Ty and I ended up staying at Haggerty's too long and drank too much. By the time I got home it was after one. I knew I should have called Faith and let her know where I was, but I really didn't want to have to come strait home and deal with her. I wanted to have a little time to myself to relax and have a beer or two, or in my case, twelve. I felt bad that I hadn't called, yet I felt better than I had in weeks, having been able to just sit around and talk to Ty.

I felt really bad for the guy. He'd wanted kids for a long time and he'd pretty much been ready to settle down with Sasha since their first date. He told me that he wanted to marry her. He had planned on asking her when he found out about the baby, but had declined when she told him she wanted an abortion.

What would I do in his situation? I hadn't thought about what would happen if it had been Faith, but I was fairly certain that I wouldn't be able to handle it if she ever decided to abort my kid. I'd never let her. I'd chain myself to her and go wherever she went, so that she'd never be able to murder my child. I know I was being over dramatic, but that's how I felt. I was raised to believe that killing babies was wrong and I'd never be able to respect Sasha if she ever went through with it.

I knew that I was really drunk when I reached my door and dropped the keys. Cursing under my breath, I bent down and picked them up. I pushed the key into the lock and breathed a sigh of relief that it didn't make too much noise. I didn't want to wake Faith. I just wanted to go to sleep.

I opened the door and peered inside. There weren't any lights on. I tiptoed into the kitchen and slowly closed the door. I heard the clicking noise and latched the chain.

Determined to make it to bed without waking her and her wrath, I carefully made my way down the hall. It was too dark to see anything, so I felt along the wall with my hand. About half way I ran into the halltree that I had brought from Faith's place. It was a huge bench that had a mirror on the back and pegs to hang up your coat or hat.

I stumbled and fell sideways and wacked my head in the process. "Jeez....mother of...." I cursed, holding the fast growing lump on my noggin.

From my new found position, I glanced around, waiting for Faith to come out of the bedroom and freak out, but she didn't. I heard the toilet flushing and decided that I better get into bed quick if I wanted her to think I had been home a while. Maybe I'd be lucky and find out that she'd been in there for an hour or so.

My brain was working overtime and not cooperating with my limbs as I crawled into the bedroom and tried to take off my clothes in a hurry. I stood up and unbuttoned my jeans and my shirt. I staggered around, after getting one leg stuck. I was luck or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it; there was a small light on in the bedroom and it allowed me to see, but it also gave me away. Maybe she wouldn't notice?

Cursing again, I landed face down on the floor, one leg underneath me and the other wrapped up in my jeans. As I struggled to kick free, I heard the water running in the sink and knew my time was about up. Finally, I pulled my leg free and climbed into bed, unaware that the cut on the side of my head was bleeding.

I pulled the covers up over my mouth, just under my nose, hoping that she wouldn't smell the beer off of me. I closed my eyes, ignoring the hot trickling sensation that was running down my cheek. I heard the bathroom door open and I held my breath.

"Bosco?"

I didn't respond. I was so afraid of what she'd do or say next. In her condition, she might very well go over the deep end when she found out that I'd ditched her and gone drinking.

"Bosco?" This time it came out a little stronger.

Nothing.

"Bosco, what the hell were you doing? I know you're awake!" she said in a worried/angry tone.

I opened my eyes a slit, pretending that she'd just woken me from a deep sleep. "Whaa ya want? I'ss sleepin'." I drawled, half from the alcohol and half pretending.

She crossed her arms over her breasts, as she always did when something really annoyed her. "I know you weren't sleeping. I just got up to go to the bathroom five minutes ago. Where were you and why is your head bleeding?"

She came and stood in front of me and shook her head, her blond hair wagging back and forth.

"I'm sleepin' Fay. Let's talk about this later." I said, reaching up to touch the lump on the side of my head.

"No. Let's talk now. I was worried. Where were you tonight? I was worried sick!"

"I was here. Sleepin."

"Bosco!"

I opened my eyes, aware that I wasn't fooling her. In my alcohol soaked brain, it seemed to make perfect sense to me. But still, she wouldn't be fooled.

"Ok. I was with Ty and we went to Haggerty's for a few beers."

She raised her eyebrow. "A few? You sure you didn't drink the bar under?"

She walked around to her side of the bed and laid down facing me after grabbing a kleenex and sticking it to my head. Then she reached over and stroked the side of my cheek, which was a total surprise to me. She seemed to get over her annoyance about my late appearance rather quickly, but I wasn't about to ask why. She'd tell me when she was ready.

Her gesture threw me for a loop and I felt myself no longer fighting the sleepy feeling that had come over me. Rather, I was curious about this new mood she was in and why.

I looked over at her. She sighed and rubbed my cheek with her thumb. "I'm sorry, Bos." She said quietly.

I turned over on my side and faced her. "Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?"

She looked up at the ceiling for a moment, her blue eyes welling up with tears.

"I'm sorry for being so...so....difficult these last few weeks. I was feeling like my life was.....well.....over....and I didn't know how to go on." She faltered over her words, trying to express how she was feeling.

I reached out to her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. My heart was pounding for her, an overwhelming flood of emotion coursing through my veins.

"Baby, you have nothing to feel sorry about. You only reacted the way any other woman would have. I'm sorry for not calling you tonight. I just wanted to get out and have a drink and.....just not think about what's happened." I tried to say my words carefully, so as not to hurt her. I was known for not being the most compassionate person after I'd had a few drinks and I didn't want to say anything to upset her.

She leaned over and kissed me, her lips brushing carefully over mine. "I wasn't mad at you. I was worried. I thought that you didn't want to be with me anymore and it scared me."

It was my turn to rub her cheek with my thumb. "I would never leave you. I just needed some time to myself".

"I love you, Bos."

"I love you, too. But Fay?"

"Ya?"

"I can't talk anymore. I'm gonna pass out." I said, sleepily.

"Ok. Goodnight."

I don't know if it was the alcohol or just my imagination, but I went to sleep that night thinking that everything was going to work out just fine. Faith had actually had a decent conversation with me and hadn't even been mad that I'd gone out. I felt like I would wake up tomorrow and we would make a new start from there. It would all be fine. Me and my ideas.