IN THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

by Bechtel, Julie

  "if only he loved you little baby as much as I love him." she says to herself as her tears stream freely.

  CHAPTER: 20

  Justin stood outside of the door with his hand on it. Like he was trying to will it to be a lie. Then he drops his hand and blankly walks away. Sean does his best to try and console Ashley. It almost seems useless, but for the baby’s sake he had to try. "It's going to be okay." he softly whispered in her ear.

  "I never meant to hurt him like that." she cried.

  "I know you didn't. You were just protecting your child from a man who didn't want It.” He said as he gently kissed her forehead. He stood up and proceeded to pull her into the standing position as well.

  “Come on, let’s get your stuff and get out of here; before he comes back. That kind of stress won’t be good for either one of you.”

  Ashley slowly placed her belongings in a duffel bag and zipped it closed. The thought that she would never see this house again with the beautiful flower garden that he had made just for her broke her heart. She picked up the bag and carried it to the door. Then she turned around to give the place one last glimpse. Her mind drifted back to all of the laughter and fun that they had shared behind them walls. She flipped the light switch and closed the door. It was finally real to her. Justin and she, the man that she had come to adore were no more. This time she wouldn’t completely be alone though. This time she had a baby created by her and Justin’s love to see her through. The next few months went by pretty quickly. Ashley was in her second trimester and was coming impatient for this to be over. Justin no matter how hard he tried couldn’t get over her. “So she slept with my brother. People make mistakes. If I wouldn’t have been with Sammy this probably ever would have happened.” he thought to himself. He knew that he had to see her. His happiness deepened on it. What they had felt for one another was real. It had to be. He grabbed his keys and went to see Sean. The only person that he knew would know where she was. Sean and Ashley had become very good friends since they first got together. “In more ways than one.” he thought to himself. As hard as he tried he couldn’t seem to push the image of the two of them together out of his head. “It doesn’t matter though. I need her with me. Without her I am nothing.” he thought. He stood in front of his brother’s house praying that Sean would know where she was. His prayers were answered when she answered the door. Ashley had thought that she would never see him again, but there he was. They stood there at the door just staring into one another’s eyes for a brief second. All Ashley wanted to do was forget this whole thing and run to his arms. She almost did just that. That was until she thought of her unborn child. She had started this for a reason and she had to see it through. Justin noticed her swollen belly as he stared at her. “You’re pregnant?” he said visibly in shock. “Yes Sean and I have been sleeping together for months behind your back. We are going to have a baby.” she lied. The words felt like poison slipping out of her mouth.

  CHAPTER: 21

  Justin could feel the rage burning inside of him at their betrayal.

  “Where the hell is he?” he screamed.

  “He’s not here. He had to leave town for a few days.” she calmly told him.

  “I’m going to kill him when I get a hold of him.” Justin said clenching his fists. “You will do no such thing. We are happy can’t you just leave us alone?” Ashley cried.

  “LEAVE YOU ALONE! YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE YOU ALONE? SWEETHEART YOU CRAWLED IN BED WITH A SUPOSED HAPPILY MARRIED MAN! IT DOESN’T GET MORE ALONE THAN THAT!” Justin screamed pushing himself up against her.

  As he did that he could see the terror in eyes. He had remembered what Erica had told him about Joe. How he would beat her so badly on a regular basis. The only difference was. This time it wasn’t Joe that had terrified her. It was him. When he came to that realization he quickly backed down. He would sooner cut out his own heart than see that look on her face. Just as he was prepared to walk out the door Ashley collapsed. All of the anger and betrayal that he felt was gone. It was faced by a feeling of terror. The woman that he loved more than life was sprawled out on the floor. He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and called an ambulance. Then he kneeled down by her taking her in his arms. When he moved her he could see that she was bleeding not just a little bit either. “It’s going to be okay baby. I want let anything happen to you.” He whispered in her ear as he cradled her limp body. He just prayed that was a promise he could keep. It seemed like forever, but the paramedic finally arrived. They loaded her into the ambulance without as much as a word to Justin. He knew what he had to do. I much as he hated what the two of them had done to him. He had to call his brother. That was his baby after all and he had every right to know that something was wrong. He didn’t get an answer on his cell phone. He left a brief message not going into many details. That wasn’t the kind of news you give in a phone call. After he left the message he left to go to the hospital to be with Ashley. Their problems now seemed petty compared to this. When he arrived at the hospital Ashley had regain conciseness. She was however heavily sedated. He felt helpless staring into her terrified eyes. Just as he was about to turn and leave the room she stopped him.

  “Justin I’m scared. Please don’t leave me?” she begged.

  Justin pushed the door closed again and walked over by her side.

  “They said something is wrong and they have to take the baby.” she cried. Justin gently took her hand in his and kissed it.

  “You have my word that I won’t let anything happen to either one of you.” he promised her as she lost conscience once again.

  Within a matter of minutes they where wheeling her into surgery. It took a lot of persuasion on Justin’s part, but he finally convinced the Doctor to let him stay with her. He firmly gripped her limp hand through the whole procedure.

