Chapter Nineteen
"What the hell is this?" Spencer demanded, not giving Toby a second to greet or even talk to her. It was two in the morning, Noah was asleep, Hanna wasn't home, and Spencer sure as hell wasn't going to get any shut eye with the text she got nearly an hour ago. She debated what to do. She spent a full forty minutes thinking about it, before calling Toby, and demanding he come over. "If you don't start talking now, I'm going to the police."
Toby took the phone from her, his eyes fumbled, "What, what is this? Who sent you," then his realization kicked in, she thought it was him. "Spencer, I didn't send this, I wouldn't!"
"Well, than who is it? You just so happen to pop into town, and suddenly I get a text message like that? Give me one good reason I should believe it's not you, Toby." She said bluntly.
"Why would I send you this? I—don't, Spencer," he sighed. "I'm done with all of that, it's not me." He told her, the intensity in his eyes magnifying, "And whoever the hell it is, we are going to find out."
"I don't need your help" She hissed, taking the phone back from him. "You can leave now, by the way" She said, starting to close the door.
He caught it, "You're not going to the police?" He questioned.
"If I was, I don't think that's any of your business." She scoffed, looking at him, in shock.
"Spencer, you have to."
"I don't have to do anything you tell me." She said narrowing her eyes on the man in front of her, "Now go, before I call the police, on you." She challenged.
"Spencer, seriously, you need to go. If you don't, I will." He said calmly, ignoring all her demands.
"Good, maybe they'll lock you up!" She smiled smugly, "Please leave."
"Spencer—please, okay, this is serious. Whether it's just some fucking prank, or not. Go to the police, there's too much at stake, to let this wait, till morning, or whenever the hell you'll go down there. Who knows if this is serious or not! Have your friends gotten any texts?"
"Why do you care so much!" She practically yelled, "Dammit Toby, you can't just come here—and think—just go!" She said pushing him slightly.
"Mommy, what's going on?" Came a small voice from the corner of the room, which made Spencer's angered face fall into a frown.
Spencer looked at her little boy sadly, "Baby, go back to sleep, I'll be there in a second to tuck you in."
"Why is Toby here?" He asked.
"He's just leaving, hunny, go back to sleep." Spencer told her sound softly, with a faint supporting smile. As the little boy was told, he went back to his bedroom. Spencer sighed, looking back at Toby.
"That is the reason why I care so much, Spencer. What about Noah?"
"What about Noah? He's my son, not yours!" She whispered sharply.
"It takes two, Spencer." He breathed sharply, "I'm not dumb."
She took in a deep breath, looking up at him timidly. Her eyes wavering at the intensity of his eye contact.
"So, do you have any names picked out?" Hanna asked with a soft smile, staring at the round bump on her very pregnant friend's stomach. It was only a couple more weeks, till Spencer would have her little bundle of joy.
"No, not yet. But, defiantly not anything, that begins with the letter A." she said tightly, the subject still harsh for everyone.
"Do you think you'll name him after anyone in your family?" Hanna wondered aloud.
"Defiantly not my dad." She said with no hesitation. "But, I don't know, really. Nothing's really felt right, you know? I mean, I was looking at name meanings the other day, but then I remembered that those are just words. Plus, it's sort of cheesy. I want something with a real meaning, not just a supposed meaning."
"Well, once you find out, can I please be first to know? Aria was first to know that you're having a boy, Emily was the first to know that you're pregnant, I want to be the one to know the name first!" She complained.
"Fine, Hanna. I promise, you'll be the first to know." She smiled tenderly.
"Think whatever you want. He is my son. I raised him. Changed his diapers. Fed him. Bought him clothes. Taught him how to walk and talk. Everything! Genetics means nothing, when you weren't there for them, when you needed them most. Family isn't about having the same gene pool, it's more than that." Spencer said calmly after a pause. "Goodnight, Toby."
"Well, I'm here now!" Toby fought with her, not letting her close the door once again. "So, let me help you. All I'm asking is for you to go to the police, that's all. Spencer, it's not that big of a favor. I just don't want to see you, or him, getting hurt. I'm sorry for everything in the past, but I'm not letting history repeat itself." He proclaimed.
