A Womb With A View by Kakie

Chapter 2

John tossed his overnight bag in the passenger seat and turned on his cell phone to check his messages. There were two from Richard regarding nothing and one that made his blood run cold. "John, its Larry. I'm giving you the heads up that I have a flight scheduled to leave for Boston in a few minutes and I plan to confront her about this when I get there. I should arrive around eight and I'll go straight to her apartment. I know this doesn't give you much time to prepare her but maybe it's better that way. My child is at stake." John looked at his watch. It was nearly 7:15. "Dammit," John said as he started the car.

Because of an accident, John didn't arrive at Ally's until almost time. He knocked on the door and she answered wearing a sweat suit.

"I need to talk to you," he said as he pushed his way in.

"Okay." She closed the door and followed him to the den. "What's the emergency?"

"I did something, Ally, something you are going to hate. But I had my reasons and although you may not see it now, one day I hope you will."

Ally stared. "What did you do?"

"I went to Detroit and told Larry about the baby."

Anger filled her entire body. "You did what!!!"

"I told Larry. He had a right to know and now he's on his way here now. He should be here in a few minutes and I didn't want you to be blind sided. How angry are you?"

"You have just blown my life to smithereens and you have the nerve to ask about my anger? How could you do this to me, John? You knew I didn't want Larry involved in this. You knew how important it was to me. How? I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend."

"The hell you are," she said between clenched teeth. "You are no friend, John Cage. You are a Benedict Arnold. I would expect this from Nelle or Richard but never you."

John stepped back as if he were slapped. "I am your friend and I did the right thing. One day you'll know that."

She glared at him. "I will never forgive you for this. I want you to leave. Go destroy someone else's life for a while." She reached in the closet and pulled out a suitcase.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting the hell out of Dodge." She carried the suitcase to her bedroom and began to toss clothes inside. "Thanks to your interfering, I now have to find a place to hide until Larry gets tired of looking for me. And I'm sending you the hotel bill." She turned to him. "I told you to leave."

"I can't leave until you understand why I did what I did."

She grabbed some things from the bathroom. "I don't care about your reasons. Just like you didn't care about mine. Go home, John."

He opened his mouth to speak but instead left.

With a suitcase in one hand and her keys in another, she opened the door to find Larry on the other side.

"We need to talk."

She slammed the door shut.

"Open this door, Ally."

Silence.

"If you don't open it right now, I'll give your neighbors something to talk about."

Silence.

"I still have my key."

From behind the door, Ally tried to recall if he had returned the key she gave him long ago.

"Slide it under the door and leave."

He grinned. At least she was speaking to him.

"I'm not leaving until I talk to you. If you don't open this door in five seconds, I'm going to start singing. My choice of song will be 'I'm a woman'. 1.2..3.4.5. Okay here goes. I can wash out forty-four pairs of socks and have them hanging on the line."

The door opened. "You don't play fair, Larry Paul."

"Not when it comes to getting what I want. Can I come in?"

She stepped back and he entered the apartment.

"You've redecorated."

"No," she laughed bitterly, "what I did was get rid of any trace of you."

"Well," he said as he cleared his throat, "I'm assuming you spoke to John and you know why I'm here."

"John is a traitor. He had no business speaking to you about anything. I think it's time you got your butt back on a plane to Detroit."

"My butt stays put until we settle this."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "We have nothing to settle."

"Dammit Ally, cut the denial. I know you're pregnant."

Her arms fell immediately to her stomach. "True."

"And it's mine."

She shook her head. "No, it's my baby."

He stepped forward until they were inches apart. "I want you to admit to me that I'm the father."

She stepped back a few feet. "This is my baby."

"Admit that I'm the father."

Her hands began to shake. "Please Larry, just let this go. Go back to your son in Detroit and let me raise my baby in peace."

"I want to hear you say it."

Ally gave up and the tears began to fall. "Alright, you win. You are the father of this child. There, are you happy now?"

