Tom walked into a Westminster coffee shop the next morning to meet his mother for coffee. He hadn't slept the night before, the evening's events playing on a loop in his mind. He should've reacted differently, but he hadn't. He should've gone after her, but once again he hadn't. All the should've/could've/would'ves attacked his brain the entire night long and it hadn't changed with the coming of the morning either. He'd tried to call, the night before, after he'd cleared his head a bit but she didn't answer. Not that he could blame her. At this point he didn't even want to speak with himself. He attempted again the second his eyes opened that morning, still to no avail.
"Hey Mum," he smiled weakly as he approached the waiting woman's table.
"What's wrong with you?" Diana asked, knowing instantly something was off. "I thought you were feeling better."
"I'm not sick," Tom reassured with a little laugh as his mother's hand brushed over his forehead. "I feel fine, I swear."
"Then what's the matter? Where's Sophia? I thought she'd be with you."
Tom heaved a heavy sigh and removed his coat as he sat down. His jaw tensed as he searched for the words. "Soph…is, um…not speaking to me at the moment."
Diana looked at him with a mix of concern and frustration. "What happened?"
Tom laughed and shook his head a bit. "She's, uh…" he gulped and cleared his throat and fidgeted a bit. "God…"
"What, Thomas?" Diana said pleadingly. "What's happened?"
He gulped again. "She's pregnant," he stated simply. "We're, um, we're having a baby."
To Tom's relief, Diana's eyes instantly lit up. "Well my goodness! That seems to be cause for celebration, not a fight, don't you think?"
Tom scoffed. "Well, one would think so. I, however, instead of reacting in any sort of supportive matter just pointed out the reasons that it's not a good time."
"Tom…"
"Why do I always do this?" Tom interrupted. "Why can't I ever just say the right thing? All she wanted to hear was that it was going to be alright, that I would take care of her. That's all I had to say and instead I spouted off every negative thought that popped into my head and pushed her away. Again. I did it all over again."
"Darling, I'm sure you didn't say anything she hadn't already been thinking herself."
"That's just it! Instead of calming her nerves, instead of being…remotely reassuring, I acted like a total twat and made them worse. What kind of person does that?"
"One who'd just got news they weren't anticipating on receiving."
"You can stop trying to make me feel better. It's not going to work," Tom stated. He paused, his head waving slowly back and forth, jaw clenched in frustration at himself. "I'm about to have literally everything I've ever wanted and I've quite possibly ruined it all."
"Stop talking like that," Diana commanded. "You deserve everything you have and more. You've made a mistake."
"You have to say that. You're my mum," Tom stated with a laugh.
"Have you tried speaking to her?"
Tom nodded. "Twice. I called last night and this morning."
"Well it's early, she could still be asleep."
Tom shook his head. "No. She doesn't want to talk to me."
"Give her some time. I'm sure she'll come round."
"And if she doesn't?" Tom asked. "What if she doesn't come around and in a few months I have a child with a woman who can't stand the sight of me? What do I do then?"
"That's not going to happen because you're going to keep trying and you're going to make this right," Diana insisted. "She loves you, Tom. She's upset but she loves you. That doesn't go away with one single argument." Tom remained silent. "In the meantime, you need to decide something."
"What's that?"
"What's more important: shooting films next year or starting a family with the woman you love?"
Tom smirked crookedly. "I don't even have to think about that one," he stated softly. "It's obviously her. Always has been and…it always will be."
"And why didn't you just say that?"
Tom laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Because I'm completely daft?" He shook his head. "How do I manage to go from saying all the right things and…winning the most beautiful girl in the world to screwing it up at every possible turn?"
"Well you can't be perfect forever," Diana smirked. She reached across the table and took her son's hand. "It will work out, Thomas. I promise you. Just give her a bit to cool down."
"I hope you're right."
"I know I am," Diana insisted. "And we should probably start getting ready for a baby."
Tom beamed brightly. "My God. A baby… I'm going to be a dad." It was the first time he'd said those words aloud…and he wasn't sure he wanted to stop.
Sophia walked into her apartment late that morning. She'd spent the night at Ben and Maggie's. Well, she'd more sat there and cried until she fell asleep. Tom had called twice since she'd stormed out and she'd let the call go to voicemail both times. She didn't know what to say, or if she really wanted to say anything.
"You just missed him," Darren said as Sophia walked into the kitchen.
"Missed who?" Sophia asked, immediately heading to the coffee pot.
"Tom. He was looking for you."
"Good for him," Sophia said with a sigh.
"I didn't know what to tell him."
Sophia sipped on the mug in her hand. "You don't have to tell him anything."
"Well someone has to. Seems you're ignoring him."
"I'm not ignoring him," Sophia argued. "I just…don't know what to say right now."
"Soph, he seemed really sorry. I thought he was going to cry for a minute."
"Well it's probably about his turn," Sophia stated.
Darren sighed and walked over to the girl's side. "Look, I know his reaction was less than…perfect…"
"Ya think?" Sophia fired.
"But it's not like he didn't say anything you hadn't already said a million time," Darren stated. "He was surprised is all. You know he wants a child more than anything in this world."
"He sure didn't act like it," Sophia stated with a sigh. She shook her head as once again, for about the millionth time in the last twelve hours, tears burned in her eyes. "I just wanted to hear that it's gonna be okay, ya know? I didn't expect him to be overjoyed and…ready to start building a fucking nursery. I just needed him to tell me that everything's going to be fine and…he flipped the fuck out."
"Sweetheart, it IS going to be okay…"
"Yeah. You and Maggie and Ben keep telling me that."
"But we're not him."
