Blast From The Past

"Everything will be okay."

"Katee!" I squint, lifting my head up as I look at the person stood before me. A tear falls down my cheek. The first thing I notice, is the dark shadows surrounding his beautiful eyes, I don't know how, but he's found me. My Joey. He kneels down to be eye level with me and gently brushes my hair away from my face. "I've been so worried about you darling. I'm so glad that I've found you." My eyes close as I feel the soft pad of his thumb wiping my tear away. I whisper how sorry I am. He quietly shushes me. "Let's get you back home. We need to warm you up, you're freezing." Then he helps me stand back up and leads me to where his car is parked. I'm surprised to see Nikki in the driver's seat as Joey opens the back passenger door to let me climb in and he climbs in from the other side. We sit in silence as we move through the heavy traffic.
As soon as we arrive back at Joe's place, he assists me with a warm bath and I'm fed some warm soup. We're now curled up on the sofa. I keep seeing glances between the two of them. Glancing at Joe, taking in his expression; seems calm yet confused. I'm guessing he doesn't have a clue. It's time I tell him the truth. I hope he will be okay.
"I'm sorry. To you both. I know I shouldn't have run off like that. I wasn't thinking. Getting away from him was all I needed. I needed to be with Edie. Just me and her."
Nikki asks if I want her to stay or to give her and Joe some privacy but I gesture for her to stay. Then Joe speaks up. "I'm sorry but I don't understand what you are telling baby. Who is he? Who is Edie? What happened?" I look over to Nikki and she silently reassures me. Walking to where my handbag is, I pick out my photo of Edie and hand it to Joe. "This is Edie. My baby daughter." His eyes soften as he looks at her then his brow raises slightly. "Where is she now?" I tell him that she was a stillborn. Suddenly, I being embraced by him. "When I told her father that I was pregnant, he, he paid me off and that he couldn't be involved but he wished me well. I was heartbroken. Not just for me but for my unborn baby. I vowed to it that I will do whatever I could to provide everything that it needed and to love it more than anything else in the world. Then me and him went our separate ways. Suddenly, I felt so alone. I was so worried that I would be shamed. So the only person that I told I was pregnant was Nikki although she didn't know who the father was." Joe passes me my drink. He asks me, "why would people be ashamed of you? It's not your fault that the father wasn't interested." Taking a deep breath, I grip his hand closer to me. "He was going through a messy divorce. I let myself get pregnant to him. It wasn't planned. I felt guilty for taking his money, I refused but he wouldn't take no for an answer so I opened an account with the cheque from him. I never spent a penny of it." I can sense Joe trying to stay calm. "Katee, don't you dare feel guilty. You did nothing wrong. I'm sorry that he thought he could pay you off like that. What a sleaze!"
"Anyway, to skip forward a few years. After not having any contact with the father. I chose to not follow him on any social media or with his career etcetera because it was a constant reminder every time I saw his face."
"Okay babe, has he contacted you?" He asks me.
"Not exactly. But he has come back in my life, unexpectedly." I sip on my drink for a moment as I let every thing I've said so far, sink in for Joe. "When did this happen?" "Three days ago." His face shows more confusion. "Since you been here? But how, when exactly?" I look down and quietly speak... "wh, when we were in that diner." He looks straight at me and I can see his mind is working, trying to figure this all out. "One of my band mates?!?" I shoot a quick glance over to Nikki, Joey must see as all I hear his profanity pouring out of his mouth. "I'm sorry Joey. I didn't know that you knew each other." He stands up, paces to the window, brushing his hand through his hair and then sits back down next to me. Taking hold of my shaky hand, whilst making eye contact with me, "sweetheart, please stop saying sorry. I'm the one that should be sorry. Can you tell me what happened last night at the bar?" I take a deep breath as I recall the events. Then Nikki interrupts... "I already told him to stay away from her but he ignored me." I look at the photo. "Katee, May I see Edie again?" He asks, calmly. I hand him it. I sit and watch as what I assume is realisation of who her father is. He shuffles a little bit, "K, I'm going somewhere but I will be right back, okay. Everything will be alright. I love you. Thank you for telling me." He kisses me on my forehead, stands up. He instructs Nikki to take care of me until he gets back. I stand up too. Feeling scared. Worried about where he's going and what he's going to do. I don't want him to get in any trouble because of me. Nikki walks over to me and puts her arms around me. "He'll be fine Katee. He's a good man." Once I have a sob, anxiously, I ask her, "where's he going to?" She sighs with a chuckle... "he know it's Donnie, I saw him mouthing to himself. They're like brothers, but he loves you and is wanting to protect you." Crap. This is what I was worried about. I'm facing all of my worst fears. What if Joey decides that I'm not worth all of this, I question myself. Nikki sensing my anxiety. "Let's find a film to put on while we for the fine man to get back. Actually, you do it and I'll get us some snacks. Also I'll grab some blankets from the laundry room." Ten minutes later, we're sitting with a movie on. I'm watching the actors mouths move, I know there's sounds but it feels like they're so far away as I'm lost in my own thoughts. I wonder how long Joe will be and hoping he's okay.