Chapter 37 – Acceptance
August 1, 2013
Recap: Ronnie and Will went to his parents' house to tell them that they are married and expecting their first child but nothing went as they wanted it to. Susan freaked out on Ronnie calling her names and yelling that she was just with Will for the money. Will went off on his mom and said that if they can't accept his relationship he didn't want to see them anymore.
(Will POV)
Will jumped into his truck with Ronnie and Jonah next to him, he was breathing heavily and he could feel Ronnie's eyes on him making sure that he wouldn't break. He sighed before starting the truck up and backing out of his childhood home.
The drive home was quiet and full of tension, at least for Will and Ronnie, he didn't know if Jonah knew what, if anything, was going on. Will tried not to show any signs that something was wrong but he couldn't help the tightening of his fingers around his steering wheel and the way his jaw clenched when he thought back to the way his mom shouted at Ronnie.
When they got to the hotel Will and Ronnie had to help Jonah out of the truck and they walked to their room quietly. When they were in the elevator Jonah looked from Will to Ronnie and asked in a scared voice.
"Is something wrong?" Will and Ronnie looked at each other before Ronnie sank down to her knees so she was eye level with Jonah and took his hands in both of hers.
"No, we're okay and that's all that matters," she told him. Will knew that she didn't like to lie to Jonah but he also knew that she liked to keep him out of things that would only hurt or confuse him.
"Okay," he told her. Ronnie pulled him to her chest and for the rest of the ride up to their floor she held him trying to say without words that everything was going to be fine.
When they were in the room Jonah went straight to the TV to put on his favorite show and Will and Ronnie walked to the balcony so they could get some privacy.
"How are you?" He asked her as he pulled her into his arms like she had done with Jonah but this time he didn't want to let go.
"I'm fine," she sighed before wrapping her arms around him. They stood like that for a minute before he pulled away so he could see her face.
"You can't be fine, after that disastrous attempt to talk to my parents I know I wish I was somewhere else right now," he told her with a sigh. She looked at him with eyes filled with love and it seemed like they were the only two people in the world and nothing else mattered.
"I'm fine because I have you, I have Jonah, and we are going to have a wonderful baby, I couldn't be any happier. Sure I wish that your mom liked me and wanted to know me better but just because she called me all those names doesn't mean I'm going to curl up in a ball and forget the world," she said adamantly.
"I love you for that but I don't want you to go through so much trouble to hide your feelings from me. You are going to be my wife and mother of my child, I want you to tell me how you feel and not to hide things from me," he told her. He wasn't letting her off the hook, he knew that she was the kind of girl that would act like she was strong but inside she was hanging on by a thread.
"You really want to know how I feel?" When he nodded she continued, "I felt like garbage when your mom talked to me like that. I just wanted to run away, I've never been spoken to like that. Sure I've been yelled at, multiple times but I've never been called a slut and a whore all from one person, or anyone. It just made me feel like I was nothing."
Will looked at her for a second after she was finished and finally pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, "You're everything to me and I don't want you to think down on yourself just because my mom said some things to you. None of it was true and right now I'm happier with her out of my life and not stressing me and you out any longer," he told her. She nodded and they held each other for a little while before they pulled apart so they could call in dinner.
When it arrived and they were eating on their beds before the TV Will looked at her as if he just remembered something. "What do you want to do on your birthday?" He asked her. She pursed her lips, she totally forgot that her birthday was coming up.
"Nothing big," she told him firmly. He hesitated before agreeing with her, he didn't want to stress her out and her birthday was the one day that she could do what she wanted and he wouldn't take that away from her. "As long as it's nothing big I don't mind," she told him and he nodded before thinking of some ideas that would make her happy. Before he could really start to think a knock came to the door of their hotel room, Will looked curiously at Ronnie before getting up and walking to the door. He looked through the peephole and what he saw nearly made his heart stop.
"It's my dad," he said quietly, he was surprised that Ronnie heard him.
"What? Why's he here?" She asked him, he shrugged before opening the door and looking at his dad.
"Dad? What's going on?" He asked. Tom looked tense as if he was didn't want to talk to Will.
"I just wanted to make sure that you guys were okay, you left in a bit of a rush," he explained. Will didn't buy it and he could tell that Tom knew. "Can I talk to you and Ronnie alone?" He asked. Will looked back at Ronnie who was standing a little ways behind Will, they exchanged a few looks before he nodded to his father.
"Jonah, we're just going to be outside the door if you need us," Ronnie told her brother. He nodded, he was too preoccupied with what was on the TV to care much about what was going on around him, Ronnie had never been more thankful of that.
"What's going on?" Will asked again when the three of them were outside of the room. He didn't want to beat around the bush, he wanted to know the real reason his father was here so he could leave, Will didn't have a good feeling about this visit.
"I needed to tell you that even though your mom is hesitant about this relationship she doesn't want to be cut out of your life forever, Will. That's just cruel to do to her after she lost Mikey, she needs her family and I don't know what will happen to her if she loses both of her sons." Will couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was his father seriously blaming him for this fight when he tried to get his mom to like Ronnie so many times that he lost count?
"I don't want to do this but I have no choice, why would I want someone in my life that doesn't even like the choices that I make?" He asked rhetorically.
"Because she's your mother and you need her in your life and she needs you," Tom told him.
"If she needed me than why does she keep pushing me away?" Will asked. He looked at Ronnie who was standing quietly next to him with her hand on his back to make sure that he knew she was there for him.
"She's scared of losing you, Will, you met an extraordinary woman and every time you visit you come with news that you're growing up and I think it scares your mom, especially when she hears that you're going to have a baby and you're going to get married. It scares her and I know that she just doesn't want you to grow up. I think she always hoped that you would go back to Ashley because, even though you were with her for so long, we knew that it would never be serious with her and that was a sense of comfort to your mother."
Will shook his head, he understood a little but the reason behind her hatred of Ronnie still made him angry. "If she doesn't get over this than she's not going to have a son, I don't want her hating my life just because I'm growing up. She needs to move on and understand that I'm old enough to make my own decisions, I'm almost twenty, she needs to let go," Will said. He didn't say it rude but he said it in a way that Tom knew he wasn't going to cave and see his mom.
"Alright, I'll tell her that," he said. When the three of them were quiet for a moment longer Tom turned to Ronnie and motioned towards her stomach, "I am truly happy for you, Ronnie, don't forget that," Tom told her. Ronnie nodded and pulled him in for a hug before he nodded to Will and left, Will turned to Ronnie only to see that she had tears in her eyes.
"What's the matter?" He asked, scared that something was wrong with the baby.
"Oh, Will," she said before pulling him in towards her. He didn't know what was going through her head but he held her until she sniffled and told him that she was going to be okay. He looked her in the eyes so he knew that she was telling the truth and they went to enjoy their meal.