A Womb With A View by Kakie
Chapter 4
The next two weeks went by quickly for Ally. Mrs. Thompson was exactly what she needed. She tended to Ally like a mother would. And when they went to the doctor's office for a check-up, the doctor was pleased with the results.
When they returned to the apartment, Larry was waiting for them.
"Where have you been?" he asked in a near panic.
"A follow-up at the doctor's office. Why are you here so early? You weren't due until tonight."
"What did the doctor say?"
"He said everything looks good but she has to stay in bed another week." Mrs. Thompson extended her hand to Larry. "You must be Mr. Paul. I've been looking forward to meeting you."
He grinned at the older woman and took her hand. "Mrs. Thompson, it's a pleasure to meet you. I can't thank you enough for all your work the last couple of weeks." He glanced over at Ally. "I'm sure it wasn't easy. How was our patient?"
Mrs. Thompson smiled. "She followed the doctor's orders to the letter."
"Did she give you any more problems?"
"She's in the room and she's not a child." Ally said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Larry chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Mrs. Thompson checked her watch. "I can see I'm leaving you in perfectly good hands, Ally. It was nice getting to know you and I wish you the best of luck on your baby."
Ally's hands dropped. "You're leaving? But I have another week to go."
"And Mr. Paul will do a great job during that time."
"What?" she asked as she turned to him, "What does she mean by that?"
He shrugged. "I had some vacation time coming and I decided to spend some of it here taking care of you."
She opened her mouth but closed it. It would wait until they were alone. She turned to Mrs. Thompson. "I appreciate everything you did for me. Keep me posted on your family especially Ken. Let me know how he enjoys law school." She hugged the other woman.
"Good luck, Ally."
"Thank you."
She walked off to her bedroom and closed the door. It was one thing for Larry to be 700 miles away and their only communication was the phone but having him here day and night for a week was asking too much.
She had just slipped into a tee shirt and sweatpants when he opened the door and entered the room.
"Knocking would be appreciated. I might not have been dressed."
He grinned. "Nothing I haven't seen before."
"That was then and this is now. Then it was appropriate because we were involved but now it's not. By the way, where are you staying?"
"Here, with you, but don't worry, I'm sleeping on the couch."
She opened her mouth to argue but thought it to be pointless. Instead she walked over to the dresser and pulled out another tee shirt. "This is the fifth shirt I've had to toss back in the closet because it's too tight." Without thinking, she pulled off the old one and slipped on another. She caught his expression in the mirror. "What?" she asked as she turned around. "Like you said, you've seen it all before."
His face softened. "You're starting to show."
"I've been showing, Larry. Get with the program. I'm just at four months." She caught a different look.
"What?"
"That's my old tee-shirt you're wearing."
"So," she shrugged. "It's one of the only things I have that fits. I haven't been able to shop lately, if you'll remember."
"I thought you got rid of everything of mine."
She climbed into bed. "So I kept a couple of shirts. So what? I bet you kept some of my things."
"I kept everything."
"Everything?" she asked.
He removed his shoes and climbed in next to her.
"Everything. It's all in a box in a closet. I thought about tossing it but I couldn't bring myself to do it."
She was intrigued. "What's in the box?"
"Stupid stuff. The ticket stub from the first movie we saw. The letters you wrote while I was in Detroit the first time, answering machine tape from your calls. Stuff like that."
Ally's heart softened. "I had no idea."
Larry shrugged. He arranged the pillows and got comfy. "It's in the past. Now, let's see if there's anything good on TV this afternoon." He grabbed the remote and started flipping.
Ally just stared at him. All these emotions and feelings were coming to the surface and she didn't know how to handle them. She had tossed most everything and he kept it all. She couldn't believe it.
"How about 'When Harry Met Sally'?"
Ally placed her head on his chest. "A movie about when best friends become lovers. Sounds good. Maybe later, we'll find one where ex-lovers become parents and best friends."
