Isaiah stands there holding his truck door open, "It's a lot nicer once you actually get in." His voice is filled with amusement. I look at his face and see his lips formed into a slight smirk. I had always thought those half smiles were full of love now I realize he's making fun of me.

I can't do this. "You know what, I'm just gonna call a cab."

The smirk falls from his face. "No, Meg, come on." Hearing him call me Meg causes my heart to flutter. "I won't talk, just let me drive you home." I hesitate for a minute. "Please." His eyes are pleading. I need to tell him about the baby and now is the best time to do it. The sooner I get it over with the better. Sighing, I get into his truck and he closes to the door. Walking around the front and getting into the driver's side he closes his door and starts the truck.

"Where are we going?" Isaiah asks backing out of his parking spot.

"The apartments over on Walden street?" I ask him hoping he knows where they are so I don't have to give him directions the whole time.

He looks at me shocked for a minute before turning back to the road. "You two are living in those apartments?" He asks letting me know he knows exactly what apartments I'm talking about. Mia and I's apartment building isn't in the best part of New York but honestly, there's a lot of worse places we could have ended up living.

"Yep." I confirm in a slightly sarcastic tone. The old Isaiah would have started a discussion on how dangerous it is for two women to live by themselves in an area like that but instead, he says nothing and we're suddenly plunged into a sea of silence. The only thing I can hear is my heart's frantic beating and the gravel under the tires.

The silence is awkward and agonizing but I fear speaking would make it worse.

I'm trying to avoid conversation for as long as possible so, when I hear Isaiah take in a breath and see him open his mouth I lean forward and turn up the radio. Smooth, I know. The silence is broken and the truck fills with the familiar tune of some song I've never heard. The erratic beating of my heart isn't as loud anymore and Isaiah no longer looks like he's about to say something.

A few songs later I'm trying to figure out how to bring up the baby- I mean, it's not like I can just say 'hey I'm pregnant and it's yours.' I'm sure there's some type of etiquette for telling your ex-boyfriend- that you're still in love with- that you're pregnant with his child.

Isaiah's middle finger that was tapping on the steering wheel suddenly freezes as a familiar song suddenly comes on. His jaw clenches and he glares at the radio. I never knew he hated this song.

Just listening to the beginning of the song gives me the urge to cry. It's just a song, I should be able to listen to it without crying.

"Kiss me, out of the bearded barley nightly, beside the green, green gr.-"

Unfortunately, I'm not mentally stable enough to listen to this song right next to Isaiah. I had two options, either cry or turn the radio off. I went with the latter.

'Kiss Me' was our song but instead of giving me that giddy, completely in love feeling, it makes me feel sick and heart-broken.

We're again surrounded by silence and I start to wonder what his reaction to the baby will be. In high school, we both wanted to have a family right after college. Maybe he'll be excited about the baby even if he doesn't love me. Maybe he'll want to get back together for the sake of the baby. I can't help the way my heart flutters at the thought of the baby bringing us back together. My giddiness doesn't last long once I remember he could have the complete opposite reaction. What if he gets angry or wants nothing to do with the baby. I have no idea what part of the Isaiah was real and which was fake. Maybe he never loved me and I was a game. Maybe he never wanted kids and just said he did to keep me around. A sickening feeling makes it way into my gut, what if he wants me to get an abortion. That, of course, is not an option but I think it will nearly kill me if he tells me to get one.

The clicking of the turn signal brings me out of my thoughts and I realize we're turning into the apartment's parking lot and I still haven't told him.

He pulls into a spot and puts the truck in park. His hand moves to take the key out of the ignition but he looks like he changes his mind and sets his hands in his lap.

I need to tell him. Now.

"We need to talk."

"I need to talk to you."

We both talk at the same time.

Isaiah turns to me. "You first."

I take a deep breath. "We need to talk. It's important." Just rip the band-aid off. "I-"

"I completely agree," Isaiah interrupts me. "Which is why I was hoping you would go to dinner with me tomorrow night." He says looking terrified of my answer.

I feel my eyes widen. "What?"

"Go out to dinner with me." He repeats. "Please, we can talk about stuff. Whatever you need to talk to me about."

"D-dinner? I stutter.

"Dinner." He nods.

I really don't want to but maybe it would be better to tell him over dinner after having a friendly conversation. "Okay, just to talk." I mumble and before he can say anything else I'm jumping out of the truck and running inside the building.

= = = = =

"What am I doing?" I groan and drag my hands down my face.

"You're so lucky I haven't done your makeup yet." Mia says from behind me as she straightens my hair. "You're going on a date with Isaiah where you guys are going to talk about what happened in high school and you're going to tell him about the baby, then you will get back together and live happily ever after."

"Telling him about the baby is the only thing you got right." If he brings up what happened five years ago I'm going to cut him off because I don't want to know about the girl he was kissing. It was bad enough seeing her in the yearbook and finding out she was the school's head cheerleader. The basketball captain and head cheerleader- how cliché.

"And, this isn't a date. This is just a dinner where I will try to build a friendship with him for the sake of our baby."

"Whatever." She mumbles.

Mia was thrilled when she found out I was going to dinner with Isaiah tonight, she thinks he wants us to get back together. I don't think she could be more wrong. There is no getting back what I thought we had in high school because it was never there.

I look at my phone again re-reading the same message for the millionth time today.

Dress nice. -Isaiah

I hate fancy dates, Isaiah knows that. If he was trying to make this a date he would have said 'dress in sweats.'

It took me hours of digging through my closet to find a nice dress that wasn't going to accentuate my stomach. It's not like I'm huge but if you look closely enough you can tell it's rounded slightly.

I ended up finding the perfect one in a group of clothes I haven't worn in years. It's a plum lace dress that comes to my knees and because it scrunches under my breasts it flows loosely over my stomach.

"Okay, I finished your hair, now close your eyes so I can do your makeup."

Ten minutes later I'm standing in front of a full-length mirror, I have to admit Mia did an amazing job.

I can't explain how nervous I am. I need Isaiah to accept the baby, I don't want him to grow up without his father.

"I guess I think you're a boy." I whisper while looking at my stomach in the mirror. I already love this baby so much; I can only pray Isaiah loves him enough to be in his, or her, life.

Knocking sounds through the apartment and I take a deep breath before walking out of my room to the door.

When I open the door Isaiah is standing there in a navy tux holding a bouquet of red roses.

"Wow."

***

Gah! I typed most of this chapter on Saturday while I sat through six hours of my brothers' football games so... I don't even know.

What do we think? Any ideas on how you think this dinner is going to go? What do you think Isaiah's reaction to the baby going to be?

I would love, love, love to get some feedback from you!

Comment! Vote! Share!

Have a good week!🖤

9-18-17