Chapter 33- You did what you did to me
April was definitely annoyed with her sister. She left her room that morning prepared to tell her the good news only to find out from Liam that she had stormed off in a rage after seeing Heath in bed with her. The younger of the Scott sisters sat on the couch with her legs tucked beneath her, wishing that Bianca would come home so they could talk. She wasn't sure why her sister was so upset; surely it was a good thing that she and Heath had reconciled? But then again, April knew only too well when it came to her boyfriend and father of her child. Everytime she thought Bianca and Heath could finally see eye to eye, something happened to undo all that again.
Liam handed his soon-to-be sister in law a cup of tea and sat down on the couch next to her. "I don't know what to do about them," April honestly informed him, "I don't want us to be the type of family that walks on eggshells around each other; the kind who exchange strenuous smiles only for the sake of the children."
"That's not going to happen. You and your sister love each other way too much to let it happen," he assured her. Liam could easily say that Bianca and April were the closest sisters he'd ever seen. He wasn't going to let either of them throw that away if it was at all possible.
The brunette sighed and absentmindedly rubbed her swollen stomach. "It's just that, a lot of the time, Bianca seems to be allergic to Heath and I don't know what I can do about it. I know their relationship has gotten better recently but there still seems to be this underlying tension..." April pressed the cup to her lips and took a generous sip, the hot liquid soothing her slightly.
He frowned and picked absentmindely at the hem of his t-shirt. He wasn't one hundred per cent certain of the situation either. "I think what we both need to understand is that they have a lot of history. It would be nearly impossible for us to change their view of the other person. They have to do that on their own."
"It's just so frustrating! I want nothing more than for my sister and the father of my baby to get along. I almost had that until Henri showed up," April said her name with all the contempt she could muster up, which, right now, was quite a lot. She was angry; angry because of Heath's ex, angry because of her sister's pigheadedness, angry because she had just buried one of her best friends and couldn't believe he was gone... Somewhere along the way, however, that anger moulded into something completely different; a strange feeling that she couldn't label. It seemed to lessen when she was lying with Heath that morning but was now back with a vengence. It was overwhelming.
Liam took one look at his future sister-in-law and put his arm around her. He couldn't even begin to imagine how hard all of this was on her. She was handling it remarkably well, given the circumstances but then again the Scott sisters were always strong. The pregnant teen rested her head on his chest. "Everything is going to work out okay. Tensions are just running a bit high at the moment. It's a hard time for all of us but we'll get through it, as a family," he assured her, feeling confident that things were going to get better. He certainly hoped for April's sake that they would.
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"I'm all ears," Heath said venemously as soon as Brax and a very reluctant Casey had left the house. Not that he even wanted to be in the same room as Henri but he didn't exactly have a choice. If it was up to him, he'd never speak to her again as long as he lived.
She sighed, aware that this was all her doing but disheartened nonetheless. "Listen, Heath; I don't know what's going to happen with Casey yet but I still think we should talk this through. Or else it's going to get pretty awkward for everyone."
The middle Braxton chuckled humorlessly. "I think we've already passed the 'awkward' stage. In case you haven't noticed, this is all awkward!" he informed her in a matter-of-fact tone, making a large gesture with his hands. "It was all fine until you showed up. We all would have been fine."
His words hit Henri like a punch to the stomach. What had happened to them? How did it all go so wrong when things used to be so great between them. "I'm sorry, Heath," she said, her voice softer now, and meant it with every fibre of her being. She would have given anything to take it all back, undo her biggest mistake.
Heath's eyes widened. "Oh, you're sorry? In that case let's just forget about everyrthing and become best friends! It doesn't work like that, Henri. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't. Sometimes there are things that you just can't fix. Did you actually think that I was so stupid that I would never figure out that it wasn't my baby? That's what you were counting on anyway, I guess."
Tears formed in her eyes and she took a step closer to him. "It wasn't like that, I swear. I was just scared. I know that doesn't change what I did but if I could change it I would. I wish so much that I could," Henri vowed, her voice full of desperation.
He suddenly felt something that he hadn't anticipated at all: pity. She was a complete mess, he could see that now. Heath's expression and stance softened a bit. Henri was like a wounded animal; it would be wrong to cause her anymore pain just so he could feel better, as much as that thought surprised him. "I'm not going to pretend that I forgive you, or that I will forgive you any time soon. All I can promise is not to make your life harder than it already is. I'm not going to be childish for once in my life. Whatever is going on with you and Casey, fine; that's up to him. He can do what he wants to do.
"I just want you to leave me and April alone. 'Cause as much as all this has pissed me off, it nearly destroyed her. She's what's important to me now; her and our baby. So you do what you want- stay here, I don't care- but don't think we are okay because we definitely are not," he concluded and walked out before she had a chance to reply. There was nothing more to say.
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April was just about to get dressed when Bianca walked in the door with a bunch of brightly coloured flowers in one hand and what seemed to be a white cake box in the other. "Good morning," Bianca greeted her sister with a warm smile, setting the goods down on the counter.
The younger Scott was definitely concerned. This was a far cry from the Bianca that Liam had described earlier that morning. It was very unnerving. "Morning..." she replied, more than a little bit wary of her sister's good mood. April began to worry that she had finally offed Heath and was no celebrating.
"I brought you flowers and cake."
The brunette nodded. "I can see that. Why?"
Her sister made her way over to the couch and sat down next to the pregnant teen. Bianca's expression suddenly became a lot more sombre. "As a way of apologising for being such a stubborn idiot. I'm sure Liam told you about my breakdown this morning," April nodded, still waiting to see her where she was going with this. "It just killed me to see you so upset last night and then, when I saw you with Heath this morning, I just lost it. You just have to realise that no matter how old you get and no matter how many children you have, you'll always be my little sister who couldn't tie her own shoelaces and I'm always going to want to protect you; no matter who from.
"I ran into Heath this morning, however, and I guess he made me see sense. He made me realise that I've been latching on to every little thing he does because I'm afraid he's going to hurt you..." Bianca took her sister's hand, "But he's not. At least not intentionally, anyway. That thing with Henri was in the past and he hasn't given any of us a reason not to believe that he's changed since. I also realised something that was hard for me to come to terms with; it's his turn to protect you now. And I know he's very capable of doing it. So I hope you'll forgive me..." she said with a small smile.
Tears had appeared in April's eyes. She was pretty sure that it had a lot to do with her crazy pregnancy hormones. What Bianca had just said meant so much to her, words could never even describe it. She hugged her sister tightly, albeit awkwardly as a result of her bump being in the way. "Of course. Bianca, you're my sister and I love you. What I want more than anything is for us all to get along."
The teacher smiled but there was a tinge of sadness to it. Part of her problem, though she would never admit it, was that she felt like she was losing her sister now that she was becoming a mother and starting a family of her own. "Well you don't have to worry about that anymore. No more looking for problems. Sound good?"
April nodded. "Sounds great."
"Good," the blond stood, "Now how about you get a vase for the flowers and I'll cut us a slice of cake?"
The younger of the two arched an eyebrow. "Cake for breakfast? I'm the pregnant one; you're supposed t be keeping me on the straight and narrow!" she joked.
"Yes, well we are celebrating so I won't tell anyone if you won't?"
"Your secret's safe with me."