"Exactly," Sophia stated. She wiped her dark eyes on the back of her hand. "I need to try and get some sleep."
"Of course, darling. I need to run some errands but I'll come get you for call."
Sophia rose to her toes and gave Darren a peck on the cheek. "Thank you."
"For being the buffer," Sophia stated, heading down the hall. "I really don't want to talk to him right now."
"You'll have to eventually, you know. Can't ignore the poor lad forever."
"He'll survive a couple more hours."
Once again the ringing phone in his ear clicked into her voicemail. He sighed, defeated. "Okay… I get it," he stated after the loud beep. "You don't want to talk to me and…I can't blame you for that. I just...I'm sorry and…I know that doesn't mean much and…I can't change what I said I just…I feel awful and…I'm sorry. So…I guess that's all I can really say. I'll be here if you ever decide to talk to me again."
He hung up and ran his hands over his head, exhaling a long slow breath. Just as he appeared to be calm, he surged with anger, chucking his phone angrily across the room. It hit the wall before landing hard on the floor in the corner. He was going to have force her into speaking to him and there was only one way he knew how. He climbed from the couch, retrieved his miraculously still together phone and grabbed his jacket, heading for the one place he knew she wouldn't be able to stay away from him.
Sophia looked up as Maren, the stage manager, opened the door to her dressing room. "Tom's here," the girl said softly.
Sophia closed her eyes. She couldn't very well say she wasn't in. "Okay."
Maren smiled sweetly and stepped back as the tall, solemn man entered the room. He practically had to duck through the doorway as Maren pulled the door shut behind him.
"Surprised you let me in," Tom said softly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Hard to throw you out of a theatre without causing a scene," Sophia stated simply, not a hint of any emotion to her voice. "What are you doing here?"
His shoulders shrugged exaggeratedly. "I honestly don't know. Seemed to be the only way to get you to speak to me."
"Maybe I don't want to talk to you, Tom."
"I realize that, but…apologizing to your voicemail wasn't sitting well with me." He took a deep breath and began shuffling his feet nervously. "Look, I know I was horrible last night. I was…surprised and…shocked and I let that the better of me, a fact which I vehemently regret. I can make no excuses for my reaction. I can only say I wish I would've done differently."
"You and me both," Sophia scoffed. She sighed and lifted the hair off her neck, thinking and shaking her head. "I didn't… I didn't expect you to run through the streets of London, screaming in joy. I just…I needed you to tell me that this is going to be okay because right now…it feels…extremely far from it."
"Darling…" Tom cooed, taking a knee in front of her as she began to sob. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into him, his lips landing on the top of her head. "It is going to be okay, my love. I promise you," he whispered into the dark hair atop her head. "It's not going to be easy and…it's not going to be perfect. It's going to be difficult and messy but it's going to be worth it. So very, very worth it. And I'm going to be here for every second."
Sophia laughed as she sat up and wiped her eyes. "Sweet thought but…"
"I'm not joking," Tom said, shaking his head back and forth. "I'll drop projects if I have to. Hell, I'll walk away from the business entirely. I'm not missing this, not one appointment. You…and this baby…and…our family…it comes first. From here on out. I swear to it."
Sophia stared at him a moment before placing a hand on the back of his neck and pulling his lips into hers. Those were the words she needed to hear. That was the reassurance she needed and though it might not have been his initial reaction, she believed him, with every fiber of her being. "I love you."
Tom smiled brightly, his forehead pressed against hers. "I love you," he said softly before letting out a light chuckle. "We're going to have a baby."
Sophia laughed. "We are."
"When?"
"Not entirely sure. I have an ultrasound tomorrow."
"Can I come?"
"Of course."
Tom laughed and reached up, his hand falling against her cheek, his thumb wiping the stray tears from under her eyes. "I'm gonna be a dad. Oh my God."
Sophia laughed. "There. That was the reaction I thought I was going to get."
"See! It was in there, just had to clear my head a bit," Tom laughed. He ran his hands over his head as he took a seat on the floor, beside her legs dangling from the couch. "We're gonna have to move. Neither of our places are big enough for both of us and a baby. We're gonna have to get a house."
"Whoa. We got time. Calm down."
"I don't want to calm down!" Tom exclaimed. "I wanna do it all now."
Sophia laughed and she lay back on the couch. "You went from one extreme to the other."
"No this part actually happened like…four minutes after you walked out last night. I told you. I just needed to calm down a bit. Get my head focused."
"I hate being mad at you," Sophia sighed, brushing a hand over the top of his head, her fingertips dragging against his scalp.
Tom leaned into her hand like a puppy being pet. "I'm not particularly fond of it either."
"I'm not very good at it."
"I beg to differ."
"Why do you think I was ignoring you? Because I knew the second I saw your stupid face and those stupid eyes, I'd melt. So…if I didn't talk to you, I could still be angry."
Tom chuckled. "So you wanted to be mad at me?"
"For a little while. I was planning on coming over after the show."
"Ahhh! You were going to give in! I should've waited!"
"Shut up."
Tom laughed and rose to his knees before climbing onto the couch, but more on top of her. "I hope you know this means you're REALLY stuck. At least for the next eighteen years." Sophia snarled a lip. "Hey!" he exclaimed before poking at her always ticklish sides. "Don't look so fucking excited, asshole."
Sophia laughed as much as she could with his entire frame lying on top of her. "Are you trying to smother the baby?"
"Say it again," Tom commanded.
"What?"
"The baby. Say it again."
Sophia giggled. "The baby."
Tom smiled the biggest, most excited smile she had ever seen and opened his eyes wide as he could before he pressed his lips firmly, passionately against hers. This. This was how last night should have ended. But it was better late than never.
