Ana
"I didn't get your name?" she asks.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Anastasia, but everyone calls me Ana," I offer her my hand.
She gives me a beaming smile and shakes my hand enthusiastically.
"I'm Mia. Mia Kavanagh."
"Nice to meet you," I smile at her enthusiasm.
"So how old is your son?" I point to the little guy.
"He's two and a half," she ruffles his hair.
"He's a cutie," I smile.
"Thanks. Do you have any kids?" she asks.
I tense for a second. I really don't want to talk about this. I don't even want to worry about it now. I just want to forget it ever happened and go on with my life. But, I know that I can't forget about it. I know there is a high chance that it will happen, but I don't want to worry myself to death over something that could very well not happen.
"No," I give her a tight smile.
"You look like you have something on your mind. Do you want to talk about it? I'm a great listener," she asks suddenly.
For a second I hesitate. Should I tell her what is going on? I don't even know her. Should I bring up what happened? She does have kids, and she does look like she is in the same situation as we are in, so it wouldn't be a bad thing to get some advice.
I bite my lip and look down at my knotted fingers that are placed on the table in front of me.
"Um…I…," I take a deep breath.
I look up at her, and she gives me an encouraging smile that causes me to relax.
"How old were you when you got pregnant?" I blurt out.
She looks at me funny at first, but her face transforms into a sad expression. She looks like she doesn't want to say anything but after a few beats, she answers my question anyway.
"I got pregnant at 16," she murmurs.
She looks down at her son, who is now sleeping on her shoulder. She smiles and runs her fingers through his hair and kisses his cheek. I smile at the cute mother and son moment.
She looks up at me and is now smiling. Her eyes light up when she talks about her son.
"My husband and I found out we were pregnant a few weeks after I turned sixteen. Ethan, my husband, comes from a wealthy family, and me…well…I came from the opposite," she chuckles sadly.
I sit there quietly and listen. She gives me a sad smile and then continues.
"My mother was a drug addict. She was never home, and I didn't really know my father. He left a few months after I was born. I met Ethan at school. He moved from Seattle to Detroit because their parents decided to move their business here. Don't ask me why. I could never understand why anyone would want to run their successful business from Detroit," she shakes her head.
I sit there flabbergasted because her husband's parents moved from Washington to Detroit, and the other half is because she is openly talking to me about her past, with a complete stranger no less.
"Anyway, their parents hated the fact that their son was dating me. A nobody with a druggy for a mother, and that I didn't come from money. They forbid him from seeing me, but Ethan ignored them and we dated in secret," she says.
I nod and continue to listen.
"When we got pregnant, I told my mom immediately. My mother, of course, yelled at me for being a slut and an idiot for getting myself pregnant. She basically kicked me out of the house. I had nowhere to go so I walked to Ethan's house, and when I knocked on his front door, his sister answered the door," she rolled her eyes.
"His sister Kate is a royal bitch. She always hated me, and she always let me know it too. She would always spew hurtful things about me around school, and even spread a rumor about me that I had STD's," she hisses.
My mouth drops open at that. What kind of person would spread those types of rumors? What the hell is wrong with his sister?
"I told her I was looking for Ethan and that I needed to speak to him right away. She said that I was not welcomed there and that Ethan was breaking up with me and that he sent her to tell me that he was breaking up with me," she explains.
I scoff, and she nods in agreement. Fucking bitch.
"Anyway, I told her that she was lying, and I told her that Ethan loved me and he would never hurt me like that, and she laughed in my face and told me to get off their property. I was about to lunge at her when I saw that Ethan had pulled up into the driveway," she says.
I shift in my seat and continue to listen.
"We both turned towards him, and he saw that I was upset and that something was wrong, so he ran over to me and brought me into his arms. I said I needed to speak to him and that it couldn't wait. His sister started yelling at us, and then his parents came out of the house. To make a long story short, I blurted out that I was pregnant. They got pissed off, started screaming at me about how I needed to get a DNA test, and that the baby wasn't his. They told him to basically choose, a slut and her child or his family," she scoffs.
I shake my head at their audacity. What kind of family does that?
"Of course, he picked me over his family. So when he said that he wanted to be with me and that he wanted to take responsibility for his child, they were hurt and angry. They basically told him that they were not going to support him or the baby. They also said that if that's what he wanted then they were going to disown him," She whispers the last part.
I stare at her is shock.
A tear slips out of her eye, and she hurriedly wipes it away. I put my hand on her shoulder and give it a soft squeeze, letting her know that I was here for her. She gives me a sad smile in return.
"Anyway, that is how we ended up here. They threw him out, took away his car, and told him to have a nice life. We have been on the street ever since," she murmurs.
"God, Mia. I am so sorry that happened to you," I murmur.
She shrugs and gives me a tight smile.
"It is what it is. I mean, it sucks that our parents disowned us, but we have each other, and that is all that matters," she beams.
I smile back and bump her shoulder with mine. I can understand that. I have Christian, and that is what is important.
"You have another little one?" I ask.
I remember seeing a little girl with them earlier. I assume that the man holding her was her husband, Ethan.
"Yes, a girl named Lola. She just turned one a month ago," she nods and smiles.
"There beautiful," I say.
"Thank you," she beams.