Larry wrapped one arm around her waist and with the other hand, he played with her hair. And maybe, he thought to himself, we'll find one where the ex-lovers fall back in love and become a family.
The next few days were easier than she thought it would be. Larry got up every morning and fixed breakfast. Then they would spend the day playing board games or watching TV. They never talked except about the pregnancy. She had no idea if there was someone special in Detroit and he knew nothing about her personal life. If there was cleaning to do, he did it. If there was shopping to do, he did that too. At night, he would tuck her in and then retire to the couch. It was hard for her, knowing he was out there, missing the way things use to be. But then she'd remind herself that he was there only to make sure she and the baby came through this safe and sound. But it didn't make things any easier.
As for Larry, those nights on the couch were torture. He knew she was in there. She was so close but still so very far away. He was making progress in his plan to win her back. She no longer looked at him with disdain and that evening she had apologized for trying to keep from knowing his child. She told him that they would work something out. The last thing we wanted was a visitation schedule from her. What he did want was for her to ask him to come home.
By Wednesday afternoon, Larry had been there for five days. He would be returning to Detroit in another three. She was anxious to return to work but the idea of him not being there made her sad. The doorbell rang and since Larry was at the store, that left her to get it.
"I have a parcel. Please sign here." The deliveryman handed her a clipboard and she signed her name and took the parcel. "Have a nice day."
Ally closed the door and opened the parcel. She emptied the contents on the table. It took her a few seconds to realize that someone had forwarded all of Larry's mail. She flipped the parcel over and saw his name as the addressee.
"Oops, sorry."
She gathered all the mail up and stuffed it back in the parcel. One lone item was left on the table. It was a postcard from Mexico. She flipped it over to read the message. "Larry, Mexico is incredible. I'm sorry you had to cancel. The weather, the women, oh man, what a place this is. Did I mention how incredible Mexico is? Jeff"
Ally's hands shook as she tried to digest what she had just read. A few minutes later when Larry returned, she had managed to gather her thoughts.
"Why are you up?"
"Someone had to answer the door."
"Oh?" he asked as he put away the groceries. "Who was at the door."
"Someone delivering a package for you. I opened it thinking it was for me but it was all your mail."
He glanced over at it. "Yeah, I had my neighbor send it here. I'll deal with it later."
"I want to deal with it now."
He glanced up from the freezer. "You want to talk about my mail?"
"I want to talk about this post card that came." As she read it to him, she watched his face pale.
"Listen, Ally."
She held her hand up. "Just answer me one question. Did you have plans to spend this week in Mexico with your friend Jeff?"
"Yes, but.."
"How long ago did you make these plans?"
He closed the freezer door and walked towards her. "It's not important."
"How long?" she asked again.
"About six months." He tried to read her feelings in her eyes but he couldn't.
"And how long after you found out my doctor ordered bed rest did you change those plans and decide to come here instead?"
"Instantly. I knew you wouldn't approve so that's why I didn't tell you. There's no way I could have enjoyed Mexico. I would have spent the entire time worrying about you. I am.."
He didn't finish the sentence because the second her lips touched his, all else was forgotten. As the kiss deepened, their arms found their way around each other.
Ally pulled back first. "That was..."
"Don't say it was a mistake."
She smiled. "I kissed you, remember? It was not a mistake."
"Then what was it? Another way to say thank you? Because in my experience a kiss like that says way more than just thank you. And that one was definitely a prelude to something more."
She stared at him. "I don't know why I kissed you like that. I guess realizing what you gave up to be here made me a little sentimental."
He looked her in the eyes. "Pay attention, Ally, I did not give up or sacrifice anything to be here. I'm here because it's where I want to be. If you were in Arizona or Alaska, I'd be there too. Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm still in love with you."
"No, Larry, you're not in love with me. You're in love with the idea of becoming a father again and you're transferring it on to me."
He stared at her as if he had never seen her before. "How can you say that? I have done everything to respect your wishes about my part in all this. I stayed away, I didn't call, why would I do that if I didn't love you?"