  CHAPTER: 22

  Time seemed to stand still until he heard the faint cry of the baby.

  “Is it okay?” He asked terrified to hear their response.

  “The baby is fine. It is a healthy baby girl.” The nurse said as she wrapped the baby in a blanket.

  When Justin saw her for the first time he was mesmerized. The baby was the spitting image of her mom.

  “Can I hold my bab. The baby.” Justin said correcting his mistake.

  The nurse delicately placed her in his arms. She was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.

  “Her momma has lost a lot of blood, but she will be fine.” The nurse said as she finished cleaning Ashley up.

  They kept her in the hospital for three days. Justin left her side one time. Sean still hadn’t responded to the phone call and that was just fine with Justin. He knew that when Sean returned he would have to hand over the two most important things in his life. When it came time to be released they were not going to let Ashley go because she had no one to take care of her. Justin quickly intervened by saying they were staying with him. When Ashley walked in the door she looked around.

  “It’s so good to be home.” she thought to herself. Then she found herself crying when she realized this wasn’t her home. Not anymore at least. Justin cradled baby Emily in his arms gently while he watched the love of his life break down. He wanted so bad to comfort her, but she wasn’t his to comfort. She didn’t need him anymore. She needed Sean, or at least that is what he believed. The truth was she did need Justin. She needed him more than she ever had.

  She almost told him that until Sammy’s words replayed in her mind. “Justin is a good man. He is going places in his life. If you tell him about the baby; he will throw away all of his dreams and stand by you two. That’s just the kind of man that he is.” Sammy told her.

  As Ashley stood there she found herself feeling week from all of the blood.

  Justin saw her getting wobbly and quickly sat her on the couch. He placed the baby back in the car seat and carried Ashley to the room that the two of them
once shared. He turned the light out and told her to get some rest. Leaving the door open just a crack. Ashley had just dozed off when she heard Emily cry. She carefully got out of the bed to go and get the baby. She had heard the cry from the room next door. When she arrived their Emily had stopped crying. She stood at the door waiting for the baby to cry again.

  CHAPTER: 23

  She didn’t. Just as she was prepared to go back to bed she heard Justin’s voice. “Baby girl, I wish that you were mine. I love you and your mommy so much. The truth is that you aren’t mine though. You belong to my brother. Isn’t that something? He had a wonderful woman now he gets the two things that I wanted as well. It doesn’t matter though. I will be there for you and your mommy no matter what. I want you to promise me to look after her. Since I won’t be there to do it myself.” He said to Emily gently planting a kiss on her forehead.

  Ashley had overheard every part of what he had said.

  “What have I done?” She thought to herself.

  Then she went back to her room so he didn’t hear her. When Justin walked into the room to check on her he found her lying on the bed crying hysterically.

  “Are you okay?” He softly asked.

  “No I’m not okay. I am a horrible person.” she cried.

  “You are not a horrible person. We can’t help who we fall in love with. He said trying to reassure her.

  “Would you stop trying to make me feel better? I have to tell you something about Sean and I.” she snapped.

  “You don’t owe me any explanations.” he said not really wanting to talk about it. “I NEED YOU TO SHUT UP! THIS IS HARD ENOUGH!” she screamed. “Justin, Emily doesn’t belong to Sean. She is your baby not his.” she blurted out without taking a breath.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked confused by her confession. She then explained every gory little detail of her and Sean’s plan.

  “Why would you two do that to me?” he asked as his head whirled from her truth. “Sammy told me how you didn’t want kids.” she explained.

  “I never told Sammy anything like that. She told me that you couldn’t have kids, and that you were going to leave because of it. I only told you that so you would stay.” he explained as his friend’s betrayal started to sink in.

  “Sammy is responsible for all of this. I’m going to fucking kill her.” he spat not able to control his fury.

  “It doesn’t matter who is responsible. It’s done and it can’t be undone.” Ashley said trying to calm him down. “I just need to know if you want Emily and I or not; now that you know the truth that is.” Ashley asked.

  “Let’s just get one thing straight. I never wanted either one of you. Matter of fact you were the one thing that I never wanted.” he said without thinking about how that had just sounded.

  Ashley sat there on the bed as the tears streamed down her face from his cruel confession. Justin realized then that what he was trying to say had come out all wrong. So he tried to explain himself.

  “I don’t want either one of you. I do however need both of you. Before I met you, I never wanted any one. I was happy being alone. When I met you I found something that I never had before though. I found happiness. For the first time in my life I was truly content. Ashley I am begging you to stay here with me. You and Emily both.” he pleaded.

  Just as he said that Sean walked into the room. He stood at the door waiting silently for her response. He was holding his breath praying that she would agree to stay with his brother. They were good for one another. For the first time in both of their lives the found the happiness that each so desperately deserved. “I love you.” was her only response. The rest she didn’t think required an answer. Justin walked over to the bed and took her in his arms. He felt like he had waited a lifetime to hold her and he was never letting her go again.

  THE END.