Boys Don't Cry
Chapter: 6
Rating: R
~Sunday Morning~
The previous day's shopping trip had worn her out. She went to bed at eight o'clock and didn't wake up until after nine. She had never been more exhausted in her life. It was a successful trip, though. Not only did she get the maternity clothes she needed but it helped to take her mind off of Lou and everything that happened between them.
After a good night's sleep she decided to call him. She quickly dialed Lou's number from memory and waited for an answer. And when the phone was picked up a woman's voice came across the line. "Hello?"
For a moment Mary couldn't even breathe. She knew that voice. "Charlene?" she said. "It's Mary."
"Hi, Mary." she said. "How are you?"
"Uh, I...I'm well." she finally got out. "How are you?"
"Just great." she said. "I just got back from San Francisco. You probably want to talk to Lou, don't you? He's in the shower, but I think he's almost done. I can go check if you like."
"Oh, no, that's alright." Mary said. "Could you just tell him I called?"
"Sure."
"Thanks." she said. "Bye."
Mary hung up the phone. Of all the things she expected when she dialed his number Charlene answering sure as hell wasn't one of them. He sure moved on fast. The night before last he was with her and now he was with Charlene. Apparently his declaration of love didn't mean much. She was pregnant with his child and he was carrying on with an ex-show girl.
Rhoda came out into the livingroom to find Mary near tears. "Hiya, kid." she said. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"I just called Lou."
She sat down beside her on the sofa. "Yeah?" she asked. "How did it go?"
"Uh, not so great Rhoda." she replied. "He didn't answer the phone, Charlene did."
"Charlene?" she repeated. "Who's Charlene?"
"She's a woman that Lou use to date." Mary told her. "She said that he was in the shower so I just left a message for him to call me back."
"Okay." she nodded. "Am I missing something? I mean why are you so upset?"
"Because it's nine o'clock in the morning and she was answering his phone." she explained. "Which means that she obviously spent the night there."
Rhoda shrugged. "So."
"So?" Mary breathed out. "Yesterday morning he was telling me that he wanted to be a family which obviously didn't mean anything. If it had he wouldn't have slept with Charlene."
Over the past six weeks or so Rhoda had been supportive. It was her job as Mary's friend to make her feel as comfortable and as supported as she possible could. That's what friends did. She held her as she cried and wiped away her tears, and soothed her fears as her pregnancy progressed. And now she was about to do her friend another huge favor even though it may initially hurt her. What Mary needed was a good dose of tough love.
Rhoda reached over and took Mary's hand. "Friends tell the truth, right?" she asked. "Even when you don't want to hear it? Even when it may hurt?"
"Yes."
"Okay." she breathed out. "I want to talk to you about Lou."
Mary nodded. "Okay."
"When you came here and told me that you were pregnant I admit I was shocked." she started. "But what shocked me even more was the fact that you were refusing to tell Lou. He's the father of your baby, he deserved to know the moment you found out. You kept the secret from him for three months and if he wouldn't have shown up here who knows when you would have told him."
"I had my reasons."
"And none of them could possibly be good enough to keep a man from his child." she said. "A man you know is a good father and who would want to be in the baby's life. A man that you respect and look up to, a man that was once your friend."
"So much has changed between the two of us."
"I know that." she said. "Things ended very badly between the two of you. And you have every right to be angry and upset but things have gone too far. Lou came here to see you and apparently the two of you momentarily worked through some of your issues. But instead of really talking things out you jumped into bed with him. And then when he tried to talk with you yesterday morning they only thing you did was push him away."
"I cannot be a suburban housewife, Rhoda."
"I don't think Lou was asking you to be one." she said. "Yesterday you told me that you wanted to work things out with Lou because you wanted the baby to have a father. And I caught a glimpse of Mary Richards that I haven't seen since I left Minneapolis. The entire time he was trying to work something out with you yesterday you shut him down."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Mary this isn't easy for me." she told her. "I'm going to tell you though because I think that you need to hear it. You've been nothing but incredibly selfish and unfair. I know that you're the one carrying this baby, but it's not just yours, it's Lou's too. How do you think the baby's going to feel when he grows up and learns that you're the reason his father wasn't in his life?"
"I never said that I didn't want Lou in the baby's life." Mary said. "I just don't want to have to give everything up that I've worked so hard for."
"It's not just about you anymore, Mary." she said. "And it's not just about Lou, it's about this little life that the two of you have created. You need to rethink things here, Mare and work things out with him And yes I know that you called and Charlene answered the phone and that's nobody's fault but yours."
"Mine?" she asked. "I'm not the one going around sleeping with old flames after I just proclaimed by love for someone else. He was here yesterday telling me that he loved me and that he wanted us to be together and now he's sleeping with her."
"You told him you didn't want to be with him." she said. "Did you expect him to live the rest of his life pining over you and living like a monk?"
"No, of course not."
"You need to decide exactly what it is that you want." Rhoda told her. "If you love Lou then you need to admit it to yourself and to him. If you want to be with him then you need to be completely open and honest starting now. If you don't want to be with him then you need to let go of this jealousy and move on. But either way you need to work something out for the baby's sake."
Mary nodded in agreement. Even though most of what Rhoda said was hard to hear she was absolutely right. She needed to be honest with Lou about what she wanted and she needed to do it now. She was being unfair to Lou and their baby. And she was only going to hurt herself even more than she already had in the end.
About an hour later the phone rang and Mary hesitantly picked it up. "Hello?"
"It's me." Lou said. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, yeah everything's fine." she replied. "I didn't mean to worry you, I just wanted to talk."
"Okay." he breathed out. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Actually I was calling to apologize." she said. "I've been a complete bitch and I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say, I just hope that we can move past this. I hope you can forgive me."
"Why did you push me away, Mary?"
"Because I was scared." she admitted. "I was afraid that you only wanted to be with me because I'm pregnant and not because you love me."
"I told you I loved you." he said. "And the only thing you said was goodbye."
"I know." she replied. "I wanted to say it back, I really did."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because this entire time we've been so busy telling each other that we couldn't have a serious relationship." she explained. "We were convinced that nothing but disaster would occur and that's exactly what happened."
"I really wish you would have told me."
Mary was starting to cry. "So do I." she said. "I've wanted to tell you how I've felt since last fall."
"Last fall?"
"Yes." she replied, wiping her eyes. "It was the Sunday afternoon when you took me to the batting cage and you were teaching me how to hit. We were having such a great time and I realized that I would be happy spending the rest of my life with you. It didn't matter what we were doing as long as we were together. I love you, Lou, very much and I don't want to lose you."
"I don't want to lose you either." he said. "I want to work things out with you and I know it's going to be a slow process but if you're willing to try so am I."
"Where do we start?"
"I think right here is fine." he told her. "One conversation at a time. I think first and foremost we need to rebuild our friendship and our trust."
"Okay." she agreed. "Are you willing to do this long distance? At least temporarily? I think I may be able to get transferred back to Minneapolis but it may take a few months."
"I think we can work something out."
tbc...