She lowered herself to the couch. "Because the only reason you came back was because you learned I was pregnant. If John had just minded his own business in the first place, you would be enjoying Mexico right now."
"If John had minded his own business, I would never have known about this baby and I never would have had this opportunity to insert myself back into your life. John gave me the 'in' I had been praying for."
"What?" she said completely confused.
He sat down beside her and took her hand. "Leaving you was the worst mistake I ever made but I didn't know how to fix it. I thought about surprising you with a visit, calling, mailing a letter, an email to work, you name it, I thought about it. But each time I dismissed it because I knew you would never want to see me again much less forgive me. But then John showed up and told me that you were pregnant. Once I picked my self off the floor, literally, I knew it was the sign I had been waiting for. You were expecting my child and I was thrilled. Terrified but thrilled."
Ally swallowed and tried to clear her voice. "Let me see if I got this right, you regretted leaving me but were too much of a coward to come to me and admit what you did and ask my forgiveness so you decide I'm not worth a little rejection. And then John comes and tells you I'm pregnant and you use it to push your self back into my life because you knew I'd be distracted and emotional. Do I have this right?"
"No," he said as he jumped up. "Absolutely not. I love you and I would do anything to make things right between us."
"Including deceiving me?"
"I never deceived you."
"Oh, yes you did. I specifically told you as did John that I wanted no part of you. But you ignored both of us and came anyway. I told you I wasn't ready to see you again much less discuss the future but you pushed anyway. I told you I didn't need any help but you sent Mrs. Thompson. Push push push. Then you decide you're moving in. More pushing."
Larry frowned. He didn't like the way she made it sound. "It wasn't like that."
"Of course it was. Like always, you made the decision for everyone. You decided to leave me, you decided that I needed help and you've decided that the three of us are going to be a family. Where do I fit in, Larry? Where's my decisions?"
Silence.
"Nowhere, that's for sure. You decided that the three of us were going to be a family and to hell with what I want."
"What did you want?"
"I wanted time. I told you that in the beginning. Time to think and decide how I felt. Time to decide if I could trust you again."
"Yes, that was my plan..."
"Your plan? You had a plan?"
"Forget it."
"No, I want to hear about this plan."
"Fine. I knew you wouldn't give me the time of day so I had to be prepared. First was to win your trust back. The second was to convince you that I could be a good father to this child."
"And the third?"
"To convince you to marry me."
Ally stared at him. "You egotistical, self serving jackass. You manipulated me."
"How can you say that?"
"You said it, just now. All this stuff you did to get to me. But it was all for you. It wasn't about me, it was about you. You wanted me and that was it. What Larry wants, Larry gets. I am such an idiot. I fell for all of it. The touching letter you left me; sending me Mrs. Thompson; you moving in and sleeping on the couch. I was actually starting to trust you again. That part of your plan worked like a charm. Actually come to think of it, your entire plan was working. I was beginning to think of us as a family. I was dreaming about being a family. What a fool I was."
"No," he said grabbing her arm. "You are not a fool."
She shook her arm free. "I am the fool. I was beginning to fall for you again. Imagine that. Me, in love with a man who doesn't love me."
"Of course I love you."
She shook her head. "No, you don't. A man in love doesn't leave her with a note; a man in love doesn't give up because he's afraid of what she might say; and a man in love doesn't make plans to manipulate her into coming back to him. No, Larry, you're not a man in love. You're not even a man. You're a coward. And I want you to leave."
"Where, back to Detroit?"
"Or Mexico. I don't give a damn. But I want you gone. I'm not the same person you left all those months ago. You forced me to take a hard look at my life and I didn't like the way it looked. You became my life and when you left, you took it with you and I had nothing. But no more. I have this child and I won't let you manipulate me anymore. I will send word to you when it's born."
"And after that?"
"We'll sit down and decide." She took a deep breath. "I loved you more than I thought humanly possible. Why couldn't you have been honest with me?"
