I stood on the steps in front of my mother's front door, clutching James tightly against my chest, working up the courage to knock and admit for the first time that maybe I had been wrong about James all along.
Sighing, I knocked on the door. Moments later, my mother answered wearing her nightgown and blinking the sleep away from her eyes.
"Hailey." she said in disbelief as she took in the hand mark on my face that surely would be a bruise by morning and checked the gash on the back of my head that was bleeding from hitting the wall. "What happened?" she asked taking James from my arms.
She led me into the house and placed James in the playpen in her living room. She walked back over to me, wrapping her arms around me as the tears began to fall. "He came home drunk." I choked out between sobs. "He said he didn't want this and said he lied the whole time. We argued and then he hit me and I fell into the wall. I can't do this without him, mom." There was no stopping the tears now and my mother held me in her arms for what seemed like hours, telling me that it was all going to be okay and that I was strong enough to raise James without Levi.
As the sun began to rise, my mother laid me down on the couch and tucked me in with a blanket. "I'm going to go make you and I some coffee and get James some formula. You just lay here and just relax, okay sweet heart."
As my mother walked out to the kitchen, my younger sister and brother walked in and curled up on the couch with me. I smiled at them as memories of us doing this every Saturday morning before I moved out, came to my mind.
My mom smiled as she brought in our coffee and James' formula. She set my coffee on a coaster on the coffee table and handed me my son. I cradled him in my arms as I fed him and my siblings leaned against each of my shoulders.
Just as James finished his formula, my mom brought my siblings a plate of waffles and took James from me, burping him before sitting on her rocking chair. She rocked with him in her arms, while occasionally sipping her coffee.
Too soon, my siblings scrambled out the door as their school bus pulled up to the curve, after giving me a hug and saying how much they miss me.
Once they were gone, I looked over at my mom and tried my best to hold back the tears that were threatening to make an appearance. Just as mom was about to get up to sit by me, frantic knocking began at the door. Mom rolled her eyes as she carried James with her to the door.
Before I knew it, Kenney and Jason were bounding from the door to the couch and squeezing themselves next to me, just as my siblings had done. Mom nodded to me, before strapping James into the stroller and heading out for a walk, to give my two best friends and I some time alone.
I glanced over at Kenney and Jason in turn. Kenney saw the hand mark that had turned into a hand shaped bruise and gently ran his finger over it. Jason at the same time had gotten up and walked into the kitchen to retrieve a washcloth and began wiping away the dried blood from the back of my head.
"What did he do?" Kenney asked in disbelief.
"He said he doesn't care and that he never did" I stated as more tears escaped my eyes.
"He hit you!" Kenney yelled.
"He was drunk." I said trying hard not to cry anymore. Even though he hit me, I couldn't bring myself to be mad at him.
"I'll be back!" Kenney said stomping off to the door, but before he could reach it, Levi walked through the door.
Before Levi could say anything, Kenney had him pinned to the ground. "How could you? You promised me that you would never hurt her! Look at her, does she look okay?"
Levi didn't even fight Kenney as he pinned him to the ground. "I'm sorry!" I heard him say as tears threatened in his eyes. "I just lost it, everything just got to me. Please just let me talk to her."
Kenney glanced from Levi to me, before hesitantly standing up and allowing him to kneel in front of me.
Levi looked up at me, delicately taking my hands in his as if he were afraid that they would break. "Harley" he sighed as he took in my bruised cheek and the blood that Jason had missed when he cleaned me up a bit. He slowly placed one of his fingers on the mark his hand had left and traced it, tears forming in his eyes. "I am so sorry. Harley, I didn't mean anything I said. I am so sorry that I hurt you. The stress, the lack of sleep, the rumors, the...everything just finally got to me and I snapped. I understand if you could never forgive me and if everything that we have just ends here." he said sincerely.
"Levi" I sighed. "As much as I want to hate you, scream at you even, I can't. You know why?"
"Why?" he asked as his hand came to rest, covering the mark he left on my cheek.
"Because I love you Levi. I love you with all my heart and without you, I don't know what I would do. We have been through so much together, that it just doesn't make sense for us to give up now."
Levi stared into my eyes, before bringing his lips to meet mine. His hands moved over my body so gently, as if I were the most fragile thing in the world. My hands knotted themselves into his hair. Just as things began to grow more and more heated, we were interrupted by Kenney, Jason, and my mother clearing their throats.
Levi and I moved apart and blushed. Levi moved to sit next to me. My mother walked up to us, handing me James and said, "well I see the two of you worked things out."
"Yea" Levi replied, glancing over at me. "We have come this far, why would we give up once things got rough?"
