if ↠ raura

160.

| laura's pov |

it was a relief to know my dad finally woke up. he woke up around three in the morning, with no memory of his shooter or anything that happened.

the doctors said he had to stay in the hospital for a few more days but he should be able to come home by next week. my flight to go back home is tonight, so i only had a few more minutes with my family.

"i can't believe i'm going to be a grandpa." he grins, softly rubbing my stomach.

"your father and i were thinking of coming down to california for a month or two when you have the baby. to help out and stuff, we could rent a house." my mom smiles.

"that would be really nice." i smile. "i want you guys to be in her life as much as possible."

"we want the same thing. we'll make it work." my dad reassures me, groaning in pain as he adjusts.

"so you have no memory of what happened?" vanessa sighs.

"i just remember being upstairs in bed reading the newspaper, and then i heard a shatter so i went downstairs and saw the broken window. that's all i remember." my dad frowns.

"you don't remember seeing anybody?" my mom asks worriedly.

my dad shakes his head. "nothing."

"well these cops better figure it out before we do." i sigh, checking the time.

"i'm sorry guys, but my flight is in two hours and i still need to drive to the airport. i'm happy you're safe now dad. i love you." i sigh, gently wrapping my arms around him.

he kisses my cheek and kisses my belly, thanking me for flying over. i engulf my mom and sister in a huge hug before leaving the hospital.

the flight back home wasn't too long, so once i got to the airport, i boarded and quickly texted ross to let him know i was on the plane, and on my way back home.

i set my phone in my pocket, and sigh before resting my head back and closing my eyes, but then i heard the guy next to me speak. "how far along are you?"

i smile, and realize he's reading a book about pregnancy. "28 weeks."

"your baby's eyes are now adjusting to see the light filtering in through the womb." he grins, flipping to a certain page. "i'm hudson, by the way."

"nice to meet you, i'm laura." i smile. "are you also having a baby?"

he wiggles his eyebrows, looking down at his stomach. i laugh and reword my question. "is your girlfriend expecting?"

he shakes his head with a smile. "no actually, i'm single. i'm reading this for my brother, his wife is pregnant and she's been bugging him to read this book so he's paying me to read them and then give him the information in person."

he had soft green eyes and dark brown chocolate hair. he looked around my age. "i see. well congrats on being an uncle."

"thanks." he replies, "congrats on being a mom. how old are you?"

"thank you. i'm twenty three. how old are you?" i ask.

"i'm twenty four." he sighs, shutting the book. "where are you off to?"

"california. you?"

"same here. i'm staying with my sister for a few months." he tells me.

"oh nice. have you ever been to california?" i ask, feeling the plane finally take off.

"a few times, but i've never really looked around. it looks nice from what i've seen though." he shrugs. "are you originally from there?"

i shake my head. "no, i'm actually from new york, but i moved to california to live with my boyfriend. it also had a lot more job opportunities."

hudson and i were talking the entire flight which made things go by so much faster. at the end of the flight, we wished each other luck and i'd hope to see him around cali sometime.

the long drive home was tiring, and all i wanted to do was sleep and cuddle ross. finally, pulling up to our apartment building, i parked the car and messaged vanessa letting her know i arrived home safe.

i get out of the car and walk up the hundreds of stairs before finally standing in front of the door and walking in.

"babe! i'm home." i shout tiredly, realizing violet wasn't even around or barking. i wiggle my eyebrows, it was 2:00am.

i turn on all the lights, and there was no sign of ross anywhere. i open the knob to our bedroom and hear silent sobs.

"ross?" i call out. i flick the light on and see ross with his head in his hands.

"ross, are you okay? what's the matter? why are you crying?" i ask worriedly, rushing over to him. he was rocking himself in the corner with his knees to his chest. he looked traumatized.

"talk to me, ross. what's going on?" i ask, trembling. "you're scaring me."

"you're..you're going to leave me." he says in-between sobs. "you're gonna hate me, you're gonna take my baby away from me and never speak to me again."

"ross, what're you saying?" i ask, confused. "what's going on?"

"i didn't mean to do it, i swear." he chokes, licking the salty tears off his lips. "i don't want you to leave me, laura. i love you."

i pull ross into my arms and he sobs into my chest. he's holding me tightly, and it was a side of ross i've never seen before. i run my fingers through his hair to calm him down, even though my heart was beating incredibly fast.

"ross, what happened?" i ask, nervously.

"a-abigail." he stutters.

"w-what?" i ask.

"i-i was drunk laura. i got drunk, and abigail brought me home and i t-told her to leave but she started kissing me and she drugged my drink and i don't know what to do, laura! she has a video of what she was doing to me and i feel like everything i am as a person has just been completely crumbled into pieces and i'm going to lose everything and i'm going to lose you and our baby because i got drunk and i don't remember anything and i—"

"d-did you cheat on me?" i interrupt him. "did you sleep with abigail?"

ross takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes tightly. "n-no. i didn't sleep with her. she said we didn't. i don't remember laura, she drugged me. she has a video. laura, you have to believe me. i love you and our baby, i can't lose you again. please, you need to believe me. i don't know what to do."

i stare into ross' eyes and see how sad and broken he was. how genuine and sincere he was being, ross was scared for his life. and that's when it all clicked.