"…fine." She heaved a breath, "In the morning," her eyes routed downward, "Noah is asleep, and I'm not going to wake him up, and take him to the police station."
"Okay…" Toby breathed. "Do you want me to come with—"
"No thanks," She spoke briskly. An awkward moment passed between the two. "Can you not mention this to anyone? I don't know about Hanna, or Emily…or Aria, but if they haven't…gotten anything, I don't want to bring them into this." She requested.
"Okay." Toby said simply.
"Well, it's getting late, so."
"Just one more thing," He promised. He inhaled greatly, "So it's true then?"
Spencer looked at him, tilting her head to the side slightly, a frown forming on her face. "Goodnight Toby." She dismissed him, closing the door, and this time, Toby let her shut it. He got what he needed, she was going to tell the police, and she, and Noah would be safe. That's all he needed to know, even if he wanted to know so much more.
…
The next morning, Spencer woke up to two texts, luckily not from 'A' or, at least they appeared to be not from 'A'. But, her ability to trust others, especially Toby, was low. It was almost incapable. She didn't know how to trust anyone really, she always thought the worst in people, she even sometimes had trouble trusting her friends.
The first text was from Larson. It was a good morning text, saying "Miss you already, sunshine, coffee later? I know you want some." While most girls would fan over good morning texts, and quickly respond in some frivolous matter, which would most likely contain a winky face, Spencer just scrolled right past it, and went to her other new message, which was from Toby. He sent it to her at seven in the morning. It was about a paragraph long, but mostly it consisted of 'Did you go to the police station yet? Tell me when you do. If you need me, I'll be at work, but I can always take a break. Go soon'. He texted her that nearly two hours ago, and hasn't sent anything since.
She reluctantly texted him back, saying "No, I haven't gone yet. Just woke up." In which he replied, "Okay, tell me when you do. You sure, you don't want me coming?" and she replied "positive." In the midst of it all, she had forgotten to text Larson back. So, it seems, Toby will always be in possession of her heart.
She didn't know why she trusted that Toby wasn't the one behind this, again. She had no reason to trust him, really. She wasn't someone to give, someone the benefit of the doubt, so why did she believe it wasn't him. Was it instinct? Or was it just the hope that it wasn't him? Toby made her judgment cloudy, which is another reason why he shouldn't be involved in her life. Toby was an exception, but exceptions weren't always a good thing.
"Miss! wait, you forgot this!" the stranger yelled behind her. Spencer hesitated to halt; was he talking to her? And if he was, why? She didn't think she even dropped anything. Instead of turning around, she sped up, fearing that the man was not looking out for her, but up to something much more devious.
"Wait!" she heard the man say, but she kept her pace, quickened it even. She heard the man jogging behind her, which made her heart rate, quicken. "Wait, it's your watch!" The man yelled. Spencer glanced at her wrist, and sure enough, the watch that was always there, wasn't.
Taking a deep breath in, Spencer realized how silly she was being, not everyone was out to kill her. She needs to calm down. "Oh, thank you, I didn't even notice it was gone." Spencer told him, before grabbing the watch from him, and trapping it around her wrist. "Thanks," She murmured to him.
He appeared to be in his early sixties. His nose was crooked, and he appeared to miss a few patches of facial hair this morning. His deep blue eyes were maximized, by the think rim glasses he was wearing. He smiled. "Not many wear watches these days, it's nice to see a change, in our youth."
"Yeah," She sported a smile. He seemed to want no harm, but she still hasn't gotten around the feeling that everyone was out to get her. When a stranger would smile at her, she would simply just look past them. "So, thanks for, giving me back my watch—ow" she groaned suddenly, holding her stomach.
"Miss are you okay?" The man said putting a friendly hand on her shoulder, which she quickly jerked away.
"Yeah," She grimaced. "I'll be fine. It's just..um contractions."
"You're sure your okay?" The man pressed.
"I'm—ahh!" she said feeling the pain again, "I'm-" She stuttered. "I think I'm going into labor-" She breathed out shakily.
"Okay, I'll call 911, just you wait. It'll be okay." He reassured her, putting a hand on her shoulder, and this time Spencer let his hand stay there.
