There's Always Second Chances

Chapter 21

"Please calm down," I begged the crying infant. She wouldn't settle down. I tried everything, I've fed her, I've changed her nappy, I've sang to her. I didn't know what I was doing. I did a quick google search and it said something about white noise and something about skin to skin contact. "Naomi please," I pleaded still with the crying infant against my chest. 

I took off my shirt and cuddled her against me. Immediately her cries lessened into small sniffles. It's been a few months since this all happened. Andrea's brothers are due to land today. "Andrea?" I questioned seeing the said girl sitting on the sofa. She beamed at me, the smile easing my worries. "Give her to me, go make a bottle," Andrea instructed. 

I should know what to do. I wasn't that young when my Mother had my younger siblings but here I was as a new parent and I still didn't know the half of it. I didn't know they'd wake you up so early since Mum always got up to soothe them. I knew they were fussy with foods and when they'd eat. I knew that they almost never went 5 minutes without having a dirty nappy. It just seemed like I forgot it all and I'm starting from scratch. 

I passed Naomi to Andrea and Andrea started singing in Norwegian. Immediately Naomi ceased all her fussing. "How did you do that?" I asked. I'd been trying to get her to sleep for hours. And here Andrea was not a minute after I passed Naomi to her, with a sleeping baby in her arms. "It's not as easy as it looks, she probably tired herself out," Andrea responded. 

I walked out into the kitchen to make Naomi a bottle. There was knocking at the door just as I put the bottle in the steriliser. "I'll get it," I called out. I'm surprised there was no crying coming from Naomi. Was it Delilah? Come to insult me and say that I took her baby away from her? Did she come back for round 2 to fuck up our lives? Just thinking that it could miraculously be Delilah annoyed the hell out of me. "Haven't you cause enough dama-" I started and then I ended it as quickly as it left my mouth. 

It wasn't Delilah. It was in fact Anders. "Anders I'm so sorry," I apologised quickly. I didn't mean to come off as so mean to him. "Adrian! It's been a while," he greeted and pulled me in for a quick hug. Behind him stood another male, shorter than he was. He had blonde hair just like Anders and Andrea. "This is Lars mine and Andi's brother, Lars this is Adrian, Andrea's friend." Anders introduced me to this other brother. 

I led them inside and shut the door behind them. "Anders?" called out Andrea from the living room. We hurried to the living room and I took back Naomi. "Is she yours?" asked Anders looking between me and Andrea. I shook my head. "Naomi is mine and D-." I cut myself off. I didn't even want to speak her name. "Mother didn't tell you? Delilah did the same to you what she did to Adrian. Only this time she forced Adrian to have a baby with her." Andrea explain. 

Anders visibly paled. He rubbed his hands on his trousers and then clasped them. I don't think he planned for Andrea to ever find out what happened. Let alone telling her himself. "How did you find out?" he asked. Lars kept looking between Anders and then us. He was lost as to what we were talking about. So no one knows? 

"This," stated Søren as he walked into the room. He handed Anders the journal and went into the kitchen. I eyed Anders cautiously to see what he'd do. Just as he fiddled with the front cover of the book, I cleared my throat. "You might want to sit down before reading that," I remarked. I didn't want him to fall over in shock. They took a seat on the other couch and Anders started reading. Lars read over his shoulder. 

By the end of it, Anders threw the book across the room and he was fuming. "I know, we were too," Andrea said. Søren came back in with drinks for us on a tray and placed the tray on the coffee table. He passed me Naomi's bottle and I started feeding her. "This is how you found out about Anders?" asked Lars. His voice startled us from thought. 

"Yes, That's how we found out about the other things too. About everything Delilah planned," Søren spoke solemnly. It wasn't nice to be sharing this information but it needed to be discussed with someone else who went through Delilah's torment. 

"This explains so much. This is evidence, you need to put it away and safely. Was there anything else?" Anders said quickly. He stared at the spot where he had thrown the book. "There is a cork board in Delilah's old room, she used it to help her plot everything out," I said. I put the now empty milk bottle down on the table. I hoisted Naomi to lay against my shoulder and started patting and rubbing her back gently. 

All of this was a nightmare. Anders looked panicked, Andrea was still in pain and couldn't move much with her casts. Søren and Lars looked angry and I was just lost. I'm just glad we didn't get killed. Who knew that Delilah was going to be that one psychopath roommate. "And this is why you returned home early?" Lars asked Anders. Anders nodded and gulped his drink down. I guess it wasn't a viable talking subject back home either. 

"If I had known she was going to do this, I would've stayed. I'm sorry for leaving you to deal with her." Anders apologised. He was angry with himself and seemed to blame everything on himself. It was like he chalked everything up to the reason that he left so Delilah focused her efforts on us. 

Lars patted Anders' back. "You had no way of knowing. If you would've stayed she could've done something much worse to you. She was sick," Andrea was always the one to voice reason in awkward situations. Anders nodded and he relaxed immensely. It wasn't his fault. It was Delilah's for refusing help and refusing to take medication that would've helped her. In my opinion I think it would've helped more if she was put in an asylum and locked away from the rest of humanity. 

"How long are you staying?" asked Søren switching the subject. "Just until the new year. I'll be back again when you graduate." Anders responded. "Come on let's put you to bed," I whispered to the sleeping baby in my arms. After all this time and she's finally sleeping. I walked upstairs and put her into the cot. 

I'm going back to Australia as soon as I've graduated.