Chapter 4

"Beck James Oliver, where the hell have you been?" Jade demanded, sounding pissed, as Beck walked into the hospital room.

"I walked around for awhile, a long while. Then I went to say goodbye to the baby. Then I went to the cafeteria for some food, and I called Lori. She and Ethan are on their way to LA." Beck responded, sitting back down in the chair next to the bed.

"What did she say when you told her she'd be becoming a mom today?" Jade asked, referring to Lorelei.

"She was super happy. I think she started crying."

"Good. She deserves to be a mom."

Beck nodded. He didn't have it in him to say anything further. He handed Jade her coffee, and she gave him a small smile in return.

"I wrote his name on the birth certificate." Beck said, after a few minutes of thick, tension-filled silence.

"You named him?"

"Yeah. A nurse from the nursery suggested I give him a name to give him something to remember us by and help myself detach from him. I used the name we agreed on last year. Weston Beck Oliver. Lori and Ethan can just add their last name to the end and sign the birth certificate when they get here."

"Um, ok." Jade didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to react to anything that had happened in the past 24 hours.

"After you get out of the hospital, I think you should go stay with your mom."

"Why? You know my mother and I don't get along well."

"I think it's best for the both of us if we take a little break from our relationship. We just went through a life-changing event. We went from a couple of high school sweethearts in college, to having an unplanned baby, to giving said baby away to other people. That's a lot for anyone to deal with, let alone people who are so young."

"You're really doing this right now? You're breaking up with me right after I gave birth to a baby and went through emergency surgery to save my life."

"I'm not breaking up with you and I'm not saying we should break up. I just think that not seeing each other everyday, basically 24/7 for a few months could do us good. We just need a little break from each other, Jade. I need a break from everything. I think I want to skip a semester of college, after this one ends. I just need time to myself. I need time to think about where I've been and where I want to go and where I want to go with you, in our relationship."

Jade just nodded, having no clue what to say. She didn't want to take a break, but you can't have a relationship when only one person's truly involved. And it was just a break, right? Just a few months apart and then they could start over.

"I'm going to go home and start helping you pack. I'll come back later when Lori and Ethan get here."

"I'm sorry, Beck. I'm sorry things turned out this way."

"You don't have to be sorry, Jade. I know what we're doing is best for Weston, but that doesn't make it any easier for me. I don't need or want you to be sorry. It's not your fault things turned out this way."

"If our circumstances were better, maybe if we were a little older and more financially stable, I'd keep him. We'd raise him as our own because he is ours. He'd have an amazing life. And there's nothing saying we can't give an amazing life to more kids, maybe like 10 years in the future."

"We're not even close to being ready to have that conversation yet, Jade. Maybe in a few years, but not right, and certainly not like this. I want us to be able to have that conversation with emotional soundness and clear minds."

"I know. Just, please promise you'll come back so we can have that conversation. Promise you'll come back to me and to us." Jade pleaded, staring into Beck's eyes with her own teary ones.

"I can't promise you that. I don't know how I'll feel in a week, let alone a month, 6 months, a year. I can't promise that I will suddenly wake up in 3 months and realize I want us to start again. I can't promise you anything, Jade, and I'm really sorry, but I just can't."

"Ok." Jade said, wiping away some tears. "I love you, Beck, and I always will." She confessed.

Beck stood up and wrapped his arms around Jade. He let her sob into his chest before he affirmed his love for her. After she let go of him, he pressed a small, loving peck on her lips. She knew this was goodbye, she just hoped it was goodbye for now and not goodbye forever.