This chapter isn't very long, but the next 2 will be. Hope you enjoy!
"Here goes nothing," said Mirabel quietly to herself as she walked up the steps to Javi's house. She knocked on his door and stepped back. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest.
Before long, a woman answered the door. Mirabel immediately recognized it as the woman she saw Javi with a couple of weeks prior. She wanted to hate her. But she had kind eyes and a warm smile and honestly, she just felt sorry for her. She also looked to be about Mirabel's age. But she chose to move past that fact. "Hi. Can I help you?"
"Yes, um…is Javi here? I really need to speak to him."
"Yeah, hold on just a second." She turned and yelled out, "Babe! There's someone at the door for you."
"Coming!" Mirabel's breath caught in her throat as she heard his voice. She wanted to run away, but she had to do this. Before she knew it, Javi was walking up to the door. "Oh…Mirabel. Um…what are you doing here?" He looked really nervous suddenly as he wrapped his arm around the waist of the woman with him.
"Can we talk? In private?"
Javi seemed annoyed now. "Yeah, I guess," He kissed his girlfriend on the head and said, "I won't be long." He stepped outside with Mirabel and closed the door behind him. "Look, if you're here to get back together, clearly that is not going to happen. I have a girlfriend."
"Yeah, I can see that. Glad to see it didn't take you too long."
Javi rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "So why are you here?"
Mirabel took a deep breath. She decided she needed to just come right out and say it. "There's no easy way to tell you this, but um…I'm pregnant."
Javi's whole demeanor suddenly changed. His eyes widened and he started breathing fast. He laughed nervously and shook his head. "No. No, that can't be. It only happened once."
"All it takes is one time."
"Okay, um…this can't be happening."
"Yeah…that's what I said. But it is happening. And I need to know what your plan is."
"My plan?"
"Yes," said Mirabel. "This baby is coming whether we like it or not, so we need a plan."
"This is a lot to take in, Mirabel." He ran his hands through his hair and turned around for a moment. He turned back to her shortly after. "I never wanted to be a dad. I'm happy just being an uncle to Sylvia. And…I saw how much my sister struggled with her when she was a baby. I decided then that I never wanted kids. I like kids, but not for me to have. Maybe…when the child is older…I can visit them?"
Mirabel was suddenly very angry. She had felt very scared and didn't know how she was going to do this, but she had an instinct take over. She suddenly felt very protective of this baby. "I'm sorry, the child? I think you mean our child. But also, that's not how this is going to work. You will either be here or you won't. I will not allow you to come in and out of my child's life when you decide it's right for you. Because, trust me, it will get hard. You know that being around for your sister when Sylvia was a baby, but this baby comes first." She walked a little closer to Javi. "Look, I get it. The idea of being a parent is scary. I have been wracking my brain, terrified, about how I'm going to do this. I would love it if I could get some help from you."
"Why do you need my help anyway? You've got your family there."
Mirabel couldn't believe this was the man she had fallen in love with. "Yes, my family will be there to help me, but they didn't help me make this baby. You did. And wow, okay, um…I'm sorry, but I just thought you might want to be a part of your child's life."
"Maybe I'll want to later, but as of now…I don't." He shrugged. "I'm sorry."
Mirabel took a deep breath. She was fuming, but also trying to be understanding. She had had a day to process this. She decided to give him one more chance. "If you decide you want to be a part of the baby's life before they're born, that's fine. If you need time to think about it, that's fine. But once the baby is born, that's it. I will not allow you to show up, stay for a while, leave for a few months, and then come back around. If you're going to be a dad, you stay." Mirabel knew she would not budge on this. "That is too confusing for a child and I won't let my baby go through that."
"I'll let you know if I change my mind, but don't count on it. I just can't do this. Again, I'm very sorry." He turned and walked back into his house without another word.
Mirabel stood there, frozen in place. She knew dropping this bombshell on him probably wouldn't go the best, but she had hoped it would go better than that. She felt completely and utterly devastated. She wanted her child to have their father, but obviously their father wanted nothing to do with them. Her heart broke for her unborn child. She turned and headed back to her house, tears rolling down her face.
She stepped in her house and closed the door behind her. She stood there, with her back against the door for a few moments, before sliding down. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She stayed there and cried.
"I take it that it didn't go well."
She looked up to see Bruno standing over her. She wiped her cheeks and sniffed. "No,"
Bruno sighed and sat down next to Mirabel. "I'm so sorry. What happened?"
"He wants nothing to do with this baby. He said he has always liked kids, but doesn't want any of his own. I gave him the option to think things through and that if he decides he wants to be a part of the baby's life before they're born, that would be great. But he said don't count on that." New tears were forming in her eyes and her voice was shaky. "I just want my child to feel loved and how can they feel loved if their own father wants nothing to do with them?" She was crying again and couldn't hold back the tears.
Bruno wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him. "Spoken like a true parent,"
It took her a few minutes to stop crying and once she did, she gave Bruno a hug. "Thank you,"
"Of course," he said. "Look, even if your baby doesn't have their father here, they will still be so loved by every person in Casita. Trust me when I say that there will be plenty of love to go around. I mean, you must remember how it was when Maria and Gabi and then Mateo were born. The family fought to hold them. I bet they weren't put down for over a month."
Mirabel couldn't help but giggle at that. "Probably more like 2 months."
"Very true. Javi could still change his mind and if he does, that's great, but if not, it won't be the end of the world. This baby will be the luckiest baby in the world to be born into such a loving family and to have you as a mother. You will be an excellent mom. I've seen how you are with all of the kids. Just imagine how you'll be with your own child."
"You always know what to say," She gave him a hug.
"I love you, Mira. And I love this little baby of yours."
"Love you too."
They stood up and continued about their day.
Before bedtime, Mirabel stood in the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She put her hand over her stomach and smiled. "Looks like it will just be us, baby. We got this."