"I don't know."
Chapter 4
The next two weeks went by quickly for Ally. Mrs. Thompson was exactly what she needed. She tended to Ally like a mother would. And when they went to the doctor's office for a check-up, the doctor was pleased with the results.
When they returned to the apartment, Larry was waiting for them.
"Where have you been?" he asked in a near panic.
"A follow-up at the doctor's office. Why are you here so early? You weren't due until tonight."
"What did the doctor say?"
"He said everything looks good but she has to stay in bed another week." Mrs. Thompson extended her hand to Larry. "You must be Mr. Paul. I've been looking forward to meeting you."
He grinned at the older woman and took her hand. "Mrs. Thompson, it's a pleasure to meet you. I can't thank you enough for all your work the last couple of weeks." He glanced over at Ally. "I'm sure it wasn't easy. How was our patient?"
Mrs. Thompson smiled. "She followed the doctor's orders to the letter."
"Did she give you any more problems?"
"She's in the room and she's not a child." Ally said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Larry chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Mrs. Thompson checked her watch. "I can see I'm leaving you in perfectly good hands, Ally. It was nice getting to know you and I wish you the best of luck on your baby."
Ally's hands dropped. "You're leaving? But I have another week to go."
"And Mr. Paul will do a great job during that time."
"What?" she asked as she turned to him, "What does she mean by that?"
He shrugged. "I had some vacation time coming and I decided to spend some of it here taking care of you."
She opened her mouth but closed it. It would wait until they were alone. She turned to Mrs. Thompson. "I appreciate everything you did for me. Keep me posted on your family especially Ken. Let me know how he enjoys law school." She hugged the other woman.
"Good luck, Ally."
"Thank you."
She walked off to her bedroom and closed the door. It was one thing for Larry to be 700 miles away and their only communication was the phone but having him here day and night for a week was asking too much.
She had just slipped into a tee shirt and sweatpants when he opened the door and entered the room.
"Knocking would be appreciated. I might not have been dressed."
He grinned. "Nothing I haven't seen before."
"That was then and this is now. Then it was appropriate because we were involved but now it's not. By the way, where are you staying?"
"Here, with you, but don't worry, I'm sleeping on the couch."
She opened her mouth to argue but thought it to be pointless. Instead she walked over to the dresser and pulled out another tee shirt. "This is the fifth shirt I've had to toss back in the closet because it's too tight." Without thinking, she pulled off the old one and slipped on another. She caught his expression in the mirror. "What?" she asked as she turned around. "Like you said, you've seen it all before."
His face softened. "You're starting to show."
"I've been showing, Larry. Get with the program. I'm just at four months." She caught a different look.
"What?"
"That's my old tee-shirt you're wearing."
"So," she shrugged. "It's one of the only things I have that fits. I haven't been able to shop lately, if you'll remember."
"I thought you got rid of everything of mine."
She climbed into bed. "So I kept a couple of shirts. So what? I bet you kept some of my things."
"I kept everything."
"Everything?" she asked.
He removed his shoes and climbed in next to her.
"Everything. It's all in a box in a closet. I thought about tossing it but I couldn't bring myself to do it."
She was intrigued. "What's in the box?"
"Stupid stuff. The ticket stub from the first movie we saw. The letters you wrote while I was in Detroit the first time, answering machine tape from your calls. Stuff like that."
Ally's heart softened. "I had no idea."
Larry shrugged. He arranged the pillows and got comfy. "It's in the past. Now, let's see if there's anything good on TV this afternoon." He grabbed the remote and started flipping.
Ally just stared at him. All these emotions and feelings were coming to the surface and she didn't know how to handle them. She had tossed most everything and he kept it all. She couldn't believe it.
"How about 'When Harry Met Sally'?"
Ally placed her head on his chest. "A movie about when best friends become lovers. Sounds good. Maybe later, we'll find one where ex-lovers become parents and best friends."
