All I Ask

by KT Webb

  It had been a month since Aria had last heard from D’Angelo. His last text message was two weeks ago, which meant she hadn’t been in the same room as him for almost two months. Her nerves were always on edge, and she was worried sick. The number he’d messaged her from before was no longer active. She feared the worst. Aria was home alone for the first time since Karen’s body had been discovered. Christine finally agreed to spend the entire day with Patrick after a lot of pushing and prodding from Aria.

  As for Aria, she was heading to the doctor. Her anxiety was through the roof, and she was struggling to keep anything down. With everything that had been going on in her life, it wouldn’t surprise her if she had developed an ulcer. She took advantage of the alone time to schedule an appointment to get to the bottom of the health problems that now plagued her.

  “Aria Durant?” The nurse looked directly at her.

  She followed her to the exam room and sat on the chair. They took her blood pressure, temperature, and weight. It didn’t surprise her to notice a slight drop in weight. She hadn’t been eating much. Once the nurse was done updating her charts, she left her to wait for the doctor. Aria took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

  “Aria! I understand you’re not feeling well. Can you tell me what’s been going on?”

  Aria loved her doctor, but not the actual act of going to the doctor’s office. Having to tell the doctor everything she had just told the nurse was both frustrating and mundane. She went over her symptoms again, hoping the doctor didn’t just ask her to do something stupid like “reduce your stress”.

  “I’ve been really jumpy, irritable, tired. My stomach has been tumultuous. I think I’m just struggling with some anxiety with everything that’s been going on,” Aria explained.

  “Is there any chance you could be pregnant?”

  “No,” Aria replied automatically, then she remembered the night she and D’Angelo had shared.

  “Aria? You look pale. Are you okay?”

  “I guess pregnancy isn’t impossible,” Aria whispered.

  “Okay, we’ll start there. If you’re pregnant, all these symptoms are completely normal. If the test is negative, we’ll be able to narrow things down a little more. Do you think you could give us a urine sample?”

  Aria nodded. She was numb. Mentally checking off the weeks since she’d been with D’Angelo, then trying to recall the last time she’d had a period. The doctor was gone and quickly replaced by the nurse. She held a small cup with a screw-on top. The nurse was giving her directions, but she was only partially listening. How hard could it be to pee in a cup?

  In the bathroom, she caught the urine mid-stream as instructed. Once the cap was screwed back on, she opened a small metal door in the wall and set the sample cup inside. Aria pressed the button next to it and waited until she heard the door on the other side open. She washed her hands and went back to the exam room. While she waited, she took out her phone. She’d received a message from Christine with a picture of the couple on the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island. She replied with what she hoped would be taken as an acceptable response. Aria stared at the last text she’d received from D’Angelo. He’d told her he loved her and had not spoken to her since. If she was pregnant, it was his baby. She’d never even seen his face. How could she have a baby with him if she couldn’t identify him in a crowd?

  A quick knock at the door was the only warning before the doctor came in. Aria was already fighting back the tears. The idea of being pregnant when there was so much uncertainty in her life was absolutely terrifying. The look on the doctor’s face told her everything she needed to know.

  “Aria, the results are positive. You’re pregnant. I get the feeling this isn’t something you were prepared to hear.”

  Aria shook her head and wiped a tear away.

  “Let’s talk about some basics to get an idea of what we’re looking at. Your hCG levels indicate that you’re further along than we typically see women find out. When was your last period?”

  “It was a few weeks before opening night, so it’s been about ten weeks,” Aria couldn’t believe she’d not paid attention to her body.

  “Then we would say you’re 10 weeks pregnant. That means that you only have two weeks left in your first trimester. Because you’ve not been taking care of yourself the way a pregnant woman should, I want to do an ultrasound.”

  “When?”

  “Right now. We have an older machine in the next room,” the doctor took Aria’s hand, “It’s going to be okay, Aria. After the ultrasound, we can talk about your options.”

  Aria nodded and followed the doctor into the next room. Options. Aria already knew what options the doctor was referring to, and there was only one she could see herself choosing. Regardless of what happened with D’Angelo, she would keep the baby growing inside her. When she laid down on the exam table, the doctor instructed her to lift her shirt and pulled her pants down to expose her lower belly.

  The doctor squirted cold gel on her stomach and began rubbing a wand with a metallic head around the area. The sound that accompanied it reminded Aria of a television with no signal. Then, a rapid wump wump wump sound made Aria turn to look; a tiny baby-like shape moved around on the screen.

  “Oh my. . .is that the baby?” Aria asked through fresh tears.

  “Sure is. It looks like we’re right on target with ten weeks, though the baby is measuring a little ahead. Do you hear that steady sound? That’s the heartbeat.”

