Smile Like You Mean It (One)

Chapter Twenty Eight

Rachel opened the front door, coming to find Bryony an emotional wreck, as her eyes widened, looking the girl up and down, before ushering her into her home, and closing the door behind them.

"What's happened?" She asked, as Bryony shook her head, the tears once again forming in her eyes.

"Sal..." She choked. "He said...he...he said that he would give up our son for adoption t-to get my parents to be a part of my life again."

"He did what?!" Rachel exclaimed, as they both stepped into the living room, causing both Bessy and Beth to jump up to their feet.

"What's wrong?" Beth asked in a panic, as Rachel turned to Bryony, seeing her in too much of a state to answer the girl. She led her to the sofa, helping her to sit down, before turning to Beth and Bessy.

"Sal said he would give the baby up for adoption." Rachel explained, as an audible gasp came from both girls.

"What is he playing at?" Bessy scoffed. "Why would he say that?"

"Something about an agreement with her parents." Rachel reiterated, shrugging her shoulders. Beth scowled, as she went to step out of the room.

"That son of a bitch, I'm going to give him a peace of my mi-"

"Beth, no...let the guys deal with him. Bryony needs us right now." Bessy expressed, pulling at her arm to stop the girl from leaving.

"Fine," Beth sighed. "But only because she needs us."

Bryony remained quiet, listening to the girls give their opinions on the situation, before she blanked out into a daze, thinking over everything that had ever happened between herself and Sal. She thought back to their first kiss, to the first time they said 'I love you', and even his face when she told him that she was pregnant. Even through all of the commotion of getting kicked out, Sal still somehow maintained the smile that she loved on his face, until it clicked for Bryony. She was the reason for his smile, he was only ever doing all of this for her, because he couldn't live without her. He made mistakes, but that's only human, Bryony knew that. She knew that she too had done some things that she wasn't proud of, the only difference however, was that she admitted to them. She always came clean when she was wrong.

"What are you going to do?" Rachel's question brought Bryony back to reality, as her eyes shifted onto the girl sat beside her, her mouth dry, as she swallowed hard, and shook her head.

"I-I don't know...what should I do?" She answered, looking amongst the girls, as they remained quiet, a mutter of 'ums' being thrown back and forth.

"Show him that it's now or never." Beth spoke up. "Prove to Sal that if he wants to be there for you and the baby then he's going to have to step up."

"Beth's right," Bessy added. "Make it clear that you're done with all of this fooling around, and that he needs to take things seriously."

"You really think that will work?" Bryony asked, receiving a nod from all three of them.

"If it doesn't, then it proves that he's not ready." Rachel sighed.

**

"What have you done now?" Joe grumbled, as Sal let the three boys into the apartment.

"Er..." Sal stammered, looking around the group. His hand scratched at the back of his head, as he winced. "I-I may have agreed to putting the baby up for adoption."

"You did what?!" James yelled, shoving at Sal's shoulder. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to fix things with Bryony's parents!" Sal shouted back. "That's why, James!"

"How does giving up the baby for adoption solve that?" Brian questioned, as he tried to wrap his head around everything going on.

"They said that the only way they'd even consider becoming a part of her life again was by putting the baby up for adoption, and forgetting that this whole ordeal ever happened." Sal explained, shaking his head. "I-I just thought that I'd agree with it to mend things."

He smacked his hand against his head in frustration. "I'm so stupid!"

"Beating yourself up over it isn't going to solve anything, Bud." Joe commented, pulling Sal's hands away from his face to stop him from doing anymore. "How did Bryony take it?"

"How do you think she took it?!" Sal yelled, all of the pent up anger he held within snapping.

"Calm down, he only asked!" Brian shouted, as Sal scowled at him, clenching his fists in anger.

"She accused me of not wanting to be a dad." Sal sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "It's not true!"

"Can you really blame her for thinking that?" James responded, as Sal met his gaze, his eyebrows softening.

"I-I guess not..."

Sal threw himself back against the sofa, sighing deeply, as a glance was thrown back and forth amongst the other three boys. They all turned to look at Sal, as he felt a tear begin to roll down his cheek. "What am I going to do?"

Brian shot a questioning expression across to James, seeking him for an answer, as he shrugged his shoulders, wincing, before turning his attention to Joe, who was, for once, speechless. Brian turned back to Sal, placing a comforting hand to his shoulder, as a sigh passed the boy's lips.

"You've just got to do what you think is right, Sal. Although, let things settle down for a while. Allow Bryony the time that she needs to get over it, or at least be ready to talk things through with you, and that is when you step up and prove to her that you are ready to be a father." Brian suggested, gaining a nod of agreement from both Joe and James.

A quietness came between the group, before Joe cleared his throat, as all eyes landed on him. He looked at Sal, not able to hold back the question racing around his mind.

"Sal, you do want to be there for your son, don't you?" He asked, as everyone in the room turned their attention onto Sal. He stared mindlessly in front of him, shaking his head slowly.

"I-I don't know..." Sal answered truthfully for the first time. He shifted in his seat, looking amongst the three boys. "I guess so."

"Now is not the time for 'I guess so', Sal. Bryony needs you, you're the only person that she feels that loves her as much as you do. You do love her, right?" James asked.

"I love her." Sal nodded. "I've never loved someone so much, but..."

"But?"

"I don't think that I'm going to be a good dad...I mean, look at me...I can't even look after myself, let alone a baby!"

"You'll learn, Bud. Every new parent is scared." Joe commented, as Sal nodded his head, letting a silence consume him.