Before It's Too Late

Chapter 30

"OH, SHIT! TRIPLE SHIT!" What do I tell him?" Art asked, his eyes darting between Avery and Shelly.

Avery's face paled while Shelly kept pacing behind her. She'd thought about what her dad told her, but getting cornered by David wasn't on her itinerary. She would talk to him and tell him what she thought he deserved to know. But it should be on her terms at her own time. Her stomach roiled with irritation.

"What is he doing here? What should we do?" She asked Shelly and Art.

Shelly stood still and looked Avery in the eye. "Tell me what is on your mind, Ave. I will go out and tell him whatever you want me to tell him. I can't lie to his face and tell him you're not here..." Shelly pointed at her. "Well, because you are here."

"That's a good point, Hon." Art nodded in agreement.

"I wouldn't want you to lie for me, too, Shells. Besides, I'm sure he got the idea that I'm here with you. He probably had seen my bag."

Art nodded again. "True! That's why his text was asking if you're here. I should have locked him in the garage."

While the three stood silent, waiting for Avery to say something, Art's phone chimed again. It bewildered all three faces hearing the sound.

David: Ave, babe, I know you are inside. I want to be the one to tell you the important news. Please talk to me.

Avery wanted to ease the couple's minds, so she decided.

"Art, please tell him to come to my parents' house tomorrow anytime from 10 AM. I'll see him there, not here, not now."

***

The grandfather clock in their family living room struck 6 AM, as Avery confirmed on her phone. Though she came home yesterday before dinner exhausted from all the giggling, singing, and picture takings she and Shelly shared, she couldn't sleep immediately. When she went to bed at 9 PM, it took her an hour to fall into a deep slumber, only to wake around 3 AM.

She knew why: David would come today. He confirmed with Art yesterday before he left. During dinner, she casually informed her parents that David would be coming. Her father sighed deeply while her mother repeatedly asked her if she was sure about it. Then, before she said goodnight to her parents, she assured both that she thought her decision well.

Would she be okay?

Avery couldn't lie to herself. Knowing she'd be seeing and talking to David face to face after LA had awakened all the stress-causing veins in her body. Maybe because she'd wanted their first conversation after that hospital meltdown to be in her lead; she knew how intimidating and intense David could be, being a defense attorney.

She was never good at confrontations. She always used a bigger person's excuse if she faced an argumentative situation. She was soft-spoken versus a persuasive orator during her school days. Her motto was always better to be one to understand than the one who needs to be understood. As Shelly always said, she was too kind to utter a word that would hurt even a fly.

That was why talking to Boston's eloquent and undefeated defense attorney had her stressed since yesterday. She wanted to be a different Avery in front of David. Someone who could speak her mind without shedding a single tear. A changed woman who could decide for herself and her baby. A woman who was firm with her decision.

Was she just stressed or afraid? In a whisper, she answered her question. She wasn't worried or scared. There was one thing she could confirm; she felt stressed recognizing all her fears. Aside from reminding herself, the first confrontation she and David had in their apartment finished in a different direction. Deciding to have their much-awaited talk at her parent's house deserved her a pat on the back. She praised herself for doing a good job selecting a neutral ground, or much so, a place to her advantage.