From across the hallway

Part 26

Missy pushed open the door to her tiny apartment.

Emily had long since calmed down, her tears subsiding, and had since gone to sleep against Missy's shoulder once again.

Things like this, well, they were too much for someone as little as her to comprehend. Even Missy, at thirty struggled to take in what had just happened to them.

But right now none of that was important. That was done.

But there was something else lingering on Missy's mind.

Of what she had seen tonight...inside the window of that little Italian restaurant...

She flicked on the light and strode across the room on her high heels, placing Emily gently down onto the couch.

The little girl murmured something lightly, before snuggling into a cushion and becoming still once again

Missy stared down at her tiny daughter...

She was so beautiful , Missy knew that nothing, or no one, would change how much she loved or cared for her.

She gave a difficult gulp, pausing for beat or two.

Missy knew that Wade was just a few feet behind her, standing there, saying nothing...waiting for her to speak.

But this was hardest. To admit what had happened to her. What had happened to them, all that time ago....

"Did you see them?" she asked, her voice cutting through the silent room, like a knife.

Her tone was shaky, but she tried to steady it as much as she could. She knew she mustn't cry.

Wade took a step towards her. She could hear his footfall on the wooden floorboards.

"No, I-" he began, but Missy cut across him.

She turned on the spot gazing at the merc with large green eyes. In her hands she scrunched the sleeves of her coat anxiously.

"My ex-boyfriend Scott was there, i-in that restaurant we went by," she said, talking too quickly. She could hear herself, becoming stressed and scared. But why? All of this was in the past. But it still seemed to hurt her, more than she could say...

Missy took a small step away from the couch, her head bowing slightly, her eyes dropping to the floor.

She couldn't look at Wade.

She was ashamed...embarrassed...

She had only told one person, her aunt, about what had happened...so all this...it was like reliving those memories again...those hard to swallow memories.

"...we were together for four years...." she explained, her voice breaking slightly. "...and we were in love, like crazy in love. We had this tiny little apartment above a laundromat, which constantly smelled like fabric softener..."

Missy smiled to herself, those tiniest of memories flooding back to her...

"....I'd had boyfriends in college but this was different, it just felt special. Real...like it was going to be a forever thing, y'know?"

Missy took a breath, a lump forming in her throat.

"....we hadn't been trying for a baby, but when I started feeling tired, like all the time, Scott came with me to the doctors. W-We thought it might have been stress or the flu....but when the doctor told me I was pregnant ....and well, we talked about it and decided that this was something that we've always wanted. A family..."

Missy pursed her lips. But she still couldn't look at Wade...

"...t-then the time came... and t-there was Emily....and she was just the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. She had these amazing green eyes and this cute little nose that wrinkled when she cried. She looked like me, and like Scott....both of us.....just...just perfect."