"What do you mean you can't do anything about this?" She demanded, her brown eyes hard, and lip quivering. "What do you expect me to do about this, then!" She nearly screamed at the police officer. He sighed, and ran his fingers through his light brown curls.
"There isn't much I can do, I mean, it's just a text. It's not even a threat…really." He smacked his lips together, eyeing her, before handing her phone back. "I can try to track the source, if you can give me a couple hours with your phone Ms. Hastings but, other that that, there's not much to do. Once we found out who it is, you can get a restraining order, but from the looks of it all, this might just be a cruel joke."
Spencer resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she should have known, the police would be no help. "I have a four year old. Cruel joke or not, someone is out there messing with me." She said in a lower voice, keeping her eyes locked on his in a glare. "I'm not willing to just let this wait out, and see how it ends. I hate surprises."
The man's emotionless expression dropped into a frown, and his dark blue eyes became soft. "I'll run some tests, I'll just need your phone, for an hour or two. I want to help you, I do, but you have to understand that there isn't much to work with."
With a deep sigh, she murmured a 'fine' and told him she needed to make a call first.
Once she was outside the police station, she scrolled through her contacts, and found Toby. She was tempted to just not call him. This wasn't his business, it was hers. But, he still had a hold on her, like he always had. She thought she had detached herself from him, but she was wrong. "Hi. I'm at the police department."
"What happened?" He asked immediately.
"Nothing, yet. They are taking my phone in. This is your last chance to opt up to it." She said coldly.
"It's not me." He said solidly.
"Whatever," She said sucking in her cheeks, "I'll call you later, bye." She ended the conversation quickly, before returning her phone to officer Appleton, and she would wait at the police station until her phone was back in her hands, and she had the name, or at least IP address, of the culprit.
"Sweetie, they are on there way. Just breath, can you do that, for me ?" The old man told her soothingly as he held her hand, and guided her to the bench nearby. "It'll be okay. It might be a lot of work now, sure I wouldn't know, but I witnessed it a few times. Speaking of, should I call the father? Anyone else?"
She glanced at him, her breathing unsteady, and her brown eyes turning glassy, the second, the word 'father' came out of his mouth. "Um no." She said meekly. "But, there are—agh!—others." She said clenching her stomach. "My phone is in my purse."
"Alright," the older man said before pulling out her phone. As he did that, Spencer could see the ambulance, out of the corner of her eye. She was ready to meet her little boy.
"Wait, wait, where are you going? I thought you were working on my phone!" Spencer jolted up from her seat in the police station, and sped up to officerDarren.
"Even police officers get hungry. The team is working on it, I promise you, Spencer, it'll be okay. Don't worry."
"Obviously, you don't know me well, because worrying is what I do best." Spencer offered a half smile, "Just, look, do you have kids?" Spencer asked. "Because if you did, you would understand, understand how I feel right now."
"Yes, I have a two year old little girl. Her name is Hazel. " He admitted. "And I would probably be acting just like you, maybe even worse than you are right now."
Spencer smiled, "Then you understand!" Spencer exclaimed. "knowing that someone is out there, possibly, plotting something against me and my family. It's the worst feeling in the world."
"Have you had lunch yet?" He asked her after a pause.
Spencer shook her head.
"Well, how about you come get some with me." He offered.
"I'm not—this isn't a date, right?" Spencer clarified. She was already juggling enough guys at the moment.
"No," The man laughed. "Defiantly not." He shook his head at the idea as if it was insane of her to suggest such a thing. "Spencer, lets just say you're not my type. Besides the fact, my father is going to be there. Believe me, I don't bring my fathers on dates." He winked. Before turning towards the exit, "You coming," He looked back at her.
She furrowed her eye brows and nodded, "Yeah," her voice trailed as she followed him out the door. "Wait, your father is going to be there?!" She ran after him in a panic.
Around sixteen hours later, Spencer had a little boy in her hands. The name for him still missing. He was so beautiful. He had a full head of hair, and bright blue eyes. Spencer, felt like she could never let him go. Never let the little boy out of her sight. She never felt this kind of love before. It was unconditional. As she stared at him, she was in awe, at how much she already adored him. In amazement, that she created this little human being with little fingers, and tiny feet. Today, she cried, but it wasn't out of sadness, per usual, but joy. She hasn't felt this happy in a long time, and maybe things were going to get better.
