LA Baby ♡ Manhattan Dreams Sequel

20. Unconditional Love

I stare at my phone, watching it vibrate violently on the nightstand beside me. I knew that it was Willow, probably demanding to know where I was or more accurately, probably ready to revoke my part. I couldn't blame her either. I was no help to the show. I couldn't even get through the choreography without doubling over. I finally reach over and turn off my phone, marveling at the silence surrounding me. I release a deep sigh of relief and burrow further into my blankets. "Maya." Riley's soft voice sounds from the other side of my door.

"I'm not going to rehearsal" I mumble, clenching my eyes closed in an attempt to will myself back to sleep.

"Oh. Okay." A pause. "Are you feeling alright?" Well, I was pregnant and clueless as to what that meant for my future...and my boyfriend had no idea. So, I wasn't great.

"I'm fine." I lie, turning onto my other side and staring at the blank wall. Josh and I really should've put more effort into decorating this place, perhaps I wouldn't be in this predicament had we spent less time in this bed and more time interior decorating.

I hear her footsteps pad away from the door and I allow my eyes to flutter shut. Now that she was gone, maybe I could get some more much needed sleep.

Unfortunately, the doorbell interrupts that idea. I groan, climbing out of bed and storming out of my room only to find that Riley's beat me to the door and standing on the other side of the threshold is one of the last people I wanted to see right now.

My father.

"Hey kiddo." No. This couldn't be happening. What was he doing here? He couldn't know. Riley and Lucas were the only ones who did and they wouldn't dare speak a word about it to him. I hesitantly take a step towards him.

"H-hi dad." It's hard to keep my hand off my stomach, it's become such a reflex in uncomfortable situations, almost a reminder that I wasn't facing this alone. "What brings you here? To my apartment. Unannounced."

He chuckles, closing the door behind himself and shoving his hands into his pockets. "Yea. I'm sorry about that but I thought if I simply called that you'd just brush me off." I furrow my eyebrows, watching out of the corner of my eye, my best friend moving from the living room to give us some alone time. "Miss Laine called."

I guess that he thinks this is supposed to shed some kind of light on the subject but I'm just as confused as I was when I first saw him a few minutes ago. "I'm sorry dad but I have no idea what you're talking about."

He sighs, blowing out a deep breath as he skirts past me to walk into my living room. He takes a seat on the couch and clasps his hands together, staring up at me as I move to stand in front of him. Whatever she had to say, it certainly got him riled up. "When you were given your part in the play, do you remember what that meant for your regular classes?" I nod. I didn't have to attend Miss Laine's classes as long as I had my role. And I did still have it so I didn't see the correlation-. "And you do realize that when you skip rehearsal, Willow has to report to the academy, yes?"

My heart drops into my stomach. I'd missed more than a few rehearsals which meant that by now my attendance was certainly awful enough to warrant a call home. A call to my father. "What's going on with you, Maya? You worked so hard for this, I doubt you'd let your performance slack without a good reason."

I, of course, had a good reason in the form of my father's grandchild that I was carrying but I couldn't tell him that. But what other excuse did I have? A long, prolonged silence hangs in the air between us and I realize then that my dad isn't letting this subject drop without an answer. "I don't know what you want me to say" I reply simply, feeling tears well up behind my eyes.