Part two: The truth.

Anne watched through the train window how she was leaving her life behind with every mile they traveled. Her childhood aspirations and dreams had long since disappeared or changed, but, still, she couldn't help but feel melancholic about that small town in southeastern Canada. 

She turned her gaze to the seat in front of her, where Justin was sleeping peacefully with Jason in his arms. She couldn't stop thinking about what that man had said to her. She tried to push the thought out of her head, but it kept coming back. She closed her eyes for a moment and, slowly, sleep caught up with her.

***
"Oh, right. I ask you to move to Barrie with me for a year and you say no, but Mr. I-Make-You-Children comes and you accept easily," the blond was saying pulling a huge suitcase out of the trunk of his car.
The girl laughed. Her friend had been throwing a jealous brother tantrum all the way from the station. "How much longer are you going to keep this up, Ry?"
"I'll keep going until you feel how damaged my heart is." Another laugh escaped the girl's lips as she walked beside Ryan into the modest 2-floor house. The boy had convinced them to live with him. He didn't have a huge home, but it was enough for everyone. Besides, this way he could spend more time with Jason.
"Did you look into nearby daycare centers?"
"Justin said he'd take care of Jason and you."
"I don't care what he says, I'll get a job," she felt a small twinge in her breast and reality hit her.
"You should stop being so stubborn. You'll have two men with you, you don't need to pretend you're alone in this," the blond put the suitcase on the wooden floor and watched the girl's distant gesture. "What's wrong, An?"
The girl snapped out of her thoughts. "Ry, do you know exactly why Justin left?"
The boy scratched the back of his neck. "Something like that. Justin wouldn't tell me everything, he said it was for my sake, why?"
"John came to my apartment a few days ago," she took a seat on the stairs.
"What! How dare he...!"
"He told me some things about Justin that keep running through my head," she looked down at her hands.
"What did he tell you?"
"He said Justin left because he had killed someone."
"That's absurd! Justin would be incapable of something like that."
"What if he did?" she looked up to face her friend. "What if he was actually able to? He's Jason's father, Ry, but I can't rest easy thinking my son would be left in his charge if..." she stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't bring up anything about the disease.
"If..., what?"

She sighed. "If he's a criminal." Justin clenched his jaw. He closed his eyes. He had to figure things out. He had to prove his innocence to his son and his girl. He needed them to believe in him again.

***
"I promise to be back on time, just please pick him up from daycare, Ry. I need the manager to see how responsible and committed I can be," the girl was saying, stuffing extra diapers and clothes into Jason's diaper bag.
"A day's work without pay doesn't seem fair to me at all - that's 12 hours! It's slavery."
"It's slavery that will pay my bills," she closed the diaper bag and looked at the blond. "We've had this conversation a thousand times before. Just, please, back me up."
"Anne... You worked so hard to finish that last year in college. You can do better than being a waitress."
"I could, if I wasn't forced to invest my whole life into it. I know this isn't a dream job, but I have weekends to myself, flexible hours, and I can request the day off whenever Jason gets sick."
"Can you at least give it a try? My company is applying for assistants and receptionists. You could have a better paycheck and better benefits for Jason and yourself."
"I'm running late," she carefully lifted her baby out of bed and grabbed the diaper bag. "Don't take this the wrong way, Ry, but I can't babysit a company like it's my child when I already have one that needs me." 

The girl closed the house door and sighed. She felt a slight discomfort, but she couldn't let that stop her. She needed to make it to her test day at work.

***
Justin walked into the house and began taking off his tie. It had been a very exhausting day and honestly, he just wanted to lay on his bed as he was.

He had gotten a supervisor position at the construction company Ryan worked at and his boss had come up with the brilliant idea of relegating all of his activities to him for a few days to 'test him out'.

He heard Jason's laughter and magically all the stress and fatigue disappeared. He walked into the living room to check on his baby and found him in his friend's arms.

"Oh, great! You gotta take care of him," the blond said upon seeing him as he continued to make faces at the little guy. "I can't get him to sleep. Maybe your parental magic can do better."
"Where's Anne?" he looked at his watch. It was a little late and the girl's work had been over for three hours.
"She said she felt a little discomfort and went to the clinic."
A bad feeling came over the brunette. "Which clinic?"
"The one six blocks from here, that way," he pointed while still playing with the baby. "She asked me to tell you not to follow her because she wasn't in the mood for..." the sound of the door closing interrupted him. "...you. Your parents are stubborn, you know that? Please don't inherit that part of their genes," Jason laughed. "Don't make that face. It's the same one your daddy makes when he's going to ignore what I tell him."

Justin began to walk in a hurry as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and tried to contact the girl. His call went straight to voicemail every time. He cursed under his breath and started jogging.

He knew the girl well enough to know something was wrong. She was the queen of minimizing illness and avoiding doctors and hospitals. She always found a homemade solution or fixed everything with 'I just need to rest'.

He sped up his jog as he replayed all those times he tried to take her to the doctor for a cough or an allergy and she claimed to be fine. His chest was beginning to tighten as if predicting tragedy. He was scared.

He glimpsed the clinic around the corner and hurried inside. He didn't know where to look.

A man in his forties caught his eye. He was heading for the emergency room. He watched him for a few seconds until his brain was able to recognize him. It was Dr. Frank, the one who had been in Anne's apartment when he arrived in Canada.

He followed a few feet behind him. The girl would not let him drop a hint about what was wrong if she saw him there. They entered the emergency room and the doctor approached an examining table that was surrounded by a curtain. He caught a fleeting glimpse of the seated girl biting her lip before the fabric covered his view. He approached them to hear better.

" Well, Anne. You're all set. You'll need to come in in 2 days for the biopsy. The ultrasound shows at least 4 lumps less than 1cm and 2 larger ones. It must be those 2 that are giving you discomfort. Luckily, you reacted quickly and there is no discharge or bleeding yet."
"So... is it cancer?"

What!, the brunette thought as he felt a shiver run down his back.

"We can't know yet. We need to wait for the biopsy results. Dr. George will fill me in on everything and I'll come in a few days to see you so we can figure out the treatment. You really gave me a scare," he laughed with a fatherly air. "Don't be discouraged, little one, let's trust that the tumors are benign and we can remove them with surgery."

Justin was petrified. He didn't know what to do or what to think. He couldn't even move.

The curtain moved and the girl's eyes widened as she saw him.

"Justin..."