Chapter Ten
"Hello?"
"Mom, it's Arabella. Donald gave me the apartment number."
"Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, for now. I decided that I want to meet."
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so happy to hear that!"
"So, can we get dinner at Olive Garden sometime this week?"
"I'd love to do that tonight, actually."
"Oh...Ok, that can work, I guess. I'll have to let Donald know. But, sure."
"4:30?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Alright, Belle, that sounds lovely."
"Don't call me Belle. See you later."
"Goodbye!"
*****
Ryan woke up the next morning, and remembered what he had done the other night. The pit in his stomach was still there and he decided he would stay in bed for a little longer than usual, hoping that Ariel would think he was still sleeping. He heard her making a lot of noise in the other room and squeezed his eyes shut when she called his name.
"Ryan? Didn't we get money at the baby shower yesterday?"
Ryan heard the innocence in her voice. She is going to hate me, he thought. Pulling himself out of bed, Ryan felt like the worst boyfriend and dad in the world.
"Ariel...I need to tell you something." Ariel looked up and Ryan saw that she was sitting in the living room, surrounded by gifts and cards. Her hazel eyes were large and sweet, and Ryan felt nauseous.
"We did get money...but I used it," he finally pushed out. Ariel grinned.
"Aw, did you go shopping for Arabella without me?" Ryan felt like he was being flapped repeatedly with his guilt.
"Um...no," Ryan replied. "I, um...I gave it to Gold Pages." Ariel stared at him blankly.
"You...what? $500? $500 for our baby? Remember her, Ryan? We are broke as fuck and you gave that good money to a shitty publishing company?!" Ariel's bottom lip trembled and Ryan couldn't believe himself.
"I got Darin Bloom's address! Remember how important he was to you? How important this was to you just a few days ago?"
Ariel stood and got up in Ryan's face. "The book will never be more important than Arabella!" she screamed.
"But think of what he could tell us about Arabella's safety! He could make raising her a piece of cake!" Ariel didn't reply for a little.
"My life will never be a piece of cake. It hasn't been for 7 ½ months. And it never will be. And you know what? I'm ok with that. I live for the adventure. I live for the unexpected. I do not want to know about this anymore. I changed my mind at the shower. I realized life was full of surprises and...and..." Ariel's face turned pale and her eyes left Ryan's.
"Ariel?" he asked. "Baby, please don't act like I'm invisible, I can't stand it!"
"Ryan...I..." Ariel put a hand on her belly and grabbed Ryan's arm with such strength that he immediately knew something was terribly wrong. He took her arms and helped her to the couch. Her breathing was fast.
"No, no, no, you're ok, you'll be ok," Ryan said, more to himself than to Ariel. Her face squeezed as her breaths came faster.
"See I knew this would happen," Ariel panted. "The book. It said. I knew you were going to spend the money. I knew I would go into labor...I just didn't expect it today. Not this early."