"So, what's his name?" The nurse asked a few hours after she gave birth to her son. He was sleeping in the cradle next to her, but she actually missed him. She wanted to just pick him up, and keep him in her arms forever.
"I'm not sure," She glanced at the sleeping little boy next to her.
"Well, he is surely, a cutie." The nurse smiled at the baby, "Is everything okay? Do you want anything else? Want to watch TV or something?" The nurse asked as she strutted back to exit of the small room.
"No, I'm good, thank you."
As the nurse was leaving, a visitor was coming in. "Hey there!" The old man greeted with a jolly smile.
"Hi!" She exclaimed with a smile.
"Here I got you something," He told her, pulling out a card.
"Oh, you didn't have too." Spencer smiled, but took the card anyways, and set it down on the table next to her.
"I wanted to" He clarified, before his eyes left Spencer, and fell on the tiny baby, and a smile graced his face.
"What's his name?" The old man asked.
"I'm not sure yet, but speaking of names, I actually never caught yours." She said furrowing her eyebrows, at how she could miss such an important element.
"Noah," The man told her, looking up. "Noah Appleton."
"So, officer Appleton, what do I call you?"
"Darren." He told her, with a smile. "And by the way, do not call my dad, Mr. Appleton, he hates that."
"Mr. Appleton?" Spencer said a few minutes later.
"Noah," He corrected her.
"Right," Spencer smiled nervously.
"Why did you help me? I mean, why did you even give me that watch back? It has to be worth something." She told him, as she stared at him, still unable to figure him out.
"It indeed has to be worth something," He smiled up at her, "to you at least. I mean I'm sure, I could probably get fifty dollars for it or so, but who knows, maybe it was worth so much more to you. Sentimental value, is the largest value there is." He told her.
"But, why would you care if it's worth anything to me? You didn't even know who I was. I mean, why not just take it, and sell it?"
"You don't believe the world is all evil, right?" He chuckled. "There are some good people left in it, and I like to do my share of random acts of kindness, so I'm still part of that group."
Spencer stared at him dazzled. Maybe, she did think the world was all evil. She was blinded by all the bad things, to even notice the good things. "Well, thank you, for everything." She told him.
"It wasn't a problem." He said. "Well, I have to get back to my wife. She is making peach cobbler." He smiled.
"Wait, Noah!" She called out, before he stepped out of the room. "Do you mind if I name my son after you?"
A smile enlightened on his face, "I would be honored."
Once they got in the small café, they ended up having to wait twenty minutes for Mr. Appleton, or erm, whomever to show up. By this time Spencer's stomach was growling like thunder, and she was overjoyed that she accepted his invitation.
Once the old man sat down at the table, everything clicked. Appleton, not calling him Mr. Appleton; everything. This was the same man she met four years ago, in the park, the one who found her watch, and called the ambulance. "Dad, this is—"
"Spencer, yes, we know each other." The old man smiled at the twenty two year old woman.
"Yeah, we met, four years ago," Spencer's face emerged into a gigantic smile.
"What?" Darren glanced between the two, confused. "How do you two know each other?"
"Well…" The old man began to tell the story. "It was a hot July day…" The man went on into detail, of the story. While Spencer remembered the events of the busy day, which was also known as the best day of her life. The day her son was born. After his story ended, Darren sat there in astonishment. "Small world!" Darren exclaimed.
"Yeah," Spencer agreed.
"So how is Noah? Not getting into any trouble hopefully?"
"No, no he's an angel, really." She told him, and it was true. He was her angel, and she couldn't ask for anyone better.
sorry this took so long to update ! I have midterms! Well, yes new characters alert! This chapter was more on the fluffy side, but calm before the storm right? ;) Btw Toby and Spencer's little conversation about Noah? ;) how do you feel about that? Hm. And yeah, so that's how Noah got his name! but, anyways, i chose a watch, because has anyone else noticed how she is ALWAYS wearing it? and Hanna's always wearing that necklace? Anyway, thanks for the reviews! and I hope i get some more xoxo