  Aria nodded, never taking her eyes off the tiny baby on the screen. Somehow, her world view shifted; this wasn’t an earth-shattering event, this was a chance to have a family.

  By the time Aria arrived home, the late afternoon sun had begun to sink below the skyscrapers of New York City. Before she could enter the code on the door, someone called to her from the street. Drew was jogging toward her.

  “Hey stranger, I haven’t seen much of you outside of performances. How are you?” Drew asked with a friendly smile.

  “I’m fine. Just tired and a little out of sorts with everything going on. How have you been doing?” Aria asked.

  As Drew began to answer, something caught his eye that chilled him to the bone. Around Aria’s neck was a chain that held a vintage diamond ring. He had seen that very ring before but didn’t think he would ever see it again.

  “Aria, where did you get that?”

  Aria paled when she realized he was staring at the ring D’Angelo had given her. She’d kept it tucked into her top but must not have put it back in after her visit to the doctor. She decided it wouldn’t do any good to lie about the origin of the ring, surely Andrew had seen it before.

  “It was my mother's. My dad used to wear it on a chain around his neck,” she explained.

  “I know, he never took it off. I’ve never seen you wear it before. Where did it come from?”

  Aria sighed. This was Drew, he’d lost his family in the same explosion that killed her father. He was probably wondering if there was any possibility that someone had found items that may have belonged to his family too. She decided she could share some information with him about D’Angelo. He didn’t need to know anything about their relationship or the baby she was carrying, but he could be told that someone had tried to save his family.

  “Why don’t you come in, there are things we need to talk about,” Aria put the code in the keypad and held the door open for him.

  Drew only hesitated for a moment before following her inside. He hadn’t heard anything about her new boyfriend since he eavesdropped from the edge of the stage. Part of him hoped she’d kicked the guy to the curb. She seemed different, warmer, lighter; it was almost as though the Aria he’d been close to winning over was back. He followed her to the apartment, wondering what she could possibly have to tell him about the ring. There was no way she’d had the ring all these years.

  Aria put on a pot of coffee, making the mental note that she should cut back on caffeine, as the doctor suggested. One more day wasn’
t going to hurt anything. Drew leaned against her counter, watching her move around the kitchen.

  “What’s going on, Aria?”

  “I recently found out who saved me from the fire,” Aria explained.

  Drew couldn’t believe his ears. For years, he had wondered how Aria survived, now some random person claimed to have saved her from the fire? No one else was at Durant Manor that night. Alfonse had given the staff the night off. The only people present were the Overland’s and Durant’s, Drew was certain of that. There was no way a random person could have arrived in time to rescue her from the burning house.

  “That’s not possible, Aria.”

  “I didn’t know what to think at first either, but there’s no other explanation. I didn’t walk out of that house on my own. My memories aren’t crystal clear, but I distinctly recall being carried from the house while it was burning. The last thing I remember before I blacked out was reaching toward the sitting room, that was how I got burned.”

  “Who told you this? Who saved you? Did they see our parents? Erik?” Drew was gripping her upper arms tight enough that it hurt.

  “We’ve not had time to talk about a lot of the details. I know he was too late to save them. He said he found the necklace, but everyone was already dead. I’m sorry, Drew.” Aria tried to keep the tears from escaping.

  Drew failed to fight the anger growing inside him. Aria was missing the point. He didn’t care that this person failed to save his family, he cared that someone else may know what happened that night. If there was someone out there who might try to connect him to the explosions, he had to know who it was. Drew took a deep breath to calm himself before asking more questions.

  “So this man says he just found your father’s necklace in the wreckage of the house? That seems a bit farfetched, doesn’t it?

  Aria shrugged, subconsciously rubbing the scarred spot on her arm. She couldn’t tell him any details about D’Angelo; not only because it didn’t seem safe but because she didn’t have a lot of details to share. Drew was clearly agitated. At that point, any information she gave him would only make him angry.

  “I don’t know, maybe. How else would he have gotten this?” Aria pulled the ring out from under her shirt. “He saved it for me this ring because he knew how much it meant to my father.”

  Drew was tired of playing games. If she wasn’t going to answer him freely, he had no choice but to compel her to answer. Drew reached up and ripped the chain from her neck. Aria looked at him in utter shock.

  “You belong to me, Aria.”

  “No, Drew, I don’t,” Aria was terrified.

  “Tell me his name!” Drew shouted into her face.

  Aria wasn’t able to stop the sob that rose in her throat. The man in front of her didn’t seem anything like the Drew she’d come to know. She was terrified for her safety and the safety of her baby. The last thing she wanted to do was tell him about D’Angelo. It felt wrong, it felt private and dangerous to talk about a man who had repeatedly told her to stay away from Andrew Overland.

