2 Months Later
It had been 2 months since they lost their baby, but Roger and April remained together. April had been trying to stay positive for Roger's sake and Roger was doing the same for April. They didn't deal with it, but they weren't letting it get them down. April had been spending a lot of time at school and Roger was spending a lot of time trying to find more gigs to make more money. He wanted to save up to get April an engagement ring. He had 800. dollars so far, but he needed a lot more. He didn't want to get her a crappy ring. The one he had in mind for her was heart shaped and beautiful. It was also 3000. dollars.
They hadn't seen Maureen, Mark, Collins, Benny or Allison for quite some time. Maureen would call and leave messages, but April wouldn't return the phone calls. She threw herself into her school work. April was usually gone in the morning when Roger got up and by the time he got home from work, she was sound asleep. They'd meet up at the bar every once in a while and their relationship seemed to be surviving the loss. Roger had off from the bar and didn't have a gig, so he wanted to spend the night with April. Just the two of them. He took the candles out of the bathroom, where April liked to keep them when she took long, relaxing baths and scattered them around the bedroom. They didn't have much food in the house, so he ordered Italian dinners for the two of them from the pizzeria around the corner and put them in the oven to keep them warm. He lit the two taper candles that were on the small breakfast table in the corner of the living room and opened up a bottle of white zinfandel. April's favorite wine. He sat on the couch and just waited for her to get home. He knew she usually got home around 6:30 from the library, so he only had 10 minutes to wait. As he waited, Roger kept his eyes glued to the VCR clock. He watched the time pass. It was 10:30 when April finally walked through the door. The candles had long since burned out and the wine was warm.
"April, where were you? I've been waiting for hours for you." he asked getting up quickly from the couch.
"Roger. What are you doing home?" she slurred surprised to see he was home.
"Answer me April. Where were you?" he asked looking down at her.
"I um… I didn't know you were gonna be home so went out with a couple of girls from class." she slurred looking up at him. She could barely keep her eyes open.
"Are you drunk?" he asked looking down at her.
"No, I'm not drunk. I may be a little stoned though." she told him stumbling further into the apartment.
"Stoned? On what?" he asked watching her try to keep her balance.
"A little heroin. I only did a little bit, but this is some good shit." she told him plopping down onto the couch.
"Heroin? You shot heroin? April, what the hell is going on with you? You don't do heroin." he asked looking down at her.
"Like you care. You've barely paid any attention to me these last couple of months." She slurred lying down on the couch.
"April, how long has this been going on?" he asked looking over at her.
"A month or so." she told him trying to go to sleep.
"A month? April, you've been shooting heroin for a month? What are you thinking?" he asked looking down at her.
"I wasn't thinking. I didn't want to think about anything Roger. Just leave me alone." she yelled trying to get comfortable on the couch.
"April, talk to me. What would make you do heroin?" he asked sitting on the coffee table.
"I don't know. I just needed an escape." she told him with her eyes closed.
"An escape from what, Baby? Is our life that hard on you?" he asked leaning in closer to her.
"Everything Roger." she whispered before falling asleep on the couch. He got up from the coffee table and covered her with a blanket. The next morning she stood in the doorway of the bedroom staring at Roger. He was holding her pillow in his arms and he was covered only as far as his waist. She could see his naked chest, back and arms. She folded her arms across her chest and smiled at him. She lost track of how long she was watching him, but before long he began to stir.
"Baby, what are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be at school by now?" he asked as he opened his eyes and saw her staring at him.
"I'm playing hookey today." she told him walking towards him. "Roger, about what happened last night…" she started as she sat down on the bed.
"Baby, I understand why you did what you did, but I wish you would talk to me instead of turnng to that stuff to try to escape from everything." he said sitting up in the bed.
"I know. I'm sorry Roger. I shouldn't have done that. I've just been feeling really lost lately and I wanted to feel better. Even if it was only for a little while, I was willing to try anything. Roger, ever since we lost the baby, we haven't been us. I miss us. I miss when we used to be carefree." she said looking over at him.
"I do too baby, but you have to talk to me. You don't have to go through it by yourself. I lost the baby too." he said moving closer to her.
"I've been feeling so lost since we lost him. Everything reminds me of him." she cried looking over at him.
"Him?" he asked looking over at her.
"The doctor told me that he was a boy. I wanted to know." she cried as he took her into his arms.
"How come you never told me Baby?" he asked holding her as she cried into his bare chest.
"I didn't want to hurt you." she cried holding him tighter.
"You don't need to protect me April. It's my job to protect you. You shouldn't have had to keep that inside these last 2 months." he told her kissing the top of her head.
"I'm so sorry Roger. For everything. Shooting the heroin was a huge mistake. I won't do it again. I promise." she said looking up at him.
"I love you April. There's nothing I won't do for you. If you need me, I don't care what I'm doing. I'll drop it to take care of you." he promised taking her wet face into his hands.
"I know Roger. I'm sorry." she said looking into his green eyes.
"It's OK Baby. I'm not going anywhere." he whispered leaning in to kiss her soft lips before holding her to him again.
"Roger, can we go over to the loft today?" April asked lying in Roger's arms.
"I think Maureen would really like that." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.
"I miss hanging out with everyone. I've been so busy trying to move on, I forgot about my friends." she said looking up at him.
"I know Baby. But they understand." he told her caressing her bare back.
"I'm sorry for everything Roger. The last thing I ever wanted to do was push you away." she said leaning up onto her elbow.
"April, we lost our baby. There's no right way to handle it. I've been pushing you away too in a way. I've been trying so hard to get more gigs so I could save up money, I haven't been there for you as much I should have. I'm sorry for that." he said caressing her face.
"What are you saving money for?" she asked looking into his green eyes.
"Something for my girl." he smiled being vague.
"Roger, what did you do?" she asked smiling at him.
"Nothing. I just want to get my girl something really special. And what I want to get you costs money." he told her as he played with her shoulder length red hair.
"Roger, you don't have to get me anything. As long as I have you, I have everything I could ever want." she smiled leaning up to kiss him. He pulled her on top of him and they kissed more passionately and they began to make love again.