Both stepped back and sat on opposite ends of the couch. With so much to say, neither could say anything. After a couple of minutes Larry broke the ice.

"I never thought I'd see you again."

Ally changed the subject. "How's Detroit? How's Sam?"

"Sam's fine. He's great, actually."

She nodded. "So moving back to Detroit was the best thing."

"About that," he said moving closer to her, "I want to say."

"Don't," she said shaking her head, "What ever you have to say about what happened, I don't want to hear it. We have to keep the past separate. We have to keep this impersonal."

"Impersonal? We're having a baby, you can't get more personal than that."

"Do you want to do the right thing for me and this baby?"

"Yes, that's why I'm here."

"Good, then go back to Detroit and let me raise this baby in peace."

Larry was stunned to hear the words. "You want to cut me out of my child's life?"

"Not forever. Just until it doesn't hurt to be around you. I think you owe me that."

That hit its mark. He did owe her. In fact he would give anything for her not to hate him. But he knew giving up his baby wasn't the answer. "I can't do that, Ally. Anything but that."

She sighed. She knew she was being unreasonable but what was her other choice? She knew the only reason he was in Boston was because of the baby. If she wasn't pregnant, Larry would be spending this Friday night in Detroit and she would be one more step closer to having her life back. "It wouldn't be forever and it's not like you wouldn't be involved. I'll call you when I deliver in February and send you pictures and home movies of the baby. I'll write letters letting you know how the baby is doing and maybe once in a while you can come for a visit and spend time with him or her. I think it's the best solution for everyone."

"Everyone?" he asked mocking her. "Everyone? Not for me, its not. I don't want to be a. I don't even know what you'd call it; it's more of a pen pal than a father. This baby is a part of me too."

"But this baby is inside me and I need to do what is best for us."

"And condemning me to a life as an outside observer in my own child's life is best?"

"And why not? It describes the relationship you had with Sam."

Silence.

Ally gasped. She couldn't believe she had said something so insensitive. Especially when she had been front and center during that time. "Oh my God. Larry I can't believe I said that. I am so sorry."

Larry shook his head. Another bulls-eye. "You were right. I did have that kind of relationship with Sam in the past but I don't any more. He and I have a great relationship and I want the same kind of relationship with this child."

She ran her hands through her hair. "Larry, as long as I have these feelings for you bubbling up to the top, I can't discuss a relationship between us as parents or anything else. I need time. Time to sort out my feelings about this baby and about you and how the three of us are going to connect.

Larry was afraid to give in because he might lose any ground he might have gained tonight. But if he refused to budge, the gap between them might deepen.

"Okay, I'll go."

"You will?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes, I'll go back to Detroit but it's not for good. I'll return in a few weeks and we'll try this again. That should give each of us time to think and decide."

Ally nodded. She should have felt relief but didn't.

Larry looked at his watch. He hoped it wasn't too late to find a motel room. "I need to go. We'll talk soon."

She walked him to the door. "Good night, Larry."

"Good night." He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She flashed to another time when he kissed her on the forehead, the first time he kissed her. She was so caught in the memory, she didn't see or hear him leave. Overwhelmed by it, she fell to her knees sobbing.

Her body was shaking so hard, she didn't notice that Larry had returned and was holding her in his lap.

"It's okay, baby, let it all out."

Eventually the tears subsided, and took a few deep breaths. She unwrapped her arms from around his neck.

He looked down at her face, the face that he fell in love with, the same face that had haunted him the last few months. He wiped her tears with his thumbs and leaned over and gently kissed her. He meant to stop there, but something pushed him and he kissed her again, this time with more passion.

After the first kiss, Ally meant to get up. But something pushed her closer and when he kissed her again, she responded.

Surprised, they both pulled away but their eyes never left. Suddenly, it was a different time and the moment was theirs. He pulled her up and carried her to the couch.