The Path to Love

Chapter 29

"You remember?" She asked me, shock evident on her face.

"I remember everything," I admitted. "That still doesn't change the fact that you were pregnant, and you kept it from me, Sam!"

"Hunt, I'm still pregnant."

"Really?" I asked her, shocked.

"Yes, see." She lifted my sweater off her and showed me her tiny baby bump.

"You were right. I was going to be furious with you after I remembered everything. You were planning to keep me from my child."

"Only if you were involved in the gang." She replied, defending herself.

"It doesn't matter if I were a murderer, Sam!" I exclaimed. "That is still my kid, I have every right in the world to see my kid."

"Hunter, you're concussed, we shouldn't be talking about this." Sam warned.

"No! We are talking about this and we're doing it now. I can understand you not wanting to raise my kid with me, I can even come to terms with you not giving my kid my last name." I admitted. "What I can't accept, is your planning to keep my kid from me. Do you really think I would let that happen?"

"I wasn't going to give you a choice," she admitted.

"Oh, really? Well then, I guess you'll be hearing from my lawyers then, won't you?"

"Really, Hunter?"

I turned and opened the door, getting out. Sam quickly followed and walked behind me as I hobbled up to my door. "I understand that this kid develops in you, I really do. I understand that you have a connection with them already. I get all of that. Do you really have no faith in me that I would protect our kid at all costs?"

"Of course, I know you would protect it, Hunter."

"Then explain it to me, Sam. I'm trying hard to understand your logic behind this, but I can't. So, please, enlighten me." I replied, unlocking my door and walking in.

She followed behind me. "Gangs are dangerous, Hunter. I don't want my kid involved in that lifestyle. God only knows everything you've done being involved with Riverside. I don't want my kid to be raised in that kind of lifestyle."

"It doesn't matter what you want, Sam! We are the parents. You and I. Not just you and not just me. Do you get that? You don't get to make decisions by yourself without consulting me first. We have to talk about it and effectively communicate in order for this to work. You don't just get to decide what's best for the kid. We do, together, as a team."

"You're right," she admitted softly.

"I know I am," I replied.

"I was right when I told you the accident was all my fault."

"I know," I said to her. She caused this accident. If she hadn't been threatening to keep my kid away from me, I would have been paying attention to the road and we never would have hit the car in front of us, in the first place.

"You still saved me though."

"I know," I said again.

"The reason our baby is still alive, is because of you."

"It's still alive?" I asked her in shock.

She lifted up my sweater and showed me her baby bump, again. She had a bump that was clearly noticeable. "Come here," she said to me.

I walked over to her and she took my hand. She placed my hand on her stomach and gently pressed in. I felt something move against my hand. "Woah," I replied.

"That was her kicking." She replied, smiling at me.

"Her?" I asked her.

"I found out last week. We're having a daughter."

"We are?" I asked her, still refusing to believe it.

"We are." She replied, confirming it.

"Oh my God," I replied.

"You're happy about this, right?" She asked me.

"Yes! Oh my God, yes. I'm still mad at you, but I'm so unbelievably happy right now. We're having a daughter."

I can't believe I lost the memories of me finding out I was having a kid. I can't believe I forgot all of this. It finally made sense why N told me I was having a family, why Xav said it wasn't his place to say anything, it all made sense. I thought about everything that happened tonight.

"Holy shit," I replied. I almost forgot about her confession.

"What?"

"You're in love with me," I replied, repeating her confession from earlier. She didn't reply, she just continued to stare at me. I stared at her. We were both daring each other to break the silence, but neither of us wanted to.

"Our relationship is so toxic right now," I said, breaking the silence. "I don't think it's a good idea to be together. At least not right now. We need to get our shit together, Sam." I did the calculations in my head. "You're almost five months pregnant. We have four months to get our shit together and figure out this co-parenting thing. We also need to tell our parents. Soon."

Tears were running down her face. She quickly wiped her face and tried to make it seem like she was fine. "I just want to keep it a secret for a little while longer. Graduation is next month. Our parents will be here for that. Can we wait until then, please?" She asked me.

"Of course," I replied. "But everyone will know by then, Sam. Your bump will be visible when you're in your gown."

"It's fine. You know now, that's all that matters."

I walked back over to her and wiped the tears off her face. "We'll figure this out, Sam."

"I'm so sorry I did this to us." She replied, sobbing into my shirt. "We've become something I don't even recognize anymore."

"It wasn't just you, Sam. It was the both of us. Like I said, we'll figure it out." I replied, hugging her.

I hobbled over to the couch, not wanting to stand up any longer. She followed, and I let her cuddle into me. She cried herself to sleep on my side and I let her.

I occasionally stared at her as she slept on my side. The last memory I had must have been a dream. I'm so glad I didn't say all those horrible things to her. I could never hate her if I tried, I know that for a fact. I love this girl more than life itself. All the feelings I developed for her after we slept together came flooding back as I got my memories. Before, I just used to see her as my best friend, but now she's so much more. I think I always had feelings for her, but I refused to let them surface because I didn't want to ruin what we had. But now, we already have ruined our friendship.

I wanted nothing more than to just kiss her senseless and figure everything out later, but there is just too much going on all around us. Right now, we just can't be together until we both work everything out that has happened in the last few months. We were draining each other and using each other's weaknesses against one another. In order for us to raise our daughter together and to develop the relationship we used to have, we first needed to put the past behind us. She also had to stop throwing accusations at me like she was. I want us to work more than anything and to move past everything, but I don't know if it will work. It's hard to move past all the things she accused me of. I wish it was easy, we have been best friends for years. There is so much more at play here now; we have a daughter on the way. She'll be here sooner rather than later. No matter what, our daughter comes first. The best interests of my daughter come first. Nothing will ever change that.