Can't Fall in Love Without You (Christian Yelich)

19

Can I come over after work? I can bring something to eat.

It was the first time Elizabeth had offered to come over in almost two weeks. Each day that passed, Christian was convinced that he'd never see her again. He falls in love, and they're taken away. This is the second time this had happened in 7 months.

This is the second mama Ivy lost.

So, when seeing her text, Christian was perhaps too eager in his response. God, he missed her. He missed her laugh. Her smile. He missed the smell of cranberries... He missed her so much.

Of course, Ellie. Ivy misses her m̶a̶m̶a̶ best friend.

He couldn't scare her away again, so she replaced mama with best friend at the very last second.

I miss both of my best friends.

That's all he was... that's all he'd ever be. And he had to accept that, because it was the only way he got Elizabeth in his life, and he needed her.

It hurt, but he deserved it.

***

"Lindy, you are definitely growing a baseball player. I know that you're EDD is August 14th, but I think I have to move it up a week. Little man is already 5 pounds," Elizabeth smiled a bit, watching the healthy boy move around and yawn.

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted that one day. Seeing her baby move on the same screen. Christian holding her hand and smiling ear to ear as their son moved around.

But she couldn't have that. She wanted Christian desperately, but she knew how selfish of her it would be to love him.

Scratch that. How selfish it would be of her to act on how much she loved him. She knew that she was in love with him. Two more sessions with Janice let her come to terms with that. She knew that she couldn't have stopped it from happening... but she could stop it from going further.

"Elizabeth?" Travis asked quietly, helping his wife sit up.

"Yeah? What's up?" Elizabeth answered with a smile, removing her gloves.

"Can you please talk to Christian? He misses you and is convinced that he lost you forever. I know that the situation is intense and complex, but I also know that you will always be his friend regardless. So just... talk to him?" Travis asked, helping Lindy put her shoes on.

"I... I can do that. I was planning on going there for dinner after work. Just to talk and understand more of what's going on," she smiled a bit. "Have a nice day, Lindy. And have a good game, Travis."

She could do this. She just needed to talk to Christian. They'd talked a lot in the last 7 months. One conversation shouldn't be a problem.

***

Elizabeth took a deep breath and knocked on the door, a bottle of Christian's favorite whiskey in her hands. This was a whiskey talk.

"Hi. Come in," Christian gave her the warmest smile, leading her inside. "Ivy missed you so, so much."

"Maamaa!" Ivy grinned and scooted on her knees when she saw Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying to get her to stop, but she says it every time she sees your picture. I'm sorry," Christian apologized, scooping Ivy into his arms. "Ellie, Ivy. Ellie."

"Mah-mAHHHH!!" the baby cried, arms reaching towards Elizabeth.

That cry hit Elizabeth deep in her heart and she pulled Ivy into her arms. "Hi sweet baby girl... I'm right here." She'd never call herself Ivy's mom; that was Sloane's role. But she also wasn't going to ignore Ivy's desperate cries.