  “This is important, Aria. Tell me, damn it,” Drew yelled again.

  “D’Angelo! It’s D’Angelo. He was a friend of my father’s, he saved me, he couldn’t save anyone else. I’m sorry. Please let me go, you’re hurting me!” Aria cried.

  The door to her apartment flew open, and for a moment, Aria felt the relief of knowing D’Angelo had returned to save her.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Christine practically screeched as Patrick grabbed Drew by the back of the shirt and threw him to the ground.

  “What’s your problem, Overland? Can’t you see you’ve upset her?” Patrick yelled.

  Christine took Aria into her arms, “You’re shaking. Patrick, get that asshole out of here.”

  Drew had gotten off the floor and walked toward Aria with his hands held out, “Listen, Aria. I don’t know who this guy is, but his story doesn’t add up. No one else was at your house that night. This guy could be dangerous.”

  Aria shook her head, “You don’t know him, Drew. He’s not dangerous. I love him.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? He must have you brainwashed. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from this guy!” Drew’s voice was bordering a scream of rage.

  “Stay away from him? Look at yourself, you psycho. Get out. Stay away from Aria,” Christine growled.

  Patrick came up next to Drew and gripped the back of his upper arm, “C’mon. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you, but you’ve crossed a line. I’m walking you out.”

  Once the apartment door closed, Aria suddenly felt as though she couldn’t trust her legs to support her. Christine led her to the couch and sat next to her. She couldn’t take back what she’d said. Her friends knew the truth about the mysterious man she’d chosen over Drew. The places where Drew had grabbed her were already starting to develop bruises. Christine gently leaned Aria over until she was resting against her friend. She stroked Aria’s hair until she stopped crying. When Patrick returned, they shared a tense look; something was going on with Drew, and the warnings they had both received were starting to resurface in their minds. Andrew Overland was dangerous.

  While Aria slept, Christine and Patrick discussed the situation they found themselves in. Andrew Overland was not to be trusted. Christine was surprised to discover that Patrick had received a letter from D’Angelo that held a similar theme to the one she had gotten.

  “Do you think this guy is really someone Aria can trust?” Patrick asked.

  Christine glanced at the couch where Aria was snoring lightly, “She says she loves him. Knowing Aria, I don’t think she would use that word lightly. I just don’t think he would cause her any harm.”

  Patrick nodded, “I think you’re probably right. I don’t know what got into Drew tonight, but that was far from acceptable behavior. We need to do something about it.”

  “We only have two performances left. Hopefully, he’ll grow a brain and leave her alone from now on.”

  “You saw him tonight, Christine. There’s no chance he’s going to let that go. I don’t think Aria is safe as long as he’s around.”

  Christine knew he was right; she just didn’t know what they were going to do about it. She wondered if there was a way to get in touch with D’Angelo. It didn’t sound like Aria had been in contact with him. As much as she hated the idea of invading her friend’s privacy, Christine decided she had to try to contact the man her friend needed most. She just hoped he would answer.

  As she began to dig into Aria’s purse, she discovered something she hadn’t been expecting to find. An appointment card for a prenatal visit and a prescription for prenatal vitamins. Christine blinked at the pieces of paper in her hands. Aria was pregnant?

  “Patrick? Look at this,” Christine whispered.

  He looked at the small slips in her hands and paled, “You don’t think she and Drew ever. . .”

  Christine shook her head, vehemently, “No way. Aria isn’t into him, never has been. The baby has to be D’Angelo’s.”

  Patrick found Aria’s phone and handed it to Christine, “We don’t tell anyone about this. It isn’t our business until Aria decides it is.”

  With a single nod, Christine returned her attention to the cell phone. There was no passcode. Aria was far too trusting, that was going to have to change. Within a few moments, Christine located the messages to the number listed as “D”. Aria had texted and called multiple times with no response. Regardless of whether the man loved Aria or not, this was no way to treat her. How could he tell her she was in danger, then disappear completely?

  Christine used her own phone to dial the number. After a few rings, it was sent to a voicemail box that wasn’t set up. She sighed before sending a text message.

  This is Christine. Drew attacked Aria. She’s okay but shaken up. She needs you.

  It was all she could do. If D’Angelo was out there, he would get the message. If he really loved her, he would either cont
act her or come back. The next call Christine made surprised her even as she dialed the number. She had no idea what kind of hours a detective kept, but she had to try.

  “Detective Pahl.”

  “Detective, this is Christine Miller, from the Majestic Theatre?”

  “Yes, of course. What can I do for you?”

  She took a deep breath as Patrick looked at her with an expression of understanding. He knew Drew’s behavior that night was the kind of thing the Detective needed to know.