The Ultimate Gift A Naxie Story

Chapter 35

                  

Maxie is in her hospital room packing up her things so that she can leave the hospital. She turns around and sees a present wrapped in silver wrapping paper and she picks it up and looks at it.

Maxie then hears a knock on the door.

Anna comes in and says, "Maxie? Hi, sweetheart. You alright?"

Maxie begins to cry.

Anna hands Maxie a tissue and says, "Here."

Maxie looks at her and says, "Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. What you got there?" Anna says seeing the present in Maxie's hand.

Maxie looks down at it and says, "Um...it's a present but I don't really know who it's from."

Maxie sits the present on the table in front of them.

"Yeah why don't you open it, huh? Hey, the Maxie Jones I know never met a gift that she wouldn't want to tear into." Anna says.

Maxie looks at her and says, "I can't."

"Well, why not?" Anna asks.

"Anna I can't do it because then it makes this all so final...It means that this baby is truly mine and I have lost my best friend forever." Maxie says.

Anna looks at her and says, "Your mom told me that this has all been hard for you."

"Well, of course it is hard for me I have this beautiful little girl that I already love more than anything in this world, but I can't bring myself to be happy about it. Anna why should I feel any joy after what I did to Dante and Lulu. They wanted this little girl so bad and I just took that away from them. I don't deserve happiness and I really don't deserve that little girl down in the NICU." Maxie says.

"No, Maxie you don't mean that. Look I know that you feel guilty for everything that has happened with Lulu and Dante, but you did the right thing by telling the truth. Yes, Dante and Lulu may be hurt maybe even a little mad, but it was better for you to tell them the truth now instead of letting them fall deeper in love with a little girl that isn't theirs." Anna says.

Maxie looks at her and says, "That is what Nathan keeps telling me. He thinks that eventually Dante and Lulu will forgive us, but that we just have to give them some time to cool down."

"You know that Nathan is a very smart man you should listen to him. I wish I had someone like Nathan to talk to. I mean, our situations are completely different, I know, but when Robin was a baby, my life was so complicated, and... I couldn't be with her because I would have put her life in danger. So I had to leave her behind. Maxie, it hard to carry a baby around for nine months, bond with them and then have to be away from them. You know that unconditional love that you were talking about earlier well just imagine if you would have gave your little girl away. There would be this part of your heart missing and you would never forgive yourself for giving her away." Anna says with a smile.

Maxie looks at her and says, "You should have seen the look of betrayal on Lulu's face it was as if she was looking at a stranger and not me. I think the worst part is the fact that she said that if I would have just been honest with her from the very beginning then we could have gotten past it. I have royally screwed everything up and I have no one but myself to blame."

"That may be true, but you're going to do better. I know that you will because you have a little girl to think about now and she is going to need her mommy to show her how to be a good person in this world." Anna says.

"I so wish I was more like Robin. She was so strong." Maxie says.

Anna smiles and says, "Yeah. She was very brave, wasn't she? And driven... very smart. Smart girl. But, you know, all of that couldn't stop her from that postpartum depression she had. Remember?"