Apolgetic

Chapter One

It is a Wednesday morning.

Lillian is sitting on the living room couch with Lucas lying on his stomach on his play mat. They're watching Henry Hugglemonster, well more like Lucas is while she is sewing a new pillow for her baby to nap on. It's been a quiet day so far. Lloyd is at work and won't be home until nearly 6 P.M, so she and Lucas are going to have their own mommy and son dinner date. Lillian briefly looks at Lucas, who is absentmindedly sucking on his pacifier as he watches the blobs of fur and colors bounce inside the TV. He's been content all this morning, much to Lillian's relief. She wouldn't have known what to do if she had given birth to a baby who dislikes mornings. He looks at her and squirms over to her with his quick paced army crawl and tugs upon the end of her black lace skirt. Lillian quickly picks him up, abandoning her sewing for another time, before gently rocking Lucas while humming a nursery rhyme in his ear. Lucas is such a calm baby, she's thankful for that he's her little bucket of sunshine.

Her phone rings and, at first, she is hesitant to answer it because she's with Lucas and wouldn't want him to feel ignored. But the little toddler is preoccupied with his stuffed panda, so she takes this time to answer the call. Lillian assumes that the caller is Lloyd, who frequently calls to check up on them or maybe Mira, whom is constantly seeking entertainment from her boring job as a desk clerk. Besides them, no one really calls her cellphone.

"Hello", she says, her eyes never leaving Lucas's distracted body.

"Uh...um", the male voice stutters out in uncertainty, "Hey, Lillian..."

She recognizes the voice instantly; she nostalgically remembers the days when she would listen to that same voice talk to her for hours on end. "Ian", Lillian replies with a certain edge to her tone, "I... I didn't know you kept my number".

There's a quiet chuckle on the other end, one of nervousness. Lillian can just picture Ian running his fingers through his hair and awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. It has always been a nervous tick of his that she once found adorable.

"I never erased it", Ian confesses, Lillian could practically see the man's blushing face, "I was wondering if...maybe...you and I could meet up".

"I'm afraid not", she answers almost immediately, "I'm with Lucas right now".

Ian doesn't respond for a moment but then he informs her, "This is really important. It shouldn't take long either".

Lillian opens her mouth to reject his offer once more but she can't because there's a knock on her door. She holds Lucas in her arms as she stands up to walk to the front door. The phone is wedged between her ear and her right shoulder as she speaks.

"Give me a moment, Ian", she says as she approaches the front door, "Someone just knocked on my door".

"Sure", Ian replies, nervousness pooling off of his tongue, "I'll wait".

Lillian unlocks the front door and pulls it open with a sense of discomfort in her bones. She knows that there is something suspicious behind those doors and she can't help but wonder what it could be. When the door is fully opened, there is Ian in all his handsome glory, smiling awkwardly at her and his phone in hand. Of course, Lillian should have expected him to do something like this. Ian has always been a stubborn, action first type of man. He hangs up and pockets his phone. It's too late for Ian to turn back now, Lillian already opened the door and with Lucas glued to her hip.

"So...can I come inside? It's pretty cold right now", Ian tells her with a red face of embarrassment.

Lillian takes the phone away from her ear, she wants to say no and she knows that she should but something in her says that there are still unanswered questions between them that need to be answered because either of them could finally move on. She steps to the side to let him in and Ian gratefully accepts her offer with an anxious smile on his face. As she closes the door after him, she can feel her heart beating madly in her chest and she forgets how to breathe for a moment. Lucas nudges her cheek with his forehead, all while giggling. She smiles at her son before venturing to the living room where Ian has awkwardly situated himself on the sofa. Lucas squirms to be placed on the ground, so that he can play with his toys, already feeling a lack of interest for the visitor.