A Womb With A View by Kakie

Chapter 7

As Ally brushed her wet hair, she stared at the bed and thought about their night together. Was it a mistake? Were things moving too fast? She didn't intend to sleep with him this weekend. In fact, it was the one thing she promised her self she wasn't going to do. She wanted to give it more time. She had a lot riding on this. But seeing him standing there watching her, as he had so many times before, caused her to forget her promise and go after what she wanted, what they both wanted.

She dried her hair with a hair dryer and pulled it into a ponytail. She surveyed herself in his front length mirror. It was painfully obvious to anyone who saw her that she was quite pregnant. Her doctor wanted her to gain at least another twenty pounds before she delivered. Ally shuttered at the thought. She sat down on the bed and slipped into her tennis shoes. Although she tried, she simply couldn't tie them.

"That's it, no more shoes with laces." She opened the door. "Larry, I can't tie my shoes. Can you help." Three pairs of eyes turned and stared.

"Oh my God," said Jamie.

"Ally!" Sam exclaimed with glee. "You're here." He turned to his dad. "Is she.?"

Larry smiled and nodded. "Yes, Sam, she's pregnant. You're going to have a baby sister."

Sam's face lit up. "A sister? I'm getting a baby sister?" When?"

"In February," Ally inserted. "Come sit with me, Sam and I'll let you feel the baby move. And when we're done, you can tie my shoes."

Ally answered all of Sam's questions and let him feel the baby move all the while watching Larry and Jamie have a serious discussion. After a few minutes, Jamie turned her attention back to Sam and Ally saw the look in her face. It was the look of sadness.

A short time later Jamie left with Sam in tow, who made Ally promise that she was going to keep him informed of her condition.

"That's a deal, buddy."



Larry closed the door behind them. "I wasn't expecting them so early but I think that went well."

"For Sam it did. I'm not so sure about Jamie. That was quite an intense conversation you two were having. Do you want to tell me about it?" Her back was bothering her so she sat down on the couch and picked up the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table.

Larry stood back and debated on whether or not to tell her. No more secrets, he decided. "I'll tell you but you won't like it."

The way he said it gave her a pretty good idea of what he was going to say. "You slept with Jamie, didn't you?"

Larry was flabbergasted. "How could you have known that?"

Ally smiled at his stunned face. "It wasn't a big jump. When she left, Jamie looked like a woman whose heart had been broken. And what other secret could you have involving Jamie?"

He sat down opposite her on the coffee table. "How mad are you?"

"I'm not mad, Larry. To be honest, I'm not pleased you were with her but it was my decision to send you away. It would be a little hypocritical of me to be mad at you."

He stared at her for a long minute. "Okay, where's my Ally and what have you done with her?"

She laughed. "It's still me. The mature me. Tell me about you and Jamie."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just give me the basics."

"Okay, the basics. It was the night I returned. I was feeling pretty low. We had had that terrible fight and you said you would raise the baby on your own. Jamie came by with Sam's report card for me to look at. She saw how depressed I was and tried to cheer me up. She opened a bottle of wine and starting talking about old times and that was it."

She frowned. "A little wine and conversation was all it took?"

"A little wine and conversation can go along way when you were as depressed as I was."

"So, that was it? Just the one time?"

"Just the one time. Afterwards I fell asleep so I didn't see her leave to pick Sam up from a bowling party. I wish I had been awake because she got it in her head that this was the beginning for us again and told Sam the next day."

"Oh no. What happened?"

"Sam called the next day and wanted to know if I was moving back in. I had no idea where he had gotten that idea from so I asked him."

"And he said that Jamie told him." Ally reached out and squeezed Larry's hand.

"That's right. She made it sound like we were going to be family again. I stopped by after work and to have a private conversation."

Ally listened as Larry recalled the scene.

"Jamie, what happened should not have happened. It was a mistake and it's wrong to let Sam think it was anything more."

"Larry, it wasn't a mistake. I know you're still not over Ally but you will be in time. Last night was a very good first step."

"There's a lot you don't know."

"I know you're not ready yet but I'm a very patient person. I can wait."

Ally grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Why didn't you tell her about the baby? That would have put an end to her fantasy."

"Because that was between the two of us. It had nothing to do with her."

"So, how did you explain things when she saw us?"

"Very carefully."

"How long have you known that she was pregnant with your child?"

"I found out right after she did."

"That's just great, Larry. And it didn't occur to you to tell your son or his mother about this new development?"

"I didn't tell anybody. The last thing I expected was for my ex- girlfriend to discover she was pregnant."

"How convinent for her."

"Look Jamie, if you're implying something here, don't. This pregnancy was not planned on either side but my daughter is due in three months and I want to make some definite plans before that happens. That's why Ally's here. We need to sit down and make some decisions."

He took the popcorn from Ally's lap. "That's when you and Sam finished chatting."

"It definitely explains the look on her face. I feel bad for her."

"You do?" exclaimed Larry. "Why?"

"Because I know what it's like to have the man you love be in love with someone else. It was a rotten feeling with Billy and I'm sure it's a rotten feeling for her with you."

Larry shrugged. "I made it perfectly clear right from the beginning what my feeling were."

"And then you slept with her. Larry, you may be a smart man but you are still a man."

"And what is that suppose to mean?"

"You slept with her because you needed someone and she was there. She slept with you because she still loves you. It's no wonder she thought it was a new beginning for the two of you."

Larry placed his head in his hands. "I didn't mean to hurt her."

She moved and sat beside him on the coffee table. She placed an arm around his shoulder. "I know you didn't, baby. You don't set out to hurt people you care about. And I know how much you care about Jamie."

He looked up at her.

"It's okay for you to care about her. I'd be worried if you didn't since she's the mother of your child, just like I am. I can understand about her being upset about being kept in the dark."

"I hated keeping it to my self but."

She took his hand and squeezed it. "Things were much a mess with us. It was wrong of me to try and shut you out. Regardless of what happened between us, our child shouldn't be punished for the stupid thing her mother does."

"Or what her father does. It was incredibly stupid for me to come to Boston and makes those demands on you. I didn't think about your feelings. I handled it badly. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. But I'm most sorry I ever left you to begin with. I don't think I will regret anything more in my life."

A tear slid down her cheek. "Thank you for saying that."

"Let me make something crystal clear." He turned to her and placed his hands on her face. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I can't promise it won't happen again but I love you and I love our baby."

More tears fell and he wiped them away with his thumbs. He gently kissed her. He took her hand and walked her to the bedroom.