Larry wrapped one arm around her waist and with the other hand, he played with her hair. And maybe, he thought to himself, we'll find one where the ex-lovers fall back in love and become a family.
The next few days were easier than she thought it would be. Larry got up every morning and fixed breakfast. Then they would spend the day playing board games or watching TV. They never talked except about the pregnancy. She had no idea if there was someone special in Detroit and he knew nothing about her personal life. If there was cleaning to do, he did it. If there was shopping to do, he did that too. At night, he would tuck her in and then retire to the couch. It was hard for her, knowing he was out there, missing the way things use to be. But then she'd remind herself that he was there only to make sure she and the baby came through this safe and sound. But it didn't make things any easier.
As for Larry, those nights on the couch were torture. He knew she was in there. She was so close but still so very far away. He was making progress in his plan to win her back. She no longer looked at him with disdain and that evening she had apologized for trying to keep from knowing his child. She told him that they would work something out. The last thing we wanted was a visitation schedule from her. What he did want was for her to ask him to come home.
By Wednesday afternoon, Larry had been there for five days. He would be returning to Detroit in another three. She was anxious to return to work but the idea of him not being there made her sad. The doorbell rang and since Larry was at the store, that left her to get it.
"I have a parcel. Please sign here." The deliveryman handed her a clipboard and she signed her name and took the parcel. "Have a nice day."
Ally closed the door and opened the parcel. She emptied the contents on the table. It took her a few seconds to realize that someone had forwarded all of Larry's mail. She flipped the parcel over and saw his name as the addressee.
"Oops, sorry."
She gathered all the mail up and stuffed it back in the parcel. One lone item was left on the table. It was a postcard from Mexico. She flipped it over to read the message. "Larry, Mexico is incredible. I'm sorry you had to cancel. The weather, the women, oh man, what a place this is. Did I mention how incredible Mexico is? Jeff"
Ally's hands shook as she tried to digest what she had just read. A few minutes later when Larry returned, she had managed to gather her thoughts.
"Why are you up?"
"Someone had to answer the door."
"Oh?" he asked as he put away the groceries. "Who was at the door."
"Someone delivering a package for you. I opened it thinking it was for me but it was all your mail."
He glanced over at it. "Yeah, I had my neighbor send it here. I'll deal with it later."
"I want to deal with it now."
He glanced up from the freezer. "You want to talk about my mail?"
"I want to talk about this post card that came." As she read it to him, she watched his face pale.
"Listen, Ally."
She held her hand up. "Just answer me one question. Did you have plans to spend this week in Mexico with your friend Jeff?"
"Yes, but.."
"How long ago did you make these plans?"
He closed the freezer door and walked towards her. "It's not important."
"How long?" she asked again.
"About six months." He tried to read her feelings in her eyes but he couldn't.
"And how long after you found out my doctor ordered bed rest did you change those plans and decide to come here instead?"
"Instantly. I knew you wouldn't approve so that's why I didn't tell you. There's no way I could have enjoyed Mexico. I would have spent the entire time worrying about you. I am.."
He didn't finish the sentence because the second her lips touched his, all else was forgotten. As the kiss deepened, their arms found their way around each other.
Ally pulled back first. "That was..."
"Don't say it was a mistake."
She smiled. "I kissed you, remember? It was not a mistake."
"Then what was it? Another way to say thank you? Because in my experience a kiss like that says way more than just thank you. And that one was definitely a prelude to something more."
She stared at him. "I don't know why I kissed you like that. I guess realizing what you gave up to be here made me a little sentimental."
He looked her in the eyes. "Pay attention, Ally, I did not give up or sacrifice anything to be here. I'm here because it's where I want to be. If you were in Arizona or Alaska, I'd be there too. Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm still in love with you."
"No, Larry, you're not in love with me. You're in love with the idea of becoming a father again and you're transferring it on to me."
He stared at her as if he had never seen her before. "How can you say that? I have done everything to respect your wishes about my part in all this. I stayed away, I didn't call, why would I do that if I didn't love you?"
