Left Behind

Toxic

It was almost as if Sarah's body was about to drop to the ground. Right at the door Sarah broke down into tears. She sobbed uncontrollably not being able to hold anything back. Jessica could tell her body was about to give out. She grabbed the baby from Sarah and helped her inside leaving the bags at the door way.

"Sarah, what happened?" Jessica says taking her to the couch.

Aspen begins to scream as loudly as possible when seeing her mother in distress.

Sarah cried even more and laid back on the couch. Jessica rocked Aspen and tried to calm her down.

Danny came into the living room and Jessica motioned for him to go get the bags. He brought everything in and closed the door.

"He cheated on me." Sarah struggles to say

"Evan? Oh Sarah..." Jessica says

"I guess I wasn't good enough for him! He's been seeing another woman since before she was born. All these months..." She cries

Danny walks over and takes the now calm baby from Jessica so she could comfort Sarah. Sarah sobbed in Jessica's arms for a while.

"We got in a huge fight and I left. I can't go back and I have no where to stay." Sarah mumbles

"It's okay... you and Aspen can stay with us." Jessica says soothingly

"I just don't know how he could do this to us. My little girl will never have a normal family now because of him. I can't go back to him Jessica." Sarah says sternly

"I don't either. But you don't have to go back to him." Jessica nods

Sarah wipes her tears and looks over at Danny who was holding Aspen. Her daughter looked so concerned. Sarah quivers her lip and stands up. She walks over to Danny and takes the baby. She holds her daughter close to her and kisses her head.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl." She whispers to her

"Sarah, why don't you sit now and relax. Let me get you some water." Danny says

"Thank you... I'm so sorry for coming unannounced. It all happened so fast. I just found out an hour ago and then I packed everything I could and left." She says sitting back down next to Jessica.

"I feel horrible, the two of us were screaming at each other for hours in front of our little girl. I never meant to yell in front of her. I was just so mad!" She says clenching her fist.

"I'm glad you came to us, Sarah. And you have a right to be mad." Jessica says

Sarah looks at Jessica and hugs her tightly. "I haven't seen you in forever! I'm so glad you're home." She says

"Aww, sarah. I'm glad that I'm home too."

//-//

It became really late. After hours of talking and trying to calm Sarah down everyone became sleepy.

Danny set up Aspen's pack 'n play in their room and Jessica helped Sarah settle in. Jessica and Danny wanted to give Sarah and the baby their room.

Jessica felt terrible for Sarah. She was a wreck and there wasn't much she could do or say to make her feel any better. Jessica knew that Sarah would probably be staying a few nights, which she didn't mind. She just wanted to make sure she didn't go back to Evan. He didn't deserve her after all the months of lying and cheating.

//-//

The next morning Danny had to go to work. Jessica worked from home, again. She not only had work to do with NY MAG, but she had her draft to finish. For now, Jessica was just going to keep Sarah company and help her as much as she could.

Aspen was taking a morning nap so Jessica and Sarah had a few moments to sit outside and talk over coffee. Sarah was still very emotional.

"When you were gone things were so bad. He started coming home late and 'working' extra shifts. We fought so much. He was just not the Evan that I knew and loved. I thought maybe he was just overwhelmed with work and the baby. Last night while he was in the shower I just got this urge to look through his phone, and then, I saw it all. He was planning on leaving me, jess." Sarah says

"You don't deserve any of this. He is a complete fool. He'll realize it and when he does he'll come crawling back."

"I'm not going back with him."

"I know, you don't have too."

"I couldn't really sleep last night. I just kept thinking about what's next."

"What is next?" Jessica says nervously

"I talked to my mom last night. I think maybe I'll move in with her and sell the shop. Jessica, I need to get out of here. New York isn't for me. My boutique is failing since I've been on maternity leave. I just think it's best if I take aspen back to Minnesota."

Jessica couldn't help but be sad hearing that her best friend was leaving. She felt horrible for Sarah. She never suspected that any of this would ever happen to her and Evan. She wishes she could fix this, but there wasn't any fixing to be done.

"Everything about our relationship was becoming toxic. He's made the atmosphere toxic."

Jessica takes Sarah's hand and tears up. "You can stay here for as long as you need too. If you decide to go back home then you should. I'll miss you and the little girl so much, but I know it will be best and you'll be happiest there."

Sarah looks into Jessica's eyes and hugs her tightly.

"God, I missed you so much this summer." Sarah says

"I missed you too."

"I hate when you leave me for so long!"

Jessica breaks away from Sarah and chuckles. "You look beautiful, sarah. And little Aspen has grown up so much. She looks just like you." Jessica smiles

"I love that little girl so much, Jessica. I'm doing everything for her. I feel that I can only be the best mother to her as long as I'm far away from him."

//-//