Un-betaed

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Taking the long way home

Thoughts are captured in /italics/

Chapter 3

/All right Evangeline you’ve delayed talking with Nina long enough. Go downstairs and get this over with./

Knock, knock

“Come in Nina.”

“So my friend are you ready to tell me what this is all about?”

“Why aren’t you at work?”

“Because I’m waiting to talk with my friend about what has her so frazzled that she left her home in the middle of the night and probably hasn’t told anyone back in Llanview that she was leaving and if I know you like I do you haven’t told your mother either.  So Evangeline what is it?”

“Nina I don’t know what I’m going to do.  Something totally unexpected has happened and I don’t know how to handle this.  No matter what I decide it will have a major impact on my life from this moment on.  If I go through with this I may regret it later on.  If I don’t go through with it I know that I will regret it later on.  I can’t win.  I can’t talk to anyone about this but you.  You know all of my deep dark secrets and have kept them through the years.  I’m sorry to burden you with this one but I can’t handle this by myself.  I feel like I’m going crazy trying to decide.”

“Evangeline you’re starting to scare me with this talk.  What is happening? You know that I will do all that I can to help you with whatever this is?”

“Nina I’m afraid to say the words.  It’s like if I don’t say the words then it doesn’t feel real but if I say the words then it’s real and I have to handle all that it entails.”

“It can’t be that bad Evangeline.”

“Yes it can Nina.”

“All right let’s do it this way.  I will cross-examine you, just like we’re in court.  You will answer yes or no that way you don’t say the words I do.”

“Okay here we go.  First question, have you committed a crime?”

“No.”

“Do you have a terminal disease?”

“No.”

“Are you pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“What’s so traumatic about you being pregnant?  Are you in a committed relationship?”

“Yes and no.”

“What do you mean yes and no?”

“I’m committed but he’s not.”

“What do you mean he’s not?  You’re having sex with someone who’s not committed to you?”

“Nina, this is not the dark ages.  People have sex without commitment.”

“Overruled.  Evangeline I won’t pass judgment on you but you’ve put yourself in a difficult situation.  Does the man in question know that you are pregnant?”

“Nobody knows that I am pregnant but the two of us.  I took a pregnancy test and it was positive.”

“You go into hysterics because of an over the counter pregnancy test.  No get dressed.  We’re going to see my doctor right now.  We will get a professional decision on this before you go and jump off of a cliff.”

Two hours later they return to Nina’s home and Evangeline looks worse than she did when she left Llanview.

“Evangeline are you all right?”

“No Nina I’m not all right.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Make it go away.  What am I to do now?  I didn’t realize that I was this far along in the pregnancy.  I’m almost 12 weeks pregnant.  How could I be that far along and not know?”

“Evangeline as the doctor said your body is so overworked it was easy for you to miss the signs.  Your spotty period or lack thereof, sore nipples, tiredness to name a few.  The good thing is that you did at least force yourself to eat.  The baby did receive nourishment at least.”

“Already I’m a bad mother.  But Nina I’m too far along to have an abortion.  I now have to have this baby.”

“Evangeline were you seriously considering having an abortion?”

“It was an option.”

“Really Evangeline?”

“No Nina, it wasn’t.  I couldn’t kill a child.  Even though the father and I may never be together this is still my child.  I’ve got to do better of taking care of him.”

“What are you going to do?  Will you return to Llanview?”

“No Nina I can’t do that.  Everyone there will try to tell me how to feel; what to do; look down at me; think that I tried to trap the father into a relationship by getting pregnant; and I don’t need all of that static in my life now.  I need some peace.”

“Well my dear whatever you want to do you shall do.  You can stay in one of our corporate apartments.  My doctor can handle all of your medical needs.  If you want to work while here I’m sure that there’s some work my firm can pass your way.  Will you tell the father?”

“Nina I wouldn’t know what to say.  It’s only fair that he knows but I can’t go to Llanview to tell him.  It seems every single time we try to have a serious conversation something or someone interrupts us.”

“Why don’t you have him to come here?”

“Let me move into the apartment and then I will call him and he can meet me there.  He’ll probably want me to return to Llanview but I can’t do that right now.  I don’t know what I’m going to do.  What do you suggest?”

“I will not suggest anything.  If I suggest something and you do it and it doesn’t turn out the way that you want it to then you will blame me but I will make these observations:

-You care for this man otherwise you wouldn’t have had sex with him.  I know about the modern day thing of free sex but I also know you Evangeline.  You would not have had repeated sex with a man unless you felt something for him.

-You want this baby.  You’ve wanted it since you ‘thought’ that you were pregnant.  This child is a manifestation of ‘your love’ for this man.  It doesn’t matter if he loves you.  You see this child as evidence of your love for this man.

-You have to face this man.  He has a right to know that he is about to be a father.  Whether he steps up to the plate and actually be a father to this child is still yet to be seen but you want to tell him.  You want to know if he is the man that you think he is or that you want him to be.

-You may not return to Llanview but you need to settle things there the right way.  Your clients deserve that much from you.  If you want to return here my firm would love to have you. If you want to go somewhere that is new I will help however you need me.

Nina looks at her friend and sees Evangeline’s eyes fill with tears.  They both sit on the loveseat in Evangeline’s room and Nina holds her friend trying to comfort her.  

“It will be all right Eva.  You’ll get through this.”

“It is so much and so hard Nina.  For years I said that I didn’t want to get married because so many marriages end in divorce.  Nina I don’t want to have a baby out of wedlock.  Now how is that for contradictions?  I don’t want John to marry me because I’m having his child.  I want him to want me because he loves me and wants a life with me.  I’ll never know now.  I’ve messed up everything.”

“Evangeline Williamson, you didn’t make this baby by yourself.  It takes two you know.  You won’t know how John will react until you tell him.  Do it soon.  Don’t wait.  The longer that you wait the more time you will have to convince yourself that he doesn’t need to know.  You’re not showing yet so you might consider doing the following:

-Go back to Llanview and close/suspend your practice.  Transfer your clients to other attorneys.  Meet with the trial judges and let them know that you are taking a leave of absence and don’t know when you will return.  Never burn bridges that you might need to travel over again.

-Close up your apartment.  If your lease isn’t over, sublease and have everything in order before you leave.

-Let John know that you have an amazing job opportunity here and will be gone for perhaps a year.  Offer him to come back with you for the weekend.  You can tell him then.  How he responds will let you know what to do next.

So what do you want to do?”

“I guess I need for you to show me the apartment and then I need to head back to Llanview.”

“That’s my girl.  Take the bull by the horn and let the chips fall where they may.  Just know that I’ve got your back.”