She lowered herself to the couch. "Because the only reason you came back was because you learned I was pregnant. If John had just minded his own business in the first place, you would be enjoying Mexico right now."
"If John had minded his own business, I would never have known about this baby and I never would have had this opportunity to insert myself back into your life. John gave me the 'in' I had been praying for."
"What?" she said completely confused.
He sat down beside her and took her hand. "Leaving you was the worst mistake I ever made but I didn't know how to fix it. I thought about surprising you with a visit, calling, mailing a letter, an email to work, you name it, I thought about it. But each time I dismissed it because I knew you would never want to see me again much less forgive me. But then John showed up and told me that you were pregnant. Once I picked my self off the floor, literally, I knew it was the sign I had been waiting for. You were expecting my child and I was thrilled. Terrified but thrilled."
Ally swallowed and tried to clear her voice. "Let me see if I got this right, you regretted leaving me but were too much of a coward to come to me and admit what you did and ask my forgiveness so you decide I'm not worth a little rejection. And then John comes and tells you I'm pregnant and you use it to push your self back into my life because you knew I'd be distracted and emotional. Do I have this right?"
"No," he said as he jumped up. "Absolutely not. I love you and I would do anything to make things right between us."
"Including deceiving me?"
"I never deceived you."
"Oh, yes you did. I specifically told you as did John that I wanted no part of you. But you ignored both of us and came anyway. I told you I wasn't ready to see you again much less discuss the future but you pushed anyway. I told you I didn't need any help but you sent Mrs. Thompson. Push push push. Then you decide you're moving in. More pushing."
Larry frowned. He didn't like the way she made it sound. "It wasn't like that."
"Of course it was. Like always, you made the decision for everyone. You decided to leave me, you decided that I needed help and you've decided that the three of us are going to be a family. Where do I fit in, Larry? Where's my decisions?"
Silence.
"Nowhere, that's for sure. You decided that the three of us were going to be a family and to hell with what I want."
"What did you want?"
"I wanted time. I told you that in the beginning. Time to think and decide how I felt. Time to decide if I could trust you again."
"Yes, that was my plan..."
"Your plan? You had a plan?"
"Forget it."
"No, I want to hear about this plan."
"Fine. I knew you wouldn't give me the time of day so I had to be prepared. First was to win your trust back. The second was to convince you that I could be a good father to this child."
"And the third?"
"To convince you to marry me."
Ally stared at him. "You egotistical, self serving jackass. You manipulated me."
"How can you say that?"
"You said it, just now. All this stuff you did to get to me. But it was all for you. It wasn't about me, it was about you. You wanted me and that was it. What Larry wants, Larry gets. I am such an idiot. I fell for all of it. The touching letter you left me; sending me Mrs. Thompson; you moving in and sleeping on the couch. I was actually starting to trust you again. That part of your plan worked like a charm. Actually come to think of it, your entire plan was working. I was beginning to think of us as a family. I was dreaming about being a family. What a fool I was."
"No," he said grabbing her arm. "You are not a fool."
She shook her arm free. "I am the fool. I was beginning to fall for you again. Imagine that. Me, in love with a man who doesn't love me."
"Of course I love you."
She shook her head. "No, you don't. A man in love doesn't leave her with a note; a man in love doesn't give up because he's afraid of what she might say; and a man in love doesn't make plans to manipulate her into coming back to him. No, Larry, you're not a man in love. You're not even a man. You're a coward. And I want you to leave."
"Where, back to Detroit?"
"Or Mexico. I don't give a damn. But I want you gone. I'm not the same person you left all those months ago. You forced me to take a hard look at my life and I didn't like the way it looked. You became my life and when you left, you took it with you and I had nothing. But no more. I have this child and I won't let you manipulate me anymore. I will send word to you when it's born."
"And after that?"
"We'll sit down and decide." She took a deep breath. "I loved you more than I thought humanly possible. Why couldn't you have been honest with me?"
"I don't know."
