Where the Streets Have No Name
Chapter 20
Edward sat frozen in his chair long after Carmen's departure. He felt like he had failed a big test that would send his overall GPA to be pummeled to the ground. Staring into space, he tried to make sense of the events of the morning. The array of emotions battling for space in his mind was overwhelming. In a short span of time he had gone from finding out that he had fathered a baby to losing it.
In essence, nothing had changed.
Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that everything had.
He was distraught and disappointed, but he couldn't be certain why that was so.
Could he really love a fetus he didn't even know existed two hours ago? Why was he trying so hard to make Carmen change her mind? Why was it suddenly so important that he did everything he could to prolong the existence of the lump of tissue that wasn't even visible to the naked eye? Was it just because it carried his DNA? Could biological imperative really be so strong that he was ready to sacrifice his own dreams, and Carmen's too, just to see his genetic footprint propagate?
Reason held that Carmen's solution was the most logical one. Neither of them was ready for the kind of change an unplanned pregnancy would wrought.
He was being a sentimental fool.
Those were the thoughts he kept repeating in his mind when he eventually dragged himself back to his place. There was no point showing up at work. He had called in sick already.
He spent the day in a melancholic haze, sitting on the floor of the living room until his roommate, Riley, came home.
The next few days flew by fast. He threw himself into work, staying past his shift for as long as his physical and mental acuity allowed. He tried his best to forget about Carmen and the turbulent morning they shared. It shouldn't be hard, he reasoned; it was unlikely he would ever see her again.
A week from the day, as Edward was about to crash for the night, there was a knock on the door. Riley was spending the night with his girlfriend and Edward wasn't expecting anyone. Cursing under his breath for the thoughtlessness of unannounced, late-night visitors, he opened the door to find a very nervous Carmen.
Edward didn't know how to greet her. What did she want? The baby had to be long gone by now. Why did she make the trek this time of the night to come to him?
Carmen spoke before he could articulate any of his thoughts.
"Did you mean it? Were you serious when you said... you'll be there for us?"
Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.