy, because I have never given you a hint that I might have feelings for him, and I told you that it was a one-night thing, a one-time thing, and as a result I have my baby.”

She walked towards him with a confident step, her fragility had only brought her trouble, and she had already understood that. The more clarity, the better she could carry her relationship with Timothy. So, she walked over to him and hugged him, though he didn’t put his arms around her.

“This child... this child that I carry in my womb, if you want it, if you allow it, will always be more your child than his. For you have always been with me and I trust you will be.”

“Don’t say...that man is always going to be part of your life, because you can’t erase his DNA from the baby’s system. That baby will always be a part of him. There are things that, even if you wished for them with all your strength, it’s not possible to fulfill them.”

After a second, he wrapped his arms around her and dropped his chin a tiny bit on her head, he was a hell of a lot taller than she was.

“I swear to you Melody if I could return the time.... If I could...”

“But you can’t Timothy, you can’t, and I assure you that if you could turn back time, things between you and me wouldn’t have been the same. maybe we wouldn’t have even met.”

She was trying to be realistic, trying to be rational for their sake, but the truth was, that same idea crossed her mind as well. It would have made her a fully happy woman if the child she carried in her womb was Timothy’s and not Richard’s.

“You don’t know that.”

“Nor do you know it, Timothy, so since neither of us do, the best thing to do is go downstairs, see what he wants, see how he found me, and that’s it. Because I swear, I’ve never spoken to him again, because he was never interested in my son, he doesn’t care about my son, he won’t be a part of my life because where my son isn’t welcome, me neither.”

“How about now he really wants to be part of your life? In less than five months the baby will be born, I’m not going to stand... I can’t stand...”

“These are things you have to live with, thousands of people do it, millions of people do it, they share with their ex-partners their children, which they procreated for one reason or another, either wanting it, wishing it, or simply because it was a mistake. They get along and get used to having to see them every weekend or Thanksgiving.”

“But if he didn’t want it... if he didn’t want you, tesoro, he didn’t even help you, you had to live in that uncomfortable little studio apartment with your friend, it’s not fair that now he’s coming...it doesn’t seem fair that...”

“We’re drowning in a glass of water. Let’s just go downstairs, period,” she pulled out of his arms and walked to the exit, she stopped halfway across the room and said loudly; “are you coming with me or what?”

She looked at Timothy, with his sleep pants on, he pulled a flannel over it, and spread his arms wide in annoyance.

“If you don’t want me to come with you, I understand. If you want to talk to him alone, I’m going to let you do that, no problem, I’m not...”

“You’re not what, Timothy?” she interrupted him by putting her hands on her hips about to start fighting him like she was a teacher to a student. “What are you not being? Jealous?” she smiled wryly at the situation, she couldn’t believe Timothy could ever get all, I’m a jealous boyfriend and don’t go near my woman.

“So, what if I am jealous, Melody? What if I am? What if I feel like tying you to the bed, locking the room and going downstairs and beating the shit out of that stupid fucker for turning his back on you when you needed him the most?”

She didn’t know that Timothy held that kind of grudge and anger towards Richard, he never made any kind of mention or reference to the father of her son, at no time he had asked her about him or what his situation had been, he gave her space, which she was grateful for, but the time has come to give him answers, she had nothing to hide.

He walked towards her, his green eyes were angry, he was hurt, hurt and Melody didn’t understand what she did to deserve his anger.

So, she asked him.

“What did I do? What did I do to you to make you look at me like I’m responsible for global warming?”

He placed his hands on her cheeks, moved to her lips, and planted a resounding kiss, then a more passionate one, which was followed by a more intense one, until Melody forgot even her own name.

“I can’t think that you’ve been with another man, I can’t think and be at ease knowing that down there is the man who laid his hands on you, who caressed you and who had the pleasure of touching your body.”

“But my love...” she told him when their lips parted. “That was a long time ago, a long time before I even thought about working in the coffee shop where we met. You can’t torture yourself thinking about a past you didn’t even exist in.”

“But I do! I can’t help wanting you for myself. Wanting you all to myself. To be the only man in your life for the rest of your life.”

She felt a small throb quickening in her chest, a beautiful feeling blossoming from a bud, one that had been living in pain for a long time.

He definitely loved her in every way possible, and although her life had been a little dislocated in the last few weeks, she was beginning to finally understand, she was his and he was hers, there was no room for a third person.

“I love you Timothy Giannato, with all your intensity, with all your jealousy... Such a wild animal... “

“Are you calling me a wild animal, piccola?”

“You are my wild animal,” she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. “That’ s how I love you and don’t you ever doubt it. Let’s see what he wants and get Richard out of our lives.”

“Wait, piccola,” he stopped her as he stared into her eyes. “I don’t want you to even think that I want to control you. It’s true, he will always be a part of our son’s life...”

Our son, Melody thought, as she listened to him.

It was just beautiful. The way they’d bonded, and the way he loved her was too much for her.

“He will be as much as he needs to be. But I assure you, I will never let it come between us. And I want to make it clear to you, you are the man I want, the one I love. No other will ever be able to fill my heart the way you fill me.”

“I don’t just fill your heart,” he said in almost a purr, as he shifted his hips a little, brushing against her and igniting a fire inside her.

“Don’t play with fire. Look, the hormones have me crazy and wanting to eat you up every five minutes,”

she admitted as a slight blush covered her cheeks.

He smiled again and kissed her.

“Come on now,” he pulled away from her and grabbed her hand, where she wore the engagement ring.

This time they would indeed have a real wedding, one where love would triumph.

Whatever differences they might have along the way, they would be carried over and worked through.

Nothing could separate them because their love was stronger than everything.