She asks me what my story was, and I go ahead and tell her how we ended up on the streets. She told me a lot about herself, so I thought it was only fair that I tell her mine. I try not to go into too much detail about how our mothers died thought. I don't want her to feel sorry for me.
"That guy that was with you…is he your boyfriend?" she blushes.
I chuckle at her. Christian gets that reaction all the time.
"Yes, that is my boyfriend. We grew up together," I smile.
I tell her all about our relationship. I don't tell her about our impending news; I decided not to worry about something that hasn't even happened yet.
She tells me that she and Ethan got married about a year ago. She explained that the shelter helped her and Ethan get married. Apparently, Mrs. Shana gave them the money for the marriage certificate and her and her husband were the witnesses at their wedding. This doesn't surprise me. I know Mrs. Shana is a wonderful person; she goes out of her way to help the people around here on whatever they need.
We have been talking for over an hour. We are laughing and enjoying each other's company. It's nice to have someone my age that I can talk to. It's nice having someone there who knows what you are going through.
About five minutes later, I see a man walk up to our table holding a brown-haired little girl. It's her husband; Ethan.
"There you are. I was wondering where you two went," he frowns.
"Sorry babe. Liam ran off, and I found him talking with my new friend," she looks over at me and beams.
Her husband Ethan looks over at me, and he gives me a tight smile.
"Well, I'm glad you found a new friend," he sits down.
"Me too. This is Ana. Ana, this is my husband Ethan," she introduces us.
I hold out my hand for him to shake, and he adjusts his daughter that is resting on his shoulder so he can shake my hand, which he does after a beat. His hand is clammy when we shake, and I notice a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. I bit my lip and let go of his hand. He sees and looks at my mouth for a second and then looks away quickly.
I stare at him with a frown. What is that all about?
He is looking out of the window, deep in thought while Mia starts talking about their plans for tomorrow.
I try to pay attention to her, but I am distracted because I can't stop thinking about her husband's weird behavior. He stares at me like he has seen me somewhere before. I frown because I have never seen him before. I look over at him carefully. He is tall and muscular, with unkempt brownish blonde hair, and deep green eyes. He has a small beard that is surprisingly neat.
He still stares out of the window with a deep frown. What is he thinking?
"Baby?" I suddenly jump when Christian appears beside me.
"Christian," I smile up at him.
He stares in confusion at Mia and Ethan.
"You must be Christian?" Mia asks.
"Yes?" he frowns.
"Hi, I'm Mia, and this is my husband Ethan," she says shyly.
She holds her hand out, and he looks over at me in confusion while he shakes her hand.
"Hello," his expression is blank.
He sits down beside me and places his arm around my shoulders.
I look over at Ethan, and he is staring at Christian strangely. I frown at his expression. What is his problem?
Christian notices and glares at him. Ethan quickly looks away and gets up.
"Come on Mia. Let's get the kids to bed," he awkwardly says.
"Okay. Will I see you tomorrow?" she asks hopefully.
"Sure, we will be here," I smile.
"Awesome. It was good to talk to you. Well see you in the morning," she beams.
I agree, and I get up and give her a hug, and then they walk out of the kitchen.
I sit back down, and Christian immediately speaks.
"Who the hell were those people?" he asks.
"They were the couple that was in line in front of us earlier. Her son came in here and sat down to talk to me, and Mia came in to see where her son went. We just got to talking while you were with Jason and she introduced me to her husband," I shrug.
"Why the hell was her husband staring at you like that?" he hisses.
"Like what?" I frown.
"Like he wanted to get into your panties," he scoffs.
I scrunch up my nose at the thought.
"Christian, come on, he does not," I roll my eyes.
"Don't roll your eyes at me Ana. I don't like that guy, and I want you to stay away from him," he says firmly.
"Oh, come on Christian. Don't be ridiculous. The guy probably just recognizes me from somewhere. He hasn't done anything wrong," I shake my head.
"I don't like it," he glares at me.
"Well get over it! I like her; she is nice. So, if you have a problem with her husband, then that is your problem, not mine," I scoff.
I roll my eyes again and get up and walk off into the big room and head for our cots at the back of the room.
I take off my shoes and get comfortable on my cot. I get under the covers and spot Christian heading over to me. He runs his hand through his hair and sits down on his bed for the night.
"I'm sorry baby. I'll let it go, for now," he looks contrite.
"Apology accepted," I nod.
He chuckles and gives me a kiss on the cheek. He gets up and pushes his cot over to mine. He takes off is shoes and lays down. Everyone gets into bed and after laying there for about twenty minutes, they turn off the lights.
I look over at the far wall where they have a huge clock and see that it is just after 10 pm.
Christian takes my hand and gives it a soft squeeze. He places our conjoined hands in between us as he leans over and kisses me softly on the lips.
"Goodnight baby," he whispers.
"Goodnight," I whisper back.
"Love you."
"I love you too."
I smile into the darkness and quickly fall asleep.
AN: Here is the next chapter.
Thank you for all the feedback so far. I'm glad everyone is liking it and sticking with me.
If you read my other story, A Different Path to Fifty, I will be working on the next chapter soon.
I put up a picture of what I imagined what Ethan would look like in this story on my pinterest board.
Also, don't worry, there will be No Cheating in this story.
Thanks for reading/reviewing and following. :D