Chapter 4 - His Mistake
He watched her leave, knowing that following her would be a mistake. He didn't want to be thrown across the car park. Why was she so mad with him? She had kept their daughter secret. Not him.
How dare he! Prue raged as she drove home. How dare he assume he could be apart of Gina's life after all this time? So she should have told him. Then what? They'd probably be stuck in a loveless marriage, him resenting her and Gina, and Gina ...
Gina didn't deserve any of that.
"Hiya, honey." Prue said absently when she walked back in. Did Gina need a father? Did Andy need a daughter?
Did she need Andy?
No. She thought firmly. But somehow she didn't believe it.
"Hiya." Gina said brightly, her usual sunny nature making Prue smile as always. Her daughter could cheer her up with just one word.
"Well?" Phoebe's voice dragged her from her thoughts.
"What?"
"You're date. With Andy." A scowl passed across Prue's face. "That bad?"
"Worse. He knew. About Gina. He must have figured it out." Prue buried her head in her hands.
"What did he say?" Phoebe gasped.
"Told me explain. Then when I did, he tried to get me to let him come here, and see her." Prue replied flatly. "Obviously, I said no."
"Uh ... are you sure that was the right thing to say?" Phoebe asked. "I mean - I remember how hard it was for us not growing up with a dad, and ..."
"Difference is, all we had was Grams." Prue said soberly. "Gina has me, and you, and Piper and Paige, and Leo."
"I guess." Phoebe replied doubtfully. But she couldn't help it. She knew that Gina needed to know her daddy.
Andy let himself into his apartment, still struggling to remember the day he'd left San Francisco. Had she even hinted she was pregnant?
Well, she had cried. Prue rarely cried. He'd known then that she loved him - and that he loved her. But then she'd gone, she'd left. And he'd let her. Because he had to know what else was out there, what the rest of the world was like.
He'd call her, explain.
He listened to the steady ring ring for a few seconds, before the phone clicked onto answer phone.
"Prue, it's me. Call me. Or answer the phone." He waited several seconds, knowing she'd be stood looking at the answer phone, listening to his voice. He could almost imagine her ...
"We need to talk." He added. Still, she didn't answer. He sighed, replaced the receiver and sat on his sofa. Why hadn't he called her before? Before he left, or just after he left? Why hadn't he ever called by, when he'd come down to visit his parents? He'd have seen her, seen her bump, and the whole story would have come out. Or he'd have seen Gina ...
But because he couldn't face her, he'd missed out on the first five years of his daughters life. The biggest mistake he'd ever made. If only he'd had the guts to tell her how much he'd loved her ...
"That's it, I'm going over there." He decided aloud, standing up and walking towards the door. If she threw him out, lesson learned. If she let him stay, talk and meet his daughter ...
Well, a guy could hope.
He'd never had any special way of knocking, but she knew it was him. She'd known after he'd called that his next move would be to come over. And she was prepared.
"Take Gina upstairs and stay up there." She told Phoebe. "I mean it." Her sister sighed and nodded, taking the girl and going up the stairs, as Prue advanced to the door. She flung it open wide, trying to show him she wasn't threatened by him at all.
"We need to talk." He said soberly.
"Hi to you too." She replied coldly.
"Prue, I'm not playing games. We need to talk." He took a step forward. "Is she here?"
"No." She lied. "Phoebe took her out." It was almost the truth. Almost.
"Really?" He didn't sound like he believed her, but it was the only answer he was going to get.
"No." She stepped aside reluctantly to let him in, and walked into the living room. While he sat on the sofa, she perched on the chair arm.
"So?" She prompted.
"Why didn't you ever call?" He asked eventually. "Let me know?"
"I tried." She admitted. "Just after Gina was born, I called you a couple of times."
"You did?"
"Yeah - sometimes it clicked onto machine, sometimes I hung up after a couple of rings, and once or twice you answered ... and I freaked and hung up."
"I thought I just had a stalker." He laughed.
"Well ..."
"OK, so how come you stopped?"
"I ... The longer I left it, the harder it got. I mean, calling you and saying I was pregnant, or that I'd just had a baby wasn't so bad. Calling you and saying we had a two-month old was worse, but still, survivable. But calling and saying you had a six-month-old daughter? Or a one-year-old?" She shrugged. "I just thought it better ..."
"If you stayed away." He finished.
She nodded.
"I know how that feels." He added, half to himself.
"What?"
"Oh, uh ..." He felt heat rise in his cheeks. "I was going to call you or visit ... but I thought it would be awkward ... or that you'd throw me out." He added, which made her smile. "My mistake." He added.
She nodded vaguely.
"Did you love me?" He blurted suddenly. He had to know ...
She paused, for a long time she was silent, picking her cuticles. "Yes." She said eventually. "I did."
"Oh." He shouldn't have asked ... now he would dwell on what could have been ... what could have happened if he'd stayed.
She didn't ask if he'd loved her - she already knew the answer. If he had he wouldn't have left, would he?
"I guess ... we both made some wrong decisions." He said finally.
"I guess."
"Can I please meet her?" He asked. "She doesn't have to know who I am. I just ... I want to see her, talk to her."
She felt herself weaken. Gina was his daughter ...
"Five minutes." She said, trying to keep her voice cold and detached. Keeping her emotions under wrap with Andy was essential ... She couldn't fall apart. "That's all."
"OK." He nodded, a huge smile spreading across his face.
"Pheebs! Send Gina down!" Prue yelled up the stairs, and he shook his head a little. Of course she had been lying. He'd pretty much known.
The dark-haired girl bounded down the stairs a few seconds later. He took a moment to study her - smiling as he saw her eyes. The eyes that had lead him here ...
"Hi." She said brightly. "I 'member you." She added proudly.
"Hi." He replied. "She looks just like you." He remarked.
"I know." She replied. "But she .. uh ..." She dropped her voice to a whisper that sent a shiver down his spine. "She has your eyes."
"Yeah, I noticed." He told her. "Hi there, Gina." He didn't know what else to say - but the little girl made it easy for him, taking his hand and dragging him over to a dolls house in the corner. He vaguely remembered playing with it with Prue and her sisters when they were younger. Gina took out several small characters, and chattered breezily about each one as she seated them around the house.
Prue watched them, wondering what it would have been like if she'd told Andy that day. If only he'd loved her too ...