All for you

Chapter 9

Glaring at the eyes that looked practically identical to my own, my hand removed itself from my stomach moving up towards my chest as my breaths tried desperately to steady.

'Katherine, what the flying fuck are you doing here' Hallie said voicing my thoughts as I was in no way shape or form fit to speak.

'What a welcoming from you pair' she spoke in her barely audible Aussie accent which seemed like it was becoming more American with each passing conversation.

'Why the fuck would you break in?' I said with my palm still gripped to my chest as the heartbeats still raced at a rapid paste.

'I didn't break in Jo, how do you imagine I would even manage that? One of you morons left the door unlocked'

Scowling at Hallie, her eyes wandered around the room as her voice began to echo a whistle, 'Why wouldn't you fucking lock the door Hallie'

My angry tone was soon cut off by Katherine, 'Calm down Jo, it's only me. Plus this screaming ain't good after a 45-hour drive'

The words made my eyes widen in disbelief before I started up again, 'You drove here? Why on earth would you do that?'

'Well Josephine, incase you didn't notice it's not exactly the safest time to fly right now' she spoke in a sarcastic tone which was irritating me more by the second.

'Whatever' I responded annoyed before storming off towards my room and slamming the door shut. Laying down on my bed, I listened to the conversation surrounding my attitude as Katherine desperately questioned what was wrong with me. With no answer from Hallie, the room went silent soon forcing my thoughts to invade my mind once again.

My hormones were only causing my irritation to grow and my irrational behavior had an explanation, but I wasn't quite sure if I was ready to tell my sister yet.

Hearing a knock from the other side of my door, my eyes darted towards the sound before a small crack in the wood alerted me of Katherine's presence.

'What the hell is wrong with you Jo' she asked clearly confused at the state which was far from my normal self.

'I drove almost 3000 miles from New York to be here with you guys and you treat me like shit the second I walk through the door' she continued with her voice laced with fury.

My anger starting to reduce, I found my more emotional side threatening to break free as the tears I'd let go only 2 days ago at my appointment begged to make a reappearance.

After deleting his words last night, I promised myself I wouldn't shed another tear during the duration of my pregnancy. I thought the second his voice was removed from my phone, I'd no longer have a single reason to allow my emotions to get the better of me.

After a little late-night reading of the single pregnancy book Anna had gifted me, I realized that wouldn't be the case.

'Jo what's wrong, this is so unlike you' she responded to my silence as I turned towards her with my bloodshot eyes. Noticing them immediately, her steps led her towards the bed before she looped a single arm around my shoulder.

'Where's Hero even at Jo. I could of sworn you two were planning on staying in Cali the whol-'

Before she even had a chance to finish, small droplets of water slowly trailed down my cheeks at the sound of his name. The truth was, the video did nothing but damage my composure more. Deleting his voice only caused more harm to my soul and made my desperation to be near him heighten.

Looking into her eyes, I spoke the words I'd become so used to lately yet I never would of expected to announce only 10 days ago, 'I'm pregnant Kath'.

The shock on her face was clear before a grin widened on her lips only seconds later.

'You're pregnant, you're really pregnant?' She questioned as if looking for a reason to smile brighter. With a quick nod, her tangent began.

'I'm going to be an auntie, an actual real-life auntie. Don't get me wrong I never expected it to be this soon but I'm fucking excited. Imagine a little girl, all her little cute outfits, she'd have our eyes, Jo. But also a little boy, he'd be a mini Hero with all his sports and cute little soccer outfits. I can't decide what I want Jo. When do I find out? How does Hero feel? I bet he's excited right?'

All the while she was talking, more tears crept down my skin as reality continued to strike up until the last second.

'What's wrong Jo, aren't you happy' she now spoke more worried than I have ever heard her sound. Her finger wiping at the corner of my eye forced my talking to begin as I felt incapable of hiding the truth from one of my favorite people any longer.

'Its complicated Kath, so damn complicated. It all went so badly so I kicked him out an-'

'Woah, Woah, Woah you kicked Hero out?' she spoke more surprised than the moment I told her about the baby currently camping in my body.

'Yeah a while ago now, he went back to London' I announced only furthering the shock already remaining on her face.

'What the fuck happened with you guys? Did he leave because he found out you were pregnant? I swear I will murder that son of a bitch if he did'

'No Kath, he didn't know' I spoke audibly before downgrading my voice to a whisper, 'he still doesn't'

'What was that?' She asked with curiosity in her eyes.

'He still doesn't know Kath, I haven't told him yet'

'You are telling me you haven't told him you're having his fucking child. How can you do that shit Jo, what the hell did he even do?' Her voice causing me more harm to my system, I knew I couldn't yet continue with this conversation.

'Look, Kath, can we talk about this another time. I'm not feeling too good and I'm starving'

With a glance showing she was totally unconvinced, she sent me a quick nod as I began following her steps into the kitchen.

With Hallie's mouth fixated on a sandwich she wasn't failing to devour, her look alerted me she was wondering how much I had said.

'She knows I'm pregnant' I simply answered her silent question as her eyes now darted between the two of us looking for some form of reaction.

'Can we get something to eat now I'm starving' I looked at the pair invading the tension that was building only receiving quick flicks of the head from both.

Receiving from the only take out available during the pandemic within a 5-mile radius, I settled down on the couch building a conversation about anything other than my lack of communication with my baby's father.

As the tension slowed down, realization hit hard. Everyone telling me how badly I needed to talk to Hero hadn't seemed to process until now, but finally, I was understanding their words.

No matter my reasoning behind what I had done, I had no right to force him away from his child and make him or her grow up without the figure I wasn't even sure would stay. Forcing the thoughts to the back of my mind promising it would be for the last time, I plowed into my remaining dinner as I let the tv drown away my priorities.